Mesa County Oral History Project
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Compound
Dr. Peter Matteroli describes his time living in multiple buildings around downtown Grand Junction, including the YMCA building. Peter tells the story of his wild journey to take the Dental Board Exam in Salt Lake City, Utah, the trials and tribulations of opening up a dentist office in Grand Junction, getting shot in the ankle while rabbit hunting, his experience serving on the board of the Eagles Ball Club, and stories from the Grand Junction Lions...
Format:
Voice Recording
Rex Howell, founder of Grand Junction’s first radio and television stations, speaks to the Grand Junction Lions Club at a gathering in which the past presidents of the club are present. Howell talks about the history of the Grand Junction Lions, and about the ethics of volunteer service and broadcasting. During the first half of the recording, Al Look presides over a meeting of the club. This recording is made available via signed release by the...
Format:
Voice Recording
Helen Wilson talks about the life of her father, Robert “Bob” Ross, co-founder of the Ross Business College, important educator in Fruitvale, Colorado, and an early settler of that area. 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 1936 Grand Junction High School yearbook.
Format:
Voice Recording
Dr. “E.H.” Munro talks about the history of the Grand Junction Lions Club and its members, hunting mountain lions in Utah, his fishing trip with President Herbert Hoover during Hoover’s speaking trip in Western Colorado, and shooting mishaps while hunting deer. 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.
Format:
Compound
Al Look talks about geologic formations in De Beque Canyon and about the first aerial photographs taken of the Grand Mesa. Margaret (Langen) Look speaks about air travel to Boulder, Colorado in the 1920’s. Al Look speaks about the publication of his book, Hopi Snake Dance, and about the return of his son from World War II. He describes his work with different people on archaeological and paleontological digs, and touches on the vandalism of certain...
Format:
Voice Recording
Bob Collins talks about his introduction to radio broadcasting in the armed forces during World War II, attending radio broadcasting school back home in Ohio, and coming to Grand Junction, Colorado to manage the new KEXO station in 1948. He talks about his life in broadcasting at KEXO, KREX and KSTAR. He speaks about his work with the Grand Junction Centennial committee to plan events around the celebration of the town’s centennial anniversary in...
Format:
Voice Recording
Chet Enstrom, producer of the locally famed Enstrom’s Toffee, talks about his life in the candy and ice cream business, his career in the Colorado State Senate, his volunteerism, and his impressions of Grand Junction, Colorado, his longtime home. 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.
Format:
Voice Recording
In a lecture to the Grand Junction Lions Club, given just days before he died, prominent water law attorney Silmon Smith talks about his life and the history of Grand Junction (the lecture was broadcast hours later on KREX radio). He remembers his family’s arrival in the town in the 1890’s and early development in Grand Junction. He recalls a colorful Main Street filled with saloons. He speaks about his father Frank Smith’s respiratory illness,...
Format:
Voice Recording
Edith Sisac talks about growing up in the Pomona area of Mesa County, attending the Pomona School, and riding her bike to Grand Junction High School along the railroad tracks in the early Twentieth century. She recalls the grocery store in Grand Junction owned by Roy Sisac, her husband’s father. She speaks about the Mesa Lakes Resort and the Mesa Lakes Ski Run, which were owned and operated by the Sisac and Foster families, and about the development...
Format:
Voice Recording
Dick Williams talks about the games he played with children as a boy in the downtown area of Grand Junction, including hide and go seek and kick the can. He remembers playing sandlot baseball and other games in a vacant lot on 9th Street between Grand and White Avenues. He recalls swimming in ditches and canals, and ice skating in what is now Lincoln Park. He speaks about competing in athletics in high school and college, and in Pioneer Clubs, which...
Format:
Voice Recording
Laird Smith talks about his grandfather Frank Smith’s severe case of Tuberculosis that caused the doctor to move with his family to Grand Junction, Colorado. He describes the apartment next to a saloon where the family lived on Main Street, where drunken men would sometimes crawl in through the windows by mistake. He discusses his father Silmon Smith’s “spartan” upbringing, his camping alone on the Grand Mesa for long stretches when he was...
