3 10 216 https://voicesofignacio.cvlcollections.org/files/original/2bb60b490242449f311ee2924a071726.pdf ea97c817c7910dd1616eaf72fa0d6969 PDF Text Text CONRADO DESIDERIO (C.D.) CRUZ On a warm day about the middle of May a wagon came rattling along a rocky road. At the crest of a small rise the clear swift Navajo River came into view. The shouts of the children and the smile on their mother's face were signs almost as plain as the warmth of the day that the long cold mountain winter was over and once again the time of new life and renewal had begun. The wagon stopped on a grassy rise near the river. The mother gave swift directions. "Ben, unhitch the team. Conrado, unload the wagon. Manuel, gather some firewood. Lucio, get a pail of water right away." The Cruzes camped at the river several times a year for a very simple reason. When you can't take the river to the wash, you take the wash to the river. Bedding, quilts, mattress covers, clothing, curtains, and every other washable item in the household was brought the eight miles to the river several times a year, washed by hand in the rocky shallows on the washboard, dried, folded and carried home smelling sweetly of mountain air and sunlight. Each wash required 3-4 days. The boys fished, hunted, waded in the river, frolicked, ate like mules, helped with the washing chores when necessary and enjoyed the whole affair. Conrado Desiderio (C. D.) Cruz, 2nd son of Leandro and Rafelita Cruz was born in Chimayo, N. M., on February 19, 1914. The family moved to Chama, then to Haines north of Cuba and finally to Dulce where Leandro worked in a lumber mill. Leandro wanted land of his own. When he heard about a homestead available near the town of Edith, he took the chance and filed on 160 acres of dry land. Soon afterward the Cruzes settled on the land. Their neighbors came in force, chopped down trees, hauled logs and helped erect a well-constructed, warm log house. This same cooperative spirit prevailed during the rest of the year. "Our neighbors watched one another's fields. Wherever the wheat ripened first, the whole neighborhood would gather for the harvest. The wheat was cut with hand scythes and tied in small bundles. As soon as one field was finished, the neighbors would move to the next ripe field. If the moon was bright, the men often stayed with the job until 12:00 or 1:00 o'clock. Everyone enjoyed helping their neighbors and got a lot of work done together. I think people were happier then." The Cruzes raised most of what they ate - potatoes, beans, habas, squash, peas, fruit, wheat, oats and blue corn. Whenever they needed flour, they and their neighbors would take several wagon loads of wheat and corn to the mill at Bayfield or the one at Tierra Amarilla. It would take several days to reach the mills and then perhaps a week for the grain to be ground. Those who had money paid for the grinding. Those who had no money could pay the mill with grain. It was a good thing the Cruzes raised their own wheat. C,D. says with a family of eleven it was common to use up a 50 lb. sack of flour each week. Garden produce was either dried or kept in the cellar. Dried apples, apricots and peaches were apportioned out to the children during the winter. The children relished these fruits as much as any Sunday sucker. C.D. did not get to attend school every year and when he did, it was usually for only 2-3 months in the winter. He rode a burro to school 8 miles across the border in Colorado, carrying hay for the animal and lunch for himself in a 3 lb. lard can. "I wasn't any angel," C.D. freely admits. "Whenever, the teacher sent a student to the river for willows, it was usually me or Ben they were used on." When it came to throwing rocks, dipping a girl's pigtails in ink, getting into fights or playing hookey, it was C.D. involved more often than not. A girl named Margie Abeyta was a special problem to C.D. "She was a bookworm and a tattle-tale. Even when I hadn't done anything, she would tell on me and the teacher would always believe her." C.D. hated old Margie as only children can hate. He 40 �"l -, -, -, ., ., would never have believed it if anyone had ever told him that Margie would one day be his wife. ) ' ') ' ") -) ) -) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) J J J ) J ..J _) _) ...J During the summers C.D. and Ben were assigned to herd the sheep in the hills near their home. C.D. "suffered" from a strange affliction which can only be called 'sleeping sickness'. "As soon as we'd get the flock over the first hill, I'd find a shady patch of bushes and go to sleep." Ben complained, Mr. Cruz threatened, but C.D. couldn't resist the lure of his siestas. "Dad caught me one day, took me straight to the house and told Mother to put me to bed and keep me there all day. I couldn't sleep a wink in the house. I guess that broke me." Over the next ten years Leandro and Rafelita slowly increased their flock until they had about 1,000 head. C.D. remembers November of 1931. "The lambs had been separated and taken down from the high country. The ewes were still there. No one expected 7 feet of snow that winter -- much less did they expect it to start this early. Overnight 3-4 feet fell. The herdsmen started immediately for their winter grounds in Gobernador Canyon. It continued to snow. We broke a trail for the flock with the horses and mules until their legs were sore and bleeding. Every day many sheep died. We finally realized the snow was as deep at Gobernador as it was in the mountains and just gave up. Only about 50 sheep survived. That winter just about wiped out everybody." One year C.D.'s cousin, who had bought 10 acres up on the Navajo River, hired him and Ben to clear the willows. They worked 15 days for a .22 rifle and a guitar; then another 5 days for a violin. Neither of the boys had ever played an instrument before, nor was there anyone to give them lessons, but they taught themselves to play and soon were being hired for parties, weddings and other celebrations. When times got hard in the 30's, C.D. joined the CCC and was sent to camp at Los Alamos, N.M. He was paid $25.00 per month. $20.00 was sent home and the other $5.00 was issued to the boys in the form of coupons for candy, cigarettes, etc. The boys were often given passes to Espanola or Albuquerque or Santa Fe for the weekends, but anyone who had not returned to camp by bed check was put on K. P. duty for 2-3 months. Conrado was on K.P. a lot of the time. When C.D. and Margie Abeyta (his old enemy from grade school) decided to get married, both sets of parents were opposed. Their reasoning was simply that a horse and a mule should not get married. C.D. was known as a hell-raiser and Margie was a school teacher and pretty much the same book worm as before; but in spite of the opposition, they were married in 1935. C.D. worked as a logger while Margie taught school. From 1939-48 C.D. herded sheep in Utah from spring to late fall and spent the winters at home. They had four children - Yvonne, David, Sofie and Deanne. Margie died in 1955. After working in the coal mines in Dragerton, Utah, and on the pipe lines near Farmington, C.D. moved to Ignacio and married Concie Keys - - - - - - (missing last page) . ...) November, 1974 - Shelby Smith ...J ...) ...) ,..) ,..) ,..) ....J ...J 41 � 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 Conrado Desiderio (C.D.) Cruz Biography Date Created Date of creation of the resource. 1974-11 Subject The topic of the resource Cruz, Conrado Desiderio; Ignacio, Colorado; Southwest Colorado Description An account of the resource Biography of Conrado Desiderio Cruz based on an interview conducted by Shelby Smith. Originally included in the November, 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 Cruz, Conrado Desiderio 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/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/e9f140c320adb20beffd0b7482a93c15.pdf 837cad510235882f5bfd6414983f891d PDF Text Text DAISY WASHINGTON WATTS Though most people are now unaware of the fact, the famous Chimney Rocks which rise between Stollsteimer Creek and the Piedra River were once called Los Pilares de Washington. Also, the valley below the pillars was called Washington Flats. Both were named for a remarkable Indian family whose descendants still live in this area. Daisy Watts was born near Chimney Rock on January18, 1904, the daughter of Joseph and Jane Watts. When Jane died 2 years later, Daisy was raised by her grandmother, Martha, and her grandfather, George Washington. George and Martha were not still living in a tepee, but otherwise they still followed the old ways. George was, as most American school children would say a "real" Indian. He was a hunter, a fisherman and a woods-wise man little changed by Anglo or Spanish culture. People who saw him never forgot George Washington, partly because of the way he dressed. During summer and most of the winter George wore nothing but a beach cloth held in place by a string and was one of the last of his tribe to dress in this fashion. Since he, like most of his ancestors, had worn this scanty costume all of his life, his skin was very dark, weathered and tough. His appearance was one of toughness and ferocity. Louie Valencia remembers, "I saw Washington many times when I was a child and was scared of him, not because of anything he did, he was just a tough looking hombre." Liva Pacheco's grandparents, David and Adelida Sandoval were friends of Washington when they were homesteading in the Piedra Valley. Liva says "My mother Theodora, told me when she was a child, Washington came to visit every once in a while, but night or day he would never knock. The family would walk in from another room and there he would be, squatting by the fire. He would never sit in a chair." Once in the winter, Spanish people asked Washington, "Don't your legs and posterior get cold uncovered?" He replied, "Como tu cara mi nalga." (My hind-end doesn't get cold for the same reason your face doesn't.) Daisy remembers her grandparents and their way of life well. "Grandfather had many horses. Most of the time they ran wild in the hills. When he wanted some, he drove them down to the corral. He also had sheep and goats which he butchered as needed. When I got old enough, I herded sheep in the hills. Grandmother always tanned the goatskins. She had a simple way. She rubbed the inside of the skin with brains, let it dry, rubbed it with brains arid repeated this till the hide was cured. The skins had many uses. One of which was to make leggings for us in winter. Sometimes my sisters and I used the goat skins for a sled in snowy weather. We climbed the hills with the skin and put its hair down on the snow. One sat in front holding the front legs of the skin and the other sat in back holding the back legs, it would go fast. Once my uncle Fritz bought me a doll with a china head. When my grandmother saw how much I liked it, she made me an Indian cradle for it from a board, some buckskin, some willows and some beads, I think we always had plenty to eat. The hills were full of food. Every summer and fall we picked wild strawberries, choke cherries, berries and banana berries until we had all we 170 �') ') --, ~ ~ ~ ~ 'J } i ) ) J ) ' ) ) ) ) could eat and all we could dry for winter. The banana berries were my favorite. After they were dried, we would boil them and they made a sweet syrup without adding sugar. If grandfather sold sheep, he put the money in a jar and buried it until we wanted things from the Dike store. Mr. Dike's store was several miles away on the road to Pagosa. In winter when it was difficult for some of the families to get out, he brought groceries and other things on a sled and sold them to us at the house. When it was time for me to go to school, we moved over to John Taylor's place near Bayfield, I went to the Elementary Day School for one year, then to the Ute Boarding school for 4 years, and to the Indian School at Santa Fe for 4 years. Then I was transferred to school at Albuquerque for two years. When my father died, I came back to Ignacio and lived with my sister Lucille,11 Shortly afterwards, Daisy got a Job doing domestic work for the John Landers family who lived at the B.l,A, complex north of Ignacio, Daisy married Ralph Cloud November 22, 1926, at the Durango Courthouse. They moved out to Spring Creek on Ralph's father's place where they raised hay and wheat and garden produce. They had five children, Matilda, Charles (who died of double pneumonia at the age of 11 ), Joel Dean who died after he fell from a horse, Mary Inez and Roger, After Ralph and Daisy were divorced in 1946. Daisy moved to Durango to work for a year. In 1954 she bought a home in Ignacio and has lived there ever since, Daisy now has 10 grandchildren and lives a very quiet life. We value her as a living link with a past which is very much gone. ) September, 1976 - Shelby Smith ) ) ) ) ) .J .J .J _) __) _) _) ....J ....J _) __) _) ..J ....J J _) -...) 171 � 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 Washington Watts Biography Date Created Date of creation of the resource. 1976-09 Subject The topic of the resource Watts, Daisy Washington; Ignacio, Colorado; Ignacio, Colorado; Southwest Colorado Description An account of the resource Biography of Daisy Washington Watts based on an interview conducted by Shelby Smith. Originally included in the September, 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 Watts, Daisy Washington 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/4d963a50d298d8851a123d1b5eca404d.pdf a94ebf08896c81dde01c3d2857e8fb3c PDF Text Text E.F. AND GRACE (Anderson) PATRICK E.F. Patrick's father, Washington E. Patrick, was born at Morocco, Indiana, near Ft. Wayne in 1957. When "Wash", as he was known, moved to southwest Colorado with his parents and his brothers in 1879, they entered an unspoiled wilderness. The family settled on Vallecito Creek above the present reservoir site where Witt's End Ranch is located. Wash's brother, William, soon moved on to Ashland, Oregon. Marian went to Pagosa, where he managed the hotel and bath house at the springs. Later he managed the Keeley Institute in Denver. Wash, Lee and Milton built a fish hatchery on Vallecito Creek. The fish were sold to the hotel in Pagosa and to the restaurants in Durango. Wash got acquainted with John (Jack) Parsons, who was a clerk in Charles Newman's Drug Store in Durango. Later John bought the drug store and operated it for many years. John and Wash teamed up to acquire Electra Lake, where they built a fish hatchery. This successful operation lasted until Western Colorado Power Co. was able to condemn the land around the lake to build a power plant. While operating the hatchery at Electra, Wash met John's sister -in-law, Rose Allen. They were married in Durango in 1891 . After losing Electra, Wash built a hatchery above Trimble Springs. Rose and Wash had three children, Hazel, Emerald Flint and Harold Allen. Emerald was born in 1902 and was named for the two beautiful lakes above Vallecito Reservoir which Wash liked so much. ) ) ) ) ) ) ) J J .J J J .J .J .J J ...J J ..J J ...J ..J ...J The merchants in Durango were well aware of the success of Wash's hatcheries. They decided a hatchery in Durango would be an asset to the town, so they asked Wash to collect money from various businesses to buy land on the river and to build a hatchery, which they hoped the state would later take over. Wash became so well known as a hatchery expert, he was hired as State Superintendent of Hatcheries with an office in the state capital building. His family lived in Denver for nine years while he supervised the building and operation of the first state hatcheries all over Colorado. When the Patricks came back to Durango, Wash worked as a government trapper for several years, then trapped for himself until he moved on to California. E.F .'smother, Rose and her parents, Zachariah and Harriet Allen, came to Colorado in a covered wagon drawn by oxen. The wagon train in which they traveled survived several Indian attacks, during which Rose and the other girls loaded rifles for the men as fast as they could. The Allen's lived in Denver 2 years before going to Pueblo. In Pueblo, Zachariah built the first shingled house in town and constructed the old court house and one of the early public schools. Mr. Allen ran for public office and was elected Sheriff. The family moved on to Del Norte in 1874 where Mr. Allen was elected city marshal!. In 1875 he was accidentally shot and killed by his deputy, Jack Lewis, who had been assigned to guard a group of horse thieves. Hearing that friends of the horse thieves might attempt a jail break, Allen gave Lewis a heavily loaded shotgun and told him to shoot the first man who appeared in the door of the jail. After attending a dance, Marshall Allen went to the jail, called to Lewis, who apparently failed to hear him, stepped inside and was shot. He lived only a few days . 127 �Several years later Harriet Allen married Cyrus Newcomb, a Justice of the Peace at Del Norte. Later they moved on to Durango where Rose Allen met Wash. In 1923, when Wash was 66 years old, he became very ill with uremic poisoning. Doctors in Durango gave him only a short time to live. The family immediately took him to a doctor in California who got the illness under control. Wash was active during the next 15 years. He and Emerald built and supervised a hatchery in Mill Creek Canyon east of Redlands for a senator who lived in San Bernadina. Pat had been writing to a young lady who was teaching school near Ignacio, Colorado. He and Grace Anderson had known one another since they were both children and had managed to stay in touch through the years. Pat and Grace were married in Durango on September 15, 1927. They immediately headed for California where they settled to help Pat's father operate the hatchery. Grace's father, Wilburn Anderson was born in Mt. Airy, Georgia. He ran away from home when he was 15 to join the Army during the Spanish-American War. After spending a period of time in the Philippines, he was transferred to Ft. Apache, Arizona, with the troop which was assigned to capture Geronimo. While in Arizona Wilburn met a young lady named Eva Bryan, who lived at Pinetop, 30-40 miles north of the fort. After Eva and Wilburn were married, he left the army and went to work for the railroad. He was a part of the crew which built the line to the Grand Canyon and constructed the hotel in Canyon Village. Eva's father had a store at Pinetop, later moved it to Kirtland, N. M. and then opened a store at the Pine River Indian Agency before Ignacio existed as a town. Finally, he moved his store down by the Ignacio depot. Wilburn and Eva Anderson had four children: George who was born at Winslow, Arizona; Grace Evelyn, who was born in Durango; Dorothy, born in Salt Lake City; and Don, who was born in Ignacio. "We lived for many years on Browning Street in the Red house now owned by Jesus Martinez," Grace says. "We moved to Ignacio when I was in third grade. I remember attending school in the rock school house located near the present grade school. I got to attend the Indian School for the 8th and 9th grades. The San Ignacio Fiesta was even more fun in those days than it is now. One reason was the efforts of a colorful citizen named Fabian Martinez. Fabian was fairly wealthy. He owned a bar in the south end of town and generally was a successful businessman and a benefactor of the Fiesta. One event I'll never forget was the fat man's race. Without fail Fabian, who himself was short and very large, would assemble 8-10 well proportioned men at one end of the main street. As you can imagine the whole town had a delightful time laughing, cheering and teasing the participants as they huffed and puffed their way to the finish line." Grace attended the last three years of high school in Denver in order to receive a diploma from an accredited school. While there she boarded with Nell Marker. After high school Grace went to college at Gunnison. She taught at the Harvey School until she and E.F. Patrick were married and moved to California. 128 �'1 '1 ') ') ,, ') J J J l l ") ') ) The Patricks survived the depression operating the hatchery near Redlands. Wash Patrick died in 1936. Grace and Pat planned to continue raising fish, but nature interrupted the work in 1937. An enormous rain caused a flash flood which destroyed most of the hatchery. For several weeks it was difficult to get supplies, since the bridges were out. When World War II started, Pat went to work for the shipyards at Los Angeles, then supervised a steam plant at Norton Air Force Base near San Bernadina. In 1949 the Patricks returned to Colorado. Pat built a fish hatchery for a sports club at Electra Lake. They spent the first winter in a cabin near Electra snowed in most of the time. When George Anderson became ill, Pat and Grace ran the bulk plant for him until he could work again. Pat continued working there until he retired. In the early 1950's Grace started filling in for Nell Marker at the Post Office and soon worked into a full time job. When she retired, she had completed 23 years of Postal Service. ) June, 1978 - Shelby Smith ) ' ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ..) .J ..J .J .J .J ..J .J .J .J .J ..J J J .J I~ 129 � 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 E. F. Patrick and Grace (Anderson) Patrick Biography Date Created Date of creation of the resource. 1978-06 Subject The topic of the resource Patrick, E. F.; Patrick, Grace (Anderson); Ignacio, Colorado; Southwest Colorado Description An account of the resource Biography of E. F. Patrick and Grace (Anderson) Patrick based on an interview conducted by Shelby Smith. Originally included in the June, 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 Patrick, E. F.; Patrick, Grace (Anderson) 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/3975a1e17e70c1505216086a97552ce3.jpg d14218e5981542a7751715333dea4ea7 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 Historic Photographs Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. 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 Early Goddard Avenue in Ignacio, Colorado Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-RUU/1.0/">http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-RUU/1.0/</a> Subject The topic of the resource Ignacio; Colorado; Goddard Avenue Description An account of the resource A photo of early Goddard Avenue in Ignacio, Colorado. Type The nature or genre of the resource Still Image https://voicesofignacio.cvlcollections.org/files/original/3f0939db5a6bc262dded8688dd7ad24e.jpg 85c122bd639411a2e673977e4e68acfb 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 Historic Photographs Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. 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 Early Photo of Ignacio, Colorado Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-RUU/1.0/">http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-RUU/1.0/</a> Subject The topic of the resource Ignacio; Colorado; Town Photo; Early Photo Description An account of the resource A photo of the town of Ignacio, Colorado in the early twentieth century. Type The nature or genre of the resource Still Image https://voicesofignacio.cvlcollections.org/files/original/fd11b908dbaf557a5e51d82217620de1.pdf 6f36d48b8f8bd2a849449e26823e2645 PDF Text Text ED AND EVA (Silva) COOK Basswood Lake on the Canadian Border in Minnesota is the traditional home of the Ft. Bois Band of the Chippewas. The band has lived there as long as anyone remembers. Edward James Cook was born there in 1907. His parents, Joseph Cook and Mary Defoe Cook lived in a log house in a small village near the lake. Edward, Sr. could have maintained a simple life at the lake, but he had different ambitions. The Duluth and Iron Railroad has branch lines to the lumber camp near the reservation. Edward, Sr. went to work for the railroad. By the time Ed, Jr. was old enough .to be interested in trains, his father was an engineer. "Many times I rode in the cab of the steam engine with my father. He'd take a load of logs to the junction of the main line, then back to the lumber camp." But once back home the Indian ways prevailed. The Chippewas practiced a seminomadic life. Each family in the village had a log house which they used in the winter. But in summer, they each brought out a tepee and headed for the woods. A choice of many beautiful campsites was available and became the subject of much debating and speculation among the clan. The clan moved several times each summer according to the whim of the leaders as to the availability of fruits, nuts, berries, etc. (Lakes, ponds, streams, meadows, and deep woods were the options). Each season of the year the north woods offered their bounty .. Fruits and berries in the summer, nuts, and wild rice in fall, deer and moose to hunt all year round and maple sugar in the spring. "I can remember my grandmother boiling the maple syrup in a large iron kettle. She made sugar cakes and regular sugar - all good. In the summer time, if someone killed a moose, he would invite the whole band (5-6 families) to come share the meat. The whole bunch would move their camp to the site of the kill, butcher the animal and begin a feast with dancing and celebrating. Any meat remaining would be smoked and dried and distributed among the families." At six years of age little Ed was sent to the B.I.A. school at Pipestone, Minn. Through the years he attended a number of schools in Minnesota and South Dakota. In 1918 the flu epidemic hit the reservation hard, but since Ed's school was in an isolated area, the students escaped the epidemic. When Ed was a young man, he came to Towaoc, Colorado, to visit his sister, Tina Ulibarri. When a job came available, Ed took it and decided to stay. The B.I.A. sent him away to Diesel School so that he could operate electric power plants on the reservations. However, the most interesting thing Ed encountered at Towaoc was not a new job, but a young lady named Eva Silva. "I was a lonely bachelor and Eva was an available young working woman. We began dating and going to the movies in Cortez. Before long we decided to get married," Maria Eva Silva is the daughter of Eliseo Silva, a Santa Clara Indian and Henrietta Johnson Silva, a Southern Ute (Henrietta's Indian name was Cora.) Eva was born at her parent's home on Red Mesa in 1915. Eliseo was a hard-working, ambitious farmer. He raised wheat, hay, and all the family food -- vegetables, turkeys, chickens, pigs, geese, 36 �r') -, 'l 'J -, l J ' J ..., ) ) ) } ) ' ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) cattle, etc. San Juan and Plata, Eva's grandparents, lived nearby. Their English names were Samuel and Phoebe Johnson. "We had a beautiful life there," Eva remembers. "In those days the La Plata was a large river (before so much irrigation water was taken from it.) We played in the meadows and under the trees by the river. It was a peaceful and beautiful life. Whenever my dad wanted to visit his family, he hitched one team to the covered wagon and the other to the buggy. We followed the La Plata River to Farmington, then to Blanco where we forded the San Juan, across country to Regina, then to Coyote , and Abiquiu and on to Santa Clara. The trip required several days. We took plenty of supplies. I clearly remember the blue enamel kerosene heater Dad used to heat the wagon if it got too cold at night. The feasts at Santa Clara were wonderful. First there was a Mass, then a procession, then Indian dancing and feasting. Visitors could go into any house to eat." In 1918 this idyllic way of life was interrupted. Eva's mother and grandmother both died in the flu epidemic. A Mexican couple came to share the work on the farm and to take care of the children. When they left, Kitty Cloud came to help take care of the children. In 1920 Eliseo died of appendicitis. Eva and her two brothers were sent to the boarding school at Towaoc. In the summers they came back to Breen to stay with their uncle, Henry Johnson, on the farm. When Eva was 14, she moved to La Boca to live with her cousin Margaret Wright. Soon afterward she was sent to the vocational school at Albuquerque. Curtis Cutthair, Nettie Unca Sam and Nettie Burch Frost were all there. After she finished school at Albuquerque, Eva returned to Towaoc and was working in the hospital when she met Ed. Ed and Eva were married in 1936. Ed's career with the Indian service took him to many locations during the next 32 years. Shiprock, Toadelena, Window Rock, and finally back to Shiprock. Eva recalls, "I enjoyed living among the Navajo. I know there was an enmity between the Utes and the Navajos a long time ago, but I liked those people." _) J _) _) J J J Eva serves as chairperson of the Board of the Southern Ute Public Housing Authority. Ed keeps himself busy maintaining a beautiful yard and garden. At least they do these things when they are not traveling, which they do often. Marvin has sent Ed and Eva plane tickets to come spend Christmas with him and his family in California. We wish them a Merry Christmas and long and happy lives. December, 1976 -- SHELBY SMITH _) J J J J J J J J J J 37 � 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 Ed Cook and Eva (Silva) Cook Biography Date Created Date of creation of the resource. 1976-12 Subject The topic of the resource Cook, Ed; Cook, Eva (Silva); Ignacio, Colorado; Southwest Colorado Description An account of the resource Biography of Ed Cook and Eva (Silva) Cook based on an interview conducted by Shelby Smith. Originally included in the December, 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. Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Cook, Ed; Cook, Eva (Silva) 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/cb2d33f162bcbcf5802ab75c80c35622.pdf 649a64a41547d9e01836a48f25089f8e PDF Text Text '1 '1 '1 '1 'l '1 'l J 'l i ) ) i EDITH SHOSHONE BURCH "Since my parents both died when I was 3 years old, the only things I know about them came from my oldest sister, May. I was born June 6, 1907 in the Pine Valley across the river from Ignacio, probably in a tepee. The Indians often moved into their tepees during the warm months, partly because they were easy to move when they got restless and partly because they reminded them of an earlier time. My father, Harry Shoshone, Sr. was a tribal policeman. Death came early and unexpectedly for him. He was sent to patrol a fair in Durango and in the course of his duty he chased some unruly drunks, stepped in a hole while running and broke his leg. Infection set in. The leg was amputated and he died from loss of blood. A few months later my mother, Laura, died also. I do not know the cause of her death." J ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) } J ) ) J .J J .J _) ...J _) J ...J J J J J J J J J "I was placed in the Indian School Dormitory north of Ignacio. Since I was so young, I was placed with the cook, Mrs. Simpson, (Jessie Hott's mother) who had an apartment in the dorm. Later she married and became Mrs. Stauffer. She was like a mother to me and took a special interest in me until I left the Ignacio School at the age of 11. The dormitory I lived in is now the boy's dorm. At that time one end was for boys and the other for girls. Some of the other original buildings are gone and the water tower which gave us so much fun is now gone. We were not supposed to climb it, so of course, we did. I tried it once but got so scared half way up, I came back down. None of us went home for the holidays. We stayed at school all year until summer vacation. I spent summers with my sister, May." "At the age of 11, I was sent to school at Towaoc for a year. Then I went to Santa Fe where I finished the 8th grade. I could have gone to Albuquerque to finish high school, but instead I took a job working in a Sanitarium at Dulce. Later I worked for a Presbyterian missionary in the Dulce area. When he moved to Albuquerque, I came back to Ignacio. Ernest Burch went to school w ith me, but I never paid any attention to him until I moved back to Ignacio. He built dams and irrigation ditches for the Pine River Project. He had bought an old Ford car with a crank start. It was fun to go on dates in a car. We got married in 1927. At first we lived with my sister Jane Bird in an old adobe house located near the present site of the Tribal maintenance shop. Soon we moved into a two room frame house with a living room-kitchen and one bedroom. It had a wood-burning cook stove and no other improvements. Later we got Louis Valdez to build us a 4 room adobe house. It still stands south of Graves Gunn's house. We had running water in a spring down near the river bank. We fenced the spring to keep dogs and cows from spoiling the clean water. Fortunately, I knew how to ride a horse, because Ernest needed me to help round up his cattle and sheep for many years. After several years we built a house up on the hill east of Ignacio. It was a special house since it was our first one with modern plumbing and lights." "My husband was a singer and dancer in the old tradition of the tribe. He was often the first one up the valley to sing and play the drum while the Sun Dancers held up their arms to pray. He knew the Bear Dance songs and often helped with that. All the Indian 19 �ways and ceremonials were very important to him. He followed the Indian ways until he died in 1977." "We had 10 children in all. The ones still living are Homer, Ernestine, LaVarra, Nova Dene, Robert, Dennis and Cynthia. Franklin died when he was 18. The others died when they were babies." "We moved out of Ignacio in April of 1977. Ernest died in November. His funeral was at Sacred Heart Church in Durango where we were married 50 years before. When I think about the days when we were young, I remember how active we were. We baked our own bread and made quilts. If we needed something from the store, we walked to town with packs on our backs to carry the canned goods. I think we have gotten too lazy." "The important thing for me today is to go to church. I like to go twice on Sunday. I enjoy it and I enjoy going to Worker's Conference in other towns. I try to get my Indian friends to go to church regularly. It helps me and I think it would help them, too." March, 1979 -- by Shelby Smith 20 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Shelby Smith Interviews Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource https://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-NC/1.0/?language=en Date Created Date of creation of the resource. 1973-1980 Subject The topic of the resource Ignacio; Southwest Colorado Description An account of the resource Collection of biographies, predominantly of residents from the Ignacio Senior Center, based on interviews conducted by Shelby Smith from approximately 1973 to 1980. The abridged interviews were originally published as individual entries in The Thoughtful Years newsletter, published by the Ignacio Senior Center, beginning in 1973. They were later published as a whole in Smith's book: Oral Histories of the Southern Pine River Valley, from which the original scans in this collection have been derived. Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smith, Shelby Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Edith Shoshone Burch Biography Date Created Date of creation of the resource. 1979-03 Subject The topic of the resource Burch, Edith Shoshone; Ignacio, Colorado; Southwest Colorado Description An account of the resource Biography of Edith Shoshone Burch based on an interview conducted by Shelby Smith. Originally included in the March, 1979 issue of "The Thoughtful Years" newsletter published by the Ignacio Senior Center. Later included in the book "Oral Histories of the Southern Pine River Valley" by Shelby Smith. Spatial Coverage Spatial characteristics of the resource. Ignacio, Colorado; Southwest Colorado Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Burch, Edith Shoshone Extent The size or duration of the resource. 2 pages Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NKC/1.0/ Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smith, Shelby https://voicesofignacio.cvlcollections.org/files/original/0f1518c4411e60c7c46aed5619379f9e.pdf 6a972345b80f2394197d26651096a294 PDF Text Text '1 ~ ~ 'J l EDNA (Russell) BAKER "I ,,..) l ·, ) ) ) 1 J ) 1 ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) About 10 miles south of Durango the Weazel Skin Bridge crosses the Animas River. Since the main highway runs up on the Florida Mesa and mostly local travelers use the bridge, it receives little attention. Perhaps a few of the old-timers of that area remember how it got its name. Weazel Skin was a Ute who settled on a tract of land in the Animas Valley in the 1880's. He raised sheep and goats and developed a profitable farm and ranch operation on the river. Weazel's English name was Hickey Williams. One of his daughters who grew up on the ranch was named Marsalino. The Russell's lived on the Weazel Skin Ranch and had four daughters: Daisy, Maggie, Edna and Sara. Edna remembers going to Durango in a buggy to see the fair and for shopping. "We liked to ride the street car from one end of Main to the other. Once my mother left a diaper bag on the car and we had to wait till it made a complete round before we could retrieve it." When Edna was still a young girl, her family moved onto the Spanish Fork Ranch where Spring Creek enters the Pine River near La Boca. Edna went to school here for a few years, then was transferred to the Indian School at Santa Fe. Then she was sent to Sherman Institute at Riverside, California to finish high School. There she met Indian students from all over the country. "We were given a choice of pre-vocational training at Sherman. I tried nurse's training and dry cleaning. I liked both of them and both have been useful since then. At first I didn't believe I'd like the nursing. A nurse sees so many sad and stomach-turning things, but soon I began to see the other side of it. Sick and injured people are just people who need help and the feeling you get from helping them is just great." ) J ') J ·_) _) __J ,. ) .J __J ..J __J __J Edna's years in California were great, too. California in the 1920's was a beautiful, uncrowded place with its clean air and tropical plants and mountains by the sea. From Riverside to Los Angeles were large open country areas, not all city like today. ''We went to Catalina Island and rode the glass bottom boat. Sometimes we went to the amusement Park at Long Beach. I remember how I screamed when we rode the roller coaster over the ocean. We went to Tijuana to see the bull fights. At that time the arena was a beautiful log structure." When Edna finished her nurse's training, she worked at Dulce, then at Towaoc, then at the Taylor Hospital in Ignacio. Minnie Cloud and I were some of the first ones hired . We cleaned and cleaned the building and made towels and baby clothes until it was opened. Soon afterwards Edna married Cassimero Baker. They had two sons, Archie and Dusty. When the army started building up Ft. Carson, Cassie and Edna moved to the east slope. Cassie worked on construction projects on the base and Edna became a welder ..J ..J .J J J ..._) 7 �in an airplane factory operated by Universal Electric at Colorado Springs. She enjoyed the work very much. Finally. she and her boys came back to Ignacio and she worked in the Taylor Hospital until ii closed in 1955. "Even when we moved back to Ignacio, I sent my boys to the public school because I wanted them to learn to get along with all kinds of people." After the Taylor Hospital closed Edna worked in Denver and in Colorado Springs for a while, then she returned to Durango where she worked at Mercy and Community Hospitals until she retired. "I always liked my work in the hospitals. Such nice people to work with. It was a new world every week -- always in training or going to nurse's workshops and conventions and having dinners. I worked side by side with all kinds including foreign students and trainees. I really miss my many friends in Durango and Colorado Springs whom I visit whenever I can." Archie worked hard and went through training for auto mechanics. He worked several years in California and now lives in Durango. Dusty has had mechanics training and also training as an X-Ray technician in the hospital. He was working in Durango hospitals until the opportunity to apply as manager of the new Shell Station opened up, and when he got the job, he and Edna moved back to Ignacio. After being gone so long, it seems a little strange to be back in this area, but Edna has quite a few relatives here and just as she has made new friends wherever she has lived, she will surely be able to do the same here again. We wish her and her children the best of good fortune and wish lo welcome her back to Ignacio. November, 1975 - Shelby Smith 8 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Shelby Smith Interviews Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource https://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-NC/1.0/?language=en Date Created Date of creation of the resource. 1973-1980 Subject The topic of the resource Ignacio; Southwest Colorado Description An account of the resource Collection of biographies, predominantly of residents from the Ignacio Senior Center, based on interviews conducted by Shelby Smith from approximately 1973 to 1980. The abridged interviews were originally published as individual entries in The Thoughtful Years newsletter, published by the Ignacio Senior Center, beginning in 1973. They were later published as a whole in Smith's book: Oral Histories of the Southern Pine River Valley, from which the original scans in this collection have been derived. Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smith, Shelby Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Edna (Russell) Baker Biography Date Created Date of creation of the resource. 1975-11 Subject The topic of the resource Baker, Edna (Russell) Description An account of the resource Biography of Edna (Russell) Baker based on an interview conducted by Shelby Smith. Originally included in the November, 1975 issue of "The Thoughtful Years" newsletter published by the Ignacio Senior Center. Later included in the book "Oral Histories of the Southern Pine River Valley" by Shelby Smith. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Baker, Edna (Russell) Language A language of the resource English Extent The size or duration of the resource. 2 pages Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NKC/1.0/ Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smith, Shelby https://voicesofignacio.cvlcollections.org/files/original/2bdb7781b7b1f606663466f53c8cf06f.pdf 730ef9b4e359a2d8e00eaa9861b3dd2d PDF Text Text 'l "} "} "} "} ~ ' ' '' ) ) } ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) J _) _) ..J ..J J J ..J J ..) ...J J ...J J J J J J EMMET & JESSIE (Stauffer) HOTT "My dad, Robert P. Hott was raised by his grandparents in Paw Paw, West Virginia. His mother died when He was four and his father was killed in a Civil War Battle on his own land. At the age of 12, dad ran away from home and got a job on a cattle ranch in Missouri. From then on ranching was his life. He moved west to Farmington and to the L.C. Ranch in the Blue Mountains west of Monticello. He married Emma Peterson at Moab, Utah, and later came to Pagosa Springs and then to the ranch on Spring Creek." "I was born at Pagosa Springs on December 12, 1910. The physician attending my mother was Dr. Mary Fisher, a highly respected doctor and one of the few lady doctors of that time. My mother and I rode home on the train to Tiffany and then on the sled to the ranch . One of my earliest memories is of riding behind my Dad on his horse to check the cattle. When I was small, Dad owned 5,000 head of cattle, which he placed on his summer range north of Pagosa Springs. Sometimes my mother and I visited my older brother on the summer pasture. The trip took one full day with a horse and buggy. When Dad lost his rights to the summer range at O'Neal Park, he leased another range on the Little Blanco River south and east of Pagosa." "I started to school 1/2 mile north of our home place at Mason School. I guess kids always have to have their fun. Not many days went by without some one putting a skunk under the school house, or a snake in the teacher's desk or some other trick. In 1918 Dad bought a touring car from Mr. Vanbrimmer's Agency in Durango. It was a 6 cylinder Case and a very good car. Later he bought a 7 seater Jeffry. It was fancy with two jump seats in the back. Dad never learned to drive. My older brothers always took the wheel and the one time he tried, he landed in the ditch. They teased him so much, he never tried again. We still used horses and sleds in the winter. The cars were drained and put on blocks until April or May. I started driving when I was 12. Nobody needed a license. If you were big enough to move the car down the road, you could drive. When my brother, Rex, started dealing in used cars in Durango, he found a used Overland for me. It was a stylish car which I enjoyed a lot. There wasn't much time for play. My friends, Sandy Scott and Hershel! La Londe and I played baseball and went to dances when we could, but most of the time our parents kept us busy irrigating, haying, and feeding the cattle. It was hard work, but I loved my life on the ranch." "After 8 years at Mason School, I went to high school 2 years at Tiffany. At the age of 19, I was hired to work in the bank at Ignacio for $8.00 per month. The only other employees were Iva Waite, (Vida Ritter's sister) and Merrill Turner, who at that time was managing the bank for Emmet Wirt. My job was everything from cleanup to posting checks to working at the window." "I met Jessie Stauffer at a fire in Allison. We both attended a dance in Allison one evening when A.O. Young's store caught fire. We began visiting while we watched the fire and that started our friendship. Soon afterwards, Jessie and I began going to dances and to the movies at the Ute Theater in Ignacio and at the Kiva in Durango. We really enjoyed the kind of movies made then. Many of them were musicals with a lot of singing and dancing and a happy theme. We remember one starring Buddy Rogers called 'We'd make a Peach of a Pair'." Jessie was born in Ignacio on December 13, 1914. Her mother, Margaret Leota (Davis) Stauffer, was born in Belmont, Ohio. When her first husband died, she got a job at the 85 �Ute Agency in Ignacio and against the fears and objections of her relatives, moved to the far west. "While working at the Agency," Jessie related, "mother met Jesse Stauffer and they were soon married. Dad owned a barber shop in the block south of the bank. I attended school in Ignacio all 12 years. People must have considered me a tom boy because I liked every king of sport. All the kids played baseball and I was on the girl's basketball team. When I was a child at home, the town was full of young families with children. My playmates were the Andersons, Flints, Morrises, Bryans and the McJunkins. We were never bored. We were always playing kick-the-can or run-sheep-run. None of the streets were paved, but we roller skated on the sidewalks. I tried to learn to ride a bike, but the streets were so rough. Every time I tried I fell and hurt myself or ran into a car or got my pants leg caught in the chain, so I quit. The town had no water system. All water for household use was pumped from wells at the street corners and carried into the homes, but we did have electricity. The lines came down from Bayfield in the 1920's. We were so pleased to have a radio to hear Amos & Andy and all the other good shows on KOA Denver." "Dad often took us on trips. Some of them were all the way to Iowa and Wyoming. Once in our Model T Fond we met a car on Wolf Creek Pass and almost got pushed off the edge. It was really no more than a one lane road in the 20's." "When Emmet and I began dating, he had a yellow 1929 DeSoto convertible with spoke wheels. In the evenings when he left the bank to drive home, he'd open the "cutout", which let the exhaust bypass the muffler, and I could hear his car for 2-3 miles out of town." "The summer after I finished high school, Emmet and I were married on July 10, 1933. We rented the house where Lawrence and Margaret Wiseman later lived for so many years. We stayed in town until Emmet's dad died, then moved out to operate the ranch. We had two children, Margaret, who now lives in Lake Havasu, Arizona, and Bob, who now lives on the ranch with his family. The ranch was a good life for us. We never wanted anything else. Our children enjoyed it and now Bob's children seem to love it as much as we did. The depression was hard, but we always had plenty to eat. We had good neighbors. We especially enjoyed Graves and Ada Kent. Graves was one of my mother's students at the Indian School. She remembered Graves as being small, but strong as an ox. Often she accompanied the Indian baseball teams to their games. It was a rough game at times. She always told the boys, 'If they spike you, you spike 'em back'." Emmet served on the school board in the Tiffany area before the schools were consolidated. He was on the Board of County Commissioners from 1948-1964. He says that job wasn't much fun, but was more fun than it would be now. The Hotts moved back to their home in Ignacio in 1972. Recently Emmet served as mayor of Ignacio for two years. The Hotts love to travel. In recent years they have taken trips to the Caribbean, to Hawaii and last year to Australia, New Zealand and the Fiji Islands. When asked what they want to do now that they are semi-retired and out of politics, they answer, "Travel some more." By Shelby Smith, January, 1980 86 � 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 Emmet Hott and Jessie (Stauffer) Hott Biography Date Created Date of creation of the resource. 1980-01 Subject The topic of the resource Hott, Emmet; Hott, Jessie (Stauffer); Ignacio, Colorado; Southwest Colorado Description An account of the resource Biography of Emmet Hott and Jessie (Stauffer) Hott based on an interview conducted by Shelby Smith. Originally included in the January, 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 Hott, Emmet; Hott, Jessie (Stauffer) 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