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Ruth Echternach talks about her arrival in Palisade, Colorado in 1917 and her graduation from the Palisade School. She discusses the history of early Palisade and its people. She speaks about her marriage to local farmer Marion Echternach, life on a fruit farm, and raising children. 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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Tom Charles talks about moving to the Fruitvale area of Mesa County, Colorado in 1907, his family’s fruit orchards, and the history of fruit growing in the Grand Valley. Emma (Berg) Nagel describes her family’s homestead in the Highpoint area north of Fruita in 1894. She speaks about living in a dugout for three years, clearing the land for cultivation, and the family’s fruit orchard. Charles and Nagel both discuss the various crops grown around...
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Mary Plaisted talks about early days in Mesa County, Colorado, her marriage to Thomas Pierce, a farmer in Loma, and the busy life of a homemaker on the farm. She discusses various locations and institutions around the Western Slope, including the Paradox Valley, the Cowpuncher’s Reunion, and the Little Book Cliff Railway. She speaks about her warm family life as a child in Kansas, and life in Western Colorado after her father’s death. She also...
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Cecil Harper talks about his memories from early childhood in Loma, Colorado. He speaks about his father’s position as a surveyor on the Highline Canal, history of the dam’s construction, and about the celebration that was held upon the canal’s completion. He remembers the schools that he attended, including the Loma and Valley View Schools. He recalls his early jobs working for ranching outfits and working as a coal miner before he began life...
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Reba Ball talks about her upbringing in Palisade, Colorado, the history of Vineland, the ferry over the Colorado River, and the Seventh Day Adventist Church and school. She remembers growing up on a peach farm and aspects of peach farming, such as picking and shipping peaches. She discusses smudging to prevent frost, diseases and pests common to peaches, and pesticides. Harvey Ball speaks about his career as a manager of grocery stores, including...
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Oscar Jaynes discusses childhood memories of Clifton, Colorado, including life on his family’s homestead, a time he climbed inside a giant tire and rolled down a desert hill, and a boxing match at school with future Colorado Supreme Court justice Jim Groves. He then relates tales of traveling the country on freight cars trying to find work during the Great Depression. Oscar also talks a great deal about the fruit business, specifically the peach...
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Marjorie Thomas describes her childhood on a homestead in the New Liberty area of Mesa County, Colorado. She talks about the difficulty of getting across the Big Salt Wash near Fruita when it flooded. She discusses Sunday school and religious services that existed in the community for twenty-one years, until the lack of leadership caused people to drive to Loma for church. She speaks about the history of the New Liberty School and about social clubs...
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Thomas Campbell of Clifton talks about the roads, towns, farms, ranches and geography of places throughout Mesa County, Colorado. He speaks about the Molina flour mill in the town of Molina and about the history of local agriculture. He talks about the history of Clifton, its settlement, and churches. He describes early agriculture and methods of clearing the land for crops. He remembers aspects of peach, pear and apple growing, including pests and...