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 Marie and Thomas Roland "Tom" Biglin
Tom and Marie Biglin talk about their lives in the Nucla, Colorado area, about his career in ranching, and about her career as the office manager for the Nucla Regional Office of the Rural Electrification Administration. They also touch on his service as an ambulance driver during World War I, the development of irrigation in Nucla, and other tidbits of local history. 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 Marion Julian Echternach
In a letter read aloud to his niece, Marion Echternach talks about the history of his immigrant family in the United States, including their settlement in Oklahoma in 1880. He speaks about his boyhood in Peckham, Oklahoma. He discusses the “land boom” in Palisade, Colorado at the beginning of the Twentieth century and his family’s role in settling the area. He remembers visiting his brother Bill, an employee at the Liberty Bell Mine near Telluride. He details the fire that destroyed the Echternach family’s home in Oklahoma prior to their move to Palisade. He remembers his brother Merle’s term as Palisade’s mayor and his role in driving the Fergusons and other bootleggers out of town. He talks about the difficulty the family had in irrigating their orchards after the Colorado River flooded and knocked down the dam in Palisade in 1909. He speaks about horse raising in Collbran and his love, in general, of horses. He discusses helping on the family farm, helping to form the United Fruit Growers Association in response to unfair profits for growers, farming during the Depression, and the Japanese internees and German prisoners of war that picked for the farm. He talks about working around the West as an electrician for arms manufacturers during World War II and in nuclear missile silos after the war. He speaks about the lives of his brothers and his children. This recording is made available via signed release by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries and the Museums of Western Colorado.
Interview with Marjorie Elaine (West) Crow
Marjorie Crow talks about her education in the Palisade School and Palisade High School in the 1920’s and 30’s. She speaks about what she did at home for recreation, and about her mother’s piano tutoring business. She describes Christmas programs, and band and chorus activities. She discusses her higher education at Grand Junction Junior College and the University of Colorado. She talks about her life teaching elementary grades in Delta, at the Palisade School, and at Taylor Elementary School, a career spanning several decades. The interview was conducted by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries and the Museums of Western Colorado. *Photograph of Marjorie West from the 1939 Grand Junction High School yearbook.
Interview with Marshall "Mike" Revelle Douglass
Marshall “Mike” Revelle Douglass discusses the Civilian Conservation Corps camps on the Colorado National Monument, and his role as the commanding officer there. 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 Martha (Fortsch) Gardner
Martha Gardner talks about her childhood in the small towns of Western Colorado, about farm life in Eastern Utah, and about Grand Junction. 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 Mary Christine "Nanny" (Darrow) Maluy and Darrell Claire Maluy
Mary Maluy talks about her birth in Kansas, her marriage to Clement Maluy, and their move to the New Liberty area of Mesa County in 1918. She remembers popular dances and other social activities. She recalls the New Liberty School and its history. She speaks about the family’s homestead, learning to irrigate, their first crops, and raising poultry. She gives some history of the town of Mack. She remembers getting electricty in the home and then running water in the 1930’s. She and her son discuss raising sugar beets. They speak about the changes in the New Liberty community over time as newcomers came in, and what the community did for recreation. He talks about projects of the 4-H Club, and recalls the Civilian Conservation Corps’ work on the Highline Canal and other water projects. They speak about the history of New Liberty and how the area got its name. 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 Mary Corcoran
Mary Corcoran talks about her parents and grandparents, pioneers in Mesa County and Eastern Utah. She also talks about her early life in Grand Junction, Colorado, and about ranch life above De Beque on the Grand Mesa. 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 Mary Elizabeth (Buthorn) Price: Walter Walker Series
Mary Price discusses what she knew about Walter Walker and his family, impressions of Walker held by Mesa County residents, social events the Walkers were involved in, the presence of the Ku Klux Klan in Grand Junction, and the Typographical Union Strike. She also talks about her German immigrant father, his ownership of the prominent LaCourt Hotel in Grand Junction, and his fear of the Klan. This recording is made available via signed release by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries and the Museums of Western Colorado.
Interview with Mary Jane Rait
Mary Rait explains how Grand Junction Junior College was created (later to become Colorado Mesa University), and her role there as teacher, administrator, and lastly, as vice president. She mentions the various deans and their accomplishments. She tells about the growth of the school as it became Mesa College and its eventual change into a four-year school. The interview was conducted by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries and the Museums of Western Colorado. *Photo from the Maverick (1949 Mesa College yearbook).
Interview with Mary Louise (Chiaro) Colosimo and Lorena Alta "Lorene" Roice
Mary Colosimo talks about the life of her Italian immigrant family on a truck farm in the Pomona area of Mesa County, Colorado. She also discusses her marriage to railroad man Charles Colosimo, his career with the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad, including his stints as a call-boy and an engineer, railroad disciplinary measures, and train accidents. Lorene Roice talks about what brought her to Grand Junction at the end of World War II, her husband’s jobs on the railroad and in construction, and the Roice’s establishment of the Roice-Hurst Humane Society. Both Colosimo and Roice talk about the way railroading got into their families’ blood, and the generosity of railroad workers. 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 Mary Louise Giblin: Walter Walker Series
Mary Giblin, an employee of The Daily Sentinel newspaper beginning in 1941, talks about her working relationships with owner/publishers Walter and Preston Walker, with insights on the character of both men. She also discusses the staff and working life at the paper, and her career as a reporter on both women’s issues and the political beat. This recording is made available via signed release by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries and the Museums of Western Colorado. *The above photo of Walter Walker is a public domain image from the U.S. Senate Historical Office.
Interview with Max Augustus Sisson Jr.
Max Sisson Jr. talks about his career fighting the peach mosaic disease with the US Department of Agriculture. He discusses methods of indentifying the disease, the history of the disease, and the many orchards lost to it prior to effective methods to combat it, namely tree removal, that he helped to introduce. The interview was conducted by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries and the Museums of Western Colorado. *Photograph of Max Sisson Jr. from the 1934 Colorado Agricultural College yearbook.

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