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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Third Interview with Dudley W. Mitchell
Dudley Mitchell talks about the history of his family in Pitkin, Eagle, and Garfield Counties, and his acquaintance with Democratic politicians, including Ed Taylor. He also talks about his boyhood spent in Cardiff, Colorado, and about his career working on the railroad. 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.
Third Interview with Eda May (Baker) Musser
Eda Musser talks about life in Delta, Colorado after moving there in 1908, when she was thirteen. She discusses landmarks such as the LeVeta Park School, the Anna-Dora Opera House, and the Delta House Hotel. She describes her involvement in the Spoon Club and other aspects of social life. She speaks about her family’s move west from Illinois using an immigrant car. She talks about meeting and marrying rancher Kelso Musser and their move to Cedar Mesa near Cedaredge. She goes into their later move to the Musser’s LMJ Ranch in Escalante Canyon, and gives many details about the canyon. She talks about the life of a ranch wife and her many responsibilities, but also talks about dances she attended. The interview was conducted by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries and the Museums of Western Colorado.
Third Interview with Emma (Berg) Nagel
Emma Nagel talks in detail about Christmas programs held at the Highpoint School near Fruita, Colorado and about Christmas traditions at home when she was a child. She also discusses her busy life as a homemaker, with information on butchering animals, grinding wheat and making bread, sewing and caring for clothes, caring for chickens and milking the cow. 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.
Third Interview with Gertrude D. (Geiger) Rader
Gertrude Rader talks about the profession and lives of teachers, who were primarily women, in Western Colorado during the early Twentieth century. She discusses how, in small communities, women were expected to be much more than teachers including: Doctors’ assistants in a pinch, de facto members of the families that they boarded with in cases of illness or maternity, and moral pillars of the community. She includes many anecdotes from her own teaching career in Mesa County, and explains the important social role that schools played in their communities. The interview was conducted by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries and the Museums of Western Colorado.
Third Interview with Glenn W. McFall
Glenn McFall shares a range of anecdotes and stories about life on Colorado's Western Slope, from "lobo wolves" and fish fries, to cowboys and bootleggers, to morticians and doctors during the depression. 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.
Third Interview with Helen Elizabeth (Maher) Bowman and Marion George Bowman
Marion Bowman talks about the origins of the Mesa County Peach Administrative Board, an elected body that helped establish fair peach pricing and advocated for the local peach industry. He discusses peach marketing, transportation, inspection, labor, and competition from other peach-growing regions. He recalls agricultural cooperatives involved in the marketing of area produce. Helen Bowman also contributes the occasional insight. The interview was conducted by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries and the Museums of Western Colorado.
Third Interview with Helen Lucile (Young) Johnson
Helen Johnson talks about the Hotchkiss family and their history in and around the town of Hotchkiss, Colorado. She compares the towns of Hotchkiss and Paonia in their early days. She speaks about moving to Grand Junction with her husband in 1923, living downtown, and her impressions of the town. A Rebekah and the wife of an Odd Fellow, she talks about the history of both organizations, recalls details of Rebekah and Odd Fellows membership, and remembers Odd Fellows dances and events at the Grand Junction Odd Fellows Lodge with fondness. She gives details about her home at 120 Hill Avenue. She tells what it was like to travel roads of dirt and mud on her honeymoon to California, and gives other details of the trip. She talks about giving birth to her children with the help of a negligent doctor, and of being born with rickets. The interview was conducted by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries and the Museums of Western Colorado.
Third Interview with Howard M. Shults and Helen L. (McFarland) Shults
Howard Shults talks about life growing up in Collbran, Colorado in the early Twentieth century, including farming, local schools and his father’s teaching career in “trouble” schools, local people, and his juvenile hijinks. He also discusses breaking horses, “leaded horses” exposed to the pesticide lead arsenic, wild horses, raising and driving hogs from Collbran to De Beque, and winning the Ft. Logan Military Training School boxing championship. His wife Helen Shults also chimes in with her occasional insight. 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.
Third Interview with James B. "Jim" Franklin
Cowpuncher, cowboy, and horse trainer James Franklin shares his extensive knowledge of the cattle and horse industry in the early days of Garfield County, Colorado. He talks about old remedies used for different horse ailments and goes into other aspects of horse care. He talks about the use of horses in roundups and gives extensive information about training horses. The interview was conducted by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries and the Museums of Western Colorado.
Third Interview with John Jay Collier
John Collier talks about his upbringing on a farm in Grand Junction, Colorado, on ranchland and farmland in the Redlands, and on a homestead in Pinon Mesa. He speaks about the history of the Sleeper and Ela family’s ranching operations on Pinon Mesa. He describes his Uncle Joe Collier, who served as the Mesa County Sheriff during Prohibition, and a bootlegger’s attempt to blackmail him. He discusses what he perceives as the effect of uranium prospecting near Gateway on deer migration patterns, and the arrival of more deer on Glade Park. He talks about aspects of ranch life such as securing water and supplies, and moving the cattle between seasonal ranges. He remembers riding horseback with a pillow as a saddle when he was around four years old and meeting the artist Harold Bryant at their family’s cabin near Enoch’s Lake. 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
Third Interview with Joseph John Egger
Joseph John Egger discusses his family’s history in Mesa County, and Mesa County agriculture in the late Nineteenth and early Twentieth centuries. The interview was conducted by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries and the Museums of Western Colorado.
Third Interview with Marie (Becker) Young
Marie Young talks about her life as a homemaker on a ranch. She discusses methods of preserving butchered cows and pigs, and gives a detailed description of making head cheese. She also talks about sidesaddle riding and about the African-American cowboy Charlie Glass. 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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