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In a Mesa County Historical Society lecture, Joshua Paul Britton and Charles Teed speak about the history, development and impact of the Uintah Railway, which had its headquarters in Mack, Colorado. 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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Elizabeth Angus talks about teaching in Atchee, Colorado, now a ghost town, in the early 1920’s. She remembers the life and history of the company towns that served the Uintah Railway, a gilsonite mining enterprise. She speaks about the Ute people who would visit the general store in Mack, Colorado. She describes certain employees of the Uintah. She talks about Baxter Pass and the environment of the Bookcliffs. The interview was conducted by the...
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Former Grand Junction Fire Chief Frank Kreps describes living in a one-room log cabin on his parents’ Roan Creek homestead as a young boy in the 1910’s, the feeling of community among the scattered residents, and a sawmill that provided lumber to residents. He talks about his father’s career as a locomotive engineer for the Uintah Railway and the Denver & Rio Grande. He remembers having to split wood for all the sick families in Atchee during...
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Eugene Perry talks about his childhood in Grand Junction’s Riverside neighborhood. He speaks about working for the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad from the time he was thirteen years old, his career building track as a section foreman, and the history of D&RG in Grand Junction. He discusses landmarks such as Bowman’s slaughterhouse, the Pest House, and the town’s ice houses. He reminisces about a youth curfew that was in place in Grand Junction...
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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 On the Road to Grand...
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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,...
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Dick Lloyd talks about cattle ranching in Western Colorado both before and after the Taylor Grazing Act, about moving cattle around to different grazing areas in Colorado, and about shipping them to Denver by rail via the De Beque Stockyard. He speaks about training horses and using horses to herd cattle. Bertha Lloyd discusses her courtship with Dick, their chivaree and their marriage. The two of them describe homesteading in a log cabin on the Grand...
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Craig B. Aupperle discusses the early Twentieth century history of Grand Junction. 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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Harold Stafford talks about coming to Western Colorado during the Great Depression to join the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). He describes working on the construction of Rim Rock Drive as part of the Colorado National Monument CCC camp. He discusses the Rim Rock Drive road-building disaster, in which nine men were killed by a mistimed blast. He speaks about Rod Day, the education coordinator in the camp, and a former newspaper man who had murdered...
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In the second of nine recordings, John Goulet, a former advertising salesman with the Daily Sentinel newspaper, relates his experiences and travels in Grand Junction and Western Colorado in the 1950’s and 1960’s. He talks about playing the piano and touring the Western Slope with the Star Lighters, an orchestra from Grand Junction. He plays the piano piece, “Back in Your Own Backyard” and speaks about arranging music for other performers....
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Bill Rump talks about his father Charlie Rump and his roll in developing the Redlands in Mesa County, Colorado as a member of the Redlands Company and the Redlands Water and Power Company. He recounts the efforts of those companies in creating orchards and other agricultural enterprises on the Redlands. He speaks about the Redlands School, roads, sports, youth activities, and other aspects of life on the Redlands and in Grand Junction. He remembers...
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Warren Kiefer talks about his career as a fireman and engineer on the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad, and working the line between Grand Junction, Colorado and Salt Lake City. He gives specifics about the technical aspects of the fireman position on a steam locomotive. He speaks about the relationship between the fireman and the engineer, and tells stories about comical and contentious interactions between different workers. He explains the purpose...
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Alex Bauer talks extensively about this history of his family, part of the German community of Morganthau in Russia. He recounts their immigration to the United States in the years before the Russian Revolution. He remembers his dad’s career as a machinist for Missouri Pacific Railroad and then the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad. He also recounts his own career as a machinist. He speaks about his parrallel career as the shop steward International...
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Dudley Mitchell discusses his childhood in Leadville during the early Twentieth century, and historic mines and railroads in the Leadville area. The interview was conducted by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries and the Museums of Western Colorado.