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 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.
First Interview with Josephine (Taylor) Dickey
Josephine Dickey, an early African-American resident of Grand Junction, talks about her mother’s illness and stepping in to care for her siblings after her mother’s death. She remembers her mother’s doctor and other doctors that cared for the family. She recalls her father William Wesley Taylor III and how he worked to put his brother and sister through college. She talks about African-Americans as portrayed in television programs, especially the Jeffersons, and about race relations as portrayed on TV. She speaks about her early memories of Grand Junction, including parades on Main Street, a fire downtown, and a circus train unloading beneath the 5th Street viaduct. She remembers Handy Chapel picnics held at the Colorado River, and recipes handed down in her family. 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 Josephine Kate (Ramsay) Biggs
Josephine Biggs discusses her memories of Cross Orchards and owner “Colonel” Bill Cross, horseback riding excursions, and the LaCourt Hotel. She also talks about her work with the YWCA during a time when many young girls were “getting out of hand with all the boys coming home” from World War I, Lincoln Park and Lincoln Park School, her husband’s development of the Lincoln Park Neighborhood, and some details of the home they lived in there. 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 Josephine S. "Jo." (O'Quinn) Ferguson
Jo (O’Quinn) Ferguson talks about making meals for ranch hands and other aspects of ranching with her husband George Gibson Ferguson in Garfield County. She speaks about churches, clubs, and the social and community life of the area. She describes her education in Louisiana and Colorado and her long teaching career, with an emphasis on her work with Central High School students at the end of her career. She talks about the history of the Roan Creek area. 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 Julia Harris
Julia Harris discusses her family’s pioneer history and its move westward, including the journey of her grandfather, who was a member of the 1st Colorado Cavalry Regiment before homesteading in Western Colorado. She talks about early life in De Beque, Colorado, including social life and various places they lived, the railroad, sheep trails, De Beque businesses and landmarks, and her work in the local Republican Party. 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 Kenneth Wilson Thompson
Kenneth Thompson describes his life growing up on a farm on Glade Park, Colorado during the early 1900s. Kenneth also discusses the working conditions while employed for the National Park Service during the early days of the Colorado National Monument, the slow pace of life and the social aspects of living on Glade Park, hunting and killing a bear, and stories of the Indians who lived in Mesa County. 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 Laird Key Smith
Laird Smith talks about his grandfather Frank Smith’s severe case of Tuberculosis that caused the doctor to move with his family to Grand Junction, Colorado. He describes the apartment next to a saloon where the family lived on Main Street, where drunken men would sometimes crawl in through the windows by mistake. He discusses his father Silmon Smith’s “spartan” upbringing, his camping alone on the Grand Mesa for long stretches when he was thirteen, and how he became an authority on water law by lawyering to ranchers. He tells stories of Frank Smith’s medical practice, including an amputation conducted with the aid of Silmon. He remembers his mother Lina (Brunner) Smith, and an incident when she threw his clothes out of the window because she tired of picking up after him. He speaks about the Pest House in Grand Junction, the standpipe at 7th Street and Ouray Avenue that delivered water, and the building of Land’s End Road. He talks about his father’s love of nature and how that love was passed onto him. 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 1936 Colorado College yearbook

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