Apple growers
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Voice Recording
Helen and Clarence Swanson discuss the history of their families in early Fruita, and Fruita buildings and organizations. The interview was conducted by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries and the Museums of Western Colorado.
Format:
Voice Recording
Nancy (Renwick) Saxton and her daughter, Nancy Margaret "Peggy" Saxton, discuss Nancy's career as a female letter carrier in the Grand Valley, and the farming history of their family in both Appleton and the Hunter District. The interview was conducted by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries and the Museums of Western Colorado.
Format:
Voice Recording
Neil Straayer describes his immigrant journey from the Netherlands to Grand Junction, Colorado in 1911, and his struggle to learn English upon arrival. He also discusses apple farming and peach farming in Appleton, Fruitvale, and other areas of the Grand Valley. The interview was conducted by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries and the Museums of Western Colorado.
Format:
Voice Recording
Emma Bierschied talks about her childhood in rural Illinois, about her older sister coming to Glenwood Springs, Colorado in a covered wagon, and about her life in Garfield 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.
Format:
Voice Recording
Craig B. Aupperle discusses cattle ranching in the Grand Valley, the location of the first apple and fruit orchards in Mesa County and Parachute, Colorado, and the Grand Junction Fruit Growers Association. 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.
*This recording suffers from poor sound quality.
Format:
Voice Recording
Thomas Wedell talks about his childhood in Lebanon, Colorado and his apple farm 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.
Format:
Voice Recording
Lester Starr talks about going to swim in the Colorado River without adult supervision at five years old, about frequent fist fights with a fellow student on the way to school, and about other aspects of his early childhood near Fruita, Colorado. He also discusses raising apples for cider, about the role the Interurban played as transportation for both produce and people in the Grand Valley, and about the warming of winters over the course of his...
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Voice Recording
Gladys Gross, who grew up on an apple farm at the intersection of North Avenue and 12th Street, talks about her father’s residential development of their farm land. She discusses old businesses in town, including the icehouses utilized by the railroad near Third Street and how they burned down. She also talks about the desperation and hunger of people during the Great Depression, her work with New Deal programs, the route of the Little Book Cliff...
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Voice Recording
Harold Zimmerman describes packing fruit during harvest time in the Clifton area, spraying for codling moths, the end of early apple farming in the valley, the train of wagons used to haul fruit on the Midland Trail at harvest time and about a flash flood that devastated Cross Orchards and destroyed 31 Road. He also talks about his career in bookkeeping for Mesa County Valley School District 51 and other organizations, the run on local banks during...
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Voice Recording
Albert Rood describes the life and community involvements of his step-father William Weiser (nephew of William Moyer), his childhood in the Third Fruitridge area and the people who lived there, and stealing watermelons and floating them in the Grand Valley Canal. He also talks about his education at Mesa Junior College, and his work in the field for a Bureau of Entomology laboratory dedicated to eradicating a sugar beet pest. The interview was conducted...
Format:
Voice Recording
C.H. Buttolph describes his time working in Cross Orchards and the process of caring for a large orchard of pear trees. C.H. also describes his journey from Michigan to Colorado, and the frustration felt by fruit growers trying to exterminate the codling moth. 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.
Format:
Voice Recording
Gratia Vogely talks about her early life in Fruita, 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.
*Please note that this interview contains profanity and/or racist and sexist language, which Mesa County Libraries and the Museums of Western Colorado in no way condone.
Format:
Voice Recording
Priscella Broderson describes life as a homemaker on an apple farm in Clifton, Colorado in the early Twentieth century. She discusses apple processing and packing, cooking on a coal stove, getting water from the Highline Canal and washing clothes. She also talks about her early life in Grand Junction, including her schooling, working at the Fair Store, and Christmas celebrations. The interview was conducted by the Mesa County Oral History Project,...
Format:
Voice Recording
Dorothy Beard discusses her career as a pharmacist (following the family trade), and talks about sheep ranching with her husband. 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.
*Photograph from the 1932 University of Colorado yearbook
Format:
Voice Recording
Len and Violet Haseman talk about newspaper research they undertook concerning the history of Cross Orchards farm in Mesa County, Colorado. 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 1932 David Henry Hickman High School yearbook.
Format:
Voice Recording
Charles H. Buttolph discusses the early fruit growing industry in Mesa County, and the challenges it faced. The interview was conducted by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries and the Museums of Western Colorado.
Format:
Voice Recording
To mark the centennial celebration of the town of Grand Junction, Colorado in 1981, the Mesa County Oral History Project wrote and recorded several radio plays about local history. Beginning on September 26, 1981, local radio stations KSTR, KREX-AM, KREX-FM, and KMSA broadcast the plays. Authors of the plays used interviews recorded by the Mesa County Oral History Project as inspiration. This archival recording contains the play Living History in...
Format:
Voice Recording
Velma Budin discusses the history of her family in early Twentieth century Fruitvale, Colorado. 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 1925 Colorado Agricultural College yearbook.
Format:
Voice Recording
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.
Format:
Compound
Oscar Jaynes discusses childhood memories of Clifton, Colorado, including life on his family’s homestead, a time he climbed inside a giant tire and rolled down a desert hill, and a boxing match at school with future Colorado Supreme Court justice Jim Groves. He then relates tales of traveling the country on freight cars trying to find work during the Great Depression. Oscar also talks a great deal about the fruit business, specifically the peach...
