Dale Ralston Collection

TITLE: Dale Ralston Collection

DATE RANGE: 1904-1974

CALL NUMBER: Y-MS3

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION:  6 linear ft. (10 boxes)

PROVENANCE:  Possibly donated by his wife, Ludmelia Ralston 1974.

COPYRIGHT: The Yuma County Library District owns the copyright to this collection    

RESTRICTIONS: This collection is unrestricted.   

CREDIT LINE:  Dale Ralston Collection, Y-MS3, Yuma County Library District

PROCESSED BY: Linda Whitaker, April 2013

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE:    

Dale (Gleason) Ralston was born March 7, 1889 in San Francisco to Zenobia Septima Lansdale, a piano teacher who married several times. He was adopted by his stepfather, Robert Gordon Ralston, a “railroad man.” Both Dale and Zenobia’s early lives from 1903-1920 were characterized by frequent moves within California and Arizona searching for employment and following various mining prospects or real estate investments. His mother eventually moved to Quartzsite, Arizona when she married William C. Lacy.

After graduating from Yuma Union High School in 1906, Dale Ralston attended two years at the University of Arizona College of Agriculture, Mechanical Arts and Mining.   From 1909-1918, he traveled extensively and worked as a miner, a construction worker, and occasionally a fisherman from Canada to Mexico.  

In 1918, Dale was drafted into the Army at age 29 and served as a demolition instructor at Camp

Cody, New Mexico. He became an active member of the American Legion H.H. Do       nkersley Post No. 19 and WWI Veterans.  He was particularly active in the Masons and Yuma Lodge No. 10 where he served in several leadership positions. 

From 1920-1936, he served as an assistant in the Yuma County Engineer’s office. He went on to work in the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation as an Inspector, Chief of Surveys, Civil Engineer and  Construction Engineer until 1957 when he retired after suffering a heart attack.  Dale Ralston married Ludmelia Holstein, 16 years his junior and a school teacher in 1935.   They had two children, Robert Dale and Elisabeth. He was preceded in death by his wife in 1976. On April 20, 1977 Dale Ralston died in Solano, California. 

SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE: 

The correspondence and photographs in this collection are significant for their volume and detail.  The correspondence between Zenobia Lacy (mother) and son Dale Ralston 1904-1918 is voluminous. Their letters document a hard life along the Colorado River whether it was prospecting, building canals, farming, road construction or land speculation. Some of the print material is fragile. There are over 200 photographs, most taken by Dale Ralston from  the 1920s to 1930s, of mining and survey sites, canals and levees, the construction of the Phoenix-Yuma Highway, and his friends, pets, cars, colleagues, and wife, Ludmelia.  Album fragments dating from 1897 to the 1920s also include early family photographs and images of Quartzsite, Arizona.  

Arranged in six series, then alphabetically and chronologically within. Series I: Personal includes the Ralston marriage certificate, pioneer biographical sheet submitted by Ludmelia Ralston for her husband, a chronology of early moves, financial files, and professional certificates.  Series II: Correspondence arranged alphabetically by sender or subject; includes letters between mother and son, family, friends, and potential employers. Series III: Writings include Dale Ralston’s diaries, survey field notes, short stories, and essays - some of which are not authored by him. Series IV: Photographs include over 200 black and white images that capture the men and equipment used for mining, canal and road construction as well as the LacyRalston travels to California and Mexico.  Series V: Memorabilia includes business ledgers collected by Dale, his membership cards from group affiliations, and various ephemera.  Series VI: Oversized includes panoramic military photographs.

CONTAINER LIST: