Virginia Jones Harriman Oral History

Virginia Jones Harriman Oral History

Virginia Jones Harriman Oral History

Churchill County Museum Association

Churchill County Museum Association

January 18, 1995

Analog Cassette Tape, Text File, Mp3 Audio

English

1:38:48

Interview with Virginia Jones Harriman, January 18, 1995.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this interview are those of the interviewer and interviewee and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of Churchill County Museum or any of its employees.
Preface
Virginia Harriman is a remarkable woman who has given us a concise oral history covering her eventful life in Churchill County. She has been a Nevadan since the age of two and weaves a fascinating story of her early life in the Soda Lake District followed by four years in the St. Clair District.
Her marriage to Earl Harriman in 1940 brought her to the Northam District where she has lived for fifty-four years.
Her love of the ranch that has been in the Harriman family for three generations is evident and her sage comments on what is currently [in 1995] happening to the Churchill County ranchers who rely on water from the Carson River and Lahontan Dam are thought provoking
Virginia gives a fantastic account of the feed lot operations that were the back-bone of the cattle industry for many years in Churchill County – One of her sons still carries on the tradition on the home ranch
Arthritis bothers Virginia, but her pretty face never shows the pain that she must feel. She is very alert and has given a wonderful oral history of life as a school girl, working woman, and successful ranch wife.
Interview
LaVOY: This is Marian Hennen LaVoy of the Churchill County Museum Oral History Project interviewing Mrs. Virginia Harriman at my home 4325 Schurz Highway on January 18, 1995.
LaVOY: Well, good afternoon, Virginia
HARRIMAN: How do you do?
LaVOY: I would like to ask you, where were you born?
HARRIMAN: I was born in Caldwell, Idaho
LaVOY: And when?
HARRIMAN: On September 30, 1918.
LaVOY: When did you move to the Fallon area?
HARRIMAN: In 1920.
LaVOY: Just a little tiny tot!
HARRIMAN: I was eighteen months old.
LaVOY: Now, what was your father’s name?
HARRIMAN: Roy Jones.
LaVOY: Where was he born?
HARRIMAN: He was born in Verdon, Nebraska.
LaVOY: And your mother?
HARRIMAN: In Concordia, Kansas
LaVOY: And what was her maiden name?
HARRIMAN: Ethel Faris
LaVOY: Do you have any idea how they met?
HARRIMAN: They met in Idaho. I don’t know how they met there, but they met in Idaho and were married there.
LaVOY: Oh, I see. Well, now, what prompted them to come to Fallon?
HARRIMAN: My uncle came down and found out that they were having this opening up of this land, and he talked my father into coming down.
LaVOY: And about what year was that?
HARRIMAN: About 1919, 1920
LaVOY: And what did your mother feel about moving from Idaho down to this barren area?
HARRIMAN: She didn’t like it, and, I guess, often cried (laughing)
LaVOY: Do you know how they came?
HARRIMAN: We came by car, and they shipped their cattle by emigrant car.
LaVOY: Now, what is emigrant car?
HARRIMAN: It’s a big cattle car on the trains.
LaVOY: Where did they let them off? In Hazen?
HARRIMAN: In Hazen.
LaVOY: And how did they get them?
HARRIMAN: Well, we just drove them down from there.
LaVOY: Where did your father first settle here in Nevada?
HARRIMAN: There in Soda Lake.
LaVOY: In Soda Lake. How big a place did they have there?
HARRIMAN: Well, we had eighty acres.
LaVOY: How many cattle did he bring down from Idaho?
HARRIMAN: He, I think, just brought a milk cow or something like that, but we brought four horses.
LaVOY: Now, tell me something about your life on the ranch in Soda Lake.
HARRIMAN: Well, we lost money on it because it was… the man that bought our place in Idaho he kept… I don’t know, things just went haywire. And so he would have Daddy discount the note. So we were very poor for a long time
LaVOY: Well, now I notice by your biographical sketch here that you lived in Soda Lake area for eighteen years.
HARRIMAN: Um-hum.
LaVOY: You must have been twenty, then, by the time you left Soda Lake
HARRIMAN: Uh-huh
LaVOY: Tell me, what were some of your chores as a little girl?
HARRIMAN: Oh, I milked cows (laughs)
LaVOY: Did you really?
HARRIMAN: Oh, yes! And that was to help my brother out. “I’ll take you some place if you’ll help me milk the cows.”
LaVOY: And how often would you milk them?
HARRIMAN: Oh we’d milk them twice a day.
LaVOY: Before you went to school in the morning?
HARRIMAN: Yeah. Well, I never did that. I always waited till evening or something like that or in the summertime. Then we herded cows when we had drought and run out of hay, we had to herd the cows out along the ditch banks where it was green grass.
LaVOY: About how many cows were involved in this?
HARRIMAN: Oh, just a herd of milk cows. Probably had about… oh about ten or twelve.
LaVOY: Did your parents sell the milk?
HARRIMAN: Yeah, we sold the cream. They had a creamery here, and then we sold it to Modesto Creamery.
LaVOY: Were you in charge of the separator?
HARRIMAN: No, no I didn’t do that. The men did that. (Laughs)
LaVOY: They took care of the separator.
HARRIMAN: Uh-huh.
LaVOY: Now, tell me some of the things that you remember your mother doing when you lived there on Soda Lake.
HARRIMAN: She would have to wash clothes by an old hand board. You know, those. Oh, she did all of the work around, raised chickens.
LaVOY: How many chickens did you have at one time?
HARRIMAN: Oh, probably 250 at a time, and we’d get them 250 and cull out the hens and keep them and then eat the roosters.
LaVOY: How often did she feed the chickens?
HARRIMAN: We fed them twice a day, in the morning and in the evening.
LaVOY: And that was her job. You didn’t have to help?
HARRIMAN: Well, once in a while we’d help. I had three sisters, and my sister that was next to me, we would feed the chickens and gather the eggs.
LaVOY: Now, gathering eggs was always one of my favorite jobs. Where all did you find the eggs because chickens do not always lay in the hen house.
HARRIMAN: (laughs) Well, mostly they had boxes made in the hen house so we’d find them in there, but then they would get so they’d lay them out in the yard and all, too.
LaVOY: And did you ever find any large caches of eggs in the barn or anything?
HARRIMAN: No. No, we never did.
LaVOY: Now, tell me, what were some of the outbuildings that you had on the ranch?
HARRIMAN: We just had one shed, and that was used as a garage and workshop.
LaVOY: Now, did your father build corrals to hold the cattle?
HARRIMAN: Oh, yes. Yes, we had those.
LaVOY: And did you have riding horses?
HARRIMAN: WE had one. Was named Sparky. A neighbor gave it to us girls.
LaVOY: What color was it?
HARRIMAN: A little black one. He was part mustang. (laughing)
LaVOY: Well, I bet you had a great time on him.
HARRIMAN: Oh, we did. We enjoyed him.
LaVOY: Now, how old were you when you first started school?
HARRIMAN: Six.
LaVOY: And where did you go to school?
HARRIMAN: In elementary schools. They had it in Con B Then.
LaVOY: They were in consolidated B.
HARRIMAN: Oh yeah.
LaVOY: How did you get to school?
HARRIMAN: Rode the bus
LaVOY: And who was your bus driver? Do you remember?
HARRIMAN: Art Lucas was one and then Charlie Frey, and then my brother - when Charlie played football, my brother took over.
LaVOY: And what was your brother’s name?
HARRIMAN: Ralph.
LaVOY: Ralph Jones?
HARRIMAN: Uh-huh
LaVOY: Tell me something about riding to school on the bus.
HARRIMAN: Oh, my. (Laughs) We had the first glassed-in bus, and it didn’t have a heater or anything. My father used to warm bricks up and wrap them up and then we’d take them to school and put our feet on them.
LaVOY: While you rode the bus to school?
HARRIMAN: Uh-huh. Yeah.
LaVOY: Well, that wasn’t an easy task getting to and from School. Who was your first teacher?
HARRIMAN: Miss [Florence] Richards.
LaVOY: How did you like her as a teacher?
HARRIMAN: Oh, she was wonderful. Then she was my son’s first teacher when he went to school.
LaVOY: For heaven’s Sake! Now that would have been in… Which should would that be? What is now the Cottage Schools?
HARRIMAN: The Cottage Schools. It was called the Old High School because that’s where the first high school was.
LaVOY: Oh, I see.
HARRIMAN: And then they turned it into an elementary school, and we had the first, second, and third grades there.
LaVOY: And you went to all three grades there?
HARRIMAN: Uh-huh
LaVOY: Who were your other two teachers, or do you remember?
HARRIMAN: I can’t remember my second grade, but I can remember my third grade was Miss Wilson and Miss Gertjlin and Mrs. [Lucy] Burton. But I can’t remember my second grade. She must not have impressed me very much (laughs)
LaVOY: What was your favorite subject in school?
HARRIMAN: Probably recess (laughs)
LaVOY: (laughs) Well, nothing wrong with that.
HARRIMAN: No, I always liked most of them.
LaVOY: Well, now, then, after you left what we call the Cottage Schools now, what school did you go to?
HARRIMAN: We went to West End.
LaVOY: Tell me something about West End School at that point in time.
HARRIMAN: Well, it was just one big building. I think it had third and fourth grades in it. They had half classes then. You had one and then you’d go to the second half. I know a lot of kids would graduate from grammar school and go into high school at a half year.
LaVOY: Oh! You think this was because of the agricultural area around here?
HARRIMAN :I don’t know whether that was it, or it was just the system the school had. You know, kept the schools from…
LaVOY: Who were some of your best friends in school in your lower grades?
HARRIMAN: Oh, Virginia Shoffner and Janet Yetter and Mary Stedger and… I can’t think of all of them.
LaVOY: Have you kept track of those ladies throughout the years?
HARRIMAN: Yeah. Virginia is Virginia Weishaupt.
LaVOY: Oh is she?
HARRIMAN: And Janet and I have always been good friends, and she lives in San Leandro, California. She comes up and visits.
LaVOY: Well, how nice that after all these years you’ve kept in touch with them Now, as you got older I’m sure that you had more work to do at your home.
HARRIMAN: Oh, yes.
LaVOY: What were some of the chores that were your responsibility?
HARRIMAN: Well, we canned, we picked berries, and we kept the house clean.
LaVOY: Did you have electricity?
HARRIMAN: We got it when I was about, oh, I’d say ten or twelve. Along in there.
LaVOY: Prior to that, what did you use?
HARRIMAN: Lamps.
LaVOY: Who had to clean the chimneys?
HARRIMAN: Well, mom usually did that because she was afraid we’d break them (laughs)
LaVOY: She didn’t trust you in other words.
HARRIMAN: No (laughs) No.
LaVOY: Did you girls share a bedroom?
HARRIMAN: Yes.
LaVOY: How many rooms were in your house?
HARRIMAN: Well, we only had the one big room, and then we had two bedrooms. We had two beds in one and one in the other one.
LaVOY: One for your parents and one for you all kids. That was very common at that point in time.
HARRIMAN: Yes, because you just didn’t have the money.
LaVOY: And something else that was very common that I understand is you had a place right inside the door where you had your little wash bowl and everything, so that when you came in you could wash right there at the door. Did you have that?
HARRIMAN: No, we just had a sink. And we had the outdoor toilet (laughing) for a long time.
LaVOY: When did you first get indoor plumbing?
HARRIMAN: When we moved over to the ditch house.
LaVOY: Now, what is the ditch house?
HARRIMAN: That was where my father went to work. He was a ditchrider for seventeen years at the St. Clair District.
LaVOY: Oh, I see. How, it was the ditch house in the St. Clair district?
HARRIMAN: Um-hum.
LaVOY: Oh, I see.
HARRIMAN: Just at the beginning of it. It’s still there, but they’ve added onto it. They added onto it when we were there, ‘cause they’d put in a bathroom.
LaVOY: Now, approximately, where is that ditch house in the St. Clair District?
HARRIMAN: Do you know where William Lattin lives? [1755 Lattin Road]
LaVOY: Yes.
HARRIMAN: Well, it’s just right back of him. Right next to the canal.
LaVOY: Oh. About how old were you when you moved from Soda Lake to St. Clair?
HARRIMAN: I wasn’t quite that old. Probably about seventeen, because I graduated from school at seventeen.
LaVOY: Well, it’s interesting. Now your father… What had he done prior, besides trying to keep the ranch going and everything else?
HARRIMAN: Well, he worked for the District as a carpenter and all.
LaVOY: For the TCID?
HARRIMAN: Uh-huh.
LaVOY: He had worked there all those years.
HARRIMAN: Yes.
LaVOY: And that helped with the finances?
HARRIMAN: Oh. Yes. Uh-huh. And, in the winter when it got cold and they couldn’t work out, why then he and mom would go pick turkeys and things like that. We had lots of turkeys around here then.
LaVOY: Now, tell me something about their picking the turkeys. How much were they paid? Do you know?
HARRIMAN: No, I don’t. I don’t remember.
LaVOY: I’ve heard so many different stories
HARRIMAN: I think that some of them got paid by so many birds that they picked. I don’t think they got paid a flat amount.
LaVOY: Well, I can see that they worked very hard keeping things going.
HARRIMAN: Oh, well, we had to.
LaVOY: Yes, indeed. Now we’re going to go back to school just for a few minutes. When did you graduate from eighth grade? Approximately.
HARRIMAN: Gee, I can’t remember. (Laughs) I can remember graduating [Note, this was in 1932]
LaVOY: Well, tell me about the graduation ceremony.
HARRIMAN: Well, we put on a play.
LaVOY: Oh!
HARRIMAN: It was Washington and Lee and all of them together, at the Methodist Church we put on this play and they we graduated.
LaVOY: What did you wear? Do you remember?
HARRIMAN: No, but I can remember I had a new dress (laughs)
LaVOY: Well, that’s very important when you’re graduating from eighth grade! Tell me something about your graduation ceremony.
HARRIMAN: They had a speaker and then some music and then a principal or someone on the school board gave our diplomas out.
LaVOY: You were very proud to get there.
HARRIMAN: Oh, I should say! (Laughs)
LaVOY: Yes, of course! Now you’re growing up, and you’re ready to enter high school. What was the name of the high school that you attended?
HARRIMAN: Churchill County. It’s the same one that they have the junior high now.
LaVOY: Oh.
HARRIMAN: But we didn’t have the library on it.
LaVOY: Now, how did you feel entering the high school?
HARRIMAN: Very (laughs) down lowly (laughing)
LaVOY: Starting all over again.
HARRIMAN: Oh, yes.
LaVOY: What were some of the subjects that you studied in high school?
HARRIMAN: I took the home arts course, and we took the basic English and French. I can’t speak French now, but I can pick out a few words (laughs)
LaVOY: Was [George] Mr. McCracken the principal at that time?
HARRIMAN: Yes.
LaVOY: What was your opinion of Mr. McCracken?
HARRIMAN: Oh, he was wonderful. Any subject that he taught, I got good grades in. (laughs) But, he was just good. He was a wonderful teacher.
LaVOY: I understand he was very strict as a principal.
HARRIMAN: Oh, yes. Yes, he was. The girls on one side and the boys on the other.
LaVOY: Well, that kept things going.
HARRIMAN: Yes, it did. It did, and I think that’s the way it should be now. (laughs)
LaVOY: Well, tell me, with your being in high school, what was Fallon like at that point in time? What do you remember about the city of Fallon?
HARRIMAN: It was just a very small town, and it was very pleasant.
LaVOY: What were some of the things that you did for entertainment?
HARRIMAN: We went to dances.
LaVOY: What were some of the dances?
HARRIMAN: We went to the school parties, and there were school dances and all, and there were basketball games and things like that.
LaVOY: Who do you remember as being some of the stark basketball players?
HARRIMAN: I’m not sure of any of them that were really stars, but they were all a good team.
LaVOY: Didn’t the Fallon team win a State championship?
HARRIMAN: Oh, yes, but that was before I got in there. (laughs)
LaVOY: That was earlier than that.
HARRIMAN: Yes, uh-huh.
LaVOY: Tell me of some of the stores in town what they looked like. I understand that Kent’s was an earlier store.
HARRIMAN: Kent’s, it didn’t change a great deal, is what it was. Then Safeways came in- No, it wasn’t safeways, it was Piggly-Wiggly, and then Safeways came across the street.
LaVOY: Across what street?
HARRIMAN: Maine Street.
LaVOY: All these stores were on Maine Street?
HARRIMAN: Uh-huh, and then we had the Fallon Mercantile, and it was down where Eric had his store before. And then he made it into a…
LaVOY: And who was this?
HARRIMAN: Eric Palludan. He had his store down there.
LaVOY: Most of the stores were on the east side of the street?
HARRIMAN: Two of them, and then Safeways was on the west side.
LaVOY: Now, approximately, where was Safeway?
HARRIMAN: It was in where… what’s in there now… Oh, I guess it’s the Nugget. [70 South Maine] But it was a small store, but it was a good store.
LaVOY: Who were some of the doctors and dentists that were in town?
HARRIMAN: There was Dr. [Harry] Sawyer. Dr. Lucas was when I was smaller, and Dr. Nichols and Dr. [Hobart] Wray came in.
LaVOY: Was there a hospital in town?
HARRIMAN: Um-hum.
LaVOY: And where was it located?
HARRIMAN: It was Mrs. Moore’s hospital, and it was down where they have a boarding house, I think, now.
LaVOY: Is that close to the big old Douglass house?
HARRIMAN: No, no. That was where Dr. Nichols was.
LaVOY: And where was the hospital then?
HARRIMAN: It was down on the corner of… I’m not sure whether it’s Nevada or what, but it’s down there… I don’t know the streets in town. You tell me where somebody lives and I can go to it (laughs)
LaVOY: Living in the country all those years, you just haven’t memorized them.
HARRIMAN: Yeah.
LaVOY: You mentioned these doctors. Did you ever have to go to any of them?
HARRIMAN: Yes, we went to Dr. Sawyer and Dr. Lucas, but nothing real serious. Oh, Dr. Wilson, too.
LaVOY: Well, now while you’re in this particular age that you are, going to high school and everything, who were your close friends?
HARRIMAN: It was Janet [Yetter] and June Ferguson, Helen Lohse, Emma Lou Snyder. They were about the closest, I think.
LaVOY: Now, what did you do to entertain yourselves when you were out of school? You girls.
HARRIMAN: We did things at home. We rode horseback. You didn’t have to go to town to be entertained. WE went swimming in the canals. You know, we just did things around the ranch.
LaVOY: And now, they lived fairly close to you in the same area?
HARRIMAN: No, huh-uh.
LaVOY: No, they lived in town?
HARRIMAN: Well, one of them lived in town, and one of them… let’s see, Nola Biggs was another one, but she was Nola Downs then, and she lived in town, and Emma Lou lived way down there. I don’t know what the district is, but it’s out there by the base. Wildes? No. Oh, I guess it is?
LaVOY: And then you’d get together at school, and then they’d come out to your place or you’d go out to their place?
HARRIMAN: Not necessarily. We did on birthdays and things like that, but you didn’t travel around much like that.
LaVOY: Did you play any sports in high school?
HARRIMAN: No. We lived too far out, and my mother and dad, they didn’t believe in girls playing sports and all.
LaVOY: Well, at this point in time, what were some of your jobs at home?
HARRIMAN: Oh, just helping around the ranch.
LaVOY: General help inside and out?
HARRIMAN: Outside, uh-huh
LaVOY: Now, how many cattle did you have by this time?
HARRIMAN: We didn’t have a great deal many cattle, we just had the dairy.
LaVOY: A small dairy. And were you still selling to the Modesto Co-op?
HARRIMAN: Yes. I think we sold to Modesto until they went out of business here.
LaVOY: Tell me, while you were still in high school, and they had school dances that I’m sure you attended some of them, who did you like to dance with, and who did you meet?
HARRIMAN: Well, just mostly all the boys who would ask you to dance.
LaVOY: Well, when did you become interested in your husband?
HARRIMAN: Well, that wasn’t until afterwards.
LaVOY: Well, we’ll catch up with him later than
HARRIMAN: Yeah (laughs)
LaVOY: I’m just trying to figure out while you were in high school what your life was like in Fallon.
HARRIMAN: Well, my mother never let us go out with boys until we were after sixteen years old.
LaVOY: That’s a very good rule! So you and the girls entertained one another.
HARRIMAN: Oh yeah!
LaVOY: You mentioned that you had a graduation at the Methodist Church. Did your family attend a church in town?
HARRIMAN: We used to go to the Baptist. Then we changed to the Methodist.
LaVOY: Which Baptist Church was that?
HARRIMAN: at the First Baptist Church.
LaVOY: And where was it located?
HARRIMAN: Where the county offices are in that building [190 West First Street]
LaVOY: And who was minister at that point in time?
HARRIMAN: Well, there was Mr. Reese and Mr. Robinson and I forget who came after that. But there was a big kind of a blowup in church, so we just dropped it and then kind of went to the Methodist.
LaVOY: And who was the minister in the Methodist church?
HARRIMAN: Miss [Jessie] Todd.
LaVOY: Well, wasn’t that unusual at that point in time to have a woman minister?
HARRIMAN: I don’t think so, I mean she was good, and she was one of them to get us into it, and then Esther [Jones] and I both sang in the choir. That’s my sister.
LaVOY: Well, that’s great. How did you get from your ranch in Soda Lake into church on Sundays?
HARRIMAN: Oh, well, we took the car.
LaVOY: And what kind of car did you have?
HARRIMAN: We had a Ford (laughs)
LaVOY: One of the four door variety?
HARRIMAN: Yeah.
LaVOY: Model?
HARRIMAN: Well, we got a brand new one.
LaVOY: Was that a model T?
HARRIMAN: We had old cars before. No, no… It was one of these that had the V-8 engines and all.
LaVOY: Oh! Oh I see. All right now, what prompted you to move from Soda Lake District to the St. Clair District?
HARRIMAN: Well, Daddy became the ditchrider there.
LaVOY: And what did you do with your property on Soda Lake.
HARRIMAN: We sold it. We rented it for a while, and then we sold it.
LaVOY: Now, who did you sell it to?
HARRIMAN: I was trying to think that the other day. I’m not sure who we did sell it to, but then Eric Palludan rented it for a while.
LaVOY: Oh! As a house for himself?
HARRIMAN: No, they didn’t live in the house because we had all of the furniture that was in the houses stolen.
LaVOY: Stolen?
HARRIMAN: Yes.
LaVOY: Oh, that’s terrible! How’d that happen?
HARRIMAN: We don’t know. It was just moved out. But we’re pretty sure we know who had done it, but we couldn’t prove anything.
LaVOY: Well now, I don’t quite understand. You had moved to the ditchrider’s house. Was it furnished?
HARRIMAN: Some of it. It wasn’t too large of rooms, so we couldn’t… we moved just he beds and things like that.
LaVOY: You went back to your ranch and everything was gone?
HARRIMAN: Um-hum.
LaVOY: Oh that’s terrible!
HARRIMAN: Yes, it was! (laughs) we had an old Victrola, and we had – I would love to have it nowadays – a piece of furniture that was made into a desk and a bookcase on the side.
LaVOY: You never located it at all?
HARRIMAN: Never located it, but we had a pretty good idea.
LaVOY: I think I would have gone into everyone’s house around the area.
HARRIMAN: (laughs)
LaVOY: Do you think they sold it?
HARRIMAN: I wouldn’t know what they’ve done with it.
LaVOY: Well, that must have been frustrating to your parents.
HARRIMAN: It was, it was.
LaVOY: So, then, you moved over to the St. Clair District, and you lived there for about four years. Is that correct?
HARRIMAN: Yes. Well, the folks lived there seventeen years, but then I went to work for the Fallon Bakery.
LaVOY: Oh! Was this while you were still in high school?
HARRIMAN: No, I went to work right after I got out of high school.
LaVOY: What year did you finally graduate from high school?
HARRIMAN: 1936.
LaVOY: The class of ’36. Now before we go into your graduation ceremony, you mentioned that Brewster Adams was the speaker. He came to this area quite often, didn’t he?
HARRIMAN: Yes, he did. They’d ask, “Who do you want?” and they’d say “Brewster Adams.”
LaVOY: Why do you think he was so well known down here?
HARRIMAN: I think people just liked him, and they knew it was pleasing for the parents to hear him.
LaVOY: And did he come down here to hunt?
HARRIMAN: No, he came to the ranch once in a while with Dr. [Rheuban] Thompson.
LaVOY: And did he do some hunting at that point in time?
HARRIMAN: I guess he did. Earl’s grandfather invited him down.
LaVOY: And they would come, and how long would they stay?
HARRIMAN: Oh, just come down for the day.
LaVOY: Well, that’s very interesting. Tell me what you remember about your graduation ceremony.
HARRIMAN: Well, it was with Thompson, and I sang with a group of girls with Caroline Best and Twila Strong. There were four of us, and I can’t remember the fourth girl, but we sang.
LaVOY: Do you remember what songs you sang.
HARRIMAN: No (laughs) I’m not sure. I belonged to the glee club and Mr. Moore picked out the four that he wanted to sing.
LaVOY: And what did you have to do? Get up on the stage?
HARRIMAN: Well, no. We were on the stage, and then I just walked over.
LaVOY: Then you had the speaker and who passed out the diplomas at that time?
HARRIMAN: I think it was the president of the school board, and I’m not sure who it was.
LaVOY: How long a ceremony did it take? Do you recall?
HARRIMAN: Seemed like a long time (laughs)
LaVOY: (laughs) And afterwards when it was all over, what kind of a celebration did you have?
HARRIMAN: We just had a dance, kinda.
LaVOY: At the school?
HARRIMAN: No, it was over… they had a party at the Guild Hall.
LaVOY: Now what is this Guild Hall?
HARRIMAN: It belongs to the Episcopal Church.
LaVOY: And where is it located?
HARRIMAN: Right where it is now. Over where the Episcopal Church is, there’s a hall right behind it [507 Churchill Street].
LaVOY: Oh, I see. And do you remember some of the young fellows that you danced with at that graduation ceremony?
HARRIMAN: No, I don’t (laughing) There was one boy by the name of [Ray] Long. Let’s see, he didn’t graduate, though. That was when the CC’s [Civilian Conservation Corps] were here, and he had belonged to the CC Group.
LaVOY: Tell me, about the CCC group what do you remember about them?
HARRIMAN: They did all the work around the District and all for different ones, and they had camps. Camp Carson River was out on the highway, and Camp Newlands was right back by the depot and over in there
LaVOY: Did many local people work with the CCC?
HARRIMAN: Some of them did. They’d go along with where the district would be working or something?
LaVOY: What? Supervisory work?
HARRIMAN: Um-hum.
LaVOY: How long was the CCC here in Fallon? Approximately?
HARRIMAN: Gee, I can’t remember how long it did stay. I think it was here for about four or five years, anyhow.
LaVOY: Some of the men that I understand that worked for it, one was Mr. [Harold] Firz.
HARRIMAN: Yeah.
LaVOY: You know what he did?
HARRIMAN: Well, he was a supervisor. He had a group of boys, and he went out and did things, and he was the boss.
LaVOY: Then I understand that Mr. Phillips worked for them, too.
HARRIMAN: Oh yes, that was Walter Phillips, and he would work in the same capacity as Mr. Fitz did.
LaVOY: And who were some of the others. I’m trying to think…
HARRIMAN: I can’t think of…
LaVOY: Louie Moiola
HARRIMAN: Yeah, Louie did. They liked Louie.
LaVOY: Well, I just wondered, and this Mr. Long that you remembered that came to the dance, he had been a CCC boy?
HARRIMAN: He was a kind of a head of it. Ray Long was his name. He’d worked for a mine and all, and he had a group of boys too.
LaVOY: Well, they did a great deal for the irrigation ditches around here.
HARRIMAN: Yeah, they put in a lot of things.
LaVOY: Did your father ever say anything about when they put in the irrigation ditches, prior to them putting them in how the crops had all mildewed in the fields from no drainage? Did he ever talk about that?
HARRIMAN: No. Daddy didn’t work for the district when they first put them in. Now, Grandpa Harriman did ‘cause he used the tailboard and four horses.
LaVOY: Well, I’d like to find out more about that when we get into you marrying your husband and whatnot. As soon as you graduated from high school, you went to work in the bakery, and who was your boss in the bakery?
HARRIMAN: Pauls. Peter Pauls. German.
LaVOY: That’s an interesting name. And where was the backery?
HARRIMAN: It was right next to Hursh’s [130 S. Maine]
LaVOY: What hours did you have to work?
HARRIMAN: I went in to work at seven in the morning and we had split shifts. One day I’d work in the afternoon and go home at five o’clock and then the other day I’d go off at noon and then come back at four thirty and close up at seven.
LaVOY: Now what exactly did your job entail?
HARRIMAN: We sliced bread, and we wrapped it. ‘Course we had the machine, and we put out cakes. We put out doughnuts. We did everything like that.
LaVOY: Did you have to do any of the cooking of the Doughnuts?
HARRIMAN: Oh, no no. No, none of that.
LaVOY: You just simply worked as a salesperson. You said Mr. Pauls owned the bakery. Now, was he the only one you worked for, or did it change hands?
HARRIMAN: No, that’s the only one I ever worked for.
LaVOY: And how long did you work for him?
HARRIMAN: Four years.
LaVOY: For four years! My goodness! Now, what was your social life during this four year period?
HARRIMAN: Well, I went to church (laughs) and I went to dances at the Fraternal Hall. That’s when I started going with my husband.
LaVOY: Now your husband’s name is what?
HARRIMAN: Earl.
LaVOY: Had you known Earl Harriman?
HARRIMAN: Oh yes. He was in high school. He sat right next to me in geometry.
LaVOY: Was he ahead of you in school?
HARRIMAN: He was a year ahead of me.
LaVOY: And you had no great interest in him at all while you were in school?
HARRIMAN: Oh, yes. I liked him.
LaVOY: But you didn’t date him particularly?
HARRIMAN: No.
LaVOY: Because your parents wouldn’t let you date any boys?
HARRIMAN: Well, I Went with Jack Uithoven before that for a couple of years.
LaVOY: Now this Jack, was he in school with you?
HARRIMAN: Yes.
LaVOY: And did you lose interest in him?
HARRIMAN: Yes. You know, when you’re kids and in high school and all.
LaVOY: Well, when did you start getting interested in Earl?
HARRIMAN: Well, we were at a dance one night and he asked me for a date. So I started going with him from then on.
LaVOY: How long before you were married?
HARRIMAN: About a year and a half.
LaVOY: And what were some of the things you did when you went on your date?
HARRIMAN: Oh, we went to dances. There was always a dance at the Fraternal Hall, and they were nice dances.
LaVOY: Can you remember the names of any of the musicians that were there?
HARRIMAN: Oh yes. Frank Woodliff and Monty Robinson, and Louise Witherspoon played the piano. Vernon Mills was on the saxophone.
LaVOY: Oh! And that was every Saturday night?
HARRIMAN: Yeah, they had one almost every Saturday night. Usually different ones would sponsor them.
LaVOY: Now, like different ones, you mean organizations?
HARRIMAN: Yes.
LaVOY: Oh, I understand they had a lot of dances out in the rural schools.
HARRIMAN: They did. Down at Harmon.
LaVOY: Did you ever do any of those?
HARRIMAN: Oh, yes.
LaVOY: And was it the same musicians or did they have different ones?
HARRIMAN: No, they had different ones. They had little bands that they’d put together.
LaVOY: Well, now, the Fraternal Hall. I guess it was pretty much the center of social life in the town for dances and dinners and things like that.
HARRIMAN: Yes.
LaVOY: When you started dating, besides going to dances, did you go on picnics?
HARRIMAN: Oh, yeah. We’d go swimming. We went to the rodeo in Reno. We went over to Pyramid. And I remember one time we went out to the Indian caves.
LaVOY: Did you go just the two of you or a group of you together.
HARRIMAN: Oh, just the two of us went, but we went with Raymond and Chrissie quite a bit too.
LaVOY: Now, Raymond and Chrissie?
HARRIMAN: Bass.
LaVOY: Oh, well that’s nice. Now, when did you decide to get married?
HARRIMAN: Well, we went on this trip to Southern California.
LaVOY: You and?
HARRIMAN: Earl and Fern and Harry Miller from Stockton [California], and so we just decided to get married in Vegas, and we didn’t tell anybody until April afterwards [laughs]
LaVOY: When were you married?
HARRIMAN: The 29th of December, 1940
LaVOY: Oh. Why had you gone to Southern California?
HARRIMAN: We went down to his uncle and aunt. We were going to go to the Rose Bowl but we couldn’t get tickets. We should have called ahead.
LaVOY: So, then, instead of going to the Rose Bowl you came back to Las Vegas.
HARRIMAN: No, we were in Las Vegas as we went down. We went from here to Las Vegas.
LaVOY: And quietly got married in Las Vegas?
HARRIMAN: Um-hum
LaVOY: And where were you married?
HARRIMAN: At Reverend Price’s House.
LaVOY: In Las Vegas. Oh, and you kept it quiet. Of course, I imagine the couple knew.
HARRIMAN: Oh, yes. They were our attendants.
LaVOY: And where did you honeymoon?
HARRIMAN: We went on down to California.
LaVOY: And, of course, couldn’t get tickets to the Rose Bowl. So, how long did you stay down there?
HARRIMAN: We stayed down there for a week.
LaVOY: And none of your family knew.
HARRIMAN: No. Well, we went to visit this other couple, Wilma and Louis Porteus.
LaVOY: And did they know you were married?
HARRIMAN: Oh yes (Laughs)
LaVOY: But your family didn’t?
HARRIMAN: No.
LaVOY: Alright. Well, then, when you returned home to Fallon how did they take this news?
HARRIMAN: They didn’t. They didn’t get it until April. (laughs)
LaVOY: Until April! Well, how in the world did you manage that?
HARRIMAN: We just went on like we were before (laughs)
LaVOY: Goodness gracious! (laughs) why didn’t you tell them?
HARRIMAN: I asked Earl that several times too. (laughs) we were married fifty-two years.
LaVOY: That’s a wonderful, wonderful long marriage. But you don’t know why you didn’t tell them?
HARRIMAN: Well, we didn’t have a place to stay, or didn’t have a house ot live in.
LaVOY: So you stayed with your parents and…
HARRIMAN: He lived with his.
LaVOY: And what prompted you to tell them?
HARRIMAN: Well, we just decided it was time to tell them.
LaVOY: Well, were they pleased?
HARRIMAN: Well, my mother was a little bit irked. No, she liked Earl.
LaVOY: But she didn’t think you should have been so secretive.
HARRIMAN: No, no, no.
LaVOY: And then after you announced that you were married, where did you live?
HARRIMAN: Oh, we lived with his folks for a while.
LaVOY: Where was that?
HARRIMAN: On the Harriman ranch.
LaVOY: That’s in the Northam District.
HARRIMAN: Out where we live now.
LaVOY: Oh, you lived with his parents for how long?
HARRIMAN: Oh, about two and a half years. And then we fixed up the old house. They had people living in it at the time, and we took and fixed it up and moved there.
LaVOY: Were the Harrimans one of the early settlers here in Fallon?
HARRIMAN: Not the earliest. Grandad was.
LaVOY: What was grandad’s name?
HARRIMAN: He was Edwin Sylvester Harriman
LaVOY: And when did he come here? Approximately.
HARRIMAN: I’m not sure when he came here. He and Tom Dolf were in on the Dolf ranch.
LaVOY: As partners?
HARRIMAN: Uh-huh. Then they flipped a coin. They weren’t getting along very well, so they flipped a coin to see who was going to get the ranch, and grandad didn’t get it, so he went on down to the Danielson ranch and started that one up.
LaVOY: And where is that?
HARRIMAN: Down in the Harmon district.
LaVOY: How, they had worked together getting this Dolf ranch going, and at the flip of a coin he lost it. He didn’t take anything from the ranch. Just walked away?
HARRIMAN: Oh, yes.
LaVOY: Oh my.
HARRIMAN: (laughs) that’s what I said!
LaVOY: How the Danielson ranch, how long was he on that?
HARRIMAN: Well, grandad Harriman was born there, my father in law. And then they went on down to Stillwater and he started another ranch up down there.
LaVOY: Now this would have actually been two greats, wouldn’t it?
HARRIMAN: No, just one grandfather.
LaVOY: Your husband’s grandfather?
HARRIMAN: My husband’s grandfather is the one that
LaVOY: The one that Tom Dolf and he started?
HARRIMAN: Mm-hmm
LaVOY: And then your husband’s father was born down in the Stillwater District?
HARRIMAN: No, he was born in the Danielson Ranch.
LaVOY: On the Danielson ranch in the Harmon district?
HARRIMAN: Yeah.
LaVOY: I see. And then when did he move over here to the Northam District?
HARRIMAN: They came here about 1900.
LaVOY: So how long were they on the Danielson ranch?
HARRIMAN: I don’t think too long down there. And then they went on down to Stillwater and started one up down there.
LaVOY: Did they raise cattle? Did they raise beets, or what?
HARRIMAN: No, I think they just farmed it. They just were starting out then.
LaVOY: And then what prompted them to come back here to the Northam District?
HARRIMAN: Well, he went in partners with Tom Small. I think he was partners with him. Anyhow, he took his horses and everything and moved up there, and that’s where he stayed.
LaVOY: Now, how big a ranch was it when he started?
HARRIMAN: I don’t think it was too big. He bought up wood lots.
LaVOY: What do you mean he bought up wood lots?
HARRIMAN: Well, there’s wood up there, and he bought those all up.
LaVOY: By wood, you mean cottonwood trees?
HARRIMAN: Uh-huh.
LaVOY: And what did he do? Chop them all down and sell the wood?
HARRIMAN: I guess. Uh-huh.
LaVOY: Oh, that’s what you were referring to as wood lots. And then did he clear the fields?
HARRIMAN: Oh, yes. Uh-huh
LaVOY: After the wood was chopped down. Well that was a lot of work.
HARRIMAN: Oh, you bet. He was a good worker and he made the boys work.
LaVOY: Did your husband help chop trees in later years?
HARRIMAN: No, no. Oh, yeah, they got trees later. But then, no, it was all pretty well set up when Earl, and then we bought more ground.
LaVOY: From whom?
HARRIMAN: We bought it from Grandma Harriman. And then we put in the ground that hadn’t been put in.
LaVOY: Is this along the Carson River?
HARRIMAN: Um-hum
LaVOY: Are you on both sides of the river?
HARRIMAN: Yes.
LaVOY: Now, is your home on the west side of the river, or the east side?
HARRIMAN: We’re on the North side.
LaVOY: You’re living with your husband’s family for two and a half years, what were your responsibilities at that point in time?
HARRIMAN: I just helped grandma. And then I had a baby, Earl Junior.
LaVOY: Earl Edward Harriman, Junior, was born when.
HARRIMAN: November 19, 1941.
LaVOY: I notice that he was born in Reno. Why did you not have him born here?
HARRIMAN: [Whispering] The doctors weren’t good enough
LaVOY: Oh.
HARRIMAN: I didn’t think they were, and neither did Earl, and so we just went to Dr. Lombardy up in Reno.
LaVOY: Oh, Louie Lombardy, I see. So, did you move to Reno before the baby arrived?
HARRIMAN: Well, no. He took me up that morning.
LaVOY: And you had your little son?
HARRIMAN: Uh-huh
LaVOY: What hospital did you go to?
HARRIMAN: Washoe Medical.
LaVOY: And how long were you in the hospital.
HARRIMAN: I was there for ten days that first time (laughs)
LaVOY: Well, that’s what the doctors believed in then.
HARRIMAN: Yeah, and then you dangled your feet.
LaVOY: They don’t do that nowadays
HARRIMAN: No. No way.
LaVOY: But, I think, it was much better that you were there longer. Then, I bet there was great happiness when you brought the new one home.
HARRIMAN: Oh yes! Yes, yes. (Laughs) he was real cute (laughs).
LaVOY: How did Earl’s parents accept him?
HARRIMAN: Fine.
LaVOY: Spoiled him rotten?
HARRIMAN: Oh yes (laughs)
LaVOY: (laughs) Then your second child.
HARRIMAN: The two boys. We were living over in the other place at that time.
LaVOY: All right, well, now you had your first one, Earl, and how long did you live with your husband’s parents before you moved into your own place?
HARRIMAN: He was about a year and a half.
LaVOY: When you moved to your own place, did you have to build a house there?
HARRIMAN: No, we took the old house that originally was there. It isn’t there now, but it was originally there. We took it and we remodeled it, and that’s where we lived.
LaVOY: How many rooms did you have there?
HARRIMAN: I had a kitchen and a dining room. Well, the dining room and living room were together. And two bedrooms.
LaVOY: Oh, that was a nice little home for you to start off with.
HARRIMAN: Oh, yes.
LaVOY: Tell me, what were some of your husband’s daily activities?
HARRIMAN: They were milking cows at the time. He milked the cows and fed the others. Well, we had a hired man to feed the others, and they fed them by the horses and, then, he eventually got tractors to pull the wagons to feed them.
LaVOY: Especially, I imagine, in the wintertime.
HARRIMAN: Oh yeah. Well, they fed them by horse for quite a while.
LaVOY: Did they cut their own hay on the river ranch?
HARRIMAN: Oh yes.
LaVOY: Tell me something about haying.
HARRIMAN: I cooked for the men, and they were – they did the thing where they’d put ‘em in chocks [?] And that way we had quite a crew up there.
LaVOY: About how many men did you have to cook for?
HARRIMAN: Probably about six.
LaVOY: Were these men that came each year and wanted to be hired by your husband and his father?
HARRIMAN: Some of them were, some weren’t. A lot of times we’d get the young boys that had worked for them and knew how.
LaVOY: Young boys from the local area?
HARRIMAN: Oh yes.
LaVOY: Give men an example of your day when you were cooking for the hay crew.
HARRIMAN: Oh, I’d get up and fix their breakfast.
LaVOY: About what time?
HARRIMAN: I’d get up before six and fix their breakfast.
LaVOY: And what would a breakfast for a hay crew consist of?
HARRIMAN: Biscuits (laughs) and eggs and bacon and coffee and some juice maybe. Just a regular breakfast.
LaVOY: And then they’d go out to do their work
HARRIMAN: Um-hum. Come in at noon.
LaVOY: And what did you usually fix for them at noon?
HARRIMAN: Well, a roast or something like that or baked chicken or something like that.
LaVOY: With?
HARRIMAN: With the fixings.
LaVOY: Vegetables?
HARRIMAN: uh-huh
LaVOY: And how about hot rolls? Things like that?
HARRIMAN: Once in a while, I’d fix hot rolls.
LaVOY: But you’d always have to fix dessert.
HARRIMAN: Oh yes, pies and cakes.
LaVOY: What type of pies did you usually fix?
HARRIMAN: Lemon, Cherry, that’s mostly the kind I’d make, and Apple.
LaVOY: Now, you had no help with doing this cooking?
HARRIMAN: No.
LaVOY: So you were literally from one meal and doing the dishes, getting ready for another meal.
HARRIMAN: Uh-huh, besides taking care of a baby (laughs)
LaVOY: Then, in the evening, what time did you usually feed them?
HARRIMAN: I didn’t usually have to give them an evening meal. They’d go on home for that.
LaVOY: So, at least, it was just two meals a day that you were responsible for.
HARRIMAN: Um-hum, but then, when we had threshers, I had the threshers coming in at all times of night.
LaVOY: So you had to feed them. Mentioning threshers, did your husband put in a lot of grain?
HARRIMAN: Not an awful lot. We put in some each year. And we still do.
LaVOY: About how many acres of grain?
HARRIMAN: I couldn’t tell you. Richard knows all of that, but I don’t.
LaVOY: I just wondered. Undoubtedly, you started out with just the grass land that was round the river and cleared the wood lots and then started planting grain.
HARRIMAN: It’s now alfalfa.
LaVOY: And alfalfa, and you’re still into grain and alfalfa.
HARRIMAN: Um-hum. And corn. Ensilage.
LaVOY: What is Ensilage?
HARRIMAN: Well, you let the field corn grow real tall, and then it gets the long ears on it, and we chop it.
LaVOY: Now, by chopping it, a machine does this?
HARRIMAN: Yes, uh-huh. They have a header that they put on the machine that we chop hay with, and it chops the corn. It makes it into little pieces like that, and then they put it in a wagon, and then they bring it into the pit, and then they dump it and then a man with a tractor comes over that and pushes it down and packs it.
LaVOY: Is this a cement pit?
HARRIMAN: No, we have just a pit that we dig out of the ground and just put it in there.
LaVOY: You don’t line the pit or anything? Alight, now, you have this one-inch chopped up corn. That’s the ears, the tassels-
HARRIMAN: Everything, everything.
LaVOY: Put it into the pits, and then what do you do?
HARRIMAN: Then we cover it, after we get it all, with this plastic and then we let it ferment, and it doesn’t smell very well.
LaVOY: No, I know. We have neighbors that have silage (laughs) and it’s hard to put up with when they take the covers off.
HARRIMAN: Then we feed the cows, and it conditions them, and they start feeding at noon, then.
LaVOY: What type of cows are you feeding it to?
HARRIMAN: We’re feeding beef cattle.
LaVOY: Are you in the business now of fattening cattle for other people?
HARRIMAN: No. We um, we- [first tape ends]
LaVOY: Now, you’re feeding your own cattle. What breed of cattle are you feeding?
HARRIMAN: Beef cattle. They’re all sorts (laughs). They’re some of them that are gray and white, and some of them are Charolais and some black and white and some red and white.
LaVOY: In other words, you have a Heinz fifty seven.
HARRIMAN: Yes!
LaVOY: About how many are you feeding now?
HARRIMAN: Well, I think Richard said they had about two hundred cows.
LaVOY: At one time, did you feed for other people?
HARRIMAN: Oh, yes.
LaVOY: Tell me about the whole process of feeding for other people.
HARRIMAN: Well, we used to feed for Stan Ellison, and he would bring his cattle in from Elko County, and we would take and feed them.
LaVOY: Tell me what time of year he’d bring them in.
HARRIMAN: He’d bring them in about October.
LaVOY: How did they manage that? You weighed the cattle as they came in
HARRIMAN: Um-hum
LaVOY: And then how long did you feed them?
HARRIMAN: Well, we used to feed them until about April.
LaVOY: And then did he come and take them back to Elko County? Or did he sell them from here?
HARRIMAN: He used to sell them mostly. They were yearlings, and they sold them then.
LaVOY: The thing that I’ve wondered about, you weighed them before they came in, then you weighed them when they left. Did he pay you according to how much weight they had gained, or did he pay you by the month for them?
HARRIMAN: No, he paid us by the weights.
LaVOY: So it was to your advantage to…
HARRIMAN: Oh, yeah, to see that they put on weight.
LaVOY: Besides this pit silage that you fed them, what else did you feed them to put weight on them?
HARRIMAN: Hay and grain.
LaVOY: Was it his responsibility to have them all inoculated so that your cattle would not get any diseases?
HARRIMAN: Oh If any of them got sick or something, yes he had them all inoculated, but if any of them got sick, well, we’d call the veterinarian, and then he’d pay the veterinary bill.
LaVOY: About how many head did you feed at one time?
HARRIMAN: I think we had about four hundred all come in.
LaVOY: My goodness! And who did the feeding? Just your husband?
HARRIMAN: My husband and his father.
LaVOY: Tell me, how their day was involved with that feeding.
HARRIMAN: Well, they’d just begin early in the morning. Of course, this was when they had their own wagons and all. You filled them up and drove right down the aisles, and they had fixed their corrals up so that they had cement feeders.
LaVOY: When did he first put in the cement feeders?
HARRIMAN: Gee, I don’t know, several years ago.
LaVOY: This was something your husband did, not your husband and his father?
HARRIMAN: Yes, both of them together.
LaVOY: Both of them together did this. Well with that many cattle, you must have had tremendous large corrals.
HARRIMAN: We have fairly good sized corrals
LaVOY: When did you stop feeding cattle for other people?
HARRIMAN: I think Earl stopped when he got to not feeling too good and all.
LaVOY: About five years ago?
HARRIMAN: Mm-hmm.
LaVOY: Besides Ellison’s cattle, who others did you feed?
HARRIMAN: We fed a fellow down in California from Elk Point.
LaVOY: And what was his name?
HARRIMAN: I can’t think of it now.
LaVOY: Well, I know Bill Moffat had so many cattle around here I just wondered if by any chance –
HARRIMAN: No, no, it wasn’t him. I can’t think of his name, but, anyhow, he was just very good to feed for, but so was Stan. He wouldn’t even pay any attention. I mean, he just let the men go because he knew that they would be taken care of.
LaVOY: That’s very interesting. That is something that you do not see too much of it around Fallon right now.
HARRIMAN: No, nuh-huh.
LaVOY: Of course, the price of cattle is so low right at the moment, too.
HARRIMAN: That, too, makes a difference. But, Stan had a stroke and another thing, and his son-in-law, I think, took over the running of the cattle.
LaVOY: And he does not bring them down?
HARRIMAN: Well, we never ask for them.
LaVOY: How many ranchers were feeding cattle at one point in time here in Fallon?
HARRIMAN: Oh, I think most any of them that would have had a place to, I imagine quite a few of them.
LaVOY: Well, that was such an operation in this area. It kept so many of the ranchers going, bringing all these herds in and feeding them.
HARRIMAN: Yes. Well, and then another thing, we got so that we didn’t have the hay enough because of the draught and all.
LaVOY: Well, I know when you live on a ranch, you’re very tied down, but did you have the opportunity to take any interesting trips anyplace?
HARRIMAN: Yes, we went to Alaska with the Freys, and we went to Germany one year for fifteen days.
LaVOY: Well, that was very interesting. Did you go to look at ranches over there?
HARRIMAN: No, no. We were with the Knight Templars of the whole United States, and we went with them. There was some from each state, and I think there were one group from California, and that was all.
LaVOY: What were your most memorable memories of your trip to Germany?
HARRIMAN: Oh, I just liked the whole of it. In Munich and all were enormous big buildings, the banks. They were all in glass.
LaVOY: You didn’t go there, by any chance, for the Oktoberfest, did you?
HARRIMAN: No, we didn’t. We were there in July.
LaVOY: Well that’s very nice that you got a chance to leave this heavy work.
HARRIMAN: Well, we went between crops.
LaVOY: That’s the way most of the rancher’s travel.
HARRIMAN: That’s right!
LaVOY: In between planting and harvesting is when they usually take off.
HARRIMAN: uh-huh.
LaVOY: Well now, you and your husband had moved to the, as you call it, the older area, and then you had twins. Now tell me, what were the names of the twins?
HARRIMAN: Edwin and Richard
LaVOY: Now Edwin-
HARRIMAN: -Passed away
LaVOY: Edwin Roy…
HARRIMAN: Edwin Roy Harriman and Richard Fenn Harriman.
LaVOY: And they too were born in Reno with Dr. Lombardy, the doctor?
HARRIMAN: No, Dr. Bibb. Dr. Lombardy was at war, and Dr. Bibb was taking over. Dr. Lombardy had that virus or something that he got from some shots that they took, so he hadn’t come back yet.
LaVOY: So, they were born when?
HARRIMAN: On August 5, 1945.
LaVOY: At Washoe med? Well, that must have been a handful having twins come home.
HARRIMAN: No, it wasn’t. I mean I just- (laughing) You just took it in your stride. That’s all.
LaVOY: Was your mother-in-law available to help you with them?
HARRIMAN: No, she had arthritis very bad, and her hands and all were crippled like mine are now, but hers were earlier.
LaVOY: So you had three little boys.
HARRIMAN: The oldest one was about four years old, so he was getting up to where he wasn’t so much of a handful.
LaVOY: Well, I’ve always admired anyone that could survive twins. I think that took a lot of doing.
HARRIMAN: I put one on this side and one over here, and I put their bottles in like that, and then I’d take one up and burp him (laughs).
LaVOY: And then the other one?
HARRIMAN: Uh-huh
LaVOY: Did you ever have any fear that your husband would be drafted for World War II?
HARRIMAN: No, because being in agriculture and all, he got a deferment from that.
LaVOY: Well, I know they felt agriculture was so important.
HARRIMAN: Mm-hmm. He would have liked, I think, to have gone. I mean, he wouldn’t have fought any of it, to get out of it because Raymond Bass went.
LaVOY: And your neighbor, George Frey, went, too.
HARRIMAN: Um-hum.
LaVOY: But probably… Was he the only son of his father?
HARRIMAN: Yes.
LaVOY: That is the reason.
HARRIMAN: But Raymond was the only boy.
LaVOY: Well, I don’t know how the mechanics went at that time, but I know usually if you were the only living son you did not have to go.
HARRIMAN: Yeah, but a lot of Earl’s friends went. Yes, I sent George [Frey] Candy and cookies.
LaVOY: Well that was very kind of you. You were a good person.
HARRIMAN: (Laughs) Well, George had always been real close to us.
LaVOY: With the war going on, and you had rationing how did that affect the ranching? It didn’t bother you at all?
HARRIMAN: No, we used Karo. We got a sack of sugar ever so often, so it didn’t seem to bother us.
LaVOY: It must have been hard getting workers, though, for the harvest season at that point in time.
HARRIMAN: Sometimes it was. We were one of the first to get the hay chopper in.
LaVOY: About what year was that, roughly?
HARRIMAN: Oh, it was about 1941.
LaVOY: This was before your children were born?
HARRIMAN: No, that was after.
LaVOY: After the twins were born?
HARRIMAN: No, after Earl was born. He and Raymond Bass went down to California to look it over. Then Charlie Frey got one too about the same time.
LaVOY: In other words, you were about the first ones in the area to have the choppers. Now, with the war coming to an end, and things changed so much in this country, what were the noticeable difference that you found in ranch life?
HARRIMAN: There hasn’t been a great deal to me. I mean, we seemed about the same, because Earl didn’t go to war.
LaVOY: How long did Earl’s father and mother continue to live after the twins were born?
HARRIMAN: Grandpa died in 1969 and Grandma in 1975.
LaVOY: And then your husband took over?
HARRIMAN: Yeah, well, Earl had had to take over because grandad had cancer, and he had kind of just taken over beforehand. Then Richard was married and lived there, so he knew enough to work right with his dad.
LaVOY: Well now, your boys, all three of them worked on the ranch?
HARRIMAN: In the summertime Earl did, and then also Earl and Penny lived in Reno, so he worked for the Highway [Department]. He came back and helped, though.
LaVOY: And the other two boys were there?
HARRIMAN: Oh, yes. Edwin couldn’t work on the ranch because he had allergies so bad, so he would do other things. He would help me in the house and things. Richard was very good with his dad.
LaVOY: So, basically, he’s the one that helped the father.
HARRIMAN: Oh, yes.
LaVOY: More than the other two did because of the circumstances.
HARRIMAN: Uh-huh. Then when Earl graduated from the University, he got a job immediately with General Electric, and he went back east.
LaVOY: Is he still living in the east?
HARRIMAN: Uh-huh. He still is.
LaVOY: And what was he doing with general electric?
HARRIMAN: He’s a mechanical engineer. They run big gas turbines.
LaVOY: With General Electric in what part of the east?
HARRIMAN: He’s in Greenville, South Carolina now.
LaVOY: So, actually, after his high school years he had very little to do with the ranch?
HARRIMAN: Well, he would come back and drive truck and things like that for ensilage. There was a lot of things he would do. He liked to ranch.
LaVOY: This is while he was attending University?
HARRIMAN: Um-hum
LaVOY: Now, he went to the University of Nevada?
HARRIMAN: Yes.
LaVOY: And, when did he marry?
HARRIMAN: I think it was 1960 something when he and Penny were married.
LaVOY: Penny who?
HARRIMAN: Penny McCollum, and her mother was a Sparks teacher at the Home Arts Center in Sparks.
LaVOY: Oh, I see, and then right after they were married, he moved east?
HARRIMAN: No, they were married and then they went to school for a year up there, and they rented a little apartment, then the next year they went.
LaVOY: Did they go back to school for him to get a masters?
HARRIMAN: No, he just got a job with General Electric.
LaVOY: I see. Well, why did they go back to school for an extra year?
HARRIMAN: Well, he hadn’t graduated yet. They were married while they were still in school.
LaVOY: Oh, I see. So, then, he went back and graduated and then got his job about 1964 or 5?
HARRIMAN: 1964 or 5. Along in there.
LaVOY: Alright, then, with him leaving that left your other two sons. One could not work out on the ranch because of allergies, so he helped you, and then what else did he do?
HARRIMAN: Oh, he always mowed the lawn and things like that.
LaVOY: General work around the place.
HARRIMAN: Uh-huh.
LaVOY: Now, did he ever marry?
HARRIMAN: Never married. He lived in San Francisco and worked for a doctor there, a bookkeeper and all, and I don’t know just what happened, but I think his high blood pressure and everything – he’d always had a lot of that. They just found him in his car one day dead.
LaVOY: Oh now tragic! And when was that?
HARRIMAN: That was 1968. …Has he been dead that long, I don’t know…
LaVOY: Approximately 1968… So that just left Richard to take over the ranch.
HARRIMAN: Yes.
LaVOY: So he helped your husband, then?
HARRIMAN: Oh, yes.
LaVOY: And when did he marry?
HARRIMAN: He married in 19… Gee, I can’t think of it (laughs) isn’t it just awful to forget your children? (Laughs)
LaVOY: No, not at all, it’s very normal. Did he attend the university?
HARRIMAN: He did for a year, and then when his granddad started not feeling to good, and he offered him a chance to take over his place.
LaVOY: And that’s the-?
HARRIMAN: Grandad Harriman. So he did, and then he and Caroline were married.
LaVOY: And who did he marry?
HARRIMAN: Caroline hill. Her mother is Ludie Hill.
LaVOY: Was she from this area?
HARRIMAN: Mm-hmm Well, they were from California. But then, I mean she - Ludie worked here out at the base after her father died.
LaVOY: And they were married, and she moved out on the ranch in the old – by the old I would say, it would be in the grandparents’ home.
HARRIMAN: Well, she lived in the old house, and when Grandma finally had to go to the rest home, why then they moved into her house. Granddad told him that was his house.
LaVOY: And has he enjoyed taking over the ranch and whatnot?
HARRIMAN: I think he has. He’s on the TCID board.
LaVOY: Your husband was on the TCID board for many years, wasn’t he?
HARRIMAN: He was for four… for eight years, I think it was.
LaVOY: Your husband became ill?
HARRIMAN: Yes, he was for two years. He had a stroke before and then...
LaVOY: When did he pass away?
HARRIMAN: 1992.
LaVOY: Two years ago.
HARRIMAN: On August 31
LaVOY: In 1992. Now, you and he had a long life together on the ranch. Tell me what were some of the organizations that the two of you belonged to?
HARRIMAN: He was very much with the Masons. He went all through the chairs and all that, and I was with the Eastern Star and the CowBelles. I was president of the PTA.
LaVOY: Now, the CowBelles is such an interesting organization. Do you still belong to the Cowbelles?
HARRIMAN: Yes. I don’t go, but I do belong to them. I was a charter member.
LaVOY: Oh! That’s interesting. I’d like to know what your reaction is to the idea that with our modern women they wanted to change the name of the CowBelles?
HARRIMAN: I didn’t like it (laughs)
LaVOY: I can understand that very much. Did they eventually change it?
HARRIMAN: Yes.
LaVOY: And what is it called now?
HARRIMAN: Cattlewomen.
LaVOY: That’s not as…
HARRIMAN: Not as good as the CowBelles! (laughs)
LaVOY: No, no. There have been so many changes with women’s attitudes on things… organizations, and I don’t know whether it’s good or bad. What’s your feeling on it?
HARRIMAN: I don’t think so. I think why don’t we stick with the old? The modern ones can do what they want with it, but not to change the name!
LaVOY: No. Now, I understand that you are doing for children or relatives of people that belong to the CowBelles or the cattlewomen, whatever you care to call them, and the service they are doing dinner for receptions and things like that.
HARRIMAN: Well, we have put that on for different times when I was active, but I can’t do it now. And then there are a lot of young girls, let them do it! (laughs)
LaVOY: I don’t think they’re as good coming forward and volunteering as people your age were.
HARRIMAN: Probably not.
LaVOY: How, what are some of the other organizations that you…
HARRIMAN: Eastern Star and Rebekahs.
LaVOY: Are you still a member of Rebekah?
HARRIMAN: Mm-hmm
LaVOY: Oh, that’s great! Now that you’re by yourself, tell me how you spend your days.
HARRIMAN: Well, that is a problem. I get lonesome.
LaVOY: That’s understandable
HARRIMAN: I read a lot. I watch television. I can’t clean my house anymore, so I have someone come in and do it.
LaVOY: Because of your rheumatic…
HARRIMAN: Yeah, Mm-hmm. Well, the vacuum cleaner’s too hard for me to handle.
LaVOY: But you are still enjoying living out in the country?
HARRIMAN: Oh, yes! I wouldn’t move. (laughs)
LaVOY: Now, you’ve lived in the Northam District for fifty-four years?
HARRIMAN: Mm-hmm.
LaVOY: That’s a long time.
HARRIMAN: Mm-hmm (laughs)
LaVOY: Tell me, with all the changes that you have seen in the Fallon area, which one do you think has affected you the most.
HARRIMAN: I don’t like the way it’s growing. People tell me - My hairdresser tells me - I’m not being modern, I’m not keeping up with times, but I don’t like the way it’s growing. But I guess we have to accept it.
LaVOY: Now, when the base came in, did you have any feelings about the base?
HARRIMAN: No, no. I figured that they were down there, and they didn’t bother me at all.
LaVOY: But also that’s brought in a lot of people.
HARRIMAN: Oh, it has. It’s brought in a lot of people.
LaVOY: And then mining activity has picked up and has brought in a lot of people.
HARRIMAN: Well, what I don’t like is Mr. [Senator Harry] Reid and all his taking our water and stuff like that.
LaVOY: What are your real feelings on this water? How do you think it should be settled?
HARRIMAN: Well, my son is on the board, so I shouldn’t, but I feel we should be able to keep our water for our land. We have that here, we’ve got it, you know, and we’ve got to keep it going.
LaVOY: Have you had to give up water now?
HARRIMAN: Well, they come up and they tell us that we can’t water this because that wasn’t down on the grant. Well, we had to prove that we did have it.
LaVOY: And that isn’t even accepted, is it?
HARRIMAN: No.
LaVOY: I wonder how your great-great grandfather on your husband’s side would have reacted to this.
HARRIMAN: Oh, I’m sure he would have been really irate about it.
LaVOY: Do you think that there will be a settlement that will be fair to the ranchers?
HARRIMAN: No.
LaVOY: What do you think will happen to the water?
HARRIMAN: I have no idea, for sure. If they give any more to the Indians over there (laughs) I can’t see why we should keep the Indians when they are able to get out and work like the rest of us. Here we give them a pension all the time, and why should we have to do that when they are capable of getting out and working? Let them keep their culture and all. But then, I mean…
LaVOY: Well, what do you think about the fish that our water is supposedly going for?
HARRIMAN: You mean that for those cui-ui? I can remember when Charlie Ferguson came over, and Uncle Charlie Frisk was still living, they went over there, and they picked a whole gunny sack full of cui-ui out of the river and brought them back and they filleted them. And, now, they weren’t making any fuss about them then!
LaVOY: No, I think it’s just a buzz word, really.
HARRIMAN: It is! It is an excuse.
LaVOY: Do you think that it is really the Indians, or do you think that it’s cities farther up the river that are growing so fast that need our water?
HARRIMAN: I think that the Indians will sell their water to Reno if they get it, and I’m hoping that they’ll flood out this year (laughs) isn’t that awful?
LaVOY: (laughs) Well, the water problem is really very tragic, and with our having to import food.
HARRIMAN: That’s it, but we have to keep our fields wet. Keep those so that we can grow our alfalfa and stuff so we can produce cattle.
LaVOY: No one really seems to be thinking too much about the farmer.
HARRIMAN: They aren’t.
LaVOY: You wonder where it’s all going to end.
HARRIMAN: That’s right.
LaVOY: Well, Virginia, on behalf of the Churchill County Museum oral history project, I want to thank you for all the interesting information, and we do appreciate it!
HARRIMAN: You’re welcome!

Marian Hennen LaVoy

Virginia Jones Harriman

4325 Schurz Highway, Fallon, Nevada