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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Ninth interview with Al Look
Alfred Alvine “Al” Look tells about his childhood growing up in Kansas. He talks about the theater productions his school put on and his role in those. He describes his education in journalism at the University of Nebraska, publishing a magazine called Ah Go On, and working in a store to help pay his tuition. He also talks about his contributions to the Mesa College library (now Colorado Mesa University). The interview was conducted by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries and the Museums of Western Colorado.
Oil Shale on Colorado's Western Slope: Lecture by Adam Alva Reeves
Adam Reeves describes his education, which includes a degree from the University of Denver and a degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Oklahoma. He also mentions his military service in Europe during the 1940s. He arrived in Western Colorado in October 1947 and worked as a federal employee for the Anvil Points Research Facility near Rifle, CO. He explains that the facility was operated by the United States Bureau of Mines after the Synthetic Fuels act was signed in 1944. The purpose of the plant was to develop a pilot plant and a “semi-works” plant to determine the economic viability of commercial shale projects. He describes the Gas Combustion Process in which shale was processed into shale oil in a massive cylindrical kiln, called a retort. The Bureau of Mines pulled out of the project in 1955 after Congress determined that it already had considerable quantities of crude oil from the Arabian Gulf. After that, Anvil Points was leased by the Colorado School of Mines and Mobil Oil Co. to continue research. At the time, Reeves worked for Mr. John Jones, who was a Bureau of Mines acquaintance who was the co-inventor of the Gas Combustion Process and founder of Paraho Corp. Jones also operated several limestone calcination kilns, which used a fairly similar process to oil shale refining. Following the Arab Oil Embargo, Reeves and Jones leased Anvil Points under Paraho from 1972-1982. They invited 42 oil companies to propose that they invest in the plant and the TOSCO II retort process. They got 17 companies to invest $500,000, including Cleveland Cliffs Iron Company and Arthur McKee Co. They got the go-ahead in Grand Junction to start, and within nine months they were producing 200 barrels per day. He describes some of the techniques used to locate oil-bearing shale, but suggests that it’s always a gamble. He then answers some questions from the audience about the economics of shale production, ongoing development, and Exxon’s participation in the oil shale industry. 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. *Photograph from 1944 University of Oklahoma yearbook.
Oil Shale, Past and Present: Lecture by Armand de Beque and Robert Dal Porto
In a general meeting of the Mesa County Historical Society, Armand de Beque describes the history of oil shale development in De Beque and the Piceance Basin, Colorado. He offers three stories for how it was discovered that oil shale can burn. He describes the founding of the Shale Oil Syndicate, an organization founded by his father, Dr. W.A.E. de Beque, William R. Warren, George Newton, and William Dinkel. He explains the lengthy process the Shale Oil Syndicate went through to survey oil shale claims and get them patented. He describes the first shale plant in Colorado located on Dry Fork, which had its first run of shale on July 1, 1917, but was shut down shortly after that due to insufficient equipment. He mentions other early attempts to produce shale that also folded quickly, including the Washington Shale Plant and Mount Logan Oil Shale Company. He describes an incident that occurred on July 30, 1921, when a tramway cable snapped in Wheeler Gulch, sending 12 Schuyler-Dole Shale Company miners crashing 2,000 feet down the mountain, leaving six dead, three seriously injured, and killing an additional miner, who was afraid to ride the tram and chose to walk, who was completely severed at the waist by the whipping cable. He also describes the Index Shale Company founded by Harry Lewis Brown, which produced oil in 1918 and later produced a fertilizer and medicinal salve from the byproducts of oil shale production, both of which were removed from markets after the Department of Agriculture suggested they were carcinogenic. Following Armand de Beque, Chevron representative Robert Dal Porto describes the present state of oil shale development in Western Colorado after Exxon laid off 2,200 oil shale workers and pulled out of the Colony Project on May 2, 1982. He describes the current shale resource holdings possessed by Chevron, Sohio Superior, Occidental, the Getty Oil Company, Texaco, and Tosco. He clarifies that oil shale is actually a deposit of silt and clay containing kerogen, a waxy organic precursor to oil that can be refined into a high-viscosity synthetic oil. He describes the retort process used to extract shale oil from the rock, the large water and electrical power requirements needed to conduct that process, and the economic challenges that affect its commercial viability. He describes Occidental’s experiments with developing a more cost-effective “in situ” process for extracting shale oil from the ground, which did not meet expectations in tests. He concludes by expressing his personal opinion that oil shale has a future, but that it will take some time to develop more efficient processes and would likely require tax write-offs for research and development. This recording is provided by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries and the Museums of Western Colorado.
Oil shale development in Western Colorado: Lecture by Eric Hoffman
In a speech given during the oil shale boom, USGS oil shale supervisor Eric Hoffman talks about oil shale reserves in Western Colorado and the West, with focus on the Piceance Basin and the Green River Basin. He speaks about the potential for large oil shale development, the chemistry of oil shale, the geology of locations where oil shale is found, and the large amount of water needed for oil shale processing. He discusses the oil shale boom centered around De Beque, Colorado in the 1920’s and the corporations involved in oil shale development in the 1980’s, including: Chevron, Union Oil, Exxon, Paraho, and the Rio Blanco Shale Company. He describes the different processes used to mine oil shale and to extract oil from the shale. He talks about the adverse environmental impacts of shale development on ranches and wildlands, and touches on reclamation projects. 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.
Panel Discussion on the History of Glade Park, Colorado
A Mesa County Historical Society panel of early Glade Park, Colorado residents Dorothy Beard, Mrs. Floyd Carpenter, Eva Leslie, and Kenneth Thompson discuss the pioneer history of the area. This recording is made available by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries, the Museums of Western Colorado and the Mesa County Historical Society.
Panel Discussion on the History of Kannah Creek, Colorado
Louis Farmer and other panelists discuss the pioneer history of the Kannah Creek area in Mesa County, Colorado at a meeting of the Mesa County Historical Society in 1978. 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.
Panel Discussion on the History of Palisade and Cameo Mining
Harold Kissell, R.P. Van Landingham, George Vonilla, Dale Hicks, and Marion Bowman talk about the history of mining in Palisade and Cameo, Colorado during a meeting of the Mesa County Historical Society in Palisade. 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.
Panel Discussion on the History of Theater in Mesa County, Colorado
Armand de Lavillette de Beque lectures about the history of theater in Mesa County, Colorado in a meeting of the Mesa County Historical Society. He talks about productions put on in DeBeque and Fruita, and about the general audience. He discusses his teaching career and how many plays he directed as an educator. This interview also includes speeches from Nina Brouse and Hellen (Hawxhurst) Young. These ladies talk about how they helped produce plays, the groups involved, dances, and playwriting. This recording is provided by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries and the Museums of Western Colorado.
Panel Discussion: History of Grand Junction city government
During a panel discussion of the Mesa County Historical Society, Kenneth Baird discusses the settlement and incorporation of Grand Junction, the creation of the Grand Junction Town Company, early city government, town building, and early municipal ordinances. Professor Don Mackendrick talks about James W. Bucklin’s draft of a new city charter in 1910, which established a commission form of government. He mentions progressive reforms that put the town on the cutting edge of government, such as prohibition, recall elections, and ballot initiatives. He also speaks about the birth of trash collection service in the city, and the use of preferential or ranked voting in city elections from 1910 to 1921. Karl Johnson talks about the transition from a city commission form of government to a city manager-led government in 1922, and discusses the administrations and accomplishments of Grand Junction’s city managers until 1982. 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.
Pioneer Reviews radio show with Richard "Dick" Woodfin, Interviews Part Five
During episodes of the radio show Pioneer Reviews, which aired on KFXJ in the 1960’s (now KREX), Mesa County farm agent and host Dick Woodfin speaks with several Western Slope residents about pioneer history. Interviewees include Catherine (Saxon) Moore of Glade Park, Evelyn Hawthorne of Grand Junction, and Ben T. Wright of Whitewater. These broadcasts are made available via signed release by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries and the Museums of Western Colorado.
Pioneer Reviews radio show with Richard "Dick" Woodfin, Interviews Part Four
During episodes of the radio show Pioneer Reviews, which aired on KFXJ in the 1960’s (now KREX), Mesa County farm agent and host Dick Woodfin speaks with several Western Slope residents about pioneer history. Interviewees include Ed Finley of De Beque, Walter Rhodes of Doyleville, Gerald V. Gimple of Clifton, Ellen (White) Kirby of Fruita, Clyde Buffington of Gunnison, and Catherine Moore of Glade Park. These broadcasts are made available via signed release by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries and the Museums of Western Colorado.
Pioneer Reviews radio show with Richard "Dick" Woodfin, Interviews Part Three
During episodes of the radio show Pioneer Reviews, which aired on KFXJ in the 1960’s (now KREX), Mesa County farm agent and host Dick Woodfin speaks with several Western Slope residents about pioneer history. Interviewees include E.H. Stewart of Mesa, Arthur Johnson of Mesa, Bill Pollock of Fruita, and Ed Finley of De Beque. These broadcasts are made available via signed release by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries and the Museums of Western Colorado.

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