Harold Stafford talks about coming to Western Colorado during the Great Depression to join the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). He describes working on the construction of Rim Rock Drive as part of the Colorado National Monument CCC camp. He discusses the Rim Rock Drive road-building disaster, in which nine men were killed by a mistimed blast. He speaks about Rod Day, the education coordinator in the camp, and a former newspaper man who had murdered Durango Herald editor William Wood. He speaks about rock formations and landmarks of the Colorado National Monument and Glade Park, such as wooden ladders built by original Monument superintendent John Otto, Cleopatra’s Couch, and Poison Point. He talks about his experiences working as a fireman on the Uintah Railway, about working in the Thomas and Peacock Mines, and about events and landmarks around Palisade. The interview was conducted by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries and the Museums of Western Colorado.
