https://voicesofignacio.cvlcollections.org/files/original/528b641f18412144b98046eab3ac32aa.pdf dbeecf70bf3189c78cd587ae03d34e48 PDF Text Text SARAH MAE "SALLY" (WICKLIFF) CAPELL Can on Ohio girl find happiness in Colorado? "Sally" didn't think so in 1938 when her husband Arthur decided he wanted to move to Ignacio. Arthur Capell had wanted to live in the mountains for many years. In 1930 he and Sally visited Montana looking for a job, but shied away from starting a new life there when they learned it sometimes is 40 degrees below zero. Then in 1938 Arthur discovered a man in Ignacio wanted to trade mail routes with someone in Ohio. Arthur reasoned that Ignacio would have a mountain climate more to his liking since its latitude is the same as that of Virginia. Sally agreed to move, wanting whatever would make Arthur happy, but she admits the move was a traumatic one accompanied by tears and more tears at the thought of leaving all her relatives and friends acquired over a lifetime. The Capell's only son Kenneth was already married and had started his life in Columbus, Ohio, where he and his wife still live. In one way the move to Ignacio was a disappointment to Arthur. Accustomed as he was to the well graveled roads in Ohio, the unimproved La Plata County Roads of 1938 were a frustrating obstacle to a rural postman. Despite her original reluctance about moving, Sally learned to love her new life in Colorado even more than Arthur did. Now that Arthur is deceased, Sally has been urged by her friends and relatives in Ohio to be "sensible" and move back home. However, Sally says "Ignacio has the friendliest, finest people and a beautiful climate. I'll never leave." Sarah Mae "Sally" Wickliff was born in her parents 3 story brick home on 39 acres near Pataskala, Ohio, in 1889. Though her father's farm was small, he worked it efficiently, rotating crops of corn and wheat and putting up hay and taking good care of his cattle. Sally remembers the beauty of the green Ohio countryside with its scattered woods and clear flowing creeks. The covered bridges in the area were useful in the summer as well as winter. Teamsters and horsemen would hurry to them during rain showers. After graduating from high school, Sally and her sister passed the state test to become teachers. They taught in country schools one mile apart for four years. Teaching was a pleasant 8 month per year job for Sally. She says she never had much trouble getting along with the students. "After the first couple of paddlings, they found out who was boss!" Sally liked square dancing, but recalls being nervous about it during the years she was teaching, since many parents of that time would criticize a teacher for disporting herself in such a manner. During this lime Sally was being courted by Arthur Capell, who had been a childhood friend since age 12. One of Arthu~s first jobs as a young man was driving a Huckster's wagon. This was a covered wagon which served as a traveling general store. He sold cloth, hardware, pots, patent medicine and groceries to farm residents who seldom traveled to town. Since many farmers had little cash, they would pay for their supplies with butter, eggs, cream and produce. Later Arthur drove a produce wagon before he accepted a job as a U.S. Postman. 24 �Sally smiles when she talks about Arthur's fast horses. Before they were married, Arthur bought a sleek black horse which he named Diamond Denmark. Sally smiles even bigger when she recalls that the purchase of Diamond Denmark. "required" the purchase of a new buggy! During the long Ohio summer evenings Sally would sit in a lawn chair listening for the hoof beats of the black horse which she could hear long before it came into view over the crest of the hill. On Sunday afternoons Sally and Arthur would hitch Diamond to the new buggy for a ride on the "Pike" near Pataskala. Arthur would travel at moderate speed until some other young blade and his gal would try to come around them. No one, she recalls was ever able to pass Diamond Denmark. When the Capells came here in 1938, Ignacio and the whole country was coming out of the Great Depression. Ignacio had the train then and Sally wishes it were still here. One Thanksgiving she rode the train back to Ohio to visit her family. Returning a few days before Christmas she remembers changing from the wide gauge to the narrow gauge train at Alamosa. The narrow gauge coaches were carpeted and very comfortable. Sally says the magnificent snowy peaks and canyons through which the train traveled in the region of Cumbres Pass was an unforgettable sight. ) ) ) J J _) _) _) ..) _) J J J J J ...J ...J ...J ...J J In 1945 Arthur got horse fever again in the form of a fine mare named Queen-of-Hearts. He built a stable and corral just across the street from his home on Browning. In 1948 "Queenie" gave birth to a little filly which was to become Arthur and Sally's pride and joy. Miss Jody Reed won races in Denver and was a source of pleasure to Arthur for many years. Perhaps the only "Colt Shower" ever held in Ignacio was held in honor of Jody's birth. Some of those who brought presents to this tongue-in-cheek affair were Paul Ritter, Lawrence Wiseman and Okla Lunsford. Miss Jody Reed, now a Regal 25 years old is in retirement on the Emmet Hott farm. When Sally Capell goes out to visit Miss Jody Reed, we'll excuse her if she sees more than an aging mare. It may be she will recapture the image of quiet rides in the Pine River Valley of a summer evening or the excited roar of the crowd at Centenial Downs and Ruidosa and Raton. It may be the apprehension at facing a new life in a new land far from familiar things and the discovery that neighborliness and generosity and friendship can take root wherever they're planted. We'll excuse Sally if she hears the singing of buggy wheels and the drumming of hooves on the Pataskala Pike, or if for just a moment she hears distant hoof beats growing clearer and more distinct until a rider on a tall black horse rises into view at the crest of a green Ohio hill. We'll excuse her because all of us have links with the past which evoke memories and reveries of great value. Today Sally Capell is a hospitable, gracious lady and a good citizen, and a good friend. We wish her many more happy years. November, 1973 -- Shelby Smith 25 � 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 Sarah Mae (Wickliff) Capell Biography Date Created Date of creation of the resource. 1973-11 Subject The topic of the resource Capell, Sarah Mae (Wickliff) Description An account of the resource Biography of Sarah Mae "Sally" (Wickliff) Capell based on an interview conducted by Shelby Smith. Originally included in the November, 1973 issue of "The Thoughtful Years" newsletter published by the Ignacio Senior Center. Later included in the book "Oral Histories of the Southern Pine River Valley" by Shelby Smith. Spatial Coverage Spatial characteristics of the resource. Ignacio, Colorado; Southwest Colorado Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Extent The size or duration of the resource. 2 pages Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Capell, Sarah Mae (Wickliff) 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