Telluride Oral Histories
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C.D. Waggoner's Oral History
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An oral history of C.D. Waggoner, recorded 5/23/1990, by Davine Pera. Here is the transcript:
Waggoner, C.D.
OH75
Denver, Colorado
May 23, 1992
Wilkinson Library
Davine Pera
728-3632
64 tracks
69:19
T1
Intro
T2
History of parents and their arrival in Telluride. They were married in Telluride in 1909.
T3
Describes house he was born in
T4
And the house he grew up in. Visintine Sisters.
T5
Talks about childhood diseases they were placed in quarantine for.
T6
Describes the Cornet Creek flood of 1913 and the damage it caused. Description of the process of cleaning up flood debris. Perino.
T7
Tells of Frank Brown, his father’s uncle, who lived in San Miguel.
T8
He was sent to Military Academy in Indiana in 1918, by his parents, to expose him to more of the world.
T9
He attended the University of California and graduated in 1925. Met his wife Josephine Wolfe in Telluride. Her parents owned a ranch on Specie Mesa. They were married in 1926.
T10
They left Telluride when the mine shut down. Speaks of his sons and their yearly reunions in Telluride every year.
T11
Talks of Telluride back then.
T12
Memories of his childhood days. Played baseball in vacant block next to Catholic Church.
T13
Speaks of the Labor Union Strike in 1902 and 1903.
T14
Describes riding the train to Denver many times.
T15
He worked in the bank after he was married.
T16
Describes the "chivary" the community gave them when they were married. Commonweal Club.
T17
Speaks of his son's death.
T18
Mr. Waggoner worked at Gates Rubber Company after leaving Telluride.
T19
Story of his proposal to his wife.
T20
Speaks of his marriage and his wife's death.
T21
He and his wife had a secret wedding at her brother's house in Liberty Bell. Carbinero Mine. C. Girardi.
T22
Describes living at Liberty Bell Mill
T23
Speaks of driving there and riding tram to Liberty Bell Mine.
T24
Talks about trips he and wife took in later years after moving to Denver.
T25
Names his friends at school. J. Telk. F. Dalla. Boyhood memories of riding Indian ponies all around the area and tells story of visiting Lon Remine.
T26
The shop class in school laid the floor in the Recreation Hall.
T27
Describes making their own skis. They skied down Bear Creek.
T28
Describes watching 4 horse teams pulling sleds and wagons to Tomboy and Smuggler mines. Tells story of miners hiring horses at the livery stable to ride up to the mines, then turning them loose and horses would return to town by themselves. Lebinitz and Anderson had stables.
T29
Describes the pest house and the poor farm on the edge of town across from Wichman's Brewery.
T30
Speaks of hospitals and the various doctors and dentists in town. His first child was born in American Legion Hospital. Speaks of his appendectomy in that hospital. Dr. Hadley. Dr. Kloetz. Dr. Tidd. Dr. Agnes. Dr. Good. Dr. Lowell. Dr. Taylor.
T31
Mr. Waggoner worked during one summer as delivery boy for Perino's Grocery.
T32
Names various grocery stores and meat markets. Two Perino Stores, the brothers were in competition. Goldsworthy. Elscamp. Gustafson. Pilcher. Speaks of barbershops, H. Miller and Sweeney.
T33
Describes Finn Town. Finn Hall. Swede-Finn Hall.
T34
Social entertainment consisted of dances and silent movies. Metropole Theater and Siegebert’s Theater.
T35
Talks about the town basketball team that played in the Recreation Hall.
T36
He and his wife rode horses nearly every morning before he went to work. They would ride 40 or 50 miles during a weekend, sometimes riding over the range to Ouray and Ridgeway.
T37
Describes sliding on glaciers in Bear Creek. Had lots of beefsteak fries.
T38
Talks about the volunteer Fire Department.
T39
He watched the Ajax snow slide run that killed Mrs. Gifford and Mrs. Hicks.
T40
Describes looking for the victims. Speaks of the close community feeling and how they all helped each other in times of stress.
T41
More descriptions of the Cornet Creek Flood. Mentions the first airplane in town.
T42
Describes July 4th celebrations and the drilling contests. Baseball games were held on Sundays. Dr. Tidd. Father Erger.
T43
Continues talking about the firemen and the 4th of July.
T44
Parades were held on Decoration Day and the high school band led the parade to the cemetery. M. Bell.
T45
Names various drug stores in town. F. Wilson. J. Quine. Speaks of his wedding and the trip to Denver on the train for their honeymoon.
T46
Describes Mr. Basich's murder and robbery.
T47
Speaks of Sheriff Warrick and memories of Swabe the man who ran a shoeshine stand on sidewalk next to the bank.
T48
Mentions Elvera Wunderlich's letter to old timers and how he met her at the museum 3 years ago. She lived 3 doors from when he was growing up.
T49
Speaks of his wife's diaries and various memories.
T50
Names various teachers and the superintendent of schools. Miss Marin. F. Fleckenstine. Miss McCray. Fitch Venata. W.G. Baker.
T51
Story of Mr. Waggoner staying with the Bakers while his parents were out of town.
T52
Mentions Tom McMahn and his Ice House. Tom McMahn delivered ice to houses every day for iceboxes.
T53
Story of David Painter and David Lavender, Ed Lavender. Describes the Open House that Dad Painter held every New Years Day. Life was more formal then. Mentions a priest. George ran the Journal.
T54
Continues talking about a priest.
T55
Tells how bad the roads could get.
T56
Speaks of the Red Light District and the ladies that worked there. Story of the lady that married a businessman in town.
T57
Describes Dad Painter.
T58
Many dances held at Siegebert Theater and the Finn Hall
T59
Memories of town plays held at Siegebert Theater. Driscall. Lebinetz.
T60
Talks about bootlegging days and the gambling games. J. Oberto had a bowling alley.
T61
Houses across the river.
T62
Describes the train schedule. Train brought newspapers in from Denver.
T63
Speaks of the Elks and Masonic Lodges.
T64
Conclusion.
End
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Cecil Goldsworthy's Oral History Interview
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A KOTO Radio's Voices & Visions show, in which an oral history interview was given by Charles Upton, who interviewed Cecil Goldsworthy, a long time miner in Telluride, Colorado.
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