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 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.
Second Interview with Lucy (Ferril) Ela
Lucy Ela talks about the history of the Reviewers Club, founded in 1904, one of the first women’s clubs in Grand Junction, Colorado. She speaks about Harriette Ottman, a “woman of the times” who had broad knowledge of many topics and organized the group’s presentations. She describes the varied presentations that members gave. She discusses the role of the Women’s Club in the creation of the Grand Junction Public Library, and the support of the Reviewers Club for both Mesa County Libraries and Colorado Mesa University’s Tomlinson Library. She talks about the financial support of the Reviewers Club for Armenian orphans during the Armenian Genocide and World War I. In Part Two of the interview, interviewer Aldene Isaacson reads from the history of the Reviewers Club compiled by its members. The interview was conducted by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries and the Museums of Western Colorado. *Transcript exists for Part One of interview only. **Photograph from the 1936 Grand Junction High School yearbook.
Second Interview with Mabelle (Gardener) Clymer
Mabelle Clymer discusses life in Clifton, Colorado in the early Twentieth century, and the history of her family there. 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 Madge E. Davis
Madge Davis talks about her early life in Clifton, Colorado, including childhood games she played, Fourth of July picnics in No Thoroughfare Canyon, and holiday celebrations. She also discusses other aspects of life living on a ranch, including home furnishings, homemade clothes, handcrafts, her father cutting ice from the Colorado River, and schooling. 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 Marie (Becker) Young
Marie Young talks about discrimination that her German American family faced during World Wars I and II. She also talks about her many tasks as a homemaker on a ranch, about helping with the cattle, and doing other ranch work. 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 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.

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