History Stories Currently being prepared

• Ray and Darlene Coffey.  Ray was a realtor who sold many of the properties on LHM and has been described by Jeanne Logan as “The father of LHM”.

• Don and Georgia Dunham (non-taped interviews so far) who, since they moved to LHM ~1970, have played a very active role in the community, particularly on the founding and development of the Log Hill Volunteer Fire Department.

• LeRoy and Jennette Ford were early residents of Log Hill Village and they were very active in community projects.  They moved to Texas in 2003.

• Hank Frenze:  Hank and his late wife Bea sublet and lease-optioned their property on County Road #22 in 1970.  In 1971, when their lease was up, they bought the property.  They both were very active in the community including donating one-acre of their property for Firehouse #1 which also served in the late 1970s and 1980s as a Community Center.  Hank was a major contributor in the construction of the firehouse.

• Jimmy and Shirley Johnnie.  The Johnnies came to LHM in the mid-1970s and shortly thereafter plunged into the effort to establish the LH Volunteer Fire Dept.  They also have contributed through the years to many other community activities.

• Bob and Chris Kindschi.  The Kindschi's moved from Wisconsin to their newly purchased home in Log Hill Village in the mid-1980s.  Bob joined the LHVFD shortly thereafter and was an active member into the mid-2000s.  He served as President of the Board for the Fire District and led the District through some very difficult years from 1989 to 1994.  They moved to Texas in 2005.

• Larry and Dorothy Klinger.  While we don’t have a tape of the interview with the Klinger's, we do have extensive notes from discussions with them in 2003.  Dorothy was particularly active in the Fortuna Tierra Club until her untimely death in March 2004.  The FTC now awards a scholarship in her name annually to a deserving high school senior in Ouray Co.

• Dale McClaran.  Dale and his late wife Marian moved to LHM in the early 1970s where they were “pillars of the community” until they moved first to Grand Junction and then to Washington State because of Marian’s health.

• Bob and Shirley Neel.  The Neels moved to the Keeler-Hills subdivision of Log Hill Village in the mid-1980s after his long and distinguished career as a geologist for several mineral companies.  He now is considered by many as the “geologist par excellence” for LHM and the surrounding region.  A 57 min. video of LHM geology was made with Bob in 2004 - that video is available to the public at the Ridgway Public Library.

• George Nelson.  George and his late wife moved to Log Hill Village from Massachusetts in 1978 - theirs was the seventh house to be built in that subdivision.  Shortly thereafter, Bob Draper, the principle Director of Western Community Planners who developed LHV, asked George to lead the effort to build Firehouse #2 there.  He not only got the firehouse constructed, but he served as an active member of the LHVFD until he retired from the Dept. in 1988 - he was the first retiree.

• Ruth Ann Robinson.  Ruth Ann met and married Judge Sam Robinson a few years after he had moved to LHM in 1973 where he established a cattle business and a hunting business.  Sam was a retired judge of the Arkansas Supreme Court.  Their adventures on LHM are told in the final chapter of Judge Sam’s book: “Winning against the Odds”, Library Research Associates, Inc., 1993.  Ruth Ann wrote a weekly column, “News ‘N’ Notes”, for the Ridgway Sun from 1983 to 1988.  Her column is a rich source of historical information for that time period.

• Jane Wakefield.  Jane came to the LHM area in the mid-1970s and was a close friend of Helen Bruck Farra who was the daughter Joe and Julie Bruck.  The Brucks were a pioneering family who eventually accumulated very large land holdings at the north end of LHM.  Jane has a wealth of stories about the ranches on LHM, particularly about the Thomas Ranch and the Wayne and Nellie Flowers family.

• Frank and Penny Starr.  Frank and Penny are long-time residents of Log Hill Village.  They have been and still are Log Hill Mesa and Ouray County community activists.  Both served many years on the Log Hill Volunteer Fire Dept. - Frank was Fire Chief from 1994 to 1998.

• Pat and Jim McLaughlin and Al Mathews.  This is the history story of the Humphrey family on LHM. William H. Humphrey and his wife Frances established their ranch on the north end of the mesa in 1887.  It has been in the family to the present through Royal (Roy) Humphrey and then William C. (Bill) Humphrey.  Pat and Al are the daughter and son of Zona Mathews Humphrey, Bill’s second wife.

• Lorabelle Fuller.  Lorabelle purchased her property on the rim of McKenzie Canyon near Busted Boiler Draw in 1972 where she and her son built their cabin.  She has been an important contributor to the community through the years, particularly lending her considerable artistic talents to fund-raising events for the Log Hill Volunteer Fire Dept. and the Fortuna Tierra Club.

       It is our intention to post our progress in finalizing the history stories of the people listed above on this web site.  When a story is given final approval, it will be submitted to the Ridgway Public Library and will be included in the list of stories available to the public on our Settling Families page.

        We have a list of people that we hope to interview in the future for this project.  If you feel that you or someone you know should be on the list, please let us know.  Perhaps even better, you might want to write your own story or help others write their stories to be included in the library archives.  The important thing is to document and make available as much of the history of LHM as possible for the generations to come!