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 Lilly (Eachus) Lawson
- Lilly Lawson recalls her life in the Glade Park area of Mesa County, Colorado. She talks about her father, who was a Methodist minister and homesteader. She describes people and places in the Glade Park area. 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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- Interview with Lilly (Eachus) Lawson and Anna Mae "Amy" (Eachus) Roehm
- Lily Lawson and Anna “Amy” Roehm discuss the history of their pioneering family in Glade Park, Colorado. 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.
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- Interview with Lina Mae (Smith) Biggs
- Lina Mae (Smith) Biggs discusses the history of her pioneer family in Grand Junction, including their role in cultivating apples in First Fruitridge, and her father Silmon Smith’s life as a prominent water law attorney who helped draw up the Colorado River Compact. 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. *Photograph from 1934 Colorado College yearbook
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- Interview with Lois (Hollinger) Saunders
- Lois Saunders talks about early life in Fruita, Loma, and Mack, Colorado, about life on a farm with her husband Roe Saunders, and about Colorado Mesa University’s Saunders Field House, which was named for her husband. 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.
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- Interview with Lois Jane (Southward) Quimby
- Former Grand Junction Mayor Jane Quimby talks about her upbringing in Rifle and Grand Junction, Colorado, and her studies. She reminisces about her husband’s profession, being a mother and homemaker for six children, and teaching flute and piano. She remembers substitute teaching from 1967 to 1971 and how that challenge gave her the courage to seek political office. She speaks about the support that she received from other women in the community during her political career, including Peggy Lippoth and Maxine Albers, the challenges of serving on a city council dominated by men, and the origins of inter-governmental cooperation in the networking of women. She talks about serving on various boards and commissions, including the local planning commission. 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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- Interview with Lois Marie (Long) Buniger and Leland Jacob Buniger
- Lois Long describes the homestead she grew up on near Loma. She remembers living in a tent and then a pre-cut house, and drinking ditch water. She recalls her father and uncle moving the Valley View School to north of the Colorado River in the 1920’s, and the school bus that was sometimes a horse-drawn cart. Leland Buniger talks about his childhood in Grand Junction, Fruita and Loma. He describes farming potatoes, beans and hay. He speaks about the Daily Sentinel paper route that he and Lois ran. He remembers things that they did for fun, such as rabbit hunting, horseback riding, and swimming in the ditches. 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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- Interview with Lola Edna Jennings
- Lola Jennings talks about growing up in Lewis, Colorado, her family, and picking mayflowers. She remembers childhood chores on the farm and her schooling. She recalls an ice skating accident in which she was severely injured and had a lengthy hospital stay at the Oshmer Hospital in Durango. She speaks about breaking wild horses, wildlife in Montezuma County, ice houses, and raising and butchering hogs. 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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- Interview with Lorena Alta "Lorene" (Tatlow) Roice
- Lorene Roice talks about her childhood growing up on a farm in Kansas, childhood chores, music, dances, dating, holiday celebrations, and her involvement in 4-H. She also discusses her life in Grand Junction, Colorado, her husband Joe Roice, and their cofounding of the Roice-Hurst Humane Society, Grand Junction’s first animal shelter. 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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- Interview with Louis A. Roybal, Sr.
- Louis Roybal discusses his childhood in Taos, New Mexico and on a homestead in the Oklahoma panhandle, working as a cowboy, and the history of his Hispanic family in New Mexico and Southern Colorado. He then talks in detail about his twenty years in the US Navy, with a description of his service as a fireman on naval vessels during World War I, and their engagement with German vessels. He also mentions his service on the USS Langley, the first US aircraft carrier, and his time on a ship that sailed to Nicaragua during the US military intervention there. 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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- Interview with Louis Felix Balliger and Elizabeth T. (Brandiger) Balliger
- Louis Balliger talks about his boyhood as the son of Swiss immigrants in early Twentieth century Telluride, Colorado. He also discusses his family’s struggles during the Great Depression, the influx of dust bowl refugees during that time, his career as a machinist, and his amateur woodworking hobby. His wife Elizabeth Balliger offers her occasional insights. 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.
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- Interview with Louis Frank "Lou" Guccini and Margaret Elaine (Beede) Guccini
- Lou Guccini describes growing up in Loma, Colorado, his father’s sheepranching business, speaking Italian in the home, and learning English in school. He remembers loving baseball and playing on town baseball teams with his brothers against the town teams of Hotchkiss, Rhone, Fruita, Appleton, and other locales. He describes how he became a sugar beet farmer with the help of his father-in-law, Thomas Wayne Beede. He recalls German prisoners of war that worked topping beets in the field during World War II, and irrigating crops from the Highline Canal. Margaret Guccini remembers her schooling in Loma. Lou Guccini talks about playing banjo in bands for town dances. 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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- Interview with Louis Pavetti and Virgil Van Dyke
- Louis Pavetti and Virgil Van Dyke talk about the origins of the Mesa County Sheriff Posse, its mission, and about search and rescue missions in which they assisted local authorities. They also talk about the Posse’s rodeo riding and roping programs for youth, “cowboy polo”, the Colorado Stampede (a professional rodeo put on by the Posse), and about trail riding and wild horses. 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.