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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First Interview with Helen Lucile (Young) Johnson
Helen Johnson talks about moving to Denver, Colorado from Cleveland, Ohio at a young age and growing up in different places in Colorado. She talks about the fraudulent land sale that first brought her family to Delta County, Colorado in 1910, and that took her father’s life savings. She discusses living in a rented log cabin in Hotchkiss, her mother working as a hired washerwoman and housekeeper, and her father’s difficulty finding gainful employment there. She speaks about the childhood of she and her siblings in Hotchkiss, and about being picked on because they were from Back East, with darker complexions and nicer clothes. The interview was conducted by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries and the Museums of Western Colorado.
First Interview with Howard M. Shults and Helen L. (McFarland) Shults
Howard Shults talks about his career as an auctioneer in Mesa County, Colorado. He also discusses the history of people, places and businesses throughout the county, including the Cross Orchard and the Vernon Z. Reed Ranch. Shults’ wife, Helen Shults, gives her occasional insight. 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.
First Interview with Howard McMullin
Howard McMullin discusses the history of early Grand Junction businesses and buildings, and biographies of early Grand Junction business people. 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 1916 Grand Junction High School yearbook of Howard McMullin as a sophomore.
First Interview with Hugh R. Jones
Hugh Jones talks about his growing up in Bucklin, Kansas and settling in the Roan Creek area of Colorado’s Western Slope during the Dust Bowl. He speaks about working as a ranch hand and then as a welder in a shipyard during World War II. He recalls working with the Colorado Division of Wildlife at the Little Hills Experiment Station in Meeker and his subsequent twenty-five year career with the agency. He describes two tame deer named Zeke and June, trapping beaver at Grand Lake, and apprehending poachers. The interview was conducted by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries and the Museums of Western Colorado.
First Interview with James B. "Jim" Franklin
James Franklin discusses his life as a cowboy in Mesa County, Garfield County, and elsewhere on Colorado’s Western Slope. Franklin touches on cooking over the campfire, means of travel, cures for ailments, training horses, the first rodeo in which he participated, a large flood that destroyed his mother’s farm, and dealing with inclement weather on the range. 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.
First Interview with James E. "Buzz" Brouse
James Brouse discusses moving and going to school in Glade Park, Colorado as a young boy in 1915. He tells tales of cowpunching in the canyons near Westwater, homesteading, the difficulties of dry farming, and the methods and difficulties of transportation into town from up on Glade Park. He also talks about local murders, sheep and cattlemen wars, and the history of different schools in the area. His wife Ellen (Morse) Brouse, longtime Mesa County resident, also chimes in occasionally. 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.
First Interview with Jean Page
Jean Page talks about the engineering career of her father, John Page, including his role as the office engineer on the Hoover Dam project, his design of several other dams in the West, and his appointment as the Commissioner of the Bureau of Reclamation in 1937. She also discusses his life as an engineer and fruit farmer in Mesa County, his civic involvement in the area, and her childhood there. 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.
First Interview with Jean Urruty
Jean Urruty discusses his time in Mesa County, the history of Basque people in the Western United States, and Basque culture. He also talks about his life as a sheepherder, discrimination he and other Basque people faced, and his eventual success as a hotel owner on Grand Junction's Colorado Avenue. The interview was conducted by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries and the Museums of Western Colorado.
First Interview with John Andrew Sigmon
John Sigmon discusses his experiences as a U.S. Navy seaman at the attack on Pearl Harbor, and as a Chief Gunners Mate on a submarine that fought in the Pacific Theater 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.
First Interview with John Duncan Hart
Former state and federal game warden John Duncan Hart talks about wildlife management in the Grand River Game Bird Refuge and with the Department of Fish and Game, and discusses the populations and habits of certain bird and animal species. He recounts a run-in with John Otto over orders to cull the bison and elk herds Otto had introduced to the Colorado National Monument. He talks about the painter Harold Bryant, his hunting and habits. He also discusses poachers, hunting accidents, mountain lion hunting techniques, bounty hunting, and the time he had to put down a bear being kept as a pet in one of Grand Junction’s brothels. 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.
First Interview with John Jay Collier
John J. Collier talks about his career as a teacher servicing Mesa County country schools in the 1930's and 1940's. He talks about his education at Mesa College, his hobbies as a teacher, the pranks his students would pull, all-night dances at the schoolhouse, as well as programs and plays that were open to all. 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
First Interview with Joseph John Egger
Early Mesa County resident Joseph John Egger describes his travels to the Grand Valley area, the Colorado National Monument, the differences he perceived between Utes and Navajos, and information about Chief Ouray and Chipeta. 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.

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