People

: Carl Hillyer; A musician who played for the Grand Junction Lions Club and the First Methodist Church. He taught piano in the public schools and at The Conservatory, a music education facility located at 7th and Main Streets on the north side of the street in Grand Junction, Colorado. He put on theatrical productions in support of the Grand Junction Junior College (now Colorado Mesa University).

: Carl Johan August Swanson; He was born to Swedish immigrants Gus Swanson and Mathilde Swanson in Denver, Colorado. The family came to Mesa County in 1919, when Carl was seven years old. There, they had purchased forty acres south of Loma. They settled into a modern home built in 1902, a house that he lived in for much of his life. His parents farmed there until 1960. He attended the Loma School through the 8th grade. He then went to Fruita High School, graduating in 1928. US Census records show him as single, working as a farmer, and living with his parents in Loma in 1940. He farmed until 1941 and then worked for the Mesa County Road Department. He became a Foreman in 1952 and retired in 1977. He married Gunhild Gustafson in Greeley in 1959. They are buried together in the Orchard Mesa Cemetery. He served on the board of the Kiefer Extension Ditch from 1950 until its merger with the Grand Valley Ditch in the 1970’s.

: Carl Leonidas Franklin; A farmer and resident of De Beque, Colorado. With his team of horses and a plow, he helped to build the current road through De Beque Canyon. He was also a construction foreman for Henry Shores, a contractor in Moab, Utah. His first wife was Leta M. Franklin, with whom he had four children. He was remarried to Grace (Harty) Kestler, then Grace Canfield, in 1928. Born 1882. Brother of James B. “Jim” Franklin. Son of James R. Franklin and Sarah Franklin. Married to Grace (Harty) Kestler.

: Carl M. Gesberg; He was born in the Orchard Mesa area of Grand Junction, Colorado to a German immigrant mother and father from Iowa. He farmed and worked as a warehouseman. In his youth, he sometimes observed Native Americans passing through and how they startled his mother. He once fell off a cliff in the Bookcliffs (fortunately onto a ledge ten feet below). In 1925, he formally took over the family acreage. He grew fruit in early Mesa County and worked with horse power as opposed to machinery for many years. He worked during the winters in the Goodwin-Latimer plant, which produced arsenate of lead spray. He married Charlotte (Young) Gesberg, who worked as a bookkeeper and housewife. She died in 1979.

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