The Gardener

I would like you to meet one of my summer friends. Dana is a master gardener from California. She lives here all summer with her husband Bob. Dana is actually the third generation in her family to live in our little town.

She was born here in Lake City, CO as was her mother. Dana's grandmother Katie arrived in the U.S. from Denmark in 1877, making her way to Lake City in 1898.

 

Here Dana's grandmother is pictured with her husband Roland (a native of England) . Katie and Roland were cooking, in this old photograph, in a boarding house, in Lake City, back during the mining days.

 

They were married in this church in 1901

and lived in this little house, where they were blessed with five children. This house, by the way, is now a vacation rental. Roland sadly died young, from the influenza epidemic in 1920...leaving Katie to parent alone. Her skills of salting and preserving fish, that she learned in Denmark, really came in handy with so many mouths to feed.

One of Katie's sons made enough money in the oil fields of South America, to come back and buy his Mom this larger home (two doors down), which is still in the family. One of Dana's cousins lives here.

Notice that Dana's grandmother was tiny, below 5 Ft , as is Dana.

History of our town is kept alive by an active Historical Society.

excerpts from taken from

Memorable Cooks

by Linda B. Iiams

Historical research by Grant E. Houston

who gave his permission for this article