https://voicesofignacio.cvlcollections.org/files/original/7316d573862721f12617f588eb0f01d3.pdf afad8ad14c4ac849f1196158879c25cf PDF Text Text JUAN GALLEGOS Juan N. Gallegos was born May 16, 1893, in Tierra Amarilla, New Mexico, the oldest son in his family. Juan's father was a sheepherder for 45 years. In the summertime he took his flocks into the high country surrounding their home. Most of their neighbors put their flocks together in the summer and either shared the herding responsibility or paid one herder such as Juan to care for the sheep. Being the oldest son, Juan soon was traveling with the sheep camp and learning how to care for the sheep. In the summer of 1908 when Juan was 15, his father had to leave the sheep for a 3 day business trip. Juan and his cousins were left in charge. It was hot weather and the creek was cool but shallow. The boys made a temporary dam with rocks to make a nice pool for skinny-dipping. Then the thought of tobacco came to their minds. Forbidden things always seem to have a great appeal to boys. A great idea came to them when they remembered the Juan's mother did not know Mr. Gallegos was away from the camp. Word was sent to Mrs. Gallegos that her husband wanted a supply of his Bull Durham tobacco. She promptly sent it and the boys began their experiment. Though they had varying degrees of success rolling their own cigarettes and went through a lot of coughing and sputteling while trying to smoke, the boys thought it was grand getting to do such a "manly" thing. However, the boys didn1 feel so "manly" when Mr. Gallegos returned and discovered their trick. Juan learned that 15 year old boys are not too old for a good whipping. A few years after that Juan's father began hearing of homesteading opportunities across the line in Colorado. In 1914 he took a claim of 160 acres north of Dulce in the Montezuma Valley. Mr. Gallegos built a log house and made the necessary improvements to establish a permanent claim. Juan and a couple of his brothers also claimed nearby homesteads, but hard times required them to abandon the claims to find work in Utah. In 1916 when Juan was about 23, he married Matilda Gallegos. They raised 6 boys and 4 gi~s. Several years later when Juan was 39, he and Matilda decided to move to Ignacio. They came by horse-drawn sled, to Pagosa Junction. II was too muddy the rest of the way for a sled, so Juan came on to Ignacio, rented a buggy and returned for his family. Life was pretty hard in 1932. Juan worked for the W.P.A. (Works Progress Administration) and he appreciated the work, but that didn't prevent him and many other Spanish speakers from calling the W.P.A. "El diablo apie" or "the devil on fool". Later Juan got a job with the BJ.A. as a camp mover under Mr. Peterson. During W.W. II Juan's second son, Juan Joe Gallegos, was captured by enemy forces in Europe, Juan believes his son was imprisoned and must have died while there. Unfortunately, there was no definite word about his fate at that lime and nothing more certain has ever been learned. Juan and his family lived in Dragerton, Utah, during 1943-45 while he worked in the Colombia Coal mine. In 1948 Matilda died. Juan returned to Ignacio in 1951 and worked as a camp mover several more years. In 1966 Juan was married to Apolonia Herrera and they still make their home here. Partial, September, 1974 56 � 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 Juan Gallegos Biography Date Created Date of creation of the resource. 1974-09 Subject The topic of the resource Gallegos, Juan; Ignacio, Colorado; Southwest Colorado Description An account of the resource Biography of Juan Gallegos based on an interview conducted by Shelby Smith in September, 1974. Included in the book "Oral Histories of the Southern Pine River Valley" by Shelby Smith. Type The nature or genre of the resource Text 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