The Fishing Trip that Created Me

Warren Reams decided to go to college at Western States University in Gunnison, CO. The way he told it, he went there for one primary reason. The fishing was awesome. You see this was before the dam was built to create the Blue Mesa reservoir. The fishing through Gunnison and down into the black canyon was awesome. It was a premier fly fishing spot, due to the fact that the native trout had learned to watch for the moth larvae to come up out of the mud, hit the surface of the river and fly up into the home of their parents in the cottonwood trees.

Warren took many fishing trips, and I can tell several fun stories. It was inevitable that Warren would encounter the Dean family. There were many opportunities. The Dean family, like many others, had incorporated the river into their everyday lives. Warren would marry one of the Dean daughters, Leatha, who is my grandmother. There is a rumor that Warren learned, or got some tips on fly fishing from Uncle Ernest who was Leatha’s Great Uncle. I tried to pin Warren down on this rumor, but he claimed a fuzzy memory about his early days of learning how to fly fish. Funny, his memory seemed to be razor sharp when recalling tales of his many successful fishing adventures.

Another story, which potentially led to the chance encounter with Leatha, was the fact that Warren learned to bum rides on the narrow gauge train from William Dean, Leatha’s father. He was a brakeman on the narrow gauge and if Warren timed it correctly, he could hitch a ride on the train down to the black canyon area and then in the early evening as the train came back, William would blow the whistle and Warren would climb out of the canyon and catch his ride back. Now I believe this story actually happened AFTER Warren met Leatha. I can almost see this conversation happening. Nice to meet you sir, Nice to know your youngest daughter sir, you work on the railroad? That is interesting. Hmm… I can almost visualize Warren’s thinking at that point. Free rides to the best fishing spots, food always on the table, good looking eligible daughter, family owns some property right on the Gunnison as well. Yup. Easy decision.

However, I believe the real story is the friendship that Warren built with an individual named Jesse Leland Dunbar. Jesse Dunbar and Warren were about the same age. Jesse was born in 1919, and Warren in 1920. I am pretty sure they became fishing co-conspirators. I have no direct evidence of that, but I have heard stories and Jesse was probably one of the gang. Now, if you know how Warren’s mind works – you would understand. You see the Dunbar’s had property on the Gunnison river. There you go. Jesse Leland Dunbar was the son of Susan (Suzie) Dean and his father of the same name, Jesse Dunbar. His father died young, in 1926. Suzie would go on to marry two other men, who also died before her. It was rough living in Gunnison. You either survived it all and lived to be very old, or you died young. Very little in between!

Anyway, Jesse’s family raised potatoes on their farm. This is another part of the calculus of the young Warren’s mind. He found a great food source, a good fishing buddy or two, a great property to fish from in a pinch. Now Suzie was a Dean. She was the daughter of Newton Dean and Artha Collins. Fun story there, but for another time. However, one of her brothers (there were like 10 children in this family) was William Dean. The same brakeman for the narrow gauge. Have you made the connection? Exactly. This is how Warren met Leatha. It went down like this. Warren and Jesse were probably fishing. What else would Warren Reams be doing on a Sunday afternoon? This was circa 1941. When the day was wrapping up, Warren was hungry and being the starving student that he was, got himself invited to go with Jesse to Sunday dinner with the Dean family. Now I am not sure if this was at Alma and Lee (Leland)’s house or William and Delsie Dean’s house. Most likely it was Alma and Lee’s. Sunday gatherings were very common in that household. Anyway, Warren came along with Jesse and this is where Leatha remembers meeting Warren for the first time. Do not get excited, there were no fireworks or love at first sight cupid arrows but there must have been something because it was not too much longer before they were courting and married.

Now unbeknownst to all of them, war was going to break out. 1942 came and the war intensified. By 1944, the boys in Gunnison started to realize that it was probably going to be more beneficial for them to sign up then get drafted. They might improve their lot in life. Due to their late entry, all of them were destined for the Pacific conflict. The custom at the time by the recruiting offices was to keep all the boys of the same community together. It would build camaraderie. During the registration process, Warren noted a strategic advantage in placement by what boxes you selected on the form. It seemed the most everyone who was selecting farmer, or mechanic were destined for infantry. I am not sure how this worked out, but as Warren told it he checked a bunch of boxes and made a big deal about the fact that he was a musician. Now that might have been a bit of a stretch, but he did have some musical talent and training. His parents were certainly so inclined.

This selection turned out to be fateful. He got assigned as a drum major for training marching bands out of Catalina Island, CA. Unfortunately, the other friends from Gunnison lost their lives as the troop transport they were on from San Diego, CA got torpedoed and sank in the Pacific Ocean. I believe Jesse Dunbar was part of that group, although I have not actually seen evidence of that other than anecdotal stories.

Now Warren never saw any action during the War. He lived next to Hollywood actors, with his wife and newborn baby (my father) the entire duration of the Pacific Conflict from Avalon. Well, check that, he did get shot at by a rancher one day while doing some hunting for wild boar but that is also another story for another blog.

Update – I got a note from the great grand daughter of Susie Dean Grisell (Glenola). She confirmed the story of what happened to Jesse (Jess).

“My grandmother was Susie Dean Grisell. Yes Jess was aboard the USS Indianapolis when it went down in the South Pacific on 30 July 1945 during WWII. The location was Manila, National Capital Region, Philippines. You can find out more by going to the US Navy Casualties Books 1776-1941, Utah Military Records 1861-1970, US Headstone Applications for Military Veterans 1925-1963, Utah Veterans with Federal Service Buried in Utah 1847-1966. His name was Jesse Leland Dunbar but he went by Jess Lee Dunbar. His headstone is in the Grantsville, Utah cemetery. ”

I looked up the ship roster, and the memorial site and sure enough, Jesse Dunbar’s name is on it. The story of what happened on that ship is incredible, horrifying, and everything in between. I read through some personal accounts and found myself crying as I realized the struggle these men experienced when that ship went down. Look up the USS Indianapolis when you get chance – there are many memorial sites.

Guy Reams