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 Marie Louise (Johns) Nowlan
Marie Nowlan talks about the history of the First United Methodist Church in Grand Junction, Colorado, about her life in the church, and about members of the church, including Grand Junction News founder Edwin Price and his wife Lola. 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 Mary Belle (Powers) Plaisted
Mary Plaisted talks about growing up in the Milldale area around the sugar beet factory in Grand Junction, Colorado, and about the brothels and red-light district nearby. She describes having to beg and take odd cleaning and sewing jobs to support she and her children, and the kind strangers that helped her. She mentions the many places she lived in Grand Junction, the floods common in the Riverside neighborhood, and living in a close-knit Italian community there. She talks about being pregnant during the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic. She speaks of living in Delta County as a girl, about sugar beet and potato cultivation, and life on a farm. 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 Morgan Goss
Morgan Goss describes his days as a cowboy, including daily tasks on a ranch, driving cattle long distances and bull riding. He also talks about his dating and social life, Fruita’s Cowpuncher’s Reunion, riding the Interurban, and farming during the Depression Era. 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 Oscar Winfield Jaynes Jr.
Oscar Jaynes discusses the formation of the Clifton Lions Club, the Lions’ role in creating the Clifton Fire Department, and other aspects of Clifton, Colorado history. He also talks extensively about the early history of the fire department. 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 Richard B. "Dick" Williams
Dick Williams talks about the games he played with children as a boy in the downtown area of Grand Junction, including hide and go seek and kick the can. He remembers playing sandlot baseball and other games in a vacant lot on 9th Street between Grand and White Avenues. He recalls swimming in ditches and canals, and ice skating in what is now Lincoln Park. He speaks about competing in athletics in high school and college, and in Pioneer Clubs, which were athletic organizations sponsored by local churches. He describes his work as a public address announceer at Lincoln Park, festivals, rodeos, and at sporting events throughout the Western Slope. He talks about his involvement on the Colorado River District Board and the Colorado Water Conservation Board, and the history of irrigation. He discusses his work on title abstracts and their value to history. He reminisces about Grand Junction during the Great Depression and the town’s growth over time, the growth of irrigation, the first paving of the area’s highways, and fishing and hunting. He speaks about working for the Fair Store, Red Trunk clothing store, and for the Colescott Brothers delivering ice while in high school and college. He recalls his love of horses, horse owners in town, and livery stables. 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 Rufus Hirons
Rufus Hirons talks about his education in Grand Junction schools, and about teachers and school district employees (including his father, Walter Hirons). He also touches on the Fruita to Grand Junction Interurban line, sheep ranching with his grandfather, and local Italian Americans. 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 1923 Grand Junction High School yearbook.
Second Interview with Shannon Robinson: Social Justice Series
Shannon Robinson talks about becoming involved in student government at then Mesa State College in Grand Junction, Colorado (now Colorado Mesa University), helping to coordinate the campus’s fundraiser in response to Hurricane Katrina, her AIDS activism, and being elected the first minority president of the student body. She discusses racism that she and other African-American students encountered at Mesa State in the early 2000’s and that her children encountered in Mesa County schools. She speaks about working for the Mesa County AIDS Project as interim director, among other roles, and with the Positive Women’s Network. She recounts helping to coordinate social justice protests in Mesa County in the wake of George Floyd’s murder, helping to form Right & Wrong, and about facing armed counter-protesters and white supremacists at events. She talks about the surge in local and national white supremacy movements with the election of Donald Trump, but also about increased political involvement and change in both Grand Junction and in the country that give her hope. The interview was conducted on behalf of the Social Justice Archive in the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries, the Museums of Western Colorado, and Black Citizens and Friends.
Second Interview with Thatcher Leslie Shaw
Thatcher Shaw, a foot soldier and occupation lawyer during and after World War II, talks about the reaction of people in the United States to the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. He speaks about attitudes towards German and Japanese people at the start of the war. He discusses his experiences as a private and officer during World War II. 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 Velma E. (Borschell) Budin
Velma (Borschell) Budin discusses the history of her family in early Twentieth century Fruitvale. 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 1925 Colorado Agricultural College yearbook.
Second Interview with Vesta (Price) Fitzpatrick
Vesta Fitzpatrick talks about her mother’s skill as a seemstress and how she made the family’s clothes. She remembers family life and entertainment during her youth, her parents reciting poems, and her father’s storytelling abilities. She recalls taking care of the family from a young age after her mother became ill. She speaks about seeing Buffalo Bill’s wild West show in Lincoln Park and going to chautauquas in Collbran. She remembers the De Beque family and dances at the Odd Fellows Hall in the town of De Beque. She talks about the lives of women in Collbran, their pregancies, their chores, and their marriages. She tells about her brother’s work on a Federal land survey near De Beque, early oil exploration that took place in the area, and what people used for fuel for their cooking stoves and heating. She remembers one of the Vulcan Mine disasters in New Castle, when many miners died. 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 Virgil Francis Hickman and Edithe M. (Eakin) Hickman
Early Mesa County resident Virgil Hickman discusses farm life in Palisade and East Orchard Mesa, including irrigation ditches and dams, water rights of farmers and ranchers, hunting deer during the Great Depression, the methods used in keeping peach orchards bug-free, weekly band concerts, making apple butter, and the Palisade Peach Festival. He also talks about building Skyway Road on the Grand Mesa with picks, blasting powder and horses. 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.
Second Interview with Wayne Aspinall
Wayne Aspinall discusses a political career that spanned his election to the Mt. Lincoln School Board near Palisade, Colorado to his last election for the US House of Representatives in 1972. He speaks about campaigning in what was then the Fourth Congressional District in Western Colorado. He talks about his eight-year career as a teacher and school bus driver at the Mt. Lincoln School, taking students camping, dealing with ticks, and coaching girls basketball. 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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