Our dreams, outside the center's gate

Panorama of Granada Relocation Center, Amache, Colorado, showing in the foreground a typical barracks unit ... consisting of 12 six-room apartment barrack buildings, a recreation hall, laundry and bathhouse, and the mess hall, constructed by Army Engineers. The Center is made up of 30 such blocks, complemented by hospital buildings, adminstrative office buildings, living quarters, general warehouse structures and Military Police quarters. War Relocation Authority photo.

Family Christmas Spirit

Tomorrow is Christmas. For the majority of us, it is the second one within the confines of a relocation center. It's different from those Christmases we enjoyed back in the state of sunshine. Somehow, the true meaning of the spirit of Christmas are lacking. We are often blinded because we no longer have the opportunity to attend those gala Christmas eve parties; because we are no longer able to receive or give Christmas gifts in abundance: because we are no longer able to enjoy the small things that go with Christmas time. But if that's our true conception of a "White Christmas," we have yet to learn and receive the real rewards that go with the true Christmas spirit — especially in our family groups.

No matter where we are, no matter what adverse conditions we encounter, we can and must enjoy a certain degree of Christmas spirit. Remember when Charles Dickens wrote one must be a misanthrope if he didn't have some sort of pleasant associations aroused at the thought of Christmas time? It is worth a thought or two.

From the Granada Pioneer (Amache, Colo.), December 24, 1943, (Christmas EDITION)

Christmas in captivity

By Rob Carrigan, robcarrigan1@gmail.com

Following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt authorized the forced relocation of Japanese Americans living on the West Coast with Executive Order 9066. In the spring of 1942, some 120,000 Japanese Americans were "evacuated" and placed into temporary "assembly centers" before being transferred to more permanent and isolated "relocation centers" like Granada, Colo., or Amache, as it was known to those forced to live there. 

Run by the War Relocation Authority, the government body responsible for administration of the incarceration program, Granada was one of ten such camps, the only one to be built on private land. The camp site covered 10,000 acres , of which only 640 acres  was used for residential, community and administrative buildings. The remaining land was used in agricultural projects. The land was owned by several ranchers and farmers before the war, and only one of these property owners willingly sold his acreage to make way for the camp, creating tension between the WRA and the other landholders, whose parcels were taken via condemnation. 

However, this did not necessarily translate to overall resistance to Japanese Americans being housed in the area: Colorado Governor Ralph Lawrence Carr was one of the few to welcome the Japanese Americans and the only governor not to oppose the establishment of a WRA camp in his state, going against the anti-Japanese sentiment of the times.

While Colorado Governor Ralph Carr's campaign policies were aimed at dismantling the expensive bureaucracy of the New Deal, Carr still supported Roosevelt's foreign policy and favored American entrance into World War II after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. The war with Japan initiated a chain of events that bred discrimination and intolerance toward Japanese-Americans. 

In 1942 an estimated 120,000 Japanese-Americans were stripped of their property and possessions. These displaced citizens were resettled in land-locked states by the War Relocation Authority so that the supposed "yellow peril" could be contained. The question on many Coloradans' minds was not whether American citizens of Japanese decent should be stripped of their rights and put in internment camps, but where the camps should be. The overwhelming opinion of the populace was typified by a series of highway billboards proclaiming, "Japs keep going."

In other states, the Governors took aggressive stances against allowing relocation camps in their States.
The Governor of Wyoming at the time went as far as saying:
“There will be Japs hanging from every pine tree.” If the Federal Government tried to relocate West Coast Japanese Americans there.

One of the few voices of reason during wartime was Governor Carr, who continued to treat the Japanese-Americans with respect and sought to help them keep their American citizenship. He sacrificed his political career to bravely confront the often-dark side of human nature. 

At one time, the New York Times consider Carr as being on the path to become president of the United States.

"If you harm them, you must harm me. I was brought up in a small town where I knew the shame and dishonor of race hatred. I grew to despise it because it threatened the happiness of you and you and you." Carr's selfless devotion to all Americans, while destroying his hopes for a senate seat, did in the end become extolled as, "a small voice but a strong voice."

Also in the same edition of the Granada Pioneer (Amache, Colo.), 

December 24, 1943, (Christmas EDITION)

But we, who remain behind the barbed wire fences, must remember that each passing day will make it more and more difficult return to the towering skyscrapers, broad boulevards or to a farm in a green valley.

Even now as I write this message, there are are evacuees with suit-cases in hand and holding overcoats boarding pullmans, leaving the drab conditions, suffocating dust, shivering cold and sweltering heat that go with any relocation center.

As we hear that popular song, "I am dreaming of White Christmas," let's remember to make that dream

a reality. Our dreams of returning to America's life stream, are dreams of all minority groups. In this we can find hope and renewed strength for the difficult task which lies ahead.

As we celebrate our second Christmas tomorrow, we hope another Christmas dawns. The majority of the 100,000 remaining evacuees will see and observe "with peace on earth, good will toward men" from outside the center gates. 

__ from Editor, Sueo Sako

An etched wooden sign "Amache Japanese Relocation Camp," complete with outlines of buildings, one of the only remnants, save for a few cement foundations a little nearby graveyard, of the Amache Camp, where Japanese and Japanese-Americans were interned during World War II, near the town of Granada in Prowers County, Colorado. 2015, Carol M. Highsmith, photographer.

Montrose Mercury marks modern millennium milestone

Newsboy on Main Street, Montrose, Colorado, Rothstein photo.
 

Quicksilver before the digital age

By Rob Carrigan, robcarrigan1@gmail.com

A little more than 600 years ago, in 1418 to be exact, the little-known, and often disputed date of the earliest piece of printing was offered in the form of a wood-cut of the Blessed Virgin in Brussels. About 30 years later, Johannes Gensfleisch zur Laden zum Gutenberg, a German inventor, printer, publisher, and goldsmith; introduced a mechanical movable-type printing press and printed the first book, known to most as the Gutenberg Bible. His work started a revolution in Europe and is commonly thought of as the most significant milestone of the second millennium, as it marks the beginning of modern human history. 

By 1622, the first newspaper in England, The Weekly Press, was off the press and on the streets telling folks that could read at the time about the German wars. Forty years later, give or take, and you could advertise product or services, if you could strike an agreement with a publisher or printer. By the end of that millennium, you might read the first women's newspaper Ladies Mercury, of London, or the first example of a truly free press, when the powers that be, stopped requiring licensing, and even read the first comic newspaper in the form of the Merrie Mercury. or the first political info in Daniel Defoe's Mercure Scandals.

Benjamin Franklin was penning his "Busy Body" articles and they appeared in the American Weekly Mercury by 1719. Early newspaper publishers seemed to have a thing for 'quick silver,' as a publication title.

A hundred years later, lithographic printing had developed, machine-made paper was available, and a person could use a hand press to get the paper out. We were working hard on type-casting and composing machines to speed up the process.

Flash forward to 1920, and three main departments of a newspaper have developed, according to Newspaper Editing: a manual for editors, copy readers, and students of newspaper desk work, by Grant Milner Hyde, Instructor of Journalism at the University of Wisconsin.

1, The business office: Duty is primarily responsible to make the enterprise financially successful.

2. The mechanical plant: At the time, this department included typesetters, printers, linotype operators, copy cutters, bank men, proof readers in the composing room. In the Stereotype room, where all responsible for getting to plate were located. And in the pressroom, you had printers, mailroom workers, etc...

3. The Editorial department: "The third and most important division of the newspaper's plant is the editorial department which prepares all the reading matter, except advertisements, that goes into the printed paper," Hyde swears.

But once printed, the paper has to be distributed. Maybe by mail, carriers, or others – using planes, trains and animals, and autos. Or, as in the case of the modern product, digital distribution. But let us explore the paper of the last century photographically, with these photos by Russell Lee and Arthur Rostein  taken in 1939 and 1940, in Montrose, Colorado, for the Farm Security Administration, and Office of War Information.

Distributing newspapers to newsboys at the railroad station. Montrose, Colorado. Lee photo.

Taking the newspapers off the morning train, Montrose, Colorado. Lee photo.

Montrose, Colorado, is junction point for standard gauge and narrow gauge railroads and bus lines. Papers and mail are being loaded into bus for transporting to towns along the route, Lee photo.

Newsboys getting the papers just after the arrival of the morning train, Montrose, Colorado. While there is a daily paper in this town here as in most towns of this size, the papers from the larger cities are popular] Lee photo.

Click on photos to view more closely.

Boy bandit kills Sheriff Oscar Meyer

Ladies love outlaws, like babies love stray dogs. Ladies touch babies like a banker touches gold, outlaws touch ladies somewhere deep down in their soul. 

___ Lee Clayton, for Waylon Jennings

Career criminal James "Mad Dog" Sherbondy reads a newspaper in his prison cell at the State Penitentiary in Canon City. First convicted in 1937 of murdering a Sheriff, Sherbondy died in a shootout on the sidewalk in front of the Denver Post in 1969. His head is half shaved, bars and galvanized steel line the interior walls behind him. Photographed by Karol Smith, 1950. William K. Patterson, Mss. Collection, Western History / Genealogy Department, Denver Public Library.

Boy Bandit Escapes 

After Shooting Down Oscar Meyer on Tennessee Pass 

__ from headline in Eagle Valley Enterprise on Nov. 5, 1937.

By Rob Carrigan, robcarrigan1@gmail.com

Jim Sherbondy was accustomed to being in trouble, even as early as 17.

Oscar Meyer, 49, of Red Cliff, was a licensed mortician, and a deputy sheriff. "Oscar Meyer was a fearless law officer. He had kept the peace at Red Cliff for many years where others failed. He was rarely armed, never carried a gun, but would wade into a pack of drunken fighting men armed with knives and clubs barehanded and straighten out the trouble," reported the Enterprise.

In fact, Meyer was unarmed on Nov. 2 when he answered a law enforcement call on Tennessee Pass. As he lay bleeding to death on the road, Meyer told a passing motorist who had shot him: 17-year-old Red Cliff resident Jim Sherbondy.

Described by newspapers as a "slight, good-looking boy," Sherbondy was a troubled young man. Wayne Trujillo of Denver, a great-great nephew of Oscar Meyer, says it is possible that Sherbondy and Meyer had a sort of running feud. Once captured, Sherbondy reportedly told officers that his dislike for Meyer dated back to his school days, when Meyer was the truant officer and forced his parents to send him to school. Sherbondy also accused Meyer of being a "tough cop" who subdued drunken men by beating them over the head with a gun. Meyer did have a reputation for being tough.

"Regardless of which picture of Meyer is accurate, there is no doubt that "boy bandit" was already in trouble on the day Meyer died. Sherbondy, the son of Shirl Sherbondy, who worked for the New Jersey Zinc Mine at Gilman, was a suspect in an armed robbery in Chicago. Eagle County law officers had
been alerted, and were on the lookout for the boy," wrote Kathy Heicher Vail Daily Trail staff.

"Indeed, Sherbondy was hiding out with his family in Red Cliff. On Tuesday, Nov. 2, his mother, Nannie, loaded up her three sons and the family's belongings in a Ford Pickup, and drove out of town, headed for Arkansas. However, as they pulled out of town, a high school girl saw Jim Sherbondy, and told Oscar Meyer," says Kathy Heicher in  her Vail Daily Trail report.

At Sherbondy's trial, Meyer's wife, Ollie Graham Meyer, a music teacher, testified that her husband hurriedly left the house in his "laboring clothes," without a coat, and left both of his guns at home in a dresser drawer, Heicher wrote.

According to newspaper reports, Meyer quickly overtook the Sherbondy vehicle a mile and a half west of the Tennessee Pass summit, crowded the truck over to the side of the road, and stopped it. Stepping out of his car, Meyer informed Sherbondy that he was under arrest, and ordered him to surrender. Jim Sherbondy stepped out with a gun and fired, hitting Meyer twice in the chest.

Sherbondy then jumped in Meyer's car, and fled the scene, leaving Meyer and his family behind. A few minutes later, a passing motorist stopped. The dying Meyer named Sherbondy as his killer, says Heicher.

"The town reacted to news of Meyer's death with seething anger. Posses were organized, and hills along Tennessee Pass were searched. The Enterprise reported that "had he (Sherbondy) been found that night, his treatment would have been anything but gentle."


Newspaper reports said Oscar Meyer was buried in the Red Cliff Cemetery in the midst of a blizzard. An estimated 600 people attended the services. The casket was surrounded by 135 bouquets of flowers. Judge Luby, an army buddy of Meyer, was one of the pall bearers.

Sherbondy remained at large for three weeks, apparently spending nearly a week walking from Tennessee Pass to Wolcott, where he hid in a haystack, then jumped a train at State Bridge. He was eventually arrested in Hastings, Neb. when officers recognized his face from a wanted poster. Eagle County Sheriff Murray Wilson brought Sherbondy back to jail, says Heicher.

Meanwhile, officers learned that Sherbondy was wanted in Denver and Chicago on charges of aggravated robbery; and wanted in Pueblo for car theft. Wilson later described Sherbondy to the newspaper as a "cold-blooded, heartless" young man, who boasted of his crimes, and showed no remorse. Sherbondy reportedly had a "sardonic grin" on his face when he pleaded guilty to Oscar Meyer's murder in early December.

Testifying at his own sentencing hearing, Sherbondy denied any intent in the murder. Rather, the boy said he was so "scared and excited" that he did not know what he was doing. He said he thought Meyer was reaching for a gun when he shot him.

Calling Sherbondy a "depraved and wicked killer, like a wild and vicious animal," a visiting District Judge sentenced him to life in prison. It was two days before Sherbondy's 18th birthday.

Escapes

Much of Sherbondy's prison years were spent in solitary confinement. In prison, he earned the nickname "Mad Dog." On New Year's Eve, 1947, Sherbondy was one of a dozen inmates who escaped the State Prison in Canon City. He made his way to a nearby farm, where he held a family hostage.
However, when the one of the hostages, a seven-year-old boy, developed appendicitis, Sherbondy surrendered quietly so the boy could be treated. Hollywood eventually made a movie called "Canon City", based on the incident.

Sherbondy's second attempt at escape in 1952 failed. He later attempted suicide, then, for the next decade, was a model prisoner, who tutored kids at the state reformatory in Buena Vista.

In 1962, he was paroled to Eagle County, at age 43. That freedom, was short lived, lasting only 10 months, when a parole violation (armed robbery and possession of explosives), saw him back in prison.

Again, Sherbondy became a model prisoner. Late in October, 1969, he walked away from a prison honor camp at Buckley Air National Guard Center in Denver.

Nov. 28, Denver police officers spotted Sherbondy driving in downtown Denver. After a car chase, Sherbondy jumped out in front of the Denver Post newspaper offices, between California and Welton Streets, at the time.

When Sherbondy pulled out a pistol and fired it, the police fired back. Sherbondy died on the sidewalk. Afterwards, police found two homemade pipe bombs in the bag that Sherbondy carried.

Eighty years ago — Nov. 2, 1937 — 

One of Eagle County’s most infamous murders happened on Tennessee Pass

Red Cliff resident Jim Sherbondy was only 17 years old when he shot and killed Eagle County Undersheriff Oscar Meyer. The murder touched off a nationwide manhunt, a highly publicized arrest and a closely followed trial.

Sherbondy was convicted of second-degree murder, and he celebrated his 18th birthday by reporting to the state penitentiary to begin serving a life sentence.

Jim Sherbondy Arrested in Nebraska Tuesday

___ The Eagle Valley Enterprise, November 26, 1937

OSCAR MEYERS MURDERER TAKEN EASILY—WAS UNARMED WHEN ARRESTED—HE IS NOW ON HIS WAY BACK TO COLORADO IN SHERIFF WILSONS CUSTODY. 

"A phone message was received from Mr. Wilson, who had arrived at Hastings, Thursday morning which relieved all doubt of the prisoner being Jim Sherbondy. According to the story lie told the sheriff, he worked his way west from Tennessee Pass instead of east, keeping to the hills along the railroad tracks. It took him seven or eight days to reach Wolcott, having little or nothing to eat In the meantime. From Wollcot he worked his way across the Piney divide to State Bridge, where he said he had something to eat. From there ho hiked to the Moffat tunnel where he caught a train into Denver. According to this, he could not have been in Pueblo the morning following the killing of Oscar Meyer," said the Eagle Valley Enterprise.

"James Sherbondy has been caught. Tuesday afternoon Sheriff Wilson received a telephone call from Chief of Police John A. James of Hastings, Nebr., which was the moat welcome message the sheriff has had in a long time . James told Wilson that he had just taken into custody Jim Sherbondy, 19, who on November 2, shot and killed Oscar W. Meyer near Tennessee Pass, and who has been the object of a nation wide search since Sargent F . E . Sullivan of the Hastings police force said that Sherbondy had come to tne police station Monday evening and asked for nights lodging, which was given him in the jail. He was permitted to leave about 8 o'clock the next morning. An hour or so later, Chief James received a copy of the police bulletin sent broadcast by the Sheriff last week, which contained Sherbondy's picture and description and offering a reward of $500 for his arrest and conviction. The police noticed the resemblance of the picture to the man they had just released. Sergt . Sullivan took another officer and went to the railroad yards and kept watch on outgoing trains. About 2:30 o clock on Tuesday afternoon Sherbondy was ar rested as he was boarding a west bound train . Apparently he was doubling back on his trail, as the train he was boarding was Denver bound. On being questioned by the police, Sherbondy finally admitted his identy, and expressed his willingness to return without extradition. He described the gun used in the killing, which tallies with that now in the possesion of Sheriff Wilson, found in a Denver pawn shop last week. Sherbondy was unarmed when taken by police. Hc is reported to have told the Hastings police that he didn't want to kill the Colorado officer but that he had to do it. Sheriff Wilson and Undersheriff Eldon Wilson left Wednesday morning for Nebraska to return Sherbondy to Colorado for trial for Meyer's murder Mr . Wilson has worked night and day on Sherbondy's capture since the day he committed the crime and then completely disappeared. He had uncovered his record and obtained the information concerning him which led to his arrest in Pennsylvania, on August 4, 1937 ; he was arrested at Carnegie for riding a train and served ten days in jail. He used the alias of Robert R. Roberts (his mother's maiden name) at that time, He has also gone under the names of Jim Arnold and Stanley J . Kanowichy during the short period of his career of crime. Sherbondy joined the U . S . army at Fort Logan, July 11 , 1936, and deserted there from at Fort Warren, Wyo ., July 31, 1936 . He is wanted in Denver, Colo ., and Chicago , Ill , on charges of aggravated robbery. The federal government was also looking for him on a charge of stealing an automobile in Pueblo last June and driving it into Nebraska, where he abandoned it. The relief in this community at the capture of Sherbondy is immense, and that he was taken without the loss of another life is also a relief, as it was firmly believed that he would resist capture to the very last. He had killed unarmed Oscar Meyer in order to keep from being taken into custody on a minor charge, and that he would go the limit in order to avoid trial for that murder seemed a logical conclusion," according to  the Eagle Valley Enterprise report.

Ashcroft strikes, population spikes, then falls to unlifelike

Boom, followed by bust in Pitkin County town

By Rob Carrigan, robcarrigan1@gmail.com 

Both children of the Silver booms in West Slope Colorado, Ashcroft developed first, but was soon overshadowed by nearby Aspen, and relegated early to ghost town status. Even after WWII, when mining  interest shifted to winter sports, Ashcroft sputtered while Aspen blossomed.

In the spring of 1880 two prospectors, Charles B. Culver and W.F. Coxhead left the mining boomtown of Leadville in search of silver deposits in the Castle Creek Valley. Silver was found and Coxhead promoted their discovery with zeal back in Leadville. When he returned to "Castle Forks City," as it had been dubbed, he found that 23 other prospectors had joined "Crazy Culver." Together the men formed a Miners' Protective Association, built a courthouse and laid out the streets in Ashcroft in just two weeks. Each of their association's members paid $5, or one day's work, and $1, to draw for building lots. In all there were 97 members in the Ashcroft Miners' Protective Association, according to information from the Aspen Historical Society.

The town was renamed Ashcroft in 1882 after a rich ore strike was uncovered in Montezuma and Tam O'Shanter Mines. The mines were partially owned by H.A.W. Tabor of Leadville mining fame. Reportedly, Tabor and his second wife visited Ashcroft in 1883 and hosted a grand ball and banquet. Tabor also reportedly bought rounds of drinks for everyone in each of the town's 13 saloons, says Aspen Historical Society.

The same year that Tabor visited Ashcroft the town population had risen to around 2,000. Ashcroft was also home to two newspapers, a school, sawmills, a small smelter and 20 saloons. At this point in its history the town was larger than Aspen and closer to the railroad in Crested Butte.

By 1885 the town was home to between 2,000 and 3,500 people, had six hotels and 20 saloons. As quickly as the town went boom it went bust. The silver deposits that Culver and Coxhead initially discovered produced 14,000 ounces of silver to the ton at their onset. This production, however, was short-lived as the deposits were shallow. Though there were promises of a rail line to Crested Butte the promises never materialized and investors and workers were lured away to places such as Aspen. In 1884 another rich strike was discovered; this one, however, was in Aspen. This led to the end of the prosperity in Ashcroft as people began moving to Aspen.

By 1885 there were only 100 summer residents and $5.60 in the town coffers. By the turn of the 20th century, only a handful of aging, single men lived in Ashcroft. Though they all owned mining claims they spent most of their time fishing and hunting or reading and drinking in a local bar. The men traded stories for drinks and served as an informal employment agency, matching up men with the sporadic remaining work at the mines. Every four years the remaining citizens would hold municipal elections and choose officers from amongst themselves.

The town's last permanent resident, according to the lore, was Jack Leahy, and he died in 1939, making Ashcroft officially inhabited by only ghost at that time.

The 1930s saw a new flurry of interest in the village, with the burgeoning winter Olympics and winter sports that drew attention to Ashcroft. International sportsman Ted Ryan and his partner Billy Fiske, captain of America's gold medal Olympic bobsled team, built the Highland-Bavarian Lodge north of Ashcroft. They planned to build a European style ski resort complete with an aerial tramway leading up to Mount Hayden. World War II put an end to their plans as Fiske was killed in combat and Ryan ended up leasing Ashcroft to the U.S. Army for $1 a year.

During World War II, the Army's 10th Mountain Division used Ashcroft for mountaineering training, mostly during the summer of 1942. Following the war, most of the area's ski development occurred in Aspen and Ryan later deeded the site to the U.S. Forest Service.

In 1948 World War II veteran Stuart Mace, also a well known dog sledder, brought his family and dog sled operation to Ashcroft. In 1955 Mace and his Toklat huskies were featured in the television series Sgt. Preston of the Yukon, and the ghost town was fitted with false fronts to imitate a Canadian set for the filming of the series through 1958. Mace was given the use of 5 acres of land in exchange for caretaking what remaining holdings Highland-Bavarian had in the Ashcroft area. He devoted the remainder of his life to protecting the area from development and restoring the ecology. He was joined in that effort in 1974 by the Aspen Historical Society which helped Ashcroft make it to the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.

Located 11 miles up Castle Creek Rd. from the roundabout at the west entrance to Aspen, the silver mining ghost town features the restored remains of several historic buildings, including a saloon, a post office, and the Bird House Hotel (formerly known as the Hotel View). "Guided tours and interpretive signage tell the stories of the former boom town nestled among spectacular alpine meadows at the headwaters of Castle Creek," says the Historic Society.

In September of 1941, Marion Post Wolcott, shooting photos for the eventually famous collection of Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information Black-And-White Negatives, captured the ghost mining town of Ashcroft, Colorado, in these photos.