If you’re at all drawn to Martha Stewart, Pinterest, and food preservation, you may get excited about canning fruits and vegetables. This process has been used for generations to sustain foods in airtight storage to last through tumultuous winters, or simply to snack on during any season. With the abundance of early 1900s fruit and […]
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Local History Thursday: Old Healing Techniques
If you’ve seen the classic movie Dumb and Dumber, you may recall a scene in which a policeman calls whiskey “Grandpa’s old cough syrup.” This famous phrase may have stemmed from parts of the country like Mesa County! Back in the early days of the Western Slope, there were many remedies for illness or […]
Continue readingHistorian to discuss the Moyer family in early Grand Junction Sept. 30 at Central Library
Local historian Dave Fishell will discuss the Moyer family’s important role in early Grand Junction at 6:30 p.m. Monday, Sept. 30, 2019, at the Mesa County Libraries Central Library, 443 N. 6th St. in Grand Junction. The Moyers were Grand Junction pioneers who founded The Fair Store, which became one of the largest retail businesses […]
Continue readingLocal History Thursday: Three Incarnations of The Mesa County Fairgrounds
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 […]
Continue readingLocal History Thursday: The Surrender Tree
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 […]
Continue readingLocal History Thursday: Kip Wood the Cowboy Poet
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 […]
Continue readingLocal History Thursday: Glenn McFall and Kindness from Unlikely Places
When Glenn McFall was a teenager riding the rails and looking for work to support his mother and siblings, he landed flat broke in Salida. He had sent all the money he had earned back to his mother, not thinking to save anything for food. He and a friend went door-to-door, asking for something to […]
Continue readingLocal History Thursday: Peach Season
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 […]
Continue readingLocal History Thursday: The Tough and Dedicated Dr. Jess Sickenberger
Jess Urban Sickenberger was an early Twentieth century Mesa County doctor, and, according to more than one interviewee with the Mesa County Oral History Project, one of the area’s top surgeons. Apparently, he was also so devoted to his profession that he would let nothing get in the way of helping a patient. Rural doctors […]
Continue readingLocal History Thursday: The Grand Junction Air Show
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 […]
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