1 10 81 https://voicesofignacio.cvlcollections.org/files/original/1e71fd10b9fccce5b752979ece1d6405.pdf db0c131195e3830189486bf23aaba783 PDF Text Text ALBERT & ETHEL MAY (Chambers) ANCELL Albert G. Ancell was born in Collinsworth, County, Texas, south of Shamrock on October 17, 1902. His father, Thomas M. Ancell had been born in Howard County, Missouri in October of 1871, and moved to Dallas, Texas with his parents when he was an infant. After he was old enough to work, Thomas got a job laying ties and rails on the Ft. Worth and Denver Railroad which was building a line from northwest Texas to Denver. While working near Harold, Texas, Thomas found a farm he liked enough to settle down and raise wheat and cattle. "While dad was on the farm near Harold, he married my mother, Lettie. I was the third of four children. Shortly after I was born, we moved to Gaines County Texas on the New Mexico Line near Seminole. It was flat empty ranch country where I grew up. Our nearest neighbors were 8-10 miles away. My first schooling was at a little ranch school. Later I attended 6th and 7th grades at Lovington, New Mexico. During the drought of 1918 I quit school to help my dad drive his 1200 head of cattle to Colorado. He sold the cattle to buy a farm, but later lost it on a mortgage. I started working for wages on the Butler Ranch. In 1926 I headed for California in a Model T Ford. The route I took went through Trinidad, Albuquerque, Silver City and Lordsburg. Then I went to Tucson, Phoenix and Yuma, to San Diego and Santa Barbara. West of Yuma I had to follow the old plank road across the sand desert. The whole trip took 13 days. There weren't any motels so I camped along the way." . ) J ) ) ) _) .J J J .J ,..J J "I soon got a job working for the Bixby Ranch, one of the biggest ranch companies in California. They owned land in several parts of California and Arizona. Their headquarters was in Long Beach. We ran cattle through the area where Disneyland is now located. I stayed with the ranch for about 6 years. My wages were $60-75.00 per month plus room and board." "My brother at Presidio, Texas, asked me to come down there and help him operate a filling station. At that time there was a small boom going on in that part of the country with the building of the railroad from San Antonio to Chihuahua, Mexico, and on to the Pacific. In 1936 I moved to Como, Colorado in South Park where I worked in the hay and cattle business for 11 years. Then I came to Ignacio and bought Glen Rouses's place. I raised grain and hay and did combining and other custom farm work for neighbors. In 1965, I married Ethel May Arnspiger." Ethel May was the seventh of eight children born to Henry Walls Chambers and Susan Louise (Lee) Chambers, Susan's dad was a relative of Robert E. Lee. Henry and Susan were both born in Texas, but after their marriage moved to Globe, Arizona and then on to Colorado in 1902. .J ..J· .J .J J J J ·J ...J "My dad helped build the Cascade Flume north of Durango. In 1904 they moved to Bayfield and took a homestead on Spring Creek where I was born on July 4, 1904. Mother died when I was 5 years old. I attended the Mason School east of town where the Lieses now live, for 8 years, then came to Ignacio for 2 more years. That was all the school offered here. In 1924 Ernest Arnspiger and I were married. Ernest worked in a 3 �butcher shop in Ignacio for a while, then got a job at a coal mine north of Bayfield. Finally, we bought a farm over on the Florida Mesa near Falla where we raised our children. We had one son, Randall, who died in 1957 and one daughter Lorraine, who is now a Registered Nurse in Tucson, Arizona." "My dad's second wife died in 1939, leaving him with 2 young daughters. Since one of the girls was only 10 years old, Ernest and I decided to move over to the farm on Spring Creek to help dad with the work and to help take care of the girls. In 1961 when Ernest became ill, we moved to Bayfield where he died in 1963." "Two years later, I married Albert Ancell. He had a place on the southeast corner of Holt's farm where we still live. Albert has 3 children of his own. Lettie June lives in Littleton, Colorado; and Lyle and Dennis live in Abilene, Texas." The Ancells have both lived a good many years and Albert has lived a good many places of different climate and elevation. In Albert's opinion, Southwest Colorado has the most pleasant climate of all, otherwise he says he wouldn't have stayed here for 30 years. Of all the various periods of time Albert has lived through, he feels that today is the best and the easiest time to be living. Taken in August 1979 August, 1979 -- by Shelby Smith 4 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Shelby Smith Interviews Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource https://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-NC/1.0/?language=en Date Created Date of creation of the resource. 1973-1980 Subject The topic of the resource Ignacio; Southwest Colorado Description An account of the resource Collection of biographies, predominantly of residents from the Ignacio Senior Center, based on interviews conducted by Shelby Smith from approximately 1973 to 1980. The abridged interviews were originally published as individual entries in The Thoughtful Years newsletter, published by the Ignacio Senior Center, beginning in 1973. They were later published as a whole in Smith's book: Oral Histories of the Southern Pine River Valley, from which the original scans in this collection have been derived. Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smith, Shelby Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Albert Ancell and Ethel May (Chambers) Ancell Biography Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NKC/1.0/ http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NKC/1.0/ Date Created Date of creation of the resource. 1979-08 Subject The topic of the resource Ancell, Albert; Ancell, Ethel May (Chambers) Description An account of the resource Biography of Albert Ancell and Ethel May (Chambers) Ancell based on an interview conducted by Shelby Smith. Originally included in the August, 1979 issue of "The Thoughtful Years" newsletter published by the Ignacio Senior Center. Later included in the book "Oral Histories of the Southern Pine River Valley" by Shelby Smith. Spatial Coverage Spatial characteristics of the resource. Ignacio, Colorado; Southwest Colorado Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Ancell, Albert; Ancell, Ethel May (Chambers) Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smith, Shelby Extent The size or duration of the resource. 2 pages https://voicesofignacio.cvlcollections.org/files/original/36fd309450e71441576d8ee1a9b87512.pdf 2333adb530fa82980f5e8646a3af94d4 PDF Text Text ROSELIA (Munoz) BACA Though Spanish-American people had lived in the Rio Grande valley for years, few except prospectors and fugitives from justice had ventured into the San Juan basin to stay until about 1875 when a wagon train of Spanish-American settlers from Culebra moved across the passes to homestead in this area. About the same time families from EL Rito near Espanola moved in to the San Juan valley near present day Blanco. One of these was the family of Presentation and Mercedes Munoz. Their first child was a daughter whom they named Roselia. Mr. Munoz farmed a well-irrigated farm in the river valley. Except for sugar and coffee and patent medicines, the family produced almost all their food and other needs on the farm. Since no refrigeration was available, it was difficult to keep meat in the summertime. They made jerky with some of the meat. The rest they ate or shared with the neighbors. For fun Roselia and her younger brothers and sisters loved to swim in a large hole in their irrigation ditch. Any toys they had they made themselves. Roselia remembers making her own dolls and doll clothing. "Usually," she says, "there was not much time for fun, since all work was hand work on the farm, all of us, even the children had work to do everyday. " Life became more difficult when Roselia was 13. Her mother died that year. Immediately Roselia became "mother" to her 6 younger brothers and sisters. Roselia has since had 12 children of her own and has a major hand in caring for some of her grandchildren. ) ) J J _) J _) J J _) j ...) J J J J J -.J -.J J J Now 80 years old,Roselia says, "I feel like I have always been a mother. "Occasionally Mr. Munzo allowed the children to attend dances in the area. At one of them 17 year old Roselia met a stranger named Simon Baca who had recently moved from Colorado to work on construction of the new citizens ditch. Roselia was 17 Simon was 31. When asked why she chose to marry someone this much older. Roselia says, "Simon was a very nice guy and 1 wanted someone nice to take care of me. "Marriage soon meant more people to take care of. She and her husband moved into her father's house. When the first of her 12 children was born she was still keeping house for her father and caring for her brothers and sisters. Each week she used 251 bs. of flour to make light bread for the family. During the warm months she supervised the drying and canning of the winter supply of garden produce, fed her family and her father's family plus any hired hand on the farm. For five years Simon drove a horse and buggy on the mail route between Largo and Aztec. When her younger brothers and sisters were old enough to take care of them selves, the Bacas moved to a farm on the Mesa, south of Ignacio. Simon worked for the tribe as well as caring for sheep and goats. In the evenings he enjoyed calling for square dances and was very talented on the violin. Most years the children had to stay out of school till at least Thanksgiving to help put up hay and to harvest the potatoes and beans. For fun the boys liked to go rabbit hunting. During good years all the children gathered pinon nuts. The family kept what they wanted and sold the remainder for cash. 5 �One summer day, Simon and Roselia were away from home. One of the children must have been playing with matches for the farmhouse burned to the ground. Manuel who was the oldest one at home-was barely able to get the younger ones out of the house. In five minutes the whole place was a roaring inferno. Roselia was sad not only because they lost all their clothing and household goods, but also because she had lost family mementos from previous generations. The family had to start all over again to acquire the possessions of a life time. Seven of Roselia's boys were in the service during WW II and the Korean War. She recalls being very worried, fearing what news might come in the mail, but all of them came back. Simon died at the age of 87 in 1969. All of Ros.elias' 12 children are still living. They are scattered every where across the west from Denver to Seattle. Roselia who is still healthy and very active spends a Great amount of time traveling and visiting kids and readily admits how much she enjoys it. "I'm on vacation all the time," she states, "I have to keep track of my children and grandchildren." by Shelby Smith 6 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Shelby Smith Interviews Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource https://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-NC/1.0/?language=en Date Created Date of creation of the resource. 1973-1980 Subject The topic of the resource Ignacio; Southwest Colorado Description An account of the resource Collection of biographies, predominantly of residents from the Ignacio Senior Center, based on interviews conducted by Shelby Smith from approximately 1973 to 1980. The abridged interviews were originally published as individual entries in The Thoughtful Years newsletter, published by the Ignacio Senior Center, beginning in 1973. They were later published as a whole in Smith's book: Oral Histories of the Southern Pine River Valley, from which the original scans in this collection have been derived. Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smith, Shelby Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Roselia (Munoz) Baca Biography Date Created Date of creation of the resource. 1973-12 Description An account of the resource Biography of Roselia (Munoz) Baca based on an interview conducted by Shelby Smith. Originally included in the December, 1973 issue of "The Thoughtful Years" newsletter published by the Ignacio Senior Center. Later included in the book "Oral Histories of the Southern Pine River Valley" by Shelby Smith. Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Baca, Roselia (Munoz) Extent The size or duration of the resource. 2 pages Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NKC/1.0/ Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smith, Shelby https://voicesofignacio.cvlcollections.org/files/original/0f1518c4411e60c7c46aed5619379f9e.pdf 6a972345b80f2394197d26651096a294 PDF Text Text '1 ~ ~ 'J l EDNA (Russell) BAKER "I ,,..) l ·, ) ) ) 1 J ) 1 ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) About 10 miles south of Durango the Weazel Skin Bridge crosses the Animas River. Since the main highway runs up on the Florida Mesa and mostly local travelers use the bridge, it receives little attention. Perhaps a few of the old-timers of that area remember how it got its name. Weazel Skin was a Ute who settled on a tract of land in the Animas Valley in the 1880's. He raised sheep and goats and developed a profitable farm and ranch operation on the river. Weazel's English name was Hickey Williams. One of his daughters who grew up on the ranch was named Marsalino. The Russell's lived on the Weazel Skin Ranch and had four daughters: Daisy, Maggie, Edna and Sara. Edna remembers going to Durango in a buggy to see the fair and for shopping. "We liked to ride the street car from one end of Main to the other. Once my mother left a diaper bag on the car and we had to wait till it made a complete round before we could retrieve it." When Edna was still a young girl, her family moved onto the Spanish Fork Ranch where Spring Creek enters the Pine River near La Boca. Edna went to school here for a few years, then was transferred to the Indian School at Santa Fe. Then she was sent to Sherman Institute at Riverside, California to finish high School. There she met Indian students from all over the country. "We were given a choice of pre-vocational training at Sherman. I tried nurse's training and dry cleaning. I liked both of them and both have been useful since then. At first I didn't believe I'd like the nursing. A nurse sees so many sad and stomach-turning things, but soon I began to see the other side of it. Sick and injured people are just people who need help and the feeling you get from helping them is just great." ) J ') J ·_) _) __J ,. ) .J __J ..J __J __J Edna's years in California were great, too. California in the 1920's was a beautiful, uncrowded place with its clean air and tropical plants and mountains by the sea. From Riverside to Los Angeles were large open country areas, not all city like today. ''We went to Catalina Island and rode the glass bottom boat. Sometimes we went to the amusement Park at Long Beach. I remember how I screamed when we rode the roller coaster over the ocean. We went to Tijuana to see the bull fights. At that time the arena was a beautiful log structure." When Edna finished her nurse's training, she worked at Dulce, then at Towaoc, then at the Taylor Hospital in Ignacio. Minnie Cloud and I were some of the first ones hired . We cleaned and cleaned the building and made towels and baby clothes until it was opened. Soon afterwards Edna married Cassimero Baker. They had two sons, Archie and Dusty. When the army started building up Ft. Carson, Cassie and Edna moved to the east slope. Cassie worked on construction projects on the base and Edna became a welder ..J ..J .J J J ..._) 7 �in an airplane factory operated by Universal Electric at Colorado Springs. She enjoyed the work very much. Finally. she and her boys came back to Ignacio and she worked in the Taylor Hospital until ii closed in 1955. "Even when we moved back to Ignacio, I sent my boys to the public school because I wanted them to learn to get along with all kinds of people." After the Taylor Hospital closed Edna worked in Denver and in Colorado Springs for a while, then she returned to Durango where she worked at Mercy and Community Hospitals until she retired. "I always liked my work in the hospitals. Such nice people to work with. It was a new world every week -- always in training or going to nurse's workshops and conventions and having dinners. I worked side by side with all kinds including foreign students and trainees. I really miss my many friends in Durango and Colorado Springs whom I visit whenever I can." Archie worked hard and went through training for auto mechanics. He worked several years in California and now lives in Durango. Dusty has had mechanics training and also training as an X-Ray technician in the hospital. He was working in Durango hospitals until the opportunity to apply as manager of the new Shell Station opened up, and when he got the job, he and Edna moved back to Ignacio. After being gone so long, it seems a little strange to be back in this area, but Edna has quite a few relatives here and just as she has made new friends wherever she has lived, she will surely be able to do the same here again. We wish her and her children the best of good fortune and wish lo welcome her back to Ignacio. November, 1975 - Shelby Smith 8 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Shelby Smith Interviews Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource https://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-NC/1.0/?language=en Date Created Date of creation of the resource. 1973-1980 Subject The topic of the resource Ignacio; Southwest Colorado Description An account of the resource Collection of biographies, predominantly of residents from the Ignacio Senior Center, based on interviews conducted by Shelby Smith from approximately 1973 to 1980. The abridged interviews were originally published as individual entries in The Thoughtful Years newsletter, published by the Ignacio Senior Center, beginning in 1973. They were later published as a whole in Smith's book: Oral Histories of the Southern Pine River Valley, from which the original scans in this collection have been derived. Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smith, Shelby Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Edna (Russell) Baker Biography Date Created Date of creation of the resource. 1975-11 Subject The topic of the resource Baker, Edna (Russell) Description An account of the resource Biography of Edna (Russell) Baker based on an interview conducted by Shelby Smith. Originally included in the November, 1975 issue of "The Thoughtful Years" newsletter published by the Ignacio Senior Center. Later included in the book "Oral Histories of the Southern Pine River Valley" by Shelby Smith. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Baker, Edna (Russell) Language A language of the resource English Extent The size or duration of the resource. 2 pages Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NKC/1.0/ Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smith, Shelby https://voicesofignacio.cvlcollections.org/files/original/9d4d026ad7bd8a144f6f2d4586a0cd7c.pdf 43f9539a2134a7f095a1072f5457aa4c PDF Text Text I") 'l 'l 'l i ,, J i ' 1 ) l 1 ) ) . JAMES (JIMMY) SPENCER BAKER James Spencer Baker, known to most Ignacio people as Jimmy Baker, was born on August 12, 1899, the son of James Baker and Lucy Spencer Baker. "I was born in a log house at Caracas. I think the house is still there. My father built a good barn and corral. We had chickens and milk goats and hogs and range cattle and riding horses and draft horses. The draft horses were "Perch" (Percherons) and weighed 1500 to 2000 pounds. They could really plow and pull the wagons. My father raised wheat and hay for the animals and potatoes and beans for the family." When Jimmy's mother Bessie died in June of 1907, Jimmy and his father and his sister Grace and his brothers Julian, Frank and Cassey faced a lonelier world. It was still two years until Jimmy's father took him to the Indian School at Ignacio. During summer starting at the age of 12, Jimmy was sent to the hills to herd the cattle. ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) J _J J ...) ..J ..) ...) ...) ...) ...) J J J J J J "I rode my horse up to the Vega every week to count the cows. Some of them would be way up in the brush. When we went up some of the steep hills, I would get off the horse and grab a hold of his tail and he would pull me right up. The first year I went out I was afraid a lion or a bear or a bobcat would get me, but I never had any trouble." One of those trips Jimmy will never forget. He was late getting started back and then it started to rain and how it rained! "Before I got out of the Vega, it started to rain and by the time I got to the Dipping Vat on Cat Creek my horse and I were both soaked and it was so dark we couldn't see anything except those big lightning strikes coming down. I didn't get home until 1:00 or 2 :00 a.m." In the days when Jimmy was a boy, one of the best ways and certainly one of the most exciting ways to obtain new wealth and valuable property was to hunt the wild horses in the hills above Caracas. Jimmy and his father and brother sometimes were gone several days patiently tracking, listening, stalking and then off on a wild chase to rope a few horses or, if possible, to drive a herd into a box canyon. "Our friends Tito and Tony and Narcisso Gomez sometimes went with us. Then we all got together to brand the horses and break them. Our brand was a curved arrow with a split tail. ln the winter of 1915 we went out one morning and all our horses were gone . We told the Marshall, Porfirio Chavez. There was deep snow and he tracked the men all the way to Lumberton and brought our horses back and put the men in jail in Pagosa . They turned out to be some of our neighbors. After the trial, they were put in the pen." Jimmy lived at Caracas until 1916 before he moved over toward lg nacio. In 1918 he was drafted and sent to Brownsville, TX, then to Laredo, then to San Antonio and finally to Ft. Riley in Kansas. Jimmy was in Company A, 9th Engineers and was trained to be a blacksmith. During the First World War the army had some motorized vehicles, but it also retained many horses and mules and wagons. Therefore, blacksmiths were needed to shoe the horses and to keep the wagon wheels in repair. Jimmy would have been sent to France soon, but as he explains, "Woodrow Wilson and Kaiser Wilhelm signed the peace." 9 �When Jimmy was mustered out of the army in 1921, he decided he wanted to see the country, so for a while he rode the rails. "I went all over the country as far as Bismarck, North Dakota, but I never got caught by the railroad bulls because I moved like the coyote." Next Jimmy got a job on the D.& R.G.W. Railroad on the line between Denver and Steamboat Springs as a member of the Extra Gang. Jimmy's crew spent a lot of time on the lines around Moffat Tunnel 13,000 feet up on the continental divide west of Denver. Jimmy enjoyed the changeable weather and the beautiful sunrises and sunsets visible from the divide. He remembers one morning when "the sun came up pale, so pale over the lake. (Yankee Doodle Lake) it looked like the moon." After working a while on the railroad, Jimmy went down to Denver and got a job with the Public Service Company till 1926. The next year Jimmy's father died and Jimmy came back to Ignacio to stay. He married Bessie Box. They lived on his place about a mile east of Ignacio where he raised cattle and hogs and chickens. This month Jimmy celebrates his 76th birthday. He has been alone for some time. Of course, he gets lonely sometimes, but he is still strong and healthy, likes to walk a lot for exercise, and has a wonderful sense of humor. We wish him many more years of good health and good times. August, 1975 -- by Shelby Smith 10 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Shelby Smith Interviews Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource https://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-NC/1.0/?language=en Date Created Date of creation of the resource. 1973-1980 Subject The topic of the resource Ignacio; Southwest Colorado Description An account of the resource Collection of biographies, predominantly of residents from the Ignacio Senior Center, based on interviews conducted by Shelby Smith from approximately 1973 to 1980. The abridged interviews were originally published as individual entries in The Thoughtful Years newsletter, published by the Ignacio Senior Center, beginning in 1973. They were later published as a whole in Smith's book: Oral Histories of the Southern Pine River Valley, from which the original scans in this collection have been derived. Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smith, Shelby Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource James Spencer Baker Biography Date Created Date of creation of the resource. 1975-08 Subject The topic of the resource Baker, James Spencer; Ignacio, Colorado; Southwest Colorado Description An account of the resource Biography of James Spencer Baker based on an interview conducted by Shelby Smith. Originally included in the August, 1975 issue of "The Thoughtful Years" newsletter published by the Ignacio Senior Center. Later included in the book "Oral Histories of the Southern Pine River Valley" by Shelby Smith. Spatial Coverage Spatial characteristics of the resource. Ignacio, Colorado; Southwest Colorado Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Baker, James Spencer Extent The size or duration of the resource. 2 pages Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NKC/1.0/ Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smith, Shelby https://voicesofignacio.cvlcollections.org/files/original/00ef6b6599ca0c21e37c8beefd4dfda0.pdf deef2b18cd9072d3894f58b050727645 PDF Text Text .., 'I 'I , , ' ' ' ) ) ) ) ) , ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ~ ) _) ) ) J J _J J _J .J ..J J J J J J J J J J JULIAN S. BAKER An Indian family riding in a wagon pulled by two houses came jolting over the last hill into the Pine River Valley. Almost ready for its second cutting, the hay in the meadows was brilliant green and restful to the eyes. This time of year the river was low and clear. Here and there the family could see the flashing movements of large feeding trout. To the south they could see the depot and a few other buildings in the young village of Ignacio. Up the valley to the right was their destination, several buildings of the Ute Agency and a few homes. Julian Baker was eight years old. He had no idea this trip would mean any more to him, than any other previous trips to visit a cousin who lived near the agency and to trade for supplies in Ignacio, but it was to be very different. The next morning after all business and visiting was done, Julian's father hitched the horses and loaded the supplies. As Julian approached the wagon, his father stopped him and said, "These are your relatives here. They will be a family to you. You won't need to feel that you are away from home." Through tearful eyes Julian beheld his mother in the wagon and began slowly to understand that he was expected to stay. Almost before he could begin to wonder why this was happening a bell began to ring. "Do you hear that", his father asked. "That'.s the school bell. Do you see those boys and girls going to that building? Your cousins will be a family to you." Julian watched the wagon roll slowly toward the river, then turned and walked more slowly toward the strange building across the field. Julian recalls the winter holidays were all new to him. Until school he knew nothing of Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas or Easter. On his first Halloween celebration he remembers a great bowl of a new food called popcorn and remembers even more clearly that he ate with delight and great gusto until he was ill. Soon enough the school became a familiar and comfortable place. Most years thereafter he rode the train to Ignacio in September. Julian was born July 17, 1892, on his father's farm in a canyon behind Allison. Since the county line runs right through their place, Julian says to this day he is not sure whether he was born in Archuleta or in La Plata County. One of his earliest recollections is a clear memory of men surveying the section lines near Allison. This was done in 1896 when Julian was four years old. This government survey he observed was one incident among others leading to an exciting yet sad rivalry which erupted a few years later near Julian's home. To tell that story we must go back further into the past. Long before the Spaniards and the French and the Americans came, the Utes enjoyed a home territory and hunting ground unsurpassed by that of any other tribe in North America. Though the territory of every other tribe had advantages and desirable characteristics, the home land of the Utes, occupying the great valleys and ranges of the backbone of the continent was unusual for its size and beauty. Few tribes ever possessed so large an area or enjoyed such richness and variety of terrain. The Utes made occasional raids onto the great plains east of Pikes Peak in search of buffalo or to harry their old enemies the Cheyennes and the Arapahos who in turn made occasional raids against the Utes in the mountain regions. Finally, the whites coming with their 11 �numbers and new weapons eventually began asserting their will over the land. Julian remembers the old men who told him of the time when the American Army came to the great plains and ordered the Utes to leave. "You will no longer eat Buffalo. You will eat deer," they said. "Go into the mountains. Migrate among them. When you have found the area you like best, stay there. " Each head of a household was told to stake an allotment. (160 acres for farming, 160 acres for grazing) Rather than marking the corners of the allotment, the Indians were told to plant a large post in the center of their chosen land and each year to clear and work a larger area around the post until all 160 acres were being used. Hundreds of farms were started by means of the allotment system, before the land was surveyed. When little Julian saw the surveyors at work, he didn't begin to guess the trouble it would soon cause down the canyon aways. A Ute farmer had a farm not far from Julian's home acquired by means of the allotment. After the land survey, he discovered another Ute had acquired nearby farmland according to the survey lines and that the surveyed land and the allotted land overlapped. Rather than attempt some sort of peaceful solution, the two farmers became very angry and proceeded to shoot at one another whenever they watered their horses in the creek each claimed. The feud ended when one of them killed the other. Julian was asked for any memories of Chipita and Ouray, but he said they died a few years before he was born. Julian and Ultima Baker (the former Ultima Watts, sister of Max Watts) were married at a farm house between Bayfield and Ignacio. They had one daughter, Mary, and eight sons: Walter, Randolph, Ullysses, John, Carl, Thomas, Christopher and Clem. Four of the sons survive, John, Carl, Chris and Clem. Julian has been a farmer and rancher full or part time most of his life. He was selected to be Tribal Judge from 1947-1956. Though this is essential and important work, the pressures and mental strain of decision-making were very strong and Julian recalls, "That's not the kind of job to make anyone the most friends." Another kind of work · Julian especially enjoyed and still enjoys in his shop is carpentry. He has done a lot of construction work including some of the building at Lake Capote. In the last few years Julian has invented several kinds of bead looms and an ingenious stock chute for separating sheep. Julian will be 82 this next July. His life has been long and varied and full. He and his people have survived many challenges and coped with many changes during his lifetime. All of us appreciate his example of tenacity, courage and hard work. We wish him many years of happiness and good health. by Shelby Smith - January 1974. 12 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Shelby Smith Interviews Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource https://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-NC/1.0/?language=en Date Created Date of creation of the resource. 1973-1980 Subject The topic of the resource Ignacio; Southwest Colorado Description An account of the resource Collection of biographies, predominantly of residents from the Ignacio Senior Center, based on interviews conducted by Shelby Smith from approximately 1973 to 1980. The abridged interviews were originally published as individual entries in The Thoughtful Years newsletter, published by the Ignacio Senior Center, beginning in 1973. They were later published as a whole in Smith's book: Oral Histories of the Southern Pine River Valley, from which the original scans in this collection have been derived. Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smith, Shelby Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Julian S. Baker Biography Date Created Date of creation of the resource. 1974-01 Subject The topic of the resource Baker, Julian S.; Ignacio, Colorado; Southwest Colorado Description An account of the resource Biography of Julian S. Baker based on an interview conducted by Shelby Smith. Originally included in the January, 1974 issue of "The Thoughtful Years" newsletter published by the Ignacio Senior Center. Later included in the book "Oral Histories of the Southern Pine River Valley" by Shelby Smith. Spatial Coverage Spatial characteristics of the resource. Ignacio, Colorado; Southwest Colorado Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Baker, Julian S. Extent The size or duration of the resource. 2 pages Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NKC/1.0/ Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smith, Shelby https://voicesofignacio.cvlcollections.org/files/original/5ed4d6abd9de43ddd2617d75672b8aa0.pdf 4ccd1a4aa131642a4839a0b3b6719ec1 PDF Text Text ALMA BOX "My parents were from Capote Band of the Utes. Henry Box, my father, owned land down near La Boca. He raised wheat and corn and vegetables for the family. My mother, Sally Box, also worked hard on the farm. I had three brothers and one sister. The oldest was Jacob (the father of Eddie), Agnes, Fritz and Mary Box Chavez. Then came my brother Paul, my sister Bessie, who married Jimmy Baker, and my little brother, Henry. Now all my brothers and sisters are dead. We lived in a post house plastered with adobe inside and out. These were easy to build and were warm. Our water was carried from a spring. Mostly we ate deer meat, which my father supplied. He was a good hunter. My mother taught me to dry food, to do beadwork and to sew my clothes. We dried wild spinach, chokecherries and buffaloberries. She taught me to weave baskets from the wild grasses, but I have forgotten how to make them. In those years there was a small store near the train depot in La Boca. Sometimes we went shopping there, sometimes at the stores in Ignacio. I quit riding horses when I was very young. Once a horse threw me off, so I quit." ) ) "Our family always went to the Bear Dance and other pow-wows. My brother liked to sing at the dances. Anymore I don't go. Maybe we just drive around at the Sun Dance to see who all is there." ) ) ) ) ) ) ) _) J J _) ..) _) _) ...J ...J J ..) J ...J J J ...J ...J "When I was a child, I was sent to the dorm and the Indian School here in Ignacio, but I only stayed about 3-4 years. After that I stayed home to cook and wash and sew for the family." "I have four children, but only two are still living. Emiel is the oldest, then Rhoades, Sarah and Alice. Rhoades served in the Army in World War II. He lived through the war, but died a short time after coming home. Alice died in 1968. Her children, Terry and Tooley, still live w ith me. Sarah married Clifford Baker. Their seven children are the twins, Ronnie and Iden, Teddy (now deceased), Ann Wesley, Connie and Melvin. Emiel was never married." Alma bought her house in Ignacio about 1955. She still uses her wood and coal stoves for heating and cooking. Once she tried an electric range, but didn't care for it. She has never used natural gas because she doesn't trust it. Alma goes to Durango with her grandchildren for shopping whenever needed. A few times in her life she has visited Dulce and Towaoc. From time to time she goes to Santa Fe to visit Rhoades' grave, but that's about as far as she has ventured from home. Alma is now 77 years old, a quiet, old-fashioned lady. She never learned to drive a car. If the phone rings, she will answer but she never has learned to call out. She spends her time sewing and watching TV and occasionally thinking about her parents. "I really miss them," she says. Alma is still in good health, has good hearing and good vision and still sews most of her own clothes by hand. We wish her many more years of peaceful and quiet life. January, 1981 -- by Shelby Smith 13 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Shelby Smith Interviews Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource https://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-NC/1.0/?language=en Date Created Date of creation of the resource. 1973-1980 Subject The topic of the resource Ignacio; Southwest Colorado Description An account of the resource Collection of biographies, predominantly of residents from the Ignacio Senior Center, based on interviews conducted by Shelby Smith from approximately 1973 to 1980. The abridged interviews were originally published as individual entries in The Thoughtful Years newsletter, published by the Ignacio Senior Center, beginning in 1973. They were later published as a whole in Smith's book: Oral Histories of the Southern Pine River Valley, from which the original scans in this collection have been derived. Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smith, Shelby Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Alma Box Biography Date Created Date of creation of the resource. 1981-01 Subject The topic of the resource Box, Alma; Ignacio, Colorado; Southwest Colorado Description An account of the resource Biography of Alma Box based on an interview conducted by Shelby Smith. Originally included in the January, 1981 issue of "The Thoughtful Years" newsletter published by the Ignacio Senior Center. Later included in the book "Oral Histories of the Southern Pine River Valley" by Shelby Smith. Spatial Coverage Spatial characteristics of the resource. Ignacio, Colorado; Southwest Colorado Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Box, Alma Extent The size or duration of the resource. 1 page Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NKC/1.0/ Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smith, Shelby https://voicesofignacio.cvlcollections.org/files/original/238603d434631037ca4f1a913bb7cd40.pdf f160749ee230e17f4b6097b77b54ace1 PDF Text Text FRITZ BOX I was born on September 25, 1915, in the Pine Valley just south of Bayfield, west of the river. Soon after I was born my parents moved to an adobe house north of Russel Box's place. My father, Jacob Box, was a member of the Capote Band and my mother, Bertha Bent Box, was a member of the Moache Band. I barely remember my grandfather, George Bent, since he died while I was very small, but I can still picture his braids and his buckskin clothes. I remember my grandmother, Virgie Bent, much better since she lived until I was 10 or 11 years old. She was a tireless worker. She is the one who took care of us all. She kept busy all the time, tanning buckskin hides, making moccasins and leather clothes. She snared rabbits and prairie dogs and dried greens and berries for the winter. When she was not making clothes or preserving food, she did beadwork. I had five sisters; Marjorie, Florence (who died at the age of 10 or 11 ), Agnes, Ellen (Mirabel), and Mary (Chavez); and three brothers: David, Eddie and Clyde (who died at the age of 6). Our dad-was a good farmer. He raised wheat, oates, hay, chickens, pigs, turkeys, cattle, and horses. He had rights to summer grazing in Carbonate Basin north of Bayfield. Every summer we made a big herd of our cattle and those of several of our neighbors. We loaded the camp gear on the pack horses and headed up to the range. We stayed until the cattle were settled, then returned home for the summer. In September Dad and I and several of the neighbors went back for the roundup. Once they were started, they came willingly. The cold nights were telling them it was time to get out of the hills. When an infestation of poisonous weeds began taking over the range, we were assigned another range east of Tillawocket. I attended the Allen Day School with Joe Weaver, Harold Groves, and Jack Frost. They were pretty good boys. Sometimes in the winter Joe and I sneaked off to the river instead of going to school. We'd ice skate a while, then build a fire to get warm. In the afternoon we'd go home at the right time. When Dad asked us how was school, we'd answer, 'Just fine.' Then he'd say, 'You didn't go to school today.' I don't know how he knew, maybe we looked too happy on those days. Even though we skipped school once in a while, we did well in school. None of us had any trouble learning to read or do the other work. After 5 or 6 years at Allen Day, I was sent to the Indian School at Santa Fe with Casey Baker, Robert Weaver, John Williams, Charlie Spencer and Graves Gunn. We rode the train to Santa Fe with several Utes from Utah. II was like a military school with bugles in the morning and marching drills. In February of that year I was called to the office. I was sure I was in trouble. All they did was tell me I was going home. Until I got on the train with my sister, I didn't know that my father had died. One year shortly after we got back to Santa Fe, Graves and I decided to run away from school. It took us several days to walk to Antonito following the railroad track. For several days we hung around town sleeping wherever we could with no idea what to do next. One afternoon a nice looking man walked up and said he wanted workers in his potato harvest. He drove us to a farm northwest of Monte Vista where some Spani-sh people lived. The first three days of picking potatoes were very hard. Our backs were very sore from stooping and lifting but we soon got used to it. Our bed was a blanket in a straw stack. They fed us very well. When the harvest was finished, the man paid us off and put us on the train at Monte Vista. I don't remember what he paid us, but we thought we had a lot of money. We got off the train at Alamosa where we stayed in the best hotel, ate a fancy meal and played pool in the lobby. The next morning we took off walking along the railroad track toward Antonito. Four miles south of town we stopped to 14 �.- , """) """) """) """) 7 t t '") "') ) 1 ' ' ) ) ) ) ) ) ' ) ) ) ,) ) ) _) _) J J J J ..J rest. The traffic was passing along the road not far away. Suddenly, a pickup slowed down with the driver watching us. We thought it was the truant officer. There was no place to hide. Graves said, 'They've got us now.' The man walked up and asked, 'Where are you going?' When we didn't answer, he said, 'Why don't you come work for me?' He drove us way west of Alamosa toward that big mountain. We harvested potatoes for another week and a half. Back in Alamosa we stayed in the hotel and ate another meal. The next morning we decided to quit fooling., around and get home. It was getting cold. So we bought train tickets to Ignacio. The closer we got to home, the more nervous we got, because we knew someone would be on the lookout for us. At La Boca we got scared and jumped off the train. I walked up to my grandmother's place and told Graves to stay there until we found out whether anyone was looking for us, but he went right on to town. Just as soon as he walked into Ignacio, Harry Richards grabbed him. Harry was the Indian cop at that time and he knew we were going to show up sooner or later. He tried to catch me, but I kept on the move. Early each morning I rode out into the country and didn't come back till late. I was down i n La Boca the day Harry Richards putSxGraves on the train for Santa Fe. I waved at Graves as the train rolled by with him trapped between Harry and the window. I was laughing, but Graves didn't think it was funny. I spent two years out of school, hunting hauling wood, breaking horses, and doing a little rodeo riding. I joined a dancing club made up of young single boys with one older man who was our leader and teacher. He taught us the war dances and the songs for the sun dance. After two years of freedom I decided I better go back to school and make something of myself. I enrolled at Albuquerque with Mary Chavez, Joe Weaver, Harold Groves, Frances Pinnecoose and Nettie Frost. Later I transferred to Haskell Institute in Kansas where I finished high school in 1935. When I got out of school it was the middle of the depression. I worked at whatever I could find. My brother David was leaving a job in the BIA auto shop at Towaoc to go to school. He sent me to ask for his job and I got it. One year at the Ute Mountain Bear Dance I met a girl named Pearl Posey. I soon got acquainted with her parents. They made their living fro'] a herd of sheep. Pearl and I got married in 1938. I was drafted in 1945. They statione€1 me in Mineral Wells, Texas, Hawaii and Okinawa and sent me home in 1946. Back home the BIA rehired me and I stayed with them for eight years. I served one term on the Southern Ute Tribal Council 1951-54 in John Baker's place while he left to go to school. In 1954 I went back to cattle farming and stayed with that until I became a game warden in 1963. After that I ran the tribal shop and then went into Tribal Resources doing custom farming, which I still do. Pearl and I had seven children: Alvina, who lived in Gallup; Orian, who lived in Montana; Clyde, who died in 1967; Veronica, who works in Denver; Ernestine and her husband who still live here; Gregory, who lives here; and Karen, who lives at Towaoc where she is enrolled . J J "Pearl died in 1975 and I'm still working. I'm going to work till I drop. I dug ditches for a living when there was no other job. I've worked all my life since my dad died and I'm not going to stop now." J Shelby Smith, February 1980 J J J J J J J 15 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Shelby Smith Interviews Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource https://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-NC/1.0/?language=en Date Created Date of creation of the resource. 1973-1980 Subject The topic of the resource Ignacio; Southwest Colorado Description An account of the resource Collection of biographies, predominantly of residents from the Ignacio Senior Center, based on interviews conducted by Shelby Smith from approximately 1973 to 1980. The abridged interviews were originally published as individual entries in The Thoughtful Years newsletter, published by the Ignacio Senior Center, beginning in 1973. They were later published as a whole in Smith's book: Oral Histories of the Southern Pine River Valley, from which the original scans in this collection have been derived. Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smith, Shelby Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Fritz Box Biography Date Created Date of creation of the resource. 1980-02 Subject The topic of the resource Box, Fritz; Ignacio, Colorado; Southwest Colorado Description An account of the resource Biography of Fritz Box based on an interview conducted by Shelby Smith. Originally included in the February, 1980 issue of "The Thoughtful Years" newsletter published by the Ignacio Senior Center. Later included in the book "Oral Histories of the Southern Pine River Valley" by Shelby Smith. Spatial Coverage Spatial characteristics of the resource. Ignacio, Colorado; Southwest Colorado Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Extent The size or duration of the resource. 2 pages Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Box, Fritz Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NKC/1.0/ Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smith, Shelby https://voicesofignacio.cvlcollections.org/files/original/6e0ebe2e794942e401ba92bea8f0ee24.pdf 3fb7ceac231fd51b412a3dd4d76d633a PDF Text Text PAUL AND HAZEL (Gunderman) BRAKE During the first two decades of this century, the Ithaca (New York) Conservatory of Music was one of the four finest music centers in the country. It was there Paul Brake and Hazel Gunderman became acquainted through their interest in music and dated and became good friends. Ithaca, in the Finger Lakes district of southern New York, is a very beautiful place. "It's very much like here, only less rugged and has much mare rain" says Hazel. When Hazel was born on August 30, 1901, her parents, Charles and Ethyl Gunderman, lived in Waverly, New York, about 40 miles south of Ithaca. Mr. Gunderman was employed by an aggressive company with a great future, the Bell Telephone Co. "Dad was a construction foreman and a trouble man for 33 years. This job eventually took us to Ithaca. It was hard work without the machines used today. The telephone poles were raised by horses and the men had to pull the wires by hand. During the years he was a trouble man, he was called out during storms and in the middle of the night whenever service was interrupted." School was quite demanding in those days. "We didn't get any credit for just being there. Every year we had to pass the Regent's Exam or we would not be passed on to the next grade. Our home was heated by a coal stove. We had running water from the town's spring-fed reservoir, so pure it needed no filtration. -We had no supermarkets. We bought milk and eggs at the creamery and our meat at the butcher's. The stores did have canned goods, which was a help, since the only fresh things available during winter were cabbage, celery, turnips and plenty of apples. Bacon was 20 cents a pound and if butter got to 35 cents a pound, people-thought it was too high to use. Refrigerating food was never a problem in winter. We always had a cold room, but in summer every one used an ice box. Blocks of ice were delivered twice a week. Ice cutting on the river provided work for many men during winter." During the 1920's Hazel taught music to many private students. This work was successful and enjoyable until the years of the depression. Suddenly people were too poor to pay for music lessons and Hazel was out of work. In 1932 Hazel and her mother went to Los Angeles for a visit and decided to stay, since there were more jobs in California. Over the next 30 years Hazel had a variety of jobs. "I took whatever was available during the depression. There was no unemployment compensation then." In 1962 Hazel made a trip back to Ithaca. While visiting Miss Holmes, one of her old teachers at the conservatory, she learned that Paul Brake, whom she had not seen for over 30 years, was teaching school in Salida, Colorado. When she returned home, Hazel wrote to Opal and the friendship which had begun so long ago, resumed. They met in Las Vegas, Nevada, over Christmas vacation of 1962 and were married. Paul returned to Salida to finish the school year. The next summer he joined Hazel in Los Angeles. The Brakes came to Ignacio and Durango for a vacation in the summer of 1964. This was not Paul's first trip to this area. He had taught music in the Ute Vocational School for 6 years 1946-53. Of all the bands he taught in various schools across the country, 16 �'1 '1 '1 1 1 1 I I Mr. Brake says he got the most satisfaction from his bands at the Indian School. Primarily, Mr. Brake says, "Because the Indian children are very talented, musically." J l ' I ) ' ' ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) J ) _) J .) .J J .J .J __) .J .._) .._) ..) .._) .._) J J J Paul had good memories of Ignacio and Hazel took an immediate liking for the area. After a little searching, they located a house to buy, then returned to Los Angeles, since Hazel needed to work only a few months to reach retirement age. She had no regrets about leaving Los Angeles. "Los Angeles offers many cultural advantages, such as the Hollywood Bowl, the museums, and the symphony, but I never really liked it there very well. It is damp and foggy much of the time. Then the town began to grow until all the autos made the air almost unbreathable.'' Pulling up stakes to move to Los Angeles and then on to Ignacio is part of the pattern of Paul Brake's life. His career in music has taken him to more places in the country than most people have heard of. Paul's father, Charles Hobart Brake was a school teacher educated in Canada. Later he bought a Business College in Norfolk, Nebraska. Paul was born there on December 14, 1897. After selling the college, Charles farmed in Nebraska and then decided to go back to New York. Not long afterward, Paul began to demonstrate the beginnings of the musical talent which would dominate his life, Paul had been forbidden to "bother his father's clarinet', but when he was alone in the house, Paul experimented with it until he could play a tune. When his father caught him, he decided it was not mischief but potential talent showing up. So -Paul got lessons. Then he was sent to the conservatory where he met Hazel. His first jobs were providing theme music at the theaters in Ithaca. Then he went on the road with the band in Van Arnum's Circus and became fascinated with the traveling life. Over the next 20 years, he traveled the country with a marvelous variety of circuses, road shows and melodramas. Paul worked one season on a living legend, the Cotton Blossom Show Boat. "We played the towns up and down the Mississippi, Ohio, Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers, one play going down and another coming back up the river. We did Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come and Unwa nted Child. The band provided incidental music for the plays. When the boat stopped near Hannibal, Missouri, I asked an old timer whether he had known Mark Twain. He said yes, he had known him and that Mark was a pretty good man, but an awful liar." The show boat was a theater built on a garage. It would seat 500. "Most of the time we stopped at towns, but occasionally we'd tie up at lonely little docks in farm country. That night we'd see the people walking through the woods with their lanterns and rowing down the river in their skiffs. People in those areas were hungry for entertainment and it was surprising what a crowd we'd pull out of seemingly empty country. Seats cost 35 cents to 75 cents. There were 10 in the cast, 12 in the band and a crew of 3 operated the stern-wheeler steam boat which maneuvered the garage." Paul played tuba for the Youngstown, Ohio Symphony for several years, then went back on the road with the Ringling Brothers-Barnum & Bailey Circus. Other years he taught band in schools in Ohio, Texas and Colorado . The Brake's time in Colorado has been retirement in the best sense of the word. Now that there is time, they have both worked to develop further their talents and interests . Hazel has taught piano to many youngsters and spends hours oil painting. Paul fishes 17 �in the Pine River when he takes a notion, teaches violin and composes music. His latest creation, a symphonic composition of four suites for band was conducted by Mr. Brake at the Ft. Lewis Concert last December. Our senior citizens are people with abilities and interests as varied and as valuable as those of any other age group. The Brakes are adequate evidence of this. We send both of them our best wishes for good health and for many years to work and create and contribute to their community. January, 1976 -- by Shelby Smith 18 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Shelby Smith Interviews Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource https://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-NC/1.0/?language=en Date Created Date of creation of the resource. 1973-1980 Subject The topic of the resource Ignacio; Southwest Colorado Description An account of the resource Collection of biographies, predominantly of residents from the Ignacio Senior Center, based on interviews conducted by Shelby Smith from approximately 1973 to 1980. The abridged interviews were originally published as individual entries in The Thoughtful Years newsletter, published by the Ignacio Senior Center, beginning in 1973. They were later published as a whole in Smith's book: Oral Histories of the Southern Pine River Valley, from which the original scans in this collection have been derived. Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smith, Shelby Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Paul Brake and Hazel (Gunderman) Brake Biography Date Created Date of creation of the resource. 1976-01 Subject The topic of the resource Brake, Paul; Brake, Hazel (Gunderman); Ignacio, Colorado; Southwest Colorado Description An account of the resource Biography of Paul Brake and Hazel (Gunderman) Brake based on an interview conducted by Shelby Smith. Originally included in the January, 1976 issue of "The Thoughtful Years" newsletter published by the Ignacio Senior Center. Later included in the book "Oral Histories of the Southern Pine River Valley" by Shelby Smith. Spatial Coverage Spatial characteristics of the resource. Ignacio, Colorado; Southwest Colorado Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Brake, Paul; Brake, Hazel (Gunderman) Extent The size or duration of the resource. 3 pages Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NKC/1.0/ Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smith, Shelby https://voicesofignacio.cvlcollections.org/files/original/cb2d33f162bcbcf5802ab75c80c35622.pdf 649a64a41547d9e01836a48f25089f8e PDF Text Text '1 '1 '1 '1 'l '1 'l J 'l i ) ) i EDITH SHOSHONE BURCH "Since my parents both died when I was 3 years old, the only things I know about them came from my oldest sister, May. I was born June 6, 1907 in the Pine Valley across the river from Ignacio, probably in a tepee. The Indians often moved into their tepees during the warm months, partly because they were easy to move when they got restless and partly because they reminded them of an earlier time. My father, Harry Shoshone, Sr. was a tribal policeman. Death came early and unexpectedly for him. He was sent to patrol a fair in Durango and in the course of his duty he chased some unruly drunks, stepped in a hole while running and broke his leg. Infection set in. The leg was amputated and he died from loss of blood. A few months later my mother, Laura, died also. I do not know the cause of her death." J ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) } J ) ) J .J J .J _) ...J _) J ...J J J J J J J J J "I was placed in the Indian School Dormitory north of Ignacio. Since I was so young, I was placed with the cook, Mrs. Simpson, (Jessie Hott's mother) who had an apartment in the dorm. Later she married and became Mrs. Stauffer. She was like a mother to me and took a special interest in me until I left the Ignacio School at the age of 11. The dormitory I lived in is now the boy's dorm. At that time one end was for boys and the other for girls. Some of the other original buildings are gone and the water tower which gave us so much fun is now gone. We were not supposed to climb it, so of course, we did. I tried it once but got so scared half way up, I came back down. None of us went home for the holidays. We stayed at school all year until summer vacation. I spent summers with my sister, May." "At the age of 11, I was sent to school at Towaoc for a year. Then I went to Santa Fe where I finished the 8th grade. I could have gone to Albuquerque to finish high school, but instead I took a job working in a Sanitarium at Dulce. Later I worked for a Presbyterian missionary in the Dulce area. When he moved to Albuquerque, I came back to Ignacio. Ernest Burch went to school w ith me, but I never paid any attention to him until I moved back to Ignacio. He built dams and irrigation ditches for the Pine River Project. He had bought an old Ford car with a crank start. It was fun to go on dates in a car. We got married in 1927. At first we lived with my sister Jane Bird in an old adobe house located near the present site of the Tribal maintenance shop. Soon we moved into a two room frame house with a living room-kitchen and one bedroom. It had a wood-burning cook stove and no other improvements. Later we got Louis Valdez to build us a 4 room adobe house. It still stands south of Graves Gunn's house. We had running water in a spring down near the river bank. We fenced the spring to keep dogs and cows from spoiling the clean water. Fortunately, I knew how to ride a horse, because Ernest needed me to help round up his cattle and sheep for many years. After several years we built a house up on the hill east of Ignacio. It was a special house since it was our first one with modern plumbing and lights." "My husband was a singer and dancer in the old tradition of the tribe. He was often the first one up the valley to sing and play the drum while the Sun Dancers held up their arms to pray. He knew the Bear Dance songs and often helped with that. All the Indian 19 �ways and ceremonials were very important to him. He followed the Indian ways until he died in 1977." "We had 10 children in all. The ones still living are Homer, Ernestine, LaVarra, Nova Dene, Robert, Dennis and Cynthia. Franklin died when he was 18. The others died when they were babies." "We moved out of Ignacio in April of 1977. Ernest died in November. His funeral was at Sacred Heart Church in Durango where we were married 50 years before. When I think about the days when we were young, I remember how active we were. We baked our own bread and made quilts. If we needed something from the store, we walked to town with packs on our backs to carry the canned goods. I think we have gotten too lazy." "The important thing for me today is to go to church. I like to go twice on Sunday. I enjoy it and I enjoy going to Worker's Conference in other towns. I try to get my Indian friends to go to church regularly. It helps me and I think it would help them, too." March, 1979 -- by Shelby Smith 20 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Shelby Smith Interviews Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource https://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-NC/1.0/?language=en Date Created Date of creation of the resource. 1973-1980 Subject The topic of the resource Ignacio; Southwest Colorado Description An account of the resource Collection of biographies, predominantly of residents from the Ignacio Senior Center, based on interviews conducted by Shelby Smith from approximately 1973 to 1980. The abridged interviews were originally published as individual entries in The Thoughtful Years newsletter, published by the Ignacio Senior Center, beginning in 1973. They were later published as a whole in Smith's book: Oral Histories of the Southern Pine River Valley, from which the original scans in this collection have been derived. Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smith, Shelby Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Edith Shoshone Burch Biography Date Created Date of creation of the resource. 1979-03 Subject The topic of the resource Burch, Edith Shoshone; Ignacio, Colorado; Southwest Colorado Description An account of the resource Biography of Edith Shoshone Burch based on an interview conducted by Shelby Smith. Originally included in the March, 1979 issue of "The Thoughtful Years" newsletter published by the Ignacio Senior Center. Later included in the book "Oral Histories of the Southern Pine River Valley" by Shelby Smith. Spatial Coverage Spatial characteristics of the resource. Ignacio, Colorado; Southwest Colorado Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Burch, Edith Shoshone Extent The size or duration of the resource. 2 pages Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NKC/1.0/ Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smith, Shelby https://voicesofignacio.cvlcollections.org/files/original/4959f21e99c6159383421e1ba826f3ac.pdf 3c23cd2dfe8971978a98e3785a8348cb PDF Text Text 'l '7 '7 '7 'l 'l 'l ' ' ' ) l ) ' ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) MANUAL G. AND REGINA (Gallegos) CANDELARIA It's a long way from Spain to Arboles, Colorado, especially by way of California, Nevada, Arizona and New Mexico to Colorado; but that's the route which over several generations Manual Candelaria's ancestors have come. His Great-grandparents migrated to California from the Candelaria Valley in Spain. By the time Manual's father, Joe was born, the family lived in Chile, N. M. In successive years they moved to Tierra Amarillo and Caracas. Manual's grandfather with relatives and friends, scouted the Dolores Valley and decided to move there, but when the time came to load up and go, the rivers were too high to cross. Moving down the San Juan Valley they came to Rosa and liked it well enough to stay. It was a simpler and perhaps saner world into which Manual C. Candelaria was born on Nov. 16, 1899. Rosa, New Mexico, just below the Colorado line on the San Juan River, had a general store, a saloon and a few houses. Irrigation ditches had been installed to make green farms in the valley and above were the ranches in the dry-hills. Everyone had a few cattle and a horse or two. Joe and Faustina had two children before Manual was born, but both of them died. In 1901 Manual's mother died. During Manual's infancy and teenage years his father worked at various jobs in the area. Little Manual stayed with first one relative, then another. There was plenty of work to do wherever he stayed, but also some time for himself. He especially liked the summer when he could wade in the river and fish for trout. The general store had many things tempting to children, but Manual could only look. Ready cash was scarce for even adults. Children had none. Manual never went to school. ) J ) ) J _) _) .J .J ..J .J .J .J ...J J ...J J ...J J J ....) Sometime during Manual's early years San Juan County in N.M., the whole state of Colorado went dry. The fact that Rio Arriba County was still wet and that Rosa was in the extreme northwest corner nearest the population centers in Southwest Colorado brought swift and drastic changes to the tiny town. Soon there were eleven saloons riproaring 24 hours per day. Characters of every description, farmers, sheep men, cattlemen, railroaders, miners from Silverton and Telluride and dudes from Durango and Cortez flocked to Rosa on holidays and weekends and any other time they could. All of them were thirsty. Rosa was a fighting, gambling, carousing little town for several years. Living with one relative, then another, was not easy. Manual felt he didn't really belong anywhere. Joe remarried in 1911. Manual ran away when he was 15. One grandmother lived at Kline and he headed there. He rode the train to Durango, intending to catch the train to Telluride, get off at Hesperus and hitch rides to Kline. Manual didn't foresee the trouble a boy who could speak no English could have at a depot. Somehow the ticket agent misunderstood. As a result Manual found himself on a train headed north. When he got off at Silverton, Manual had 35 cents. He didn't know what to do, but he was determined not to return home. Soon he found a job in the kitchen of a boarding house at a mine 9 miles north of Silverton. His wages were $75.00 per month plus room and board. He washed dishes, helped the cook and did odd jobs around the place. Most of the miners were Italians and Swedes. They couldn't pronounce Candelaria, so Manual was known as "Candy". One big fellow who everyone called the "Big Swede" (Manual never knew his real name) took a special liking to "Candy". Whenever payday came, 21 �Manual would sign his check over to the Swede and the Swede bought Manual clothes, shoes, or whatever else he needed. For two years Manual hardly ever went to Silverton for fear someone would recognize him and let his dad know where he was. Finally, he met one of his old friends, Joe Maez. For a change they decided to leave Silverton and get jobs in Telluride. His last few days in Silverton, Manual spent with the big Swede. He would always get drunk when he went to town. This time the Swede disappeared for a couple of days. I didn't know where he was. Then I saw him coming down the street. He was unshaven and had a black eye. I asked him where he had been. "In jail", he said. After he got cleaned up, he took me to the bank and showed me my bank balance. Every dollar of every check I had given him was there. Everything he had bought for me was out of his own money. Joe and I soon left for Telluride and I never saw the Swede again. On the way to Telluride the boys did some shopping in Durango. Manual had a hard time communicating. He thought he had learned English at the mine. Actually, what he had learned was 5% English and the rest an astonishing conglomerate of Italian, Swedish and Mexican. After working two years in Telluride, Joe Maez decided to go visit his folks in Rosa and talked Manual into going too. "I didn't want to go, but I decided maybe I should. Most boys change a lot between ages 15 and 19. Manual certainly had. 'I looked different and I had a lot of nice clothes. About all I ever spent money on was clothes. My step-mother didn't recognize me and my dad almost didn't. He cried when he saw me." From this point on Manual worked away part of the time and stayed at home part of the time. One reason he spent time at home was a pretty little girl named Regina Gallegos. "She was a pretty girl. I would watch her walking home from school. Some people thought I was interested in her because her folks were rich. They owned a nice farm and a saloon in Rosa, but that wasn't why. I just liked her." Regina, born Jan. 13, 1905, was only 15 when Manual first noticed her. Her parents, Aneceto and Adela Gallegos, opposed their friendship at first. Regina recalls, "I had to sneak out of the house to go on buggy rides and to dances with Manual." Once while working at Gobernador, Manual heard about a basket auction at Arboles. He had a good pacing horse and rode the 40 miles just to bid on Regina's basket. "Some of my friends kept raising the bid on me. I finally had to pay over $6.00 for it." Manual and Regina were married January 28, 1924. They lived in Rosa for a year, then moved to Dolores to work in the Mcfee Mine. Later Manual got a job on a repair train for the D. & R.G. "We lived in a box car. It was well furnished and warm and comfortable. Manual worked on the steam shovel which moved up and down the Durango-Silverton line repairing flood damage to the tracks. Our car would be parked on a siding hill as we moved up to a new area. We never left the train from April to December. All our necessities were brought in by supply trains." In 1931 Manual and Regina staked a dry land claim on the mesa near La Jara. They built a house, planted an orchard and raised some good crops. Government inspectors tried to run them off, but Manual stayed till his claim became a test case in Albuquerque and he won. Later they leased land near Arboles and then began buying it until they acquired about 800 acres. The Candelaria's raised 7 children on the ranch. All of the 22 �') ') """'\ ' ' ' ' """'\ l children survive. Manual Jr. operates the ranch now. Manual says, "My son does most of the work. I can do a lot yet, but when you get old, you get smart." The Candelarias like to travel. They have made 3-4 trips to Mexico, once to Mexico City and once to Acapulco. "I'd like to go again," Regina says. Last January 28, Manual and Regina celebrated their 51st wedding anniversary. We wish them many more y,ears of happy living on their ranch. ) Shelby Smith, March, 1975. ) J ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) _) .) _J J ..) ..J ..) ..J ..J ..J ..J ..J .J .J .J J J 23 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Shelby Smith Interviews Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource https://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-NC/1.0/?language=en Date Created Date of creation of the resource. 1973-1980 Subject The topic of the resource Ignacio; Southwest Colorado Description An account of the resource Collection of biographies, predominantly of residents from the Ignacio Senior Center, based on interviews conducted by Shelby Smith from approximately 1973 to 1980. The abridged interviews were originally published as individual entries in The Thoughtful Years newsletter, published by the Ignacio Senior Center, beginning in 1973. They were later published as a whole in Smith's book: Oral Histories of the Southern Pine River Valley, from which the original scans in this collection have been derived. Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smith, Shelby Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Manual Candelaria and Regina (Gallegos) Candelaria Biography Date Created Date of creation of the resource. 1975-03 Subject The topic of the resource Candelaria, Manual G.; Candelaria, Regina (Gallegos); Ignacio, Colorado; Southwest Colorado Description An account of the resource Biography of Manual Candelaria and Regina (Gallegos) Candelaria based on an interview conducted by Shelby Smith in March, 1975. Included in the book "Oral Histories of the Southern Pine River Valley" by Shelby Smith. Spatial Coverage Spatial characteristics of the resource. Ignacio, Colorado; Southwest Colorado Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Candelaria, Manual; Candelaria, Regina (Gallegos) Extent The size or duration of the resource. 3 pages Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NKC/1.0/ Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smith, Shelby