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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Second Interview with John Andrew Sigmon
John Andrew Sigmon describes lying about his age so that he could join the US Navy in 1931. He tells about life in the Navy and working on destroyers prior to World War II, and about transferring to submarine duty just prior to US involvement in World War II. He talks about being stationed in Hawaii during the attack on Pearl Harbor, and about receiving commendation for shooting down a Japanese plane on December 7, 1941. He describes submarine munitions, engaging in battle against Japanese Naval forces, and how a person qualified for submarine service. The interview was conducted by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries and the Museums of Western Colorado.
Second Interview with John Duncan Hart
John Hart talks about his childhood in Grand Junction, Colorado, his bout with polio that left him lame, and his early career with the Colorado Department of Fish and Game. He recounts some history of the department and speaks about aspects of his career, including encounters with Native Americans. He also describes encounters with poachers, cattle rustlers, and bootleggers. He speaks about his family history. He describes training US troops in survival skills on Mt. Evans during World War II. He discusses his relationships with fellow employees and friends during his career, and his retirement in 1959 as the Deputy Director of Fish and Game. The interview was conducted by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries and the Museums of Western Colorado.
Second Interview with John Jay Collier
John Collier explains his childhood growing up as a homesteader in Pinon Mesa and the Glade Park area, and living in a tent until a cabin could be built. He talks about how his father made money in real estate, farming hay, selling horses, selling lumber for corrals, raising sheep and cattle, and skating on the frozen Redlands Canal. He mentions important landmarks and buildings in and around Grand Junction, Colorado. The interview was conducted by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries and the Museums of Western Colorado. *Photograph from the 1931 Grand Junction High School yearbook
Second Interview with Joseph John Egger
Joseph Egger talks about life in the Grand Valley when he arrived in 1891. He describes the lack of a bridge over the Colorado River between Grand Junction and De Beque, and the ferry that crossed the river in Palisade. He discusses soil quality and the history of agriculture in different parts of the valley, and traces early agriculture in the eastern end of the valley to coal miners. He also talks about the Taylor Grazing Act, trying to sell butter during lean years, and herding milk cows as a boy near Grand Junction. The interview was conducted by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries and the Museums of Western Colorado.
Second Interview with Josephine "Jo" (O'Quinn) Ferguson
Josephine “Jo” Ferguson describes her life as a teacher in Rifle, Colorado, Las Vegas, Nevada, and at Central High School in Mesa County. She talks about running a dairy and cattle ranches with her husband in Garfield County in the 1920’s and 30’s. She speaks about the boarding school in Louisiana that she attended as a child, and about experiencing the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic in Louisiana. Josephine describes social activities she enjoyed, school life, and the way she was affected by the Great Depression.
Second Interview with Josephine (Taylor) Dickey
Josephine Dickey talks about songs sung in Grand Junction’s Handy Chapel, the history of the Chapel, the role of the church in helping African-American people in a time of greater racial segregation and discrimination, and her family’s long history of involvement and leadership at the church. She discusses the role of law enforcement in referring Black people in need to the Handy Chapel. She details the segregation that prevented African-Americans from staying in town hotels, eating in local restaurants, or sitting with whites in local theaters. She discusses the lives of her father William Wesley Taylor and her Uncle Booker Thomas Washington Taylor, both elders in the church, their work in the community, and their work renovating and updating the church buildings. She talks about the kindness of some white community members in helping Black people in need, and about the kinds of jobs available to Black people. The interview was conducted by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries and the Museums of Western Colorado.
Second Interview with Josephine Kate (Ramsay) Biggs
Josephine Biggs describes the experiences of her husband, Clyde Biggs, as an officer in the 353rd Infantry Regiment of the 89th Division during World War I. She speaks of their travels in France after World War I. She also talks about the Grand Junction train depot munitions fire that nearly burned down the nearby Biggs-Kurtz lumber warehouse. The interview was conducted by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries and the Museums of Western Colorado.
Second Interview with Julia Harris
Julia Harris discusses hearing about the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, when she was hosting a Republican Party event for a special congressional election at her home on the Grand Mesa. She describes finding out about the bombing from the radio and from a local telephone operator who called people in the region to inform them. She talks about younger relatives of hers who joined the Navy after Pearl Harbor, about the general absence of young men during the war, rationing, and the general feeling of local community togetherness brought on by the war. The interview was conducted by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries and the Museums of Western Colorado. *Photograph courtesy of the Museums of Western Colorado
Second Interview with Kenneth Wilson Thompson
In one interview captured in five recordings, Kenneth Thompson talks about his life in Mesa County, Colorado. In part one, he remembers moving to Clifton, Colorado, where the family farmed fruit. He recalls homesteading on Glade Park in a log cabin built by his fifteen-year-old brother. He discusses his time as a sheepherder and sheepherding practices, especially those for protecting sheep from various predators. He speaks about trapping predators and working as a government trapper. In part two, he talks about hunting rabbits and pulling potatoes to help his parents make ends meet, sheepherding for different outfits, stories of bobcats, coyote and predators, the development of water on Pinon Mesa, and Biblical analogies with sheep. In part three, he describes different ways to trap coyotes, effective methods of poisoning them, and the predation habits of coyotes. In part four, he speaks about sheep camps. He discusses the deaths of his brother Elvin, sister-in-law, and niece and the involvement of his stepfather, Charles Duvall, in those deaths (Duvall was believed to have wanted Elvin’s land on Pinon Mesa). He talks about the development of his sheep ranch on Pinon Mesa, along with the three Thompson Reservoirs there and an irrigation system for Glade Park. He describes farming apples after selling the ranch in 1964. In part five, he describes a print left on his truck by a bear while he was out hunting the same bear. The interview was conducted by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries and the Museums of Western Colorado.
Second Interview with Laird Key Smith
Laird Smith talks about the life of his father, Silmon Smith. He recounts his father’s childhood trapping bear on the Grand Mesa at the age of thirteen, running a fruit and vegetable cart while in high school, and graduating second in his class from the Franklin School. He speaks about his father’s education at Colorado College, his position as editor of the college paper, and his work as the assistant weatherman in Colorado Springs. He recounts his father’s marriage to Lina Brunner of Colorado Springs and describes her family. He talks about Silmon Smith’s education as a lawyer, his return to Grand Junction to practice law, and his law firm. He discusses Smith’s introduction to water law, a topic on which he became a national authority, allowing him to be a key advocate for Western Slope water interests. The interview was conducted by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries and the Museums of Western Colorado. *Photograph from the 1936 Colorado College yearbook
Second Interview with Laura (Bristol) Foster
Laura Foster talks about moving from Pennsylvania to Telluride, Colorado in 1890, with a description of their journey on foot with two burros over Ophir Pass, and about pioneer life near Telluride, including the time she helped her mother birth a baby in absence of any help (some or all of which may be a tall tale). She also gives an embellished story about her time as a mining camp and railroad cook, and gives what seems to be an inaccurate account of the murder of Slim Hickox. Finally, she talks about the mining accident that took her husband John “Peg-leg” Foster’s leg. The interview was conducted by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of the Mesa County Public Library and the Museum of Western Colorado.
Second Interview with Lucille (Hunter) Mahannah
Lucille Mahannah talks about her service as the first female caseworker in the U.S. Army. She also touches on her husband’s military service during World War I, on managing the Hunter Coal Mine for her father, and her time as the Public Welfare Director for the Civilian Conservation Corps. 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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