Events

: Great Train Robbery movie showing in Grand Junction, Colorado; Sometime after the release of the silent movie short The Great Train Robbery in 1903, it became the first motion picture shown in Grand Junction, Colorado [circa 1905-1910]. The movie was shown in a tent in an open area between White and Grand Avenue east of 7th Street. Sound effects were provided by a man standing outside the tent and firing blanks from a six-gun during the battle scenes.

: Head Lettuce Days (Buena Vista, Colorado); During the 1940s and 50s, Buena Vista, Colorado, celebrated the lettuce harvest with entertainments, food, and a rodeo.

: Juneteenth; An annual holiday and celebration that takes place on June 19th. On that date in 1865, African-American slaves in Texas found out that they had been freed by the Emancipation Proclamation two years prior, and that the Civil War was over.

: Junior Fat Stock Show; A livestock event and competition for youth, put on by the Agricultural Committee of the Grand Junction Chamber of Commerce, and the Mesa County chapters of 4-H and the Future Farmers of America (the Mesa County Junior Livestock Show, which is now part of the County Fair, may be the continuation of this event).

: Killing of E.T. Massey by Bill Lefare in 1903; The murder of E.T. Massey, cattle rancher, by William "Bill" Lefare on the Uncompahgre Plateau in 1903.

: Killing of Jim Blue by Lou Stuart; Jim Blue died in a gunfight with Lou Stuart in which both men were shot several times, but Lou Stuart survived. The gunfight took place in the Fruita Reserve portion of Pinon Mesa in the early 1900’s. According to oral history interviewee George "Vern" Wood, Jim Blue was a moonshiner who sold booze into a sheep ranching camp run by Fred Burford. Burford requested that Stuart, his camp mover, keep Blue away, so that his ranch hands would not get drunk. Stuart asked Blue to stay away. Blue, a “wild old man,” refused to leave. Blue shot Stuart. Stuart shot back with his Luger and killed Blue. In the version of the story told by oral history interviewee James "Buzz" Brouse, the sheep herd belonged to Stuart. When Blue came up to sell to herders employed by Stewart, Stewart tried to run him off. The men began shooting at one another. Blue carried a .22 pistol and managed to hit Stuart two or three times. Stuart survived and killed Blue.

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