Sometime in the 1910’s, Indian Henry, a Ute raised by white settlers in the Paradox Valley, was shot and killed by his friend, the Finish immigrant and miner John Keski. The shooting took place in a boarding house in Bull Canyon that was owned by W.L. Cummings and run by Laura Foster (who had been […]
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Since moving to Grand Junction in 1985, Patrick Metoyer has contributed greatly to the civic life of our Happy Valley hamlet. Like prior Mesa County Oral History Project interviewees Al Look and, more recently, Evelyn Kyle, Metoyer is a jack-of-all-trades, a renaissance man whose accomplishments include creations and awards in several areas of the arts, […]
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Wolves have not been seen in Western Colorado since ranchers and government hunters finished killing them off in the 1920’s, so the Colorado Division of Wildlife’s recent announcement that a pack of wolves may be living in Moffat County is exciting news […]
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Mesa County locals may know William E. Pabor as the person who founded the Fruita Town and Land Company and thus, the town of Fruita in 1884. But did you know that Pabor also began writing poetry at a young age, and became a nationally-known poet before embarking on a lifelong journey of town building, […]
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The Mesa County Oral History Project contains some unexpected recordings, such as a meeting of the Last Squad Club (a group of World War I veterans), the True Epics of Western Colorado radio plays that aired on KREX in the late 1950’s (and announced in part by Solon Gray, who later became a TV reporter […]
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Most Grand Junctionites know about Rocket Park, Lincoln Park, and the other larger parks that draw kids from throughout the valley. But the city also has some quirky little parks that not many people know about. Hillcrest Park forms the inner part of a cul-de-sac in the Hillcrest neighborhood, bears no sign that I can […]
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Curious about Mesa County’s past? Satisfy your history itch in one (or a few) easy click(s). Our Mesa County Oral History Project webpage has links to online information about several important people, places, and topics from Mesa County’s history. Find out what Grand Junction contemporaries of Dalton Trumbo thought of him before he became a […]
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No one is going to confuse Colorado Avenue with San Francisco in its heyday of vice (the true Barbary Coast). But until the 1940’s, the street served as Grand Junction’s epicenter for adult entertainments, and thus took on the Barbary Coast moniker. The Grand Junction News presented early accounts of murder and mayhem on Colorado […]
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Sure, you can explore the Mesa County Oral History Project online for fascinating local stories, people and history, but why stop there when the Mesa County Libraries digital archive also contains random recordings of a not-so-local nature? For instance, what is a performance by the Rainbow Valley Boys, a bluegrass band from back East, doing […]
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Did you know that the Mesa County Fairgrounds at Veteran’s Memorial Park were once known as Uranium Downs? People who attended horse races, motocross, WWF style “wrestling,” and other events back in the day might remember this nod to Mesa County’s mining (and radioactive) legacy. The Mesa County Fairgrounds opened in their current location in […]
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