Heritage Colorado

Abstract Booker, Burns, and Sato ? all from well-known families who helped settle Mesa ? participate in a panel interview to talk about Mesa in the early 1900's. They each tell how their families came to Mesa and what they did for a living, including farming and cooking at a downtown armory. They discuss everyday life ? doing laundry by hand, swimming in the canals for recreation, and keeping cool without air-conditioning. Booker talks about being part of the first African-American family to live in...

Abstract Mr. Thayer tells the story of his parents' trip to Phoenix, from Lima, Ohio, as tourists in 1900. They ended up staying because the town of Buckeye badly needed a physician. The Thayers, who married in 1927, homesteaded in Mesa where they dug a well and cleared 200 acres of cactus and brush to grow citrus. They also milked dairy cows to pay for the land and trees. They ran a nursery and sold citrus trees to other growers. Mrs. Thayer recounts many funny stories of living on the land and the...