Telluride Oral Histories
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Joseph B. Brown's Oral History
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An oral history recording from August 1, 1990, in which Davine Pera interviews Joseph B. Brown. Here is the transcript: (Please note that track 2 is missing):
Brown, Joseph B.
OH27
9770 Chamber's Rd. Commerce City, CO.Rt1#80022
August 1, 1990
City Library, Telluride, Co.
Davine Pera
728-3632
OH27
OH File
CD1
57:34min
62 Tracks
CD2
39:01 min.
36 Tracks
CD1
Track1
Intro
Track2
Personal information. Address, date of birth. Place of birth.
Track3
Bibliography of family. Tells of first trip to Telluride when he was 6 months old. Brother, who was 15, drove car with mother and children.
Track4
His parents were married in Telluride. His dad was here as a very young child.
Track5
Back then you could only get around up top, not in the valleys.
Track6
Grandfather was here in 1872-1875 as a scout with the Hayden Survey.
Track7
Grandfather patented claim in Ophir in 1876, later settled in San Miguel.
Track8
His grandfather had first dairy and post office in San Miguel.
Track9
He laid out town and sold lots for $15 each.
Track10
He filed on the water rights at Mill Creek and later sold some of the water rights to the town, reserving his own for the dairy.
Track11
He started the Boomerang Mine.
Track12
Grandfather settled old Brown Homestead at San Miguel.
Track13
He went broke mining in 1870's so started dairy in 78 or 79.
Track14
Talks about the Breckenridge boys. Joe speaks of different years he attended school here.
Track15
He has four grandparents buried in the Telluride cemetery.
Track16
Talks about grandfather filing claim on the water at Mill Creek to have water for irrigation of the valley.
Track17
They took milk cows to Norwood for winter months. Rodger Williams. Put up hay and sold it to the miners to feed their horses they used in the mine for $50 a ton.
Track18
Describes the milk house at San Miguel and the process his grandmother used to make butter, which she sold in town.
Track19
Talks about how his grandmother used to make butter.
Track20
Speaks of Bob Alexander working for his grandfather.
Track21
Mentions other dairies and people that existed when he was in school.
Track22
Wife's great grandmother Elliott was married at his grandmother's home in San Miguel.
Track23
She ran hotel and rooming house at old town at Placerville.
Track24
She gave the cemetery to the town or Ouray.
Track25
Describes the quilt made for Chester A. Arthur’s inauguration in 1881 by ladies in Ouray that was given to grandmother.
Track26
Describes location of rooming house at Leopard Creek.
Track27
He knows many stories from the past.
Track28
His grandfather milked 70 to 80 cows.
Track29
Tells why they built the rock house, and had water flow through it to keep things cool. Describes how they separated the cream from the milk to sell cream in town.
Track30
Father drove the milk route to Telluride and Pandora. They carried it in 5 and 10 gal. cans, and dipped it out at each house. There were no bottles back then.
Track31
Mentions other tools that were used in the dairy business.
Track32
His mother and father left the dairy ranch in 1942.
Track33
Father moved to Telluride at age of few months and lived here until he left for Colorado College. He was on the college football team in 1898.
Track34
His father was Harry J. Brown. His parents were married at Bridal Veil Falls in 1903. They rode train out to Denver for their honeymoon.
Track35
His father died in 1960. Eva Lela Daniels was his mother, born 1880, and the family came here on the train in 1890.
Track36
Some of the Daniels boys were already here. Mothers uncles all had dairies on Turkey Creek.
Track37
Speaks of all the dairy farms on the mesas. The Collins also had dairies.
Track38
Describes grandfather clearing willows and raising hay on the valley floor, and how they mowed it.
Track39
Names different families that lived at San Miguel. Daniels, Boyers.
Track40
The first school in the valley was at San Miguel.
Track41
Grandfather also had a post office and store in San Miguel.
Track42
Talks about all the bars in Telluride at that time. There was once 36 saloons in town at one time.
Track43
His mother was 10 when they came to the valley.
Track44
Talks about who his mother’s sisters and brothers married.
Track45
She grew up here, attended school here.
Track46
After graduating, she taught school in lower end of county, on Hastings and Specie mesas.
Track47
He speaks of his brothers and sisters.
Track48
His mother died in 1967
Track49
Names his sisters and brothers.
Track50
Sister Lois married a Dunham who were big cattle family owners in the Norwood area.
Track51
Tells of Lois meeting the Dunham boy.
Track52
Tells story of reason parents left the area in the ‘40s.
Track53
When they left they left everything behind, and the dirty dishes on the table.
Track54
Talks about placer mining he and father did on river by city dump.
Track55
Describes the equipment used for placer mining and how it worked.
Track56
Finishes describing placer mining methods and equipment.
Track57
They placer mined by the dump and worked in teams.
Track58
Al Backman worked for his dad on project as a young man. Arnold Norflor also worked with his dad. It wasn’t very profitable.
Track59
Talks about all the minerals and gold that lie at the bottom of the valley.
Track60
Talks about thrumble screens used in placer mining. Al Backman was a great placer miner.
Track61
Al was a strong man. Speaks of a large placer operation on river at San Miguel in earlier times.
Track62
Talks about mining claims for placer mining.
End CD1
CD2
Track1
He and his father went into the timber business on Boomerang for lumber for the mines.
Track2
Describes the process used in timbering. Babe Schuler would haul the timber. ’36-’40 they were timbering.
Track3
Mentions that the area was burned off by Navajo Indians in 1877.
Track4
Recites story grandmother told him about traveling from St. Louis to Los Angeles by horse and wagon. She made three trips across the country before she was married.
Track5
Her father was a Methodist preachers who followed the 49ers trying to convert them.
Track6
She hated Indians, because of bad experiences. His granddad was friendly with the Indians.
Track7
She was raised by her grandparents, who traveled. His grandparents were married in 1876.
Track8
Memories of grandmother.
Track9
Indians lived here when his grandparents settled here. Buffalo Bill was a great friend of grandfathers.
Track10
Continues talking about the Indians.
Track11
Tells several stories about the Breckenridge Brothers, Reece and Walter. They were great hunters, and Walter furnished meat for people of Telluride.
Track12
They would hunt on the mesas.
Track13
He describes the skidding process they used in timbering.
Track14
Reece Breckenridge was in Klondike in 1890's.
Track15
Tells about picture of Reece sitting on a million dollars of gold dust.
Track16
He brought a not to Frank Wilson for the Breckenridge Brothers and Frank wrapped something (whiskey) in paper for them. The Breckenridge boys’ father came into the area with Freemont.
Track17
None of the Breckenridge Boys’ had kids. Breckenridge girls had kids.
Track18
Continues talking about the Breckenridge family.
Track19
Recites story of how the town of Breckenridge was named.
Track20
Reece and Walter died in the early ‘40s.
Track21
Mentions that Joe Oberto owned most of the valley at one time.
Track22
The Breckenridge boys might have came to hunt and trap originally.
Track23
The Tolls owned half of claim with his grandfather in Ophir. The claim was dated in 1878. Homer Hastings.
Track24
The Tolls lost their claim because their kids didn’t pay their taxes in the ‘50s or ‘60s and let it go.
Track25
History of wife, Elsie Ross. She was born in Redvale.
Track26
They were married in Gunnison.
Track27
Names their children.
Track28
Joe attended 1st grade in Telluride, left and returned to attend the last 3 years of High School, graduating here.
Track29
Speaks of all the weddings at Bridal Veil Falls in the early days.
Track30
Speaks of the Brown's relationships to C.D. Waggoner, and uncle Jim Brown.
Track31
Continues talking about C.D. Waggoner and the trouble he got in.
Track32
C.D. Waggoner was a dreamer.
Track33
Continues talking about Waggoner and where he lived.
Track34
Recaps his life history.
Track35
Speaks of great grandfathers diaries and all the history contained in them.
Track36
Joe currently keeps a diary.
End CD2
End
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Joseph Brown's Genealogy
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Joseph Blair Brown's genealogy, as written by him. Dated 8/1/1990, part of his oral history interview at the Wilkinson Public Library in Telluride, Colorado.
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Kathryn Collin's Oral History Transcription
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The oral history transcription for the oral history, which occurred on 8/12/1992, between Davine Pera and Kathryn Collins. Here is the transcription (T stands for track):
T1
Intro
T2
History of parents arriving in Telluride. Mother's father arrived here from Iowa to work at Ptarmigan Lake above Tomboy Mine as a watchman.
T3
Mother came to visit her father and stayed to work in a restaurant.
T4
Father was born in Sweden, parents died when he was 7 years old. His oldest sister brought him to the United States when she traveled here to marry her fiancé.
T5
He could not speak English when he was in school. Went to Montana as a young man and did various things, including living with the Flathead Indians for a time.
T6
He traveled to Telluride to find his brothers who were here exploring for gold.
T7
He had a commissary at the Liberty Bell Mine, when he met her mother, married her, and sent her back to Iowa until he built a house for her.
T8
There was only one other family living at the Liberty Bell at that time. They had 3 children.
T9
Kay was youngest and was born at the American Legion Hospital. Father brought her mother down on a sleigh for her birth. They lived at the Liberty Bell until sister and brother were ready to start school and then moved to Telluride.
T10
Story of going to town by herself when she was 5 years old, visiting all the shops and getting treats. Dennison. J. Telk. Past Time. Sweeney. Miller.
T11
She always got a reward of choosing a cookie when she paid the grocery bill at Elscamp’s Grocery Store. This is when they lived on Oak St. in Telluride.
T12
Describes the house they lived in on Oak Street. C. D. Waggoner.
T13
Story of someone stealing her bag of Indian Pennies, she had collected. Speaks about the Cornet Creek Flood and the debris left in her back yard.
T14
Memories of school activities.
T15
Father moved his commissary to the Smuggler Mine when the family moved to town. She traveled with him to Denver to buy supplies for commissary.
T16
He was also sheriff of Telluride for a short time. D. W. Danielson.
T17
Stories of miners coming to town to visit the Red Light District on pay days.
T18
Winter activities included coasting from the top of North Oak Street down across Main Street to the railroad tracks.
T19
Father skied down from the Smuggler to town on weekends in the winter.
T20
She and sister gave dancing performances at the Elks Club.
T21
Sister spent winters in North Dakota, due to health. Names various neighbors they had. Swanson. Sweeney. Lee. Peterson. Anderson. McCowan.
T22
Describes Halloween tricks. Woys. E. Sullivan.
T23
Speaks of the Busy Corner Pharmacy. F. Wilson.
T24
The family moved to Durango when she was in the 7th grade so the children could attend school and her father worked at Shenandoah Dives Mine above Silverton.
T25
Names various classmates she had in Telluride. Heaty. Marcel. Palalich. Mrs. Wren. Story of teacher sending her home from school because she had a wood tick in her hair. R. Lingren. J. Monroe.
T26
Describes Gibbs’ Graceful Girls, which was a gymnastic act. Group was formed by Mr. Gibbs and they traveled to other towns to perform. They practiced at the Recreation Hall. Marcel Girls.
T27
She rode the tram to visit the mine in Silverton with her father. Speaks of walking to the Smuggler to visit with her father as a child.
T28
Always got a treat from his commissary at the soda fountain. Stayed over night at her friend’s sister's house sometimes.
T29
The family moved to California where she graduated from High School. They kept a house in Telluride and would spend every summer here.
T30
Story of meeting her husband, Elwood Collins, in Telluride.
T31
Continues talking about E. Collins, her husband. Her husband was in the Navy and they dated in California.
T32
Memories of fishing and camping at Trout Lake during the summer as a child.
T33
Story of riding to Telluride from Matterhorn on a motorcycle with friends. Mentions the roads then. H. Danielson.
T34
Rented a boat from the commissary at Trout Lake. Speaks of fishing conditions now, as compared to then. Cushman Lake.
T35
Childhood activities: picnics, coasting. Yvonne Warrick. Memories of attending movies at the Sheridan Opera House. Admission was 10 cents. They were silent movies.
T36
She was the centerpiece dressed in paper for the High School Senior Party. Continues talking about movies and the Opera House.
T37
Recalls story of Grace Pierson saving her from falling at Cornet Creek Falls.
T38
Lots of picnics sponsored by the Oddfellows and Rebecca Lodges. Lawson Hill.
T39
Speaks of swimming in "fish tanks" at the end of Main Street.
T40
Did lots of hiking at Bridal Veil Falls.
T41
Picked lots of raspberries in the summer. Picked mushrooms with friends and dried them.
End CD1
CD2
T1
Memories of picking dandelions for father to keep the yard clean of them. She was paid 1 cent per hundred.
T2
Describes heating and cooking stoves in their house. Mother also made salad from dandelion greens.
T3
Describes mother’s life as housewife. She washed on the scrub board. Speaks of water system in the house and method of heating water for the bathrooms. No heat in the bedrooms.
T4
Dad grew a vegetable garden. Mother would call grocery stores to order groceries and store would deliver to the house. Elscamp’s. Pilcher’s.
T5
Parents belonged to Rebecca and Oddfellows Lodges. Parents lived very quiet social life.
T6
Mother was born in Iowa, but because she married a Swedish man, she had to take out citizenship papers, although he had his papers.
T7
Describes mothers long hair; she had the first "bob" haircut in Telluride.
T8
Bought their clothes through ordering from catalogues.
T9
Kay rode the train a lot to Denver and North Dakota. Speaks of her mother being very lonely, as father always worked away from home.
T10
Kay's husband was born in Sawpit. History of grandparents. Barth and Clara. She married Sam Collins. They lived on Deep Creek Mesa and owned a store in Vanadium.
T11
Their large house on Deep Creek Mesa burned, with everything in it. Clara (his mother) was unhappy on the mesa so left husband and moved to Sawpit to help parents run their store. She later remarried and moved to Egnar.
T12
Her husband, Elwood, had lots of relation on the mesas that were involved in dairy ranching.
T13
Husband attended school in Sawpit and graduated from High School in Telluride.
T14
He helped Chester Lee, the custodian, at school to earn money and boarded with families in town. McCowan. Memories of seeing him as a neighbor when she was a child.
T15
Memories of the many dances she attended as a young girl. Brother played in dance bands. E. Wunderlich.
T16
There were 3 students in husbands graduating class. Speaks of attending his High School reunions. M. Studebaker.
T17
Memories of dating her husband. Lived in California after her marriage.
T18
Malcolm McDonald. Story of purchasing the stone house at Lime Kiln from Roy Stone. They came back every summer for 10 years and lived in a trailer while they remodeled the old house.
T19
Story of dismantling the log house and reassembling it, exactly as it was.
T20
Talks about son Dan's art school at Deep Creek. Describes the school and how it functions.
T21
Continues talking about Dan’s studio and students. Mike Moore.
T22
Speaks of her husband’s death and the trustees of the property at Deep Creek. Continues to talk about children, especially Dan and the art school.
T23
Continues talking about Dan and the art school.
T24
Speaks of her friend, Ruby McKnight, and her death in the third grade.
T25
Father was head of the baseball team at the Liberty Bell and the Smuggler. He was self-educated, and only went through the 4th grade.
T26
Describes July 4th celebrations.
T27
Many children were hurt by dangerous firecrackers. Story about fireworks. Dr. Agnes.
T28
Speaks of C. D. Waggoner and the bank scandal. She attended Father-Daughter dinner at the Sheridan with C.D. Waggoner the night before the scandal. Father and husband lost all money in bank collapse.
T29
Continues talking about Waggoner.
T30
Describes the Christmas tree at home, decorated with candles.
T31
Town merchants had home made decorations. Churches had Christmas parties.
T32
Mother started Christian Scientist Church in Telluride, but it did not survive.
T33
Describes the gold watch her father received for bravery in the Liberty Bell Mine fire.
End CD2
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Kathryn Olive Collin's Oral History
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An oral history interview, given by Davine Pera, on August 12, 1992 to Kathryn Olive Collins: (The "T" stand for tracks, but the recording has been combined):
T1
Intro
T2
History of parents arriving in Telluride. Mother's father arrived here from Iowa to work at Ptarmigan Lake above Tomboy Mine as a watchman.
T3
Mother came to visit her father and stayed to work in a restaurant.
T4
Father was born in Sweden, parents died when he was 7 years old. His oldest sister brought him to the United States when she traveled here to marry her fiancé.
T5
He could not speak English when he was in school. Went to Montana as a young man and did various things, including living with the Flathead Indians for a time.
T6
He traveled to Telluride to find his brothers who were here exploring for gold.
T7
He had a commissary at the Liberty Bell Mine, when he met her mother, married her, and sent her back to Iowa until he built a house for her.
T8
There was only one other family living at the Liberty Bell at that time. They had 3 children.
T9
Kay was youngest and was born at the American Legion Hospital. Father brought her mother down on a sleigh for her birth. They lived at the Liberty Bell until sister and brother were ready to start school and then moved to Telluride.
T10
Story of going to town by herself when she was 5 years old, visiting all the shops and getting treats. Dennison. J. Telk. Past Time. Sweeney. Miller.
T11
She always got a reward of choosing a cookie when she paid the grocery bill at Elscamp’s Grocery Store. This is when they lived on Oak St. in Telluride.
T12
Describes the house they lived in on Oak Street. C. D. Waggoner.
T13
Story of someone stealing her bag of Indian Pennies, she had collected. Speaks about the Cornet Creek Flood and the debris left in her back yard.
T14
Memories of school activities.
T15
Father moved his commissary to the Smuggler Mine when the family moved to town. She traveled with him to Denver to buy supplies for commissary.
T16
He was also sheriff of Telluride for a short time. D. W. Danielson.
T17
Stories of miners coming to town to visit the Red Light District on pay days.
T18
Winter activities included coasting from the top of North Oak Street down across Main Street to the railroad tracks.
T19
Father skied down from the Smuggler to town on weekends in the winter.
T20
She and sister gave dancing performances at the Elks Club.
T21
Sister spent winters in North Dakota, due to health. Names various neighbors they had. Swanson. Sweeney. Lee. Peterson. Anderson. McCowan.
T22
Describes Halloween tricks. Woys. E. Sullivan.
T23
Speaks of the Busy Corner Pharmacy. F. Wilson.
T24
The family moved to Durango when she was in the 7th grade so the children could attend school and her father worked at Shenandoah Dives Mine above Silverton.
T25
Names various classmates she had in Telluride. Heaty. Marcel. Palalich. Mrs. Wren. Story of teacher sending her home from school because she had a wood tick in her hair. R. Lingren. J. Monroe.
T26
Describes Gibbs’ Graceful Girls, which was a gymnastic act. Group was formed by Mr. Gibbs and they traveled to other towns to perform. They practiced at the Recreation Hall. Marcel Girls.
T27
She rode the tram to visit the mine in Silverton with her father. Speaks of walking to the Smuggler to visit with her father as a child.
T28
Always got a treat from his commissary at the soda fountain. Stayed over night at her friend’s sister's house sometimes.
T29
The family moved to California where she graduated from High School. They kept a house in Telluride and would spend every summer here.
T30
Story of meeting her husband, Elwood Collins, in Telluride.
T31
Continues talking about E. Collins, her husband. Her husband was in the Navy and they dated in California.
T32
Memories of fishing and camping at Trout Lake during the summer as a child.
T33
Story of riding to Telluride from Matterhorn on a motorcycle with friends. Mentions the roads then. H. Danielson.
T34
Rented a boat from the commissary at Trout Lake. Speaks of fishing conditions now, as compared to then. Cushman Lake.
T35
Childhood activities: picnics, coasting. Yvonne Warrick. Memories of attending movies at the Sheridan Opera House. Admission was 10 cents. They were silent movies.
T36
She was the centerpiece dressed in paper for the High School Senior Party. Continues talking about movies and the Opera House.
T37
Recalls story of Grace Pierson saving her from falling at Cornet Creek Falls.
T38
Lots of picnics sponsored by the Oddfellows and Rebecca Lodges. Lawson Hill.
T39
Speaks of swimming in "fish tanks" at the end of Main Street.
T40
Did lots of hiking at Bridal Veil Falls.
T41
Picked lots of raspberries in the summer. Picked mushrooms with friends and dried them.
End CD1
CD2
T1
Memories of picking dandelions for father to keep the yard clean of them. She was paid 1 cent per hundred.
T2
Describes heating and cooking stoves in their house. Mother also made salad from dandelion greens.
T3
Describes mother’s life as housewife. She washed on the scrub board. Speaks of water system in the house and method of heating water for the bathrooms. No heat in the bedrooms.
T4
Dad grew a vegetable garden. Mother would call grocery stores to order groceries and store would deliver to the house. Elscamp’s. Pilcher’s.
T5
Parents belonged to Rebecca and Oddfellows Lodges. Parents lived very quiet social life.
T6
Mother was born in Iowa, but because she married a Swedish man, she had to take out citizenship papers, although he had his papers.
T7
Describes mothers long hair; she had the first "bob" haircut in Telluride.
T8
Bought their clothes through ordering from catalogues.
T9
Kay rode the train a lot to Denver and North Dakota. Speaks of her mother being very lonely, as father always worked away from home.
T10
Kay's husband was born in Sawpit. History of grandparents. Barth and Clara. She married Sam Collins. They lived on Deep Creek Mesa and owned a store in Vanadium.
T11
Their large house on Deep Creek Mesa burned, with everything in it. Clara (his mother) was unhappy on the mesa so left husband and moved to Sawpit to help parents run their store. She later remarried and moved to Egnar.
T12
Her husband, Elwood, had lots of relation on the mesas that were involved in dairy ranching.
T13
Husband attended school in Sawpit and graduated from High School in Telluride.
T14
He helped Chester Lee, the custodian, at school to earn money and boarded with families in town. McCowan. Memories of seeing him as a neighbor when she was a child.
T15
Memories of the many dances she attended as a young girl. Brother played in dance bands. E. Wunderlich.
T16
There were 3 students in husbands graduating class. Speaks of attending his High School reunions. M. Studebaker.
T17
Memories of dating her husband. Lived in California after her marriage.
T18
Malcolm McDonald. Story of purchasing the stone house at Lime Kiln from Roy Stone. They came back every summer for 10 years and lived in a trailer while they remodeled the old house.
T19
Story of dismantling the log house and reassembling it, exactly as it was.
T20
Talks about son Dan's art school at Deep Creek. Describes the school and how it functions.
T21
Continues talking about Dan’s studio and students. Mike Moore.
T22
Speaks of her husband’s death and the trustees of the property at Deep Creek. Continues to talk about children, especially Dan and the art school.
T23
Continues talking about Dan and the art school.
T24
Speaks of her friend, Ruby McKnight, and her death in the third grade.
T25
Father was head of the baseball team at the Liberty Bell and the Smuggler. He was self-educated, and only went through the 4th grade.
T26
Describes July 4th celebrations.
T27
Many children were hurt by dangerous firecrackers. Story about fireworks. Dr. Agnes.
T28
Speaks of C. D. Waggoner and the bank scandal. She attended Father-Daughter dinner at the Sheridan with C.D. Waggoner the night before the scandal. Father and husband lost all money in bank collapse.
T29
Continues talking about Waggoner.
T30
Describes the Christmas tree at home, decorated with candles.
T31
Town merchants had home made decorations. Churches had Christmas parties.
T32
Mother started Christian Scientist Church in Telluride, but it did not survive.
T33
Describes the gold watch her father received for bravery in the Liberty Bell Mine fire.
End
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Lael Fruen's Genealogy
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A genealogy report, that came from an oral history inteview, given by Deb Pera D'Angelo, on 9/29/15 to Lael Fruen, about Lael's life in Telluride, Colorado.
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Lael Fruen's Oral History Interview
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An oral history interview, conducted September 29, 2015, in which Deb D'Angelo interviewed Lael Fruen about her life in Telluride, Colorado.
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