People

: James Walter "J. W." "Big Kid" Eames; He was born in Montgomery County, Missouri to Edwin Samuel Eames, an immigrant from England, and Cora A. Calvin of Ohio. He came to Grand Junction from Telluride in the early Twentieth century. He ran a gambling hall called the Biltmore above the Merchant's Cafe in what later became the J.C. Penney's building on Main Street. He was said to have been a very generous man with his money, donating baskets of food to hundreds of residents over Thanksgiving. He was known as an "honest gambler". The US Censuses in 1920 and 1930 list his occupation as confectioner and a wholesale cigar salesman, respectively. He was married to Helen M. (Youngquist) Eames. He was shot and killed by robbers shortly before Christmas in 1938. After his death, the Elks Club erected a plaque in his honor for all that he had given to the organization.

: James Welsh; Early resident of Crested Butte, Colorado. Died in the Jokerville Mine Explosion on January 24, 1884.

: James Wiggins; He interned as a student teacher in the special education program at the Whitman School in 1960. He got his certification and then took the upper classmen. He remained until 1965 and then returned to Denver. He eventually became a special education supervisor in Aurora.

: James Wilcoxon "J.W." Latham; He was born in Ashe County, North Carolina and came with his parents to De Beque, Colorado in June 1918, when he was 16 years old. His parents were John Rufus Latham and Annie Latham. J.W. was the nephew of J.A. Wilcoxon, an early rancher. Although J.W.'s father was also a rancher, he had four brothers and there was not enough work for all of them, so he became a cowboy for Dan Burns, and then worked for an oil shale survey gang. He attended grade school but did not graduate. In 1922, he attended the Hoel-Ross Business College for bookkeeping, a course that he finished in seven months. Before finishing business college, he established seniority on the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad (on October 9, 1922). His first job on the D&RG was making the run from Grand Junction, Colorado to Minturn, which took 16 hours. He later became a locomotive fireman, working for the railroad. He married Adine "Nadine" Alice (Palmer) Latham on March 13, 1937, and moved to Grand Junction permanently that same year. He was widowed in 1945, and he later married Ethel Mary (Macdonell) Latham of Eagle. She died of a brain tumor in the 1950's. He is buried in the Sunset View Cemetery in Eagle. *Photo of James W. Latham courtesy of Eagle Valley Library District and Eagle County Historical Society.

: Jan Badgely; Contributor to "Being Here: A Gunnison Valley Journal," longtime Gunnison resident, writer for the Gunnison Country Times newspaper. (source: Being Here: A Gunnison Valley Journal). Contributor to "Out Of Many, One: A Gunnison Valley Journal," (source: Out Of Many, One: A Gunnison Valley Journal)

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