Kathryn Olive Collin's Oral History

Description

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