18 10 216 https://voicesofignacio.cvlcollections.org/files/original/0dc8afd160dffc52b9f06aaea4c55faa.pdf 2ea2d30c4a13d884c0044fe3e9132a71 PDF Text Text NELSON & ENOLA (Hansen) MACKEY Ten year old Nelson and his family had bedded down for the night. Their covered wagon was parked beside the trail, its huge wheels braced with rocks on the sloping meadow. The hobbled team was silent. Soft snores came from the tents. Unknown to the family, large flakes of snow had begun to fall. Suddenly, the silence of night was broken by the drumming of hoofs and the clatter of wagon wheels on the rocky mountain trail. A voice out of the night shouted, "Wake up! Wake up! It'll all fall at once. Get off the pass!" The family came alive. By the time cooking utensils and camping gear were thrown into the wagon and the team hitched, several inches of snow had settled on the ground. Though the crest of the pass was only a few hundred yards up the trail, the snow was slick on the rocks and the high altitude made the horses heave for breath. Desperate slow progress was made until one of the young boys, leaning over the right front side of the wagon seat, lost his balance and fell to the ground in front of the wagon wheel, forcing the wagon to stop. Once stopped, Mr. Mackey never moved it again. The sharp crest of the pass was only 40 yards away, but the horses were winded and could do no more. Nelson's father unhitched one of the horses and rode off into the night. Mrs. Mackey and the children gathered rocks as a base for a fire in the wagon and closed the flaps. By mid-morning of the next day, Mr. Mackey and some loggers he found down the mountainside, returned with two teams with bob-sleds. The family unloaded all they could and traveled 30 miles down the pass to the small town of Crooked River, Oregon, where they spent the rest of the winter. Nelson Hamilton Mackey was born in Texas on August 7, 1898. Most Americans have a desire to see new horizons, but Nelson's father had it strong. "He never spent more than one winter in any one place until he was too old to travel anymore," Nelson recalls. Because of the travel Nelson never spent much time in grammar school, but he learned a good deal from his travels. Besides he's been to college, "I went in the front door of one and out the back one day. That was enough for me." When the Mackeys did settle down, they chose the Animas Valley two and a half miles north of Aztec. Nelson went to work for the Pointer and Baldwin Cattle Co. as a cow puncher. Grazing land for the herd was the reservation land in the region of Charcoal Canyon (Chaco Canyon) 70 miles south of Farmington. Before long Nelson was foreman of the outfit and took pride in the rough and ready way of life of the range. One Christmas, Mr. Pointer, Nelson and several other hands went to Farmington for the holidays. Early Christmas morning Nelson's group was pretty well bored and decided to rouse up the town. Their plan included a race down main street with pistols firing, a circle of the Post Office and the Bank and a grand escape across the Bloomfield Bridge into the country. According to Nelson, "it was working fine. We ripped down main, shooting up the town, circled the Post Office and Bank and were off. Every man, woman and child was out in the streets yelling that the Post Office had been robbed." As Nelson went galloping around a corned behind several of the other hands, his horse slipped and threw him. "I slid on one side of my face clear to the other side of the street. Before I could pull myself up Charlie Lewis, the Marshall, had me by the back of the neck and was saying, 'I've got one of em anyway.' Just then, Mr. Pointer came galloping up from another direction and yelled, 'Turn him loose, we just about had them till he fell.' The other hands rode like heck for the river and hid out. The Marshall swallowed our tale. If he had ever found out about our part in it he'd have killed us.'' 106 �When World War I started all of Nelson's cowpunchers were drafted in one day. Nelson was exempted to manage the herd. He was left almost alone with a large herd in an empty land. Mr. Pointer finally brought 12 Navajo boys 10-14 years of age to help him move the cattle. "We managed," Nelson said, "but I told Baldwin if we ever have another war, they aren't going to exempt me. I'd rather go to war." In 1923 an argument among Nelson and some of his buddies resulted In an unexpected and wonderful trip. One of his friends was reading Zane Gray's novel The Riders of the Purple Sage. In it Zane tells about a Mormon settlement in the Grand Canyon and described the geography and unusual features of that area. Nelson and his buddies got into a hot argument about whether the setting of the story was real or not. The dispute got so heated that the whole bunch packed their bed rolls and cooking. gear and set out for the Grand Canyon to see for themselves. Except for the time Nelson and his horse fell down a bluff into the San Juan River and lost all his gear, the trip was a great adventure. "We found everything we went to see" Nelson said. ) ) J ) J _) J J _) _J J _) ._J J ._J ._J .J ...J .J ...) In the summer of 1923 when Nelson was 25, his father told him about a pretty little longhaired girl living on the next place. "He knew I was shy, but I went up to my Dad's place soon after that and my sisters made me acquainted with Enola Hansen. She was 17 years old and pretty. Her hair was all pinned up. I wanted to see how long it was so I pulled a few pins out and took it down. Then I decided I'd kiss her once before she went home. I was shy before that, but I got over it when I met that girl. When her folks heard she had been over here with a wild cowboy, they put a quick stop to that." From then on, Enola and Nelson had to take what chances they could to see each other. The next summer when Enola was 18 Nelson told Mr. Hansen he'd like to marry Enola. Mr. Hansen thought about it a minute and replied, "I don't know what good it would do you kids to get married." One of Enola's sisters replied, "What good did it do you and mama to get married?" He didn't have any answer to that, so Nelson and Enola took the chance, went to Aztec and got married. Shortly afterwards they moved to Arizona for a year. One character they met there, they'll never forget. Coming home one day they found an outlaw in their house. His name was Cotton James (the Cotton came from his pale blond hair). Mr. James said, "I reckon I'll stay here a while." Nelson replied, "I don't see why we can't get along together." The reason Cotton wanted to stay was simple. He had a severe gunshot wound in his upper chest and was treating himself. His unorthodox method of treatment included pouring hot vinegar into the wound and drinking vinegar with sugar. "He cured himself, too," Enola recalls. Nelson never expected to be put in jail for marrying Enola, but it very nearly happened a short time after Cotton came to live with them. Apparently, since Enola was very small and could have passed for younger than her 18 years, someone started the rumor that Nelson was living unmarried with a 12 year old girl. The marshal! pounded on the door1 accused Nelson of living with a minor and was proceeding to arrest him. Cotton stuck a shotgun out a window in the Marshall's face and told him, "I'm sending Mrs. Mackey out with her marriage license. You read it and read it good and then get yourself off this place quick.'' The Marshall did as he was told and appeared very happy to leave . When the Mackeys moved back to the San Juan Valley, autos were beginning to appear in the area. There probably weren't more than 2-3 cars In Aztec at the time, but the town marshal! had put up a 15 mph speed limit sign at each end of town. Nelson was driving his team with a wagon the first time he saw the sign. Immediately he 10 7 �whipped his horses up and whipped them all the way through town, scattering people right and left. The marshal! on his little motorcycle came put-putting after him and stopped Nelson at the other edge of town. After a good cussing, the he asked what was the big idea of racing through town. Nelson replied that he had seen the new speed limit posted and was just trying to make it. The first cussing he got was nothing compared to the one he got then. The Mackeys lived on Yellow Jacket Hill a while, them moved to Spring Creek, then settled on Middle Mesa south of Allison. It was wild country down there in 1935. No road existed. Nelson cut his own road up the mesa. They ran cattle, made hay and raised a little grain on dry land. There was one poor road to Tiffany. Most of their shopping was done with Frank Leonard in Ignacio or with Morris Levy at the store in Tiffany. Occasionally, Nelson and Enola would catch the train at Tiffany for some shopping in Durango. Five children were born to the Mackeys. Allis Enola, 1925, Rose V. 1929; Nelson Pinkie, 1932; Janie Pearl, 1934 (Janie is now deceased); and Jack Melvin, 1937. Living in so isolated a place as Middle Mesa was in those days made the children very shy. "Whenever anyone would ride up, which happened only rarely, the kids would run for the hill above the house and stay there until the strangers were gone." The kids were put to work clearing the land with a grubbing hoe. Nelson followed with the team and chains for the larger shrubs and trees. As each child reached 18, Nelson offered them 40 acres or $40.00. They always took the 40 acres. In 1949 Drummond Proctor, a car salesman, told Nelson it was time for him to trade for a car. Drummond knew that Nelson had never driven a car in his life, but he said "You take your buggy on home and send Pinkie over in a few days. I'll teach him how to drive and he can bring the car home and teach you". The deal was made. Pinkie got his lessons and headed home. The only problem was the road. It was suitable for buggy wheels. The car high centered on a rock. The pan was knocked off and the engine burned up before the car ever got home. Nelson worked for the Trask Lumber Company for five years. The good income was very attractive, but once Middle Mesa became home neither Enola nor Nelson could stay away from it very long. June 21, 1974 was the Mackey's 50th Wedding Anniversary. It is apparent their long years together have not dimmed their affection for one another. "Mister has always liked to kiss the girls, but I never get jealous," Enola says with a smile. What she clearly knows is that no other "girl" will ever catch his eye quite like the little long-haired girl he met at Riverside in the summer of '23; May they both have all the happiness and good memories which 50 years of loyalty and child rearing and hard work can bring. June, 1974 - Shelby Smith 108 � 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 Nelson Mackey and Enola (Hansen) Mackey Biography Date Created Date of creation of the resource. 1974-06 Subject The topic of the resource Mackey, Nelson; Mackey, Enola (Hansen) Description An account of the resource Biography of Nelson Mackey and Enola (Hansen) Mackey based on an interview conducted by Shelby Smith. Originally included in the June, 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 Mackey, Nelson; Mackey, Enola (Hansen) 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/8c12ba868f7dd8d5201d25b6aada0856.pdf 3317a755c903cba58f7146eb47e79fd3 PDF Text Text '"'I '"'I .., .., 'l 'l 'l ' ' ' ' ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) CANDELARIA (Casias) MARQUEZ Candelaria Casias is one of Jose Roque Casias' eleven children. She is the fifth and last child of Jose and his first wife, Camilla. "I cannot remember my mother, Candelaria says, "she died when I was very young. I was raised by my oldest sister, Elena, until my Dad married Manuel ita Martinez." "All of us older children, Elena, Felix, Gregorita, Delfin and myself were born near Conejos, Colorado just north of Antonito, where my dad was a sheep herder. When dad married Manuelita, he moved the family to Ignacio near some of my step-mother's relatives. It took a week by horse and wagon to come the hundred miles. We camped in the tent every night. Dad homesteaded in an area called Las Lagunitas west of Ignacio near the Jacques farm. We continued to camp in the tents until dad finished a one room house built stockade style, which the Spanish people call 'jacal'. After the logs were set in the earth side by side for the walls, they were plastered inside and out with adobe mud. In those years there was enough rain for gardens and crops on the dry lands. Since he brought no livestock with him, dad started his flock from nothing by herding sheep on shares and by herding others for pay." "We attended the Harvey School when we could. Some of my half brothers and sisters attended for several years and learned English well. There were six of them (Crestino, Pedro, Faustine, Camilla, Gregorita and Andrea). I only went to school two winters which was not enough to learn English very well." ) ) ) J ) ) _) _) _) "There were no running streams in that country, but there were springs and we could dig a hole in the sandy bottom of an arroyo and it would soon fill with water. Between carrying water, herding sheep and the many other jobs to be done, we were needed at home. I can remember helping my dad make an 'era' (a threshing floor). We wet down the soil in an area near the house and ran the goats in a circle around and around on the wet earth. Their sharp hooves packed the soil very hard. When it dried, it was almost as hard as pottery. Then we piled shocks of wheat or the dry bushes of Pinto beans on the 'era' and again ran the goats over it. After removing the coarse straw and stems, we winnowed the remaining grain or beans in the wind to remove the fine leaves and chaff." ..J ..J "We did not spin the sheep's wool into yarn, but 1can remember washing and shaping and folding it into layers for stuffing pillows and mattresses." _) "Ignacio was a young town in those days and it had a neighbor, a small village just west of town in the valley below th~ slaughter house. The place was called El Arroyo. There were many stories of rough behavior coming out of El Arroyo. Flavian Martinez1s bar was there and some people remember the night Brownie Shannon shot Flavian's wife in the knee. He did not mean to. He was trying to shoot another man in the leg, but missed and got Flavian's wife instead." ..J ..J ..J ..J ..J ..J "I remember the flood in 1911. When the water first came up, a lot of the men and boys were pulling good boards and other useful materials out of the water. They stacked ..J ..J 109 J J �them up on higher ground. The next day when the men went out they found the water had risen so much higher that all of their salvaged lumber was washed away again." "After I grew up, my step-mother, Manuelita, died and dad moved back to Antonito. I stayed in Ignacio with my sister, Feliz, and soon afterwards met Luis Marquez. Luis was originally from the San Luis Valley, but had been working in the mines at Telluride. I wanted to have our wedding in Antonito. I went there first on the train and Luis followed a few days later. Very few people could attend our wedding and we were not allowed to have a reception because that was the year of the great flu epidemic. Many people were quarantined and others were afraid to go into a crowd." "Luis and I lived in Telluride for several years while he continued working in the mine, then we came back to Ignacio. We never had any children of our own, but we raised one of Luis' nieces, Louisa. Luis died after we were married only 14 years. I earned my living by doing housework for Mrs. Crigler and Mrs. Aspaas and Nell Marker." This next September 12, Mrs. Marquez will be 85 years old. We hope she has many more years of good health to enjoy. May, 1979 - Shelby Smith 110 � 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 Candelaria (Casias) Marquez Biography Date Created Date of creation of the resource. 1979-05 Subject The topic of the resource Marquez, Candelaria (Casias); Ignacio, Colorado; Southwest Colorado Description An account of the resource Biography of Candelaria (Casias) Marquez based on an interview conducted by Shelby Smith. Originally included in the May, 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 Marquez, Candelaria (Casias) 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/3918a43cd5ecea9acadeb040c8587c4b.pdf 913dbad2c343c4a815bc91cb25569676 PDF Text Text JOE AND NATIVIDAD (Gallegos) MARTINEZ Only one of Adolfo and Santitos Martinez' ten children survived early childhood. The other nine died in infancy or young childhood. Joe, who was born in 1917, was understandably very spoiled. "I was born on my parent's ranch in Montezuma Canyon south of Pagosa Springs. It's rolling forested country good for grazing and farming when there is enough rain. When my dad first came to Pagosa Springs from Park View, New Mexico, he worked as a bartender and owned two houses in town. When one of them burned to the ground, Dad decided he should put his money into something a little more permanent, so he sold the other house and bought the ranch at Montezuma. Dad built a log house near a spring. Oates, barley, wheat and corn grew well on the dry land. Some years the large flock of turkeys mother raised for market earned more money than Dad's lambs. With our garden and the pigs and sheep and goats to butcher we were almost self-sufficient as long as there was enough rain." "My parents took it very hard losing all the other children. Most of them were not healthy or strong when they were born. The longest any of them lived was seven years. Being the only child, I was accustomed to getting what I wanted. Once when both my parents were gone, I told our hired man, Narcisso Jaramillo, to put the harness on one of the horses and to hitch up to one of my mother's wash tubs and give me a ride. He did that just to humor me. The tub was ruined, but my parents were upset mainly because of the danger to me of such a ride." ) ) ) J J _) _) _) _) "Our area had two schools and one teacher. Lena Archuleta taught at Montezuma School from June to October and at the Edith School from November till March. The same students attended both schools. While school was going in Edith, Lena who was a good friend of my parents, kept me with her. After I finished 7th grade, I quit school to stay home on the ranch. There was plenty of work with the sheep and cattle. Our neighbors were far apart, but whenever there was a wedding or a holiday we got together tor a dance." "The first car Dad ever had was a 1928 Chevy. He was never very comfortable driving it. He let me do most of the driving after he almost had a wreck meeting a car on a curve. Times were hard in the 30's. The harder times got the more moonshine was cooked in the hills. I knew one old lady who bought a new car with what she earned from the moonshine." _) -.) ..) ...J ..) -J -J ...J ...J ...J ...J In 1941 Joe got engaged to Natividad Gallegos, who was raised at Trujillo on the San Juan R iver. Her father, Nemecio Gallegos, was born at San Luis, Colorado. Her mother, Gumesinda Salazar Gallegos was born near La Puente, New Mexico . "My parents got acquainted because my Dad's sister married one of my Mom's relatives. After my parents were married they settled at Trujillo where they lived almost all their lives. She said, "I was the oldest of seven children. I helped my mother wash on 111 �the board and take care of my little brothers. Our fun came from simple games and entertainments we invented for ourselves. Christmas was not a time for toys. The best we could expect was a good pair of shoes or a good dress. Our school house was heated by a large Warm Morning Stove, but in the coldest of weather, the uninsulated building was uncomfortable." "We got to go to Pagosa only twice a year, once at Christmas and once on the 4th of July. With no radio, no lV and no telephone, most people would probably go crazy today, but we were very happy. We did not feel trapped or bored. We had plenty of work to do, which kept us busy. Our dances and parties and what few trips we took really meant a lot to us. When I remember how we lived in those days, and how we live today, it makes me think the more people have, the more depressed and unsatisfied they are." Joe and Natividad have five daughters. When they reached school age, Joe bought a place near Juanita so the children could ride the school bus to Pagosa. Most of the girls were able to get education beyond high school, something their parents were not able to have. Today their daughter Mary Gomez lives in Dulce, N. M., Ruth Peterson lives in Denver, Polly Haloubek is in Denver; and Bernice Nelson and Rosann Gomez both live in San Francisco. In 1962 the Martinez sold the ranch at Montezuma and bought the place near Ignacio where they now live. Joe worked at a filling station near Durango until he got sick in 1977. Today Joe is at home and Natividad works in Ignacio. Once in a while they go to visit the girls. We wish them many happy years together. December 1980 - Shelby Smith 112 � 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 Martinez and Natividad (Gallegos) Martinez Biography Date Created Date of creation of the resource. 1980-12 Subject The topic of the resource Martinez, Joe; Martinez, Natividad (Gallegos) Description An account of the resource Biography of Joe Martinez and Natividad (Gallegos) Martinez based on an interview conducted by Shelby Smith. Originally included in the December, 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 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Martinez, Joe; Martinez, Natividad (Gallegos) 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/02aec330cddca7677a20718df7ced206.pdf 7c76b3f613bc852de4b09e0dc159b410 PDF Text Text /") "") "") "") "") PATRICIO & MARIA (Abeyta) MARTINEZ "") ) ' ) i ") } } , ) ) ) ) ) ) .> ) ) ) _) ) _) .J .J J _J _J .J _) ...) ...J ...J J J J J J J "It doesn't seem very long ago that I was a child growing up at Tiffany, Colorado, but many things have changed in those few years. Not only do people own a lot of things they didn't have in those days, their ways are different. My dad occasionally rode the train to Durango, but he never took my mother or any of us children. In fact, I never saw Durango until the day I was married at the age of 20. We didn't feel cheated. That's just the way it was then. Most families didn't travel and didn't expect to travel around. They stayed home and worked and kept busy. I am one of eight children. My parents, Juan and Maria Abeyta, were married at Rosa and lived there until I was about 4 years old. Then we moved to a farm near Tiffany owned by a Mr. Smith or Schmidt {I don't remember which). I can just barely remember loading up the wagons and herding all the animals together for the move. At that time Tiffany had 15-20 homes, a school and a post office in Mr. Davis' store. There was no church and though the train stopped for passengers, there was no depot. Every morning about 11 :00 the train came through headed for Alamosa and every afternoon another train passed through going to Durango. We walked 3 miles to school at Spring Creek. After second grade my parents sent me to live with my aunt in Alamosa because they thought the schools would be better in a larger town. I'm sure their intentions were good, but I was homesick. Every night I covered my head with a blanket and cried. After a month of this my aunt got disgusted and sent me back home." "In the early days Tiffany was a busy farming center, growing all kinds of grains and potatoes and even sugar beets. My dad worked for several farmers as well as for Mr. Morris Levy who operated the store. All of us children worked, too. I can still remember plowing the garden with my brother. While he held the plow, I rode the horse to help keep the rows straight." "The Spanish-speaking settlers at Tiffany formed a club called 'The League to Protect Latins and built a club building which was used for church services on Sunday and for dances and dinners and meetings at other times. It was at church I first saw Patricio Martinez who was to become my husband. He and his sisters and his father had moved to Tiffany from Coyote, N. M. to work in the sugar beet fields. Patricio and I knew one another for two years before we were married. We became interested in one another soon after we met, but our parents were so strict it was not easy to get acquainted. At church we could only glance at one another. At dances we could visit, but only with chaperons right next to us. There was certainly no dating or going out alone. One day Patricio's father and one of his uncles came to ask my fathers' permission for us to get married. He didn't give them an answer right away. In fact, they had to come several times to ask whether he would answer them. He finally said yes. Patricio was working at the smelter in Durango. He bought my trousseau and set a date with the priest for our marriage at Sacred Heart Church in Durango on October 26, 1927. I was 20 and Pat was 27. We drove a Model A Ford to Durango for the wedding and back to Tiffany for the wedding supper at my parent's home followed by an all night dance at the League Building, The wedding dress Patricio bought for me was very fancy and pretty, but also 113 �very daring. II was not a full length dress, but barely reached my knees, for that was the age of the 'flappers'. The next day we rode the train back to Durango to start our new life together," "Marriages arranged by parents must seem very strange lo people today, but ii worked out very well for us. I don't like the way it happens today. Sometimes the parents not only don't have any say about the marriage of their children, they don't even know what's happening until the last minute. Pat and I were married for 42 years. We always loved one another and even though we were always poor, we were happy and satisfied with our lives," "When the smeller closed, Patricio worked for the D. & R.G.W up at Hesperus. Later he worked at the sawmill until he retired. Patricio died in 1970. I continued living at 1425 E, 2nd Ave, in Durango until November of 1978 when I moved to the Senior Center in Ignacio. Patricio and I had 8 children. The oldest is Clorinda, then Irene, Herman, Patricio, Josephine, Chris, Veronica and Jose. I enjoy visiting my children and my sister in Denver. I keep busy sewing and crocheting. Whenever I visit my children, they usually ask me to cook some sopa for them (a traditional Mexican pudding). I am glad to do it, because they enjoy it and because it reminds me of the days when I was a child back in Tiffany March, 1981 - Shelby Smith 114 � 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 Patricio Martinez and Maria (Abeyta) Martinez Biography Date Created Date of creation of the resource. 1981-03 Subject The topic of the resource Martinez, Joe; Martinez, Natividad (Gallegos); Ignacio, Colorado; Southwest Colorado Description An account of the resource Biography of Joe Martinez and Natividad (Gallegos) Martinez based on an interview conducted by Shelby Smith in March, 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 Martinez, Joe; Martinez, Maria (Abeyta) 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/46e838d19d2b63435ad07cfe7fdacab0.pdf b141d40976228604943e45129063c626 PDF Text Text ~ .., .., 'l 'l J l J J l ' ) --, ) ) ' ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) J ..J _) _) ..J ..) ..J ...) ...) ..._) ...) ...) CARL AND CA THERINE (West) MASTERS Carl was born at home late in the evening on June 21, 1905, outside of Millport, Alabama. Lots of his relatives were in town that day for another event, so they all came with his dad to see the new baby. They stayed way too long, some until midnight. "My mother's old boyfriend was one of them. He and his friends came back the next day. There were not invited, they just came, making my mom tired and miserable." Carl was the second of his parent's children, but since his older sister died, he was especially loved and cherished in this family. However, his childhood was not lonely as an additional 6 brothers and 5 sisters were born. One of Carl's clearest and scariest memories as a young child was when his father went to deal with a swarm of bees that were disturbing their peach orchard. He came in with the swarm clinging to a stick and put it in a hive to keep. It looked dangerous and was the only time Carl saw his father do this. Carl continues, "We moved to Carbon Hill, Alabama, then on to Memphis, Tennessee. Dad was a conductor on the trolley. Part of his pay came out of the fares, but it all added up to a poor wage. Soon we went back to Carbon Hill. Lots of the old timers were dying and land was a reasonable price. I attended a private school and remember the kindergarten teacher as somewhat cruel. The kids would get a whipping with a buggy whip if they marked on a page in a book. I wasn't one of them, but it made me afraid. I went to public school after the third grade. I never cheated and I tried hard to pay attention in the classroom," Carl remarks. He left school after the 8th grade and at the age of 14 went to work in a coal mine owned by Catherine's father. When he was 17 years old, Carl joined the Navy and enjoyed the experience. He spent four years there and got to see the world, which is what he wanted to do. The officers assigned him to electrician's school. Things were going well until one day Carl's spunky nature exhibited itself. Another sailor in the electrician's school said something unbecoming to him. Carl's response was to hit the man with a # 30 tray he had in his hands. For decades the navy has had a very manly tradition for settling personal disputes. The two disputers are given pairs of boxing gloves, put in a ring, and told to go for it. Since the other sailor happened to be a professional boxer, that solution would not have been equitable. Carl was sent to court for a possible court marshal. He was offered an early release, but refused that and was never sorry. His punishment was simply an order to leave electrician's school and enter a pipe-fitting, metal-working program. Carl was O.K. with how it turned out. Catherine and Carl were married in Colorado when he got out of the Navy. After his discharge, they traveled to Alabama and Arizona and finally settled in New Mexico. He worked in a coal mine again for a while, but it was too dangerous, so they decided to relocate. They moved to St. Louis where they stayed for 15 years. That's where they started their family. Three children were born, but one was lost. Their daughter, Joyce now lives in Los Angeles and their son Carl lives in Alabama. ..._) ...) ,._.) ...) ...) 115 �Carl was offered a job in Panama in charge of a construction crew. They were helping to build a pecond addition to the canal. Carl liked the challenge and enjoyed all the different tasks in the Canal Zone. He had a knack for mechanical things. He trained his men to repair and operate a large movable crane. They, also, operated an excavator 140' long. All of this was hard, hot work in that tropical climate. Carl ran into all kinds of people. There were 17 nationalities represented among the workers. Because of the swampy landscape, everything, including the excavation equipment had to be moved across the isthmus by railway. After training his men to use the cranes and the excavators on the Atlantic end of the project, he was sent to do the same thing on the Pacific end, also. "It was a very big day when my men and I turned the whole operation over to the permanent staff of the canal." Carl received lots of personal satisfaction from doing this project. Next he worked for the Panama Canal Shipping Division. Once when Carl was loading cars to go to the states, he found a grenade in one of the cars and threw it in the water. "It made a huge explosion and killed a lot of fish and alligators." At one point Carl began to get sick in the tropical climate, so they returned to Colorado. Carl states that when they first visited the mountains, he and Catherine were fascinated with all the rocks and semi-precious stones. Carl has made jewelry out of some of the gems. Having been a coppersmith in the Navy, this was a good hobby for him. One customer was an Indian woman who brought him some stones and wanted him to make into a ring. Carl suggested she take them to her tribal jewelry maker. She showed him one that was partly done and asked him to finish it. She loved the completed ring he made. As usual, he didn't charge much; he mainly did it to make people happy. Carl also made a 25 cup and tray set out of brass and copper and is now in a museum somewhere. He hammered it all out himself while in the Navy. He made a second set to be given to an Admiral upon retirement. When Carl was about 5, one of his Texas uncles named West (his mother's brother) wanted to adopt him. He told Carl all the things he could do for him. Carl told him "No", and to this day is very happy for having made that decision. When asked about his favorite memory from childhood, he answered "Mother and I were opposites, but we loved each othe~•- His advice to everyone is, "Do the right thing." When they came back to Ignacio to visit Catherine's folks, they intended to stay only 2 weeks. Instead of a 2 week stay they have been here for 18 years. Carl says he has experienced lots of things he didn't much like. However, some of the secrets of life are to do things in moderation and to remember the old Southern expression: "There's more to life than cornbread". 116 � 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 Carl Masters and Catherine (West) Masters Biography Subject The topic of the resource Masters, Carl; Masters, Catherine (West); Ignacio, Colorado; Southwest Colorado Description An account of the resource Biography of Carl Masters and Catherine (West) Masters based on an interview conducted by Shelby Smith. 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 Masters, Carl; Masters, Catherine (West) 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/25a6ea94e847b57d739e659bbde76aa6.pdf bc5c9e7bf9b1d47ffa350d5b4797086f PDF Text Text ,..... ,..... -, ,..... ,..... ,..... J J J ' ' ' ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ULYSSES G. McJUNKIN Ulysses Grant McJunkin born November 4, 1881 - died February 5, in El Paso, Texas. Funeral services were Thursday, February 10, at the Ignacio Presbyterian Church with the Rev. Don Kratz officiating. Burial was in the Ignacio Cemetery: Jake, as he was better known from the time he was a small boy, spent his 95 years in many areas and in many occupations. Recalling when he wa~ in first grade in school in Saguache, he told how the McJunkin family came across the plains in a covered wagon. He admitted to being scared at night when he heard the coyotes. He had a lifelong interest in music and played the violin and guitar. He said he remembered his mother saying, "Jake, I wish you would stop plunking away on that guitar, you are about to drive ne crazy." In his early years around this area he played his fiddle at the county dances and his wife, Ruby, corded on the Piano. He was still playing for his own entertainment in his 80s. When Chrestino Casias, another old time musician, came to see him, the two played for hours at a time. As a young man, before he was out of his teens, he freighted across the Navajo reservation, helped survey for a railroad in Arizona and was in the Silverton -Ouray area when the mining days were at their height. An older brother, Elton, freighted supplies from Silverton across Engineer Mountain to Lake City. ) ) ) ) ) J _) .J .J .J J J J _j J J J J J J .J ._) .J From the Ignacio Chieftain for July 19, 1966 - Mr. McJunkin recalled he married Ruby Bryan, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. G.W. (George Washington) Bryan at the Bryan home which was across from the present Don Gosney ranch. The Bryans and McJunkins were around before there were any houses in what is now down town Ignacio. In 1909 the Bryan family store was located on the south side of the depot. At a later date Mr. Bryan built his store down town, (corner of Pioneer and Goddard). Mr. Bryan also built many of the present day homes in Ignacio. The McJunkins lived in Durango following their marriage. Mr. McJunkin thought it was probably July 4, 1909 that they and the Len Andersons came out from Durango on the train for the sale of some newly surveyed lots in Ignacio. The land was just being thrown open for settlement. On that 4th of July a 30 or 40 piece band from Pagosa had been engaged to play for the celebration. There were eats and speeches before the sale was to begin. However, around noon there was lightning, rain and hail. It got so cold it turned to snow. As the snow piled up, the people took off and headed for their homes and not a lot was sold. Some four years later the McJunkins did move to Ignacio. Mr. McJunkin ran sheep, then started a second hand store, later adding groceries and dry goods. After a number of years they sold the store to Harold Phillips . 117 �The McJunkins in later years lived in the Bryan family home on Browning where Ed Mouser now lives. They had three sons George, Grant, and Harry. After his wife's death, death Mr. McJunkin continued to live here during the summers in the house just north of his former home. In the winter he stays with his son, Harry, in El Paso or with his brother, Jim, at his trading post near Winslow, Arizona. In his later years he has painted a good many pictures, mostly from memory of Navajo land and early day scenes. He hangs these pictures on the walls of his home for his own pleasure. He did not like winter scenes, so he seldom painted bare trees, ice, or snow. February, 1977 - Shelby Smith 118 � 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 Ulysses G. McJunkin Biography Date Created Date of creation of the resource. 1977-02 Subject The topic of the resource McJunkin, Ulysses G.; Ignacio, Colorado; Southwest Colorado Description An account of the resource Biography of Ulysses G. McJunkin based on an interview conducted by Shelby Smith. Originally included in the February, 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 McJunkin, Ulysses G. 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/ca2c8434938600a9ae2198e4d9b016ef.pdf e67a8623305a8a7c72c6ab2c95d2e3c1 PDF Text Text "l 'l 'l 'J 'J 'J J J ) } J } ) ) ) ) LOUIE AND IRENE (Young) MORRIS The story of the westward movement and the adventures of America can be told in the lives of many of its families. One such family is that of James Morris who was born in Owsley County, Kentucky in 1870 and died in California in 1955. James married Laura Kate Wagoner in Arkansas in 1893. While they lived at Berryville, their son Louie was born on November 18, 1900. From there they moved to Eureka Springs, Arkansas, for a while and then went to McCloud, Oklahoma, to grow cotton. In 1908 James loaded his family and possessions in a covered wagon and headed for House, New Mexico, which is about 45 miles south of Tucumcari. The Morrises bought a claim and opened a general store handling groceries, dry goods, hardware, kerosene, etc. staying there five years. James might have stayed at House but he kept remembering stories about the San Juan Mountains the Wagoners had told. Laura's father and one of her uncles had spent a year trapping furs in the mountains north of Durango years before. After 5 years at House, James sold out-and loaded the covered wagon. By that time Louie was 12 or 13 years old. According to his memories, travel by covered wagon was not bad. ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) J _) _} J _) "Our wagon was pulled by two mules which could cover about 40 miles per day if the roads were good. We carried barrels of water, bacon, flour, beans, potatoes, coffee and a few canned goods. Dad built a bed back of the wagon and a cupboard on the rear. The door of the cupboard came down on hinges to form a table top. The stretch of road from Albuquerque to Cuba was hard because of all the sand. My brother and I followed in our buggy. The trip to Tiffany took about two weeks." The Morrises operated a ranch for the Limebargers for one summer only.Then they loaded up their wagon and headed back to Arkansas. James retraced his steps back to House and went on to Amarillo. That night when the family was parked in the wagon yard, James walked up and said, "Pack up. We're going the rest of the way on the train." James had sold the wagon and team to another man. The family was in Arkansas a short time, then back to Oklahoma City where James corresponded with Mr. Pierman and Mr. Dalton, the owners of the Allison store. In 1914 The Morrises bought the store at Allison and settled there for three years. Louie recalls, "Children in school were mischievous then as well as now. I remember the time one of the boys put a bottle of ink on the pot belly stove. Pretty soon it blew up and splattered ink all over the ceiling. But as a rule we weren't any better or any worse than children are today." _} _} J ...) ...) ...) About 1915 or 1916 the farmers around Allison decided to incorporate and start their own telephone company. Every body who wanted a phone bought stock in the company. The Shanks family were the operators. Of course it was all party line. Everyone had a different ring, two longs and a short, long short long, etc. Everybody heard the rings and everybody listened in. The more who listened in, the dimmer the sound became. If a child wanted to be mischievous or if someone was talking too long, J ...) ...) J J 119 �he could place the ear piece over the mouth piece and it would make a horrible noise which would quickly clear the line. There were many traveling salesmen in those days (the people called them drummers. a name the salesmen hated). Since there was no cafe in Allison, Laura provided a place for the salesmen to buy meals. "In 1918 we sold the Allison store and moved to Twin Falls, Idaho, for one summer and then on to Portland, Oregon", Louis remembers. The Morrises were in Portland when the great flu epidemic everyone had heard so much about struck the country. Louie was working at a cooperage at the time. "I got $.50 per day for checking the barrel heads after they were sawed to make certain the beveled edge was smooth and without flaws. I rode the street car to work. During the worst of the flu epidemic the conductor would only let a few people on at a time. We stayed in Portland through one winter. That spring we returned lo Allison to buy a farm from the Scoggins (Now the place belongs to Harry Engler)." It was a big event in 1919 when James bought his first car, a 4 door Chevrolet, an open car with a canvas roof and side curtains which were kept rolled up under the seats until needed. The Morrises enjoyed their car, but not when it was muddy. There was no gravel on the roads in those days. In 1920 Louie started dating Irene Young. Irene's parents, Archie and Nancy Young, originally were farmers at McClave, Colorado, 20 miles west of Lamar. Their irrigated farm produced alfalfa and grains. In 1913 when Irene was ten, her parents sold their farm and moved to a place just across the New Mexico line south of Allison. Mr. Young built a nice two story house (The one he built was moved to Colorado before Navajo Lake was filled. It is now the Robert Cox home near Tiffany.) The Youngs stayed in New Mexico two years then traded their farm for one nearer Allison. In 1920, Irene quit school when her mother died in order to take care of her little sister, Olivia. Tragedy struck the family again in 1922. Olivia contracted diphtheria and died. Louie and Irene were married Oct. 29, 1922. For a while they lived in the house where Ella Flack now lives, then moved to 450 Browning in Ignacio where they still live. That same year Louie, his brother Anthony and their Dad each bought 1/3 interests in the Economy Store which at that lime was located where the present Sheltered Workshop is. "Dad just bought into the store to help us get started. After a year or so Anthony and I bought Dad's interest. About a year after buying the store the Morrises began selling a new product, Atwater-Kent and Philco radios. Louie remembers when his Dad first read about radios. James said, "It says here they are bringing out a machine that will pick up sound out of the air without wires. You can't believe that can you?" The first radios in Ignacio operated with batteries. There was no electricity here. People put up 100 ft. antennas. Since the air waves were not jammed with hundreds of stations, people could 120 �'1 '1 "-,-, l l ' ' ) ) } ) } ' ) ) ) ) ) ) ) pick up stations from all over the country. "We used to get KFI Los Angeles, KOA Denver and other stations as far·away as Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania." In 1927 Bill Bryan installed an electric plant on the river straight east of the Malt Shop. Louie and a number of other residents had their houses wired for electricity and hooked into the system. The power plant operated only 3 hours per day from 5:00 to 8:00 P.M. Though the hours were limited, the electric lights were quite an advance over the coal oil lamps. When he moved to town, Louie got involved in local sports. First he joined the Ute Baseball Team, then the town team. "In those days people took the town teams seriously. We played Aztec, Silverton and Pagosa. We also had Saturday Night Dances, parties, and then the movies. The Andersons and the McJunkins started the Ute Theater south of the Bank. Harry McJunkin used to play the piano at the silent movies. In 1928 the Talkies came to Ignacio. The first one starred Al Jolson." When Louie and Irene bought the first closed car in Ignacio, it created quite a stir. A lot of people said, "I wouldn't ride in that showcase. Why if you had a wreck that glass would cut you to pieces." "This country has come a long way since the First World War. We used to carry water from the town pump, heat it in a copper boiler, and light our houses with kerosene lamps. I liked the old days,." says Irene, "at least, they were less confusing than life is today. When I hear young people complaining because their electric washer isn't working right, I feel like telling them they wouldn't have that problem if they washed on a board." Shelby Smith ) ) ) ) _) _) _) _) J ...) ...) _) J J J ...) J J J ,..) ,..) 121 � 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 Louie Morris and Irene (Young) Morris Biography Date Created Date of creation of the resource. 1976-10 Subject The topic of the resource Morris, Louie; Morris, Irene (Young); Ignacio, Colorado; Southwest Colorado Description An account of the resource Biography of Louie Morris and Irene (Young) Morris based on an interview conducted by Shelby Smith. Originally included in the October, 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 Morris, Louie; Morris, Irene (Young) 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/c6917472587bb538849ba9754f7b5adc.pdf 845db0aae36ad90a2ff05f1bb8ea5e98 PDF Text Text FREDDIE (Rose) NEWTON (Remembering Thanksgiving, Today and Yesterday) Thanksgiving is a favorite holiday that I have always liked so much because my family would get together and enjoy all of the good food we would cook. They joined me with their home made goodies and specials which each family brought. One daughter-in-law always made the fruit salad loaded with fruit, nuts and whipped cream. One daughter made a cheese ball, another baked pies and one was talented in her relish dish. Once a son baked the turkey and dressing and one tried his hand at seasoning a pumpkin pie though he over did it with the cloves. We started out with small crowds, but soon grew in numbers. Once twenty-eight people sat down to eat Thanksgiving with me, my children, my grandchildren and a son's college friend. This year I will go to eat with my daughter's family, grandchildren and great grandchildren. I remember as a child in 1923 in Oklahoma my mother cooked a big turkey and all the things to go with ii. Everything was made from scratch. We raised almost all of our food as we lived on a farm near Ada, Oklahoma. We had many close kin and neighbors and there were quite a number of Choctaw Indians nearby. My mother always shared our garden with our Indian neighbors and that year she cooked extra food for them. My older brother delivered ii by horseback about a half mile from our home. She sent half of the turkey and other food. The main vegetable was always her turnips as no one ever cooked like my mom. Later, moving to New Mexico in 1925 we shared again with neighbors as we had moved to an isolated ranch near Malaga, New Mexico, called the "Harroun Ranch". The ranch was worked mostly with Mexican hired help and my dad was the straw boss. When the depression hit no one had any money, but mom was always ahead with her canning, big fryers and roasting chickens, eggs, butter and such. So that Thanksgiving she told my dad, "We have to get more meat for all these hungry people". The ranch hands had a diet of beans, chili, tortillas and on occasion goat or rabbit meat. One morning in 1928 my brother was trapping and caught two big coons that he skinned and kept the pelts for sale. We also had some goats, so together with barbecued goats, roasted coons and baked chicken my mother and brother cooked a Thanksgiving dinner never to be forgotten. We and our Mexican friends shared it all. 122 � 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 Freddie (Rose) Newton Biography Subject The topic of the resource Newton, Freddie (Rose); Ignacio, Colorado; Southwest Colorado Description An account of the resource Biography of Freddie (Rose) Newton based on an interview conducted by Shelby Smith. 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 Newton, Freddie (Rose) 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/26c5a0f99ced7740ee5329b5c2927e27.pdf f718bc83d79aa7452a3d27e0e7eafcb1 PDF Text Text 'l .., .., ~ ~ JOHN & DOROTHY (Billings) OLBERT ' ' ' ' John Phillip Olbert's father, John Olbert was born in Simheimbaden, Germany in 1865. He migrated with his parents to Illinois in 1879. "My dad often told me how hard life was in Germany for the common people," John Phillip remembers. "People like my ancestors who had no land couldn't get any. However, the harsh military rule bothered them as much as the land shortage. As soon as a son was old enough to be useful to the family, he was drafted for several years into the army. So they came here wanting land and less government control of their lives. The family farmed in Illinois for several years. John left home when he was 21 and went to work for the Pullman Company in St. Louis." ) ' } } ) } ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) J J _) ..J ..J _) ..J ..J ..J ..J ..J ,J "After a couple of years, he came on west, stopping in Colorado. Pueblo was booming as a smelting and railroad center. Dad got a job helping to build the rail line over Marshall Pass from Salida to Gunnison. He worked a mule team skidding logs to build snowsheds to divert avalanches over the tracks. John settled in Telluride for the winter and acquired an unexpected job. He had done quite a variety of jobs, but 'never expected to be a nurse. The smallpox epidemic which broke out among the miners did not affect John, since he had been vaccinated in Germany. So many of the miners were either deathly sick or weak during recovery, that Dad was recruited as a Doctor's helper. While in the area he became friends of George West and Bob Hott. They began hearing tales of all the gold that could be panned out of the sand bars of the Colorado River. One summer they gave it a good try, but no one got rich." "Dad took off on his way to see the Navajo country and arrived back in Durango in 1889 when he was 24. He homesteaded at Thompson Park for a year, then moved into Durango to work at a local brewery located just north of the old high school and just east of the City Market. When Dad was 31 years old he married Margretha Geisler. My mother, who was 14 years younger than dad, was working in Durango and living with her sister, Mrs. Sponsel. My parents lived in Durango until 1915 when they bought a farm near Oxford." John Phillip was 12 when his parents moved to the farm one half mile west of Oxford. "Moving from a city school with graded classrooms to a one room school with grades 18 was quite a challenge for me. I'll never forget the first day there. Mr. Crosby, the teacher left for a while to check on his wife who was expecting a baby soon. While he was gone, some of the rowdy boys knocked the stovepipe down. This resulted in a thorough sooting of the room. Crosby questioned each of us to learn who was guilty. I was telling the truth when 1 said I didn't know, because I did not know anybody's name that day." "Dad used about half his land for grain crops and the rest for hay and pasture. Every farmer in those days had chickens, turkeys, and a bunch of milk cows. It was common to see 20-25 five gallon cream cans on the railroad platform. Part went to Durango. The rest was sold to Alamosa or Colorado Springs for better prices. Even 2-3 cents more per pound was a help." J ..J ..) ..) 12 3 �John Phillip and his brother Ernest went together to buy a new 1928 Chevrolet from Mockers in Durango. It cost $600.00 which they paid in cash after selling some cattle. This was not the first car in the family. Their dad had owned a 1914 Buick and a 1924 Ford Pickup which cost $400.00 John Phillip, his mom and dad, went to California in the pickup in 1928. They really squeezed into the cab but made it. Gas was about seventeen cents per gallon that year. In the late 1920's John Phillip was still not married, but decided to build a log house for himself. He cut and hauled logs (6 or 7 per trip) by team and wagon from the hills near Vallecito and cut his own shingles. The house wasn't quite finished when John met Dorothy Billings, the new School teacher at Oxford. Dorothy was born near Hermosa north of Durango on February 21, 1911. Her dad, Edwin Booth Billings, was a native of Jaynesville, Wisconsin. Her mother, Myrtle May Williams was born in Iowa. Myrtle's family settled near Windsor, Colorado, in 1890, later migrating in covered wagons to the Animas Valley via the San Luis Valley, Creede, Lake City and over the pass to Silverton. "My parents were truck farmers north of Durango", Dorothy says. "I went to Trimble School until I finished 1oth grade and graduated from Durango High School in 1925." Dorothy took two years of teacher training at Ft. Lewis College and came right to work at Oxford for one year and the following year" at Trimble School. John and Dorothy were married in 1931. Until their log house was finished, they lived in the Kennedy house a quarter mile west of Oxford. So many young couples started their lives in this house, it came to be known as the bridal suite of Oxford. The Olberts have 3 sons, each of whom is married and has two children. Phillip, the oldest, lives in Boulder. John Richard, usually called "Dick", lives in Palos Verdes, California. Donny is a Lt. Commander in the Navy at San Diego. John's father died in 1931. Those were hard years for everyone and the Olberts were no exception. Prices for farm products were low and the area suffered a bad dry spell in 1934, but they worked hard and were able to keep their land. When the effort began to unify the Allison, Arboles, Ignacio and Oxford School Districts in 1958-59, John was on the school board. He listened to all the arguments and got several good cussings when he supported the consolidation. Though he was aware of the drawbacks and the loss of community spirit when small towns lose their grade schools, John remembers how much he had wanted to finish high school and could not at Oxford. For the sake of others who would need a high school education, he made a decision which was not too popular. John has been secretary of the Pine River Irrigation District since 1966. He still keeps the necessary papers in the original leather satchel given to the District by Merrill Turner when it was organized in 1936. John and Dorothy have been involved in a lot of hard work during the 4 7 years of their married lives, but they also know how to relax. They love to travel and especially like to go to Coos Bay, Oregon, to get on a charter fishing boat and hook the big salmon. They 124 �"l 'l ""') ""') ""') ""') ""') l l also like to visit their children, but after a few days in Los Angeles and San Diego they are ready to come back to the farm. John can look out from his house to a spot half a mile to the northeast which the old timers said was a favorite camp site on the old Spanish Trail from Santa Fe to Durango. Like most people who have lived in one place for a long time, the Olberts value their memories and have many Ii nks with the past. i April, 1978- Shelby Smith ") ) J ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) J _) J J J .J J J J J J J J J J J -..J 125 � 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 John Olbert and Dorothy (Billings) Olbert Biography Date Created Date of creation of the resource. 1978-04 Subject The topic of the resource Olbert, John; Olbert, Dorothy (Billings); Ignacio, Colorado; Southwest Colorado Description An account of the resource Biography of John Olbert and Dorothy (Billings) Olbert based on an interview conducted by Shelby Smith. Originally included in the April, 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 Olbert, John; Olbert, Dorothy (Billings) 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/0557ab0cf89ea38565d8c2f3571f6e41.pdf 458f762fe91c0d8e5c11276b2aec9fd2 PDF Text Text FRANK PADILLA Frank Padilla was born at La Jara, New Mexico, (near Cuba) in 1903. His parents, Jose Rafael Padilla and Alcarie (Mestes) Padilla, had three children whenhe was born. They are Beatrice, Amalia and Cleotilde. The Padilla's moved to Arboles, Colorado when Frank was one year old. His father worked for the D. & R.G. W. Railroad building track. His foreman was a Japanese man. The "extra gang", as the Japanese crew was known, created quite a stir of interest since most of the local people had never seen Orientals before and had certainly never seen anyone eat so much rice. Frank says he attended school at Arboles for one year, then went to college at the sheep camp. Sheepherding was Frank's life work. Many of those years he was employed by Salvador Rodriquez, an uncle of Fred Rodriquez. Except for a few trips to Grand Junction and Utah and one memorable trip to Los Angeles, during which he missed a bus connection and toured all over Pueblo and Denver, Frank has spent his whole live in the Arboles/lgnacio area. Frank has never been married. During the interview we teasingly asked him whether he had ever had any girl friends. He set us in our places by replying the only lady he is interested in is the Virgin Mary. Frank's devoted religious faith is well known in this community. If the people of Ignacio were asked to name the person who is the best neighbor in town, Frank would be one of the winners. For many years Frank has taken care of the grounds at the Catholic Church. Since moving to one of the senior center apartments, he has watered and hoed all the fiower beds and swept and cleaned the walks and the parking lot. Every spring Frank visits both the Catholic and the nonCatholic cemeteries to search for untended graves. He removes the weeds and cleans every grave which appears to be neglected. In his daily walks between Ignacio and the Senior Center he picks up and disposes of the litter along both sides of the highway. All these tasks are performed without thought of payment and apparently without any resentment that others do not help. For these reasons we are pleased to honor Frank Padilla as our Senior Citizen of the month. He is a responsible and dignified resident and has set an admirable example for the rest of us to be a friend and neighbor to our whole community. September, 1979 - Liva Pacheco & Shelby Smith 126 � 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 Frank Padilla Biography Date Created Date of creation of the resource. 1979-09 Subject The topic of the resource Padilla, Frank; Ignacio, Colorado; Southwest Colorado Description An account of the resource Biography of Frank Padilla based on an interview conducted by Shelby Smith. Originally included in the September, 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 Padilla, Frank 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; Pacheco, Liva