https://voicesofignacio.cvlcollections.org/files/original/46e838d19d2b63435ad07cfe7fdacab0.pdf b141d40976228604943e45129063c626 PDF Text Text ~ .., .., 'l 'l J l J J l ' ) --, ) ) ' ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) J ..J _) _) ..J ..) ..J ...) ...) ..._) ...) ...) CARL AND CA THERINE (West) MASTERS Carl was born at home late in the evening on June 21, 1905, outside of Millport, Alabama. Lots of his relatives were in town that day for another event, so they all came with his dad to see the new baby. They stayed way too long, some until midnight. "My mother's old boyfriend was one of them. He and his friends came back the next day. There were not invited, they just came, making my mom tired and miserable." Carl was the second of his parent's children, but since his older sister died, he was especially loved and cherished in this family. However, his childhood was not lonely as an additional 6 brothers and 5 sisters were born. One of Carl's clearest and scariest memories as a young child was when his father went to deal with a swarm of bees that were disturbing their peach orchard. He came in with the swarm clinging to a stick and put it in a hive to keep. It looked dangerous and was the only time Carl saw his father do this. Carl continues, "We moved to Carbon Hill, Alabama, then on to Memphis, Tennessee. Dad was a conductor on the trolley. Part of his pay came out of the fares, but it all added up to a poor wage. Soon we went back to Carbon Hill. Lots of the old timers were dying and land was a reasonable price. I attended a private school and remember the kindergarten teacher as somewhat cruel. The kids would get a whipping with a buggy whip if they marked on a page in a book. I wasn't one of them, but it made me afraid. I went to public school after the third grade. I never cheated and I tried hard to pay attention in the classroom," Carl remarks. He left school after the 8th grade and at the age of 14 went to work in a coal mine owned by Catherine's father. When he was 17 years old, Carl joined the Navy and enjoyed the experience. He spent four years there and got to see the world, which is what he wanted to do. The officers assigned him to electrician's school. Things were going well until one day Carl's spunky nature exhibited itself. Another sailor in the electrician's school said something unbecoming to him. Carl's response was to hit the man with a # 30 tray he had in his hands. For decades the navy has had a very manly tradition for settling personal disputes. The two disputers are given pairs of boxing gloves, put in a ring, and told to go for it. Since the other sailor happened to be a professional boxer, that solution would not have been equitable. Carl was sent to court for a possible court marshal. He was offered an early release, but refused that and was never sorry. His punishment was simply an order to leave electrician's school and enter a pipe-fitting, metal-working program. Carl was O.K. with how it turned out. Catherine and Carl were married in Colorado when he got out of the Navy. After his discharge, they traveled to Alabama and Arizona and finally settled in New Mexico. He worked in a coal mine again for a while, but it was too dangerous, so they decided to relocate. They moved to St. Louis where they stayed for 15 years. That's where they started their family. Three children were born, but one was lost. Their daughter, Joyce now lives in Los Angeles and their son Carl lives in Alabama. ..._) ...) ,._.) ...) ...) 115 �Carl was offered a job in Panama in charge of a construction crew. They were helping to build a pecond addition to the canal. Carl liked the challenge and enjoyed all the different tasks in the Canal Zone. He had a knack for mechanical things. He trained his men to repair and operate a large movable crane. They, also, operated an excavator 140' long. All of this was hard, hot work in that tropical climate. Carl ran into all kinds of people. There were 17 nationalities represented among the workers. Because of the swampy landscape, everything, including the excavation equipment had to be moved across the isthmus by railway. After training his men to use the cranes and the excavators on the Atlantic end of the project, he was sent to do the same thing on the Pacific end, also. "It was a very big day when my men and I turned the whole operation over to the permanent staff of the canal." Carl received lots of personal satisfaction from doing this project. Next he worked for the Panama Canal Shipping Division. Once when Carl was loading cars to go to the states, he found a grenade in one of the cars and threw it in the water. "It made a huge explosion and killed a lot of fish and alligators." At one point Carl began to get sick in the tropical climate, so they returned to Colorado. Carl states that when they first visited the mountains, he and Catherine were fascinated with all the rocks and semi-precious stones. Carl has made jewelry out of some of the gems. Having been a coppersmith in the Navy, this was a good hobby for him. One customer was an Indian woman who brought him some stones and wanted him to make into a ring. Carl suggested she take them to her tribal jewelry maker. She showed him one that was partly done and asked him to finish it. She loved the completed ring he made. As usual, he didn't charge much; he mainly did it to make people happy. Carl also made a 25 cup and tray set out of brass and copper and is now in a museum somewhere. He hammered it all out himself while in the Navy. He made a second set to be given to an Admiral upon retirement. When Carl was about 5, one of his Texas uncles named West (his mother's brother) wanted to adopt him. He told Carl all the things he could do for him. Carl told him "No", and to this day is very happy for having made that decision. When asked about his favorite memory from childhood, he answered "Mother and I were opposites, but we loved each othe~•- His advice to everyone is, "Do the right thing." When they came back to Ignacio to visit Catherine's folks, they intended to stay only 2 weeks. Instead of a 2 week stay they have been here for 18 years. Carl says he has experienced lots of things he didn't much like. However, some of the secrets of life are to do things in moderation and to remember the old Southern expression: "There's more to life than cornbread". 116 � 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 Carl Masters and Catherine (West) Masters Biography Subject The topic of the resource Masters, Carl; Masters, Catherine (West); Ignacio, Colorado; Southwest Colorado Description An account of the resource Biography of Carl Masters and Catherine (West) Masters based on an interview conducted by Shelby Smith. 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 Masters, Carl; Masters, Catherine (West) 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