Conejos County Gas and Oil

About the only thing that was constant in our lives from the time that I can first remember was the old gas station, Conejos County Gas and Oil.

The earliest memories I have are of Bonnie riding on pickup runner boards to get to go to the garage. Dad worked for Boyd Pagett. Dad would drive the gasoline delivery truck, fix tires, pump gasoline, service automobiles, and other general labor. I remember going to the garage when Boyd owned it, but those memories are not very vivid.

What I do remember is pulling weeds. Yup. Pulling weeds. I liked to go to the garage and get treats. There was a pop machine and a glass cabinet with candies and items for the garage. I liked to get a soda pop and a bag of peanuts. The customary way of drinking pop was putting peanuts in the glass bottle and drink the pop as it metered out the peanuts. To earn the pop and I candy I was given the task of pulling weeds. My appetite for sweets was diminished after a half hour or so.

There were extra boxes of candy stored away for stocking the candy cabinet. I was allowed to restock the candy cabinet and in turn could have a candy bar. My favorite was Oh Henry.

In the office there were these old desks that appeared to be old school desks. These were chairs that had an attached platform on one side, where you could slide in and sit with the table in front of you. The desktops were carved with dates and peoples initials. I must admit that I made my additions.

That was a dusty old place. The streets in town were not always paved. The dust raised by the automobile traffic must have had a little breeze that pushed it all into the garage.

There were bulk products that we dispensed. The oil that was used to change oil in cars and trucks was stored either in the reservoirs with metered pumps on them or quart cans. It was fun to watch the oil salesman pouring oil into dispensers.

The perimeter of the whole office area was encircled by v-belts for alternators, generators, water pumps, and air conditioning pumps. The office occupied only a small portion of the building. There were tires stored also. We sold Gates tires and Gates belts.

The tire machine was out in the garage next to the large garage door. The door had 3 panels. One panel opened against the office and the other two panels had a hinge that connected them and they articulated together to the other side of the opening. The floor was a bit lower than the sidewalks. When I was a bit older I was the master of the tire machine. I changed many tires with that old machine. It worked by attaching the center of the wheel that held the tire to a hub with a large nut that had a tapered face on it. The taper would center the wheel on the machine. There was a spring loaded pin that would fit in one of the lug holes on the wheel to keep it from spinning. The head of the machine was ratcheted so it would spin one direction but not the other. A set of bars with specially shaped ends made up the rest of equipment for tire repair.

We also had an assortment of hammers, wedges, and steel bars for manipulating truck and tractor tires. Back in those days we used inner tubes in the tires to hold the air pressure.

I remember spending a few hours on the river on some of those tubes.

In the back of the garage was the shop where the mechanic would do more major type work.

Half way back was the grease rack. The rack would raise vehicles into the air to allow easy access to the bottom of the vehicle. The grease rack was bordered by a greasy table with drawers and grease and oil dispensers.

We used cloth rags to wipe excess grease (of which there was plenty). The rags were collected for a period of time and then would be cleaned by a commercial cleaner from Alamosa.

Delivery and sales people would come visit us to stock our cabinets and equipment. I wish I had some pictures of all this.

I learned to weld by trial and error. We had a stick welder and an oxy-acetylene torch.

Remember when ....

Some of my earliest memories are of when we lived across the street from Maggie Weston. I remember going over and helping her grandchildren in the chicken coups. Do you know what the white stuff is in the chicken droppings? They are chicken droppings just like the rest of it.



Well, anyway, back to the memories. Bonnie and I were playmates. We would climb up the apple tree in the front yard. The back yard was a vast field. There was a small corral and a small shed in just behind the house. I believe it used to be a pigpen with a little building. We would go out and play in the pen. Bonnie threw a can over the shed and hit me in the head. I bled.

Another time I remember being out in the back with no shoes on and I stepped on a stub left from a weed that was cut. The stub went through my foot.

After that I remember walking on the top wire of the fence that was the boundary between the back lot and the Parker's. I fell and snagged on a barb. I still have the scar.

I vaguely remember the kitchen and front room. There was an oil stove and a wood stove in the kitchen. The weekly baths were taken in a tub that was put in the middle of the kitchen floor.

Dad worked at Conejos County Gas and Oil. He worked for Boyd Pagett, mom;s uncle.

We would move soon to another home. We moved to an old home across the street from Boyd and Elma Pagett, just around the corner from CCG&O. Well that is a story for another day.