John Caldwell

John Caldwell was born on April 2nd, 1926 in Meeker, Colorado on the ranch his parents Verne and Hannah Caldwell worked. It was the old Pollard Ranch. John is the eldest of two sisters, he was the only boy. John's parents had a little girl in between John and Ruth that they lost to an illness at 6 months. So, when Hannah was pregnant with Ruth, they moved to Grand Junction so Hannah could have the baby at the hospital. Ruth was born in old St. Mary's hospital four years after John. Vern and Hannah bounced between Grand Junction and Meeker for two to three years. By the end of the third year, they had moved back to Meeker to the same ranch John was born on. Hannah gave birth to Rachael on the Scenery Gulch ranch in 1930. John's dad worked as a hunter guide at the Rio Blanco ranch for two to three years. Then the family moved to the Scenery Gulch Ranch in 1930, bought by a millionaire Charles F. Ayer from New York City. Charles F. Ayer was a member of the old "101 Ranch" now called Rio-Blanco Ranch, just below Trappers Lake. The family lived and worked there until 1941. then in 1941 John and his family moved to the Grand Junction area. John was a sophomore in high school. John wasn't much of a sport player, he wrestled some. John played in the high school band, he played the tuba base while living in the Grand Junction area. John really didn't like school, but what kid does? Even though John didn't like school, he did well. His least favorite subjects were English and history. John graduated from Grand Junction High school in 1944. It was late 1944 or early 1945 when John joined the Army. John joined because he wanted to be around his friends and serve his country. John didn't get into the Army until later because his dad had a year delay on John, so John could help him out around the ranch. John signed up as the paratroops. While in the service, John would write letters to his family as a way to keep in touch. They would sometimes talk on the phone. John signed onto the 130th airborne division, just shortly after they came back from England during WWII, so John fought. He was in the service for at least 2 years, he came home in 1947. The only thing that John really talked about to his family was the fact he jumped out of air planes. He would tell them how they would get the ther guy ready and then they had to push everyone but him out of the plane. John was a daredevil his sister recalls. While in the service, John learned how to pack a parachute. John moved back to the Meeker, Rangely area after returning home from the service. That's where John went to work on the uranium bust. John had a claim, and was driving truck back and forth containing ore. He later ended up in Rangely. John got married in 1949 to Doris, but it didn't last long. John was still in the Rangely area working different jobs, ranging from oil fields to backhoe work. John also enjoyed hunting; his main hunting trips were elk and deer. His dad had dogs that were trained to hunt bears, mountain lions, and so on, they would sometimes go hunting together. John met Colleen Hanson and they were later married in 1959. Colleen and a friend of hers went to nursing schoool and they had both gotten a job in the Meeker, Rangely area when John and she met. Her friend also met and married a Meeker gentleman. Colleen and John were unable to have a child of their own, so they adoped a son named Verne, he's their only child. During this time, John was working as a backhoe driver, when he twisted his back really bad and had to go onto unemployment. During his unemployment time, John got some training to work at Smith Drug Store in Grand Junction, Where he worked at for a number of years. Then the fall of 1979, John, Colleen, and Verne moved down to Las Vegas where John worked on a test site. While working at the test site, John picked up several more hobbies. the couple lived in the Las Vegas area until 1995, when Colleen passed. John slowly made his way back to the Colorado area.