https://voicesofignacio.cvlcollections.org/files/original/26c5a0f99ced7740ee5329b5c2927e27.pdf f718bc83d79aa7452a3d27e0e7eafcb1 PDF Text Text 'l .., .., ~ ~ JOHN & DOROTHY (Billings) OLBERT ' ' ' ' John Phillip Olbert's father, John Olbert was born in Simheimbaden, Germany in 1865. He migrated with his parents to Illinois in 1879. "My dad often told me how hard life was in Germany for the common people," John Phillip remembers. "People like my ancestors who had no land couldn't get any. However, the harsh military rule bothered them as much as the land shortage. As soon as a son was old enough to be useful to the family, he was drafted for several years into the army. So they came here wanting land and less government control of their lives. The family farmed in Illinois for several years. John left home when he was 21 and went to work for the Pullman Company in St. Louis." ) ' } } ) } ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) J J _) ..J ..J _) ..J ..J ..J ..J ..J ,J "After a couple of years, he came on west, stopping in Colorado. Pueblo was booming as a smelting and railroad center. Dad got a job helping to build the rail line over Marshall Pass from Salida to Gunnison. He worked a mule team skidding logs to build snowsheds to divert avalanches over the tracks. John settled in Telluride for the winter and acquired an unexpected job. He had done quite a variety of jobs, but 'never expected to be a nurse. The smallpox epidemic which broke out among the miners did not affect John, since he had been vaccinated in Germany. So many of the miners were either deathly sick or weak during recovery, that Dad was recruited as a Doctor's helper. While in the area he became friends of George West and Bob Hott. They began hearing tales of all the gold that could be panned out of the sand bars of the Colorado River. One summer they gave it a good try, but no one got rich." "Dad took off on his way to see the Navajo country and arrived back in Durango in 1889 when he was 24. He homesteaded at Thompson Park for a year, then moved into Durango to work at a local brewery located just north of the old high school and just east of the City Market. When Dad was 31 years old he married Margretha Geisler. My mother, who was 14 years younger than dad, was working in Durango and living with her sister, Mrs. Sponsel. My parents lived in Durango until 1915 when they bought a farm near Oxford." John Phillip was 12 when his parents moved to the farm one half mile west of Oxford. "Moving from a city school with graded classrooms to a one room school with grades 18 was quite a challenge for me. I'll never forget the first day there. Mr. Crosby, the teacher left for a while to check on his wife who was expecting a baby soon. While he was gone, some of the rowdy boys knocked the stovepipe down. This resulted in a thorough sooting of the room. Crosby questioned each of us to learn who was guilty. I was telling the truth when 1 said I didn't know, because I did not know anybody's name that day." "Dad used about half his land for grain crops and the rest for hay and pasture. Every farmer in those days had chickens, turkeys, and a bunch of milk cows. It was common to see 20-25 five gallon cream cans on the railroad platform. Part went to Durango. The rest was sold to Alamosa or Colorado Springs for better prices. Even 2-3 cents more per pound was a help." J ..J ..) ..) 12 3 �John Phillip and his brother Ernest went together to buy a new 1928 Chevrolet from Mockers in Durango. It cost $600.00 which they paid in cash after selling some cattle. This was not the first car in the family. Their dad had owned a 1914 Buick and a 1924 Ford Pickup which cost $400.00 John Phillip, his mom and dad, went to California in the pickup in 1928. They really squeezed into the cab but made it. Gas was about seventeen cents per gallon that year. In the late 1920's John Phillip was still not married, but decided to build a log house for himself. He cut and hauled logs (6 or 7 per trip) by team and wagon from the hills near Vallecito and cut his own shingles. The house wasn't quite finished when John met Dorothy Billings, the new School teacher at Oxford. Dorothy was born near Hermosa north of Durango on February 21, 1911. Her dad, Edwin Booth Billings, was a native of Jaynesville, Wisconsin. Her mother, Myrtle May Williams was born in Iowa. Myrtle's family settled near Windsor, Colorado, in 1890, later migrating in covered wagons to the Animas Valley via the San Luis Valley, Creede, Lake City and over the pass to Silverton. "My parents were truck farmers north of Durango", Dorothy says. "I went to Trimble School until I finished 1oth grade and graduated from Durango High School in 1925." Dorothy took two years of teacher training at Ft. Lewis College and came right to work at Oxford for one year and the following year" at Trimble School. John and Dorothy were married in 1931. Until their log house was finished, they lived in the Kennedy house a quarter mile west of Oxford. So many young couples started their lives in this house, it came to be known as the bridal suite of Oxford. The Olberts have 3 sons, each of whom is married and has two children. Phillip, the oldest, lives in Boulder. John Richard, usually called "Dick", lives in Palos Verdes, California. Donny is a Lt. Commander in the Navy at San Diego. John's father died in 1931. Those were hard years for everyone and the Olberts were no exception. Prices for farm products were low and the area suffered a bad dry spell in 1934, but they worked hard and were able to keep their land. When the effort began to unify the Allison, Arboles, Ignacio and Oxford School Districts in 1958-59, John was on the school board. He listened to all the arguments and got several good cussings when he supported the consolidation. Though he was aware of the drawbacks and the loss of community spirit when small towns lose their grade schools, John remembers how much he had wanted to finish high school and could not at Oxford. For the sake of others who would need a high school education, he made a decision which was not too popular. John has been secretary of the Pine River Irrigation District since 1966. He still keeps the necessary papers in the original leather satchel given to the District by Merrill Turner when it was organized in 1936. John and Dorothy have been involved in a lot of hard work during the 4 7 years of their married lives, but they also know how to relax. They love to travel and especially like to go to Coos Bay, Oregon, to get on a charter fishing boat and hook the big salmon. They 124 �"l 'l ""') ""') ""') ""') ""') l l also like to visit their children, but after a few days in Los Angeles and San Diego they are ready to come back to the farm. John can look out from his house to a spot half a mile to the northeast which the old timers said was a favorite camp site on the old Spanish Trail from Santa Fe to Durango. Like most people who have lived in one place for a long time, the Olberts value their memories and have many Ii nks with the past. i April, 1978- Shelby Smith ") ) J ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) J _) J J J .J J J J J J J J J J J -..J 125 � 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 John Olbert and Dorothy (Billings) Olbert Biography Date Created Date of creation of the resource. 1978-04 Subject The topic of the resource Olbert, John; Olbert, Dorothy (Billings); Ignacio, Colorado; Southwest Colorado Description An account of the resource Biography of John Olbert and Dorothy (Billings) Olbert based on an interview conducted by Shelby Smith. Originally included in the April, 1978 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 Olbert, John; Olbert, Dorothy (Billings) 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