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ALCARIO and JENNIE (Marez) VIGIL
Jose Alcario Vigil was born at Blanco, N.M. April 24, 1903, one of ten children born to
Jose Antonio and Maria Dolorita Vigil.
"My father was a farmer," Alcario says, "working on his own place and also working for
others. When my mother died in 1911, I went to live with my aunt, Marcelino Vallejos
Jacquez. She never sent me to school. There was too much work on the farm. Every
day I herded goals and sheep or worked in the garden. The farming equipment we had
was not too good, but it worked. We plowed our rows with a wooden plow which was
little more than a slick pulled by a burro or a horse. It was all slow work, but the
neighbors all helped one another."
"Some of my brothers died in the flu epidemic in 1918, but my twin brother survived. He
still lives at Telluride."
"The nearest real town was Aztec about 30 miles away. It had a train depot, several
stores and the court house. On a horse and buggy a trip to Aztec required many hours,
so we didn't go very often."
"My first job for cash money was haying. I got paid ten cents for a day's work."
When Alcario was grown, he got a job with the railroad and also met Rosie Torres.
Alcario and Rosie were married in 1923. One child was born to them before Rosie died
in 1926. Alcario worked for the next three years on the railroad line to Rico and
Telluride. Most of the work was ordinary maintenance and repairs, but also included
cleaning up train wrecks and derailments. Snowslides, rocks and mud on the tracks all
caused occasional wrecks. While Alcario was working at Mancos, he met Jennie Marez,
whose folks had a farm near Mancos on Summit Ridge. Jennie was born in Gallup and
was reared by her Aunt Inez Marez. Since she went to school only through sixth grade,
Jennie never expected to become a school teacher. For two years Summit Ridge had
no money to pay a school teacher. Eighteen students were without school. Jennie's
relatives asked her to teach the children. She went to school, looked at the books for
reading, spelling and arithmetic and decided to give it a try. Jennie managed
surprisingly well.
"I used the switch when they needed it and whenever they got on my nerves, I declared
a vacation."
Alcario and Jennie were married at Mancos. They stayed there a while then moved on
to Towaoc and then to Ignacio. The Vigils have 12 children including three sets of twins.
Their children are Dolores, Joe, Margarita and Alabama, Dora and Dorothy (twins)
Shirley, Betty, Stella and Stephanie (twins) and Pete and Paul (twins).
Mrs. Vigil says, "People are always asking me if it's hard taking care of twins. I have to
tell them I don't know. When my twins were small, people were always asking for one of
168
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them. If I would get on the train for Durango, if I went to the store or wherever I went,
people would ask to hold one of the babies. I never had but one at a time."
Alcario has quite a reputation as a fiddler. He used to play for dances in most of the
towns between here and Grand Junction. "I learned to play when I was a child. All my
relatives used to play the fiddle and the guitar, so I began trying to play." Several years
ago Alcario started carving his own violins. He has made 1O or 12 and still working on
others.
Regarding large families Jennie says, "We've never been sorry we have all these
children. They've all been very good to us."
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SHELBY SMITH
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Dublin Core
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Title
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Shelby Smith Interviews
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https://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-NC/1.0/?language=en
Date Created
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1973-1980
Subject
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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.
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Text
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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.
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Alcario Vigil and Jennie (Marez) Vigil Biography
Date Created
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1977-05
Subject
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Vigil, Alcario; Vigil, Jennie (Marez): Ignacio, Colorado; Southwest Colorado
Description
An account of the resource
Biography of Alcario Vigil and Jennie (Marez) Vigil based on an interview conducted by Shelby Smith. Originally included in the May, 1977 issue of "The Thoughtful Years" newsletter published by the Ignacio Senior Center. Later included in the book "Oral Histories of the Southern Pine River Valley" by Shelby Smith.
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Ignacio, Colorado; Southwest Colorado
Type
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Text
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Vigil, Alcario; Vigil, Jennie (Marez)
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2 pages
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Smith, Shelby
-
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PDF Text
Text
Voices of Ignacio
Oral History Project
Interview with Glen Walker
April 2nd, 2025
Conducted by Daniel Frauenhoff and Cheyenne Munns
Transcript by Daniel Frauenhoff
�1
Preface
The following transcript is based on an interview conducted at the Ignacio Community
Library (ICL), 470 Goddard Ave., Ignacio, Colorado, on April 2nd, 2025, at 1:00pm. It details a
conversation between Ignacio resident Glen Walker and ICL staff members Daniel Frauenhoff
and Cheyenne Munns. Mr. Walker discusses his efforts to establish Ignacio’s first library, career
as the owner/operator of the hardware store, and other local history topics. It has been produced
as part of the Voices of Ignacio Project, administered by the ICL, which aims to assemble and
curate a collection of oral histories from residents of Ignacio and the surrounding area to
preserve for community members, researchers, and future generations. Timestamps are based on
the original recording, which is to be cataloged on the Voices of Ignacio Digital Collection
website.
Contents
[0:00] - Introduction/The Walkers Come to Ignacio
[1:48] - The Origins of Ignacio’s First Library
[3:40] - Arranging Funding for the First Library
[4:40] - The First Board of Directors
[5:40] - Additional Funding for the First Library
[6:10] - History of the Original Library Building
[7:05] - Passing the First Mill Levy and Establishing the Library District
[8:30] - Background of the New Library Building
[8:50] - Financing the New Library Building
[10:09] - Acquiring Land for the New Library Building
[12:30] - Past Library Employees/Directors
[15:58] - The McClanahan Connection
[17:00] - Changes to the Library Over Time
[19:15] - Other Community Members to Speak To
[21:00] - Changes to Ignacio Over the Years and the Southern Ute Tribe
[23:00] - History of the Ignacio Hardware Store
[25:40] - Lawrence Wiseman
[27:39] - Final Thoughts
�2
[0:00] - Introduction/The Walkers Come to Ignacio
Frauenhoff: It is Wednesday, April 2nd, 2025. This is Daniel Frauenhoff speaking and I am
joined by [gestures to the right].
Munns:
Cheyenne Munns
Frauenhoff:
We are here on behalf of the Voices of Ignacio project, administered by the
Ignacio Community Library, and to that effect our guest of honor today is Mr.
Glen Walker. Mr. Walker, if you would briefly introduce yourself, where and
when you were born?
Walker:
My name is Glen Walker. I was born in Louisiana on June 25, 1942. My wife and
I moved to Ignacio in 1974 and I still live here.
Frauenhoff: What was it that brought you out here?
Walker:
We didn’t want to live in Denver anymore. We were both from small towns and it
was sort of accidental that we ended up here. I had a longtime friend that moved
to Durango to teach at Fort Lewis and he said ‘well why don’t you move over
there,’ [Ignacio] so we did. It turned out to be a good choice for us.
Frauenhoff: So you’ve lived here ever since?
Walker:
Yes, well, we lived briefly in Costa Rica for a couple of years.
[1:48] - The Origins of Ignacio’s First Library
Frauenhoff: Was there any library in Ignacio when you first came here?
Walker:
Nope, nothing.
Frauenhoff: And, as I understand, you were pretty closely involved with getting the first
library up off the ground?
Walker:
Yeah. I worked for the town of Ignacio, back years ago. I had a couple of jobs, I
was the Assistant Town Manager and Recreation Director. The town had a
business incubator over where the Southern Ute Adult Education [Center] is now.
And I got sort of saddled with that after a while. We were trying to attract
businesses to town and didn’t have much luck at it. But one day, where the deli is
�3
at the grocery store now, there was a small cafe called Jerry’s Cafe. [To Munns]:
Do you remember that?
Munns:
Yea.
Walker:
So one day I went over there for a coffee break, and there was only one other
person in there, a gentleman by the name of Wayne Whiteman, who had just
retired from being president of the Bank of Ignacio. So Wayne and I were talking
and I asked him what did he think would help Ignacio grow, be a better place?
And he said ‘what we really need is a library.’
[3:40] - Arranging Funding for the First Library
Walker:
Some years prior, he [Whiteman] and a few other people had raised some money
to start a library, but they just couldn’t do it. And they still had $2500 in the bank.
He said ‘probably the only entity that could do this would be the town, and we’d
be willing to give them that $2500 to kickstart things.’ So when I went back to
town hall I asked the town manager what he thought about that and he said ‘write
up a proposal and we’ll take it to the town board.’ So I did, and did some
checking on other funds, took it to the town board, and they all were in favor of it.
[4:40] - The First Board of Directors
Walker:
So, [I] recruited some board members that the town appointed. They were: a
gentleman named Larry Corbin, a lady that was on the town board, Elizabeth
(Cindy) Gallegos, Donna Young, who at the time was the director of the Southern
Ute Community Action Program, Dorthy Zahrt, who was actually finishing up a
degree in education at Fort Lewis, her husband had been principal at the junior
high here, and myself.
[5:40] - Additional Funding for the First Library
Frauenhoff: And I guess you’d call that the first Friends of the Library or?
Walker:
Well, no, we were the board, Board of Directors, or whatever they called us. I got
a $5000 grant from the State Library Board and we started doing fundraisers. We
had raffles, bake sales, cause we had no tax base. The town was supportive of it,
but they weren’t gonna fund us very much, even though they bought the first
building that was here.
�4
[6:10] - History of the Original Library Building
Walker:
It was an old building that was, I think built in 1908 if I remember right, and it
had been several things over the years, a furniture store, I don’t know what else.
But at that time it was a woodshop, and the gentleman, unfortunately, was not
able to make it here and the bank took the building back and they sold it to the
town for a very, very good price. We started remodeling that building and we had
lots of donations of materials, free labor, a few community service people
[laughs], and we built the library basically from scratch.
[7:05] - Passing the First Mill Levy and Establishing the Library District
Walker:
‘91 is when we became an official district, and I think that spring, the spring of
‘91, we had an election [that] established a very small Mill Levy and defined the
Library District as being the School District boundaries. We opened with mostly
donated books, of which the majority were Reader’s Digest condensed books
[laughter], everybody in Ignacio and the surrounding area had a set of those and
they brought ‘em, and, of course, we had to haul them to the dump. But that’s how
we got started. I don’t know what else you’d want to know.
Frauenhoff: So you said that all happened around ‘91, give or take?
Walker:
We started working on it late ‘87 or early ‘88 and we opened the library in ‘91.
[8:30] - Background of the New Library Building
Frauenhoff: Now, as far as the building we’re sitting in today [present library], it was
constructed in 2007, is that correct?
Walker:
That’s correct.
Frauenhoff: So its on, or at least the court yard is on, the site of the old library. Were you
closely involved with getting the funding together for this building we’re in?
[8:50] - Financing the New Library Building
Walker:
Yea, I was still Chairman of the Board at that time. We had two questions on the
ballot. One was to increase the Mill Levy to, I think it was five mills, and I’m
probably wrong on that, but it was a big increase over what we had. The other one
was to approve the district issuing bonds to build the building. The bond issue
�5
passed fairly comfortably, [but] the increase in the tax only passed by about five
votes. I didn’t understand that because if we didn’t get an increase in the tax we
couldn’t do the bonds, cause we couldn’t repay them. And this was all the easy
part, way easier than getting this thing started originally, cause somebody else was
doing all of the work. We hired an architect, and then, obviously, a contractor.
[10:09] - Acquiring Land for the New Library Building
Walker:
But there was still lots of stuff that had to be done, acquiring enough land was
part of it. Where the parking lot is there were two small houses, real small. [To
Munns]: Do you remember that?
Munns:
Yea, I remember.
Walker:
They became very expensive pieces of property [laughter] once the library wanted
‘em, but we bought those. We’d already purchased the [other] land, it was old, old
apartments. They were built out of adobe and they were very small units from
back in the ‘50s, I believe, when there was an oil boom here [and] somebody
quickly put [them] up. And the town had purchased that.
We applied for and got a sizable grant. I don’t remember how much it was, but
one of the requirements was that we had to own the property. We had been leasing
the property for a dollar a year from the town and they did the maintenance and
provided insurance. Naomi Jones and myself went to the town board and pointed
out how they’d save lots of money if they just gave it to us, wouldn’t have the
liability, maintenance, etc. We weren’t gonna build this building if we didn’t own
the property. So they deeded the property to the library and we got started on
building.I left before the building got completed. My wife and I were spending as
much time as we could in Costa Rica and when my term was up I did not feel that
it was fair to be a part-time board member. So I left.
[12:30] - Past Library Employees/Directors
Frauenhoff: Of course, Debbie Winlock, Dorthy William’s [present library employee] sister,
was a director for a time in the old library?
Walker:
Debbie started as a volunteer. We had a librarian, but we didn’t have a qualified
librarian for what we could pay. To be honest the library just barely existed, but it
was open and we had customers. When Debbie Winlock came along she had lots
�6
of energy, she loved libraries, and I still believe she’s the reason we had to build
this building. She just got more people to use the library.
Frauenhoff: And from conversations with Dixie [Cook] it sounds like there was an interesting
director that succeeded Debbie, kind of a businessman type?
Walker:
It was after Debbie. The gentleman’s name is on the plaque where you come into
the building. His first name was Jerry [Gracy], I don’t remember the last name.
But, yea, I didn’t help hire him. He was not a librarian, he wanted to redo the
Dewey Decimal system. They spend lots of time re… [trails off]. It doesn’t matter
now you know. But, yea, he was a business person.
And after him they hired a librarian from Colorado Springs, but [she] wanted to
move to Durango and unfortunately she didn’t work out either cause she didn’t
want to be in Ignacio.
And then they hired a lady [correct name unclear] and she was very good for
several years till she retired. I don’t remember if we had anybody between her and
Marcia [Vining - present library director]. [To Munns]: Do you know?
Munns:
We had a few part-time ones, Mr. Meunier for a little bit, but I don’t know if they
were ever officially director.
Walker:
Yea I don’t think so. Marcia has been here a long time and has done a lot of good.
But Debbie was the first real librarian that we had. I don’t know what her degree
was in but she started working on a master’s degree online in Library Science
immediately. As a matter of fact probably before we hired her.
[15:58] - The McClanahan Connection
Frauenhoff:
Now, the original library was named for Mr. Butch McClanahan, and how did that
come to be?
Walker:
[Laughs] I probably shouldn’t say this, but there was a town board member who
had worked for years for the McClanahans at the grocery store. And he was
wanting to buy the store after Butch had passed away. Butch was a generous man,
you know, did lots for the community. But he wasn’t involved in the library and
neither were any of his family members. It was sort of a PR thing. When we built
a new building the board thought it shouldn’t be named for any one person. So
they named one of the rooms for Mr. McClanahan [instead].
�7
[17:00] - Changes to the Library Over Time
Frauenhoff:
[To Munns]: anything I missed that you can think of?
Munns:
[To Walker]: Since you’ve seen the building from the get-go, what have been one
of your favorite changes or things that you think are important that have grown so
much in here? I mean, I remember being little and my mom Dixie working here
and we were still writing due dates on bills and had the fun stamps to put on the
books. Now its all just online.
Walker:
Obviously the biggest thing is technology. I don’t think we had a computer when
we started. But, like it or not, most people read books online. We will always need
books, I hope. Improvements in technology opened it up for more kids, I think.
Cause kids are, well, they’re technologically driven. If they don’t have a computer
they don’t know what to do. [laughter] When we opened I think we had some
computers that were open for the patrons to use, but there were only two or three
of them as I recall. And now you guys got quite a few. The board at that time, I
don’t think none of us was really computer literate like you guys are now. I could
use a computer - sort of. [laughter]
[19:15] - Other Community Members to Speak To
Frauenhoff:
Well, is there anything coming to mind right now that we didn’t cover or you
think would be important for us to know?
Walker:
Uh, I don’t know. I would hope that the original board members could somehow
be recorded or something.
Frauenhoff:
This is more future steps, but as we would like to interview more community
members, and you’ve been in the community for so long, is anyone coming to
mind that you think might be good for us to try and talk with next? Anyone who’s
really got a good story we should hear?
Walker:
You know a person that has a lot of knowledge of the history of Ignacio is Laura
Witt at the Style Shop. She would be a good person to talk to. There's not many of
us left that have much knowledge of how Ignacio has grown, what little it's
grown, and the change in the community. [Its] different than it was in the 70’s, the
makeup of the people, the type of jobs, you know.
�8
[21:00] - Changes to Ignacio Over the Years and the Southern Ute Tribe
Frauenhoff:
What’s the nature of the change, as you’ve seen it since ‘74? What was it like then
compared to now?
Walker:
Well, there were very few good paying jobs in Ignacio at the time. Probably the
best thing that has happened to Ignacio was the Southern Utes and their growth.
As they built, they created lots of jobs. I'm not a casino person, but the casino
[has] actually been good for the community as far as creating jobs. There's still
not a lot of really good jobs in town, you know there’s the grocery store, but at
least there are lots of jobs close by with the tribe. In my opinion the tribe never
gets enough credit for what they have done for the community.
Frauenhoff:
Oh yea, certainly, the growth fund has been able to do some pretty impressive
stuff.
Walker:
They have, they have.
Frauenhoff:
I mean, there was certainly oil and gas before the tribe, but it was generally on the
decline?
Walker:
Yeah, it was. I don't know how much the tribe had to do with the boom in the gas
industry here, but at least they managed it and you know created lots of local jobs
with it.
[23:00] - History of the Ignacio Hardware Store
Walker:
I don't know if Marcia or somebody asked me if I could do a brief history of the
hardware industry here. I owned the hardware store for 31 years, after I left the
town that’s what I did. And if you want to be bored by it, I would tell you what I
know about the hardware store in Ignacio.
In 1912 a gentleman by the name of H.C. Biggs from Pueblo opened a store here.
He owned a hardware store and lumberyard in Pueblo and he opened one here. It
was at 1776 Browning Avenue, 1,200 square foot store. In the 50’s, a gentleman
by the name of Lawrence Wiseman, who was working for Mr. Biggs, bought the
store. And he doubled the size of the store to 2,500 square feet. Then in 1970, his
son Tom Wiseman bought the store from Lawrence and became affiliated with
True Value.
�9
In 1992, I bought the store from Tom Wiseman. That was about the time things
were starting to happen with the tribe with the gas industry and lots of building.
At least for a while the store was just too small for the demand. So we built a new
store at 1,100 Goddard Avenue, the very south end of town in ‘99. I retired when I
was 80 years old and we sold. The Lee family owns it now, it's a hardware store
and irrigation supply company. That’s a brief history, the only history I know
about Ignacio is what happened with the hardware store. [laughter]
[25:45] - Lawrence Wiseman
Frauenhoff:
Well we appreciate you keeping it going for as long as you did. Now, do you
remember much about Mr. Wiseman.
Walker:
Yea, I know some.
Frauenhoff:
If you could, tell us one story about him.
Walker:
Lawrence Wiseman, if I remember correctly, moved to Durango from South
Carolina. Then he moved to Ignacio when he started working at the hardware
store and Tom grew up here, grew up in the store. He really loved Ignacio, but he
didn't want it to ever change, you know. When I bought the store they still used an
old-fashioned cash register, wrote bills out on a receipt, and stuff. He told me, ‘I
never would have computerized, but I'm glad you did, brought us into the modern
era.’ He was a good business man I think, but a little stubborn and hard-headed.
Frauenhoff:
Set in his ways it sounds like.
Walker:
Yea, set in his ways. There's nothing wrong with that.
Frauenhoff:
[To Munns]: Well, unless you have anything Cheyenne?
Munns:
Nope.
Frauenhoff:
[To Walker]: We really appreciate you coming in and chatting with us. Glad you
were able to clear some things up, at least with my understanding of the library.
Thank you very much.
[27:39] - Final Thoughts
�10
Walker:
Okay, thank you. I'm glad you let me talk because lots of people, even Marcia,
didn't really know anything about how the library got started. It was actually sort
of accidental, me running into Wayne Whiteman, and there was no one else to talk
to, so sort of had to talk to him. [laughter] But basically from that was how the
library came about. Lots of people think it started when this building was built,
but it was way before then. It was a struggle, way bigger struggle than this,
(referring to present library). The big increase in funding from the taxes and other
things made it much easier to do. I mean, I know it's much more complicated to
run.
Frauenhoff:
Just to get it going compared to the original?
Walker:
Yeah
[28:52] - End of Recording
�
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Voices of Ignacio
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28 minutes, 50 seconds.
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Title
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Interview with Glen Walker
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http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
Date Created
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2025-04-02
Subject
The topic of the resource
Ignacio Community Library; Library History; Walker, Glen; Whiteman, Wayne; Winlock, Debbie; Wiseman, Tom; Ignacio hardware store; Oral History; Interview
Description
An account of the resource
Mr. Walker shares his role in establishing Ignacio's first library, time operating the Ignacio hardware store, and other local history topics.
Spatial Coverage
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Ignacio, Colorado
Type
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Sound
Creator
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Walker, Glen
Language
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English
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Voices of Ignacio Digital Collection
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MP3
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28 min., 50 sec.
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Frauenhoff, Daniel; Munns, Cheyenne
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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
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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
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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/3c7d93139e662f40913542b3845c7077.pdf
067d4145536a23a5c3c251d4b1898f82
PDF Text
Text
MAX AND ELLEN (House) WATTS
Max Smith Watts was born in a teepee camped in the pine Valley near La Boca,
Colorado, in 1894, the son of Andrew and Cecilia Watts. Max says, "My father's band,
the capote Band, traveled a lot in those days. Some of them were farmers, but most of
them moved around to find better hunting. Teepees were just right for people on the
move. There were very few white men around in those days. We hunted for deer and
rabbits and herded our sheep and goats. Our games were made to give us skill. We
would throw round targets into the air and shoot them before they came down. I made
my own fishing pole from a willow, some string and a needle bent into a hook. We all
had horses and depended on them for all of our moving around. My grandfather told me
of a lime when he was young that there were few horses. He knew of some of our
people trading a child for a horse. They were valued so much when they were scarce.
The Utes always liked horse racing. Since the road across the river was so long and
straight, we had our races over there."
"My people were not surprised when the white man brought the train. One of the old
men had seen it in a dream. He told his people that one day white men would come in a
thing of smoke and fire. I never rode the train until I was nearly grown. I was scared of
it. When it came up the valley, it looked like it was coming straight at me. I would run."
My parents put me in the BIA Boarding School for a few years; but when I got old
enough to herd the goats, they needed me at home. We had some land over on the
Piedra River and moved back and forth to it. We played many games - some for fun
and some for gambling. One was played with big nails and a pile of dirt. The nails which
had numbers painted on them were pushed out of sight into a pile of soft earth. The
players look turns poking a stick into the pile to expose a nail. They got points according
to the numbers painted on them. The women watching the game would sing and dance
around the pile lo try to make the earth fall. Blankets, horses and money were gambled
in this game. We also had a game like the white man's horse shoes only we used flat
rocks to try to throw near or into holes dug into the ground."
By the time he was 16, Max was on his own. He worked with the crews which dug the
irrigation ditches. His pay was $1.50 per day. Euterpe Taylor's father John Taylor was
his boss. A few years later he went to Buckskin, Arizona, to work in the cornfields.
Before the corn was ripe, Max was put on guard to shoot the blackbirds out in the fields.
In harvest time he harnessed the horses every morning and helped with the picking.
"I always came back lo Ignacio when a job ended. After a few years I got a job working
at the Agency. Until I met Ellen House, I had not thought of marrying any one. Why get
married with no money in my pocket?"
Ellen remembers, "Max started sending me boxes of chocolate. Sometimes there would
be money in the boxes. We were married in 1925 at the courthouse in Durango. I was
born in 1907. My mother Fannie House died in the flu epidemic in 1918 when I was 11
years old. Daisy Eagle is my half sister and I had a brother, Danny, and a sister named
July. Both of them died in accidents on horses. Max and I lived in a house near the
agency until 1934 when we moved to the farm near La Boca. We lived on the farm
172
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where Rose Watts is now. At that time there was an old house on the farm built of
posts. Later we bought the land on the hill where we still live. It's good ground up there
with a spring nearby."
Afte r Max quit the agency, he worked for the D. & R. G . W. Railroad with the crews that
cleared the tracks of snow in winter. Since Max was a cook's helper, his job was not too
hard. The others had to use their shovels if the snow plow could not remove the drifts.
The crews had lots to do at Red Cliff and at Soldier's Summit in Utah. The crews slept
in the cars. It was very cold.
"In 1955," Ellen says, "we built a new house on our farm. When we were strong, we
raised sheep, horses, grain, hay and all of our vegetables. I still have a big garden. In
the 1930's many hoboes came up from the railroad tracks and asked for something to
eat. I always gave them something. So many people were traveling around then. I think
a farm is the best place to live because even when there are not jobs, farmers have
work. We sold potatoes to the BIA School and horses to the Navajos. We never liked
cows, but we kept goats and made cheese from their milk. We're still on our farm and
don't ever want to live anyplace else."
)
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The Watts had seven children in all: Colleen, Ed, Lula, Ellenetta, Crystal, Jerry and
Eunice. Only Colleen, Crystal and Lula are still living.
September, 1977 - Shelby Smith
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173
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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
Max Watts and Ellen (House) Watts Biography
Date Created
Date of creation of the resource.
1977-09
Subject
The topic of the resource
Watts, Max; Watts, Ellen (House)
Description
An account of the resource
Biography of Max Watts and Ellen (House) Watts based on an interview conducted by Shelby Smith. Originally included in the September, 1977 issue of "The Thoughtful Years" newsletter published by the Ignacio Senior Center. Later included in the book "Oral Histories of the Southern Pine River Valley" by Shelby Smith.
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Ignacio, Colorado; Southwest Colorado
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Watts, Max; Watts, Ellen (House)
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/e23079017c56a698a864e2c9f1f95ab7.pdf
20b916a74b1814b669fbc05c39ceafb9
PDF Text
Text
JOHN AND WANDA (Accuttoroop) WILLIAMS
In the spring of 1910 when Sam and Suzie Williams lived near Pagosa Junction, a new
son was born to them. They named him John Spencer. Shortly after he was born the
family moved to La Boca onto his grandfather's farm. "My grandfather mostly raised
sheep and goats. That's where I learned sheep ranching." John got some sense
knocked into him at an early age. "I found myself knocked to the ground more than
once. You have to watch out for the Billy-goats and rams." When John's grandfather,
Tom Talyon, wasn't happy with the price offered for his sheep locally, he went looking
for a better market. "I learned a lot from my grandfather. He wasn't afraid to go out and
do things. If the price was too low here, he would load his sheep on the train and go to
Denver. I went with him a few times and learned a lot about how to do business."
When John was a boy, most farmers raised some oats and wheat. The Salaba~s had a
thrashing machine and would move it from place to place, whichever was ripe first. All
the neighbors helped one another until everyone was finished. Mr. Barnes had a grist
mill powered by a water wheel where we could grind our grain for cattle and chicken
feed." Some of this grain was sold for cash, but a lot was kept for feeding on the farm.
In 1918 Suzie Williams died in the great flu epidemic. John was enrolled in the Indian
Boarding School north of Ignacio. After 3 years he was transferred to the Indian School
at Santa Fe where he stayed till 1928. That year he was called home for sheepherding,
but in 1929 John resumed school in Albuquerque for two more years. Most boys don't
care for school very much, but John didn't mind it. He says, "There was a time to study,
a time to learn a trade, and a time for games." Speaking of games, John, like most
Tribal members was a very good athlete. He participated in baseball, football, track,
wrestling, and boxing.
From 1930-1949, John worked at a variety of jobs - building the hospital (which is now
the Tribal Building), operating the powerhouse at the Indian School and farming. During
this period John married and had three children. When he and his wife were separated,
John moved to Durango to do construction work and then was offered a job at Dugway
Proving Ground in Utah. (Dugway was a center for uranium and chemical testing.) Most
of his work there involved plumbing and construction. From there he got a job painting
section houses for the railroad in Nevada. "I didn't expect to see anyone I knew in Red
House, Nevada, but Manual Baca and Julian Romero were there laying track for the
railroad. On a trip to Salt Lake City, John was offered a construction job at Ft. Duschene
on the Northern Ute Reservation. (Local Tribal members call them Yankee Utes.) In the
evenings a bunch of the young men at Ft. Duschene liked to play baseball. John was
right in the middle of it. Since the Ft. Duschene Boarding School was close by the
playing field, the dorm kids often came to watch. That's where John met 16 year old
Wanda Accuttoroop. A short time later they were married and came to Ignacio for their
honeymoon. Wanda says, "When John and I were married, he was real skinny, but I
fattened him up. I think he likes ham and beans better than anything. One year later he
was the Santa Claus for the Tribe and he fit the suit just right." John and Wanda have
10 children: Roderick and Ronald (twins), Stanley, John Chadd, Elizabeth, Michael,
158
�Mary Ann & Eric (twins) and Michelle and Susan (twins). Wanda says "I like my
children, but when the last ones were born, I decided that was it."
For three years Wanda has been a waitress at the Pino Nuche Restaurant and enjoys
it. "I like to meet people, both new people and old friends."
In 1956 John Williams became a milestone in Indian Health. He was the first tribal
member in the country qualified and hired as Sanitarian. From 1962-1972 John was a
member of the Tribal Council. During several of those years he served as Chairman.
Presently, he is Resources Coordinator for the Tribe.
John has lived long enough to remember many of the old ways and to see many things
change. "I remember seeing the old people dry deer meat and dry and pound
chokecherries into cakes. We used to be afrsiid to get wild honey, but then we learned
to put on gloves and wear a net over our heads. Years ago there were so many fish in
the stream in the Vega that we could drive them into gunny sacks. Then we'd boil them
and dry them for winter."
Though John has many good memories of long ago, he does not live in the past. When
asked for his age John said, "I'm 35. I feel like I'm 35 and people treat me like I'm 35.
That's why I keep working. I'm not going to fold up at 65. I have a job and a farm to take
care of."
May, 1975 -- Shelby Smith
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159
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Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Shelby Smith Interviews
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
https://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-NC/1.0/?language=en
Date Created
Date of creation of the resource.
1973-1980
Subject
The topic of the resource
Ignacio; Southwest Colorado
Description
An account of the resource
Collection of biographies, predominantly of residents from the Ignacio Senior Center, based on interviews conducted by Shelby Smith from approximately 1973 to 1980. The abridged interviews were originally published as individual entries in The Thoughtful Years newsletter, published by the Ignacio Senior Center, beginning in 1973. They were later published as a whole in Smith's book: Oral Histories of the Southern Pine River Valley, from which the original scans in this collection have been derived.
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Smith, Shelby
Text
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
John Williams and Wanda (Accuttoroop) Williams Biography
Date Created
Date of creation of the resource.
1975-05
Subject
The topic of the resource
Williams, John; Williams, Wanda (Accuttoroop); Ignacio, Colorado; Southwest Colorado
Description
An account of the resource
Biography of John Williams and Wanda (Accuttoroop) Williams based on an interview conducted by Shelby Smith. Originally included in the May, 1975 issue of "The Thoughtful Years" newsletter published by the Ignacio Senior Center. Later included in the book "Oral Histories of the Southern Pine River Valley" by Shelby Smith.
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Ignacio, Colorado; Southwest Colorado
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Williams, John; Williams, Wanda (Accuttoroop)
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/1a97a0e1b116e1b26aee6d756c2ce611.pdf
9422d22247b8fb1d5c48a3bda82e713d
PDF Text
Text
ROY WILLIAMS
Roy Hancock Williams was born in a tepee in the Florida River valley near the present
site of the La Plata Airport on August 8, 1889. His parents were Price Williams, a
Southern Ute, and Marie Capote from the Northern Ute Tribe,
"My parents kept sheep, horses and some cattle and moved around to find good
pasture. We always came back to the Florida. The river bottom was a good place to
raise potatoes and corn. The whole area had deer and other game. There was no better
river than the Florida, It was clear and full of fish and turtles. While I was still young, my
parents built a two-room frame house in the river bottom. We had good neighbors,
Nicholas and Peter Eaton lived nearby. It was a very god life. No boundaries and no
fences. We could go to the high mountains or to the valleys to find pasture or to hunt
without anyone to tell us no."
"When I was ten years old, my parents sent me to the boarding school at Ignacio, It was
pretty bad there at first, I spoke only Ute, After a while I began to learn English from the
other children. I liked the holidays when I could ride our horses and be free. In the
summers I herded the sheep for my Dad, There was good hunting around the sheep
camps, I shot my first doe when I was 16. Some of the bucks we got were so heavy we
had to cut them up or carry them on a horse."
"I don't go to pow-wows any more, but I liked them when I was young. The tribe used to
put on a real show. There were different styles of dancing, more than now. The Bear
Dance was always the first dance of the season. In the 192O's the Sun Dance was
started here. I think it came from Oklahoma."
"I went only to the 5th grade at the boarding school. When I quit, I enrolled at the
country school at La Pasta for a while to learn Spanish."
"In 1918 I was ready to enlist in the army to go to the war in France, but before I got in,
the war ended so I traveled around working at different jobs for a while. In 1920 I got to
visit my grandfather, James Capote, in Ft. Duchesne. He told me many things about the
LIies, but I have forgotten most of it. My father died in 1921. Soon afterward, we built a
house north of Ignacio. I worked at the Indian Agency for many years plowing and
running the thrashing machine."
Roy married Labrara Radea. They had one daughter, Mary Suazo. Later Roy married
Mary Bean. Their children are Mary Santisteven, Vonnestine Herrera, and Eileen
Weaver.
Roy remembers seeing automobiles around Ignacio as early as 1913, but he never
owned his own car until 1939 when he bought a Mercury. He says, "We had a good life
after the second World War. I had a good job and also made money raising sheep and
cattle. We owned seven different cars and did some traveling around,"
Mary died in 1961. The only one of Roy's brothers or sisters still living is Belle Cutthair,
Recently Roy moved from his home north of Ignacio to one of the apartments at the
Senior Center, He is now 79, His vision is fair and his hearing is excellent. He says, "I
never thought I'd live this long, but here I am."
Shelby Smith -- September, 1975
174
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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
Roy Williams Biography
Date Created
Date of creation of the resource.
1978-09
Subject
The topic of the resource
Williams, Roy; Ignacio, Colorado; Southwest Colorado
Description
An account of the resource
Biography of Roy Williams based on an interview conducted by Shelby Smith. Originally included in the September, 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
Williams, Roy
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/de8c68479e56428680adb89337213b58.png
8a1f41ab42e372a6971d39d1f8b33c39
https://voicesofignacio.cvlcollections.org/files/original/3895e08f4573f8ba02895cfbe5ebb2b3.m4a
15f5e7b3d6b95aeb3054635a94ef658a
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
Sound
A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds.
Duration
Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.)
6 minutes and 2 seconds
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
Interview with Debbie Winlock
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
Subject
The topic of the resource
Interview; Ignacio Community Library; Library History; Winlock, Debbie
Description
An account of the resource
Debbie shares her impact and journey with the Ignacio Library during her time as director.
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Sound
Spatial Coverage
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Ignacio (Colo.)
Language
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English
Date Created
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2024-02-29
Creator
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Winlock, Debbie
Format
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MP3
Extent
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6 min., 2 sec.
Date
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February 2000- Sept 2005
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Ignacio (Colo.)
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https://voicesofignacio.cvlcollections.org/files/original/811e36683b7e2b91fbdc955e3e6c2fcc.pdf
60eddc04b8c5de3fe9eecb20416d02b4
PDF Text
Text
LAWRENCE & MARGARET (Bowman) WISEMAN
Margaret Summers Bowman was born ln Durango, Colorado, December 8, 1905, the
third child of Thomas and Etta Bowman. The Bowmans lived at 760 3rd Avenue.
Margaret has wonderful memories of this house, since she lived there until she was
married. Just down the street across from Smiley Jr. High was the original Durango
School. All twelve grades were in the one building until the high school was built.
Margaret's older brother, Bill, was out of school and Lena, her only sister was in 12th
grade.
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We didn't keep our own horses and buggy. Most everything we needed was close and
the area had good public transportation, too. The town had a streetcar, which all the
children loved to ride. We could go all the way up to Animas City, almost as far as the
present location of the Silver Spur restaurant, for picnics at Animas Park. This was up
the hill among the trees and rocks with a good view across the valley. Sometimes, on
the 4 th of July and on other occasions we went to Brookside Park located on Main
where the Chamber of Commerce Office is now. There were swings and slides and the
creek where the children could play. If anyone wanted to go to Silverton or Telluride or
Ignacio, they could ride the train which was without question the fastest and most
comfortable way to travel. Whenever Dad needed private transportation, he would hire
a "hack" from one of the livery stables. This included a d.river and made a good
impression on visitors arriving on the train.
Our family was greatly involved in church. On Sunday mornings we attended Sunday
School and Church. On Sunday evening we went to Christian Endeaver. Then on
Wednesday evening was prayer meeting. On Sundays there was no playing, no shows
or other entertainment. We read our Sunday School Lesson or did something quiet.
Occasionally, Dad took us to the Vienna Restaurant after church and once in a while he
would take me for a walk. Otherwise, Sundays were quiet and rather unexciting."
Both of Margaret's parents were immigrants into this part of the country. Thomas was
born in Wisconsin in 1845. His parents were named Dibley. When both of them died, he
was adopted by the Bowman family.
Boys cannot stay away from exciting events. This was true of Thomas when the Civil
War started. He just had to go and he had to practice a little deception to join the Union
Army at the age of 16. Of course, Thomas had been taught never to lie. Before going to
the induction center, he wrote the number 17 on a piece of paper and placed the paper
in his shoe so that he could swear in good conscience that he was over 17. Thomas
survived the Civil War; then entered the University of Wisconsin at Madison where he
stayed until he acquired a Ph.D. degree in science. In the 1870's and 1880's
opportunities were wide open in every direction in this developing country. Thomas
chose to come to Colorado to work as a metallurgist. First he came to Silverton
prospecting one his own and working for the mining companies. Later, he moved down
to Animas City and went to work for the smelter.
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�In 1887 Thomas noticed a new girl in town. Etta Louise Summers came to Durango
from Ohio to escape the damp climate of the East. She stayed with her sister, the wife
of the Rev. Mr. James Coffman, who established the first Methodist Church in Durango.
Etta taught school in Durango for one year. After Thomas and Ella were married,
Thomas continued working at the smelter for a number of years. Before Margaret was
born, they decided to open the T.E. Bowman Book and Stationery Store on Main Street
right next to Penny's. The family operated the store until Thomas died in 1923. Durango
is full of new businesses with new names, but a number of the old ones are still there.
Among them are the Strater Hotel, Graden's Department Store, Parson's Drug, Richey's
and Taylor-Raymond Jewellers. The New York Bakery was then called Purrung's
Bakery and the General Palmer Hotel was the Savoy Hotel.
Margaret had known Lawrence Wiseman since 8th grade. They were casual friends at
school and in the years following she saw Lawrence now and then on the street. After
finishing school Margaret attended business college in Greeley. Once while she was
home, Sam Gilcrest called to ask her to go on a blind date. To her surprise the blind
date was Lawrence Wiseman. From then on there was no one else. Margaret was
offered a job at Pueblo, but Lawrence changed her mind. They were married in 1927.
Lawrence was working at Durango Hardware for several years until it went bankrupt
during the depression. After that he worked at whatever he could find. Suddenly, a
totally unexpected opportunity appeared. Mr. Biggs who owned Biggs Hardware in
Ignacio asked Lawrence to run the business for him. Lawrence didn't know how to figure
a board foot, but was delighted for the opportunity. He rented a room in Ignacio and
rode the train back and forth from Durango on week-ends. In 1932 Margaret and her
mother moved lo Ignacio so Lawrence could stop the commuting. At first they rented the
house where the Holts now live and later moved across the street. During the
depression years Lawrence sold hay and grain which he had taken in as payments on
bills.
After living all her life in a larger town, Margaret was uncertain how she would like living
in Ignacio. However, after a few weeks here, Margaret decided she was very happy with
her new home. Today she says she wouldn't want to live any other place. In 1950
Lawrence bought out Mr. Biggs and changed the name of the store.
Life in Ignacio was different, of course, in the early years. "We had to go to bed at 10:00
P.M. because the lights went off. I remember once we had a group of friends from
Durango for a supper party. We told them they would have to leave before 10:00
because the lights go out. They laughed like they didn't believe it and decided to slay.
Sure enough when 10:00 o'clock came, everything went black and our friends had a
time of it finding their coats and hats."
"Lawrence and I liked to travel. In fact, that was our favorite pastime. We took trips all
over this country and a few overseas to Hawaii and Jamaica and Bermuda. Once we
went to New York City lo see the musicals. My Fair Lady was going strong when we
were there. Our favorite kind of trip was simply to go to the airport and buy the first two
tickets available wherever it was. Going like this we never knew where we would find
176
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ourselves, but we discovered some of the most interesting places. Arriving without
reservations was uncertain, but we always had good luck."
Lawrence enjoyed his work and especially enjoyed the people in Ignacio. After he sold
the store to Tom, Lawrence continued to work for him part of the time. However, it also
gave the Wiseman's more free time to travel or follow other pastimes.
Lawrence died suddenly in February of 1976. The people of this area miss him very
much for his friendliness and good spirit. And, of course, Margaret misses him, but she
is fortunate because all her memories of Lawrence are good ones.
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We wish Margaret and her family many years of happiness and good health.
January, 1977 - Shelby Smith
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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
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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
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Text
Contributor
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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
Lawrence Wiseman and Margaret (Bowman) Wiseman Biography
Date Created
Date of creation of the resource.
1977-01
Subject
The topic of the resource
Wiseman, Lawrence; Wiseman, Margaret (Bowman); Ignacio, Colorado; Southwest Colorado
Description
An account of the resource
Biography of Lawrence Wiseman and Margaret (Bowman) Wiseman based on an interview conducted by Shelby Smith. Originally included in the January, 1977 issue of "The Thoughtful Years" newsletter published by the Ignacio Senior Center. Later included in the book "Oral Histories of the Southern Pine River Valley" by Shelby Smith.
Spatial Coverage
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Ignacio, Colorado; Southwest Colorado
Type
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Text
Creator
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Wiseman, Lawrence; Wiseman, Margaret (Bowman)
Extent
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3 pages
Rights
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http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NKC/1.0/
Contributor
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Smith, Shelby
-
https://voicesofignacio.cvlcollections.org/files/original/bbc6cc8155e464c5f9dcc8e68b1791b1.pdf
43de4c87ca2cdf6c90d7bdd8ecc4ad9b
PDF Text
Text
Tom Wiseman
(Abridged)
My full name is William Thomas Wiseman. I was born in Durango at Mercy Hospital in
November 1930. My mother was Margaret Summers Wiseman; her maiden name was Bowman.
Her father, Thomas E. Bowman, came over Stony Pass into Silverton in 1874. He was a young
Civil War veteran, and a recent graduate of the University of Wisconsin in metallurgy. He had
acquired a job as a teacher at Colorado College, but coming west he had become interested in the
gold fever. He became associated with the people named Greene, who brought the first smelter
into Silverton, CO. He was later on the Town Board in Silverton, and later on after many years
moved to Durango when the Silverton smelter became less efficient. He married my
grandmother, Etta Louisa Bowman, in 1881 I believe it was. He was 20 years older than she.
They later had a son named William Bowman and a daughter named Lena Bowman in 1891 and
1894. And then my mother, a late life child, came along surprisingly in 1905. So, that accounts
for me, at my tender age of 73, having a grandfather who was in the Civil War and not a greatgrandfather. He passed away about seven years before I was born, so I never got to know him
although I know a lot about him.
My father was born in Pagosa Junction, CO; where his father in 1904 was working for
the railroad. Apparently the family was living there while he worked construction, and
previously my grandfather had homesteaded far southeast of Bayfield on what is now called New
Creek. Later, after my dad's parents divorced, he, his brother Barney and my grandmother Lula
moved to Durango; where my dad went to work at the age of 14. After her finishing the eighth
grade in Bayfield schools, my mom and he met in Durango and married in 1927.
Having worked in several different areas in Durango, he was at this time working at a
firm called the Durango Hardware Company; which was located on the 900 block of Main in
Durango. He became acquainted with a wholesale hardware salesman, who told him about an
opportunity to manage a store in Ignacio. The store being named HC. Biggs and Company;
which was a hardware, lumber, farm implement and feed dealer at the time. Dad must have been
only 25 or something at the time, so he came out here, stayed at the local commercial hotel, and
worked for Mr. Biggs for some time. A few months later, he moved his family to Ignacio. The
Biggs family moved to Grand Junction at this time. So, I was two years old when we moved to
Ignacio. I virtually grew up in the hardware store. Much of my time off was spent there- it
seemed to be a fun place to be.
Later on, went to school here in Ignacio through the ninth grade. At this time and in
previous years, kids from Ignacio went to Durango to finish high school. And, at this time, in the
late 40s, had lost its accreditation: due to the war the enrollment at the school was very, very
low. I graduated from Durango High School in 1948, entered the University of Denver that Fall,
and graduated from there in 1952.
When I first went to Denver, to school, I felt that I really wanted to get into the big time,
was not much interested in coming back to this part of the country. At that time, most kids my
age kind of wanted to leave the area for bigger opportunities. But, most of my acquaintances at
�Page 2 of6
Denver University were older than I. They were mostly World War II veterans. They seemed to
be delighted in the mountains, the scenery. Most of them were from back East and the Midwest.
After a year or two I started looking around and thinking more carefully that I had mountains out
my front door window everyday. I slowly realized that this was my home and would be so.
In 1954, while working with my father (by all this time through school and after school),
I met and married a girl from Bayfield named Beverly Moberly. We had three children:
Gretchen, born in 1956; Loretta, born in 1957; and Larry, born in 1959. Throughout all of these
years I was active in all conceivable local service organizations: Kiwanis Clubs, Lions Clubs,
various committees with the Southern Ute Tribe, I was involved on the Town Board through
several contentious years as a board member and mayor pro tern. I was involved in things like
trying to save the old Ignacio Chieftain newspaper. I have always been hopeful that somehow a
museum could be built in this area to commemorate the unusual history of this young, strangely
versatile town.
In 1976 my father died, in 1979 my mother died. In the meantime, in 1968, I had
purchased the entirety of the hardware store from my dad, and he retired happily after that. But,
he did work some in the hardware store at his and my convenience and desire-we were always
good friends, the best. In 1981-82, I divorced my wife. She moved to Durango, the kids by this
time were all over the age of 21 and were scattered throughout the country. Six years later, I
went to a high school class reunion, where I re-met my old girl that I had dated in high school
named Paula. We married in 1988. She is practically a Durango native, at least she's a Colorado
native (having been born in Durango).
I don't consider myself to be such an unusual character, but boy have I met a lot of them.
The pioneers of this town are underreported I believe. For example, Hans Aspas; who as an
infant (aged one and a half years), was carried by his mother over Stony Pass into Silverton at
about the same time that my grandfather arrived there. His father had been an officer in the
Norwegian army. Harold Payne and many of the old, old timers that I didn't know, but who
were terrific strong, solid people. Joe Velasquez, many, many Southern Utes- Julius Cloud,
Julian Baker- we're all acquaintances. Did business with them, was friends with them. To many
it would have been an uneventful life; to me it's very colorful. My children love this area. They
have mixed emotions about their childhood, but as they grow and mature I think they realize
their acquaintance the Southern Ute tribal members, the Navajo tribal members whom they went
to school with when the schools were integrated (the public schools and the Indian school).
They're Spanish-American friends have given them a broad diversity, an understanding and
comfort with, I believe, other races and people of other beliefs and values.
***
I've essentially lived on this street all my life. When we first moved to Ignacio, the
Biggs house; which is on the 500 block of Browning Ave. (where Jesse Hott now lives), was our
house until 1935 when my father bought the little house across the street here [455 Browning
Ave.]; which at one time was 470 Browning Ave. Then, after I married, I bought the house two
doors north on that side of the street [east side]; which at that time was 440 Browning Ave.
�Page 3 of6
In 1977 or '78, the house where I live now, presently, (455 Browning Ave.) came up for
sale and I bought it, having always enjoyed and liked the house. We spent a great deal of money
overhauling, remodeling, and adding rooms upstairs to the house. This house was built by the
person who owned the local lumberyard; which was at that time known as Ignacio Lumber Co.
Circa 1916 or '17, it was sold to the Biggs family, who were part ofa big lumber operation out
of Chama, and also with family connections in Grand Junction. The store was owned and
operated by Homer Biggs- Homer C. Biggs (the 'C.' stands for Copeland, I believe). They had
three children, one of whom was named Homer Biggs, Jr. They went to school here. The
Historical Society now has pictures, early class pictures, including 'Joe' Biggs- his nickname
was 'Joe' to his family. He later, during the early part of World War II, left Colorado College
and became an Army Air Force cadet. He learned to fly in Phoenix, at Luke Field I believe it
was. Went into B-17 training. In May of 1943, his bomber was shot down over France and he
did not survive. Among other tons of pictures that I have, I have a picture of that flight crew.
I'm deeply interested in the success of the Historical Society. And, I hope that somehow,
someday a facility can be acquired, or participated in, where so many pictures and records of
archives can be safely preserved for the future. This community has always been a rather
cosmopolitan community, because of the original Bureau of Indian Affairs/Dept. of the Interior
school system here mainly for Navajo kids. The school existed from what must have been the
1920s to about 1970. The many oil and gas interests that have had staff located here, the wide
diversity of teaching talent, there's been quite a variety from all over the country. My own
background, for example: My grandfather (my mother's father) came from Wisconsin-born there
a year and half after his mother migrated from England to Wisconsin. Her mother [Tom's
mother's mother], Edna Louis Bowman, was born in Ohio, and came out here to stay with an
elder sister; who was married to a Methodist minister in Durango, in the 1880' s. My father's
father came out here from North Carolina, from the mountains of NC to homestead. And his
wife, my grandmother, also came from the mountains of North Carolina. So, we have our own
eastern 'roots'.
I was an only child. There were two other attempts: one before me and one after me,
both were unsuccessful. My mother was born on December 1905 at home in Durango at 760 3rd
Avenue. The house is still there. It's for sale. You could snab it up for about $450,000, I think,
right now. My grandfather Bowman owned quite a bit of property in Durango at one time. The
Silver Panic of 1892-93 apparently put him on his 'uppers' for several years, but he did open a
bookshop and a stationary store circa 760 Main Ave. (in the same building that is the Seasons
Restaurant today). I have pictures of it, and it still has the same ceiling I think. He ran that store
until he died in 1923. He died during his lunch hour at home. I've learned more about my
grandfather, T.E. Bowman, from books written by Allen Nossaman; who wrote an incredible
history of Silverton, CO. Allen has come to this house. I've furnished him with pictures of my
granddad. His three volumes that he's published so far on Silverton are extremely detailed.
Much is derived from newspapers and courthouse records, land records and family photographs.
And, I think I know more about my grandfather's history than my mother did through the efforts
of Allen Nossaman.
My grandfather, he was in the Civil War. He was very young, of course: he was born in
1846 and the war started in '61. He enlisted in 1864, in the spring, with a volunteer Wisconsin
�Page 4 of6
infantry battalion. He was underage. He allegedly lied about his age and said he was over 16.
He eased his conscience by writing on a piece of paper that he was 16 putting it in his shoe, and
swearing that he was 16. I have pictures of him in his uniform, which was way too large. But,
he served as a drummer boy. At the end of his enlistment he reenlisted in an artillery outfit in
late '64. He served primarily around Washington, D.C. I don't think he was in any major
battles. But he was a member of the Durango chapter of the Grand Army of the Republic-the
G.A.R. I think he was one of the founding officers of it. When he died, my grandmother applied
for and received a Civil War pension. It wasn't very much, maybe $12 a month or something
like that. After getting out of the Army he literally had to be adopted by an uncle named
'Bowman'. My grandfather's birth name was Thomas Merritt Dibley. Now, 'Dibley' somehow
disappeared from the picture, and left my granddad's mother's side.
In his early life he married a girl named Josephine Standish in Wisconsin; who is
purported to be a relative of Miles Standish. They moved to Silverton. She taught school there.
They spent some winters in Denver, some time in Denver. This was after the train was
completed, and in those days it was not hard to get to Denver: grab the train in Silverton to
Durango, through Ignacio, Pagosa, Chama, Alamosa, and onto the main standard gauge up to
Denver. So, people got around a lot more quickly than people realize. She caught Scarlet Fever
in Denver, and died I believe on Christmas Day circa 1889. He buried her in the Riverside
Cemetery in Denver; which at that time was quite a nice cemetery at that time. She's buried
about 30 ft. from Augusta Taber (who was the first wife ofH.A.W. Taber-one of the silver kings
of CO). Strangely when she died, my grandfather bought four cemetery plots. I have the deed
for them today, and I'm guessing that they're still valid. In case anyone needs cemetery plots in
Riverside Cemetery, I can furnish three more.
After moving to Durango, he was in the First Baptist Church he and my grandmother, I
think, met at some choir function around 1890. Her name was Etta Louisa Summers. He was
the master of the local Masonic Lodge #46; he was about the eighth master of that lodge.
My grandfather Wiseman, on the other hand, moved to Denver after his divorce. Built a
house there and worked for the railroad as a master carpenter. He worked in D. & R. G. [Denver
and Rio Grande] shops for the rest of his life. He died in 1945. I went deer hunting with him
once. Two or three months before he died he was down here visiting us. We have since visited
some of our 'roots' in North Carolina.
My father worked for H.C. Biggs and Company here in Ignacio. Later, in 1940, he
bought out a fourth of it, and in 1950 bought the rest of it. He changed the name to 'Wiseman
Hardware and Lumber Co.', and that's what it remained until I sold it to Glenn Walker in 1992.
Walker subsequently changed it to 'Walker's True Value', and moved down south of town and
built a new hardware store.
***
The reason my grandmother [Etta Louisa] came to CO was that her older sister (Kate
Summers) was living in Durango. Her husband was a Methodist minister. My grandmother had
�Page 5 of6
become enchanted with a musician in Shelby, Ohio. Her father [Daniel B. Summers] wanted to
get her out of that influence, and so decided to send her to CO.
***
I studied Business Administration at the University of Denver. BS/BA I think is what my
degree said: Bachelor of Science in Business Administration. We sold everything except
groceries: tractors, mowing machines, washing machines, various name brands, sold all.
***
My oldest daughter is married to David Germer, whom she met at school in Denver.
They were married in 1976. He was a graduate of Colorado School of Mines. He had come
:from Pennsylvania to go to school at Mines, took a look at the mountains and never looked back.
His career took them to Alaska, where they've lived for about 15 years. My other daughter (my
middle child, my youngest daughter), Loretta, married a fellow from Florence, CO whom she
met at school in Canyon City. He graduated from UNC (University of Northern Colorado at Fort
Collins) as a mechanical engineer, and now works at power plant operations in Wyoming.
Neither grandchild grew up here [in Ignacio], and none of the four [grandchildren] has spent
much time here.
***
Lots and lots of stories, good heavens. The people I have known here, in Ignacio, are
some of the most colorful. Some of the stories ... For example, the young lady in the late 30s
who was a teacher here, and who married a young man a southern town in CO. He went off to
war, she moved to California during the early part of the war with their child. She met a fellow
named Gimbal, and the rest is history. She sent off a 'Dear John' letter to her husband, and said
Mr. Gimbal is the light of my life. (Of course, his $60 million bank account helped.) Little
stories like that. Stories of making the movie Around the World in 80 Days [in
Ignacio] ... fascinating. Some of the Historical Society's photos now show some of that filming
done. Paul Harvey doing his great radio show from here-a lot of people don't even know that
ever happened. That in itself could fill at least four chapters in a local history book.
***
M.M.: "What are your views on the current [presidential] administration, and our actions in
Iraq?"
T.W.: "I think that we're doing exactly the right thing. Those who don't remember World War
II, and I wasn't in it (I was too young, I was 11 when Pearl Harbor happened), forget a
fellow named Neville Chamberlain who was trying to make peace with Hitler. He said,
after meeting with Hitler and before Hitler invaded Poland, 'Peace in our time, to Hitler
marches all.' They forget what was not done to stop the Nazis, during WW II, from
slaughtering for their [the Jews'] teeth, for their fillings in their teeth. We forget that we
were the ones who said, 'Damn the torpedoes!' a couple hundred years ago. Or, the
�Page 6 of6
people who said, during WW II, 'Praise the Lord, and pass the ammunition!' We're the
ones who sent 20 year olds over to England to fly bombers in WW II, and now most 20
year olds couldn't find the bathroom if you didn't hold their hand to it, in my personal
estimation. Am I bitter? Yeah. Angry? Yeah."
M.M.: "What are you bitter about?"
T.W.: "I'm bitter about these people that don't realize how many of their parents and
grandparents, previous generations, who fought and died and killed so that they could
spend the last 20-30 years lofting along having no problems at all, except to complain
about the price of cigarettes.
***
Calvin Coolidge, who was president in the late 20s, said, 'the business of America is business.'
Doesn't that sound terrible [sarcastically]? That which makes profits and things like that? You
know, 'profits' is not a four-letter word, surprisingly. But, look at what has happened in China.
20 years ago, in the streets of China, all you would have seen were padded olive drab uniforms
walking around with glassy eyes. Now, after the cold-hearted glance of capitalism started to
show, and the individual is able now to see that he came make himself and his family more
comfortable, healthier, is happy. It's even happening in Vietnam. Business: the horrible word
[said sarcastically].
Interviewed by Michael G.
Miller, VISTA volunteer, for
the Ignacio Historical
Society.
December 18, 2003
�
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
Tom Wiseman Biography
Date Created
Date of creation of the resource.
2003-12-18
Subject
The topic of the resource
Wiseman, Tom; Ignacio, Colorado; Southwest Colorado
Description
An account of the resource
Biography of Tom Wiseman written by VISTA worker Michael Miller and based on an interview conducted by Miller on December 18, 2003.
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Ignacio, Colorado; Southwest Colorado
Type
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Text
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Wiseman, Tom
Extent
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6 pages
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https://voicesofignacio.cvlcollections.org/files/original/e3bb4533135bb9fe432bb2bab98d39ac.pdf
a5ee6245f83d649be4757f3e964f26a8
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Text
LENA (Bowman) WITT
Lena Elizabeth Bowman was born June 6, 1894, in Durango at her parents home at 760
Third Avenue, Her mother, Etta Louisa Summers, came to Durango from Ohio in 1889
to teach school. She stayed with her sister Margaret Coffman, whose husband, James
Coffman, was the Methodist minister in Durango, In 1890 Etta married Thomas
Bowman, a metallurgist at the smelter, Thomas, who was 19 years older than Etta, was
a civil War veteran. After the war he obtained his degree in Metallurgy at the University
of Wisconsin, then came west to Silverton to work in the smelter which was later moved
to Durango, Thomas' first wife died of typhoid fever in Denver in 1889. When he married
Etta, he not only worked at the smelter, but also owned a stationery store on Main
Street in Durango. Lena, her brother Bill, and her sister Margaret all took their turns
working in the store and all of them, as Lena recalls, took turns raiding the candy
counter quite often.
Lena started school at Longfellow in 1901 and graduated from Durango High school in
1913. Emory Smiley was the superintendent during those years,
"When I was a child, we had to make our own pastimes," Lena remembers. "I can recall
the long summer evenings when we'd ride our bikes under the arc lights on 3rd Avenue
until late at night. One of our favorite pastimes was picnics. We'd walk up Junction
Creek or Lightner Creek or ride the streetcar to Brookside Park. The first silent movies
in Durango were shown outside at the park. Looking back I realize the pictures were not
top quality and the movements of the actors were jerky, but we didn't notice that. We
thought it was wonderful. Sometimes we rode the train to Tremble Springs 10 miles
north of Durango, where we'd stay in the hotel, take hot baths and enjoy the good food.
All the children in town liked the 4th of July because of the fireworks. My dad sold them
at the store, so we usually had our choice of the rockets and Roman candles."
Lena stayed home one year after high school, but in the summer of 1914 her parents
sent her to a teaching institute in Silverton. The purpose of the institutes was to explain
teaching careers to young people. Lena stayed with a family named Lamont. Mr.
Lamont, she remembers, was a rather aristocratic man of English extraction. Along with
the school, entertainments and outings were provided for the participants Lena and her
group traveled north of Silverton to visit a mill and mine and to ride the cable car
between them. The cable car turned out to be an ore bucket swinging along a cable
over an enormous ravine. All Lena knew to do was grit her teeth and hang on,
Lena attended teacher training at the college in Greeley, received her degree after two
years and returned to teach grades 1-6 at Tremble Springs. Her wages of $65.00 per
month were good for that time. The widow Schluter provided a room and marvelous
meals for $15.00 a month. Lillian Thompson taught grades 7-10 in the same building.
Though Lillian had lost an arm in an accident, she preformed her school duties well and
drove her Model T to school every day. In spite of the good wages and pleasant living
conditions, Lena says it was a difficult year. Some of the students, especially the older
students in Lillian's room, were serious discipline problems. During the next two years
Lena taught at Cottonwood School on Florida Mesa where she walked to school from
the Gram's farm. Some of her students were Howard and Ray Self, Emily Cicily and the
Perino and Gerardi children. She can still remember the school Christmas programs
staged at the Florida Mesa Grange Hall.
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While Lena was teaching at Ridges Basin, she met Ray Pierce, who owned a dry farm
nearby. They were married and moved to Durango. Ray drove a big team hauling coal
and Lena worked in Hunter's Music Store. The marriage did not last long. After they
were separated, Lena got a job teaching grades 3-5 at Animas City. At a teaching
institute at Mancos the following summer, Lena met the superintendent of schools from
Yuma, Colorado. He needed a 4th grade teacher and hired Lena on the spot. Lena was
settled in Yuma when her father died December 6, 1923. She resigned her job intending
to stay home with her mother for several months. However the superintendent at
Bayfield soon learned Lena was not working and convinced her to teach 3rd and 4th
grades in Bayfield. While working in Bayfield, Lena met Jack Garrish, a World War I
veteran. They were married on Christmas Day in 1925. They stayed in Bayfield until
1926, then moved to Ignacio. Jack built a blacksmith shop behind Mr. Anderson's filling
station. When Jack's brother-in-law died, he and Lena moved back to Bayfield to help
his sister operate a Silver Fox farm. In 1933 they moved to Durango for three years and
then moved to Canon City where Jack worked as a guard at the prison and later worked
as overseer at the prison blacksmith shop. Lena had an active, fun life in canon City
with many friends. In 1940 Jack was very ill at home for three weeks. Lena took him to
Fitzsimmons Military Hospital in Denver for treatment. Jack died the first night there.
In January of 1941 Lena returned to school at Greeley for three semesters to update
her teaching methods. In 1942 she took a job northeast of Wray, Colorado, at the Alvin
School. Teachers were expected to stage a ;Literary' onGe a month. This was a program
consisting of music, readings and plays. Almost the whole community turned out
because there was little entertainment in the lonely sand hill country. At first Lena
viewed these programs with apprehension, but later learned to enjoy and take pride in
them. One of the most memorable ones featured a Steven Foster minstrel show. In
1943 Lena married Guy Doyle. In subsequent years Lena taught at Laird, Colorado, at
Haigler, Nebraska, at a country school near Vernon, Colorado and at Iliff north of
Sterling. Guy worked at various jobs during those years. About 1954 Guy and Lena
decided it was time to quit working, so they settled at Wray. Guy had asthma pretty bad
and in 1958 he died of a coronary attack. Lena moved to Ignacio in the summer of
1959. During the next 10 years, she worked as a substitute teacher in Ignacio and lived
on Browning Street in the house next to Tommy King's house. Lena never expected to
leave Ignacio again, but she became acquainted with Bill Witt and they were married on
July 27, 1969. He was 78 and Lena was 75. Bill owned a nice home in a good
neighborhood in northwest Denver. Bill died 14 months after they were married. Lena
loved her home in Denver. She left only for occasional trips. One of her favorites was a
trip to visit relatives in Washington State. While there Lena got to ride the ferry to
Victoria, British Columbia, to see the world famous Butchart Gardens and to have tea at
the Empress Hotel, one of the old hotels still following the English traditions. In 1978
Lena's sister Margaret Wiseman invited her to return to Ignacio so that they could spend
their last years together. Lena moved in November of 78. Margaret became very ill that
winter and died in January of 1979.
Today Lena enjoys a pleasant association with her nephew, Tom Wiseman and Beverly
and also has numerous friends and old acquaintances in Ignacio. We wish her many
more years of happiness and peaceful life.
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October, 1980 -- Shelby Smith
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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
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Shelby Smith Interviews
Rights
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https://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-NC/1.0/?language=en
Date Created
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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
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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
Lena (Bowman) Witt Biography
Date Created
Date of creation of the resource.
1980-10
Subject
The topic of the resource
Witt, Lena (Bowman); Ignacio, Colorado; Southwest Colorado
Description
An account of the resource
Biography of Lena (Bowman) Witt based on an interview conducted by Shelby Smith. Originally included in the October, 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
Witt, Lena (Bowman)
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