People

: Robert Drury "Bob" McCray; He was born in Fulton, Missouri to Ralph McCray and Lucile Lillian (Lawther) McCray. His father was a truck driver and his mother was a homemaker. In 1946, when he was eighteen years old, he moved to Mill Valley, California, where he was a member of the Merchant Marine. By 1950, the US Census shows him in Mariposa, California, near Yosemite National park, where he was employed by the Visalia Saddle Company. There, he learned how to make saddles and became familiar with saddle varieties and construction techniques. He eventually settled in Mesa County, Colorado, where he owned the Diamond Saddle Shop at 352 29 Road (also the address of his residence). Some of his saddles were featured in the paintings of Western artists. He married Elizabeth Morton in 1948. They had a daughter before divorcing in 1981. Robert married two more times, with his last marriage to Reba Conn in 1989. He died at the age of seventy-five.

: Robert E. Swanson; An employee with the British Columbia Railway, inventor of train chimes, horns, and whistles, and an expert on train whistles in North America.

: Robert Eugene Grant; He was born in Colorado and grew up in Clifton, Colorado. His father, James L. Grant, was the postmaster there. His mother was Katheryn Grant. He started working for The Daily Sentinel on August 14, 1941 as an apprentice printer, and shortly after as a Photo Engraver. He was also a photographer. Working at the Sentinel had been a dream of his since he was a kid. He was drafted into the armed forces during World War II but got his job back at the Sentinel after he returned from the Army. He also helped keep track of returns on tally board outside the Daily Sentinel building at 634 Main Street on election night in 1942.

: Robert Evans; He was born in Salt Lake City. His parents were immigrants who traveled with Brigham Young from Illinois to Utah. Being a blacksmith, Robert's father wanted him to follow in his footsteps, but his mother said it was an occupation belonging to the past. Instead, Robert wanted to become a baseball player but his father forbade it until he learned a trade. As a child, he played baseball with a ball that his mother made out of old stockings. Later, he became a machinist apprentice for the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad. Although the apprenticeship was to last four years, Robert advanced more quickly into a machinist position due to World War I. Because the government needed machinists working on the country’s railroads, he was not allowed to fight in the war. Evans also played on a semipro baseball team sponsored by Shell Oil in Idaho, and for a D&RG-sponsored team in Grand Junction, Colorado. The D&RG team played against teams from Delta and other regional towns. He played against famous baseball players such as Grover Alexander. It was during this time that he met Dorothy (Hiskey) Evans. They were married in 1940.

: Robert Fay "Bob" Rockwell; A public servant from Delta County, Colorado. According to the University of Colorado archives, Rockwell was born in New York state. After attending Princeton, University, he moved to Paonia, Colorado in 1907, where he became a fruit farmer and cattle rancher. He served as Lieutenant Governor and State Senator in Colorado before being elected to the U.S. House or Representatives during a special election in 1941 (after the death of his predecessor, Ed Taylor). While serving in the Colorado State Senate, he served as the Republican minority leader. His Democrat political rival Wayne Aspinall served as the majority leader. He held the seat for the Fourth Congressional District until 1949, when he was defeated by Wayne Aspinall. Aspinall claimed he ran because his party wanted an opponent to challenge the incumbent Congressman Rockwell, though he never expected to pull of an upset victory. In an interview for the Mesa County Oral History Project, Aspinall later referred to Rockwell as a “close personal friend” and “a wonderful fellow,” but also suggested that he was not exactly trained to be a Member of Congress. He was the father of Wilson Rockwell, a well-known Western Slope historian. *Public domain photograph from the US House of Representatives collectiion

Main menu