Mesa County Oral History Project

The Mesa County Oral History Project began as a joint project of the Museums of Western Colorado and Mesa County Libraries (MCL) in 1975. The Oral History Project collected tape-recorded interviews with pioneers of Mesa County and surrounding areas, and interviews with the children of pioneers. The Central Library housed the duplicate audio cassettes and provided patron access to the histories. The Museum stored the master tapes and kept files and transcripts related to the oral history collection. The Mesa County Historical Society also contributed significantly to the Oral History Project by collaborating with the library and museum to select interviewees, and by providing interviewers and other volunteers. Mesa County Libraries no longer partner with the Museum in housing duplicate copies of tapes. But the library now works with the Museum to digitize interviews from the Mesa County Oral History Project and to provide online access to the interviews through Pika, the library catalog. The Museum continues to house the original audio cassettes, interview transcripts, and other source material for the project. The Library and the Museums of Western Colorado still record oral histories with residents who have important knowledge of the area’s history. Please note that some interviews contain language that listeners or readers may consider offensive. Mesa County Libraries does not condone such language, but has included interviews in their entirety in the interest of preserving history.

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Interview with Emma Verena (Jones) Conner
Emma Conner talks about the lives of her parents and grandparents, Mesa County pioneers. She speaks about her early schooling at the Franklin School and work in her grandmother’s boardinghouse. She details restrictions that were put into place during the Spanish Flu epidemic of 1918. She discusses the railroad occupations of her father and husbands, and a rail accident that killed her second husband. She talks about downtown Grand Junction’s dirt streets and plank sidewalks. She recalls dances at the Lincoln Park Barn, Native American students from the Teller Institute, shows at the Park Opera House, band concerts in Whitman Park, seeing her first “talking picture” in Denver, and air travel. She speaks about her grandfather’s involvement in the Civil War and in the Grand Army of the Republic. The interview was conducted by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries and the Museums of Western Colorado.
Interview with Emmett Elizondo
Emmett Elizondo talks about his arrival in the United States from the Basque region of Spain and his first sheepherding job in Buffalo, Wyoming. He remembers building his own herds through a sheep leasing deal with a business partner in Salt Lake City. He recalls his move to Colorado’s Western Slope and eastern Utah, where he amassed a large sheep operation and owned 25,400 acres by 1980. He speaks about his community involvements, including his help organizing a bank in Fruita in the 1930’s, and helping to found the Western Colorado Center for the Arts (now known as the Art Center). He talks about his trips to Spain to visit family, and about the Basque community of Grand Junction. He remembers how grazing changed with the advent of the US Grazing Service, managing sheep operations with shepherds and sheep dogs, financing sheep operations, and the history of ranches along the Colorado River. The interview was conducted by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries and the Museums of Western Colorado.
Interview with Ernest W. Hicks and Harriett Sophronia (Overton) Hicks
Ernest W. Hicks talks about early life in Missouri and in Egypt, where his father was a missionary. He also discusses his work as a carpenter in Mesa County, Colorado, his passion for crafting muzzle-loading rifles and hunting, and his friendship with the artist Harold Bryant. Harriett Hicks talks about her work in the Kuner Canning Company in Appleton. The interview was conducted by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries and the Museums of Western Colorado.
Interview with Essie F. (Jeffers) Aspinall
Essie Aspinall talks about her arrival in Palisade in 1910, her childhood there, and life in town. She speaks about growing up on a fruit farm and attending school at Mt. Lincoln, where she met her future husbands Frank Best and Wayne Aspinall. She describes teaching in a one-room school house in Sedgewick, Colorado. The interview was conducted by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries and the Museums of Western Colorado.
Interview with Estella (Gavin) Taylor and William "Mose" Burkitt
William “Mose” Burkitt and Estella (Gavin) Taylor discuss the early history of Fruita, Colorado and Mesa County. The interview was conducted by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries and the Museums of Western Colorado.
Interview with Ethel Jane (Hutton) Keleher
Ethel Keleher talks about growing up in Kansas, moving to a ranch near Trinidad when she was nineteen, and her family. She remembers her husband, children, and how cancer affected their lives. She speaks about living on a homestead in Fowler, where they raised poultry, and sold eggs and milk. She recalls arriving in Mesa County in 1923, shopping and riding the streetcar in Grand Junction, and businesses in Fruita. She speaks about working with fruit in the orchards and the changes in Fruita over time. The interview was conducted by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries and the Museums of Western Colorado.
Interview with Ethel M. (Bear) Hotchkiss
Ethel M. Hotchkiss describes her time spent as a member of the Grand Junction Women’s Club. The club provided local support for the community, helping to sponsor Mesa Junior College, an early child care center, and the Grand Junction Public Library’s Carnegie building. The interview was conducted by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries, the Museums of Western Colorado and the Mesa County Historical Society.
Interview with Eugene Biassi Perry
Eugene Perry talks about his childhood in Grand Junction’s Riverside neighborhood. He speaks about working for the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad from the time he was thirteen years old, his career building track as a section foreman, and the history of D&RG in Grand Junction. He discusses landmarks such as Bowman’s slaughterhouse, the Pest House, and the town’s ice houses. He reminisces about a youth curfew that was in place in Grand Junction when he was a child. He talks about different businesses and business people in Grand Junction’s downtown. He recalls Horsemeat Lewis and Hot Tamale Bob, restauranteurs who used unusual meat in their dishes. He recalls some of the brothels, madams and prostitutes that inhabited the “Barbary Coast” area. He remembers swimming in Connected Lakes and Stevie Pond, an accidental drowning, and floods of the Colorado River that were once common. He talks about early doctors in town, accidents, and infectious diseases. He discusses his education at the Lowell and Bryant Schools, and at the orphanage where he lived for a few years. The interview was conducted by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries and the Museums of Western Colorado.
Interview with Eugene Frederick Rowley and Margery M. (Eddy) Rowley
Eugene Rowley discusses his grandfather and father who started and operated the Palisade Mine in 1905, and details his own involvement in the peach industry in Palisade, Colorado. He also talks about the town’s history and his boyhood there, with information about such things as a fatal rockslide that hit a train, Palisade’s schools, and his ownership of an early silent movie theater. His wife Margery Rowley chimes in with the occasional insight. The interview was conducted by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries, the Museums of Western Colorado and the Mesa County Historical Society.
Interview with Eula Belle (Schaublin) Hasse
In her first interview, recorded on December 21, 1983, Eula Belle talks about the lives of her parents and home life in Ava, Missouri. She remembers moving to Montrose County, Colorado at the age of nine, in 1910, and attending the Pea Green School. She describes meeting her husband, an immigrant from Japan, his life prior to their meeting, and their courtship. She recalls the heavy snows of 1916. She discusses losing their farm on Delta County’s Garnet Mesa during the Depression, and their subsequent moves to Brighton, Fruita, and Grand Junction’s Third Fruitridge before settling in Fruitvale. In her second interview, recorded February 7, 1984, she speaks about life in Olathe when she was young. She talks about life in Fruita, Third Fruitridge, and Fruitvale in more detail. She describes working as a lunch lady in the Fruitvale School for many years. She discusses area businesses and band concerts in Lincoln Park. She talks about inventions that she had witnessed in her life. She goes into her travels, church activities, and family at the time of her interview. The interview was conducted by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries and the Museums of Western Colorado.
Interview with Eva (Wood) Leslie
Eva Wood Leslie discusses her family’s farm life on Pinon Mesa, Colorado, sheep farming, chores done around the home, and school teaching in Mesa County. The interview was conducted by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries, the Museums of Western Colorado and the Mesa County Historical Society.
Interview with Evelyn "Evie" (Jewell Craddock) Smith
Evie Smith describes growing up on a pineapple plantation on the Island of Oahu in Hawaii that was run by her father. She talks about the different ethnic groups inhabiting camps on the plantation, including Chinese, Filipino, and Japanese workers. She speaks about the US military’s war games that preceded the attack on Pearl Harbor in the week prior to December 7, 1941. She describes the bombing of Hawaii by Japanese forces and the deaths of civilians at the hands of Japanese pilots. She discusses the mistrust of Japanese Americans after Pearl Harbor, and the fear and confusion felt by the Japanese who lived in Hawaii. She remembers being upset to find out that Japanese Americans on the mainland were placed in internment camps. She speaks about damage done to airfields and airplanes by the attack. She talks about brown outs and other aspects of life on Hawaii after Pearl Harbor. Interviewer David Sundal talks about Japanese families in the Grand Valley during World War II, including the Mitsushima family. The interview was conducted by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries and the Museums of Western Colorado.

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