Showing 1 - 19 of 19 , query time: 0.02s
Cover Image
Format:
Voice Recording
Dottie Wiley, who homesteaded on the Grand Mesa with her first husband Richard Kilburn in the early Twentieth century, discusses the Surrender Tree, a tree where the Utes supposedly bound Arvilla and Josephine Meeker, wife and daughter of Nathan Meeker, following the Meeker Massacre. The interview was conducted by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries and the Museums of Western Colorado.
Cover Image
Format:
Voice Recording
W.J. Pray discusses the history of Collbran and Plateau Valley, Colorado, including ranching and roads. He also talks about box lunches and how they worked as a social and dating vehicle for men and women. The interview was conducted by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries, the Museums of Western Colorado and the Mesa County Historical Society.
Cover Image
Format:
Voice Recording
Julia Harris discusses hearing about the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, when she was hosting a Republican Party event for a special congressional election at her home on the Grand Mesa. She describes finding out about the bombing from the radio and from a local telephone operator who called people in the region to inform them. She talks about younger relatives of hers who joined the Navy after Pearl Harbor, about the general absence...
Cover Image
Format:
Voice Recording
To mark the centennial celebration of the town of Grand Junction, Colorado in 1981, the Mesa County Oral History Project wrote and recorded several radio plays about local history. Beginning on September 26, 1981, local radio stations KSTR, KREX-AM, KREX-FM, and KMSA broadcast the plays. Authors of the plays used interviews recorded by the Mesa County Oral History Project as inspiration. This archival recording contains the play Remembering the Utes. This...
Cover Image
Format:
Voice Recording
Harry Peck was the grandson of Routt County pioneers Harry B. Peck and Emma Hall. Harry and his father, Ray Peck, both worked for the United States Forest Service in the Grand Mesa National Forest, and he describes their experiences there. He also talks about helping John Otto with trail-breaking on the Grand Mesa. The interview was conducted by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries and the Museums of Western...
Cover Image
Format:
Voice Recording
Four radio plays written by Wilson Rockwell, based in part on short histories he wrote for his book Sunset Slope, and broadcast in the Grand Junction area on KREX during the late 1950’s or early 1960’s. The programs include: Episode 5 – The McCarty’s Last Holdup (0:00), Episode 6 – The Stockton-Eskridge Gang of Durango (12:52), Episode 7 – The Betrayal (27:36) (the story of Isaac “Ike” Stockton’s death), Episode 8 – The Grand Mesa...
Cover Image
Format:
Voice Recording
Al Look speaks to an unidentified audience about dinosaurs, mammals, and the geology and natural history of the Mesa County, Colorado area. This recording is made available via signed release by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries and the Museums of Western Colorado.
Cover Image
Format:
Voice Recording
Sara Kruh talks about growing up near Collbran and in Grand Junction, Colorado, and about her schooling. She also discusses teaching in the Molina School on the Grand Mesa and her teaching career, her role in the origins of the Mesa County Teachers Federal Credit Union, and high button shoes. This recording is made available via signed release by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries and the Museums of Western...
Cover Image
Format:
Voice Recording
Professor Don Mackendrick talks about the history of irrigation and the development of water resources in Mesa County, Colorado from the 1880's until the construction of the Highline Canal in 1915 (during a program of the Mesa County Historical Society in July 1980). This recording is made available via signed release by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries and the Museums of Western Colorado.
Cover Image
Format:
Voice Recording
To mark the centennial celebration of the town of Grand Junction, Colorado in 1981, the Mesa County Oral History Project wrote and recorded several radio plays about local history. Beginning on September 26, 1981, local radio stations KSTR, KREX-AM, KREX-FM, and KMSA broadcast the plays. Authors of the plays used interviews recorded by the Mesa County Oral History Project as inspiration. This archival recording contains the play A Natural Resource:...
Cover Image
Format:
Voice Recording
Dwain Jackson talks about his family history and their arrival in Delta County in the 1880’s. He remembers taking the Grand Junction streetcar line and automobile rides in the 1920’s and 30’s. He speaks about living north of Cedaredge as a child and time spent fishing on the Grand Mesa. He talks about the reluctance of Delta County residents to adhere to new fish and game management laws in the early 1900’s, and tells the story of William...
Cover Image
Format:
Voice Recording
Theodore Simineo talks about the history of violence between sheep and cattle ranchers near Whitewater, Colorado. He remembers helping to drive cattle over the Grand Mesa at the age of six, other aspects of cattle drives, and his life as a cowboy. He describes community dances that took place in Kannah Creek schools or community halls. He speaks about the transportation of cattle by rail from Gunnison and Whitewater. He talks about working as a coal...
Cover Image
Format:
Voice Recording
In a lecture to the Grand Junction Lions Club, given just days before he died, prominent water law attorney Silmon Smith talks about his life and the history of Grand Junction (the lecture was broadcast hours later on KREX radio). He remembers his family’s arrival in the town in the 1890’s and early development in Grand Junction. He recalls a colorful Main Street filled with saloons. He speaks about his father Frank Smith’s respiratory illness,...
Cover Image
Format:
Voice Recording
Anna Foster describes the history of her family, her life as a school teacher, and the history of the town of Mesa, Colorado. The interview was conducted by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries, the Museums of Western Colorado and the Mesa County Historical Society.
Cover Image
Format:
Voice Recording
Carl Forsman, the son of Swedish immigrants, talks about early life in the town of Mesa, Colorado. The interview was conducted by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries, the Museums of Western Colorado and the Mesa County Historical Society.
Cover Image
Format:
Voice Recording
Ina Dyer discusses life as a schoolteacher in Mesa, Collbran, Fruitvale, and Grand Junction, Colorado, including methods of punishing students, teacher’s pay, and her relationships with fellow teachers in the area. The interview was conducted by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries, the Museums of Western Colorado and the Mesa County Historical Society. *Photograph from 1943 Grand Junction High School...
Cover Image
Format:
Voice Recording
Edith Sisac talks about growing up in the Pomona area of Mesa County, attending the Pomona School, and riding her bike to Grand Junction High School along the railroad tracks in the early Twentieth century. She recalls the grocery store in Grand Junction owned by Roy Sisac, her husband’s father. She speaks about the Mesa Lakes Resort and the Mesa Lakes Ski Run, which were owned and operated by the Sisac and Foster families, and about the development...
Cover Image
Format:
Voice Recording
James Earl Shaw and Creston Ralph Bailey talk about the history of their families in Mesa County, and discuss their families’ roles in the automobile and grocery businesses respectively. They mention people and places important to Grand Junction. They also reminisce about their experiences at the Presbyterian church camp on the Grand Mesa, and all the antics they pulled while growing up. The interview was conducted by the Mesa County Oral History...
Cover Image
Format:
Voice Recording
Laird Smith talks about his grandfather Frank Smith’s severe case of Tuberculosis that caused the doctor to move with his family to Grand Junction, Colorado. He describes the apartment next to a saloon where the family lived on Main Street, where drunken men would sometimes crawl in through the windows by mistake. He discusses his father Silmon Smith’s “spartan” upbringing, his camping alone on the Grand Mesa for long stretches when he was...