https://voicesofignacio.cvlcollections.org/files/original/b45f091bb89b59d5310d14a443779455.pdf 064d2a701f87b4ece953be09e365548b PDF Text Text MARY LA VIDA (Wayt) RITTER Mary La Vida Wayt, daughter of Louis and Margaret Wayt was born October 29, 1891, in Indian Territory (now Oklahoma) four miles from Maysville, Arkansas. Folks in the area referred to it as "Lapland", meaning the region where Oklahoma, Arkansas and Missouri have a common border. Vida has only slight memories of those early years. Her family left Indian Territory and moved to Texas for a while and then back to Indian Territory. One thing she does remember is crossing the Red River. Crossing the prairie rivers was an experience to be remembered, especially if they were the big ones. There were few, if any, bridges anywhere in the Indian Territory and none across the big rivers. The Red River in many places is a mile wide. The amount of water depends on the season of the year. Ferries were not possible since even in flood season the water is deep only in a few channels. Most of the year the river consists mainly of sand bars, treacherous mud bogs, quicksand and log-strewn shallows. Getting across was mainly a matter of slogging through the mud flats, avoiding the quicksand and hoping the wagon would float. Vida remembers a frightful crossing. Her family made it across all right, but not everyone was so lucky. ) ) ) ) ) _). When the Wayts moved back to Oklahoma, they settled on a farm just across the border from Chetopa, Kansas. Most of their neighbors in the area were Cherokee Indians. It may seem unusual to gather nuts to go fishing , but that's what they and their neighbors did. Buckeyes, small nuts growing profusely in the area, have a chemical which stuns fish. The men would pound the nuts into a meal, scatter the meal on a pool in the "crick" and almost immediately the fish in the pool would float belly-up to the surface. Vida was very frightened when the men jumped into the water whooping and hollering, but her mother explained what was happening, "Then," she recalls, "we had a real fish fry." ) _) _) .J _) ....J .J ..J ..J .._J ....J .J J J J J .._J J .._J There is a section of Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri and Iowa known to weathermen as a 'cyclone alley. This region has some of the most frequent violent weather on the continent. Nearly everyone today, as well as then, has a cellar for refuge during tornado weather. Vida recalls the old dugout cellar her father built and recalls she was more frightened of the snakes and spiders and creepy things she imagined in the cellar than of the tornados. However, her father knew what he was doing. One day when the family scurried to the cellar, a tornado twisted their house on its foundation, requiring her father to prop up one wall with logs and poles. The Wayts raised corn, black-eye peas and sugar cane. At an early age Vida was taught to milk and was assigned the job of washing the pails and the separator. When Vida was 12, her father sold the farm and moved to Pueblo to work in the steel mill. Shortly after arriving in Colorado, Vida saw a sight she could hardly believe. She said, "Oh, mother look at that wagon going without any horses." The year was 1904 and that was Vida's first encounter with a motorized vehicle. After a year Louis moved his family to a farm near La Jara in the San Luis Valley where they stayed for 3 years. "We raised potatoes and field peas and did all right, but it was too cold and windy there to suit us." Vida was sixteen when the Wayts moved to the Pine River Valley and settled in 141 �this region for good. The family took the train to Ignacio and rode in the mail wagon lo Bayfield. "We always traveled light. Dad sold everything but our personal belongings whenever we moved. It was too difficult and expensive to move furniture and implements. Everywhere we went we had to start all over again. Louis got a job as a logger in the woods north of Bayfield for a year and then moved to a ranch 3-4 miles north of Ignacio. When the town of Ignacio was organized, Louis was hired on the survey team which named the streets and laid them out. Later Louis constructed the building which is now the north section of the SUARK lodge and Mrs. Wayt operated it as a hotel. Vida attended the Morrison School. She remembers well the day at school when she looked out of the window to see a tall young man riding a horse along the road. Vida had no idea this young man would one day become her husband. At the age of 18, Vida started dating Paul Ritter. "Paul and I liked to dance. All of the young people in the area would pile into a wagon or onto a sled if it was winter and go to Spring Creek or Bayfield or wherever there was a dance. On Sunday, there were horse races up Goddard Avenue in Ignacio and ball games and, finally, someone started a movie theater (silent pictures of course)." Vida and Paul were married in Durango in the home of Paul's parents on April 10, 1911. "After the wedding, we drove back lo the ranch in our buggy. Since the spring and summer work was just getting started, we put off our honeymoon until the fall." After the crops were in that fall, Paul and Vida went to Denver. Paul had worked as a cartoonist for the Denver Post and had many friends there. The train ride to Denver was an experience in itself. Senator West obtained ticket passes for Paul. The train steamed to Telluride, where they stayed overnight and then on to Denver the next day thru Montrose, Gunnison, Salida, Canon City, Pueblo, and Colorado Springs. Vida enjoyed the big city. Every evening the Ritters were guests of Paul's friends for a nice dinner and a movie or concert or stage play. Paul never let Vida forget that she went to sleep during the stage production of BEN HUR. Vida explains, "We had been out late every evening that week and I was tired." The Ritters lived on the ranch for 33 years. They raised hay and grains and animals of all kinds. Paul and Vida never had any children, but for a number of years they kept three brothers, Ray and Ralph and Robert Dickey. Ray now lives in Alaska, Robert lives west of Ignacio. Ralph was killed in a construction accident in California after WWII. The Ritters once owned a spirited trotting horse named Queenie. Vida dearly loved to hitch her up and drive her to town. One reason she needed to go to Ignacio regularly was to ship cream on the train to Durango. She recalls one day that the time of day got away from her. As she left the house she noticed she had 12 minutes to cover the three miles lo the depot. Clipping down Goddard Avenue, Vida could hear the train approaching. She whipped across the tracks just ahead of the train and got an angry whistle from the engineer. Paul acquired one of the first automobiles in Ignacio. For a long time he wouldn't allow Vida to drive, but she wouldn't stand for that forever. Vida practiced driving the car when Paul was away. One day when they left the house for town, Vida jumped under the wheel and said, "I'm driving today." Paul was leery an_d said, "Just to the gate," but Vida kept going. Vida states "Paul had his hand on the door handle, ready to jump out the 142 �'} -. '\ ' ' '·, ' 1 l } ) ) whole way, but I made it just fine." In addition to his farming, Paul operated a business in Ignacio for many years. The Ritters inherited an interest in a cabin at Electra Lake and enjoyed many fun weekends there with friends. Paul died in 1963. V ida has been alone for 12 years, but not really alone. She has many friends and receives a lot of attention from them. There are several reasons for this. First and probably the most important is that Vida takes an interest in other people. Endless recitation of life's aches and pains are not the subject of her conversation. Vida keeps herself active, entertaining friends and going out whenever possible. Undoubtedly, she will continue to face life with the same courage, sense of humor and good spirit that she always has shown. We wish her many years of good memories, friendship and happiness. ' March, 1975 - Shelby Smith .) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) _) _} _) _J _J _) .J ,.J J J J J J J J ..J ...) 143 � 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 Mary La Vida (Wayt) Ritter Biography Date Created Date of creation of the resource. 1975-03 Subject The topic of the resource Ritter, Mary La Vida (Wayt); Ignacio, Colorado; Southwest Colorado Description An account of the resource Biography of Mary La Vida (Wayt) Ritter based on an interview conducted by Shelby Smith. Originally included in the March, 1975 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 Ritter, Mary La Vida (Wayt) 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