5 10 216 https://voicesofignacio.cvlcollections.org/files/original/238603d434631037ca4f1a913bb7cd40.pdf f160749ee230e17f4b6097b77b54ace1 PDF Text Text FRITZ BOX I was born on September 25, 1915, in the Pine Valley just south of Bayfield, west of the river. Soon after I was born my parents moved to an adobe house north of Russel Box's place. My father, Jacob Box, was a member of the Capote Band and my mother, Bertha Bent Box, was a member of the Moache Band. I barely remember my grandfather, George Bent, since he died while I was very small, but I can still picture his braids and his buckskin clothes. I remember my grandmother, Virgie Bent, much better since she lived until I was 10 or 11 years old. She was a tireless worker. She is the one who took care of us all. She kept busy all the time, tanning buckskin hides, making moccasins and leather clothes. She snared rabbits and prairie dogs and dried greens and berries for the winter. When she was not making clothes or preserving food, she did beadwork. I had five sisters; Marjorie, Florence (who died at the age of 10 or 11 ), Agnes, Ellen (Mirabel), and Mary (Chavez); and three brothers: David, Eddie and Clyde (who died at the age of 6). Our dad-was a good farmer. He raised wheat, oates, hay, chickens, pigs, turkeys, cattle, and horses. He had rights to summer grazing in Carbonate Basin north of Bayfield. Every summer we made a big herd of our cattle and those of several of our neighbors. We loaded the camp gear on the pack horses and headed up to the range. We stayed until the cattle were settled, then returned home for the summer. In September Dad and I and several of the neighbors went back for the roundup. Once they were started, they came willingly. The cold nights were telling them it was time to get out of the hills. When an infestation of poisonous weeds began taking over the range, we were assigned another range east of Tillawocket. I attended the Allen Day School with Joe Weaver, Harold Groves, and Jack Frost. They were pretty good boys. Sometimes in the winter Joe and I sneaked off to the river instead of going to school. We'd ice skate a while, then build a fire to get warm. In the afternoon we'd go home at the right time. When Dad asked us how was school, we'd answer, 'Just fine.' Then he'd say, 'You didn't go to school today.' I don't know how he knew, maybe we looked too happy on those days. Even though we skipped school once in a while, we did well in school. None of us had any trouble learning to read or do the other work. After 5 or 6 years at Allen Day, I was sent to the Indian School at Santa Fe with Casey Baker, Robert Weaver, John Williams, Charlie Spencer and Graves Gunn. We rode the train to Santa Fe with several Utes from Utah. II was like a military school with bugles in the morning and marching drills. In February of that year I was called to the office. I was sure I was in trouble. All they did was tell me I was going home. Until I got on the train with my sister, I didn't know that my father had died. One year shortly after we got back to Santa Fe, Graves and I decided to run away from school. It took us several days to walk to Antonito following the railroad track. For several days we hung around town sleeping wherever we could with no idea what to do next. One afternoon a nice looking man walked up and said he wanted workers in his potato harvest. He drove us to a farm northwest of Monte Vista where some Spani-sh people lived. The first three days of picking potatoes were very hard. Our backs were very sore from stooping and lifting but we soon got used to it. Our bed was a blanket in a straw stack. They fed us very well. When the harvest was finished, the man paid us off and put us on the train at Monte Vista. I don't remember what he paid us, but we thought we had a lot of money. We got off the train at Alamosa where we stayed in the best hotel, ate a fancy meal and played pool in the lobby. The next morning we took off walking along the railroad track toward Antonito. Four miles south of town we stopped to 14 �.- , """) """) """) """) 7 t t '") "') ) 1 ' ' ) ) ) ) ) ) ' ) ) ) ,) ) ) _) _) J J J J ..J rest. The traffic was passing along the road not far away. Suddenly, a pickup slowed down with the driver watching us. We thought it was the truant officer. There was no place to hide. Graves said, 'They've got us now.' The man walked up and asked, 'Where are you going?' When we didn't answer, he said, 'Why don't you come work for me?' He drove us way west of Alamosa toward that big mountain. We harvested potatoes for another week and a half. Back in Alamosa we stayed in the hotel and ate another meal. The next morning we decided to quit fooling., around and get home. It was getting cold. So we bought train tickets to Ignacio. The closer we got to home, the more nervous we got, because we knew someone would be on the lookout for us. At La Boca we got scared and jumped off the train. I walked up to my grandmother's place and told Graves to stay there until we found out whether anyone was looking for us, but he went right on to town. Just as soon as he walked into Ignacio, Harry Richards grabbed him. Harry was the Indian cop at that time and he knew we were going to show up sooner or later. He tried to catch me, but I kept on the move. Early each morning I rode out into the country and didn't come back till late. I was down i n La Boca the day Harry Richards putSxGraves on the train for Santa Fe. I waved at Graves as the train rolled by with him trapped between Harry and the window. I was laughing, but Graves didn't think it was funny. I spent two years out of school, hunting hauling wood, breaking horses, and doing a little rodeo riding. I joined a dancing club made up of young single boys with one older man who was our leader and teacher. He taught us the war dances and the songs for the sun dance. After two years of freedom I decided I better go back to school and make something of myself. I enrolled at Albuquerque with Mary Chavez, Joe Weaver, Harold Groves, Frances Pinnecoose and Nettie Frost. Later I transferred to Haskell Institute in Kansas where I finished high school in 1935. When I got out of school it was the middle of the depression. I worked at whatever I could find. My brother David was leaving a job in the BIA auto shop at Towaoc to go to school. He sent me to ask for his job and I got it. One year at the Ute Mountain Bear Dance I met a girl named Pearl Posey. I soon got acquainted with her parents. They made their living fro'] a herd of sheep. Pearl and I got married in 1938. I was drafted in 1945. They statione€1 me in Mineral Wells, Texas, Hawaii and Okinawa and sent me home in 1946. Back home the BIA rehired me and I stayed with them for eight years. I served one term on the Southern Ute Tribal Council 1951-54 in John Baker's place while he left to go to school. In 1954 I went back to cattle farming and stayed with that until I became a game warden in 1963. After that I ran the tribal shop and then went into Tribal Resources doing custom farming, which I still do. Pearl and I had seven children: Alvina, who lived in Gallup; Orian, who lived in Montana; Clyde, who died in 1967; Veronica, who works in Denver; Ernestine and her husband who still live here; Gregory, who lives here; and Karen, who lives at Towaoc where she is enrolled . J J "Pearl died in 1975 and I'm still working. I'm going to work till I drop. I dug ditches for a living when there was no other job. I've worked all my life since my dad died and I'm not going to stop now." J Shelby Smith, February 1980 J J J J J J J 15 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Shelby Smith Interviews Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource https://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-NC/1.0/?language=en Date Created Date of creation of the resource. 1973-1980 Subject The topic of the resource Ignacio; Southwest Colorado Description An account of the resource Collection of biographies, predominantly of residents from the Ignacio Senior Center, based on interviews conducted by Shelby Smith from approximately 1973 to 1980. The abridged interviews were originally published as individual entries in The Thoughtful Years newsletter, published by the Ignacio Senior Center, beginning in 1973. They were later published as a whole in Smith's book: Oral Histories of the Southern Pine River Valley, from which the original scans in this collection have been derived. Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smith, Shelby Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Fritz Box Biography Date Created Date of creation of the resource. 1980-02 Subject The topic of the resource Box, Fritz; Ignacio, Colorado; Southwest Colorado Description An account of the resource Biography of Fritz Box based on an interview conducted by Shelby Smith. Originally included in the February, 1980 issue of "The Thoughtful Years" newsletter published by the Ignacio Senior Center. Later included in the book "Oral Histories of the Southern Pine River Valley" by Shelby Smith. Spatial Coverage Spatial characteristics of the resource. Ignacio, Colorado; Southwest Colorado Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Extent The size or duration of the resource. 2 pages Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Box, Fritz Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NKC/1.0/ Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smith, Shelby https://voicesofignacio.cvlcollections.org/files/original/7e9bcfacfb63b775069240f7f62f6582.pdf 991c441433b9ca042c2e9c9c869e1045 PDF Text Text GENEVIEVE PENA GUNN Genevieve Pena was born January 23, 1913, at Pagosa Junction, Colorado, one of the children of Juan Pena and Mary Baker Pena. Mary was a Ute and was considered a highly educated person in her day since she had finished the 12th grade at Haskell Institute in Kansas. "My grandparents," Genevieve says, "knew they had a gem of a person in my mother. They loved and valued her highly. My father, who was a member of the San Juan Pueblo near Espanola, N.M., came into this country herding sheep. When Dad wanted to marry Mother, her parents and grandparents discussed it a long lime, finally deciding Juan was industrious and good for the family. Dad offered to pay for Mother, but apparently he had nothing which they considered valuable enough as a dowry. After much thought the older Bakers set this condition. If Dad would work for the family for 2 years without pay, he could marry Mother. He agreed to this and was never sorry. "When I was born," Genevieve says, "the area around Pagosa Junction was not almost empty as it is today. The river valley and all the canyons leading up onto the mesas were full of people. You should have seen the people pour out of the canyons when there was a wedding or a celebration. There were about 20 houses in town, a train station, a church, a hotel with a restaurant, a school and two stores, one run by the Gomez family and the other by Walter Ziebriski. Both stores had good selections of general merchandise. Ziebriski made quite a stir when he put a hand operated gasoline pump out in front of his store. Since Ziebriski spoke English with a heavy accent, I could never understand one word he said, but Dad could. I would listen to their conversations and as soon as we left ask father, 'What did he say?'." "The train was the lifeline of our town. We were a switching point on the main AlamosaDurango line for the branch to Pagosa Springs. That's why we needed a hotel. The schedules didn't always match, so the people coming from or going to Pagosa were often caught between trains and needed a place to spend the night. This gave use a glimpse of the outside world, for some of the traveling people were dressed real fancy. We admired them as they walked up and down the street in the evenings. The little girls watching would say, 'This is our New York.' We were proud of the hotel. It had everything but an indoor toilet." "When it was time for us to go to school, Dad got a place right in town. Dad kept farming and was a good farmer. I can still picture him planning his work and keeping his accounts in a small tablet. He would look through it and say, 'I owe so-and-so two days of work;' or 'So-and-so owes me a lamb this spring.'" "I was so glad when I finished 6th grade. Thal was all the school I wanted, but I was sent to the boarding school at Santa Fe to continue my education. What a scary trip that was. I had ridden trains before, but never away from my parents and never so far away from home. A bunch of us were loaded on the train to Antonito where we spent the first night. I'm sure we all stuck out like sore thumbs, so curious and always saying, 'Look at this!' or 'Look at that!' The next day we got onto another train which took us south to Santa Fe." 6B �'J 'J 1 1 ' ' ' ') "Every summer I came home. The warm season was a busy time because we dried and canned and stored up all the food we needed for the winter, No one was lazy. No one seemed to mind hard work. They would get going and get it done. Every year we went camping to pick fruit and berries - so many kinds, l don't remember them all. Of course, there were chokecherries and the buffalo-berries. The river bottom near Sky Ute Downs used to be thick with buffalo-berries. We found that some of the bushes produced sweet, juicy berries while others nearby were sour. The location of those bushes was a family secret." '' ' ' "All of us liked dances. They were held outside in good weather. If it was cold or wet, Felix Gomez would let us use his barn. All of us got together to decorate it till it didn't even look like a barn. We saved all our bright paper for paper chains and other decorations, Young and old came with their lanterns. The old people were treated very respectfully, even if they didn't dance, for they were the good fiddle players. We went from one to another, asking them if they would play for us. When they got tired and went home, the dance was over." 1 ) } ) ) ") ) ) "On Saint Days there were horse races and foot races. I once won a length of cloth in a race. It was a welcome prize. People looked forward to the celebrations and the contests. As the time approached we engaged in much speculation. Rumors would fly around,' So-and-so has a real fast horse this year,' or 'so-and-so thinks he can beat last year's winner."' ) ) ) ) ) ) ) _) _) _j J _j _j ...) ..J _j ...) ..J ,J "My mother, Mary Pena, was recruited every year to help distribute per capita payments to the tribe. Dad would load the wagon and head for Arboles where we'd jump in the river and cool off and have lunch before going on. We always camped near the agency close to the present site of the Bear Dance Grounds for several days. Mother was chosen because she knew the names of all the tribal members. She rode a car with two armed guards from the BIA who kept between them a huge sack of silver money. None of the Indians wanted checks or paper money. They didn't trust it. Each tribal member was given a cup of silver money, large cups for adults, small ones for children. The money wasn't counted exact. It was merely dipped into the sack and poured into the men's hats. The beginnings of women's lib on the reservation may have started when one of the wives insisted that her cup of money be poured into her shawl instead of into her husband's hat." "One January while l was still in high school at Santa Fe, 1 received the message that my mother was dead. She had ridden the train to Ignacio, and the car she rode in was so overheated that she was sweaty hot when she got off. The walk in the cold winter wind from the depot up to the agency gave her fatal pneumonia." "When I finished high school, there was nothing to keep me in Pagosa Junction, so I came to Ignacio to stay with my aunt and uncle, Lucille and Frank Baker. I stayed with them until I married Graves Gunn. Graves and I had seven children: Harold, Aletha, Emery, Corrine, Sylvia, Janice, and Sandra. Harold and Emery are both dead now." "My father, Juan Pena, is still alive and very active at 94. Long life seems to be a tradition of his family. Juan's mother, Angelita Tapia, lived to be 108." ...) ,J J .J 69 �"When I look back to my childhood, I see that we were made happy with such simple things. Going to Ignacio on the train was a once a year treat. In August Dad would say, 'I think it's lime to go buy shoes and other things girls and boys need.' Thelma and I would get so excited just thinking about the trip." "Today the river has eaten away much of the land which used to belong to the town. Ziebriski's store had fallen down and most of the homesteads are deserted, but when I think of Pagosa Junction, I see it as it was 50 years ago. The school bell rings; the train moves into town; the hotel is busy. The canyon people are riding into town for Saturday shopping. (That's how we called them-the First Canyon people, or the Second Canyon people to indicate which canyon the lived in up or down the river.) I remember the town and the canyons full of life, homes and people. To see ii now, you'd think there had never been anyone there." Shelby Smith March, 1977 70 � 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 Genevieve Pena Gunn Biography Date Created Date of creation of the resource. 1978-03 Description An account of the resource Biography of Genevieve Pena Gunn based on an interview conducted by Shelby Smith. Originally included in the March, 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 Gunn, Genevieve Pena 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/37a16810cb700f497eff333570cb5c76.pdf 75a8b48393539201a928b6633c84192d PDF Text Text ......, ......, 'l } 'l } } } 'l ) ' ' ' ) } GEORGE RICHMOND & AMY (Cope) HAMS Twelve year old George Hams and his friend Lee Canfield stood beside the road staring intently into the distance. Even though the machine they were watching was still far down the road, the boys could hear its rhythmic pop-pop-popping as it approached. A lone figure in the auto sat very straight, holding stiffly to the steering bar. The boys were excited because they were encountering their first automobile. They would have been more excited had they known they were about to see their first auto wreck. The driver, approaching at a fast clip, was unaware of a stretch of deep sand in the road. The hard front wheels sank into the sand and the steering bar jerked from the driver's hands. As the boys stared in fascination, the auto promptly capsized, Hastings, a town of about 4,000 in southern Michigan, was a good place to live in 1898. Located mid-way between the cities of Chicago and Detroit, it was an especially good place for a curious teen-age boy to observe the mechanization and scientific revolution occurring in America, ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) __) ) .J _j __) ..J ..J ..J ..J J ..J J J J J J J The town was surrounded by rolling , forested hills with many clear streams running through the country-side. A person could hardly trave l a mile in any direction without finding a pond or lake. George was born there on October 22, 1896, the son of Martha and William Hams. William was a carpenter, then started a grocery and bakery and did well with these businesses. "We always had plenty to eat," George remembers, "because many of the farmers who traded with the store didn't have any cash and would pay for their supplies with meat or fruit or other garden produce. Our meat house was always full of hams and turkeys. The Hams bought a summer cabin on Gunn Lake near Hastings. George, his brother William, and their mother spent the summers at the lake. It was a grand life for a boy. The long summer days were occupied with fishing, swimming, boating and playing with friends. On weekends Mr. Hams would travel out to the lake in an open buggy with an umbrella top. As fall approached, the family moved back to town for school enrollment. William bought wood and set the boys to splitting it, "We mainly used maple, oak and beech for firewood. Even after we installed a coal furnace, mother used wood in the cook stove." Every fall the Hams gathered walnuts, butternuts and hazelnuts. George liked some fun with his nut gathering. Mer a freeze he liked to climb carefully into the branches of a nut tree overhanging a path or lane and wait for someone to come along. At the strategic moment he would Jump vigorously up and down on the branches and bomb the daylights out of his victims . As it is today, winter was a marvelous time for kids, "We would sharpen our skates like razors and race up and down the river or around the ponds near town. If we wanted to ski, we usually tied barrel staves to our feet; or if we wanted something better, we took elm wood to the engineer at the furniture factory. He steamed and shaped the wood. Then we tacked old shoes to the boards and had a pretty fair set of skies." 71 �Each fall Mr. Hams traded supplies to one of the farmers for ten gallons of wine which he kept in a barrel in the cellar. What boy could resist sampling it? George surely didn't. One day he and Lee Canfield sneaked into the cellar and sampled and sampled and sampled. "We got sick," George remembers. George has good memories of school days. He was an honor student most of the time. He admits to getting into mischief (some of which he won't tell about), but does admit to playing "Penny on a Board" with greenhorns who moved into Hastings. To play "Penny on a Board" George would bring out a pile of sand on a shingle, push a penny into the pile and set it on the ground. Several youngsters, including the greenhorn, lined up a ways from the pile and on the count of three raced lo see who could get the penny. Actually the innocent-looking sand pile was more than sand. It was a pile of very fresh cow dung or other manure covered with sand. As you can guess, the greenhorn was allowed to win and wound up with more than he could handle. In 1905 George's father sold out in Michigan and moved to Lake Arthur, New Mexico, south of Roswell where he bought a hardware and lumber business. Since George had only one year of high school left to finish, he was allowed to remain in Hastings. After high school George was apprenticed to a pharmacist in Grand Rapids. He rented a small apartment nearby and began his training. George dated a pretty little girl named Amy Belle Cope who came into the drugstore occasionally. Amy worked at the Fox Typewriter Co. in Grand Rapids. On dates George and Amy attended silent movies, burlesque shows and the circus (Amy especially liked the side shows). Vaudeville shows were $.35 in the evening and $.15 in the afternoon. They made frequent visits to ice cream parlors, rarely to restaurants. George and Amy were married in 1910. In 1911 Viola was born. She was their only child. The Hams made occasional trips to visit his parents in New Mexico. Cars had become quite common, but good roads were rare. They have vivid memories of trips across the plains. While crossing Oklahoma on one trip the Hams came to a region which had been soaked with heavy rain. When they got bogged at the bottom of a hill, Amy agreed to get out and push. Once the car got going, George couldn't stop. Not only was Amy splattered with mud from head to foot, she also had to walk all the way up the hill through deep mud to reach the car. Another time the Hams had completely bogged down in a mud hole and were feeling hopeless until four young men on motorcycles appeared. The cyclists got off their machines, walked over to the car (one to each fender) picked the car up with the Hams still inside, set it on firm ground, and left. In 1920 when Viola was about 9, Amy contracted tuberculosis. The doctors recommended that she go to a dry climate like New Mexico for treatment. She did so and year later she was pronounced cured. If 10 year old Viola hadn't asked for an ice cream cone as they passed through Hagerman, N.M., on their way back home lo Grand Rapids, the Hams family might still be in Michigan. George stopped, went into the drug store for the ice cream and discovered the store was for sale. He bought it on the spot. 72 �Life in Hagerman on the legendary Pecos River was quite different from life in Grand Rapids. The Hams bought a place near the Russell Ranch and became good friends of the Russell family, who proved to be invaluable help when most any problem arose. George bought a few cows. When it came time for one of the calves to be weaned from its mother, Amy had trouble. Mrs. Russell, who weighted about 200 pounds, came over to help. She stepped a stride the shoulders of the calf, grasped its head and ears and forced its head into the bucket. "If it gets balky again, just do that," Mrs. Russell advised. The next day Amy decided to try to force feed the calf. It had not occurred to her that a difference in weight of 110 pounds would matter. Amy, who weighed only 90 pounds got astride the calf and got the ride of her life. Fortunately, Amy had as good a sense of humor about this as about the mud. George operated the drug store in Hagerman from 1921-1946. Though he preferred not to be, he was considered a counter doctor by many of the residents of the area. George and Amy sewed up more people than they like to remember. "One man had such a large knife wound, we could see his heart beating." As in all parts of the country during the great depression, many transients came through Hagerman. "We never refused anyone a prescription, money or no money. One family passing through asked for medicine for a sick baby. Years later we received a letter from them with money for the prescription." ) ) ) Viola moved to Ignacio in the 1940's. When the Hams came to visit, the green trees and flowing streams brought back memories of Michigan. They had always missed the green countryside while living on the dry plains. In 1946 George and Amy bought 40 acres north of Ignacio, remodeled the house and spent many happy years here. Amy died in 1970. George is now 88 years old. He's had a good life with much happiness and filled with good memories. We are happy you moved here Mr. Hams and wish you many more happy years. J December, 1974 - Shelby Smith ) _) J _J ..) ..) ..) J J -.J J J J J J J J 73 � 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 George Richmond Hams and Amy (Cope) Hams Biography Date Created Date of creation of the resource. 1974-12 Subject The topic of the resource Hams, George Richmond; Hams, Amy (Cope); Ignacio, Colorado; Southwest Colorado Description An account of the resource Biography of George Richmond Hams and Amy (Cope) Hams based on an interview conducted by Shelby Smith. Originally included in the December, 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 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/85a6aeb51fd1f19ce567e4bb28dc7f91.pdf 3994ca571b3e9da48988cb2e4579275c PDF Text Text -. 'l t t , , J , i 'l l ' ) ) ) ) ) °) ) ) } ) ) ) J ) J ) _) J HARRY RICHARDS While Peter Snow Richards (better known as Pieah Richards) and his wife Emma were living on a ranch north of Buckskin Charlie's place, north of Ignacio, a son was born to them. It was October 17, 1886. Little Harry was a strong, healthy boy. At that time most of the Utes could still hunt with bows and arrows and as Harry grew up he was taught to make his own weapons and to hunt the old way. In those days there were very few Mexicans and Anglos in the area. A few agency people and one or two store owners and their families were here. Otherwise tribal members had the land to themselves. As a child and a young man Harry led a life most American children would envy today. He fished and hunted. He learned the crafts and traditions of his people, participating in the dances and feasts. He helped his father and grandfather and played boyhood games all the while untroubled by the shadow of school. All good things seem to have a way of ending. In 1899 when Harry was 13 his grandfather put an end to the free and easy life. One half mile north of the agency was a mission school taught by the blacksmith's daughter. Harry was sent to class. The best thing he remembers about school that year was the two week Christmas vacation. He had no idea what plans his grandfather had for him for the following school year. "One day a man I'd never seen before showed up at our place. My grandfather told me I was going with him to the Ft. Lewis School to learn English. I didn't know anything about it until they told me to get into the wagon. There wasn't any chance to run away o-r anything." Harry went to school two years at Ft. Lewis. He learned English, got acquainted with the latest farming techniques and a few other subjects. "That was enough school for me," Harry states. At the age of 18, Harry decided it was time to earn some money of his own. His first job was with the agency. It was hard work, often with a pick and shovel, but a person couldn't be choosy. Jobs weren't too plentiful. To the best of his memory, Harry earned $1.25 per day. That doesn't sound like much but $.25 would buy a lot of groceries in 1905. By then Harry was living on Spring Creek and rode a horse to work every day. It was a fairly long ride and tiresome, especially when there was farm work to do at home afterward. _) ..J _) .J J .J .J J When asked how he met his wife, Harry smiled and said, "It was different then. If you wanted to marry a girl, you would go ask her father. He might say 'no' or he might say 'yes'. If he said 'yes' he would call his daughter out and you would take her home with you and you were married." Sometimes the girl's mother or grandmother would object to the match. When this happened, the grandmother might put the couple to the smoke test. This consisted of putting the couple in a tepee, building a smoky fire inside the tepee and sealing up the tent flaps. As the tepee filled with smoke, eyes watered and breathing became difficult. If the boy broke out for fresh air before the time allotted by the grandmother, she ran him off and he couldn't come back. If he endured the smoke ...) J J J J 13 9 �until the grandmother was satisfied, she would open the tepee and the couple was free to marry. Harry married Mary Tobias. Unfortunately, Mary died about 3 years later and there were no children, Afterwards Harry moved to Taos and married a tribal member there. A daughter was born. Harry likes the Taos people very much and still goes occasionally to visit his daughter and her children. After about three years in Taos, he moved back to the Pine River Valley. Personal travel was very slow when Harry was young. A trip to the Uinta Reservation in Utah required 15 days with a horse and buggy. For this reason, when trips were made, people stayed a while. Time for another one probably wouldn't come for some while. Harry's brother Bob was appointed Tribal judge and held that post for several years. Whenever Bob was needed to hear a case, the tribal police would have to ride a horse out to Spring Creek to bring him in, After a while this became so inconvenient that the tribe suggested that Bob and Harry take an assignment of land nearer to town. The new assigned land is about 2 miles east of town and Harry has lived there ever since. About 13 years ago, Bob and Harry were given an unusual opportunity. They were offered the ctiance to adopt a baby boy. Most men in their 60's would not be interested in giving their lives to the care of a child. Many would not feel competent, but Bob and Harry did. They raised little Ross from an infant, loved him and gave him good care. The County Wettare Department questioned the suitability of this arrangement several times, but could find no fault with the care Bob and Harry were giving the baby. Bob died in 1972. Harry and Ross still live on the farm. When Harry is not gardening, he is involved in craft work for which he and all his people should be proud. Harry makes bows, arrows, spears, drums, and feathered ornaments for use on ceremonial occasions. His work is very beautiful and valuable. Not many people skilled in these crafts remain. Harry is looking forward to his 89th birthday this fall. That's getting pretty old, but Harry doesn1 act it. He still works his garden and gets around very well. We wish him many more peaceful, happy and productive years. Shelby Smith. July 1974 � 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 Harry Richards Biography Date Created Date of creation of the resource. 1974-07 Subject The topic of the resource Richards, Harry; Ignacio, Colorado; Southwest Colorado Description An account of the resource Biography of Harry Richards based on an interview conducted by Shelby Smith. Originally included in the July, 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 Richards, Harry 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/d6c2b7e37d5d4d1a26062f451dbe30b8.PDF 13f1f652c2e30da14a6be43e0565d590 PDF Text 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 Voices of Ignacio 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 Helen Dunn Recollections About Southern Ignacio Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/</a> Subject The topic of the resource Recollections; Ignacio; Colorado; 1930s; Dunn, Helen; History Description An account of the resource A written summary of the recollections of Helen Dunn concerning southern Ignacio, Colorado during the 1930s. Type The nature or genre of the resource Text https://voicesofignacio.cvlcollections.org/files/original/6513bc73038587c3e5fe20247b50ef34.pdf 4e6de020042a8ba216d9f176353a1b87 PDF Text Text Ida Kent (Southern Ute Tribal Elder) My name is Ida Kent. I was born here in Ignacio off on the reservation. There's a house now sitting on a hill where I was born. I was born at the foot of the fill there. There used to be a big reservoir that people used for their horses. It was a farming area, so that's what they used for their horses. That's where I was born, in a teepee. I was born in 1921; that's what it says on the paper. Graves Kent is my father and Ada [sic?] Rabbit Kent is my mother. She was from Breen, CO; that's where her folks lived. Where my dad's folks were from I do not know, because they moved around and they didn't really have a set place. My mother's parents had a lot of sheep, so Breen, CO was country that they took up and they lived in that area. And, she was born there. Her grandfather was Rabbit. I really don't remember his name, but they called him Mr. Rabbit. Anyway, he lived in Breen, CO; it's right south of Ft. Lewis. My parents were both Southern Ute. My brother is Bonny[?] Kent and my sister is Isabelle Kent. They're both gone, but they've got children. Bonny's children are Phoebe, Richard Kent, and Emmanuel [?] Kent. Those are the three that are here today. Isabelle's children are Charles Kent, Cynthia Kent, and Betsy Kent. The two girls are up in ... they're working in ... I don't remember. Charlie is around, but I don't know where he is. Those are the three of hers. My children are Albert Kent and Ida[?] Ray Kent (that's her name); she lives down in Albuquerque. My son lives here in Ignacio. I didn't get married until about 1963. I went to the public school in Ignacio until I was in the fourth or sixth grade. I liked the girls, which went to the public school, from the Indian school. I'd ask them, 'what do you do at that school?' And they told me what the girls did. I liked what I heard, so I asked ifl could go to the Indian school. I asked them if it was possible for me to go to school with the Indians. They said, 'sure you can go to the Indian school, but it won't be like the public school. There are a lot of things that are different.' I said, 'I just want to go to be like a girl, to sew or to be a homemaker,' and they laughed at me. But, anyway, I went to public school up to third or fourth grade. So, I went to school up there. I know the sewing machine (the electric sewing machine). I know the electric iron. There were a lot of things I learned that were so useful. Washing clothes: I had a couple of tubs of hot water and washed our clothes on the weekend and be ready for school the next week. I enjoyed going to school at the Indian school. I learned to do many things, like the sewing machine. I sewed my own dress that was torn. I forgot to take my finger away from the needle and sewed my finger right here [points and laughs]. But, nobody was there to help me except for a lady who said, 'what are you doing? Sewing your finger through the needle?' I said, 'I was too slow,' and they said, 'yeah, it's too fast for people like you who don't know how to handle themselves.' That's what I did. Things that were electric were kind of hard to use, but I got used to using them. It was all right afterwards; I enjoyed being there. �Page 2 of3 How many years was I there? Well, they took me when I was in the fourth grade. I must have been in there for four years until I changed back to public school. I didn't want to go back, but my dad said I should go back to do more lessons. I was doing sewing anyway; that was to be my life. Going to school. .. I didn't do so good. But, I went back to public school. I think I just ~w&W ~ clt,-'atkt rherr when-I wasLlrr rhe-tlimir gra1ie-fqui:t- scllooT'- -I hat wa'sn" t 'ri:ghr, .Jambrly'dad was so mad at me. He didn't think I should be punished like any other person. He wanted me to, but he didn't. So, I quit and didn't go to school no more. After that I had my little boy: Albert Kent. So, he's about 70 years old, I think. I'm not quite sure; I've forgotten how old he has become. All that time after I quit school I went back to work at the dorm. I worked with the boys and the girls as an attendant. There were a lot of things I learned that were well worth training for. I didn't become anything that was a better life, but it was a good life in a way. The time that I was sick I couldn't go back to work, so I decided I better quit. They let me quit, and that was in 1975. I spoke English all that time, because I was working with those people. The Navajo don't have the same language, so we spoke in English together. So, practically, I just lived the English way. Once I learned it I lived that life. Maybe it's not the best story I should say, but it's the best I have. *** I used to dance. I'm not one to say I'm 'it'; I don't know all about it. But, when there was a dance I'd go dance. When there was a Bear Dance I'd go dance. There was the Round dance, so I Round danced. I would do the Gourd Dance when they would have it at our Ute Fair. They used to come up and do that, so I danced now and then. People are, as you'd say, members. But, I didn't become a member and only the members could dance. *** I know just part of my grandparents. Oh, what was his name ... John Russell; that was my mother's father. He lost his parents, too, when he was a baby. A lot of people were still roaming then. They didn't have a place to stay, but they said this was tribal land. So, he lived around here. When he moved out to Towoac that's where he met my grandma. So, that's where he stayed, and they lived together. How long I do not know. Anyway, he was gone again. I guess at that time people could give it up and they got something else. That's the way he was: he was a roamer. He had other children, too, after that. So, I don't know too much about them. I knew my father's parents. I knew my grandpa. It was my grandma that I knew that became a landowner on this side of Oxford. I knew the area, but I can't think of it right now. Anyway, that area was big enough, so my grandma took up that. She had my dad, my aunt ... Amy, Mary, my dad. I guess my grandpa passed away up in Utah, where he was from. His parents were from Utah. He passed away, so I just know my grandma; her name is Isabelle ... her name was Ruby Stone Kent. She married John Kent; who was my dad's father. He was from Utah. My mother's were from Breen, CO. �Page 3 of3 *** We had horses ... wagons and horses. So, we more or less rode wagons and buggies or horseback. The first time I rode in an automobile was when I was going to the dorm. I don't know if it was a tribal thing that took us to Durango to buy clothes or what. But, four of us girls from the dorm, from Ignacio went to buy some clothes. Instead of a bus, it was a truck that took us to Durango. I kind ofremember a little bit about that. One of the girls was saying, 'When I'm able to go on my own, I'll be buying me an automobile so I can drive.' As we were coming out from Durango the road there wasn't as it is now. Anyway, we were going down the road and got a flat. We had to get off the truck. We used to tease that girl and laugh. She said, laughing, 'When I get a flat I'll be walking home with my bags.' We were laughing about dragging our stuff home, because not more car. Oh, boy. I don't even remember the girl's name we were laughing about. But, it was so funny. *** We learned to make a garden by a group of girls and boys of the same grade. They were saying, 'this is how you do it when you go home and have a home: you make yourselves a garden. These are things to eat ... like potatoes.' There are a lot of things that they taught us that are useful for eating. We also had rabbits and onions. They were good, too. *** You know, I should have given a thought ( maybe a long time ago) as to how I would put my story together. But, I didn't even think about it. I'm at a loss now to tell my story fully and, maybe, differently. That's the best I've done. *** Well, at least they [Ida's grandchildren] will know that there were a lot of things that were different then than it is today. And, it was really hard to have things, because you didn't have money. We had things we could us at that time. At that time we didn't have electricity, but we still traveled on horses. Not much of anything that you would call was precious to us except horses and wagons and a home; that were teepees or tents. (Not many of us had homes except teepees.) But, I guess it was very useful, because I came out of it. [Laughs]. In a way I'm glad I lived then. Now, everything is different and easier than at the time that I was little, or at the time I became knowledgeable of myself Now things are a lot better than what they were a long time ago. It was all learning and hardship and all, but we really learned to live. And, we were always happy to be together with our family. Let's say, I'm very happy to be with my people that are here today. And, that's about it, I guess. Interviewed Michael G. Miller (VISTA worker) on January 23, 2004. � 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 Michael Miller Interviews Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/CNE/1.0/ Date Created Date of creation of the resource. 2003-2004 Subject The topic of the resource Ignacio, Colorado; Southwest Colorado Description An account of the resource Collection of twelve biographies written by VISTA worker Michael G. Miller of prominent people in the Ignacio community. Based on interviews conducted by Miller between December 9, 2003 and March 15, 2004. Some contain the additional attribution "for the Ignacio Historical Society." Spatial Coverage Spatial characteristics of the resource. Ignacio, Colorado; Southwest Colorado Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Miller, Michael G. 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 Ida Kent Biography Date Created Date of creation of the resource. 2004-01-23 Subject The topic of the resource Kent, Ida; Ignacio, Colorado; Southwest Colorado Description An account of the resource Biography of Ida Kent written by VISTA worker Michael Miller and based on an interview conducted by Miller on January 23, 2004. 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 Kent, Ida Extent The size or duration of the resource. 3 pages https://voicesofignacio.cvlcollections.org/files/original/7cf55eff08666984b4c587d574fc6084.jpg af25321da18c279a0f434a704fb7cdba 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 Ignacio Livery 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; Livery Description An account of the resource A photo of the Ignacio Livery in Ignacio, Colorado. Type The nature or genre of the resource Still Image https://voicesofignacio.cvlcollections.org/files/original/33358168d4979fcaa29d41629f1da069.jpg 45d559fb578179ec09a89ebe41c49808 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 Ignacio Lumber Co. 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; Lumber; Lumber Store Description An account of the resource A photo of Ignacio Lumber Co. in Ignacio, Colorado. Type The nature or genre of the resource Still Image https://voicesofignacio.cvlcollections.org/files/original/1770a65f1b75fc9179231e66b0152b45.jpg 627ffa1cd8766f60b992e5ede612c9ef 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 Ignacio Pool Hall and Barber Shop 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; Pool Hall; Barber Shop Description An account of the resource A photo of the Ignacio Pool Hall (owned by Thomas Mullen) and the Ignacio Barber Shop. Type The nature or genre of the resource Still Image https://voicesofignacio.cvlcollections.org/files/original/297f7abe58f12f7848c6913788afbb81.jpg 2702da1033040310f1a1c5e21b2979f9 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 Ignacio Pool Hall, circa 1945 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; Pool Hall Description An account of the resource The Ignacio, Colorado Pool Hall, photographed in 1945. Type The nature or genre of the resource Still Image Language A language of the resource English