https://voicesofignacio.cvlcollections.org/files/original/ca2c8434938600a9ae2198e4d9b016ef.pdf e67a8623305a8a7c72c6ab2c95d2e3c1 PDF Text Text "l 'l 'l 'J 'J 'J J J ) } J } ) ) ) ) LOUIE AND IRENE (Young) MORRIS The story of the westward movement and the adventures of America can be told in the lives of many of its families. One such family is that of James Morris who was born in Owsley County, Kentucky in 1870 and died in California in 1955. James married Laura Kate Wagoner in Arkansas in 1893. While they lived at Berryville, their son Louie was born on November 18, 1900. From there they moved to Eureka Springs, Arkansas, for a while and then went to McCloud, Oklahoma, to grow cotton. In 1908 James loaded his family and possessions in a covered wagon and headed for House, New Mexico, which is about 45 miles south of Tucumcari. The Morrises bought a claim and opened a general store handling groceries, dry goods, hardware, kerosene, etc. staying there five years. James might have stayed at House but he kept remembering stories about the San Juan Mountains the Wagoners had told. Laura's father and one of her uncles had spent a year trapping furs in the mountains north of Durango years before. After 5 years at House, James sold out-and loaded the covered wagon. By that time Louie was 12 or 13 years old. According to his memories, travel by covered wagon was not bad. ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) J _) _} J _) "Our wagon was pulled by two mules which could cover about 40 miles per day if the roads were good. We carried barrels of water, bacon, flour, beans, potatoes, coffee and a few canned goods. Dad built a bed back of the wagon and a cupboard on the rear. The door of the cupboard came down on hinges to form a table top. The stretch of road from Albuquerque to Cuba was hard because of all the sand. My brother and I followed in our buggy. The trip to Tiffany took about two weeks." The Morrises operated a ranch for the Limebargers for one summer only.Then they loaded up their wagon and headed back to Arkansas. James retraced his steps back to House and went on to Amarillo. That night when the family was parked in the wagon yard, James walked up and said, "Pack up. We're going the rest of the way on the train." James had sold the wagon and team to another man. The family was in Arkansas a short time, then back to Oklahoma City where James corresponded with Mr. Pierman and Mr. Dalton, the owners of the Allison store. In 1914 The Morrises bought the store at Allison and settled there for three years. Louie recalls, "Children in school were mischievous then as well as now. I remember the time one of the boys put a bottle of ink on the pot belly stove. Pretty soon it blew up and splattered ink all over the ceiling. But as a rule we weren't any better or any worse than children are today." _} _} J ...) ...) ...) About 1915 or 1916 the farmers around Allison decided to incorporate and start their own telephone company. Every body who wanted a phone bought stock in the company. The Shanks family were the operators. Of course it was all party line. Everyone had a different ring, two longs and a short, long short long, etc. Everybody heard the rings and everybody listened in. The more who listened in, the dimmer the sound became. If a child wanted to be mischievous or if someone was talking too long, J ...) ...) J J 119 �he could place the ear piece over the mouth piece and it would make a horrible noise which would quickly clear the line. There were many traveling salesmen in those days (the people called them drummers. a name the salesmen hated). Since there was no cafe in Allison, Laura provided a place for the salesmen to buy meals. "In 1918 we sold the Allison store and moved to Twin Falls, Idaho, for one summer and then on to Portland, Oregon", Louis remembers. The Morrises were in Portland when the great flu epidemic everyone had heard so much about struck the country. Louie was working at a cooperage at the time. "I got $.50 per day for checking the barrel heads after they were sawed to make certain the beveled edge was smooth and without flaws. I rode the street car to work. During the worst of the flu epidemic the conductor would only let a few people on at a time. We stayed in Portland through one winter. That spring we returned lo Allison to buy a farm from the Scoggins (Now the place belongs to Harry Engler)." It was a big event in 1919 when James bought his first car, a 4 door Chevrolet, an open car with a canvas roof and side curtains which were kept rolled up under the seats until needed. The Morrises enjoyed their car, but not when it was muddy. There was no gravel on the roads in those days. In 1920 Louie started dating Irene Young. Irene's parents, Archie and Nancy Young, originally were farmers at McClave, Colorado, 20 miles west of Lamar. Their irrigated farm produced alfalfa and grains. In 1913 when Irene was ten, her parents sold their farm and moved to a place just across the New Mexico line south of Allison. Mr. Young built a nice two story house (The one he built was moved to Colorado before Navajo Lake was filled. It is now the Robert Cox home near Tiffany.) The Youngs stayed in New Mexico two years then traded their farm for one nearer Allison. In 1920, Irene quit school when her mother died in order to take care of her little sister, Olivia. Tragedy struck the family again in 1922. Olivia contracted diphtheria and died. Louie and Irene were married Oct. 29, 1922. For a while they lived in the house where Ella Flack now lives, then moved to 450 Browning in Ignacio where they still live. That same year Louie, his brother Anthony and their Dad each bought 1/3 interests in the Economy Store which at that lime was located where the present Sheltered Workshop is. "Dad just bought into the store to help us get started. After a year or so Anthony and I bought Dad's interest. About a year after buying the store the Morrises began selling a new product, Atwater-Kent and Philco radios. Louie remembers when his Dad first read about radios. James said, "It says here they are bringing out a machine that will pick up sound out of the air without wires. You can't believe that can you?" The first radios in Ignacio operated with batteries. There was no electricity here. People put up 100 ft. antennas. Since the air waves were not jammed with hundreds of stations, people could 120 �'1 '1 "-,-, l l ' ' ) ) } ) } ' ) ) ) ) ) ) ) pick up stations from all over the country. "We used to get KFI Los Angeles, KOA Denver and other stations as far·away as Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania." In 1927 Bill Bryan installed an electric plant on the river straight east of the Malt Shop. Louie and a number of other residents had their houses wired for electricity and hooked into the system. The power plant operated only 3 hours per day from 5:00 to 8:00 P.M. Though the hours were limited, the electric lights were quite an advance over the coal oil lamps. When he moved to town, Louie got involved in local sports. First he joined the Ute Baseball Team, then the town team. "In those days people took the town teams seriously. We played Aztec, Silverton and Pagosa. We also had Saturday Night Dances, parties, and then the movies. The Andersons and the McJunkins started the Ute Theater south of the Bank. Harry McJunkin used to play the piano at the silent movies. In 1928 the Talkies came to Ignacio. The first one starred Al Jolson." When Louie and Irene bought the first closed car in Ignacio, it created quite a stir. A lot of people said, "I wouldn't ride in that showcase. Why if you had a wreck that glass would cut you to pieces." "This country has come a long way since the First World War. We used to carry water from the town pump, heat it in a copper boiler, and light our houses with kerosene lamps. I liked the old days,." says Irene, "at least, they were less confusing than life is today. When I hear young people complaining because their electric washer isn't working right, I feel like telling them they wouldn't have that problem if they washed on a board." Shelby Smith ) ) ) ) _) _) _) _) J ...) ...) _) J J J ...) J J J ,..) ,..) 121 � 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 Louie Morris and Irene (Young) Morris Biography Date Created Date of creation of the resource. 1976-10 Subject The topic of the resource Morris, Louie; Morris, Irene (Young); Ignacio, Colorado; Southwest Colorado Description An account of the resource Biography of Louie Morris and Irene (Young) Morris based on an interview conducted by Shelby Smith. Originally included in the October, 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 Morris, Louie; Morris, Irene (Young) Extent The size or duration of the resource. 3 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