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Gene & Jean Howey
September 30, 2002 Okay. Your brother graduated from Jefferson. You said he got an appointment to Annapolis? Jean Unhuh. Well, that was a pretty big deal. Jean Well, it was a political appointment. But, then, he had a terrible time, y’ know, goin back east. He had to go to prep school for two years. He’d get after my mother, “Don’t you let Jean stay in Jefferson to go to school.” ( chuckle) So, was that kind of scary goin down to the city after having growing up here? Jean Yeah, yeah. Y’ know I went from ten students to something like 1300, or something like that. Huh. How were the kids different in the city? Jean Well, they were kind of snobbish. But I liked it after I got used to it. I was really glad I had that opportunity. I felt like I got a pretty good education. So, your brother was right? Jean He was. I told him not long ago that I was sure mad at him, though. Were you involved in physical activities then? Jean Oh, some. (unclear) Jean Oh, I came back to Jefferson for a year and then I helped my mother in the store for a year. And had the store changed over that time? Was she still doing the café? Jean No no, that burned down. No. She did too have a little café in the store. And then I worked for the O.P.A. – this was during the war. What’s that? Jean Office of Price Administration. They took care of all the food rationing and everything, y’ know. So I worked there for a year. And, where was that? Jean In Fairplay, in the old Courthouse building, down in the basement. How did the war change things up here? Did things change a lot? Jean Well yes. It shut down the mining, and all that, y’ know. Did you know a lot of people that were leaving? You know, friends of yours having to go into the service? Jean Well, yeah. It seems like all the young people, y’ know, the men, were gone. Gene Dan and Ray went. (unclear) Jean And then I went for one year at the college at CSU. What were you studying? Jean Humn. General Science, or somethin. I didn’t get with it too good! And then what did you do? Jean I came back to Jefferson and helped my mother in the store. Then, she was widowed again. So, there were just the two of us… Now, when you say “again”… Jean Well, my father died when I was not quite nine. I think we skipped that part. What did he die of? Jean Well, I’d rather not say. Okay. Well, you were quite young. And then she remarried—was that Glen Young that she married? Jean Unhuh. Did you like him? Jean Yeah. Well, y’ know, I couldn’t tell anybody that I liked him., but… And how old were you when they got married? Jean About thirteen. Was his family from around here? Jean He had a sister here. Gene Well, what about the brother? Jean Yeah, but he didn’t live here. But his was Lillian Shattinger. She’s the mother of (unclear). Oh, okay, okay. And, what did he do? Jean He was County Treasurer. He was pretty well known in the area. Jean Unhuh. Kind of a hard transition for a girl at your age then. Jean Well, yeah. I’m not sure I have a good feel of the store. Was it just kind of your old time general store? It still at that point had supplies for ranching, all the supplies and feed? Had it changed much through those years as the war came through? Jean The present store didn’t sell feed or anything like that. It was a much smaller store. Gene Groceries… Jean Groceries, and a gas station. Was that because someone else had started some kind of a feed or ranch kind of store? Jean No… Where were people going for supplies if you guys didn’t sell them? Fairplay? Jean Yeah, I guess. I was just wondering, if you were ranching where would you go then? Gene I’m tryin to think. Como? Fairplay? Did they have some kind of ranch supply store? Jean I think Fairplay did. Jean Y’know, livestock feed wasn’t that big though, because they raised their own hay and everything. So most people were trying to be pretty self sufficient. Jean Yeah. They fed hay, they didn’t buy feed. Especially during the war after the Depression..things were tight. Jean Yes. Very tight I’m sure. That was before the war. Humn. So, you were working at Fairplay at this office. Jean I worked for one year there. O.P.A.? Jean The O.P.A. And then what? Jean I went to college. That’s when you went to college, and then you came back to work in the store. Jean And then my stepfather died in 1947. So then my mother and I just basically did it. You ran the store? Jean Umhum. And did it do pretty well? Jean Yeah. It did okay. Not ….. and then, when Gene and I got married we leased it from her. Now see…you guys jumped. How did you meet Gene? Was he around – had you been “lookin” at him earlier? Jean Well. The first time I remember him he was working at the South Park Cattle Company out here and he’d come into the store. I don’t know. We always…. All the kids in Jefferson would go to Fairplay for entertainment and we usually …. I don’t know What did you do to date at that time? What was a date? Gene Dances. Dances.. Gene We’d go to.. Jean …movies Gene …movies. Okay. Gene I was gone for a year and a half. Jean Yeah. He went to watchmaker’s school. Watchmaker? Making watches? Gene Repairin ‘em. So, when did you get married? Jean September -- er -- June 12, 1949. What did you do for a wedding? Where was it? Jean In Fairplay, at the Shelton Jackson… At the little chapel? Jean Unhuh, yeah. Ummm. Was it a big wedding? Jean Pretty big. We had the church full. And then—where did you have the reception? Jean At the Youth Center, which is the Senior Center now. Okay. Tell me about the Youth Center. Jean It was fun. We used to go to have a lot of dances there. We had one minister that kinda got that goin. Gene He built it. Jean He built it. He was tryin to, you know, have things for the kids. We still need that. Jean Probably more so now. Who owned that, the Youth Center? Gene The church. Were you both raised in the Presbyterian faith? Gene Well, we went to church there. Okay. Did you have a honeymoon? Jean We went to Yellowstone Park. You drove up there? Jean Unhuh. How long did you stay? Jean (To Gene) Five-Six days? Gene (To Jean) About. Tell me, from growing up up here with your family having a ranch – tell me what you see in South Park – what’s changed through those years from what it looked like when you were a little girl. Jean (chuckle) …well, let’s see…. There isn’t any water anymore is the biggest change. Do you remember when they started farmin (unclear word) the water out? Jean Unhuh. What happened? Jean Well, the city just offered them a lot of money, y’ know. Do you remember discussions goin on. You were in the store, you must’ve heard a lot of people coming in and chatting. Jean Oh yeah, unhuh. Were people resented…I mean, was it encouraged? Jean No. They did it kinda gradual. But you can’t blame the ranchers for sellin their water. They weren’t makin anything from ranchin and then they were offered like a million dollars to sell their water rights, so…. Tell me what it looked like now, compared to what I see now… Jean It was GREEN. (chuckle) Were there a lot, I mean, how many ranches were here? Do you have any idea how that changed? Were there huge ranches, I mean, were there small folks…? Jean Most of ‘em were pretty big. South Park Cattle Company was very big, but you know, the big ranches bought out a lot of the little ones. I think the Head Ranch stayed pretty much the same. How did they manage to survive? Was it all these other businesses? Jean No. I think it was the hay. Did they sell hay there? Jean Unhuh – yeah. What else would someone new not know about the old South Park or Jefferson? Jean Gee, I don’t know. How has Jefferson changed. You were born here… is it the same to you, or has it changed in terms of the town? Jean Oh, of course it’s changed, but as far as the buildings and things, there’s not much difference. Some people tell me that you don’t know each other the way you used to. Jean No. We were a close community, you know, when I was growin up. How many kids do you have? Jean I had two children. (chuckle) What are their names? Jean Barry Eugene Howey and Cynthia Sue Howey Meford (sp?). Did you raise them here in Jefferson? Jean Yeah. Where did they go to school? Jean Fairplay. They both graduated from Fairplay. Okay. Gene Our daughter graduated from Mesa, in Grand Junction. Was that a college, Mesa College? Jean Mesa College, unhuh. What’d she graduate in? Jean Business, mostly. And your son, what’d he do? Gene He went to school for ten years and quit….got married. Jean Yeah! (chuckle) Okay. Jean Now he wishes he did…went to school more. Okay. Now, is there anything you want to add? Jean No…I can’t think of anything. Okay, I want to thank you for doin this with me today. I appreciate it. Jean Our pleasure. You’ll probably have more stories come back in your head when I turn this off. Jean Oh….probably. End of tape Okay, are we startin again? We were talking about medical and dental care. Now, you were right here in Jefferson, you said your family was able to go to Fairplay and get good dentists when you needed to? Jean The first time I ever went to a dentist was in Denver. But…never went to a doctor. No….what if someone really got sick? Jean I had scarlet fever and I was really sick. I think we were snowed in at the time, though. What did they do for you? Jean ah…(pause..) You don’t remember what they did? You never saw a dentist…so you went to a dentist while you were in high school. Jean Well, we were took to Denver.. Gene I never went to a dentist until I was in the Navy. So, did you not have trouble…I mean, was it not an issue for this family…you don’t remember that being a problem? Gene I don’t know…I had good teeth, I think that was it. Jean I think that parents didn’t worry about things like that. (unclear) Gene If you got a toothache then you’d probably go to a dentist. We had a doctor in Fairplay by the name of Dr. Simms (sp) but I don’t ever…ah.. …remember seein’ him? Gene Oh, I went to him after I got out of the Navy; had my wisdom teeth pulled. By the you knew it was different, and I was workin. When we were kids we never went to a doctor or to the dentist. They had a eye clinic come up when I was in the fourth grade. Actually it was … Jean Swigert? (sp). Gene Swigert. (sp). And they checked everybody’s eyes and I had to start wearin glasses then. But if they hadn’t had somebody come I probably wouldn’t had to have it done until I couldn’t see to read or something. People just never had the money to do that sort of thing. They were lucky to have enough money to eat and pay the rent. Do you remember the miners walking around… do you remember a lot of miners? People talk about the miners and the burros and stuff goin around town. You were right in Fairplay. Gene No. I remember the burros in Fairplay. We used to catch ‘em and ride ‘em, but that’s all I remember. See, like I said I was maybe in the eighth grade, I was in the ninth grade when the war started. That’s when Fairplay kinda shut down. Now, when did Prunes die? Jean (chuckle) Gene Oh, I don’t know. You know the story…I keep tryin to track down the REAL story. Jean The REAL story (chuckle). The REAL story…everybody gives me a different story about Prunes. You don’t know? Jean I just don’t...I really don’t (chuckle). Gene Probably one of the Hands could tell you more. He lived right next door to the Hand Hotel. Jean The burro. Gene Yeah, the burro. Do you have any other comments about people in Fairplay that’d stand out in your mind? Gene Well, I had a real good buddy that…his dad was the sheriff, Neil Brown, and well, of course I remember Jimmy Witchell (sp)…(to Jean) was he the assesser or.. Jean County Agent… Gene Well…of course her stepfather was the County Treasurer. We had one sheriff by the name of Vess Lal (name unclear). I mean this was back when…but then Vess was sheriff when we were first married. Neil Brown was sheriff when I was about…oh…about eighth grade, seventh grade. Jean He was (statement unclear). Birch Strand. Did they have a car or garage then? Gene They had Fairplay Motor Company. They sold Chevrolets. Was that the one that was where the Red Barn is now, was that the old livery stable or was that the one up the block? Where were they located? Gene It was right across from the bank. Jean And they’ve got a ice cream parlor… They’ve got a ice cream parlor there now. Jean I gotta go in there! You do! Gene That was really a nice garage. I used to run around with another kid that worked for ‘em right after the war. Jean Who was that? Gene Art (unclear). Do you remember the people before that? I want to say McFarlands, I don’t know if I’m right. Jean There was a McFarland here. He was a… Gene Railroad agent I think. Jean Yeah, railroad agent. Oh! Are you thinking of McFarlands not too many years ago.. No…I’m thinking of McLaughlins…someone in that family built that livery stable. Jean Yes. Unhuh. They were already gone. What about Grandma Hand? I hear people… Gene Oh, I remember her. Do you? What was she like? Jean She was a character. Gene Well, yeah. She was a character, but I never really went in there very much because I couldn’t sell ‘em newspapers….I used to sell newspapers. Of course. (Laughter all around). When did you sell newspapers? Gene Oh, when I was in about the fourth or fifth grade. What paper? Gene The Public Keeper (second name unclear). How much..how much was it a copy? Gene Oh about a nickel I think. (To Jean) He’s always been raisin money, hasn’t he? Gene Well, you kinda had to. Did you family kinda need your help and were you urged to go out and do all these different jobs? Gene I just wanted to have some spendin money and you had to go work to make it. Then, I was tryin to think…Singletons had the bank and they were very prominent people I think. Jean Yeah, the Singletons. And the Byers had the big house up there where Bill Sanborn lives. Gene You know where that is? Jean And they had the ranch… Gene They had the ranch below town which is now the Coyle (sp) Ranch…Walt Coyle married Arlene Byer. The Byers had that ranch and Walt and Arlene had the other ranch next to it, and then when Arlene’s dad died, why then he took over the two of ‘em. (unclear) I talked to Mick… Gene Oh…(chuckle) But, it’s hard to remember.. Jean Mick’s the worst but he knows…you gotta go out there to talk to him, though. Oh I did. Yeah, we chatted. Jean You did…this year? Yes, umhum. Jean Good. He’s not too well. (unclear) (To Gene) We got to go see him. Gene Yeah, well we better hurry. We’re gonna leave… Jean He can remember so much stuff. Did you hear the story about the beer truck turnin over? Does anybody remember that? Jean Yeah! Gene Oh, right up there ..(unclear) (Laughter all around) You remember! Tell me… Jean Well his sister, Arlene, they lived right up here. Gene They lived right there where the truck turned over. Jean (laugh) Gene Everybody got the Schlitz beer. Did you guys get to snag any…didja…(unclear) Jean No, we didn’t. They got some though and shared it with us! (Laughter all around) Jean He’s got good stories. Gene I used to go huntin up in (unclear). Deer huntin? Gene Yeah. Okay. Anything else you want to mention? Jean I’m tryin to think of prominent people in Fairplay. Or Jefferson, and the people that stand out that you remember? Jean Well, the Schattinger family. They’re prominent, and they’re close. They were on a ranch? Jean They owned a ranch but they lived here in town. The daughters….(unclear) (unclear)… that I’m gonna go look for. Jean Yes. Gene I hope you can get ‘em to talk. Jean I would talk to them … (unclear). (unclear)… I’ll have you guys give ‘em a good word for me. Jean I will. Okay! Is there anything you wanta add on this? I picking your brain. The longer you talk the more things kinda start triggering memories, I know. Gene Well, yeah. You get to thinkin about all the things that happened and… And all the different people… you two have seen quite a lot of change over time and so many people… ‘cause now, it’s a street sign to me, or it’s the name of a school and I didn’t know those people. Those people were your friends. Gene Well, you talk about the Teters…Edith Teter Elementary School…well they actually had a ranch right below Fairplay. And, Roy and George’s grandfather had a ranch right out here on the other side of Michigan Hill. Then, Roy was out there until just a few years ago and then he gave his ranch to the ah… Jean Wild Life. Gene Yeah, Wild Life. Jean He didn’t want it subdivided. Quite a few people are doin that. Mick has just done that and ah, Newquists are doin that.. Jean Really? Gene I don’t know that … I was tryin to think…Mick told me what he did but I can’t remember. He was workin with Colorado Open Range… Jean Is he? Gene Yeah. Okay. Well, I’ll leave you off the hook, and if you think of anything else, you have to let me know. Or, if you think of other folks we can talk to…and if you think of a lot of really good stories we’ll come back. Jean Oh, I was talkin about Beverly Sanborn that I grew up with. Well she’s married to Chuck Hand. Chuck Hand the grandson to Grandma Hand. (chuckle) Okay. Well I just heard some kinda funny stories about Grandma and I just wondered if there was anyone who knew her very well. Those funny kinda “rumor” stories that go around about what a character she was. Jean She was a character, yeah. Gene She used to go arrow head huntin and do things like that. Jean Fish.. Gene And she was quite a fisherman, yeah. But now, Chuck and Beverly in Awachuke (sp) which is in the southern part of Phoenix.. Oh..another good reason to go to Arizona. Gene ….and we see ‘em, you know, quite a few times durin the winter. Jean Yeah. We kinda picked back up on the friendship when we started goin to Arizona ‘cause we didn’t see too much of ‘em when she left here. Okay. Well, we’ll have you pass the word on and see if we can get some more of those old stories. Next summer we’ll all get together… Jean She’d be a good one to interview, she has a good memory….she never forgets anything (chuckle). I keep threatening to have a party with all these together and remember all these old stories. Gene Well, people are scattered a lot a long ways… Jean Her brother Eddie, you talked to him or somebody did. He’s real sharp about, you know.. Gene Well, he’d have more and he could tell more than Beverly could. Well, we’ll get back together and chat with you about that and see what we can come up with. I thank you both. Jean Well, thank you. Our pleasure. End of Tape 2 |
