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 Alfred Flagg
Alfred Flagg talks about his education and training as a hair stylist, women’s historic hair styles, and the methods and materials he used as a stylist. 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.
Second Interview with Andrew E. Riddle
Andrew E. Riddle discusses his sheep ranching operation in Navajo country, around the Monument Valley area in Arizona. He also describes attending a Navajo Yeibichei festival in 1940, squaw dances, the relationships between Indians and the settlers, and Navajo methods of sheepherding. 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.
Second Interview with Ann (Reese) Stokes
Ann Stokes talks about her father-in-law Walter Stokes and his involvement in Nineteenth century labor strife as a union coal miner in Colorado. She describes his establishment of the Stokes Mine after he moved to Mesa County and describes the mine’s operations. She speaks about early phone service in Palisade. She discusses her mom’s job as a nurse in rural areas, which included tasks like housecleaning, cooking, and sewing baby clothes for new mothers. She talks about the prevalence of Black Lung amongst coal miners, including her father and father-in-law. She remembers businesses and institutions from Palisade’s history, including Fred Martin’s undertaking business, which he owned and operated prior to starting Martin Mortuary in Grand Junction. She talks about death and dying, and about funeral rites and ceremonies from the early Twentieth century. She recalls going to basketball games or outdoor concerts in the park. She speaks about driving and repairing early automobiles and traveling on early highways. She recounts her trip to Denver to adopt a child. She talks about doing the laundry in the days before washing machines, about food preparation, preserving food, and other aspects of homemaking. She speaks about hairstyles, fashion, and sewing her own clothes. She describes life around her family’s membership in the Baptist Church. Finally, she talks about swimming in the Colorado River, her father’s pipe smoking, Halley’s Comet, and solar eclipses. 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 Anna Gertrude (Barker) Foster
Anna Foster talks about teaching at the Mesa School, beginning in 1908. She remembers some of the teachers and students at the school, and going sledding with them for fun. She speaks about the role of the Mesa’s Methodist church in providing community for people of all Christian faiths. She describes stagecoaches that delivered between towns, traveling the old Hogback Road from Palisade, and the building of the Plateau Canyon Road. She recalls early attempts at growing fruit near the town of Mesa, including her husband’s apple orchard, and she tells about packing peaches in Palisade. She talks about the many rural schools in the area, including the Egalite School and the Mormon Mesa School. She remembers camping in the summer with Roy and Ida Sisac and others. 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 Anna McGinley and Mae (McGinley) Plunkett
Anna McGinley talks about teaching at the Hunter School in early day Mesa County. She and her sister Mae Plunkett also talk about their school days and about the lives of their parents John and Theresa McGinley, who were immigrants and Mesa County pioneers. 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.
Second Interview with Armand de Beque
Armand de Beque, son of De Beque, Colorado founder Wallace A.E. de Beque, talks about the history of the oil shale industry in Western 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.
Second Interview with Asunta Violeta "Susie" (Lanza) Mendicelli
Early Mesa County resident Asunta Violeta “Susie” Mendicelli remembers her time spent in Atchee, Colorado, Italian American life in Grand Junction, and taking the train and riding bicycles into Grand Junction, Colorado. She also discusses life in Italy, the process of making sausages and capocollo, relationships between immigrants in Mesa County, the usage of midwives during childbirth, and riding the Interurban Line between Grand Junction and Fruita. 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 Carl M. Gesberg
Carl Gesberg talks about his experience farming with horses as opposed to machine-based farming. He explains the day in the life of a farmer, caring for his horses, the pesticides and sprays used on crops for pest reduction, including the coddling moth, and the cost of equipment. 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 Charles "Frank" Moore
Charles “Frank” Moore discusses his career as a cowboy in Mesa County, Colorado and Eastern Utah. 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 Charles H. Buttolph
C.H. Buttolph describes his time working in Cross Orchards and the process of caring for a large orchard of pear trees. C.H. also describes his journey from Michigan to Colorado, and the frustration felt by fruit growers trying to exterminate the codling moth. 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.
Second Interview with Craig B. Aupperle
Craig B. Aupperle discusses the early Twentieth century history of 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 David Combs: Social Justice Series
David Combs talks about the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis Police, the ethnic makeup of Minneapolis (where Mr. Combs grew up), and the history of policing and police brutality there. He discusses the worldwide movement for social justice that grew from protests against Floyd’s killing, the response to Floyd’s killing in Grand Junction, Colorado, and the protest movement that took shape here. He addresses differences within the local African-American community in their activist approaches to local bias and racism. He talks about his family and prejudice that they have faced in Grand Junction and elsewhere. He speaks about the creation of the Black Citizens and Friends organization out of a need to teach African-American children and locals about Black History and culture, the group’s founding of an annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration and the growth of that event, and the group’s other community involvements. He talks about Mesa County’s public officials and their differing attitudes and approaches to issues of race. The interview was conducted on behalf of the Social Justice Archive in the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries and Black Citizens and Friends.

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