The annals of Roaring Fork Valley history contain numerous stories of courageous perseverance and a resilient spirit. The following is a glimpse into the lives of three remarkable women: Mary Ferguson, Pearl “Tommy” Thomson and Margaret Morgan.
The Sopris Sun spoke with Sue Gray, museum director for the Carbondale Historical Society, and Carolyn Cipperly, Roaring Fork Valley historian, to learn more about these women’s lives and contributions that have left a lasting influence on our community.
Mary (Lamprecht) Ferguson (1906-1999)
In 1905, John and Maria Lamprecht, natives of Žiri, Slovenia, embarked on a journey to the United States with their four children. Upon settling in the coal mining camp of Spring Gulch, two more daughters, Mary, born in 1906, and Sylvia, in 1908, would join their family.
The family moved to Carbondale, and in 1924, Mary was one of four Carbondale Union High School graduates. She went on to attend Western State College and Colorado University.
In 1927, she married Melvin Vernon “Jack” Ferguson, born in a small farming community in Kansas in 1901. The couple had four sons — Jack Harvey, Kaye Donne, Richard Noren and Marvin Vonne.
Early in her teaching career, Mary taught in several Garfield County one-room schoolhouses, including the Larsen School, Divide Creek, Crystal Springs, Missouri Heights and Cattle Creek.
In 1962, she earned her teaching certificate and bachelor of arts degree from the University of Northern Colorado (then Colorado State College) and taught at Carbondale Elementary School from 1963 to 1976.
After retiring from teaching, she volunteered for the Near New Store in Carbondale, the Retired and Senior Volunteer Program, the Mt. Sopris Historical Society (now the Carbondale Historical Society) and the Carbondale Public Education Foundation.
From 1983 until her death in 1999, Ferguson hosted a public affairs program on KDNK community radio called “This I Remember,” which showcased Mary and her guests sharing their reflections on the history of the Roaring Fork and Crystal River valleys.
In 2021, a collaborative project between the Carbondale Historical Society and KDNK compiled some of Mary’s shows into an online directory on the KDNK website available at: www.kdnk.org/podcast/this-i-remember
In 1994, after 10 years of serving on the Carbondale Board of Trustees, she retired a few days short of her 88th birthday.
Following her passing, the front page of the Valley Journal on March 18, 1999, featured a poignant tribute to Mary written by John Stroud.
Mary’s most enduring legacy lies in the multitude of students she guided. In Stroud’s piece, Mary’s longtime friend Ginny Lappala reflected on her teaching tenure, remarking, “I think 90% of Carbondale’s original population had her as a teacher.”
Pearl “Tommy” (Ellis) Thomson (1896-1970)
Pearl Etta Ellis was born in Missouri and grew up in Telluride. In 1916, at 19, she married Rich Roy Thomson, a Kansas native whose family relocated to Aspen when he was 7. When they married, Rich was serving as a forest ranger in Montezuma County in southwestern Colorado.
Rich transferred to the White River National Forest office in Glenwood Springs, where they purchased a homestead on Laurel Street. Despite the many livery stables in the area, their convenient location near the Hotel Colorado ensured a steady flow of hotel guests seeking livery and outfitting services. Thomson’s descendants still own the homestead, located behind the Best Western Antlers Hotel.
In 1938, the husband and wife team packed up the wagons, hitched up the horses and entered into a new business venture as trail guides for the American Forestry Association (AFA) initiative, “Trail Riders of the Wilderness.”
Beginning in the 1930s, AFA, now known as American Forests, offered what might today be considered the first ecotours — organized adventures that educated people about the vast, untamed wilderness of the American West.
The two-week-long pack trips trekked through the Elk Mountains to the Flat Tops Wilderness region, traversing the White River National Forest. Riders were greeted by a landscape featuring dense clusters of evergreens alongside towering aspen groves and trails winding through sprawling meadows heavily sprinkled with native wildflowers.
The Thomsons also had a hunting guide service for those searching for elk and mule deer, and Tommy quickly became one of Colorado’s few licensed women guides.
Rich retired in 1943 and died in 1950. Tommy continued with the pack and hunting trips until operations ceased in 1956.
Margaret (Reynolds) Morgan (1896-2003)
Margaret was the daughter of Louis and Antonia “Annie” (Serena) Reynolds. Louis hailed from Illinois, while Annie, born in Paris, moved with her family to Kansas when she was just 1 year old.
The Reynolds family lived on a ranch on Three Mile Road. According to the 1910 U.S. Census, 13-year-old “Maggie” was listed as working as a herder on the family’s dairy farm.
In 1916, she graduated from Garfield County High School, and the following year, she married Guy Erval Roberts. Their daughter, Catherine, was born in 1918, and for most of their marriage, the family resided near Edwards.
In addition to managing the family household, she packed heads of lettuce grown by her neighbor, operated a horse-drawn bull rake and cooked for crews during the haying season.
The family relocated to Silt in the early 1920s. There she transported schoolchildren on Silt Mesa using a wagon and a team of horses. The Roberts’ marriage would end in divorce in 1925.
While working for coal magnate John C. Osgood and his wife in Redstone, Margaret met Raymond Morgan, a coal miner whom she married in 1926.
In the late 1930s, she worked at the Cardiff ranch of New York stockbroker George Sumers. There, she guided Sumers’ children and guests on horseback rides, oversaw the stable operations and selected and cared for his horses.
The Morgans built a log cabin near Glenwood Park, where they lived for over 50 years.
She worked for the Thomsons, delivering horses to the Civilian Conservation Corps camp in Durango. She would set out on the seven-day-long, 238-mile journey with a pistol, never knowing what dangers she may face.
In 1989, at 82 years of age, Margaret authored and published a 38-page biography titled “As Near As I Can Remember — My Life History,” which recounts her adventures working on trail rides and cooking for hunting camps.
Horses held a special place in Margaret’s heart from a young age. At just 4 years old, she received her first horse. One of her beloved steeds was a palomino named Nugget. On her 90th birthday, with arthritis beginning to develop in her knees, Margaret took one final ride with Nugget.
When Nugget died, she reflected, “I was without a horse for the first time since I was 4 years old.”
Margaret died in 2003, one month shy of her 107th birthday.
Reflecting on the legacies of Mary Ferguson, Pearl “Tommy” Thomson and Margaret Morgan, these stories serve as beacons of inspiration, reminding us of the power of unwavering determination and dedication to community.
The Sopris Sun extends heartfelt appreciation to Cipperly and Gray for their invaluable insights and to Peg Vidakovich and Ari Beachey of the Frontier Museum for facilitating access to historical resources.
