Letter From Dave
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Aug 30 [1980] Dear Sister & Walt, How's this for a surprise. I'll get right down to brass tacks and tell you what specifically inspired this note. Jude & I returned from Colo via highway 70 which of course brought us by Gypsum. Well I just couldn't resist turning off & heading up river to the old Homestead. What a wonderful experience it was seeing the old valley. The flume which Dad and neighbors built which crossed the Colo River (Grand River in those days) just above the Hight's farm I remember water squirting high in the air from leaks in the pipe. Being a siphon it had much pressure in it. It's still much in use.
The railroad an imposter. Doesn't belong there. I believe it came there in the mid 30's. Thrill #3 The old homestead. Its rundown condition is sad but nevertheless there it still stands with its huge logs. Remember when we used to play out by the chicken house? I rushed out there & there is was made of huge logs – built into the bank as was the cellar & and house to a little extent. Now I know why I like to build into a hill as is our house here. The old horse barn still stands with the huge logs. The garden spot there as big as life but grown up to brambles & weeds. Clematis covers the old cabin. The old house looks the same as the little my memory serves me but the ceiling is much lower – 'course we were little people then. Remember the big old potbelly stove that Santa came down & rattled the protective rim around it? Well I'm almost certain that I discovered remnants of it strewn around. The sad part of this story is: I took many pictures and we sent them off for development in Rifle & the envelope came apart & they were lost in the mail. Damn! I'm mad. Sis would you answer a few question for me if you can – since you were there with Dad. Did he build the cabin & out buildings? Did he help build the school house? Did he develop the farm from the sage brush? Any info you can supply will be much appreciated. I'm going to write a story about it all. I've names of those pioneers like Goldie, Clem, & Merle Sherer – Johnson – Haddock – Paul, Betty, Marcus & Buren Hight, and of course Alma Hight as I've mentioned. Juanita Bertrausch: teacher after Alma. Then there was Frank Malone that lived down river on the other side. The only time we visited them was when the river was very low & we could ford it in a wagon. I was introduced to the heavenly scent of sweet peas in Mrs. Malone's abundant garden. The flowers certainly did abound as my memory serves me. Now there are only remnants of yester year there. Do you remember J. P. Olson the banker in Gypsum – he also had a store. He took the farm for Dad's debt & to Calif we went. Then there was Stremme's store where I believe Dad got most of his groceries. Well, the bank is gone – has been for many years, so are the stores. Dad & neighbors built the road in from Gypsum. I remember him working on it. We kids, Dody & I, would play in the brush while he & Cliff Gossett worked on the road. You were just a wee thing & you were probably in Colo Sprgs getting up strength enough to brave the frontier. Yes Cliff Gosset another name. Old fat Mrs. Gosset took care of Dody & me while you & Ma were going through child birth in the Springs. I remember her saying when dad was working on the road, "Mr. Phelps, you pick like you are weak." He was trying to work the pick into a crevice and she didn't understand. Say I couldn't have remembered that had you just been born could I? I guess you & Ma were off visiting in the Springs. Remember our friends the Jackets that lived in the center of big weeds? Remember Sis & fill me in. Jude will tell you about our stay in Colo. Very pleasant but missed you. Love to you both & Dave, |
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Notes from Ginny (2005): I was with Mom & Dad when they went to Gypsum that summer. The road through the valley was on the far side of the railroad tracks from the river and homestead and I recall that it was a challenge finding a way across the tracks. The tracks are elevated about 15 feet above the surrounding fields and fenced off. We eventually found a gap where either a farm road or a creek went under the tracks. It was great fun watching Dad rediscover all the things he wrote about in his letter. It was also during the time I was living in Colorado Springs and first getting involved with genealogy, so it was quite exciting for me too. As Dad noted, all the pictures he took were lost. A few years later I took the train from Denver to Boise in the winter. [If anyone ever has the opportunity to take the train between Denver and Grand Junction in the winter it is truly a Wonderland going over the Continental Divide!] I knew the Amtrak railroad tracks went right through the Gypsum homestead, so I cornered the conductor and told him about the homestead and how Dad lost his pictures. The conductor helped me determine when we were getting close to the area and then (against the rules) opened one of the small operable windows in a door between cars under the stipulation that when he said I had to get my head and camera back into the car I do so immediately. As soon as the train got to the end of the valley it went into a tunnel. The irrigation flume was visible from the train window for a couple of miles before we got to the farmlands. And I was able to take a few pictures from the train as it zoomed past the homestead -- not the same as taking them close up -- but at least there is a record of what it looked like in the early 80's. I have a number of the short stories Dad wrote in the '80s and '90s and if I come across the story he mentioned above, I will post that here as well. |
