https://voicesofignacio.cvlcollections.org/files/original/0f1518c4411e60c7c46aed5619379f9e.pdf 6a972345b80f2394197d26651096a294 PDF Text Text '1 ~ ~ 'J l EDNA (Russell) BAKER "I ,,..) l ·, ) ) ) 1 J ) 1 ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) About 10 miles south of Durango the Weazel Skin Bridge crosses the Animas River. Since the main highway runs up on the Florida Mesa and mostly local travelers use the bridge, it receives little attention. Perhaps a few of the old-timers of that area remember how it got its name. Weazel Skin was a Ute who settled on a tract of land in the Animas Valley in the 1880's. He raised sheep and goats and developed a profitable farm and ranch operation on the river. Weazel's English name was Hickey Williams. One of his daughters who grew up on the ranch was named Marsalino. The Russell's lived on the Weazel Skin Ranch and had four daughters: Daisy, Maggie, Edna and Sara. Edna remembers going to Durango in a buggy to see the fair and for shopping. "We liked to ride the street car from one end of Main to the other. Once my mother left a diaper bag on the car and we had to wait till it made a complete round before we could retrieve it." When Edna was still a young girl, her family moved onto the Spanish Fork Ranch where Spring Creek enters the Pine River near La Boca. Edna went to school here for a few years, then was transferred to the Indian School at Santa Fe. Then she was sent to Sherman Institute at Riverside, California to finish high School. There she met Indian students from all over the country. "We were given a choice of pre-vocational training at Sherman. I tried nurse's training and dry cleaning. I liked both of them and both have been useful since then. At first I didn't believe I'd like the nursing. A nurse sees so many sad and stomach-turning things, but soon I began to see the other side of it. Sick and injured people are just people who need help and the feeling you get from helping them is just great." ) J ') J ·_) _) __J ,. ) .J __J ..J __J __J Edna's years in California were great, too. California in the 1920's was a beautiful, uncrowded place with its clean air and tropical plants and mountains by the sea. From Riverside to Los Angeles were large open country areas, not all city like today. ''We went to Catalina Island and rode the glass bottom boat. Sometimes we went to the amusement Park at Long Beach. I remember how I screamed when we rode the roller coaster over the ocean. We went to Tijuana to see the bull fights. At that time the arena was a beautiful log structure." When Edna finished her nurse's training, she worked at Dulce, then at Towaoc, then at the Taylor Hospital in Ignacio. Minnie Cloud and I were some of the first ones hired . We cleaned and cleaned the building and made towels and baby clothes until it was opened. Soon afterwards Edna married Cassimero Baker. They had two sons, Archie and Dusty. When the army started building up Ft. Carson, Cassie and Edna moved to the east slope. Cassie worked on construction projects on the base and Edna became a welder ..J ..J .J J J ..._) 7 �in an airplane factory operated by Universal Electric at Colorado Springs. She enjoyed the work very much. Finally. she and her boys came back to Ignacio and she worked in the Taylor Hospital until ii closed in 1955. "Even when we moved back to Ignacio, I sent my boys to the public school because I wanted them to learn to get along with all kinds of people." After the Taylor Hospital closed Edna worked in Denver and in Colorado Springs for a while, then she returned to Durango where she worked at Mercy and Community Hospitals until she retired. "I always liked my work in the hospitals. Such nice people to work with. It was a new world every week -- always in training or going to nurse's workshops and conventions and having dinners. I worked side by side with all kinds including foreign students and trainees. I really miss my many friends in Durango and Colorado Springs whom I visit whenever I can." Archie worked hard and went through training for auto mechanics. He worked several years in California and now lives in Durango. Dusty has had mechanics training and also training as an X-Ray technician in the hospital. He was working in Durango hospitals until the opportunity to apply as manager of the new Shell Station opened up, and when he got the job, he and Edna moved back to Ignacio. After being gone so long, it seems a little strange to be back in this area, but Edna has quite a few relatives here and just as she has made new friends wherever she has lived, she will surely be able to do the same here again. We wish her and her children the best of good fortune and wish lo welcome her back to Ignacio. November, 1975 - Shelby Smith 8 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Shelby Smith Interviews Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource https://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-NC/1.0/?language=en Date Created Date of creation of the resource. 1973-1980 Subject The topic of the resource Ignacio; Southwest Colorado Description An account of the resource Collection of biographies, predominantly of residents from the Ignacio Senior Center, based on interviews conducted by Shelby Smith from approximately 1973 to 1980. The abridged interviews were originally published as individual entries in The Thoughtful Years newsletter, published by the Ignacio Senior Center, beginning in 1973. They were later published as a whole in Smith's book: Oral Histories of the Southern Pine River Valley, from which the original scans in this collection have been derived. Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smith, Shelby Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Edna (Russell) Baker Biography Date Created Date of creation of the resource. 1975-11 Subject The topic of the resource Baker, Edna (Russell) Description An account of the resource Biography of Edna (Russell) Baker based on an interview conducted by Shelby Smith. Originally included in the November, 1975 issue of "The Thoughtful Years" newsletter published by the Ignacio Senior Center. Later included in the book "Oral Histories of the Southern Pine River Valley" by Shelby Smith. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Baker, Edna (Russell) Language A language of the resource English Extent The size or duration of the resource. 2 pages Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NKC/1.0/ Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smith, Shelby