Interview with John Ora Carpenter

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Item NumberPPLDoh-i-07aTime Coverageca. 1887-1976Date Interview4/26/1976DescriptionOral history interview with John Ora Carpenter, of Limon, Colorado. Mr. Carpenter gives a detailed account of his life as a laborer and homesteader in eastern Colorado. Mr. Carpenter came to Colorado from his home in Kansas around 1906, when he was 19 years old. He talks about his early years in Colorado building irrigation canals along the Arkansas River and working on various ranches, then homesteading near Limon in 1909, where he ran a dairy operation until his children were born, then raised wheat during WWII. He describes the process of filing on his property as a homesteader and proving up on the homestead. He relates details of dry farming on the prairie, dairy farming, the use of sod houses, wells and irrigation. He talks about encounters with rattlesnakes, jack rabbits and coyotes. He talks about the coming of telephones and electricity to the area. He describes the effects of the Great Depression and dust storms during the Dust Bowl era. He also gives an account of the blizzard of December 1913. He compares government welfare programs of the 1970s to the public works programs during the depression. NarratorCarpenter, John Ora, 1887-1980InterviewerTeeuwen, RandallSubjectLimon (Colo.)--HistoryGreat Plains--HistoryHomesteadingGreat DepressionRanching--Colorado--HistoryFarming--Colorado--HistoryDry farming--Great Plains Dairy farmingSod housesBlizzards--ColoradoAnimals--Great PlainsLincoln County (Colo.)--HistoryFrontier and pioneer life--Colorado Great DepressionDust Bowl Era, 1931-1939CollectionOral HistoriesColorado Centennial - Bicentennial Oral History ProjectLanguageenPublisherPikes Peak Library DistrictRightsPikes Peak Library District| http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-EDU/1.0/Original Format1/4-inch reel-to-reel audio tapeTranscriptionOral History Interview with John Ora Carpenter Interview by Randall Teeuwen 26 April 1976 OH1-07a

Oral HistoryJohn Ora Carpenter

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Date Digital7/29/2008Formataudiomp3File Size42.3 MBFile Name PPLDoh-i-07aDuration1:01:38Resource Typesound

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Interview with John Ora Carpenter