Showing posts with label Lyman. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lyman. Show all posts

Thursday, August 2, 2012

Planting the Seed, Cultivation, and Production of Blue Mountain Shadows.

By Denianne Gutke Kartchner
and Janet Wilcox


A seed is planted
Our first Humanities Excellence Award
Presented by Delmont Oswald













I was privileged to be in on the first project. Mrs. Janet Wilcox asked me, as a senior in high school, if I would like to participate in writing a couple of articles for a local magazine. She hoped it would be long lasting. I agreed, knowing it would help me in high school. She actually let me use part of two research papers I had completed for school work as the basis of the two articles that I was to write about. One was the myth of Bigfoot and the other was on the Last Indian War of the United States which involved Posey, a native of our San Juan County area. 
I remember interviewing a couple of good men for these articles as well as my own grandmother. I also remember using the transcribing tape recorders that were new then! We had to check them out from Mrs. Wilcox. 
When we were done with the interviews we spent several hours at the school on weekends using the "new" computers of the time to type out and save what we had done. Not fully understanding computers and electronics yet, I had spent a few hours one stormy day transcribing, when suddenly the power glitched and it deleted all I had done. I was so frustrated when I had to start all over! I learned to save often after that. Transcribing was tedious work. It required careful listening and constant rewinding to be able to understand and type all that the people said in those oral interviews. 
When we came to a point where the publishing process was ready to begin, I had a deadline I was trying to meet. I had gone to St. George with some of my family to get registered for college. As we were returning home, I was working on one of the articles with papers spread everywhere in the vehicle, when we were involved in a serious car wreck. The papers were scattered all over the car, and I thought I might lose my life. However, God was watching over us and though we sustained some injuries, everyone was OK and eventually I got my article turned in on time. 
Being involved in the beginning of such a project was so cool. Being able to watch what it has grown into, is even better. Thank you for the opportunity to be involved in something so wonderful that preserves our heritage (Facebook post 1/7/2012)!



When you first approached me about working on the Shadows, the money was tight and we knew it would probably be a lot of volunteering. I think I made $2 an hour, and that was only until the money ran out. I still thought it was a great summer job, and I'm sure I was thinking my resume would benefit, too. http://static.ak.fbcdn.net/images/blank.gif

I was pretty nervous when I first started interviewing people. I actually had to talk to old people I didn't know. 
http://static.ak.fbcdn.net/images/blank.gif That's pretty scary for a teenager. But, over time, it was easy and enjoyable. I wish I remembered all that we talked about, but I do remember interviewing people on home remedies. Mustard plasters and herbs and even how they used a hot knife on the back are a few I remember.

Much of my time was also transcribing mine and others' interviews (I must have been a fast typist). I learned so much about the area, that I truly felt I fell in love with San Juan County. Thanks for the opportunity to be a part of something special. And now 25 years later? Wow” (Facebook post 1/3/2012)!

I was pretty nervous when I first started interviewing people. I actually had to talk to old people I didn't know. http://static.ak.fbcdn.net/images/blank.gif That's pretty scary for a teenager. But, over time, it was easy and enjoyable. I wish I remembered all that we talked about, but I do remember interviewing people on home remedies. Mustard plasters and herbs and even how they used a hot knife on the back are a few I remember.
Much of my time was also transcribing mine and others' interviews (I must have been a fast typist). I learned so much about the area, that I truly felt I fell in love with San Juan County. Thanks for the opportunity to be a part of something special. And now 25 years later? Wow” (Facebook post 1/3/2012)!
Much of my time was also transcribing mine and others' interviews (I must have been a fast typist). I learned so much about the area, that I truly felt I fell in love with San Juan County. Thanks for the opportunity to be a part of something special. And now 25 years later? Wow” (Facebook post 1/3/2012)! #2 Bluff history, Anasazi,  (Twin Rocks) #30 Fort Montezuma (Montezuma Creek scenes) 



I was pretty nervous when I first started interviewing people. I actually had to talk to old people I didn't know. http://static.ak.fbcdn.net/images/blank.gif That's pretty scary for a teenager. But, over time, it was easy and enjoyable. I wish I remembered all that we talked about, but I do remember interviewing people on home remedies. Mustard plasters and herbs and even how they used a hot knife on the back are a few I remember.


My Rattler staff and I did the layout for the first issue.  This was all done using the old fashioned cut and paste method on a light table.  Computers were only used for composing and editing text, which was printed out in columns, cut apart, and pasted on the layout paper.  The titles were strip printed at the media center, and they also half-toned the photos for us. Lea Hurst and Betty Shumway were our key help there. We had some problems with the first issue, as the school district media center had never printed on slick magazine paper before, and it required a special ink to make it adhere. There were no machines to collate the 66 pages and cover, so again my classes manually collated all 500 magazines.  That was a little wild but we got it done. Next they had to be stapled, which we helped do as well.  That first issue was really a “hands on” experience. 
Blue Mountain Shadows started with a seed planted at the Fife Folklore Conference in Logan in June of 1983.  K.C. Benedict and I had just become friends, and attending the two-day conference was our first historical foray together.  Little did we realize at the time that the seed would eventually expand to encompass 25 years of historical work and 45 magazines.  1983 was also the year we bought our first computer.  What a blessing this new technology was to be in facilitating the birth of Blue Mountain Shadows and helping it blossom.
 The conference was not only interesting but motivational and a seed began to germinate.  As we travelled home from Logan to Blanding, ideas and possibilities of how I could incorporate folklore were turning cartwheels in my mind. The whole trip was a memorable one, as we bounced ideas back and forth.  Eventually K C helped on our planning committee and became the writing expert who trained our first crew of researchers in 1987.  She has also been an editor and writer.

Initially I applied what I learned at the conference in doing a folklore project for USU credit.  I conducted about 10 interviews that summer, all focusing on a local trickster. This was eventually printed in issue #7 of BMS.  I began teaching at San Juan High the next year in 1984, and besides all the other “have too’s” I began incorporating historical research and writing into the curriculum. Jessie Embry who worked at BYU’s Charles Redd Center came down and trained my students and me on how to do oral interviews.  I have used her strategies ever since. By the time these 11th grade students did background research, prepared questions, conducted interviews, transcribed them, and wrote a paper, they had processed a lot of language in multiple ways  

By 1986 I had had compiled a good collection of student generated stories and reports and I wanted to find a way to share their work.  It was during that time that  I met with Bob McPherson, and LaVerne Tate, both of whom were already involved with historical preservation and loved the history of San Juan County. While the seedling of historical research had been growing, there had yet to be a harvest.  We formed a committee and hammered out a mission statement of what we hoped to accomplish and have stuck to it for 25 years. 

Our initial goals included:
1.     Publishing two magazines yearly
2.     Conducting oral interviews with Hispanic, Ute, Anglo, and Navajo San Juan County residents
3.     Transcribing and translating all taped interviews
4.     Cataloging and indexing tapes, transcripts, photographs, and research articles
5.     Sponsoring public programs which explain and share new historical information
In a sense this was our garden design and we became the caretaker-gardeners of the Blue Mountain Shadows dream, tending and nurturing it and keeping it going.  It took all three of us to make that happen, along with many talented layout people, local artists, and dozens of dedicated writers.

The Gardeners: Bob, LaVerne, Janet,
At the time that this historical “Awakening” began in Blanding, none of we three principal “Gardeners” were twiddling our thumbs looking for something else to do. We were all raising large families, working, serving in the LDS Church and community, and dealing with the vicissitudes of life brought on by tots and teenagers.  We were, however, all open to new ideas, and felt the import and urgency in preserving local history.

 LaVerne Powell Tate had recently been appointed the first chairman of the San Juan County Historical Commission.  She was the mother of a large active family of 12 children and during the time we worked on the magazine she faced many trials and challenges in her life, among them the loss of her husband Jack following a life-altering logging accident. LaVerne is made of tough stock, however, and is San Juan County through and through.  She knew first-hand about trading posts, Navajos, Utes, pioneers, and history, genealogy, and geography.  Based upon her early experiences she had a life-long appreciation for culture and history and the impact of "place" on life in the Four Corners.  During the early years of the magazine, LaVerne did the leg work on finding and copying photos for each issue. She served as business manager and fiscal officer for grants as well as photo editor, magazine distribution and has often been a writer and editor.  For the past five years she has worked as managing editor and kept the magazine going since I retired in 2007. Through her steadfastness and skill she has helped to publish 45 issues of Blue Mountain Shadows.

Bob McPherson, like me, was a transplant to San Juan County; however, the Four Corners area soon became the center of the universe for all the key places, people, and history he loves.  He has been our resident scholar and advisor while teaching history and anthropology classes at USU/San Juan Campus. He had toyed with the idea of creating a regional magazine, even before we organized, but didn't have the resources to make it happen. He had many articles and ideas at his fingertips, that needed publishing and was so supportive and positive about the project from its inception.

Bob has written and served as editor of BMS dozens of times. He has been dogged in collecting oral histories, some of which have included the changing role of Navajo women, medicine men, early traders, plants, Comb Ridge, and stories about Navajo Oshley. It seemed he was always off to the reservation with sacks of Blue Bird flour, encouraging Navajo people to share their stories and culture. His interest in Native American culture uncovered stories that had been buried for nearly a century. Bob’s strengths helped us and others see the larger picture and the deeper meaning of county events and people.  He also kept us supplied with wonderful research topics, and themes for future issues. He is one of the reasons, the magazine will never run out of subject matter.   His research skills and ability to analyze, contrast, and compare, gave both depth and credibility to our efforts.
As the ringleader of this historical triage, I also had a large family of eight children, all at home when the wheels were set in motion for Blue Mountain Shadows.  I had a BA English and minor in history.  At one time I had begun a Masters Degree in folklore.  My real passion however, was journalism, and through early experiences writing news and feature stories for the San Juan Record I’d come to know and love many of the good people and rich history of San Juan County.  This menagerie of experiences prepared me in for the role I was to take as managing editor.

Even though most people only think of the “magazine” when they hear “Blue Mountain Shadows,” my role definitely included much more than just publishing.  In addition to making sure a magazine came out twice a year, I also spearheaded dozens of public presentations where we presented historical information to local audiences.  Topics included the Posey War, Archaeology, mining, ranching, trading posts, and many Native American topics. 
Between 1989-1997 Blue Mountain Shadows sponsored a series of 4th of July folk festivals in Blanding. These were done in partnership with Kigalia Fine Arts and the San Juan County Historical Commission, The festivals included quilt shows, programs, performances, workshops, and booths all related to folklife.  I served as the chairman seven years for that event, working with dozens of wonderful people who helped pull it all together. We also sponsored a big Blanding Birthday party with cowboy poetry, workshops and a hoedown.
Another role I filled was supervising the collection several oral interview projects.  These projects started in 1987 when Blue Mountain Shadows began, then expanded later to World War II oral histories as well as the collection and transcription Cottonwood Mining oral histories, the indexing and partial translating of 70 Navajo interviews; as well as the collection of over 350 documents related to historic road use in San Juan County.  Most of these required special funding, which meant writing proposals to make the dream happen.  In the process of sharing history I also learned how to create documentaries using Photodex and spent hundreds of hours creating the Blanding Centennial Show, 100 Years of Quilting, and 20th BMS Anniversary DVD. 

Work in the Trenches: Preparing the Ground
As in real life, the main killer of dreams is lack of funding, and that was the first big obstacle to overcome if we were going accomplish any of our goals.  Fortunately, a few years earlier Lynn Lee had helped me successfully write a proposal for San Juan Education Days which was funded by Utah Endowment of the Humanities (Utah Humanities Council).  In 1983 and 1984 our committee organized dozens of workshops throughout the county.  This experience helped me in writing the initial proposal which funded Blue Mountain Shadows.  The state UHC director, Delmont Oswald, was very encouraging, though he cautioned that the board would likely not approve the project more than once, as “they were not in the publishing business.”  My main role from then on was to keeping the dream growing by securing grants for our “great ideas.”

I wrote over 20 proposals in the 20 years I worked as managing editor.  These helped to partially fund the magazine and other historical events we organized. Over the years, the Utah Humanities Council awarded dozens of grants to help us with our specific issues as well as oral history projects.  Other groups and individuals who periodically helped fund our endeavors included Clyde Harvey, The Charles Redd Foundation, Utah Arts Council, Bureau of Land Management, Edge of the Cedars Museum, Recapture Metals, San Juan School District Foundation, San Juan County, and Division of State History.

Just thinking about writing another proposal makes me shutter today, but at one time I did it to help Blue Mountain Shadows survive and thrive.  Those were the years I learned to get by on 5-6 hours of sleep. Today, BMS has simplified its focus, and between San Juan County funding and magazine sales they are able to pay for publishing costs. We have also been thrilled to see the Edge of the Cedars Museum take the lead in hosting and organizing historical and cultural programs.  That has significantly lightened our burden.

Preparing for the first harvest
In 1986, our planning committee determined that the first grant request should include funding for conducting interviews and transcribing them as well as publishing one magazine.  From these interviews we hoped to have enough material for two or more additional magazines. We concentrated on the history of San Juan County from 1900-1940.  The pre-selected topics were the CCC camps, Mexico Mormons, pioneer entertainment, the building of the South Chapel, bootlegging, remedies, Ute culture, law enforcement, the Anasazi, and the influenza epidemic. 

We next selected a team of students, and adults to conduct interviews.  These included Bertha Parrish, Anna Marie Nat, Kim Hurst, Deniane Gutke, Laura Shumway, Annette Carroll, Gipp Redd, Thelma Tate and Regina Yazzie.  Once all these details were hammered out I wrote the first proposal, which was funded for $6649. Half of our hours were considered volunteer donations that summer, so I made $3 an hour, and my transcribers made $2.  We certainly weren’t in it for the money!

Helen Shumway was another consistent and loyal writer, who provided dozens of articles, ideas, and even art for the magazine.  She also took on the daunting task of collecting and editing the first 50 year history of San Juan High for BMS.  She just passed away in 2011, and will be missed.  Her cousin Dora Shumway helped us with distribution for many years, which lightened our burden. Gary Shumway, Jim Knipmeyer and Winston Hurst are three other key writers who added to the magazines veracity and longevity.
On June 10-11,1987 we officially began with a series of workshops to train the BMS staff, then we all joined in force to conduct the interviews. Even though each person had a specific topic to write on, as interviewers we asked questions related to all the topics when we talked to someone. 

The School District Foundation donated money so we could purchase variable speed recorders and microphones for interviewing and transcription. We did interviews in Monument Valley, White Mesa, Monticello, Blanding, and Salt Lake City.  Each hour of recorded tape required nearly 10 hours of transcription.  It was tedious work requiring a high level of concentration. Additional transcribers were pulled in including Preston Blake, Patrice Webb, Beverly Brown, Shana Stubbs, Karalene Brown, Stephanie Blake, Sheri Balch, Staci Brown and Maureen Black. We relied heavily on these responsible high school students to get the job done, and when we ran out of money to pay them, they worked as volunteers. This time was as valuable as money, as we could use their work hours as match to the actual cash the grant provided.  All this had to be documented and tabulated when the final reports were made – another task I didn’t enjoy.

Denianne Gutke’s assigned topic was the CCC camp in Blanding.  She interviewed at least a dozen different people while collecting her information. She recalled interviewing Frank ‘Bo’ Montella. 
 “He was a CCC enrollee from back East who stayed in the area. Thinking back on my interview with Bo, my mind recreates him as this fascinating rogue from New York, still carrying an accent after all his years in Blanding. I glimpse a twinkle in his eye as he tells me the pranks of the camp and we laugh together. “When the mess sergeant wasn’t around, there were the biggest food fights you’ve ever seen!” Bo recalled. To this day I remember the connection I felt to the CCC’s just by being in his house—so close in proximity to the camp where many of their experiences occurred. Bo made so many good friends through the CCC’s, and several stayed in contact with each other their entire lives. Ultimately, my interview with Bo was vital to history because he was so good at seeing and explaining both sides of the story. Political and religious clashes were a part of almost everyone’s experiences with the CCC’s, and Bo was able to share this aspect in a way I could understand and later share with others through magazine articles. (Letter 1/9/2012)”           

That summer Blue Mountain Shadows staffers conducted 60 interviews and we about wore ourselves out getting them transcribed. Even though many on the team were intimidated by the thought of interviewing, I believe it was actually one of the most rewarding parts of the whole process.  We all made new friends, while validating and preserving the experiences and memories of the older people we interviewed.

            High school senior Annette Carroll recalled the experience: 
Blue Mountain Shadows 
  
Reviewing the list of people we were privileged to interview the summer of 1987, reads like a San Juan County Hall of Fame. Many of them lived nearly 100 years, so their life experiences were wide and varied. The ones I personally talked to were Eva Torres (1912-2007), Hilda Oliver Perkins (1912-1999), Alma Jones (1902-1989), Ervin Guymon (1907-2006),  Frank Wright (1903-2002), J Glen Shumway (1908-1992), Parley Hurst (1892-1995), Gene Blickenstaff (1916-1996), Ray Hunt (1902-1998), Kent Frost, and Ray Jarvis.  As I reflect upon the years of experience these good people had, I’m so thankful we started when we did, or their memories may not have been preserved.  Ray Jarvis just died in 2011, but his stories of the southwest and Mexico were some of the wildest ones I’d ever heard, and told in a most entertaining fashion.

Patrice Webb Crandall remembered working for Blue Mountain Shadows as a high school student:
"San Juan High Principal Jim Harris allowed our staff to use San Juan High’s computer lab all summer.  Besides organizing the interview teams, and keeping track of their tapes, typed manuscripts, and work hours, I supervised the high school students throughout the summer, answering their questions, clarifying words, and making sure everyone was paid their pittance.  Editing transcripts was part of my tedious task, but it also had its humorous moments:  Oljato being written as “Old Jay Toe” and Verdure was often spelled “Verjur.”  By the end of the summer a vast bank of data had been collected and we were ready to begin writing."

Hard Fought Harvest:
From these transcripts three magazines were generated, with the first one published fall of 1987.   I was so tired and worn out after we completed that first year of work I didn’t feel I could do any more work on Blue Mountain Shadows, much less teach school that fall, but somehow I did.  At this same time, our family had started a major second floor addition to our home and were doing much of the work ourselves; plus, my mother had moved to Blanding and she needed quite a bit of attention as well.  Had it not been for our older boys I’m sure I would have had a nervous breakdown. I always felt I was juggling a dozen balls and at times I wondered if we’d ever get the first issue out.

I wrote In my journal Oct. 25, 1987: “Mon-Thurs. I worked on the magazine and nearly have it all done.  There is just a little more photo shooting to do, and a couple of captions to finish.  It has really been depressing in lots of ways—lots more hours than I had expected, and we’re a month behind schedule.  I hope it turns out well.”
Another role my students played was in selecting the name of Blue Mountain Shadows.  Through 1986 and most of 1987 I always referred to it as “the magazine.”  But as we got closer to publishing date, we had to decide on a name.  I asked my English students to submit possible names for it.  We did an initial vote in the classes and I let them vote 3 times as I recall.  The next day they voted again on a narrowed down list of 10.  The final vote had 3 names on it, and Blue Mountain Shadows rose to the top. Finally the dream had a name!

Miraculously the first issue came out a month later.  I wrote on Nov. 29th, “Our first issue went on sale this week and we have sold about 3/5ths of what we need to pay the printing bill.  There were a few really bad boo-boos.  Three black photos and two captions left off and one photo upside down, but the articles are good.  We are selling them for $3.50 or $4 for mail orders.” 

All the BMS staff and writers were especially excited to get the first issue out.  When they came to pick their copies up, we all signed each others articles.  It was our big payoff for all our work, and we all felt we had really accomplished something.  Now to market it and hope others would love it too.
A week later on Dec. 5 I wrote, “The first sales of our magazine have gone so well.  It will only be three weeks since we got it out and we only have about 75 left that aren’t placed.  The response has been better than I had even hoped.  That is very encouraging, knowing that it has been so well received.”

We only published 500 copies of the first issue, but later Gary Shumway helped us do a reprint in 1988. He has been a faithful contributor/supporter over the years, full of ideas, and willingness to help write and serve as editor.  We had a brief few months respite and then we jumped right into preparing articles for the 1988 issues. I knew I couldn’t do layout again with everything else I was responsible for, so we hired Debbie and Terri Slade to design the magazine -- plus it was handy for me as they lived just through the fence!  They had started a local paper in Blanding, and had the equipment necessary to do layout.  That took a lot of pressure off my shoulders.  Stan and Eva Byrd did layout for the following two issues.  Stan had experience in publishing, and made more improvements to the magazine.  By issue #5 Deniane Gutke came back to Blanding with a whole new bank of skills and creativity, and she took over the layout for the next seven issues.   Even though others were doing the layout, the magazine always required a final read and corrections.  I remember several all-nighters when we worked through the night making final edits and changes.  “Sleep deprived” became my “modus operandi.”

Shurrell Meyer was our next specialist for layout and did a great job as well, helping to produce issues 13-39. Her cover designs were always striking and creative.  Issues 40-45 have been designed by Donna Blake. The amazing progress in computer technology the past 25 years has truly made publishing a small town magazine a viable possibility that has become more of a pleasure instead of a pain.  Word processing, page design, photo scanning, and spread sheets for compiling data have all enhanced our ability to produce attractive and interesting magazines. Yet at the core of any publication such as this, is the basic need for accurate historical research, and engaging writing and we have tried to do that from the very beginning.

How our Garden Grew
As readership grew we would publish anywhere from 1500-3000 copies of Blue Mountain Shadows, depending upon the topic and our financial status.  Looking for additional ways to promote the magazine and share our findings we expanded our presence through a web site which I created the summer of 2001. Though a great idea, a web site is a whole different garden to tend, and requires diligence and technical skill to keep alive. My volunteer bank of energy only had so much to give and it hasn’t been updated since 2006, but it does articles from the out of print issues, as well as summaries of issues through #26.  It can be found at http://www.bluemountainshadows.org/
Through the years several of our issues, and oral history projects were given state as well as national recognition.

In February 1988 I wrote in my journal, “We received two letters from UEH commending us for the project and saying it had been selected as a merit project for 1987.” K C and I went up for the awards program in March.  I was on foot, and not knowing where the Rio Grand Station was I had walked to 530 E. and instead of 5:30 W.  Fortunately, I was able to catch a bus back and was only 5 min. late.
As exciting and happy as we were with this first commendation, I wrote in my journal that week, “It was really a nice recognition and plaque they gave us, but walking back afterwards, I realized that it was less satisfying than the feeling I have when my kids do what is right.  They are my real “merit projects.”

In 1990 the magazine was recognized by the American Association of State and Local History, specifically for our effort in interviewing and preserving local history. I gave a presentation for them at their conference in Park City on using oral histories and drew heavily upon Blue Mountain Shadows on our experiences.

In 1992 the magazine’s contribution was recognized along with other community groups and Blanding was given The Governor’s Award for the Arts at special banquet in SLC with Norman Bangerter. 
In 1996 our State Centennial Issue also received a Merit award from UHC. This time I asked Nathan to represent Blue Mountain Shadows and pick up the award, which he was able to do.

in 2006 Blue Mountain Shadows was honored by UHC for our public programming and the Blanding Centennial issue in 2005.  LaVerne and I attended the awards program Feb. 1. We had worked hard to make our town’s centennial celebration historically richer not only because of the magazine but through four events which Blue Mt. Shadows sponsored: 

1.    
Blanding’s 100 year History slide show. This was shown at 6 different events during 2005, with approximately 1900 people seeing it.
2.     The Centennial Swing on March 5 had 1000 in attendance with old time dance instruction, and a lecture on the history of dance in rural Utah.
3.     Centennial Quilters slide Show featured 100 years of quilting and quilters in the county.
4.     Lecture on The Early Native American Experience presented by Bob McPherson and Winston Hurst.

During the 20+ years I worked on the magazine several family crises occurred.  A house fire in 1990 and the tragic death of a son two years later were especially devastating. During those difficult times there were always good people who shored me up, and kept us going.  I love the integrity and grit of the people I’ve come to know through researching writing about the history of San Juan County.  None of this, however, would have happened without a very supportive husband and good children, who helped so much at home and supported me in my never ending projects.

As with any good “seed” that is cultivated and cared for, it thrives, and Blue Mountain Shadows continues today because there are those who tend it.  Their inventory of past issues fills an historical granary of sorts and new readers to Blue Mountain Shadows can purchase enough past issues to have almost a full set.  There have been many good harvests and our little historical publication became much more than I had initially envisioned. I thought perhaps we might be able to publish 10-12 issues of the magazine before we ran out of ideas. Now it has grown to #45.  Hopefully, there will continue to be dedicated gardeners who can help keep the harvests coming.

   1986-2012 First 45 Issues
           TOPIC                           COVER
#1 Mexico Mormons, CCCs, (Sheriff Oliver Pix)
#3 Bootlegging, sawmills, etc.  (Orange)
#4 Posey War, pranks, M. Ogden (Newspaper articles)
#5 Trapping, Livestock (Lt. Blue w/ wolf) 
#6 Land and Livestock (Tan Branding) 
#7 Folklore and folk crafts (Green, native papercutting) 
#8 Civilization comes to SJC (Gray) 
#9 Education in San Juan (Red Map with schools) 
#10 Living on the Land ( Brown Mainstreet) 
#11 Native American (Turquoise Navajo) 
#12 Rivers & Roads (Blue-Frank Wright) 
#13 Archaeology (Sandstone Rock Art) 
#14 More archaeology ( Patchwork) 
#15 Cowboys & outlaws (Brown Adobe house) #16 Mining in San Juan
#18 Quilting (Forest green, quilts)
#20 WW I and W.W.II (Flag)            
#23 Folkarts & crafts (Black, Navajo art) 
#24 Historic homes (Tan house collage)
#25 Cottonwood Mining (Grey John Black cover)
#26 Cottonwood Mining #2 (White Mesa Mill cover)
#28 Monticello homes (F.I Jones Home cover)                                                 
#31 Monticello Businesses (Hyland Cafe cover) 
#32 Blanding Centennial issue (School paper cutting)                                                                             
#34 San Juan Canyons (Hovenweep Cover) 

#35 Bringing roads to San Juan (Natural Bridges Cover)
#17 Centennial history (Maroon, paper cutting)
#19 Sesquicentennial (Rainbow Bridge)
#21 An Outsiders view (Blue Mountain)
#22 The Millennium (Green/orange)
#27 Cottonwood Mining #3 (Vanadium Mill, Green cover)
#29 Cowboys, Indians, Conflict (Green collage cowboy cover) 
#33 Natural History (Water rocks cover)
#36 Beyond Monticello  (gold, Marie Ogden home)
#37 La Sal, (Mt. Peale in La Sal)
#38 Military in San Juan (Recapture Res. Medals)
#39 Movies in San Juan (Monument Valley Mittens)
#40 Bluff, Buttes, and Backcountry  (Lady in the Tub)
#41 Hunting in San Juan  (Green, Cougar)
#42 Law Enforcement 
#43 Scouting in San Juan (Green, scout badges)
#44 Deep History II, (Archaeology (gold rock art)
#45 Twenty-five years of Blue Mountain Shadows

Sunday, January 1, 2012

Growing Up With Blue Mountain Shadows

A Student's View By Deniane Gutke Kartchner

        Some people grow up with horses or music, art or cooking, dance lessons, or team sports. Me?  I grew up with a magazine, and looking back at the last 25 years, I am amazed to see how Blue Mountain Shadows has changed my life through the skills I have learned, the friends I have met, and the mentors I cherish.
        I was sixteen and a sophomore at San Juan High (1987) when my English teacher Janet Wilcox told me about a summer job interviewing as part of an oral history project. I wasn’t the only high school student to help with what ultimately became Blue Mountain Shadows, but the process and the people influenced me so much that, years later, I found myself still caught up in the magazine, first as an interviewer/researcher, then a writer, and then as the layout and production editor. I am still an avid collector of every issue, reserving a spot in my personal library for each one. 

          As I recall, before the first issue was even in the planning stages, we sat down as a group (most of us high school students) and chose a topic to research over the summer. I chose the CCC’s. I had no idea what “CCC” was, and I confess it took me awhile to learn to say Civilian Conservation Corps (“core” instead of “corpse”).  But it sounded intriguing, and no one else spoke for it, so I took it. The best part of this subject ended up being the wonderful people I met.  
          We prepared ourselves to interview through workshops, where we practiced how to ask “open-ended” questions (encouraging people to elaborate on a subject instead of just answering “yes” or “no.”) We also learned how to use a tape recorder. Believe it or not, what I feared the most was getting half-way through a really great interview without actually recording anything! We also did some preliminary research; for example, I looked through interviews that had already been done in the ‘70s by California State University-Fullerton so I would be familiar with some of the people involved and know what questions to ask.  

   People Interviewed

 One of the first people I interviewed was Thomas “Brush” Keele. What I remember most—besides the fact that Brush was handsome and good-natured and his stories detailed and funny—was his answer to my open-ended question. “To begin with, why don’t you just tell me a little about how you got involved in the CCC’s, and some of the experiences you had while there,” I said.  His response, when I later typed it, took up four-and-a-half pages!  I was ecstatic. The time went by so fast that it didn’t feel like work at all, and Brush really helped set a positive tone for future interviews with his CCC buddies. My interview with Brush also stands out in my mind as a testament to the importance of the work we were doing. I interviewed him in June 1987 and that February (1988) he passed away.  What if we had waited to talk to him? The value of one person’s life experiences cannot be underestimated.

Throughout that summer, I talked to anyone and everyone I could about the CCC’s—which turned out to be a government work program of the 1930’s. At first I focused on the Blanding “camp” (they were set up all over the country): what it looked like, where it was located (in a four-block area in northwest Blanding along 300 and 400 West), who had been involved (most boys came from back East), and who had stayed in the area after being discharged. I found out who the local foremen were and talked to local boys who had traveled to other places to be part of this same program (you couldn’t sign up in your home town). I tried to visualize the boys’ circumstances, what they were working on (most projects involved conservation and natural resources), and what they learned as far as skills and life in general.  Was it a good program?  Would they recommend it today?
         It was a huge task for a sixteen year old, to make appointments and go into people’s homes and interview, and then to transcribe the interviews (I’ve never been a great typist), but I was successful. I had the support of my parents and my mentors on the BMS staff helping me, and wherever I went people caught the vision of it and shared their experiences. I think other students’ experiences were similar; one of my close friends Annette Carroll (Cashin) and I have talked about the wonderful experience she had that summer interviewing those involved in the exodus from Old Mexico.
         
My experiences with Blue Mountain Shadows could fill a book, but I’ll share a few more from this first summer. Thomas “Toddy” Wozniak from New Jersey was so great to visit with. He was soft-spoken and kind, with an amazing memory that included specific details about projects and people. So many boys came through this Blanding camp! What I remember most about my interview with Toddy was after we had talked for a while he said, “Here, I’ve got a book I’ll show you,” and then he brought back this scrapbook containing not only dozens of pictures, but camp exchange money, a CCC clothing patch, and his discharge papers, just to name a few of the treasures! I could barely contain my excitement, because seeing faces with the names I was hearing about was so cool. And to be allowed to touch stuff that was over 50 years old and so well cared for, I was just in heaven. Better yet, with the help of his daughter Donna, Toddy gathered everything he could find pertaining to the CCC’s and let the San Juan Historical Commission copy it all, so that future generations would have access.

          Local “old timers” also shared experiences and information with me; Lynn Lyman, LaVell Palmer, and Dave Guymon explained some of the CCC projects, what the boys’ part actually was, how the division of agencies worked. A plus was during these interviews they also shared stories about my own grandpa, Lynn Palmer, which led me to learn more about my own family and to later write an article about roads in San Juan County.
          And I absolutely can’t forget the interview I had with my grandma, Fern Palmer, and her lifelong friends Marva Laws and Georgan Burtenshaw. I can still picture them--each of them in their seventies, sitting there giggling over silly memories of the CCC boys. They told me stories with such gusto and vividness that I couldn’t help but be engrossed and transformed back in time. They sang songs: “When the blue goon has turned to gray again, when the Navy takes the curse away” and shared pictures they took with the CCC boys when they were all my age.  Along with their memories of the CCC’s they shared impressions of their teachers and stories of several pranks they had pulled--they enjoyed very much retelling capers such as drying fat snakes for belts and drinking homemade “hooch”.

          As I went from interview to interview that first summer, the places and the people began to tie together in a large “family” of people connected through the CCC’s. I don’t how it happened exactly, but I immediately felt a part of it. Maybe it was because as we met and talked we treated each other with respect, kindness and openness, which created a connection even though in most cases there was a difference of two generations between us. These wonderful, older and experienced people of our community must have been able to envision what this newly created organization was trying to do (even in the hands of high school kids), and what BMS has been trying to do ever since. As was said by one reader of the very first issue, “This country has a wonderful heritage which needs to be remembered…I am very pleased that the history of our San Juan County is considered important enough for projects of this kind and applaud the efforts of those participating.”[1] I was pleased to be a part of it. 
               As I continued interviewing, transcribing, and reporting back to my mentors on the BMS staff, we realized that the CCC influence expanded beyond Blanding into all parts of the county; subsequently, I got the chance to do some traveling. My mom took me to conduct out-of-town interviews; my dad took me over many dusty roads to visit first-hand some project sites. This aspect of my experience would never have been possible without my parents, who helped make arrangements and/or accompanied me. 

Interviewees to the North

  In Monticello, I met with Kent and Fern Frost. Kent gave me an autographed copy of his book My Canyonlands: “To my friend Deniane Gutke from Kent Frost the Slickrock Hiker”. They fed me lunch, and Kent let me try out some of the equipment he had used in his adventures, including a pair of shoes with horseshoes tacked to the bottom of them invented solely for pulling pranks.

           Heading north to the Provo/Salt Lake metropolis I interviewed Walter “Prock” May, a fascinating man who came from Ohio with the CCC’s and consequently married a Blanding girl (Alene Jones, who was one of my relatives). Prock shed light on the organization of the camp with its Army officers, company sergeants and local foremen, and expounded on day-to-day relationships within the camps and community. I appreciated Prock’s perspective; I left his home with a bigger picture of the service those boys provided during that era and the impact of their arrival and assimilation into the community. I also interviewed my great aunt, Edith Palmer, whose husband Lawrence was the sheriff in the CCC days. Edith was a beautiful and stately-type lady in my memory and I enjoyed talking with her not only about what she knew of the CCC’s but of her memories of old Mexico (which, by the way, helped my friend Annette, and also brings to mind how many times we students were able to help each other during the project because we were taught in those summer workshops to listen, notice details and allow people to diverge and reminisce).

          Next, I interviewed Karl R. Lyman at his home in Orem about his experiences as a religious and political leader during the CCC time period (he was the county attorney in 1935). My impressions of this kind, regal man have stayed with me all these years—and apparently he remembered me, too, because when my marriage engagement appeared in the local newspaper in 1991 he noticed it and took the time to write my parents a congratulatory note and to remind them of our acquaintance four years prior. What I remember the most about my interview with Bro. Lyman is gaping in awe at the sheer number of books he had in his possession, particularly the journals of his father, Albert R., “The Old Settler” of San Juan. I felt like I had gone back in time and linked to the century prior. When I left, Karl gave me five books, including his book “The Old Settler” written in 1980. The books stand proudly in my library next to my Blue Mountain Shadows magazines.

Students Write Articles For First Issue of Blue Mountain Shadows

        After a busy summer and more work into the school year, we students started putting together articles from our interviews and research. Here again, I had so much help from others as I put together my first article about the Civilian Conservation Corps in San Juan County, which was published in the first Blue Mountain Shadows magazine as “Open Arms?  The CCC Invasion of San Juan County.” A second article, “A CCC Enrollee A Day Kept Depression Away,” followed the spring of 1988.  I consider these articles about the Civilian Conservation Corps in San Juan County a great attempt by everyone involved to bring to life a crucial piece of San Juan history.

          When I look back at my experiences with Blue Mountain Shadows, it’s hard to believe they began in high school. Even though my interviewing “job” ended in 1987, I continued as a researcher and a writer and completed many other projects. (For example, I interviewed my own grandparents, and the stories they shared are, in some cases, a great majority of what we know about them.) I wrote for school and community publications and made long-lasting connections with many other wonderful people in the community through other worthwhile pursuits.
          When I graduated from high school and left Blanding for college, I thought my involvement with BMS might end, but it didn’t. I walked right into my first college job interview armed with several Blue Mountain Shadows magazines and got the job immediately because of my involvement. In fact, I went to college in the first place on an English Sterling Scholar scholarship that came about primarily because of the depth of my work with BMS. Later I got the chance to write additional articles and then to lay out the magazines, eventually putting together eleven of the issues as the layout editor.

          The influence of BMS in my life continues. Since 1987, my work experience with Blue Mountain Shadows has been at the core of every resume I have ever put together. Every article I have since written, every photo I’ve taken, every family history I’ve prepared, and every blog I currently maintain can honestly be attributed in part to what I learned in my youth through Blue Mountain Shadows.
          Because I literally “grew up” with it, BMS is so much more than just a magazine to me. In my youth I was welcomed into others’ homes and taught from their life experiences. From my interviewing experiences I learned to listen—really listen, not just say “uh huh, that’s nice” at appropriate moments--and to value others’ opinions. I learned that everyone has a story, and it is uniquely theirs and irreplaceable. Through my interviewing experience with Blue Mountain Shadows I also developed skills like remembering names, dates, and relationships--skills I use all the time when conversing with strangers who soon become friends.
          From my mentors on the BMS staff I learned you can have different backgrounds and strengths and all work together on a common cause. I have high expectations of what I can accomplish because these wonderful people who were my parents and teachers held me to greatness at an early age. I learned that age difference doesn’t really matter when your mentors treat you kindly, share their knowledge, and expect great things from you like hard work and fairness.

          The men I interviewed from the CCC’s were good men. They had families and jobs and were patriotic citizens. The period of the Civilian Conservation Corps was a huge adjustment for the little communities of San Juan, and it wasn’t always easy. Everyone had to adjust their thinking a little to accommodate each other. Even today, this home of ours can be a place where conflicting ideas and different cultures collide, but I have great faith in people because of our past. I really believe if our future is half as good as our history has been, we will all have grown up nicely.
               Thanks, Blue Mountain Shadows.
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Memories of the BMS Staff
By Deniane Gutke Kartchner

          I have wonderful memories of the BMS staff who were my mentors while I was in high school and involved with the magazine; in fact, they are all still very important to me.
          My most trusted and loved mentor throughout my life, besides my immediate family, is Janet Wilcox, managing editor of BMS for 20-plus years. She is a woman who loves people and worthwhile projects. She works circles around me constantly, and I will always admire her and look up to her.  She is a very skilled writer and can bring to life the most mundane of subjects. Back in the early days of BMS, she was, as I mentioned earlier my English teacher.  Janet worked with all of us students to help us hone our research and writing skills, and she along with Kathy Hurst as I remember were very instrumental in helping us choose topics and do our best work. Janet is the queen, the public figure and organizing force behind so many things, and she has been the glue that has kept BMS together all these years through her tireless efforts to “get out among the people” and do the nitty-gritty stuff—write grants, invite guest editors to edit the magazines, secure printing companies, set up panel presentations.  She is amazing, and my dear, dear friend. (She’s a “kindred spirit,” as Anne of Green Gables would say!)

          Every group needs a scholar—a person in the community whose reputation for published works gives the group’s projects merit.  In my opinion, that person for Blue Mountain Shadows is Robert S. McPherson (editor of this issue and of many past). Now, if Bob didn’t edit this out … my honest opinion of him is that he is a genius. Whenever I say to myself, “Work hard, do your best work,” it comes from working with Bob.  I have learned to love red marks all over my paper – it means the person actually read what I wrote with interest and questions. It means there might be a better way to say something. It means maybe I should take something out.  When I hear in my mind: “Too long of a sentence. Cut it. Too many small sentences. Combine them,” it comes from Bob. More importantly, Bob is a great example to me of what it means to be fair. He has been a stickler for truth in that we should not be content to represent only one group of people or one side of an issue. In other words, Bob’s philosophy in my eyes is if you have to choose between “fair” or “flair,” choose the one that does the most justice to the most people. Bob has worked tirelessly to help Blue Mountain Shadows maintain the professional, scholarly reputation he brought to the magazine in the beginning. His work at the College of Eastern Utah as a history professor and in other community pursuits has always been an example to me since the first time I met him through Blue Mountain Shadows.

          Speaking of editors, I have had the opportunity to get to know many wonderful, intelligent people because I worked with them as guest editors for Blue Mountain Shadows. First, K.C. Benedict.  I will never forget sitting down with K.C. for the first time:  she was the writing consultant for the second issue (1988) and worked with me on my second CCC article. I had typed my rough draft on the computer and brought a printed copy with me. K.C. came armed to a work table in her living room with several pieces of white paper, a glue stick, scissors, and a pencil; she used these tools to help me craft the article together, cutting and pasting sections, leaving out others, and writing transitions until it became a wonderful piece.  Something about this hands-on technique combined with technology stuck with me and I still use it. K.C. is an extremely intelligent woman whose ideas and knowledge of printed material, including historic collections and getting around a library have added to Blue Mountain Shadows integrity and value.  Helen N. Shumway is another wonderful woman I greatly admire and her contribution to the magazine over the years is astounding. I worked personally with Helen for months to put together her book “The First Forty Years: History of San Juan High School.” Beautiful, soft-spoken, kind, and intelligent Helen.  

               Next is Winston Hurst, whose involvement with artifacts and archeology over the years has made him a legend to me—including the fact that he is the first man I remember pulling his hair back into a ponytail. I recall meeting Winston during junior high school when I volunteered at the Edge of the Cedars State Park, and Winston’s work there, and his commitment to and respect for archeology and natural history, has been inspiring to me ever since. Every issue of BMS that Winston edits is solid and full of substance and historical treasures. In my everyday life, whenever I think of what is the right thing to do to take care of this world and to appreciate past cultures, I think of Winston Hurst.         
          Two more people I can’t leave out: Stan Byrd and LaVerne Tate. Stan is a legend to me because he used the first Macintosh computer at CEU and was the design guy. (Stan and my dad Dennis Gutke were always playing with the newest technology.) I remember him also as the high school recruiter and the one who put together all of the college’s advertising. For Stan’s part in BMS, I recall that he spent hours copying pictures for historical collections and he helped put together the first magazines. I have thought a lot about Stan’s skills over the years. You can have the greatest content in the world to offer, and no one will even look at it if it isn’t visually appealing. Stan was really good at putting things together with a purpose in mind.  Seeing what he did with design and photography encouraged me in these areas, and he was always helpful to answer my questions and show me cool stuff.  The subjects I explored in college were advertising, public relations and graphic design, most likely a result of Stan’s legacy.

          And now to LaVerne. At one time in my life I didn’t appreciate photos as history themselves, but that all changed through my involvement with LaVerne Tate and Blue Mountain Shadows. It is a tremendous amount of work to gather photos to compliment articles--many times over the years authors had their own to contribute, but just as often they did not.  Pouring through collections, especially in the pre-computer days, was time consuming and it was LaVerne’s job to see that the magazines had photos that went with the text. Talking to people, encouraging them to donate photos to the Historical Commission, manually cataloging and retrieving photos from collections, LaVerne did it all.  She has provided a lifetime of service to the community through her efforts to preserve photos.
          Whenever I think of LaVerne I also think of Corinne Roring, because they worked together so often and so well. In my memory Corinne has always been there somewhere doing something, behind the scenes and yet extremely important.  The number of articles she researched and wrote has left a legacy; her efforts through the San Juan Historical Commission to secure and preserve pictures and documents have been far-reaching and monumental. The number of volunteer hours Corinne has put in over the years to preserve our history is enormous—recently she has been tireless in putting together the Bluff Fort the same way she has completed so many other projects. 

          Others I met who influenced me positively through Blue Mountain Shadows: Gary Shumway, Jim Aton, Sandra Skousen, Finley Bayles, Rusty Musselman, Gary Guymon, and Mikki Palmer. I could write a book about the influence of Brian and Silvia Stubbs, Oliver Harris and Merry Adams (Palmer), with an entire chapter or more dedicated to Merry.  She, like Janet Wilcox, has shaped my entire life because of her writing talents, her teaching style, and her fervent example of goodness in our community. To my parents Dennis and Lurlene Gutke I owe the deepest gratitude for a positive upbringing filled with meaningful, service-oriented experiences and a love for the people of my community.
          The mentors I gained through Blue Mountain Shadows were the age of my parents and grandparents, but they quickly became my life-long friends.  This connection between generations is possibly the most important benefit I received from my association, and I’ve noticed whenever a community has it the youth are happier and seem more confident of their future. My mentors/friends have influenced me in almost everything I do today, and it all started with a little organization called Blue Mountain Shadows.


[1] Mrs. William O. Sheppard in “Reader’s Roost,” Volume I, Issue II of BMS, Spring 1988.