The Great Rodeo Roundup

If you grew up in a small town in Western Colorado in the mid 1960's, I guess you would understand that there is not a lot to do most of the time. There were opportunities. Craig did have a Movie Theater. It was called the 'West' Theater...though it was on the 'East' side of town.


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The theater was on the main drag (Highway 40),which was also called Victory Way. The theater is still there (above photo), just a lot older. It was a real treat to get to go to a movie, but it did not happen very often. Craig also had a Drive in out East of town...though I don't remember ever going to a movie there. Perhaps that was for the teenagers.

Craig had limited entertainment opportunities. A City Park. A theater. A brand new Bowling Alley. Lets see, what else.....Perhaps that's it. If you were an adult, you could go to the bar and drink, or go out and eat at the Cosgriff Hotel. If you were a sports fan, and the timing was right, you could go watch a High School Football game. And of course, catch a movie at the theater.

Other wise, save hunting and fishing, there was not a lot to do in Craig. I suppose, that is why the 'Ride and Tie Rodeo', was such a big deal when it rolled around each July. Of course, like most small towns, the County Fair was happening at the same time, and the town was bustling.

Well, for Andy and Clint, it was not so much about the Rodeo, as it was a money making opportunity. No, we didn't enter any of the Rodeo events. We had another strategy. You see, all those Cowboys and all those Cowgirls needed something to drink. And, they would go to one of the refreshment stands and buy a bottle of Coke or 7up and enjoy that nice cool drink. In the 60's, most soda was still sold in bottles and those bottles were good for a deposit. I'm not sure it it was 2 cents or a nickel, but every bottle was the same as money. And they were laying all over the place. It only made good sense to 'round them up' and cash them in. Thus began the Great Rodeo Roundup!

Andy and I went to every Rodeo, but we didn't really watch any rodeo action. We were very busy making the rounds in the corrals and chute areas. People would drink their soda, and set down the bottle. Andy or I would walk by and grab that empty bottle and it was money in the pocket. Well, eventually. We soon discovered that bottles were bigger and bulkier than money and we could only carry a few bottles at one time. We couldn't take them back to the concession stand because they would take the bottles, but they would not give us any money for them. So, we found a place to stash the bottle at the back of the fairgrounds. Out past the corrals, out past the parking area, out to our little hiding spot. There we would stow away our bottles until we could cash them in.

We were only in the 4th grade, so we didn't have a pick up truck to transport the bottles. So, after the rodeo, we would get our little wagon and fill it with as many bottle as it would hold and pull it to the liquor store to cash in our bounty. As an adult, I now feel sorry for the liquor store attendant. I can't imagine how many trips we must have made to cash in our bottle booty. The clerk would have to sort through the bottles, straighten the mess out, count them up, and give us our cash reward. And it was always that same Liquor store that we went to, because it was the closest place near the Fairgrounds that would accept pop bottles.

Here is the Liquor store as it looks today:


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It was not just the 'Ride and Tie' in July that aroused our interest in Rodeo's. We would go to every Tuesday Night Rodeo throughout the summer and collect those empty bottles. It was big business! I wish I knew how many bottles we collected. I'm not sure if I would be impressed with how many we collected or disappointed to see how few we actually collected. It sure seemed a lot to this little 4th grader.

Here is 'Rodeo Clint' at the 'Ride n Tie' Rodeo:


A cowboy in Tennis shoes...how sad!

Funny thing... I started collecting pop bottles as an adult. I wonder where that notion came from?

East of Town

I'd like to say I had a lot of good memories about the house East of town. Can't say that I do. Only one I can really think of is the fact that Elaine McCandless lived down the road. Her Dad was the town vet. I guess I, and every other boy in town, had a little crush on Elaine. Not that we were interested in girls, but she had a pretty face and long light brown hair, and her Dad was rich. What's not to like about that?

I was in Kindergarten I think about then. I must have been riding the bus home from school, though I only vaguely remember riding any bus. One day I rode the bus home and I was the only family member who did. Usually one of my older brothers or sisters would also come home after school. They would be my protector, my kid sitter, my snack preparer...whatever. But on this particular day, it was only me. A small kindergartner all alone at a house in the middle of nowhere. I guess all the brothers and sisters had other things going on and no one knew that Clintie was going to be home alone. The story goes that I figured out how to call my Mom at her work. She was working at the town Laundry/Dry Cleaners. She answered the phone and said she heard the small tiny voice of a scared little boy who said: "Mom, I'm all alone!" Poor Clintie, its a wonder I ever grew up sane...no wait...

I remember that the house had a serious mouse problem. You could sit on the couch and hear them running behind the couch...or see them run across the floor. Carole said she remembers the mice running across her pillow. What a wonderful home.

I remember there was a kid who lived across the street. I can't remember his name, but he was older than me and he was a bully. I remember he got a mohawk haircut one time. I remember thinking it 'so strange' to cut your hair that way. I think I had (still have) an aversion to mohawk haircuts because of that one kid. NO MOHAWKS!

At the house east of town, we had a rooster that was very mean. I think we called him Peckie, or Pecker, or something like that. You could not go outside without getting attacked by that mean chicken. I have no idea why we kept him. We should of had him for Sunday dinner...now that would have been a satisfying meal.

One time at that house, we had visitors that had car trouble. They could not get it started, so they all decided a group of us would push the car down the driveway and pop the clutch. So kids and adults joined in at the back of the car...push push push...the clutch was popped...the car started...everybody let go as the car pulled away...well all except little Jackie Orr who forgot to let go of the bumper. The car drug him down the driveway quite a ways. He was too scared to let go. Skinned his knees up pretty good. In the same house, Jackie was jumping on the bunk bed with a bow (from bow and arrow) in his hand. When he jumped off the top bunk, he landed with the top of the bow in his mouth. Scraped up the top on his mouth real good...talk about bleeding. Off to the hospital! I wonder if he survived childhood?

One time, I think it was springtime, the snow was melting, the weather was warm, and the driveway up to our house was a mud bog. I think the car got stuck trying to make it to the house, and we were walking the rest of the way to the house. The mud was so thick that my boots got stuck in the mud and I couldn't get them out. There I was, stuck in the mud, crying, and everyone leaving me behind. Someone felt sorry for me and came back to get me. They could not get the boots unstuck, so they just picked me up and carried me to the house. We left the boots out in the mud. I think my Mom was very mad. She must have been pretty mad because...the next day...there was a gravel truck dumping gravel on our driveway.

Not the best of times out East of town. Maybe that's why Elaine was such a bright spot in my little world.

My Disappearing Past

It seems that a lot of my past now only lives inside my fattish head. It is really amazing that I can remember so much about my childhood days in Craig, but I can't remember stuff that happened last month. I'm sure it has something to do with the fact that when you're a child, your mind is learning and can remember mass amounts of data during the 'learning years'. Certainly, I don't remember everything about what happened in my elementary days, but I can recall a lot of memories about the life and times I experienced in Craig.

A few years ago, I had the opportunity to return to Craig with my sister Lynn to attend a High School Reunion. I had passed through Craig a few times over the years, but had never really stopped and spent any time in the area. On that visit back, we were able to spend a couple of days in town.

It was really kind of sad for me. I had all these memories of the little town that had been such a huge part of my life from Kindergarten to 5th grade. But I guess from 1966 to 2005 a few things had changed. In most area's, a town grows, expands, and prospers as the years pass. And true, Craig is bigger than it use to be. They had to change Victory road into a one way street to accommodate the increase in traffic. But overall, I left with the impression that Craig had shrivelled up and was less of a town than when I had lived there all those many years ago.

When we first came into town, we came upon my Grandfathers house at the North end of Craig. It was still there. No one was living in it. When my Granddad lived there, it did not have indoor plumbing. There was an outhouse out back that they used year round. Brrrrr! The house was still there, but it was not surprising that no one lived there...I think people these days feel that indoor plumbing is important.

The next stop was the Yampa house, which was, as I mentioned in a previous post, now a bank parking lot. We drove around the corner to the last school I attended when I lived in Craig... gone... Breeze Elementary is now a city park.

A drive down the main street was about the same. Many of the old buildings that had lined Yampa Street were now totally gone. A vacant lot now sat where a store had been. A parking lot where another had stood. One had a false front where a business had once stood. The town that had been my childhood playground, was mostly still there, but everything was just 40 years older.

We drove out south of town, to the house where we had first lived when we moved to Craig. That house was also gone. Torn down and removed with nothing but a few trees to indicate that there had ever even been a house there.

Next, we went out east of town to find the little house where we had lived next. It took a little looking, but we found it. There is no driveway that goes to the house anymore. Just a shell of a building out in the barren hills east of town. There was a deer resting in the shade of the house, who was quite annoyed when we walked up to the house. I doubt he gets many human visitors. The roof was gone. The only thing left standing were the walls of the building. Of course, the place was not much of a house when we lived there 40 years ago. So, I guess I shouldn't be surprised that it was no longer livable. You can sort of see the place in this present day Google Street View:



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It is funny, and sad, that all these memories are in my head; but reality paints the picture of a dying little town that has changed little; and is now part of my 'disappearing past'.