https://voicesofignacio.cvlcollections.org/files/original/b74e1b1f4fde1f62a6f80c6260742410.pdf 8290a7f9dbc592b8e9ffeffc88c3e4c5 PDF Text Text BONNIE and ESSIE (Richards) KENT Essie Burch Richards, the daughter of Sarah Burch and Bob Richards, was born at Bayfield August 5, 1916. "We lived in a little adobe house still standing on the place next to Jack Frost's farm. I don't remember my mother. She died when I was very young, so my grandparents largely raised me. My grandfather, Robert Burch had all kinds of animals, turkeys, sheep, cattle and chickens. The apple trees he planted are still there, but the strawberry patch has died out." Essie started school at the Allen Day School, then went to the Bayfield school for grades 4-7. She finished high school at the Indian School in Albuquerque. "The Albuquerque School was mostly a vocational school to learn farming, home economics, etc. One thing I liked was the military training. We wore uniforms and every morning we had drills. Then on Sundays a lot of people from town came out to watch our dress parades." - Essie was one of six students chosen to be sent to Pennsylvania for special nurses training, but about the time she was ready to go her grandfather needed her help at home. So she never got to go. Essie had, of course, ridden horses all her life. So no one thought it was particularly unusual for her uncle to ask her help to break and train his horses. Essie was doing just that when she met her future husband. Bonnie Kent was hired to help break the horses, also. The two of them took an immediate liking for one another and were married in 1937. Bonnie Kent was born near Ignacio in 1918. His parents were Graves Stone Kent and Ada Rabbit Kent. They had a home near the Oxford Tract. When Bonnie was very small, the house was struck by lightning and everything was lost. Graves continued raising sheep and cattle on the open range until he got a land allotment east of Ignacio where Ada still lives. There were a few automobiles around when Bonnie was a child, but most people still used horses and wagons or buggies. "The best I can remember," Bonnie says, "a new buggy cost $300-$400. A real nice one cost about $500. There were buggy repair shops just like there are auto repair shops today. You could buy new parts or the blacksmiths could rebuild the rims and spokes and other parts that wore out." Work on the farms was hard in those days, but Bonnie and Essie both remember that life with good feeling. "In the haying time we loaded the cut hay on slips (sled-like platforms pulled by a team) and hauled it to the barn. If it was a grain field, we hired a man with a binder to cut and bind the grain into shocks. Then someone brought a thrashing machine to the field. We threw the shocks into the machine and it separated the grain from the straw. The men held cloth sacks under the spout to catch the grain. Others stood by to sew the sacks 94 �closed. Life was better on the farm then. It was hard work, but we enjoyed it. Everybody kept busy and helped one another." , } ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) After they were married, Bonnie and Essie stayed with Bonnie's parents for a while. Bonnie worked at irrigating in the summer. He was a line rider over in the Piedra country and then worked on the farm at the Ignacio Indian School. About 1946 the Kents got a farm east of Ignacio where they built the home in which they still live. Bonnie was elected to the Tribal Council for three terms. He also was appointed to the Tribal Activities Board which was responsible for planning and organizing rodeos. The old rodeo grounds were next to the Ute Park where the ball park is now. This involvement with the rodeo got Bonnie interested in raising stock again, not for the meat market, but for rodeo stock. Before long he had quite a few head of bucking horses and some Brahma bulls. "We really enjoyed the rodeo business. We rented the animals to rodeo promoters around the 4-corners area at Farmington, Cortez, Pagosa, Dulce, Durango and Ignacio. Once in a while a dealer would take a few of our animals clear to Texas or Oklahoma for the rodeo finals. Most people think rodeo animals are really mean, but they're not. On their home pasture most of them are as gentle as pets. It's only in the ring they turn into a different animal." The Kents kept their rodeo stock until Richard, their oldest child moved away from Ignacio. They have four children. Richard now lives in. Oregon. Eunice died at the age of 17. Phoebe still lives at Ignacio. Their 4th child, Beulah, was chosen to be Miss Southern Ute, the Four-Corner's Indian Princess and was a runner-up to Miss Indian America at Sheridan, Wyoming. Beulah represented Miss Indian America at many events in this country and once in Europe. ) _) J _) Bonnie and Essie have gone to the Bear Dances and the Sun Dances for many years. "It's still done about the same as always, but in the old days they were a little stricter. No food or drink near the ceremony and no intoxicated people allowed. It was more religious and less social. We liked the old way a little better." .J June, 1976 - Shelby Smith _) ._) .J .J ..._) .._) ._) ._) J J .J ..._) ...J 95 � 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 Bonnie Kent and Essie (Richards) Kent Biography Date Created Date of creation of the resource. 1976-06 Subject The topic of the resource Kent, Bonnie; Kent, Essie (Richards) Description An account of the resource Biography of Bonnie Kent and Essie (Richards) Kent based on an interview conducted by Shelby Smith. Originally included in the June, 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 Kent, Bonnie; Kent, Essie (Richards) 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