ROY SLAUGHENHOUPT. Born 1927. SUMMARY of OH 1687 This interview was recorded on July 25, 2010, and donated to the Maria Rogers Oral History Program. The interviewer is Kaye Turnbaugh. She is joined by Diane and Dallas Glasser. ABSTRACT: Roy Slaughenhoupt, whose family came to Rollinsville in 1855, discusses his family history, his own childhood, and some of the many families who have a long history in the Rollinsville/Nederland area. He describes houses and businesses that were in Rollinsville and Nederland in the 1930s through the 1950s, and he also discusses Boulder County roads, mines, and several historic town sites, including Cardinal and Tungsten. He also tells many anecdotes about the area s former residents. [A]. 00:00 Introduction Born March 5, 1927, in Grand Junction, CO. Moved to Meeker, Coburn, Rollinsville, Nederland. Entered Army in 1945; discharged in 1946. Worked in construction and in mines after military service. Worked for the school district from 1961 to retirement in 1983. Mother was born in Rollinsville. His great-grandfather came to the Rollinsville area in 1855, settled in Rollinsville in 1859. His grandmother was born in Mountain City in 1863. Mother born in 1896 in Rollinsville. Parents married in 1917. Great-grandparents stories about migrating west. 04:59 Discussion of photo of John Quincy Adams Rollins house with card written by Mrs. Rollins and her daughter. Home later turned into a mercantile by Jim Pinkus. Burned in 1948. Memories of Rollinsville and surrounding area during his childhood. Looking at the photo of the previously mentioned house: comments about it being two stories high, fancy, with gingerbread trim. Mention of brick house on the south side of town that belonged to Etta Barton. Travis Gulch/LeFevre Gulch. Travis and LeFevre families. Interview with Roy Slaughenhoupt 1
Location of old roads. 10:52 School during his childhood. Rollinsville one-room schoolhouse where he attended second through fifth grade: wood-burning stove for heat, water brought from a well, separate outhouses for girls and boys. Teachers: Etta Hall and Miss Francis, who died from a heart attack while shoveling snow at her house. Four or five children in a grade; twenty or fewer in the whole school. Big yellow schoolhouse in Rollinsville built about 1938. It was a WPA project. 14:46 Father and uncle owned a tungsten mine below Shoshoni. Later his father had job as caretaker at Camp Shoshoni during the winter. Mother did laundry for Shoshoni using a Montgomery Ward gasoline-powered washing machine. Sisters: Rose Ellen and Margaret. More about father s and uncle s tungsten mining experiences. Ore mills. Wolf Tongue Mill. Train crash in Rollinsville in 1935. 20:02 Rollinsville train depot. Old post office burning down. Store across the street from post office. Story about the business changing hands during the Depression. Mrs. St. Claire owned another store in the area. 25:01 Went to school in Nederland through the 10th grade. Nederland during the 1940s and 1950s: describes stores and other buildings Story about two barbers: one who gave speedy haircuts, and another who was called Nick, the Barber and owned goats. 31:36 Stories about colorful residents. Livery barn for which his father drove horses. Interview with Roy Slaughenhoupt 2
Father came from Pennsylvania. Came to Colorado to work for relatives of his brother s wife in Paonia. 35:40 Mother s father came from Alsace Lorraine and was a blacksmith in mines. Accident in 1918 in which a timber hit him in the head. Mary Ann Eckers, his second cousin. The Perigo Mine Rollinsville in the 1930s. Travis Gulch, named after his grandfather. Kinsey Hotel 41:54 First job: age 11 or 12, splitting wood and carrying water for a woman who lived near Shoshoni for 10 cents per hour; got a raise to 25 cents per hour. Summer job or carrying a neighbor s mail 3 or 4 miles for 10 cents. After military service worked at Caribou Mine for eight years off and on. Mentions other who worked there. Silver, lead, and zinc mining. 45:56 Running the mine tram motor, hauling ore and waste out, hauling dynamite in to the mine. Story about a miner getting back at his boss for perceived mistreatment. Caribou Mine at that time (late 1940s): eight or ten on a crew; two shifts, day and night shift. Earned $1 an hour. Was owned by Caribou Consolidated Silver Mines Inc. Dynamite boxes used to build house in Boulder on Marine Street by a Mr. Olsen. 50:54 First car: a Model-A Ford at age 14; named Sluggo. His nickname of Slug came from the name of that car. Winter footwear: shoes and overshoes. Military service in Germany from May 1945 to November 1946 Interview with Roy Slaughenhoupt 3
January 1947, went to Texas to work to build tunnels. Effect of noise of construction work on his hearing. 56:27 Meeting Betty, his wife, in 1954. Wedding in Louisville. McKinzie and MacKinzie families in Nederland 60:59 Todd family Dances, musicians, dance pavilion Amusing stories about area residents 66:37 Nederland in the 1930s: population about 150 to 200. Bronson s Cottage Court: small stone cabins for tourists to rent. Other cabins. Nederland businesses in the 1930s: theater that burned in 1934 or 1935, Schneider s Garage. Wrestling matches. Houses in Nederland in the 1930s 70:56 Pool Hall in Nederland Second Street in Nederland: houses and businesses 73:21 End of Part A [B]. 00:00 A-Bar-H dude ranch. Houses that were moved to rebuild the highway in Nederland Silver Dollar Tavern Interview with Roy Slaughenhoupt 4
Nederland Jamboree, Nederland rodeo 06:05 Refers to papers filed by his grandmother in the San Luis Valley for a reservoir. Other family members that lived in the San Luis Valley. Cardinal in the 1930s. Families that lived there. Cardinal Mill. Denora [?] Mine. 09:46 Skating parties during high school Mud Lake vs. Dry Lake Ebersole family Lakewood Suggestion to interview Harry Wolf of Longmont about his World War II experiences 16:55 Military service in Germany during the post-war occupation. Return to Nederland after military service Hetzer [?] family 20:30 Discuss a photo of Elmer Hetzer and other miners Story about George Shanahan being struck by lightening twice Mining union in Nederland 24:24 Worked for the school system from 1961 to 1983. Snow Lion Ranch. Tregay and LeFevre families Discussion of various family members 30:32 Bill Goldman. Stories he told about going to Black Hawk to prospect and hunt as a teenager. Steam engine that he made. Work that he did on narrator s Model-A. Interview with Roy Slaughenhoupt 5
Narrator s grandmother died in 1941; his aunt died in 1972. Route of road between Rollinsville and Nederland that went by Manchester and Mud lakes. Was paved about 1937 or 1938. In 1934, his uncle worked on building part of the road. 36:45 WPA [Works Progress Administration] and NRA [National Recovery Administration] jobs during the Depression. WPA offered construction jobs for a lot of local men. Mentions some WPA projects in the area: the county garage, gymnasium. Story about teens smoking in the garage. Fire in the Tolland area that was fought by people in the Civilian Conservation Corps. Mentions fire in Glenwood in 1994. 39:44 Ski area near Rogers Park. Camp for prisoners who did road work. Rock wall that was built by prisoners more than a hundred years ago. Friend who dragged a tree behind his bicycle to be the brakes. Tells a hunting story. Margueritte Shellhouse [?] as Nederland postmistress. Shellhouse family s house. Other locations of the post office. Discussion of location of other buildings, including the fire station. 45:58 Streets being built up higher to put in the water system in Nederland. Getting coal for heating houses. Hodson s Transfer sold coal, including for the school. Nederland school became part of the Boulder Valley School District in 1961. Rollinsville students went to school in Central City after Rollinsville school closed. Later, in the 1960s, Rollinsville students began attending Nederland schools. 50:06 Building next to the Rustic Moose that was torn down in the 1950s. Hodson Transfer: hauled coal, feed, and other kinds of freight from Boulder. History of company, owners before and after Hodson. Town of Tungsten. Mill in the area. Road in the area and how it was changed to be straighter and easier to drive Interview with Roy Slaughenhoupt 6
55:35 What happened to the houses in Tungsten. Location of fire department before World War II. After the war there was a Nederland Fire Department and a Community Fire Department. Community Fire Department could go outside the city limits; Nederland Fire Department could not. Amusing story about fighting a fire with a bucket brigade and a jug. 59:37 Old Timer s Days, starting in 1985. Barn at the Old Antler s Plaza was a garage built for McKenzie Transfer Company for their freight trucks. Conoco station built by Jake. 65:45 Motorcycles in Nederland in the 1950s Tim Canren [?] and Goldie Griffith Cameron Story about Dick Murdock and an illegal still Francis Murdock: her previous marriages and two children who died from influenza. 71:35 Discusses an old photo album he owns More discussion of Dick Murdock in Nederland. Feud between Dick Murdock and Harry Hedges. 75:12 Dick Murdock and the Silver Dollar Tavern Harlows Café. Owners and their family connections. History of an old gun owned by the narrator. 80:09 End of Part B. End of interview. Interview with Roy Slaughenhoupt 7