3 10 81 https://voicesofignacio.cvlcollections.org/files/original/261af9895f19472f57a169bd7361c6db.pdf 88a4169e8f92a9dfbcec8df8a3b0dd68 PDF Text Text JOE (Audera) DURAN Jose Rosario Duran was born July 24, 1907, at Perdenales, Chihuahua, Mexico. The town of Perdenales sits in the Sierra Madre Range in the west part of Chihuahua. Jose has little memory of his life there. His father, Flores Alfonso Audera, died when Joe was an infant. This was followed by the death of his mother, Frances, in 1915 when Joe was 8. It is a matter of speculation what would have become of Joe if he had spent the remainder of his life in Mexico. However, when his aunt and uncle, the Du rans, who lived in Encinada, New Mexico, heard about their sisters death, they decided to go see about the family. What they found was little Jose, 8 years old, in need of a new father and mother. They brought him home with them and changed his name Audera to Duran. ) _) ) ) ) ) ) .) _) "My uncle, Rosario Duran, was a black smith. As soon as I was old enough, he began to teach me some of the trade. My aunt Dolores Duran died when I was 11 . Soon after this my uncle sold out and moved to Edith, Colorado. I never went to school even one day. There was always too much work to do. At the age 14 I began herding sheep for Felix Garcia, then later on for Charley Red. "Once in a while we had trouble with bears attacking the sheep and would have to go on a bear hunt." Jose and his wife had 6 children. "They are Miguel and Arturo who live in Ogden, Utah; Juanita and Rumaldo who live in Albuquerque; Mary Montoya who lives in Blanco and Rosa who lives in Chama, New Mexico. Between jobs with the sheep herding, Joe worked in Harry Smith's sawmill in Lumberton. In 1944, even though Joe was 37 years old, he decided-to join the army. The war was still going strong. Joe was sent to the Pacific and spent time in Hawaii, and .the Philippines and Japan. After 7 years he came home to Edith, which he used as home base for the next 11 years. In 1962 Joe sold his' farm at Edith, moved to Pagosa and worked for San Juan Lumber until he retired. In the spring of this year he rented one of the apartments in the Senior Center in Ignacio where he has proved to be one of the best gardeners in La Plata County. Two years ago Joe got to return to see his relatives in Perdenales, Mexico. Joe looked at the dry mountains surrounding the town and wondered how different his life would have been if his aunt and uncle had not arrived in 1915. _) October, 1978 -- SHELBY SMITH ._) _) _) ._) _) ._) J J J J J J ~ 47 � 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 Joe (Audera) Duran Biography Date Created Date of creation of the resource. 1978-10 Subject The topic of the resource Duran, Joe (Audera); Ignacio, Colorado; Southwest Colorado Description An account of the resource Biography of Joe (Audera) Duran based on an interview conducted by Shelby Smith. Originally included in the October, 1978 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 Duran, Joe (Audera) 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/db2da01a8a8936878ff64b2e7dee41ba.pdf 1cbf0bbc8d67b50487d89e9afb451454 PDF Text Text DAISY HOUSE (Cheetah) EAGLE "My mother was Fannie House, a relative of the House family at Towoac. Jack House, the last chief of the Ute Mountain Utes was my cousin. My father was John Cheetah from Northern Ute, I do not remember him since he died shortly after I was born, but my mother told me he was a blacksmith at the old Indian Agency north of town. Before my mother married John, she was married to Julian Buck. My half-brother, Daniel Buck, attended the Santa Fe Indian School, but died while he was still a young man. My two half-sisters were July Turner and Ellen Watts. July was kicked by a horse and died while she was a young girl," "I was born February 22, 1904 at the Southern Ute Agency, The long white building where I was born is still there. The first place I can remember living was a canvas wigwam located just across the bridge east from Ignacio. Since my mother was a widow, she worked very hard making beadwork and beaded moccasins and leather saddles to sell. She taught me to do beaded belts and moccasins. When I was 5 years old she sent me to the Southern Ute Boarding School. Dolly Watts, Edith Burch and Ollie l)ler started at the same time. We all cried. We were afraid and we didn't want to go. It was just as bad as we thought it would be. The big girls pinched us and teased us. The next year I got to go to Spring Creek School, It was a small country school with a lot of Anglo children. That's where I learned English." "In 1918 the terrible flu epidemic came across the country and my mother died from pneumonia. I went to live with my cousin, Paige Wright at La Boca. I helped herd the sheep and do other work. It was at La Boca School I finished the 8th grade, A few years later I met Amos Eagle. Amos liked to do farm work. He had worked as a farm laborer at Rocky Ford. We were married at the courthouse in Durango. Our first home was a 3 room adobe house on my mother's Spring Creek Allotment. It was a Wjlrm house and big enough for us at that time. Amos was a good farmer. He raised hlly and grains and sheep and cattle. He sold cows whenever we needed money. In the'winter he sold hay from a big haystack to the white people. We had many good neighbors. We helped them and they helped us, I can remember helping the white ladies can cherries and other food for the winter, Amos had a buggy with a lop which we drove to Ignacio on Saturdays to buy food and see the people. Sometimes today at the store, I see people I remember from those days, but they are old ladies now and I have forgotten their names, I remember the San Ignacio Fiesta many years ago. The Spanish people put up little stands to sell fruit and tortillas and there were foot races and horse races." "Amos and I had four children and adopted one. Ivy is the oldest, then Mildred, who died when she was a baby; Leona, who died of fever when she was 12; and Judy. Beverly was adopted. We sold my mother's allotment to the tribe and moved to town about 1956. Amos died 6 years ago. I always liked the Bear Dance and used to cook food for the feasts. With one hand stiff, I can't do my beadwork and I can't cook very easily, but I still like to go to the pow wow to listen and watch." Shelby Smith, taken in July, 1979. 48 � 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 Daisy House Eagle Biography Date Created Date of creation of the resource. 1979-07 Subject The topic of the resource Eagle, Daisy House; Ignacio, Colorado; Southwest, Colorado Description An account of the resource Biography of Daisy House Eagle based on an interview conducted by Shelby Smith. Originally included in the July, 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 Eagle, Daisy House 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/7aad58cf64d5dad1f3ef09294bd90894.pdf 4fdb4323c4db7632b7987ec665246af7 PDF Text Text 'l ~ , ,, , ,' ~ ·, J ) ) J J l -) ) ) ) PARIS AND MADELINE ENGLER "I went into the asparagus business when I was 5 years old. Mr. Stauffer at the market in Rocky Ford gave me 10 cents a bunch. As long as the asparagus lasted l could walk the mile into town and make a profit. But that was nothing compared to the well-digging business Paul Edwards and I started the next year. We dragged out picks and shovels and started to work. The well was four feet deep and-progressing nicely when Paul's brother George lay down on the edge to watch and promptly got himself hit in the head with the backswing of a pick. We thought we'd killed him. He recovered, but our welldigging business was dead. The scene of all this enterprise was my parent's (Francis and Estella Engler) seven and one half acre truck farm in the Arkansas Valley. I was born in a tent near Rock Ford on July 28, 1898. My parents raised melons, corn, green beans and asparagus in that rich valley soil, selling it from the wagon in Rocky Ford, La Junta, and Lamar." "In 1904 Dad was ready to move on for the same reason he left Ohio. It was getting too crowded. When Dad was 19, he and a friend Ike La Ford drove a spring wagon pulled by a single horse from Ohio to Wyoming where he worked in a sawmill before going on to Colorado. In Denver Francis was hired on the construction crew building Elitch Gardens. It was there he met Estella Bird Beans and they were married in 1897." ) ) ) ) ) ) 1 J _) J ....J J _) ..J J ._) -..J ....J -..J J "In 1904 Dad and I rode the train to Allison, Colorado to locate a homestead. We camped in a tent on Jack Riddle's place until the remainder of our things arrived on the train two weeks later. All we brought to start the farm was a mare and a gelding, a cow and a heifer and two hives of bees. Our mare immediately ran off with a herd of wild horses. After days of chasing and a lot of help from neighbors, we cornered them in a box canyon and got a rope on her. The land was all pinon forest. If you wanted open land you had to clear it. The first year we opened up 9 acres. The one acre we planted to oats we had to cut with a sickle. Fortunately one of our neighbors had a horse-powered threshing machine which he let us use. Our first house was a simpl·e frame building made with lumber we hauled from Bayfield. It had an earthen floor and was not large. I slept in the wagon box filled with straw and later in the barn until we built our permanent house in 1915." 11 After we moved out here my dad was mainly interested in his bee hives, his orchard and his cows. He made a deal with me for clearing the pinons. I got all I could raise off the land I cleared the first year. I remember one year raising hundreds of pounds of potatoes. They sold for 26 cents per sack. Some of them were so large that 3 together weighed up to 1O pounds." "We bought our first hay baler for $6.00. It was in bad shape, but repairable. Most of our hay was shipped by train to the sawmills which used a lot of horse power. We decided to trade hay for the lumber to build our house. I stayed out of school one term to do the transporting. I used three horses to haul 20 bales to the train and returned with 600-700 board feet of lumber each trip. We dug the basement, hauled sand from Spring Creek and quarried rock. Old man Star came down from the mesa to help us lay the rock for the basement. It was a double wall 16 inches thick. We finished in 9 days." J J J J 49 �"Dad's bees did so well here, he decided to ask Lee Pennel's father, whom he had known back in Rocky Ford, to move on out. We raised a lot of comb honey. At times the Pennels and us shipped out several thousand pounds of comb honey on the train. It was my job to pack it in the railroad car just so with straw braced between the boxes." If the engineer bumped the cars too roughly while linking up or switching, he got a good chewing out from my Dad. Once Mr. Bendure, who worked at the station,,.,., ...... (page missing) 50 � 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 Paris Engler and Madeline Engler Biography Date Created Date of creation of the resource. 1973-1981 Subject The topic of the resource Engler, Paris; Engler, Madeline Description An account of the resource Biography of Paris Engler and Madeline Engler based on an interview conducted by Shelby Smith sometime between 1973 and 1981. 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 Engler, Paris; Engler, Madeline 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/ccae8df7e83c41e18f20ba60bb215f42.pdf 49eececa3a801be5f99cc51caf28202e PDF Text Text 'l I'"") ' 'l "") 'l } ' ) J ) ) ' J ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) _) _) j ..J J J j J ..J J ...) ...) J J J ...J ....) EMMIT EVANS Emmit Bud Evans and his twin sister were born August 7, 1896, at Old McGee in the Chickasaw Nation of Oklahoma Indian Territory near present day Stratford in East Central Oklahoma, Their parents, Isaac and Mary Ann had a total of 12 children. After living at Old McGee for several years, the family moved to Maud, a small settlement in Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma, When Isaac was a young man, he worked for the Butler-Stewart Cattle Co, driving herds from East Texas across the Indian Territory to join the Chisholm Trail at Enid. Since there were no railroads into Texas in the 1870's and early 1880's, the only way the great herds of Texas could reach the markets in the East was by means of the classic cattle drives 600-800 miles north to the railheads in Kansas. On one of these drives Isaac met Mary Ann. They were married in 1883. Isaac had wintered one herd of cows in Barber County, Kansas and was so impressed with the quality of the buffalo grass that he decided to move his family further north into either Kansas or Oklahoma. Everyone who traveled in Oklahoma in frontier times sooner or later had a tale to tell about crossing one of its rivers. During most of the year, except after heavy rains, the rivers of central and Western Oklahoma run mostly underground. The South Canadian is typical. Though the river bed may be a mile wide, only a few channels run water. The remainder of the bed is sand or the dreaded quicksand. People wanting to cross with wagons would hitch four or more mules and make a run for it, whooping and hollering to spur the critters on. Most people made it, of course, but every year a few wagons and animals and occasionally some people were lost in the quivering sands. The Evans made it to Maud, acquired a farm and built a log house, Emmit recalls, "Dad was strictly a cattle man and so all of us boys had to learn to ride, rope, bulldog and brand, I can still hold any steer in the country. Just give me his tail and throw him and I'll hold him down," "Dad built our log house out of Cottonwood, That's good building material, but you better drive your nails before it dries or you may not get them in. Even the rafters were cottonwood 2' by 6's. Once they dry they'll hold up anything. We raised enough food in our garden to feed the whole family all year. Mother kept our canned food and potatoes, carrots and cabbages in the cellar. We got all the wild fruit we wanted. There were the little sour red sand plums for jelly and a large sweet plum for eating fresh . Then there were paw-paws and the persimmons and Black Haws which got us fat for the winter. That country is full of Black Walnut Trees and Native pecans. Every fall each of us kids would gather all the pecans we could sell at 4 cents per pound, and then we put away 100 pounds for ourselves, which we stashed under the stairs. No one bothered anyone else's sack. On cold winter evenings we would crack and eat all the pecans we wanted. Sometimes we'd play hully-gully. One of us would hold 2 or more pecans between our palms and shake them till they rattled. By the sound the other person would guess how many there were. If he guessed right, he got the pecans. If he guessed wrong he had to give the other person an equal number of pecans from his supply." 51 �"Since there was no school at Maud, I didn't start at 6 years of age. When Emma and I were 10, Dad took us to the Meckusuki Mission School, a boarding school over on the Seminole Reseivation. We didn't like it a bit. We got there at 1:00 in the afternoon. By 10:00 at night we had walked all the way home. We expected Dad to be mad, but he decided that if we were that unhappy, we wouldn't have to go. Though I didn't realize it at the time, I had met an exceptional person at the Mission School. Jim Thorpe, all American athlete and Olympic star, was enrolled in the Meckusuki School the same day I was. He ran away, too. His father brought him on horseback. Jim didn't wait as long as we did to run away. In fact he out-distanced his father's horse and was home before his father, evidence of the great runner he would become." Not long afterwards, a school was built at Maud. It was a rough building with homemade benches and boards for writing, but we had a good teacher. Alva Christian was from Tennessee and he took no nonsense from the kids. The children at Maud school were normal, healthy, husky, rascally frontier kids full of mischief. Mr. Christian was a match for them. He kept 15-20 dogwood switches of various thicknesses behind the map case and he used them. Emmit says, "He had eyes in the back of his head. If we were inattentive or naughty or dull, he went for a switch. He'd throw it to us, order us to bring it to him and then proceed to wear it out on us. Such methods seem harsh today, but he was a good teacher. He made us learn. He taught us vocal and instrumental music and public speaking. Every Friday night he required us to participate in a "literary''. A crowd from the surrounding territory came to these affairs to witness the students in debate, extemporaneous speaking, recitations and music. It was one of the few entertainments available to frontier people." After 7th grade students had to pay tuition of $2.00 in order to attend high school. Emmit didn't have the money so the businessmen in Maud paid the tuition so he could play football. "We had a great team, but no coach," Emmit remembers. "A couple of our teachers, Mr. Greggs and Mr. Geisinger knew a little bit about the game, but we were on our own. Even so we beat Shawnee, Seminole, Ada and all the other big towns around there. I joined the National Guard in high school with no idea it would involve me in the first real adventure of my life. When Pancho Villa started raiding across the border, our unit was called up and sent to Brownsville, Texas, with General John Pershing, who later became famous in World War I. Since I could speak Spanish passably because of a course or two I had taken, I was assigned as Pershing's interpreter. We raided across the border and tramped around. Except for a few shots fired at banditos we didn't accomplish anything. Back home I finished high school and got a football scholarship to attend Phillips University at Enid, Oklahoma, a college sponsored by the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). We had a great year. Our coach was Johnny Maulbautch, AllAmerican halfback from Michigan. We beat Oklahoma University, Texas University and everybody else we played. My studies there were interrupted by World War I. After some training at Houston, we boarded a cattle boat at Galveston for France. The stench on that trip was memorable. The ships traveled in convoy to get some protection from the German U-Boats. We landed in England and then on to Bordeaux. I was assigned to the Headquarter Co. of F215 Field Signal Battalion in the Belmont Woods. The war was 52 �I"") .. . .-, ') } ' ' } ' ) nearly over except for the time several of us got paid and went AWOL to Paris. The tripback was on another darned cattle boat, 19 days to Boston . " By the time Emmit got back from the war, Phillips University had dropped its football program, so he got a scholarship to attend Southwestern University at Winfield, Kansas. He was involved in football and track. Back in high school Jim Thorpe had told Emmit if he wanted to be an Olympic winner he could never smoke and needed to train all the time. Emmit did this and was chosen for the American Olympic team which went to Stockholm, Sweden in 1920. "I came in second in the 100 meter dash. At least I was beaten by an American." ) ] } ) ' ) ) ) ) ) ) ) J ) ) J _) .J ._) ..J ,.J ...) ._) J ..J J J ..J J J .,_) J In 1921 Emmit married Gladys Ely. She died in 1929 of pernicious anemia. There were no children. During the years Gladys was alive Emmit was coaching football at San Antonio Military Academy. They stayed there for 6 years until Gladys became quite sick, then moved back to Winfield, Kansas. Emmit was hired as superintendent of schools at Sharon, Kansas, then at Medicine Lodge, Kansas. In 1933 Emmit married Madge Aubley. They lived in Medicine Lodge until 1945, when Emmit semi-retired and moved to Pagosa Springs, Colorado. "I liked to hunt and fish," Emmit says, "and Pagosa was right in the middle of the best I could find." In succeeding years Emmit taught school in Durango, then Cortez, then as superintendent at Dove Creek and at Kit Carson, Colorado, until 1959 when Madge died. Madge and Emmit had three children. Virginia Springmeyer now lives in Canon City; Mary Jane Nelson how lived in Hawaii and Emmit Bud Jr. lives in the Piedra Valley north of Navajo Lake. The girls were already gone from home when Madge died. Emmit moved to Fort Collins so that Emmit Jr. would have the advantage of better schools. Though officially retired, Emmit took a job as Larimer County Librarian till 1964. About this time Emmit and Jr. built the Indian Head Lodge on Williams Creek Lake. They sold groceries, gas etc. and enjoyed the wilderness. After Junior finished college, he received a $25,000 fellowship to work towards his Ph. D at the University of California at Berkeley. After acquiring his degree, Emmit Jr. worked at the Scripps Institute of Oceanography near San Diego, until last year when he came to stay in the Piedra Valley for a while. Three of Emmit's eleven brothers and sisters are still living. One brother lives in Phoenix. One sister is in Oklahoma City and his twin sister, Emma still lives in Wichita, Kansas. Mr. Evans stays in the Piedra Valley in the summer. In winter he takes off for Mexico or other points far away. Right now he is enroute to Maud, Oklahoma, to participate in his high school's 60th class reunion . "As far as I know one other lady and I are the only ones in our class left. I'm looking forward to seeing her if she is still alive." How much fun and rascality and adventure can be packed into one life? That depends, of course upon who we're talking about. If it's Emmit Evans, the answer is a lot. Shelby Smith, June 1977 53 � 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 Emmit Evans Biography Date Created Date of creation of the resource. 1977-06 Subject The topic of the resource Evans, Emmit; Ignacio, Colorado; Southwest Colorado Description An account of the resource Biography of Emmit Evans based on an interview conducted by Shelby Smith. Originally included in the June, 1977 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 Evans, Emmit 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/f6e6e8b4561ace20399e5da64057a933.pdf 7ed01eb79358a8859bf30db280617216 PDF Text Text JACK & ANNETTA (Burch) FROST "I was born May 27, 1910," Jack states, "north of the Southern Ute agency just above Oscar Slrain's place. My father was a Northern Ute named Moav and my mother was Maria Frost, a Southern Ute. Many of the Utes, like my father, used to have only one name. I had an older sister, Mamie and a younger brother, Curry, but both are now deceased. My parents were living in a tepee when I was born. When I was about four years old, we moved into a one room frame house four miles south of Bayfield on the west side of the river. My father was a good farmer. He raised wheat and oats and hay. He plowed with horses and a walking plow and taught me to plow as soon as I was old enough. We were very proud when he bought his first riding plow. The Allen Day School was one and a half miles away across the river. I got to ride a horse to school, which made it easy to ford the river. After fourth grade the school closed and I was sent to Towaoc the next year. My dad got sick and that was the end of school for me. I helped with the farm work at home full time until I married Annetta Burch. My father often told me stories about how the Northern Utes used to live. He said they never stayed in one place too long. They liked to camp and travel and move about the country, hunting game and picking pinon nuts and berries. They roamed from Grand Junction to Meeker to Vernal and to Moon Lake. They only went lo Ft. Duchesne to pick up their rations. He came with a group of Northern Utes to visit here and met and married my mother. After they were married, he never went back to Utah except for visits. Whenever he got restless or lonely, he hitched up his horses and buggy and went to see his people. When I was still a young man, I went to Utah on horseback to visit my dad's people. It took me 10 days to reach Myton, Utah (near Ft. Duchesne) going through Cortez, Monticello, Moab and Green River. Coming back I rode through Grand Junction, Montrose and Silverton lo Ignacio in 9 days. I married Annetta Burch in 1927, when I was 26 years old." Annetta was born February 2, 1913. When her mother, Ada Burch, died in 1915, Annetta's grandparents, Steve and Ruth Burch took her to raise, along with two other grand-daughters, Essie Kent and Cora Jefferson. "We lived in an adobe house," Annetta says, "just a short walk north of the Allen Day School. My grandfather was a farmer. He raised turkeys and rabbits for sale, but his real interest was thoroughbred race horses. He raised beautiful horses, some of which he raced and others he sold. We traveled everywhere within a hundred miles of Ignacio to race and to attend horse sales. I remember a trip to Ridgeway. My grandparents hitched up the wagon, loaded their camp supplies and headed north into the mountains. My job was to sit in the back of the wagon to hold the reins of the race horses and keep them calm. Grandfather allowed five days to reach Ridgeway, a very slow pace, so the horses would not become too tired to race. The trip was a lot of fun. We'd watch the beautiful country go by and cook out on the open fire. I was older than Essie and Cora and loved to tease and frighten them. Grandfather often told us stories, some of them scary ones as we rode along and as we sat around the camp fire in the evenings. After we had heard one of these stories it was very easy to scare the other girls, especially Essie because she was the youngest. I sometimes got spanked for this. At the races there was a lot of noise and excitement. People attended for the fun of seeing one another as much as for 54 �~ ~ --i ' ' 'l the races. After the races there was always a lot of horse trading before the long trip home." J J "I attended Allen Day School. That was where I first met Jack Frost. At that time the Utes didn't know about most of the holidays, but we were taught about Christmas at school. I learned Twas the Night Before Christmas well enough to give it at a program. The teacher even took me to recite it at Bayfield." Jack interrupted at this point to say, "She had a good memory but I always beat her at the spelling bees. " ) J ) ' ) '1 ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) J ) ) J Jack and Annetta were married in 1937. They have 9 children. Dorothy is the oldest, then Clement, Ray, Dixie, Darlene, Donna, Byron, Ronnie and Debbie, Most of the children still live near Ignacio, but Ray is in Tucson, Byron is in Washington and Debbie is attending College at Missoula, Montana. For many years the Frosts have lived on a farm just north of the place where Annetta was raised. At first they made their living almost entirely by farming. "We milked 5 Jersey cows, earning $15.00 per week selling the cream. We had 300 chickens and traded the eggs for groceries. It was not all work. We both loved horses. When Annetta was still with her grandparents, she was forbidden to ride the race horses, but she sometimes sneaked the jockey saddle on one of the fast ones and went for a wild ride, "My interest," Jack recalls ''was just as strong. During the 1940's, I traveled with a local Cowboy's Polo Team. One of the horses I rode was a big help. He learned to kick the ball and sometimes made a score. I never got to play basketball or football, but I played baseball every Sunday on a team sponsored by the B.I.A." Involvement with the business of the Tribe has always been important to the Frosts. Annetta served on the Education Committee during the 1950's, Jack has served on the Adoption Committee and has been a member of the Southern Ute Tribal Council, Jack has worked at many jobs to supplement his family income (at the John Deere Agency, at the Headstart, as a night-watchman, etc., but his heart and Annetta's heart have always been on the farm and the land of their fathers . .) Shelby Smith -- Taken November,1979 _J J J .J J .J J J ~ .J J J J J J 55 � 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 Jack Frost and Annetta (Burch) Frost Biography Date Created Date of creation of the resource. 1979-11 Subject The topic of the resource Frost, Jack; Frost, Annetta (Burch); Ignacio, Colorado; Southwest Colorado Description An account of the resource Biography of Jack Frost and Annetta (Burch) Frost based on an interview conducted by Shelby Smith. Originally included in the November, 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. Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Frost, Jack; Frost, Annetta (Burch) 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/7316d573862721f12617f588eb0f01d3.pdf afad8ad14c4ac849f1196158879c25cf PDF Text Text JUAN GALLEGOS Juan N. Gallegos was born May 16, 1893, in Tierra Amarilla, New Mexico, the oldest son in his family. Juan's father was a sheepherder for 45 years. In the summertime he took his flocks into the high country surrounding their home. Most of their neighbors put their flocks together in the summer and either shared the herding responsibility or paid one herder such as Juan to care for the sheep. Being the oldest son, Juan soon was traveling with the sheep camp and learning how to care for the sheep. In the summer of 1908 when Juan was 15, his father had to leave the sheep for a 3 day business trip. Juan and his cousins were left in charge. It was hot weather and the creek was cool but shallow. The boys made a temporary dam with rocks to make a nice pool for skinny-dipping. Then the thought of tobacco came to their minds. Forbidden things always seem to have a great appeal to boys. A great idea came to them when they remembered the Juan's mother did not know Mr. Gallegos was away from the camp. Word was sent to Mrs. Gallegos that her husband wanted a supply of his Bull Durham tobacco. She promptly sent it and the boys began their experiment. Though they had varying degrees of success rolling their own cigarettes and went through a lot of coughing and sputteling while trying to smoke, the boys thought it was grand getting to do such a "manly" thing. However, the boys didn1 feel so "manly" when Mr. Gallegos returned and discovered their trick. Juan learned that 15 year old boys are not too old for a good whipping. A few years after that Juan's father began hearing of homesteading opportunities across the line in Colorado. In 1914 he took a claim of 160 acres north of Dulce in the Montezuma Valley. Mr. Gallegos built a log house and made the necessary improvements to establish a permanent claim. Juan and a couple of his brothers also claimed nearby homesteads, but hard times required them to abandon the claims to find work in Utah. In 1916 when Juan was about 23, he married Matilda Gallegos. They raised 6 boys and 4 gi~s. Several years later when Juan was 39, he and Matilda decided to move to Ignacio. They came by horse-drawn sled, to Pagosa Junction. II was too muddy the rest of the way for a sled, so Juan came on to Ignacio, rented a buggy and returned for his family. Life was pretty hard in 1932. Juan worked for the W.P.A. (Works Progress Administration) and he appreciated the work, but that didn't prevent him and many other Spanish speakers from calling the W.P.A. "El diablo apie" or "the devil on fool". Later Juan got a job with the BJ.A. as a camp mover under Mr. Peterson. During W.W. II Juan's second son, Juan Joe Gallegos, was captured by enemy forces in Europe, Juan believes his son was imprisoned and must have died while there. Unfortunately, there was no definite word about his fate at that lime and nothing more certain has ever been learned. Juan and his family lived in Dragerton, Utah, during 1943-45 while he worked in the Colombia Coal mine. In 1948 Matilda died. Juan returned to Ignacio in 1951 and worked as a camp mover several more years. In 1966 Juan was married to Apolonia Herrera and they still make their home here. Partial, September, 1974 56 � 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 Juan Gallegos Biography Date Created Date of creation of the resource. 1974-09 Subject The topic of the resource Gallegos, Juan; Ignacio, Colorado; Southwest Colorado Description An account of the resource Biography of Juan Gallegos based on an interview conducted by Shelby Smith in September, 1974. Included in the book "Oral Histories of the Southern Pine River Valley" by Shelby Smith. Type The nature or genre of the resource Text 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/139868dccd8b745a6c3c7e50a559871c.pdf b3139b3d2cbdc3c116a9a06560ad6623 PDF Text Text r'\ ~ "I ~ "") MARY EDNA (TRUJILLO) GALLEGOS ~ Mary Edna Gallegos was born in Pagosa Springs, Colorado, February 25, 1912, the oldest child of Tobias Trujillo and Sarah (Moreno) Trujillo. Tobias was a farmer. When he died in 1916, Edna was only 4 years old and hardly remembers her dad. Her mother later married Evaristo Garcia. i i ) J -) "My step~dad," Edna says, "was a very good man. He treated me really well. My younger sisters and one brother are still living. Mary lives in Los Angeles, Dolores in Blanco, Rose in Plymouth, CA, and Ray in Albuquerque." ) ) "I went to school in Lonetree (about 10 miles north of Pagosa Junction on Cat Creek Road). That is dryland country, but in those days we had plenty of rain for hay and for crops. The wild grass was so tall it would brush your feet when you rode a horse. We used to knot necklaces from a particular variety of tough grass there. I wonder if it still grows there. The climate has changed so much." ) About 1922 Edna's family moved to Mancos for 2 years, then came back to Durango. , ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) J ) ) J .J __) J J .J ....J J __J __J "My step-dad worked at the smelter where they processed the ores from Silverton. I enjoyed living in Durango, but it didn't last very long. When my mother died, I went to live with my aunt in Ignacio. I stayed with her two years until I was married at the age of 15. Aurelio Gallegos and I got married in 1927. For 15 years we lived on the farm at Caracas by the San Juan River just below the New Mexico State Line. There was no bridge across the river. We forded it with a wagon to buy supplies at Pagosa Junction. If the river was too high we crossed with pack horses. Sometimes I stayed home for 3 months. Often the river was so high in May, June, and July from the spring melt, that we were isolated. We had a log house on a rise above the river. Aurelio raised alfalfa on the river bottom and grain on a flat place we called the "alcon." Whenever we needed fuel we took our wagon up on Caracas Mesa. We had a permit to haul all the wood we needed for our personal use. In the summer and fall we took our wagon up on the mesa top into the woods and enjoyed the views and the peaceful feeling of the back country. Sometimes we could watch the herds of beautiful wild horses which roamed the canyons and mesas at that time. Before the winter, we always had enough wood to last till the next summer. We grew nearly all of our food. Our irrigation system was from our well, simple but effective. We pulled up buckets of water with a rope and pulley and emptied them into a series of trenches which ran down the rows of the garden. This was a lot easier than hauling buckets around the garden. We roasted our blue corn and had it ground at Allison, enough for us and some to sell. We put away 200 lbs. of white peas and all kinds of chilies and vegetables. We used kerosene lamps and a wood burning cookstove. Our cellar kept our cream and eggs cool in summer and kept our produce from freezing in winter. We never had electricity and never missed it. You'd be surprised how few worries we had. No utility bills to pay. No food bills. We were sure of everything. I was never bored and never lonely. I always liked the quiet places. __J J J J ..) .J "Aurelio and I had four children. Roger now lives in Ogden, Utah, Sarah in Newark, CA, Abe in Farmington, and Lillie in Bayfield. The kids went about 3 miles to school. If we needed to travel any further than the valley, we crossed the river and waited for the train. 57 �lfwe needed to go shopping or go to the doctor, we took the train to Durango. II arrived from Alamosa ~very day at 1:30 p.m. and would get to Durango in about 2 hours. In winter it was sometimes delayed for long periods because of snow on the passes. One way to Durango cost $2.45. "In 1942 we moved to Jack Dickinson's irrigated farm across the river in Colorado, where we stayed 5 years. From 1947-49 we lived in Durango. When Aurelio's mom died in 1949, we moved back to Caracas where we stayed until 1964. Thal year we moved to Ignacio and I've been here ever since." Edna lives in one of the apartments in the Senior Citizen's Complex just north of Ignacio. She visits her children whenever she can and occasionally keeps one of her grandchildren. Edna enjoys her new apartment and the conveniences of life today, but she would trade her electric range for a wood burning cookstove in a minute. Shelby Smith - February, 1978 � 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 Mary Edna (Trujillo) Gallegos Biography Date Created Date of creation of the resource. 1978-02 Subject The topic of the resource Gallegos, Mary Edna (Trujillo); Ignacio, Colorado; Southwest Colorado Description An account of the resource Biography of Mary Edna (Trujillo) Gallegos based on an interview conducted by Shelby Smith. Originally included in the February, 1978 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 Gallegos, Mary Edna (Trujillo) 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/87f1b0aac833288a878c0fbda430424d.pdf 8f4a4823eb19e03b7e5f618d34bd0dcc PDF Text Text ~ ~ ' ' ' ' ' , , , ) ) ) ) ' -) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) J _) __) ...) J J J J ._) ..) ._) ._) ._) TOM and ESTEFANITA (Rodriguez) GARCIA Jose Francisco Tomas Garcia came running along the ditch, then plopped onto his stomach under a pinon tree to watch the ditch water pound the waterwheel slowly and relentlessly round and round. Tiny boats made of wood shavings and sticks glided along in grand disregard for their danger, bounced down the waterwheel and disinterested in the churning pool. At nine years of age Tomas was old enough to give his grandfather some help in the flour mill, but like today there were slack times, too. Time to sail boats, time to watch clouds in the blue New Mexico sky and time to listen to the wind in the junipers. Today the hot weather sound of grasshoppers singing accompanied the measured splashing of the wheel, and underlying all was the steady, patient, low monotone of stone turning upon stone. Tomas and his mother, Nepomucena, divided their time between Grandfather Garcia's farm and flour mill and Grandfather Montoya's ranch near Espanola. Tom's father came home as often as he could, but worked on a ranch in the Animas Valley just below the Waterfall Ranch. Tomas, the first of seven children, was born October 4, 1880, at Mesilla, New Mexico. He was nine when he started to school. Everyone, including the teachers spoke Spanish. "We didn't have shows or ball games, but we played with tops, made our own bows and arrows and shot some good marble games." On his tenth birthday, Tom got a present he still remembers. While attempting to hitch a couple of horses to a wagon, he received a severe kick in the head. The blow was stunning and painful, but no permanent injury was done, except for a mark still visible on his forehead. Tom watched the horses more closely after that. Some of the most exciting days of the year during Tom's boyhood were the days of the cock races. A rooster, the target of the race, would be buried in loose earth with only its head and neck exposed. Two teams of horseman, or horsewomen, would line up at the starting point and ride off like thunder at the shot of a gun. Members of each team would lean precariously f rom their saddles attempting to grab the chicken and uproot it from the earth as they rode by in full gallop. Sometimes several passes were required with much jostling and shoving between the teams before either succeeded. Once the rooster was in hand the team possessing it attempted to ride to a designated goal and back to the starting line. The rooster, squawking and kicking, usually changed hands many times being captured and recaptured by each team in a wild, horseback free-for-all. If eyes were blackened, horses were tripped and grand fist fights broke out, that's what was expected. Spectators took a frantic interest in the outcome partly because it was an exciting sport and partly because betting on the winner assumed high stakes. Most of the time there would be a women's race and then a men's race. In the evening the losing teams were required to sponsor a dance and reception with refreshments for the winners . Tom says the last cock race he recalls took place about 1900 in New Mexico. In the summer of 1890 Tom's father, Jose, moved his family to the Animas Valley north of Durango. Tom was promptly hired to operate the horse drawn hay-baler, even though he was only 10 years old. For two years Tom went to school in Durango and learned a lot of English . ._) J ._) .J J 59 �By 1893 Tom's father had saved enough money to buy farmland near Blanco. Tom took great pride in acquiring his own pony at this time and had fun playing Spanish Explorer in the hills. In 1905 when Tom came to the Pine River Valley to visit his cousin, he did not plan to make his home here. No town existed. All that was here at the lime was the train depot, a few homes of Tribal Members, the Indian Agency and the trading post where Tom's cousin worked. While Tom was here, one of the employees at the post quit and the Hall brothers gave Tom the job of clerking and delivering. The two Hall brothers who owned the trading post lived at home with their mother. One of them was never married and the other was a widower with several children. Employed to care for the family, keep house and cook was a young lady named Estefanita Rodriquez. Estefanita was small, quick, efficient and very pretty. Since Tom was assigned to milk the cow for the family and lo eat his meals with the Halls, he met Estefanila over the milk pail and quickly acquired a taste for her cooking. "We got acquainted pretty fast," Tom admits. They were married in 1906. Tom continued to work at the post for a while; then they moved to Bayfield where he got a job with the Postal Service delivering sacks of bulk mail from the Ignacio Depot to Bayfield and then from Bayfield back to Ignacio. "There weren't any roads then, just trails. I drove a spring wagon along a trail by Buckskin Charlie's place." Tom liked his job because he got to keep on the move and meet people, but when Hans Aspaas bought the Agency Store, Tom went back to work in his old job. The Halls had bought John Taylor's land located between the present day Bank of Ignacio and the Catholic Church. Aspaas bought a large piece of land south of the bank and together they started platting the town of Ignacio. Tom and Estefanita worked hard and saved their money till in 1913 they hired Mr. Manzanares to build a house for them. Tom's house was one of the first large homes built in Ignacio. Due to its thick adobe and solid wood construction, the house is still sturdy and attractive. Of their eight children, five were boys and three were girls. Filbert died at the age of eighteen. All the others survive. From 1922 to 1940 Tom rented a farm 2 miles east of town. He raised wheat and hay and kept a few cattle. During those years Tom got involved in politics. "I liked it. I worked for the Democrats," Tom said. He took an active part in campaigns, contacted and influenced people and made many speeches for the candidates he thought were good people. The large adobe building on Goddard Avenue, presently used as the school repair shop, was built by Ignacio members of S.P.M.D.T.U. Tom recalls with a laugh that those six letters appeared in large size across the front of the building and that some local residents would sometimes tell strangers they meant "Some Poor Mexicans Die Tied Up". Actually, S.P.M.D.T.U. stands for the Sociadad Protectora Mexicana de Travajadores Unidos, a lodge devoted to protecting and improving the working conditions of Mexican-Americans. Tom as an active member occasionally traveled to Alamosa for regional meetings. For many years their building was used by various groups for meetings, parties and dances and otherwise served as the major social center in town. Estefanita's house and yard were always showplaces of flowers. She grew every kind of fruit and vegetable she could crowd into her garden. She sold eggs, produce and cream. 60 �,, ., ,, ., J J J , , ) ) J ) ) ) ) ) ) Both Garcias were hardworking all their lives. They provided well for their family and encouraged them to get as much education as possible. In spite of the obligations of a large family and a lifetime of hard work, Tom and Estefanita were aware of the needs of Their neighbors. Those who know them remark that the Garcias always remembered the poor and offered help wherever grief or sickness or trouble occurred. Estefanita suffered several periods of Illnesses during the summer and fall of 1973. She died in mid December. Today when Tom has visitors, he may get a mischievous look in his eye and inform them that the happiest hours of his life were spent in the arms of another man's wife. Before his guests are too shocked he explains that he's talking about his mother. Tom is now 93, looking for his 94th birthday in October. 'He doesn't get around too well now, but his mind is alert and his memory is good, especially regarding the distant past. When the days get warmer, Tom will spend many hours in the sun on his porch enjoying his life on that day and remembering the good and the bad, the grief and the joys, the mistakes and the successes of 93 years. If you're going that way and can stop for a few minutes, he will enjoy your visit, but more than that, you may learn a thing or two. ) March, 1974 -- Shelby Smith ) ) ) } ) _) ) ) .J ) ...) ...) .J ...) .,_) J -...J _; J -...J -...J .J .J ._) 61 � 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 Tom Garcia and Estefanita (Rodriguez) Garcia Biography Date Created Date of creation of the resource. 1974-03 Subject The topic of the resource Garcia, Tom; Garcia, Estefanita (Rodriguez); Ignacio, Colorado; Southwest Colorado Description An account of the resource Biography of Tom Garcia and Estefanita (Rodriguez) Garcia based on an interview conducted by Shelby Smith. Originally included in the March, 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 Garcia, Tom; Garcia, Estefanita (Rodriguez) 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/31446c3981e1eb9e62f0fbafe892ae85.pdf a7cd980e2a3b10bde18016253f6e866e PDF Text Text RICHARD AND HENRIETTA (Benson) GARDNER Richard Harold Gardner was born near Sioux Falls, South Dakota, on April 1, 1896, the youngest Child of George and Hanna Gardner. George had been reared in Dearborn, Michigan, where he went to school with Henry Ford, (The old Gardner home is now a part of Henry Ford's Pioneer Village at Dearborn). George went west at the age of 19, settled at Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and took advantage of the Homestead Law to acquire farmland. When George died at the age of 48, he was farming 1500 acres of rich Missouri Valley farmland with horses. After his death Hanna moved the children to town and rented the land to others. "Heinie and I attended the same high school," Dick recalls, "but since I was older and a member of a different class in school, I never knew her till several years later. I didn't have much time to get into mischief. When I wasn't going to school, I was working. Part of the time I did chores for farmers. For a while I helped the school custodian until I got a job at the telephone company. It amounted to 40 hours per week counting all the evening hours and an all-night shift Saturday night through Sunday morning. I worked on the test board tracing down malfunctions in the circuits. Originally, I was paid $30.00 per month which later was raised to $45.00. In summers I really made big money. I traveled with a telephone construction gang as time clerk and bookkeeper. We installed telephone systems in small towns in South Dakota and Minnesota. For that I was paid $75.oo per month plus my keep. Those were in the days before cables and micro-wave transmission. Since every conversation required two separate lines, the telephone poles of those days were laden with several cross arms and dozens of wires. Long distance calls could only be heard a certain distance. The farthest city we could speak with directly was Chicago. Beyond that an operator in Chicago would have to relay the message on to another operator until it reached the party being called. I learned to use the telegraph. Telegraph messages were relayed on the phone lines without interfering with conversations. Because of my work I always had money for high school and for college." Dick was about to finish his sophomore year at South Dakota State when he enlisted in the Army for World War 1. He sailed to France in a convoy of 13 ships. The crossing required 13 days, landing in France on Friday the 13th. Many of the men were spooked by these numbers, but any bad luck incurred did not affect Dick. He was a member of a special railroad unit which built narrow gauge tracks and operated supply trains right up to the trenches. "Once our outfit connected its lines to some German tracks, crossed into German Territory and pulled a German train back into Allied territory." Dick returned to America in July of 1919 and enrolled in college again. The first day back his friends invited him to go with them to a dance. Though he didn't have a date, Dick decided to go. As soon as he arrived, one of his friends pointed out Heinie and said, "there is a girl from Sioux Falls. You should get acquainted." That's exactly what Dick did, Henrietta Amelia is the youngest child of Henry and Amelia Benson, both of whom were born in Sweden, My parents taught me English first, then Swedish. Father was a laborer. I lived in the same house I was born in until I married. 62 �'l '1 '1 '1 '1 't ) ' ' ) ) l ' ' ) 1 ) ) ) ) ) ) ) } ) ) __) _) _) _) ...) J ..J J ..J J J J J J J I~ Heinie had three brothers and one sister. After graduating from high school, she enrolled at South Dakota state to study home economics and commerce. She had been a secretary before college and afterwards did secretarial and book-keeping work all her life. Even though Dick and Heinie were serious students, they found some time for fun, A new music professor from Hew York who knew little about the ways of the west roomed in the same boarding house as Dick. On a snowy, windy night Dick and some of his friends took the prof on a snipe hunt and left him literally holding the bag. About 2:00 A.M. when the boys were about to get worried, the professor came wearily up the stairs. After dating for four years Dick and Heinie were married in 1923. Dick says, "Some people may think that is a long time to date someone, but in those days a boy was supposed to have a job and something to offer before he got married. I had a degree in agriculture and one in school administration. My first job was with the first rural consolidated school system in the state at Madison. We had the first school buses and worked all the bugs out of running a consolidated arrangement. After two years of teaching agriculture, I was selected to be the superintendent. I stayed with that two years and then took the job of county agent." When World War II started Dick felt a responsibility to help with the war effort. He quit the county agent job and started teaching a Radio School for the Army Air Corps. At first he was stationed in Sioux Falls, then in St. Louis. In 1943 the Gardners returned to Madison where Dick resumed his job with the school until 1956. It was not a matter of being unhappy with life in Madison which started the Gardners looking for another place to live. They loved their life and friends there, "We had never lived outside South Dakota," Heinie says, "and we decided if we were ever going to see any other part of the country, we should go then. Dick resigned his job and we started looking. Actually, we had Colorado in mind from the start. When we got to Denver, Dick visited the Colorado Department of Education and learned there were openings for administrators all over the state. We made a list of possible places and began looking. If we didn't like the looks of a place, we wouldn't stop. We almost didn't come to Ignacio because an outdated map showed an unpaved road over here. We immediately liked the looks of the country around here, but did not make a final decision until later. After visiting several schools in Texas, Dick called back and accepted the job in Ignacio. He was principal at the high school for 3 years and, also, of the grade school 3 years until he retired in 1962. That same year we went to the World's Fair in Seattle and then on to Hawaii to visit the grave of our son who died in the war," The Gardner's son, Richard Robert, whom they called Bobby, was born in 1924. Bobby was tall, 6'2", ambitious and had high ideals. He entered the Marines in 1942 and was killed in action on March 13, 1945, on lwo Jima. He was awarded the Silver Star, Purple Heart with 2 gold stars, Presidential Unit, Citation ribbon with star, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal and the World War II Victory Medal. After retiring, Dick served on the Ignacio Town Board, as town clerk and as a manager of the town gas system. He had been active in the Lion's Club, American Legion, VFW, the 63 �Regional Planning Commission and Alpha Zeta, a national agricultural society. Both of them have been active in the Presbyterian Church and have held various service positions in the local church. "We've had good friends everywhere we have lived," the Gardners say, "but we'd never by happy away from the mountains." Shelby Smith, October 1977 64 � 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 Richard Gardner and Henrietta (Benson) Gardner Biography Date Created Date of creation of the resource. 1977-10 Subject The topic of the resource Gardner, Richard; Gardner, Henrietta (Benson); Ignacio, Colorado; Southwest Colorado Description An account of the resource Biography of Richard Gardner and Henrietta (Benson) Gardner based on an interview conducted by Shelby Smith. Originally included in the October, 1977 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 Gardner, Richard; Gardner, Henrietta (Benson) 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/31661c3342eff8a926ca8c17e00a1bab.pdf 6964129a9280581ff9c52734453aefbd PDF Text Text ERVIN AND ADDIE (Rutherford) GILBERT "The first time I ran away from home, I was just 13 years old, but I knew how to work. There was plenty of work in the farm country around Leon, Oklahoma, in the Red River Valley on the Texas line in the 1920's, but the wages were poor. One farmer paid me $12.50 per month working 7 days a week with a half day off on Sunday. People in those days would just about make a slave out of you for nothing." "I was the sixth child of W.J. and Ada Gilbert. When I was 5 months old, my mother died. During the next few months the neighbors helped take care of me until my Dad married Amanda Baxter. She was a brave lady to marry a man with six kids ranging from 1 to 11 years old. However, my Dad had a lot to offer. He owned his own freight line, using teams and wagons to haul goods to and from the rail heads at St. Joe and Marietta. Sometimes he went all the way to Wichita Falls. That took a week round trip. Amanda was good to us, but she was Pennsylvania Dutch and pretty stern." ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) .J .) _) __) ,.J ..) ._) ...J ,.J ...J ..) ._) J J J .J .J "I quit school after 6th grade and left home several times doing all kinds of jobs. I cut bois d'arc (bodark) posts for a while. During harvest season I worked as 'chaffer' on thrashing crews. That was hot, itchy work, but it paid $3.50 -$4.00 per day. I earned about the same amount as a teaming contractor digging slush pits and salt water ponds in the east Texas oil fields." "When the depression hit, wheat went from $1 .25 a bushel to $.25 per bushel to nothing. During the worst times people couldn't sell anything. One year the farmers around Me Kinney, Texas, raised a bumper crop of onions. The market went down and down until on one could buy or sell any more onions. The farmers just dumped them along the road. For ten miles the bar ditches were full of onions. They rotted and smelled for years." "In 1935, I got a notice to join the Civilian Conservation Crops, but almost missed my chance. When the notice came, I was away job hunting and barely made it back in time to get to Marietta. We were trucked to Ardmore where we boarded a train for Colorado. There must have been over 200 of us in the group. All of us were just rough Okie farm boys. Our first major stop was Joplin, Missouri. As the train sat parked in the station, we began to notice a real self-important looking man marching up and down the platform alongslde the train. Back and forth he went. We didn't know he was an armed railroad 'bull'. Some of the boys on the train got bored and decided to play a trick. They got a bucket full of cold water and a bucket full of hot water and the next time he marched by they let him have it with the cold one and then with the hot one. By the time he recovered himself, spluttering and blowing, he was mad and had his gun drawn. It's a good thing no head was showing in a window, because he was a pompous man and almost mad enough to shoot. Our next stop was Kansas City, but the detective decided our behavior wasn't fit for a big city and ordered the train to change to a route across Southern Kansas and that's where we went." "The trip was comfortable enough. Each of us had our own bunks and best of all they gave every one of us $11.00 for snacks and drinks and pocket expenses along the way. I still remember one stop at a small town in Southern Kansas. Captain Percival told us we had 15 minutes to shop and look around and when the whistle blew to get back 65 �immediately. We were having a great time in the bakeries and candy shops. Some of us were holding sacks of goodies we hadn't even paid for when unknown to us a different engine pulled into the yard and made a few toots. The 15 minutes wasn't nearly up, but everyone panicked. There was a stampede and the whole town got roused up wondering what was going on. At Alamosa we switched lo the narrow gauge. When we arrived at the Durango Depot, trucks were wailing to take us lo our assigned camp site on the La Plata River near Breen. There was nothing there but a sage brush field when we arrived. However, within a few weeks, we had a neat camp laid out and a 5 acre garden planted in the river bottom. Our group was assigned lo the Division of Grazing and built roads, trails, fences and ponds. Rookies earned $30.00 per month, assistant leaders earned $35.00 per month and leaders earned $40.00. All but $5.00 was sent home to your family. We got a $5.00 ticket lo spend at the PX. My job was to drive a '34 Ford VB flatbed truck back and forth between the camp and Salt Lake City, Utah, hauling supplies to the various camps along the way." "In October, 1935 I went to a dance at Breen and met Addie Rutherford. We dated for several months and were married at Aztec in 1936." Addie Rutherford was born at Lewis, Colorado, which was named for her grandfather Lewis, who started the first post office there. When Addie was born, her father Paul Rutherford was a honey farmer. The family later moved to Telluride for 8 years, then to Silverton for 8 years where Paul was a miner. Later they moved to Durango where Addie finished high school and got a job in the telephone office. Ervin could have signed up for another hitch in the CCC, but even though jobs were still hard to find, he decided he would rather make his own way. To earn a living, the Gilberts had to make a lot of moves the first few years of their marriage. They lived at various places in southwest Colorado. Ervin did some mining, some truck driving and some farming, and whatever was available because times were still hard. "In 1947 we decided things might be a little better in Oklahoma, so we moved back to Leon for 2 years where we very nearly went broke. We saved our money until we could come back to Colorado. In 1949 we settled in Bayfield where I worked for the forest service for 15 years." In 1957 Ervin got a contract to quarry the rock for the new buildings at Ft. Lewis College. Over the next several years Ervin provided 80-85% of the rock used in the new construction at the college. He and Dan Black, one of the administrators at Fl. Lewis, found the 'bacon rind' sandstone up on the Ewing place south of Durango, which was used in most of the college buildings. No mechanical gimmicks were used in the quarrying. It was all done using spalling hammers and loaded by hand. Ervin was paid by the ton. Some of the buildings required 700 tons of rock. The Gilberts had 10 children. Clark, the oldest, lives at Pleasant Hill, Missouri, near Kansas City; Millard lives in Bakersfield, California; Gene died when he was 33; Judy Beuten lives in Farmington; Sally Powell lives at Spring Creek; Salina Church is living at Star, Idaho; Paul is at Wellington, Colorado; Patsy died at the age of 3; and Albert and Terry are both living in Denver. 66 �'l 'l ~ i i i ' ' In the fall of 1978 the Gilberts moved to an apartment at the Senior Center north of Ignacio where they still live. Addie is an excellent seamstress and does sewing of all kinds. Ervin grows his garden, goes fishing whenever he takes a notion (like most of the Irish folk) and has a lot of fun. Best wishes to both of them. ~ Shelby Smith - May 1981 ) ) ) ) 1 ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) J ) .J ...) _) _) _) ...) _) J ...) ...) ...) ...) ...) ...) ...) 67 � 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 Ervin Gilbert and Addie (Rutherford) Gilbert Biography Date Created Date of creation of the resource. 1981-05 Subject The topic of the resource Gilbert, Ervin; Gilbert, Addie (Rutherford); Ignacio, Colorado; Southwest Colorado Description An account of the resource Biography of Ervin Gilbert and Addie (Rutherford) Gilbert based on an interview conducted by Shelby Smith in May, 1981. 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 Gilbert, Ervin; Gilbert, Addie (Rutherford) 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