Gertrude Rader talks about the New Deal and its effect on her farm in Loma, Colorado. She then describes at length the migration of Ute tribal members from the Ouray/Silverton area to Eastern Utah every fall in the early Twentieth century, their camping near Rader's childhood home in Kannah Creek, and her observations of the Ute people. She also discusses her family's pioneer history in the Whitewater/Kannah Creek area, her time teaching in rural schools, raising and selling fruit on the family's homestead, her family’s method of hunting, the battle for water rights between Grand Junction and the farmers of Kannah Creek, the Sheepman/Cattleman Wars, her father’s accidental introduction of pheasants to the Grand Mesa, and the important role of a rural school in its community’s social life. This recording is made available via signed release by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries and the Museums of Western Colorado.
*Please note that the latter part of the recording suffers from poor audio quality.