People

: Bertha Alberta (Robinson) Lloyd; She was born to John B. Robinson and Bertha (Brandt) Robinson in the town of Mesa on the Grand Mesa. Her mother died due to complications of the birth. She was raised by Arthur and Mati Johnson. Arthur was a farmer and the son of Swedish and Danish immigrants. Mati was a homemaker. The 1920 US Census shows the family living east of the town of Mesa, when Bertha was eleven. She worked as a clerk in the Lee Prewett Store. While a teenager, she suffered a bad accident while riding a horse bareback. Her leg was infected with gangrene and she nearly lost it, saved only by the attention of Dr. Jess Sickenberger at St. Mary's Hospital in Grand Junction over several months. It was deemed doubtful that she would ever walk again, but she soon took to crutches and then left them behind to ride. As an adult, she often took home the champion cowgirl award at the Mesa Rodeo (History rides tall on Lloyd Ranch, Daily Sentinel, May 18, 1975). She married Walter Lloyd in Grand Junction on April 7, 1928. They moved to a homestead that later became known as the Lloyd Ranch near Mesa. They had two children, Doris and Harold. *Photograph of Bertha Lloyd on the Lloyd homestead in 1928.

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