C.D. Waggoner's Oral History

Description

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. 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