21st Annual Cattlemen's Camp Meeting and interviews with Hank Smith and Don Usrey

Details

Item NumberPPLDoh-i-08Time Coverage1976-07-02Date Interview7/3/1976DescriptionThe recording begins with a worship service recorded at the 21st Annual Colorado Cowboy Camp Meeting on the Hank Smith ranch near Kiowa, Elbert County, Colorado. This 22-minute recording is followed by interviews with meeting organizer Don Usrey and ranch owner Hank Smith, then interviews with camp cooks Joe Valdez and Orlando Talavera. Both Usrey and Smith discuss the history and tradition of cowboy camp meetings and specifically the meeting on the Smith Ranch, which began in 1956. Usrey talks about the organization, structure, schedule, administration and religious aspects of the camp meetings. He also relates stories of how the meetings have affected people's lives. Smith discusses the inter-denominational aspect of the meetings. He talks about his family history in the area, dating from about 1865, including his grandfather's witnessing of the 1868 massacre of Henrietta Dietemann and her five-year-old son John by Arapahoe and/or Cheyenne Indians on Comanche Creek, Elbert County. He discusses the history of his family's ranch, his grandfather's migration from Germany to Colorado, Indian depredations on the plains, raising livestock and difficulties with the weather. He talks about the religious aspects of the camp meetings. Finally, Randall Teeuwan interviews camp cooks Joe Valdez and Orlando Talavera, then camp participants David Black and Tom Darren.NarratorUsrey, Don and Smith, HankInterviewerGulliford, Andrew Geographic CoverageColoradoWest (U.S.)Great PlainsSubjectCowboys--Religious lifeCowboys--ColoradoCowboys--West (U.S.)--Social life and customsElbert County (Colo.)--HistoryDietteman Massacre, Colo., 1868Massacres--West (U.S. )--History--19th centuryCollectionColorado Centennial - Bicentennial Oral History ProjectOral HistoriesLanguageenPublisherPikes Peak Library DistrictRightshttp://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-EDU/1.0/Original Format1/4-inch reel-to-reel audio tape

Digitization

Date Digital7/29/2008Formataudio mp3Duration1:35:10Resource Typesound

Digital Collections

Menu

21st Annual Cattlemen's Camp Meeting and interviews with Hank Smith and Don Usrey