People

: James Stewart Gray; Student at Colorado Christian University, graduated May, 2016.

: James Taylor "Jim" Rogers; He was born in South Park, Colorado to James Edgar “Ed” Rogers and Mary Katherine (Bender) Rogers. His father was a cattle rancher and his mother was a homemaker. Jim had three siblings, including two stepsisters from his mother’s previous marriage. The family moved to the town of Mesa, Colorado in 1903, when Jim was about two years old. There they found better pastureland at lower elevations. His father shipped the cattle by rail to De Beque. He grew up near the town of Mesa and went to Mesa schools, finishing the 8th grade. He grew up working on the ranch. He worked mostly as a rancher in his life, though he also sold real estate, taught school in Mesa, and briefly owned a bar in Collbran called the Western Past-time (1949-1950). The bar had pool tables and card tables. He served in a US Army as part of the 250th Coast Artillery unit on Kodiak Island, Alaska from July 1, 1942 to October 1943, during World War II. He married Eola Chinns on January 24, 1925. They had a child that died in childbirth. The marriage ended early in divorce He was a Mason belonging to the Collbran Masonic Lodge for many years. Born February 5, 1901.

: James W. Bucklin; He was born in Illinois To George Bucklin, a farmer, and Lydia M. Bucklin, a homemaker. According to researcher David Sundal, he was a lawyer for the Grand Junction Town Company who had graduated from law school at the University of Michigan. He served as the Mayor of Grand Junction from 1886-87. He spent a period of time in the Colorado State Senate, where he helped pass home rule legislation for municipalities. When he returned to Grand Junction, he was then free to help draft a local government along Progressive lines. According to professor Don Mackendrick, Bucklin believed that the local government was controlled by the “Saloon Machine,” a coalition of powerful business interests. He drafted the original Home Rule Charter for Grand Junction in 1910, which rid the city of the “weak mayor system” and established a commission form of government. His city charter established ranked or preferential voting for the first time in the United States. His charter also established mechanisms for ballot initiatives, referendums, and recalls. His wife, Mary, was a Canadian immigrant. *Photo courtesy of the Museums of Western Colorado

: James Walter "J. W." "Big Kid" Eames; He was born in Montgomery County, Missouri to Edwin Samuel Eames, an immigrant from England, and Cora A. Calvin of Ohio. He came to Grand Junction from Telluride in the early Twentieth century. He ran a gambling hall called the Biltmore above the Merchant's Cafe in what later became the J.C. Penney's building on Main Street. He was said to have been a very generous man with his money, donating baskets of food to hundreds of residents over Thanksgiving. He was known as an "honest gambler". The US Censuses in 1920 and 1930 list his occupation as confectioner and a wholesale cigar salesman, respectively. He was married to Helen M. (Youngquist) Eames. He was shot and killed by robbers shortly before Christmas in 1938. After his death, the Elks Club erected a plaque in his honor for all that he had given to the organization.

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