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Heritage Colorado

 Organization

Found in 17 Collections and/or Records:

Oral history of Dean and Zeta Thayer, 1983 October 6, 2006 March

 Item
Identifier: MSM97-222
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...
Dates: 1983 October 6; Digitization: 2006 March

Oral history of Eddie Lewis, 1986 February 3, 2006 March

 Item
Identifier: MHM2005-027-022-1
Abstract Lewis recounts his grandfather's move from Iowa to Utah and then to Arizona when some leaders of the Mormon Church asked him to help ?colonize? the area. He describes the 60-acre homestead near Main Street and Stapley in Mesa where his grandparents dug a large pond and stock it with fish. He tells many stories about his grandfather, the pond, and the homestead. Lewis recalls buying groceries and how much he could buy with five dollars. He also talks about the Alma School getting its first...
Dates: 1986 February 3; Digitization: 2006 March

Oral history of Eva Watson Johnson Quist, 1987 April 3, 2006 March

 Item
Identifier: MHM2005-027-031-1
Abstract Johnson gives an account of her family's move to Arizona in 1925 to benefit her mother's health. Her family settled on 10 acres on Broadway Road, near the Mormon Temple, where they farmed and raised chickens. She talks about her father, Charles Watson, who was a talented actor and singer. She also tells the story of her mother, Irene Watson, starting Watson's Flowers, a longtime family-owned business in Mesa. Quist tells of training as a registered nurse, taking care of her mother before she...
Dates: 1987 April 3; Digitization: 2006 March

Oral history of Isaac Owen Rogers, 1981, 2006 March

 Item
Identifier: MSM97-181
Abstract Born in Mesa in 1903, Rogers tells of how his family was sent by Brigham Young to colonize Arizona. His father, Isaac Higby Rogers, worked as a blacksmith and invented a new device to shoe mules. He recalls details of farming with no machinery and home life with no electricity or running water. They used wet burlap to keep milk, eggs and butter cool. Rogers' grandfather was president of the Indian mission of the Mormon church, and Rogers gives a lot of detail about the daily life of Native...
Dates: 1981; Digitization: 2006 March

Oral history of Lucille Peterson Hanson, 1985 January 10, 2006 March

 Item
Identifier: MSM02-46
Abstract Hanson begins by telling the story of her parents' move to Mesa at the request of Brigham Young; they were asked to help ?colonize? the area. Her father, Hyrum Smith Peterson, served as the Town Marshall of Mesa, but was killed while serving in office. She talks about becoming a teacher and marrying Thomas Franklin Riggs, a blacksmith. Hanson discusses plays, parks, dances, and other things residents of Mesa had for entertainment. She describes dealing with the hot weather, medicine, and...
Dates: 1985 January 10; Digitization: 2006 March

Oral history of Shirley Palmer, 1988 February 15, 2006 March

 Item
Identifier: MHM2005-027-027-1
Abstract Palmer begins by telling that she was born in Mesa, Arizona, and has lived there all her life. She describes her schooling and names many of her teachers. She recounts that although her family was poor, she never felt poor. She gives some family history and tells of her grandparents, the Hills and the Stapleys, settling in Mesa. She talks about everyday life including doing laundry, preserving food, and sleeping outside in summer. Palmer tells about dating and marrying her husband, Lehi...
Dates: 1988 February 15; Digitization: 2006 March

Oral history of Zelma Miller, 1985 October, 2006 March

 Item
Identifier: MHM2005-027-025-1
Abstract Miller tells of her family's move, when she was 14 years old, to the Gilbert area to farm. She describes her schooling, some of the area's fairs and parades, going to the movies, and other things they did for entertainment. She talks about medicine, home remedies, and how her entire family was ill during the flu epidemic of 1918. She recalls that Mesa's streets began to be paved around 1918 and that her father's first car was a ?Grant.? Miller talks about her daily home life and then...
Dates: 1985 October; Digitization: 2006 March

Filtered By

  • Subject: Frontier and pioneer life X
  • Subject: Interviews X

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Subject
Mesa (Ariz.) -- History -- 20th century 16
Mesa (Ariz.) -- Social life and customs -- 20th century 16
Frontier and pioneer life -- Mesa (Ariz.) 11
Mormons -- Mesa (Ariz.) -- Interviews 9
Frontier and pioneer life -- Arizona 3