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Elda Craig and her daughter Alice Devine talk about their lives in the Gateway, Colorado area, and about the history of 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.
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Helen Johnson talks about moving to Denver, Colorado from Cleveland, Ohio at a young age and growing up in different places in Colorado. She talks about the fraudulent land sale that first brought her family to Delta County, Colorado in 1910, and that took her father’s life savings. She discusses living in a rented log cabin in Hotchkiss, her mother working as a hired washerwoman and housekeeper, and her father’s difficulty finding gainful employment...
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Helen Johnson talks about gardening, methods of preserving food, and other aspects of rural life in Hotchkiss, Colorado in the early Twentieth century. She talks about her mother, Emily (Scatliff) Young, and the jobs she took to support the family after the loss of their life savings due to her father’s bad investment. She discusses the family’s religious observances and the history of churches in Hotchkiss. She talks about her abusive father-in-law...
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Forrest M. Carhartt describes his deployment to the Mexican border with the Utah National Guard after Pancho Villa’s raids, his military training, and service during World War I. He discusses his education at the University of Denver. He also talks about his membership in the Last Squad, an American Legion-affiliated group of World War I veterans. The interview was conducted by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County...
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Colonel Forrest Carhartt talks about his experiences as one of the US National Guard troops sent to the Mexican border, and into Mexico itself, in response to Pancho Villa’s raid on Columbus, New Mexico. He compares his military experiences on the Mexican border with his experiences during World War I. The interview was conducted by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries and the Museums of Western Colorado. *Photograph...
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Walter Dalby, founder of local accounting firm Dalby, Wendland and Company and flight enthusiast, talks about the history of the Grand Junction Regional Airport and about the companies and people involved in the local air travel industry, including: Clyde Davis, Walter Walker, and Eddie Drapela. He also talks about balloon rallies and airshows held in Grand Junction. The interview was conducted by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration...
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Shannon Robinson talks about attending grade school in Gunnison, Colorado, where she was largely shunned or bullied by white students as the first African-American student to attend her elementary school. She speaks about living in Aurora, Colorado, where she made friends with other Black children, but also experienced bullying from children of all ethnic backgrounds because of her mixed race. She discusses getting to know other members of her African...
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Paul and Wanda Breckler talk about the annual tours of Colorado that they conducted for teachers for many years during the 1970’s and 80’s. They speak in depth about their tour of the Colorado National Monument and working with local historian Al Look. The interview was conducted by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries and the Museums of Western Colorado.
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Gertrude Rader talks about the profession and lives of teachers, who were primarily women, in Western Colorado during the early Twentieth century. She discusses how, in small communities, women were expected to be much more than teachers including: Doctors’ assistants in a pinch, de facto members of the families that they boarded with in cases of illness or maternity, and moral pillars of the community. She includes many anecdotes from her own teaching...
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Alfred Alvine “Al” Look tells about his childhood growing up in Kansas. He talks about the theater productions his school put on and his role in those. He describes his education in journalism at the University of Nebraska, publishing a magazine called Ah Go On, and working in a store to help pay his tuition. He also talks about his contributions to the Mesa College library (now Colorado Mesa University). The interview was conducted by the Mesa...
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Al Look talks about his career as a journalist and advertising manager for the Durango Herald, Grand Junction News, and the Daily Sentinel. He also talks about the shooting of Durango Herald editor William Wood by Durango Democrat editor Rod Day, and about homesteading in the Dove Creek area. He speaks about the film For Love of a Navajo, filmed in Farmington in 1922, and about his role as a lead in the movie. The interview was conducted by the Mesa...
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Al Look talks about driving a team of mules for a laundry wagon, playing hooky from school and stealing watermelons in Stockton, Kansas. He discusses duck hunting and teaching his son gun safety. He speaks about working and then selling his homestead in Dove Creek, and about his experiences in the Four Corners area. He talks about playing high school football on a championship team, and attending the University of Nebraska. He relates working as an...
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Al Look talks about his family and about his grandparents’ immigration from Germany. He speaks about life on the farm in Kansas and the important role of women as homemakers. He discusses travels in Colorado and New Mexico, encounters with Ute and Navajo people, and filing for a homestead in the Dove Creek area. The interview was conducted by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries and the Museums of Western...
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Al Look touches on the history of Lake City, Delta, and Creede, Colorado in the context of his travels there. He also discusses his trip to the Los Angeles Olympics in 1932 as a chaperone for fifteen boys. The interview was conducted by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries and the Museums of Western Colorado.
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Frank Chiaro describes his life as the child of Italian immigrants, farm life in the Pomona area of Mesa County, Colorado, and his various jobs, including his work as a boilermaker for the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad. He also talks about the second incarnation of his railroading career as a clerk, about mail cars and mail clerks, about the Durham Stockyards and the many livestock trains departing Grand Junction, and about water towers for steam...
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Al Look talks about his father’s grocery store in the early Twentieth century, an incident involving his cat, and a shipment of butter. He mentions his family’s move from Nebraska to Stockton, Kansas. He speaks about the various jobs he had, his education, and the dangers of the open prairie. He also recalls the activities the children would participate in for fun. The interview was conducted by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration...
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Hannah Wormington, head of the archaeology department at the Colorado Museum of Natural History and lead archaeologist at the Turner-Look Site, discusses local historian Al Look’s contributions to archaeology and the importance of amateur archaeologists. Her lecture was an installment of the Museum of Western Colorado’s First Annual Lecture Series. This recording is made available via signed release by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration...
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Local African-American activist David Combs talks about his reaction when Barack Obama was elected president of the United States in 2008 and 2012. He remembers feeling the audience’s excitement during Obama’s campaign speeches at Cross Orchards and Grand Junction High School. He speaks about Obama’s role in leading the nation’s discussion on race through incidents such as the death of Trayvon Martin. He discusses discrimination towards Obama...
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Kenneth James Baird lectures about Daily Sentinel publisher Walter Walker’s career through the 1930’s, when he was most active in promoting community development. The lecture, on May 4, 1981, was sponsored by the Mesa County Historical Society. 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.
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In a radio broadcast and presentation produced by the Museums of Western Colorado, William Kirk Bunte speaks about Armistice Day and World War I. Interviews with Western Slope veterans of the war appear as part of the program. 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.