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Zelda Rouillard, a professor of English at then Western State College (now Western Colorado University), lectures about the folktales and tall tales of Colorado. Many of the tales were related to her by her own students. Rouillard’s lecture was part of the February Folklife series at the Museums of Western Colorado in 1982. This recording is made available via signed release by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County...
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Dudley W. Mitchell discusses his family history, early Colorado mining days, and his various jobs working for the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad over fifty years. The interview was conducted by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries, the Museums of Western Colorado and the Mesa County Historical Society.
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During a speech to the Fruitvale Lions Club of Mesa County, Colorado, Al Look discourses on all manner of subjects related to Colorado History, including the geologic history of the Grand Mesa and Grand Valley, the lack of rat species native to Western Colorado and Eastern Utah, Ute and American Indian History, and dinosaurs. This recording is made available via signed release by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County...
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History professor William Edmondson gives a comedic account of historic personages from Colorado and American history at an event sponsored by the Mesa County Historical Society and Mesa College in 1981. This recording is made available via signed release by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries and the Museums of Western Colorado.
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Julius Johnson talks about the history of his family in Colorado and about his friendship with both Al Look Jr. and Al Look Sr. He speaks about hiking the entire Colorado portion of the Continental Divide Trail with a friend. He also discusses his long career at Dow Chemical. The interview was conducted by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries and the Museums of Western Colorado.
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Velma Budin talks about the history of the Daughters of the American Revolution, the Colorado Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, and in great detail about the history of the Mount Garfield Chapter. The interview was conducted by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of the Mesa County Public Library and the Museum of Western Colorado. *Photograph from the 1925 Colorado Agricultural College yearbook
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Join us in a brief investigation into Colorado’s mineral endowment and its heyday of extraction. This presentation by Peg Williams will focus on the origin, geographic extent and characteristics of the Colorado Mineral Belt, which hosts Colorado’s wealth of gold and silver resources. The discoveries of precious metals and the evolving methods of mining and processing the valuable ores are the stories that drove the early development and settlement...
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Learn about a number of prehistoric sites in Mesa County and Montrose County that contain material remains which prove human habitation and activities going back at least 1,000 years.
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The Plateau Valley was settled by some of Mesa County's first pioneers, and they put the area to good use, raising crops and livestock. Learn how this vibrant agricultural area was developed and how it looks today. Presented by the Plateau Valley Historical Preservation Society.
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The Western Colorado History collection includes videos about the history of Mesa County and surrounding areas from local historians.
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Loyd Files talks about his early life in Kansas, moving to Colorado with his family via covered wagon in 1914, and the process of filing for a homestead. He remembers homesteading with his parents in Lamar, Colorado, and with his brother in Glade Park in 1920. He recalls working on the crew that built the Serpents Trail over the Colorado National Monument, meeting John Otto, and helping build Rimrock Drive over the Monument. He speaks about his marriage...