Fruita (Colo.) -- History
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In this recording, Alta Nolan reads the memoirs of Cordelia Files. Files talks about the history of her parents and maternal grandparents who homesteaded in the Fruita, Colorado area in the 1890’s. She describes the fruit growing operation on the homestead. She recounts seeing the Ute people and Chipeta when they came in the fall to dry fruit from the orchard. She remembers early Fruita, with its dirt streets and plank sidewalks. She speaks about...
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Voice Recording
Sisters Dorothy (Raber) Beard and Marjorie (Raber) Likes talk about the history of their family in Fruita, Colorado. They speak about Will Minor, the goat herder and self-educated photographer, author, and amateur lepidopterist who discovered the butterfly Papilio Indra Minori on the Colorado National Monument. They discuss homesteads that the Beard family owned in the canyons that comprise the current day McInnis Canyons National Conservation Area....
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Voice Recording
Dorothy Beard discusses her career as a pharmacist (following the family trade), and talks about sheep ranching with her husband. 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.
*Photograph from the 1932 University of Colorado yearbook
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Voice Recording
Dorothy Beard discusses the Fruita Drug Store, and homesteading on land that became the Colorado National Monument and McInnis Canyons National Conservation Area. The interview was conducted by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries and the Museums of Western Colorado.
*Photograph from the 1932 University of Colorado yearbook
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Voice Recording
Frances Idler remembers coming to Loma, Colorado in 1938 as part of a Federal resettlement program during the Dust Bowl. She talks about the school and religious life of her family and the town. She recalls moving into a house owned by the Holly Sugar Company with her second husband and their subsequent move to Fruita, where they began taking in foster children. She speaks about some of the many foster children that she and her husband cared for over...
Format:
Compound
William “Mose” Burkitt and Estella (Gavin) Taylor discuss the early history of Fruita, Colorado and Mesa County. The interview was conducted by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries and the Museums of Western Colorado.
Format:
Compound
Albert William Karp talks about the incident that handicapped him as a young man and how it affected the rest of his life. He mentions his addiction and mental health issues. He describes his first guide dog and the process for getting one. Lastly, he explains how he came to be a volunteer for Alcoholics Anonymous and other notable charities. The interview was conducted by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries...
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Voice Recording
John Sylvester Long discusses the religious life and customs in the Church of the Brethren, and the early Twentieth century history of Fruita and Loma, Colorado. The interview was conducted by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries and the Museums of Western Colorado.
Format:
Voice Recording
James and Ida Jaenicke talk about moving to Loma, Colorado in 1937 as part of the US Farm Security Administration’s resettlement program for Dust Bowl refugees. They speak about aspects of farm life in Loma, such as relying on ditch water for drinking water. They remember running a dairy farm with 30 cows and 125 chickens. They recall people and stores in Fruita, where they shopped. James talks about his life in the congregation of the United Presbyterian...
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Voice Recording
Florence Giles discusses the early Twentieth century history of Fruita and Loma, Colorado. The interview was conducted by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries and the Museums of Western Colorado.
Format:
Compound
Margaret Snook describes the voyage to the United States from her native Scotland in 1910, and life in the Van Houten mining camp near Raton, Colorado. She and her daughter Ida May (Snook) Waggoner talk about William T. and Clara P. Snook, and their establishment of a homestead in what became known as Snooks Bottom. Margaret Snook discusses life in Craig and Axel, Colorado, where she and her husband Guy Snook worked supplying homesteaders with various...
Format:
Compound
Joe, Mike and Ida Peep discuss their family’s Italian heritage, the history of their pioneer family in Fruita, and life as young people in Western Colorado. 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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Voice Recording
David Combs talks about growing up in a diverse neighborhood in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He discusses school segregation, and the difficulties he and other African-Americans faced in securing a good education at the high school level. He speaks about attending the University of South Dakota on a football scholarship, his experience as a Black person in a place with few other African-Americans, and stereotypes about Black athletes that he encountered...
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Voice Recording
Longtime Fruita residents and photographers Will Minor and Lee Warner discuss their experiences in the Colorado National Monument and the surrounding areas of Western Colorado and Eastern Utah. They also talk about meeting John Otto, and about Minor’s discovery of the rare Papilio Indra Minori butterfly on the Monument. The interview was conducted by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries and the Museums of...
Format:
Voice Recording
Armand de Lavillette de Beque lectures about the history of theater in Mesa County, Colorado in a meeting of the Mesa County Historical Society. He talks about productions put on in DeBeque and Fruita, and about the general audience. He discusses his teaching career and how many plays he directed as an educator. This interview also includes speeches from Nina Brouse and Hellen (Hawxhurst) Young. These ladies talk about how they helped produce plays,...
Format:
Voice Recording
Marie Nowlan discusses the history of her family in Grand Junction, including her father’s employment as a conductor for the Interurban route, her brother Joey’s involvement as a player for and manager of the Grand Junction Baseball Team, and her memories of the Mesa County Fair. The interview was conducted by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries and the Museums of Western Colorado.
Format:
Voice Recording
Sarah Wood talks about coming to Loma, Colorado with her husband and children in 1961. She reminisces about her time working as a programming director for the nursing home at the Lower Valley Hospital, from 1966 to 1973. The interview was conducted by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries and the Museums of Western Colorado.
Format:
Voice Recording
Philip Griebel talks about his life as an educator and a coach at Fruita High School. He remembers the fire that burnt down the first Fruita Union High School in 1934. He describes teaching topics in science and math for 28 years. He speaks about his career as a basketball, football, and track coach, remembers school and community involvement in the games, and rivalries between Fruita and high schools in Delta, Grand Junction, Gunnison, Montrose,...
