One of the most desirable spots for recreation in all of Mesa County is unarguably the Grand Mesa. At an area of about 500 square miles, the Grand Mesa is the world’s largest flat-top mountain. Tens of thousands of years ago, this geologically unique feature was born from a burst of extreme volcanic activity, causing […]

  Back in the wild, smartphone-less days of the west, sometimes all a man had to do with his time was to kick back, reflect, and write a bit of poetry. Kip Wood was one such man.  Kip was an early Colorado pioneer and cowboy who spent a winter with Butch Cassidy and befriended local […]

Palisade peach season– it’s finally here! For over 125 years Palisade, Colorado has been utilizing the area to grow peaches that are loved far and wide. The first peach trees were planted in 1882 by a man named John Harlow who described the peaches as “ripening in the sun acquired a brilliant color not found […]

This past weekend, the Grand Junction Regional Airport in Colorado and West Star Aviation hosted a spectacular air show featuring the U.S. Navy Blue Angels.  The crowds looked on in awe as the experienced flyers executed great skill and performed exciting stunts over the Grand Valley region.  I feel accomplished when I parallel park my […]

In early Mesa County, first there was the fruit boom, then came uranium. The Grand Valley experienced an explosion of activity like no other in the 1940’s when it became “The Uranium Capitol of the World.” Unbeknownst to me before listening to Wayne Farley’s Mesa County Oral History Project interview, the Manhattan Project was a […]

For all you Mesa County history fans out there, we have an excellent resource both on our shelves and available as eBooks online that could quench your thirst for more knowledge.  The “Journal of the Western Slope” was started by Colorado Mesa University, originally known as Mesa College. History Professor Paul Reddin was the creator […]

  Between 1933 and 1942 if you were an unemployed man, there existed a Depression-era project called the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) that would bring you on board to work.  The CCC was created as part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal.  It existed throughout the United States as a public work relief program […]

  Back in early 1900s Grand Junction, the scene on Main Street was exactly what you may expect for a town in the Wild West.  Gambling, prostitution, and bootlegging weren’t uncommon, and a popular fellow named J.W. “Big Kid” Eames decided to join in on the action.  J. Walter Eames moved to Grand Junction from […]