One in a collection by Allen Bachoroski,
Local Historical Writer,
Tales Along the
Highway of Legends
Note: This
is one in a series of historical stories about local families
in the Trinidad region.
Click here to find out more
about how these stories were collected.
The Bowles family moved to Trinidad in June of 1930. Originally
consisting of Joseph Wesley Bowles, his wife Justine Elida
Bowles and their eleven year old son Joe, Jr.
Joe Sr., a native of Littleton, Colorado and grandson
of Colorado pioneer and rancher Joseph W. Bowles, was
born in August of 1895 in the family home on Bowles Avenue
in Littleton. He grew up on a farm west of Littleton and
started ranching independently at the age of eighteen,
in Littleton and then in Castle Rock.
Joe Sr. married a Denver native and school teacher Justine
Wiberg, daughter of Swedish immigrants, in 1917. They
had a son in 1919, Joseph W. Bowles, Jr.
Joe Sr. worked for Ingersoll Rand and ranched until the
Great Depression of 1929 left him without work. The family
then moved to Trinidad when Joe Sr. obtained a job with
the Colorado Division of Highways, first working on Highway
350 between Trinidad and Model, and then maintaining Raton
Pass.
Just prior to his retirement in 1956, he purchased a cattle
ranch running between Starkville and the rimrock of Fisher's
Peak. Joe Sr. then subsequently sold the ranch to Leo
Montoya in 1968.
Justine Bowles passed away in January of 1973, and Joe
Sr. died in February of 1988 at the age of 92, enjoying
excellent health until his last few months. One of his
favorite pastimes was visiting with his friends and neighbors,
reminiscing and story telling.
Joseph Bowles, Jr. attended Trinidad schools, graduated
from Trinidad High School in 1936, attended Trinidad State
Junior College for one year, then attended Colorado School
of Mines for 2 1/2 years, majoring in geophysics.
In January of 1942, he joined the Army Air Corps and was
instrumental in aircraft armament at Lowrey and Buckley
Fields. He then went overseas to England, France and Germany
to serve during World War II. In September of 1945, he
was discharged from the Air Corps after returning to New
York Harbor aboard the Queen Mary.
Joe, Jr. then came back to Trinidad and went to work as
a substitute clerk at the Trinidad post office, eventually
working his way up to Postmaster - the first not politically
appointed in Trinidad history. He retired from the Postal
Service in 1975.
He married Rubye Mae Robinson in 1949. Ruby Mae was born
in Trinidad and raised in Raton. Her father, Bertram T.
Robinson, was an engineer for the Santa Fe Railroad and
her mother, Laura Kane Robinson grew up in several of
the coal camps west of Trinidad and ran a dress shop in
Raton.
Rubye's grandfather was publisher R.W. Robinson who put
out the Picketwire Newspaper, one of Trinidad's oldest
papers published in the early 1900's. She is also a distant
relative of the Schneiders, who ran the Schneider Brewery.
In the Spring of 1950, Joe Jr. and Rubye started building
their home completely by themselves. Some of the materials
for the home came from the old Rice School.
Working evenings and weekends, the home was completed
in August of 1952. July of 1955 brought Joe and Rubye
a son, Brent Robinson Bowles who passed away in 1975 as
a result of an auto accident. Brent was employed by the
City of Trinidad.
In 1961, Laurine Bowles was born. Both Bowles children
attended Trinidad schools and Trinidad State Junior College.
Laurine graduated from the University of Southern Colorado
in 1984. In September of 1987, Laurine married Michael
R. Mercier, a Denver native. They had a son, Matthew Joseph
Mercier, born in December of 1988 and continued to live
in Denver.
(Note:
if you have Photos of this family or know of anyone that
does, please have them get in touch with us so that we
might share some photos of the family here)