The Carmichael branch of Delta County, Colorado's Howard family

Myrtle Irene Howard , born September 3, 1877 in Castle Creek, Broome County, New York to Ira Howard Sr. and his wife Anna. In the autumn of 1887, the Howard family took the “shanty train” West, settling in Colorado’s San Luis Valley. It is not known when the Howard family became Seventh-Day Adventists, but from the early years of living in Colorado they were active in the Adventist church in Monte Vista and Delta. The Howard family has always been a close-knit, loving farm family.

Jackson (“Jack”) Ellsworth Carmichael  was born on October 11, 1864 in Jefferson, Noble County, Ohio. Prior to 1894 Jack and his parents, David and Sarah Carmichael, moved to Colorado and located in Rio Grande County.

Jack’s father, David L. Carmichael, was born in Virginia , circa 1824. His mother, Sarah Miller, was born in Greene County, Pennsylvania on May 6, 1827 . In 1844, the Miller family moved to Ohio, and two years later, in 1846 , she married David Carmichael. Together they had seven children. In 1895, Sarah was baptised as a member of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church and remained a faithful and devoted member until her death. David died in Monte Vista between 1900  and 1910. Sarah moved with her son Jack and daughter-in-law Myrtle to the Read / Austin / Cory vicinity of Delta County in the spring of 1911. Sarah passed away on March 4, 1913, at the age of 86 in Delta County,  Colorado. Sarah was survived by her four sons: Jacob, Joseph , Jasper , and Jackson. Collectively the siblings were known as the “4Js”.

Joseph was a mining engineer had convinced Jack to become a partner in a gold mine, the “Lone Pine”, near Prescott, Arizona. There were several occasions when Jack would go down to Arizona and help work on the mine. Glen Edward Carmichael, Jack’s grandson, even got in on this small scale mining operation in the 1980s. The mine is no longer in the Carmichael family, as the other partners wanted to sell out. Today, the area where the “Lone Pine” once operated, there is now paved roads, powerlines, and multimillion dollar homes. Joseph Carmichael had been mining in South America and returned to Dade County, Florida, where he resided at the time. He had written his brother Jack to tell him about his investments and assets, but the next letter the family received was from the local sheriff, saying his body had been found at the railyard and he was penniless.

Jack Carmichael was a stone mason and in 1907 he advertised for Echoes from the Field: “Wanted, two brick moulders and several other men to work in a brick yard, beginning May 5; wages, from $2.50 to S4.50 per day. Address J. E. Carmichael, Monte Vista, Colo. – J.E. Carmichael.”  In 1911, Jack built the Howard family home at Read.

On July 9, 1895, Myrtle Howard married Jack Carmichael in Monte Vista, Colorado. It was not long before the newly formed union began to bear fruit.

On March 19, 1896, Carl Clemet Carmichael was born in Monte Vista.  Carl married Gladys Adonna Johnston in Cory, Colorado on March 12, 1922.  Gladys was born on January 28, 1900 in Madison, Nebraska, and died on May 6, 1983 in Yuba City, Sutter County, California. Carl passed away on April 19, 1986 in Marysville, Yuba County, California.  They had a daughter, Gladys “Euline” Carmichael Epperson, who was born on January 18, 1923 in Cory, Colorado; she died on June 4, 1987 in Yuba City, California.

Ray Luther Carmichael  was born next. It should be noted that Ray’s 1918 WWI Draft registration card lists his date of birth as March 3, 1898 and his age as 20, however his tombstone in the Delta Cemetery has his date of birth as March 3, 1900. This is corroborated by his obituary, which listed the birth year as 1900.  The mystery is further complicated by the fact that Ray is listed as having turned 2 years old at his last birthday on the US Census of 1900, which would place his year of birth in 1898.  On September 4, 1926, Ray married Odell Elone Henson  in Grand Junction;  the licence indicates Ray was 26 at the time and Odell was 18 years old. Odell was born on November 15, 1908 and passed away on September 11, 1997  in Delta.  Ray passed away on January 23, 1986  in Delta.  Odell had been long time member of the Delta Seventh-Day Adventist Church. In later life, Odell’s daughter, Sylvia Griffith, and son-in-law, Jim Griffith  also came.

The third son was Fred Jackson Carmichael, born on May 1, 1905 in Monte Vista. He passed away on June 11, 1982  in Montrose, Colorado. Fred married Elva (or Elma) Fay Wear on March 23, 1934 in Moab, Utah. Elva was born on March 23, 1913 in Delta County, Colorado. She passed away on May 25, 1977  in Montrose County. Fred and Elva are interred at the Grand View Cemetery in Montrose.

The youngest son was Glen Howard Carmichael, who was born on September 11, 1910 in Monte Vista, Rio Grande County, Colorado. Glen passed away on June 26, 1994 in Delta, Colorado.  On October 15, 1931, Glen married Dottis Estelle Wear in Delta. The Wear family moved to Delta County between 1907 and 1910 from Texas.  Dottis was born in Delta on April 18, 1911 and passed away on April 25, 2006.  Glen and Dottis were long time members of the Delta Seventh-Day Adventist Church. They had one son, Glen Edward Carmichael, who retired as the production manager of Hi-Quality produce packing in Delta.

Even though the Jack Carmichael family began in the San Luis Valley in 1895, sometime between the autumns of 1898 and 1899, the Carmichaels embarked beyond the Continental Divide, settling in the lower Gunnison Valley in Delta County. During the 1900 Census, the Carmichaels were renting a farm and house in Eckert, an unincorporated village in the Surface Creek Valley, comprised of a post office, several stores, and numerous fruit orchards. By at least 1906, the Carmichaels were back in the San Louis Valley. During the 1910 Census, the Carmichaels are back in Monte Vista, Colorado.

The Carmichaels must have advocated quite persuasively that Delta County was the place to be, as by the spring of 1911 the Howards had purchased a farm in Read, Colorado from Harry Trail. The contract for the real estate was signed on May 13, 1911 and recorded on June 19, 1911. The owners listed on the Read farm warranty deed were Anna Howard and Amelia Hayes. Immediately after the closing, Ira Sr. and his son, Ira Jr. (Myrtle’s brother), along with Jack Carmichael (who was a stone mason), built the stone house at Read, which was home to the Howards from 1911-1962, when they moved to 10 Hartig Drive in Delta. Echoes from the Field reported on October 4, 1911, “Brother and Sister Carmichael and Sister Wade of Monte Vista have recently moved to Delta. Brother Oosterhous and wife plan to move there soon. This leaves the Company at Monte Vista rather small now, but we believe that others may be found at that place who will take their stand for the truth.”

The Jack Carmichael family rented the home and farm located adjacent  to where Roy and Marjorie (Howard) Long lived on the hill above the Gunnison River.  The modern day address of the place the Carmichaels rented is 8383 Marshalls Road, Austin, Colorado. The 1920 and 1930 Census indicates they were renting here, though it is not exactly known when the letting began or concluded. As of 2017, the home they rented is still there and owned by the Randall Shepard family.  The house was built in 1904.

The Carmichaels raised their family in the newly formed town of Orchard City.  Eventually the family moved to California Mesa and then Delta. Myrtle Howard Carmichael passed away on October 24, 1940 at the age of 63.  A fortnight later, on November 7, 1940, Jack and Myrtle’s niece, Orpha Mae (Howard) Miley passed away. This must have been a tough time for the Howard family.
On February 14, 1952, the patriarch of the family, Jack Carmichael, passed away.  He was 88 years old.  When Jack passed away, his obituary, published in the Central Union Reaper recognised him as one of the early members of the Colorado Seventh-Day Adventist Church.

A question which has persisted is when did the Howards become Seventh-Day Adventists? In a personal interview with Mabel Howard, niece of J.E. and Myrtle Carmichael, she recalled her “Uncle Jack and Aunt Myrt were devote Adventists, along with mama and grandpa [and others in the family].”  In 1898, it was reported in the Review and Herald that Elder Carmichael helped with an evangelistic series over in Cripple Creek.  In Echoes from the Field, dated September 12, 1906, “Brother J. E. Carmichael writes that their church school has started out nicely at Monte Vista. Miss Bayliss of College View is their teacher.”  In 1908, Jack Carmichael was a delegate to the General Conference and Central Union Conference of Seventh-Day Adventist.  At the Conference, Jack Carmichael was granted a ministerial license to be employed with church work in the field.  It appears Jack preached and was part of a spiritual weekend at the La Veta SDA Church in 1909.  La Veta is a statutory town in Huerfano County, Colorado and has had a post office by the same name since 1876. As of this writing, La Veta had roughly 700 inhabitants, roughly the same as when J.E. Carmichael and family would have visited in 1909. In 1913, J.E Carmichael was again granted a ministerial licence, this time for the Western Colorado Conference.

In reviewing the family archieves, it is amazing how many post cards they sent each other, especially when Jack and Myrtle were attending Seventh-Day Adeventist Confrences. One post card was from Iva Mae Oosterhous to Myrtie Carmichael telling them they had arrived safely in Montrose and were looking forward to seeing [President] Taft.

The August 3, 1922 issue of the Review and Herald featured a poem written by Jack Carmichael.  (see insert on previous page). In the early 1940s, Jack became blind. After prior to 1940, Jack and Myrtle, who lived at 215 Howard Street, Delta at the time, moved down the street to live with their son and daughter-in-law, Glen and Dottis Carmichael. A rope was tied from the back door of the house to the carriage house and corral in the back yard, where a milk cow was kept. Every morning, Jack would follow the rope and milk the cow. Jack enjoyed holding and spending time with his grandson, Glen Edward Carmichael, who was born in 1940, the same year Myrtle passed away. Jack passed away in 1952.

Glen Carmichael worked as a sugar beet foreman for many years and then went to work for the union. He eventually became a labour negotiator, travelling around the nation helping negotiate collective bargaining agreements and contracts. The Carmichaels moved to 224 Park Street on Garnet Mesa Hill, next to Dottis’ parents’ home in 1950. Dottis’ dad, Mr. Wear, ran a blacksmith shop behind the house until it burnt down one night. Glen Edward recalls the time he and the neighbour kids built and underground fort and covered it with sticks and branches. “Later that night grandpa came home from his Oddfellows meeting and crashed into the fort. We never heard the end of it.”

In Delta, Colorado: the first 100 years, by Deborah Doherty, Glen Carmichael was interviewed about the Holly Sugar Factory and World War II. “The sugar factory was considered a priority commodity and the workers at the Holly Sugar plant in Delta were deferred when their names came up for the draft. Since its operation was seasonal, however, many of the temporary employees were drafted by the government to work during their off months at a military base in Utah.”

Glen Carmichael leased and managed the old airport from Starr Nelson’s heirs after World War II. He ran Veteran’s Training Programs which were funded by the federal government, as well as private aviation classes. These activities continued when Carmichael moved the operations to Blake Field in the late 1960s. Glen leased a hanger and continued the flight school. In 1968, responsibility of the airport finally became the sole concern of the county government. Carmichael served as airport manager for about eight years. He later partnered with businessman Tim Arnett and opened the Delta Discount Center in 1976.

Carmichael was the founder of Delta’s Civil Air Patrol and formed a search and rescue team, with Glen as the commanding officer. The old Armoury Building, erecting shortly after WWI, served as the Air Patrol’s headquarters and saw many well-disciplined youngsters learn technical aspects of flying, shooting, how to spot dangerous situations, archery, and the use of Geiger counters, and other technical instruments. The Civil Air Patrol was very active during the Cold War.

Glen and Dottis raised two bob cats. They also had a big Siamese cat that rode with them everywhere they went, even to church! Its name was Pauline and could stand with its back legs on the floor and place her front paws on Dottis’ shoulders. Even though Dottis was only about five feet tall, a cat who could do that was still a pretty big cat.

Glen Edward and Dori managed fruit ranches from 1964-70, then managed the airport. Glen later was the production manager at Hi-Quality, one of the last fruit packing sheds in Delta County.

A history of Delta's Main Street* - Part II

MAIN STREET’S FLAG POLE

Delta, CO's Main Street circa 1898 with the 75 ft. tall flag poll.
Delta County Historical Society Photo

As the Spanish-American War came to an end in 1898, a group of Delta businessmen thought it would be a good idea to have a flagpole in the center of town. So Delta erected a 75-foot tall flag pole in the center of the intersection of Main and Third Streets and proudly displayed a giant 45-star US flag.

In August 1898, an 86-foot tall tree was cut and hauled off of Grand Mesa to Delta. The Delta County Independent noted that several Eckert residents had reported seeing the giant pole being hauled down the Surface Creek road.

Businessmen Frank Dodge and Frank Sanders volunteered to see that the pole was properly placed. The Town of Delta built a band stand around the flagpole “for the benefit of the band boys.” Unfortunately, the affixing of a pulley to the top of the flagpole was an afterthought. The newspaper noted that "the pulley was so far down the pole that the flag flies constantly at half-mast," leaving everybody asking, “who is dead?”

When electricity came to Delta in 1900, the town thought it would be a great idea to hang a light bulb atop the flagpole (well, half-way up) to illuminate Main Street. The light bulb and wiring were attached to the flag pulley and hoisted half-way up the 75-foot pole. The pulley system was needed in order to be able to change the light bulb when it burned out. At that time, the city power plant was located at First and Main.

In 1898, traffic on Main Street, with few exceptions, was entirely horse-drawn buggies and wagons. However, within a few years automobiles were common along Main Street. The flagpole and band-stand became a frequent target of early motorists whose driving skills preceded the requirement for a driver's license. The town enacted a 7-mph speed limit within intersections, but somehow a few motorists still managed to hit the flagpole.

By 1908, the Town of Delta condemned the flagpole and bandstand as “dangerous.” On April 9, 1908, the town took down the flagpole and replaced it with a smaller one. The small flagpole might only have lasted a year or two, as there are no known photographs featuring a smaller flagpole.

DELTA'S MAIN STREET - PART OF A BIGGER TRANSPORTATION PICTURE   

Delta's Main Street circa 1958, after the widening.
Delta County Historical Society Photo

Delta’s Main Street, while a footnote in the nation’s evolving transportation debate in the mid-1950s, played a role in ensuring the Interstate did not pass through Delta County. The pre-cursors to the Interstate Highway System rested in two landmark reports requested by Congress in 1939 (Toll Roads and Free Roads) and 1944 (Interregional Highways). Each report contained a map of an illustrative "Interregional System," as it was originally called, and had an east-west route terminating in Denver and a north-south route also passing through Denver.

Edwin C. Johnson, who was one of Colorado’s US Senators in the late 1930s through the mid-1950s and was governor both prior to and after his time in the senate, envisioned a massive highway from Denver to California. After the preliminary report of Toll Roads and Free Roads, State Highway Engineer Charles D. Vail and Sen. Johnson crafted a plan to show that a westward route from Denver was feasible. By the autumn of 1939 US Route 6 was being built over Black Gore Pass. Prior to 1940, roads through the Gore Valley and along Beaver Creek were barely used. In January 1940, Black-Gore Pass was re-named Vail Pass, in honor of the engineer who was determined to prove a western roadway out of Denver would work.

In March 1973, the first bore of the I-70 Continental Divide Tunnels were opened and named for President Eisenhower. The second bore opened in December 1979 and was named for Governor Johnson who had fought for the highway. By the mid-1970s the Highway 50 Association was disbanded, as travelers began favoring the new I-70 route to the north. With the decline of traffic volumes Life magazine in July 1986 proclaimed: US 50 "The Loneliest Road" in America. Ironically, there has been talk of making US 50 a four-lane highway to help relieve the congestion now on I-70, though this has been met with the traditional “no money” argument. Perhaps it will happen someday, as some segments are already four-lane.

The Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1944 authorized designation of a 40,000-mile "National System of Interstate Highways." By 1947, the work was nearly complete and as Johnson and other state officials feared, Denver was known as the “dead-end city.” Part of the problem was the cost of building a major highway through the mountains and by law, a neighboring state had to connect to the highway and continue it.

US Hwy 50 has been widened to 4-lanes in some locations.

Utah and Nevada proposed upgrading US Route 50 to Interstate status. The plan had merit, as transiting the mountains via Monarch Pass meant fewer storms for truckers, thus  keeping freight moving. Denver was against this plan, as it meant it would keep the “dead end” title and Pueblo-Colorado Springs would have the benefit of the westward highway.

By 1955 the debate over a westward Interstate from Denver was in full swing. State Rep. Charles Conklin and State Sen. James Mowbray, both of Delta, backed Gov. Ed Johnson, in helping squash the Utah-Nevada proposal of turning US Highway 50 into an Interstate Highway (the debate which continued until the autumn of 1969). President Dwight Eisenhower, whose wife Mamie was born and raised in Denver, gave approval to the westward expansion of I-70 from Denver to Grand Junction in the Interstate Act of 1956. As a bit of irony, the Eisenhowers were married in Denver on the same day that President Wilson signed the 1916 Highway Act which got the Federal Government involved in the road business.

TREES & FLOWERS ALONG MAIN STREET

Delta has become famous for it's tree lined Main Street, flowers, and murals.
Susan Reep Photo

Delta began planting trees up and down Main Street in the 1890s. By the 1940s, the beautiful deciduous trees garnered Delta the nickname: “city of trees.” Over the years, all of the original trees have been replaced, most of them several times. Aggressive roots have caused sidewalks to buckle in some places over the years, though today this is mostly seen on side streets. Managing roots and tree size continues to require constant care.

In 1990, Delta began a major urban renewal program that included: industrial clean-up, and the creation of Confluence Park, Bill Heddles Recreation Center, and Fort Uncompahgre. At the same time, the Delta County Museum was moved from the court house to its current location at Third and Meeker, and an urban trail from Lincoln Elementary School to Confluence Park, among other projects, was established. Delta also began adding murals along Main Street along with median flowers and large pots of flowers along the sidewalks.

The flowers along Delta’s Main Street are planted and maintained by a couple of seasonal city employees, Cindy Valdez and Veronica Pacheco, they have affectionately become known as the “flower ladies.” Camelot Gardens in Montrose has had so many customers ask about the mix of flowers planted along Delta’s Main Street that the owners stock the exact same variety of flowers as the “Delta flower lady” plants.

Delta's flowers are known throughout Colorado.

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*This article, published in the Delta County Museum's quarterly newsletter, is part two in a two-part series covering the development of Delta's Main Street and the politics relating to it.

Soper, Matt. "A history of Delta's Main Street." Delta County Historical Society (Delta, Colo.) Newsletter Iss. No. 87 (July-Sept 2016) p4+

A history of Delta's Main Street* - Part I

From the muddy wallows of wagon ruts to a four-lane highway, Delta’s Main Street has held the distinction of being the center of commerce, transportation, and community life since 1882.

Delta's Main Street in 1893. Note the mature trees which line the street, suggesting they were placed there years earlier.
Delta County Historical Society photo

       As streets were laid out, and a main street designated, it quickly became apparent that there needed to be a mechanism to maintain the public right of way. When Delta County was established in 1883, a plan was devised and was implemented in 1884, whereby each able-bodied male from 21 to 50 had to pay $3.00 per annum or contribute 2 days of labor in helping keep the sixty-foot wide roads usable. Though well maintained, the original dirt street would have been very muddy in winter and spring. Livestock fouling in the road and the occasional spitting of tobacco would have greeted visitors with a familiar Wild West smell.

       In 1913, the old State Highway Commission was replaced by the State Department of Transportation; and on the national level, a federal income tax was ratified. By 1916, the federal government joined the road building business by creating matching funds for transportation projects. Many small towns’ life or death was determined by a state or federal highway passing through, giving agriculture, business, and industry access to national markets.

Delta's Main Street in 1924 before paving, showing excavation for sewer line; 500 block looking south.
Delta County Historical Society photo

       As the automobile replaced horse and buggy as the main method of travel, Delta finally began paving Main Street. The City Council opted to replace water and sewer lines prior to paving and the first paved section of Main was from First to Seventh Street. The project was completed at a cost of $92,000 in the autumn of 1924. On Armistice Day (now called Veterans Day), Delta held a special parade to dedicate the newly paved street. The following year, the county opted to resurface dirt roads with gravel.

       In late 1925, the Joint Board on Interstate Highways approved the preliminary report which created “U.S. Route 50,” a major east-west highway, which would combine portions of existing auto trails and link others to create a continuous route from Annapolis, Maryland and Washington, D.C. to Sacramento, California. In 1926, Delta’s Main Street was designated U.S. Route 50. This designation was huge for Delta County, as in an era before the Interstate Highway system; the U.S. Route network linked the nation from coast-to-coast and provided rural America much needed access to urban centers. In turn, the automobile and newly paved roads opened up rural Colorado to tourists and sightseers. By June 1931, the Highway 50 Association was organized to pave the previously unpaved portions of the highway in Colorado and by November 1939 the last segment of Monarch Pass was paved, which completed the highway as America’s backbone. Delta had now entered the age of shared responsibility and use for Main Street.

Egyptian Theatre circa 1954, note the parking meters and orientation.
Delta County Historical Society photo

       By the mid-1950s Delta was booming. The Ag community, Sugar Factory, the Canning Factory, Delta Brick & Tile, Skyland Foods, the Tannery, and the Delta Sand & Gravel were a few of the large industries that were expanding and hiring. The County Commissioners were completing plans to build a brand-new courthouse. It was typical to see the Egyptian Theatre with four or five dozen bicycles in front during a Saturday matinée. The 4-H Beef Roasts would attract close to half of those living in the county. To top off the golden age of the 1950s for Delta, the President of the State Senate and the Speaker of the State House both hailed from the city.

       In 1955, Gov. Ed Johnson proposed widening and resurfacing Main Street (US Highway 50), along with constructing a state highway from Eckert to Cedaredge. Traffic on Main Street had become so congested, that in 1955, the City of Delta restricted cars from making a left turn across traffic, as the wait for an opening caused an even greater traffic jam. At this time, Delta’s Main was a two-lane street with diagonal parking.

       By January 1956, the City of Delta, Bureau of Public Roads, and the State Highway Department began discussions of adding a 13-foot median strip which would include 9-foot turn lanes. At first, the BPR told Delta to “forget the median strip.” However, a team consisting of Leonard Kulper, Allen Brown, and Al Neale traveled to Denver to convince state officials to put a median and curbs on the agenda. The roadway was 60-feet at the time, but the state told Delta that if they wanted a 13-foot median, then the roadway would need to be widened to 75-feet in order for state and federal funds to cover the cost.

       On February 15, 1956, the Delta City Council debated whether to accept the State’s all or nothing offer that included the median. Councilman Cliff Sammons opposed the widening, arguing that Montrose and Grand Junction didn’t have medians. Also joining the naysayers was Councilman C.A. Bowle who feared a wider Main would decrease property values and have a negative impact on downtown business. Prior to the actual vote, the city held a straw poll and found that 64% of the gallery favored a median strip. The vote passed and City Manager Kulper’s dream for Delta was becoming a reality.

       Construction began during the spring of 1956 and Main Street was widened from 60 to 75-feet, parking was changed from diagonal to curbside, and a 9-foot turn lane was added for left-turns at each intersection. The current traffic layout has met the needs of Delta for the past sixty-plus-years.

SIDEWALKS: FROM WOOD PLANKS TO CONCRETE

       As Delta emerged as a fledgling town in 1882, sidewalks quickly emerged as businesses began building along Main Street. The original sidewalks were made out of wooden planks that were half a foot wide and eight feet long. In the residential area of town, the wooden walks would have only been four feet wide. During this era of dirt streets and wood sidewalks, the man walked on the street side and the lady on the building side, so that the man could protect his lady from any passing wagons or horses splashing mud. This is still proper etiquette today, though few young couples know this custom.

       By 1905, the original wooden sidewalks were falling into disrepair to the point of being dangerous. The women of Delta were constantly complaining about the rough, uneven boards and loose nails which would catch shoes and tear dresses.

Delta's Main Street showing angled parking, concrete sidewalks, and paved street, but no median or trees.Delta County Historical Society photo

       In February 1906, the town announced it would replace the wooden sidewalks, between Fourth and Fifth Streets on the west side Main Street with concrete sidewalks. By May, the west side of the next block was under contract, but no mention of other blocks, or the east side of Main.

       “The walks are beyond repair. In the meantime, it behooves citizens to cast many an anxious glance on the boards ahead. No one can tell what wonders they may bring forth. It was only the other day we were obliged to turn our head the other way while we caught a glimpse of flying petticoats, rusty nails, weather-beaten planks and open work sox,” wrote the editors of the Delta Independent in July 1906.

       Delta citizens were becoming more and more vocal about the need to replace wooden sidewalks with concrete. The town then asked property owners to sign a petition saying they would pay for the portion of concrete sidewalk in front of their home or business.

       In September 1906, the town awarded Frank Waller of Salida the contract to pave the next three blocks along the west side of Main with cement. Waller constructed most of the original concrete sidewalks and was so skilled with a cement trowel that he even built a concrete house at the base of Garnet Mesa hill.

       In 1907, Delta’s Model Block, a housing development by the Stockham Brothers and Millard Fairlamb, from Fourth to Fifth Streets and between Grand and Howard Streets, was the first residential area to see concrete sidewalks. A sample of the original concrete sidewalk is on display in the Delta County Museum.

       Concrete sidewalks were not complete along Main Street and several side and parallel streets until June 1908. It would be another 16 years before Main Street would be upgraded from dirt to pavement, but in the meantime, the citizens of Delta were ecstatic to have smooth, solid sidewalks.

PARKING, METERS, & FINES

       As Delta grew and the demand for parking along Main Street increased, so did the need to help the downtown business community by freeing up parking spaces from time to time. In 1928 the first patent for a parking meter was issued and two decades later these devices graced Delta’s Main Street.

Parking meter policeman, Carl Wise, shown circa 1956/57 on Delta's Main Street. Meters were removed in 1977. Carl's friendly and witty disposition earned him the title of Delta's Ambassador.Delta County Historical Society photo

       On Monday, May 5, 1947 at 8:00 AM, Delta’s Main Street Parking Meter Ordinance officially went into force. The meters were installed by CarPark Meter Company of Cincinnati, Ohio and ran along Main from Second to Sixth Streets, and also extended for a half a block on the streets parallel to Main. There was a total of 270 meters.

       One cent granted the operator of the automobile a license to park in that space for 12 minutes; a nickel bought the driver the full hour. Failure to pay the meter was a violation and carried a penalty of 50 cents for the first offence. Subsequent offences carried fines of not more than ten dollars. Delta Mayor John Crawley was a stickler for the rules and made sure the ordinance and regulations were enforced, including a prohibition on “meter feeding.”

       During this time, parking along Main Street was parallel and the center median did not exist like it does today. In April 1955, Delta Police Chief Hanson issued parking tickets to car owners who blocked driveways, parked on the sidewalk, and caused their car to impede traffic in the street. Apparently quite a few frugal drivers had found all sorts of ways to circumvent paying for parking.

       In 1956, Delta’s Main Street was widened to add the median and another traffic lane in each direction; also at this time, parking orientation was changed from parallel to curbside. No letters complaining of parking orientation were published in the Delta County Independent, but one reader did register his objection to a median and left-turn lanes.

            After the widening of Main in 1956, the meters were removed in 1977 and a new scheme emerged – the chalking of tires. Patrons of downtown businesses had two hours to shop before the parking patrol would issue a parking ticket for monopolizing the space. The city continued to chalk tires (which indicated if the automobile had moved) into the early 2000s. The creation of multiple parking lots behind Main Street reduced demand for opening up spaces, and thus the practice of writing parking tickets is now a rare occurrence.

Delta's Main in the 2000s, notice the abundance of open parking and trees.
Author's Collection

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*This article, published in the Delta County Museum's quarterly newsletter, is part one in a two-part series covering the development of Delta's Main Street and the politics relating to it.

Soper, Matt. "A history of Delta's Main Street." Delta County Historical Society (Delta, Colo.) Newsletter Iss. No. 86 (Apr-Jun 2016) p4+

Warnings regarding passions of the popular majority devastating the minority

To some the shutting down of debate and the end of certain ideologies is the aspiration of society. The below is penned response to the effect on the individual when religion, beliefs, ideology, values, morals, history, and law are only in favour of the popular majority.

I have been vilified and told I am the greatest monster known to humanity. But what are my crimes? I am afflicted and distressed, but no offence has been caused by my hand, nor mind or mouth. Yet my enemies have increased and they fiercely hate me. My opinions of love, responsibility, and order have brought the scourge of the mob. When I stand for the rights of the minority, the populace mock me, decry I am what is wrong with society.

All I ask for is strength to carry this through and to be rescued in the end. The only things I carry are my integrity, uprightness, and faith in hope. The nations have entered troubles. Friend and foe is blurred. Right and wrong is not the same as legal and illegal. The legislatures seek to vanquish those out with vogue.

No expression of thought outside the accepted is tolerated. Defence of a liberty becomes grounds for treason. Institutions for free thinking have become the systems for memorization and regurgitation of politically accepted material.

Our legal system punishes the helpless and makes heroes of the wicked. Those with malice live on, but the innocent who incest on privacy are accused of dreadful crimes. Guilty, until proven innocent has become the standard of our system.

History is rewritten and glories of our national past are now shameful to mention. Good deeds are recorded as having guilty intentions and the act of helping one another is written as a mere front. Heroes are vilified and the historic lessons learnt from past mistakes are lost in the rhetoric of advancing an ideology.

The masses have brought loneliness to me. I have retreated to my refuge. My hope is that no shame will be brought one me. Hope is not lost, for I have integrity, a belief in my faith, and a path in truth. I ask for vindication for I wash my hands in innocence, abhor the assemblies of the malice and deceitful. Life is redeemed with mercy and feet resting on level ground.

Remembering WWII: A medic's perspective

Medics help a wounded soldier during the Battle of Normandy in 1944.
Photo courtesy Library of Congress & Walker Collection / Delta County Historical Society

Bill Rea, a medic, landed with his platoon at Easy Red on Omaha Beach on D-Day plus-one.

Rea, a retired teacher and former Orchard City trustee, was drafted into the Army at age 19.

As the LST (landing ship tank) approached the beach, Nazi "hedgehogs" and mines in the water meant that Rea and others had to jump, shoulder-deep, into the icy Atlantic water and wade ashore. Rea said he distinctively remembered a dead soldier with a flame-thrower lying on the sand, his pack shot open and photographs of his family lying beside him.

A German tank broke the American lines and fired rounds past them, hitting a boat and debris behind them in the water. "The sound was like a handful of gravel hitting a tin roof."

The first night in France Rea spent in a fox hole with .50 cal tracer rounds buzzing just feet above him and anti-aircraft shooting at bombers overhead. Rea said the fear was not always bullets, but shrapnel falling from the sky.

As the Americans pushed further inland, the medics followed, establishing a camp in an apple orchard. On one occasion Rea watched a pilot eject from a P-49 and his chute opened only a few feet above the ground. At the same time, the bomb from the plane landed less than 30 feet from where Rea had been observing the incident. Due to the plane's low altitude, the bomb didn't explode.

As a medic, Rea said, "venereal diseases were the most commonly treated. After liberating Paris, treating syphilis and gonorrhea became the main objective of the non-front line medical.

On one occasion some of the soldiers thought cans labelled "poison" were really alcohol. So they mixed it with grapefruit juice and within an hour 10 soldiers were dead and 75 were en route to the hospital after having consumed muriatic acid, a chemical used for cleaning typewriters, Rea recalled.

A victory ship transported Rea and a couple thousand of his fellow soldiers back to the U.S. in 1945. As the ship came into Boston harbor, Rea said he'd never forget a tugboat coming by with a Christmas tree lit up, "White Christmas" playing from the intercom, and a giant sign that read: "Welcome home -- a job well done!"

Bill Rea at his home in Eckert.
2015 Soper/Historical Society photo

Rea said his only regret was not being able to spend more time on the front lines treating the real heroes, the ones taking bullets for their nation. After the war, Rea used the GI Bill to go to college and become an educator with a specialization in teaching reading, later serving on the Orchard City Board of Trustees.

This is the third in a series of firsthand accounts from Delta County residents who served as soldiers in World War II, supported the troops on the home front and feel the costs of war today. The series coincides with a special exhibit which can be seen at the Delta Museum.


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M. Soper, "Remembering WWII: A medic's perspective" Delta County Independent (Delta, Colo.) 18 Nov. 2015, pg. A8

Boston: Fenway Park & Gardner Museum

Today I rode down to Boston with two new friends – Erin and Julie – to tour the Gardner Museum and to watch the Red Sox play at Fenway Park. Erin is a lawyer from Alabama who is looking from insurance and delict law to becoming a teaching law as a professor. Julie is a recent graduate from Wisconsin and is pretty quiet. That said, I made up for any doldrums in the conversation by regaling the two of them with anecdotes from my days in Edinburgh. My time in Edinburgh is a golden era, which has already been romanticized in my reflective outlook.

The Gardner Museum is named for Isabella Stewart Gardner, who collected the bulk of the paints, sculptures, tapestries, frescos, veneers, and curios. Mrs Gardner was born on 14 April 1840 in New York City and moved to Boston after marrying John “Jack” Lowell Gardner in 1860. Mrs Gardner’s father died in 1891 leaving her with an estate worth $1.6 million at the time. The Gardners travel extensively in Europe, spending time at the Palazzo Barbaro in Venice where they decide to commence construction of a purpose built art museum patterned after the great Italian villas. In 1898, Mr Gardner dies, and Mrs Gardner pushes on to complete the dream the two shared.

In 1903 the Gardner Museum opens to the public. In 1924, Mrs Gardner dies at the age of 84, leaving her collections and museum to a trust for the benefit of the public. The only stipulation is that the paintings must not be rearranged from how she set up the displays.

In 1990, during the St Patrick’s Day celebrations, two policemen arrive at the Gardner Museum informing the guards of an alarm. After letting the policemen into the museum, they bound-up the guards and stole 13 paints, sculptures and tapestries worth an approximate $500 million at the time. The works stolen included: Vermeer’s “The Concert” and Rembrandt’s “The Storm on the Sea of Galilee”. No works have been recovered and the museum still posts a $5 million reward for the successful recovery of the paintings.

As I walked into one of the galleries, I noticed a frame with no canvas and a simple note which reminded patrons of the atrocious villainous act which occurred in March 1990. I was very impressed to see Titian’s “Europa” and a self-portrait of Rembrandt. To also see John Singer Sargent’s, James Whistler’s and Piero della Francesca’s works was very impressive. MacKnight has a style which reminded me of a Currier and Ives – a romantic winter scene, complete with idyllic characters on a sleigh ride.

After the museum we had a light lunch and then set off for Fenway Park, which is celebrating its centennial this season. I sat in section 32, row 02, seat 05. The view was magnificent! The historic baseball park had an aura which was magical and captured a glorious past which modern stadiums seem to omit. It was much smaller than I thought it would be, as Colorado’s Coors Field seems much, much larger. The Red Sox hosted the Baltimore Orals and managed to win 2-1. The game was complete with the crowd singing to the organ music of “Take Me Out To The Ball Game”. I felt as if I had slipped back in time and began to wonder if I would seem ‘Ricky Ricardo and Fred Mertz’ would come wondering by with peanuts and cracker jacks looking for little Ricky. The Red Sox second baseman that was just moved up from the minors had two of the best catches I have ever seen. While a late season trade led fans to criticise the owner, John Henry, for getting rid of the players they knew and loved, perhaps a better slot in the draft and a few “home-grown” players will improve the odds for next season. I was thrilled to be one of the fans to have seen a game at Fenway during the park’s 100^th birthday!!

Wimbledon: a forum for history

During the 2011 Women's Semi-Finals at Wimbledon I went with my good friend Jonathan Scott-Lee. That was an epic day and one which I will never forget. Today I had the honour of watching the Men's finals on a live-stream feed with my friend Annalise. It was great fun and we witnessed several historic happenings in the world of tennis. Firstly, Murray became the first Brit in 74 years (since Fred Perry) to make it to the final match. Secondly, Federer tied Pete Sampras' seven Wimbledon Championship record. Thirdly, this win put Federer back at Number One in the world rankings, which means he will surpass the record career weeks at Number One Sampras held. 

Papal Visit of Pope Benedict XVI to Scotland

Today I possessed a front row seat to history being created, as Pope Benedict XVI became the first Head of State of the Holy See to visit the United Kingdom. In 1982, Pope John Paul II visited Great Britain in his role as Holy Father of the Catholic Church and thus did not meet with any members of Her Majesty’s Government or The Royal Family. At 10:30 AM the papal jet landed at Edinburgh International Airport and Benedict XVI was greeted on the tarmac by His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh and the Royal Scots Guard. I first saw the Pope in the popemobile, as he travelled in a motorcade towards the Palace of Holyroodhouse, Her Majesty The Queen’s Royal Residence in Scotland.

At 11:00 AM the Pope was being given a State Welcome at the palace with all the members of the Order of the Thistle; the Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg; senior members of the Royal Family and prominent member of British Society, along with the Lord Provost of Edinburgh. Pope Benedict XVI was then granted an audience with Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. During the State Reception for the Papal Delegation, I travelled by train from Edinburgh to Glasgow with the University of Edinburgh Catholic Student Union to attend the open-air Mass in the presence of the Holy Father at Glasgow’s Bellahouston Park. It should be noted that Bellahouston was the location where Pope John Paul II held the first ever Papal Mass in Great Britain back in 1982 to a crowd of well over 100,000 worshipers.

As the popemobile began a procession through the streets of Edinburgh at around 12:30 PM I was just entering the park with the Catholic Student Union and watched aerial scenes of the historic journey on the jumbotron. My presence at the Mass is directly attributed to the help of my friend Chiara, from near Milano, whom I studied with during my LL.M. and her friend, Brett, whom graciously looked after me during the pilgrimage and patiently answered my numerous questions regarding traditions, fundamental beliefs and history of the Catholic Church.

While the Pope and his official motorcade made their way from Edinburgh to Glasgow, the crowd was entertained by Susan Boyle, a native Scotswoman who rose to fame a couple years ago during the television show, Britain’s Got Talent, for her amazing vocal abilities.

At 16:45, Pope Benedict had arrived at Bellahouston Park and made his way to the pulpit where he prepared for the Holy Mass. It was at this point in time that I was less than five feet away from His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI as he made his way towards the steps. As the Entrance Procession made their way past the music of “Grace to you and Peace” and “Be thou my vision” played. It was a moment before this, when the Holy Father was vesting and the Strathclyde Police Bagpipe Band were playing “Amazing Grace” with a 1,000 member choir singing the classic lines that the magnitude of the event hit me and something inside acknowledged that I was observing something very special, which words would be feudal to describe.

A liturgy of the Word (an excerpt of The Bible), Romans 12:3-13, Psalm 22 and Luke 10:1-9 were read and in the Scottish tradition, a Celtic Invocation given. The Archbishop of Glasgow then gave the Pope an ancient book, written by St Ninian from the 4th Century. A prayer was said over the gift and a salute to the Feast of Saint Ninian, the Apostle of Scotland, born a Briton, but travelled to Rome and then back to faraway isle to spread the light of faith in Jesus. A Eucharistic prayer was read in Latin by the Holy Father and then the sermon was delivered. Since this was a Papal State occasion, the message was targeted to a much larger audience than the 60,000 gathered in Bellahouston Park. He said the future of Christianity is with the youth a point which I highly agree, though the latter portion of his talk focused on the negative effects of privatizing religion and the removal of the church from society – a premises which I find archaic and treading on dangerous consequences of religion becoming a tool of state power, rather than as a guide for the faithful.

The Mass ended and I celebrated the very special occasion with the Glasgow and Edinburgh University Catholic Student Unions in the tradition manner of wine, cheese and bread. It was rewarding for me to be party to such a monumentous and historic occasion and to have been witness to the first ever State Visit by the Pontiff of the Holy See to Great Britain and then to have been within an arm’s length of the Pope twice in a single day – once while he was wearing a tartan shawl to show his support for the Scottish people and the second time as he was fully vested for Mass. To those who read this account, peace be with you.