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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Lecture on archaeology by William "Bill" Whatley Jr.: Indiana Jones and Beyond
In a Museums of Western Colorado lecture in Grand Junction, Colorado, archaeologist William Whatley Jr. talks about methodology and evaluation used at archaeological digs, and about specific archaeological projects on Colorado’s Western Slope. 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.
Lecture on the Artist Harold Bryant by Josephine Kate (Ramsay) Biggs and John Duncan Hart
John Hart talks about his friend and brother-in-law, the Mesa County artist Harold Bryant. He discusses Bryant's personality, his horseback riding, hunting and marksmanship, and his method of artistic composition. He also mentions Bucky, a deer that was supposedly neutered and tamed by the Utes, and became a companion of Bryant, among others. Josephine Biggs talks about meeting Bryant at gatherings of the Beaux Arts Club in Grand Junction in the 1920's, and describes specific artworks of Bryant's. 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.
Lecture on the History of Financial Institutions in Mesa County by Patrick Arthur "Pat" Gormley
In a lecture recorded for the Mesa County Historical Society, Pat Gormley talks about the history of the banking and financial industry in Mesa County, Colorado and its towns. 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. *Photograph from the 1949 Colorado College yearbook.
Lecture on the History of Grand Junction Buildings, Businesses and People by Inez (Dillon) Prinster
Inez Prinster discusses the history of Grand Junction, Colorado buildings, businesses and people in a presentation for the Mesa County Historical Society. 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. *Photograph from the 1947 Mesa College annual.
Lecture on the History of Water Development and Irrigation in Mesa County, Colorado by Don Mackendrick
Professor Don Mackendrick talks about the history of irrigation and the development of water resources in Mesa County, Colorado from the 1880's until the construction of the Highline Canal in 1915 (during a program of the Mesa County Historical Society in July 1980). 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.
Lecture on the History of the Teller Indian School by Professor Don Mackendrick
Don Mackendrick, Professor Emeritus of history from Colorado Mesa University, talks about the history of the Teller Institute, or Indian School, of Grand Junction, Colorado during a presentation to the Plateau Valley Historical Society in Collbran, Colorado. He talks about abuses against Indian students, about the school’s philosophy and directives, and about ways in which the school was largely a failed educational venture. This recording is made available via signed release by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries, the Museums of Western Colorado and the Mesa County Historical Society.
Lecture on the History of the Uintah Railway by Joshua Paul Britton and Charles Teed
In a Mesa County Historical Society lecture, Joshua Paul Britton and Charles Teed speak about the history, development and impact of the Uintah Railway, which had its headquarters in Mack, Colorado. 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.
Lecture on the Uintah Railway and Mesa County's Interurban Line by William McGuire and Charles Teed
In a program of the Museums of Western Colorado, William McGuire and Charles Teed talk about the history of Mesa County's Interurban line, which transported people and produce between Grand junction and Fruita, with stops in between. They also discuss the history of the Uintah Railway. This recording is provided by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries and the Museums of Western Colorado.
Lecture on train whistles and air horns by Robert E. Swanson
Robert E. Swanson of the British Columbia Railway, an inventor of air horns for locomotives, gives a talk on the history of North American train whistles. Swanson plays recordings of train whistles during the program. 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. *The first few minutes of the recording suffer from poor audio quality.
Lecture: Country School Legacy on the Western Slope of Colorado by Andrew Gulliford
Dr. Andrew Gulliford, head of The Country School Legacy Project (a survey of rural schools over eight states, funded by the National Endowment of the Humanities) presents information from the project in a lecture at the Museum of Western Colorado. The lecture includes reflections from rural school teachers in Colorado, including teaching techniques, discipline problems, infectious diseases, and issues with poorly constructed buildings. Teachers also offer opinions on education in rural schools, and the decline of said schools. 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.
Letter to Josephine (Taylor) Dickey from Wayne Aspinall
A letter from US Representative Wayne Aspinall of Colorado written to Josephine (Taylor) Dickey, expressing condolences upon the death of her husband, William Wesley Taylor III.
Memoirs of Cordelia Evelyn (Hamilton) Files
In this recording, Alta Nolan reads the memoirs of Cordelia Files. Files talks about the history of her parents and maternal grandparents who homesteaded in the Fruita, Colorado area in the 1890’s. She describes the fruit growing operation on the homestead. She recounts seeing the Ute people and Chipeta when they came in the fall to dry fruit from the orchard. She remembers early Fruita, with its dirt streets and plank sidewalks. She speaks about the ravages of diphtheria and scarlet fever, which took the life of her sister. She talks about Doctor James Beard, his house calls, his attempt to treat cancer with radioactive material in the 1890’s, his use of uranium discs to create x-rays, and his home observatory where he was an amateur astronomer. She recounts the rivalry between Fruita and what was then the separate the town of Cleveland, which bordered Fruita on the southeast. She speaks about dressing toads in baby clothes, making dolls out of corn cobs, being watched after by a neighborhood dog, and their horse who liked to jump the fence and join parades. She talks about her study of the bible and search for an appropriate church as a teenager. She tells about working for Jay Nearing’s summer ranching operation near De Beque, about getting her teaching license, and about teaching at the Hunter School. She remembers being placed in a sanitarium in Pueblo for severe arthritis in 1921, and the disastrous Great Pueblo Flood from the Arkansas River that inundated the sanitarium and destroyed much of the city. She describes life in and around Glade Park, where she taught school and met her husband, Loyd Files. She talks about her marriage to Files and their life in the cabin he built on their homestead. She remembers the students at the Pipeline School and Sleeper School, how they were taught, how they learned, how they dressed for winter, and their Christmas pageants. She talks about raising sheep, growing crops, and her role as a homemaker and farmer. She speaks about the adoption of her daughters. She talks about the Dust Bowl conditions that, along with the Great Depression, made life difficult for many Glade Park farmers, and about moving to Fruitvale during the 1930’s because of those conditions. She recalls the house and salvage yard that they bought at 2028 North Avenue in 1940. She describes their purchase of the acreage that would later become the neighborhood just east of Lincoln Park, between North and Grand Avenues and 23rd Street and 28 ¼ Road. She speaks of the many people in need that lived with the Files family over the years. She discusses the many profitable business ventures started by Loyd Files. She recalls joining the Mormon church in 1960 and life in the church. She recounts Loyd’s role in starting the Grand Mesa Little League. 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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