Ortencia Elizabeth

Bettger

There are two dilapidated old houses sitting on the hillside to the left as you drive to the Twin Landfill site.  The larger of the two homes was the birthplace of lifelong Routt County resident, Ortencia Elizabeth Gonzales Bettger.  Born on November 13, 1924, Ortencia was the oldest daughter of nine children born to Juanita and Phillip Gonzales.  The family later moved to Mount Harris where Ortencia attended school, worked at the local drug store, and met the love of her life.  She married Cecil Eugene Bettger on October 13, 1948.  Shortly after they married the couple moved to Steamboat, where they would raise their children, run a sand and gravel business for forty-five years and spend the rest of their lives.  They were married for sixty-seven years before Cecil passed away in 2015.