Margarite Osgood Oral History

Dublin Core

Title

Margarite Osgood Oral History

Description

Margarite Osgood Oral History

Creator

Churchill County Museum Association

Publisher

Churchill County Museum Association

Date

April 29, 1992

Format

Analog Cassette Tape, .docx file, Mp3 Audio

Language

English

Oral History Item Type Metadata

Original Format

Audio Cassette

Duration

1:00:26

Transcription

CHURCHILL COUNTY MUSEUM & ARCHIVES

ORAL HISTORY PROJECT

an interview with

MARGARITE OSGOOD

April 29, 1992

This interview was conducted by Marianne Papa; transcribed by Glenda Price; edited by Norma Morgan; final typed by Pat Boden; index by Gracie Viera; supervised by Myrl Nygren, Director of Oral History Project/Assistant Curator Churchill County Museum.

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.

INTERVIEW WITH MARGARITE OSGOOD

PAPA:   This is Marianne Papa with the Churchill County Museum Oral History Project. Today is April 29, 1992. It's approximately 1:30 and we're in the living room of Margarite Osgood's home at 205 St. Clair Road in Fallon.                Margarite, would you tell me your father's name and where he was born?

OSGOOD: His name was Joseph deBraga and he was born in the Azores Islands. He came to this country when he was sixteen years old.

PAPA:   Do you know anything about the story of his coming over?

OSGOOD: No, I don't. He came to the Maestretti Ranch in Austin.

PAPA:   Did he come directly from Portugal?

OSGOOD: Yes, the Azores to Austin. He was only sixteen years old and he couldn't read or write a word of English.

PAPA:   Could he read or write Portuguese?

OSGOOD: Yes.

PAPA:   And what made him come over to the United States?

OSGOOD: They were starting a war and he didn't want to be drafted into the war.

PAPA:   Did he have any relatives here in the United States?

OSGOOD: He had one sister but he didn't know where she was. His father was a fisherman and he died out at sea.

PAPA:   And what was his name?

OSGOOD: It was Joseph, I guess. We don't know. That's our problem. But his mother, they said, was one case where she died of a broken heart. She would not leave the shore. She just kept looking out across the water knowing that he was coming back. Well, he didn't, so another family took [young Joseph] him in.

PAPA:   There was a sister that he had?

OSGOOD: Yes.

PAPA:   Do you know her name?

OSGOOD: Amelia wasn't it? Yes, and she came to this country before Dad did. But he lost all track of her. My son has tried to find her, you know, find some connections. It's pretty hard.

PAPA:   Was he the next oldest in his family?

OSGOOD: I think there was only two of them.

PAPA:   What did he do when he arrived in Austin?

OSGOOD: He worked for the Maestretti Ranch as a sheepherder and he was also later on interested in mining and worked in the mines.

PAPA:   Did he learn English at that time?

OSGOOD: Oh, yes.

PAPA:   And did he go on to school?

OSGOOD: No.

PAPA:   Just learned English from the people around him?

OSGOOD: Just learned from the family, and, later on from when he had us. (laughing)

PAPA:   So he's living in Austin and working at the Maestretti Ranch. Do you remember any stories that he told of when he was working?

OSGOOD: No, I don't remember.

PAPA:   What's your mother's name?

OSGOOD: Margaret Ellen Kennedy.

PAPA:   Where was she born?

OSGOOD: Austin.

PAPA:   Did she grow up in Austin?

OSGOOD: Yes.

PAPA:   Do you remember any stories from her childhood?

OSGOOD: (laughing) Probably a lot. (laughing) No, I really don't. She worked in the restaurant. That's where she met Dad.

PAPA:   What was the name of the restaurant?

OSGOOD: Probably more of a boarding house, but I don't know.

PAPA:   Did you hear any stories on how they met or how he courted her?

OSGOOD: No, but I bet it was interesting.             (laughing) I don't know. We didn't ever hear.

PAPA:   They married and what is the name of their oldest child?

OSGOOD: They had two that died at birth. Joseph and Annie.

PAPA:   Who was the next child?

OSGOOD: That would be Katherine Lorraine.

PAPA:   She was born in Austin?

OSGOOD: Yes.

PAPA:   And here you have May 29, 1904. Then who was next?

OSGOOD: Frank.

PAPA:   Your brother, Frank [Francis] Thomas?

OSGOOD: Yes.

PAPA:   And he was born November 6, 1906. You have written down here "Union Canyon". Where is that?

OSGOOD: Well, it's a little place out of Austin. It's more or less a mining town.

PAPA:   [tape cuts] Now Union Canyon, is that where the Ichthyosaur [Park] is?

OSGOOD: I thought it was out more where Dad's mine was.

PAPA:   So, Dad's mine was on the way out to Union Canyon?

OSGOOD: Yes, I guess.

PAPA:   Were you the next one born?

OSGOOD: Yes.

PAPA:   And that was June 5, 1909, and were you born in Austin?

OSGOOD: Yes. In fact, I was born during the big fire that took the whole main street of Austin.

PAPA:   Oh, really!

OSGOOD: Yes. In fact, Dad said that it was the door next to where Mama was giving birth to me. He said, "You started ordering me then and you still have." (laughing)

PAPA:   (laughing) What did your family do after the fire? Was your home destroyed?

OSGOOD: No, no. It didn't reach the homes. It took most of the main street in Austin. They were miners. Dad was a miner.

PAPA:   Your next sister was Amelia Agnes and she was born September 30, 1912, also in the same home?

OSGOOD: I think so, yes, the same… [tape cuts]

PAPA:   Which is the next sister after Amelia?

OSGOOD: Cecilia Bernardina.

PAPA:   She was born October, 1914. Was she born in Austin?

OSGOOD: Ione, I think.

PAPA:   And what about John Joseph?

OSGOOD: John was born in Stillwater.

PAPA:   And that was July 26, 1916. Was there another child?

OSGOOD: Yes, Manuel Charles.

PAPA:   What do you remember of your childhood in living in Austin?

OSGOOD: We had a lot of fun. The water used to come down the big slough so we had a lot of ice skating.

PAPA:   It froze over in the winter?

OSGOOD: Yes, it was cold! So we did a lot of ice skating and of course we had our sleds. So we did a lot of that.

PAPA:   How big of a town was Austin in those days?

OSGOOD: I don't know. It wasn't very big. Just one little store and I guess we had a school. But that's about all.

PAPA:   And your dad was working as a miner at that time?

 OSGOOD: Yes.

PAPA:   What brought him to Churchill County?

OSGOOD: He heard about the farms down here. Some of our neighbors had left and moved to Fallon. So, of course, they wanted him to come too and buy a farm and he did.

PAPA:   What year did he move the family out here?

OSGOOD: 14 wasn’t it…? 1917.

PAPA:   How did he make the move?

OSGOOD: We came in a little old rattly-trapped Ford car. (laughing)

PAPA:   A Ford, huh? (laughing) All those kids?

OSGOOD: (laughing) All those kids. It was exciting. (laughing)

PAPA:   (laughing) Did he know anybody in Fallon?

OSGOOD: Yes. He knew the Ascagortas.

PAPA:   Where did he and your family live when you first got here?

OSGOOD: At Stillwater. We bought the little ranch there.

PAPA:   What made him select the ranch that he did?

OSGOOD: I don't know. I guess it was one he could afford, apparently. (laughing) There were a lot of Portuguese people in Stillwater at that time and, of course, that's where he wanted to be and I guess that was mainly it. 'Cause we did have some wonderful friends.

PAPA:   How old were you then in 1917?

OSGOOD: I was nine, I think.

PAPA:   Do you remember the trip?

OSGOOD: Oh, yes. (laughing) It took forever and ever. (laughing)

PAPA:   Did you make it in one day?

OSGOOD: No, I think it took two days.

PAPA:   Okay, because that’s 112 miles.

OSGOOD: I know it was pretty tiring, that many in one car.

PAPA:   When you got here did you move into the house immediately?

OSGOOD: No, not the house that's there now. It was a little old shack. Of course we lived there until Dad could build.

PAPA:   Could you describe it? How many rooms there were.

OSGOOD: Oh, gee, I don't know. Maybe not more than three. I don't really remember.

PAPA:   And that's where the family grew up then?

OSGOOD: No, we finally moved and Dad built a good three-bedroom home.

PAPA:   When did he build the three-bedroom home? It was in 1922 that he built the home?

OSGOOD: Yes.

PAPA:   When they built a home in those days, did he do the actual building or did he have it built?

OSGOOD: I think Peggy's dad and different neighbors and my dad built it. They didn't have what we know as carpenters.

PAPA:   And what's Peggy's dad's name?

OSGOOD: Tex Reynolds.

PAPA:   And who else helped him? Anybody else?

OSGOOD: I don't know--neighbors.

PAPA:   Was he working the ranch from the time he got here until 1917 through 1922. Did he have the ranch in crops or did you have livestock?

OSGOOD: We had a dairy and then he did work for other farms.

PAPA:   How many cows did you have?

OSGOOD: I don't really know. What we did, we sold milk. They used to come around.

PAPA:   And who did the milking?

OSGOOD: Frank. (laughing) I guess we helped, and Dad .

PAPA:   When you say "Frank", do you mean your brother?

OSGOOD: Yes.

PAPA:   What schools did you go to?

OSGOOD: Well, we went to the Stillwater School and at that time it was in the town of Stillwater. It was in the old courthouse building.

PAPA:   How many classrooms were in this school?

OSGOOD: I think there was two, three. Betty Weishaupt said we went upstairs to go to school, but I don't remember that. And then, finally, they built the school in Stillwater.

PAPA:   What grade did you start to school here?

OSGOOD: I was nine, so I must have been about the second or third.

PAPA:   Do you remember what it was like attending classes? Did you have to walk there?

OSGOOD: Yes, I remember that it was about a mile and a half to get down to where the school was.

PAPA:   How did you get there?

OSGOOD: Walked.

PAPA:   How did you get your nickname, "Hike"?

OSGOOD: Because there was cows in between and I was always afraid of those. At the canal bridge down right out of Stillwater there was a lady that used to bring her children in the buggy and I knew if I. got down to that one certain point (laughing) she would give me a ride on through. So I went. (laughing)

PAPA:   So you hitchhiked. (laughing)

OSGOOD: And then my brothers started hollering, "Hike along there, hike along there."  (laughing)

PAPA:   (laughing) So what was her name?

OSGOOD: Mrs. Frey. She was Charlie, Joe, and… who else’s mother.

PAPA: George’s mother?

OSGOOD: Yeah. Well, of course, George was a baby.

PAPA:   Any other memories of grammar school?

OSGOOD: No.

PAPA:   Did you like moving into the bigger three-bedroom house?

OSGOOD: Oh, yes!

PAPA:   What were your chores or responsibilities around the house when you were growing up?

OSGOOD: Of course, we had to help Mama with the cooking and the dishes and then we also had to wash the separator because in those days you separated all the milk before it was taken into town. That was our job to keep the separator clean.

PAPA:   Did you have running water in the house?

OSGOOD: No, just outside the door.

PAPA:   So you had a well? In order to heat the water, did you have to put it on the stove?

OSGOOD: Yes.

PAPA:   Did you do anything special to disinfect it?

OSGOOD: I don't think so.

PAPA:   Just used soapy water?

OSGOOD: Yes.

PAPA:   No bleach or anything like that?

OSGOOD: I don't remember anything if Mama did. I don't think so though.

PAPA:   Did you girls have to help with the cleaning responsibilities?

OSGOOD: Oh, yes.

PAPA:   But you didn't milk the cows, or...?

OSGOOD: Yes.

PAPA:   Oh, you did that also?

OSGOOD: We did, too. We had to. We were responsible for the separating.

PAPA:   And how did you do that?

OSGOOD: You had to carry it into the separator house and put it in this great big separator that you turned by hand.

PAPA:   Was it like a crank?

OSGOOD: Yes.

PAPA:   And that was a separate building--separator house? It wasn't part of the barn or…

OSGOOD: No, it was off.

PAPA:   And you separated the cream?

OSGOOD: Yes, we separated the cream and the milk and then we had to carry it down to the corner so that they could pick it up

PAPA:   Did you have any type of refrigeration or means of keeping it cool??

OSGOOD: No, we didn't. We took it as soon as it was separated and the only refrigeration we had for the house was the homemade.

PAPA:   How do you mean homemade refrigeration?

OSGOOD: They were little boxes made of screen usually with sacks over them and then you had your pan of water that was on top of the refrigerator (laughing) and dripping down over the sides and it was really nice.

PAPA:   And it kept it cool?

OSGOOD: Oh, yes, it kept your milk fresh and everything.

PAPA:   Did you make any butter or did you just separate the cream?

OSGOOD: No, we made butter.

PAPA:   How did you do that?

OSGOOD: We just had a hand churn. We had a lot of cream.

PAPA:   And did you make the butter just for your family or did you sell that too?

OSGOOD: No, just for us.

PAPA:   Did you grow any alfalfa?

OSGOOD: Yes, they had alfalfa and they had wheat. We didn't have much because we only owned eighty acres. The alfalfa was mostly for the cows' feed.

PAPA:   So you didn't usually sell it to others?

OSGOOD: No, and we had our own chickens and turkeys, so we didn't sell much.

PAPA:   You had a family garden?

OSGOOD: Oh, yes. (laughing) That was the main thing--those watermelons. (laughing)

PAPA:   (laughing) Did you help your mother with the canning?

OSGOOD: We really didn't can.

PAPA:   How did you preserve the food for the winter?

OSGOOD: I don't know. Of course we had our fruit cellar that we had our potatoes and carrots and turnips and that type of thing. But as far as fresh tomatoes and things, we never had.

PAPA:   Did you have any fruit trees?

OSGOOD: No.

PAPA:   Do you remember what it was like going to high school? Where did you go to high school?

OSGOOD: Yes, I went to the second grade two years. I have two eighth grade diplomas because the Osgoods were going into school. You didn't have buses in those days but Paul Osgood was working at the Standard Oil and when Kemma graduated he [Paul] would take us into school.

PAPA:   Was that your neighbor?

OSGOOD: Yes, that was the Osgoods.

PAPA:   And who were the parents?

OSGOOD: E.P. Osgood was the father of Paul.

PAPA:   What was the mother's name?

OSGOOD: Elizabeth.

PAPA:   Who was the oldest of their children?

OSGOOD: Henry, I guess.

PAPA:   And then the other children?

OSGOOD: Henry and Paul and Kemma and Edwin [Kewpie] and Evelyn.

PAPA:   So they were neighbors and when they went in you went in.

OSGOOD: Yes. We’d go- Paul had to be to work at eight o'clock in the morning so we went in this old rabblely, tabblely Ford, you know, with the floppy windows, your feet freezing. (laughing) But, we went and then we had to sit on the high school steps until school opened and then, also, at night we had to sit on the, well, we called it the Toggery--I don't know what it is now--there on the corner.

PAPA:   The Toggery? That was a clothing store?

OSGOOD: Yes. But, 'course when we were out of school we had to wait until six o'clock to come home with Paul.

PAPA:   You went to the eighth grade for the first time at Stillwater and then the second time was at the high school. Did you take different classes?

OSGOOD: No, just the regular ones. We took home ec, 'course geometry, (laughing) algebra.        I guess just the regular courses.

PAPA:   How many kids were going to the school at that time? Was it a large school?

OSGOOD: No, nothing like it is now. I wouldn't even know.

PAPA:   But they had eighth through twelfth grade?

OSGOOD: No, it'd only be the four grades.

PAPA:   Ninth through twelfth grade.

OSGOOD: Like it is now.

PAPA:   Were there extra-curricular activities, like did they have sports and dances and things like that?

OSGOOD: Yes, I belonged to the basketball team and they had dances and they had their assemblies.

PAPA:   When you played basketball, what were your uniforms like or did you have uniforms?

OSGOOD: Yeah, we had old baggy bloomers. (laughing)

PAPA:   (laughing) What color were they? (laughing)

OSGOOD: I believe they were either black or blue. (laughing)

PAPA:   How often did you practice?

OSGOOD: We practiced every night after school. We didn't have many games. We weren't on the first squad. That was Sally Downs and that bunch of girls.

PAPA:   Did you play other schools where you had to travel to the other schools?

OSGOOD: No, they did but we didn't. I think we were mostly just to give them practice.

PAPA:   Oh. (laughing) So you played against the first string?

OSGOOD: Yes.

PAPA:   Did they have like orchestra or choir or any of those classes available?

OSGOOD: Yes, you could belong to the choir. 'Course never the orchestra.

PAPA:   Was there an orchestra?

OSGOOD: I think so. They called it band, I believe. We sang in the choir, I remember that.

PAPA:   Did you normally go to church with your family when you were growing up?

OSGOOD: No, Mama was very devout but of course down in Stillwater without a car you didn't do those things.

PAPA:   So your family didn't have a car even then.

OSGOOD: No, oh, no.

PAPA:   How did you meet your husband?

OSGOOD: Well, he was the boy next door (laughing) and his sister was my best friend and so it just naturally

PAPA:   What was it like to be courted in those days?

OSGOOD: Kind of hectic. (laughing) In fact, he often told me that he waited years for me to grow up and he wasn't sure that he'd waited long enough. (laughing) But it was fun.

PAPA:   Did kids in those days go out on individual things or was it more group activities?

OSGOOD: No, you usually went as couples. 'Course I was never allowed to go without my brother, Frank, So that's how it happened. You went that way mostly.

PAPA:   So did his sister join you, too?

OSGOOD: No, Goldie deBraga--he married Goldie--and she always went with us.

PAPA:   So, you and your husband and Frank and Goldie.

OSGOOD: And, oh, sometimes Goldie's brother.

PAPA:   And what did you do out on a date? Were there movies to go to?

OSGOOD: Yes, and there were dances. There were a lot of country dances. All the little schools had these country dances and they were really nice. They weren't big like they had up at the Fraternal Hall, but they were just a nice group.

PAPA:   So it wasn't just a high school group. It was all ages could go dancing.

OSGOOD: And different ones in the communities that didn't go to high school. We had a lot of nice dances at the Harmon School.

PAPA:   When you had the dances, what kind of music and was it a piano player or was it a radio? What type of music did people dance to?

OSGOOD: It's mostly just accordion and piano and violin. I think it was just different groups that played.

PAPA:   That was live music. And the musicians lived in the Fallon area?

OSGOOD: I guess so. I think they were all local.

PAPA:   When did you get married?

OSGOOD: February 14, 1931.

PAPA:   So you had been out of high school?

OSGOOD: Yes.

PAPA:   What did you do after you graduated?

OSGOOD: Well, I don't know.

PAPA:   Worked around the home ranch?

OSGOOD: I guess. I cooked for the neighbor, I know, Mr. Kolstrup. I cooked for him during the summer.

PAPA:   What year did you graduate?

OSGOOD: 1929.

PAPA:   Okay, so you graduated in 1929, then got married in 1931. What was your wedding like?

OSGOOD: It was very simple. We had bought a little ranch and we had it at that home. So it was just the Osgoods and my folks.

PAPA:   What was the address at that ranch, or the location?

OSGOOD: Well, it's where Ted and Lois live now. [2300 Swope Lane] It was just up the canal from where we lived.

PAPA:   Okay, we can look up the address. Did you have a church wedding?

OSGOOD: Oh, no. Just a- [end of side A]

PAPA:   Okay, I was asking you about your wedding. Where did you get married?

OSGOOD: We got married in the home that we were to have. And it was just the Osgood family and my family. A Reverend Sorensen- Sorensen? No, that’s not it. Some such name [Philip Soderstrom] married us. He came to the house.

PAPA:   He was a minister?

OSGOOD: Yes. From the Episcopal Church.

PAPA:   What was your dress like?

OSGOOD: It was rose colored chiffon.

PAPA:   Had you made it, or did you buy it?

OSGOOD: No, I had bought it

PAPA:   At a local store, or did they have catalogs in those days?

OSGOOD: Catalogs. In fact, I still have my dress.

PAPA:   Did you have any bridesmaids?

OSGOOD: No, just my sister.

PAPA:   So, one bridesmaid.

OSGOOD: She stood up with us and then Henry's brother.

PAPA:   What was your sister's name and the best man's name?

OSGOOD: Amelia was my sister and I guess it was Paul stood up with us, I guess, or else Leslie Kolstrup. I know they're both on our marriage certificate.

PAPA:   Did she have a special dress or buy a new dress for the wedding?

OSGOOD: No, I don't think so.

PAPA:   Did they have a special wedding cake like they do nowadays?

OSGOOD: Oh, yes, and Grandpa Osgood had phoned to the radio station for them to play our wedding march.

PAPA:   Oh, so your wedding march was on the radio. (laughing)

OSGOOD: No. (laughing) In the meantime, Peggy's brother was born and that was my duty to go down and stay with her for a week or two, so I missed my original wedding date when the music was being played. So then when we tried to get it on the fourteenth we couldn't.

PAPA:   You got married February 14, Valentine's Day?

OSGOOD: Mm huh.

PAPA:   Did you get married because it was Valentine's Day?

OSGOOD: Well, I suppose so.

PAPA:   Or was that just the time available after your first time?

OSGOOD: No, Henry was very romantic and I guess that's what he picked.

PAPA:   Did you go on a honeymoon?

OSGOOD: Yes, we went to Truckee and we learned to ski. (laughing)

PAPA:   Oh? (laughing)

OSGOOD: Fell down most of the time. We were up there a week. Of course, we fell down more than we skiied, but (laughing) it was fun.

PAPA:   This would have been in 1931 when the nation was in economic hard times. How did that affect you as a newlywed couple. Did you feel optimistic?

OSGOOD: Well, I guess you just never thought. You know they were having a hard time on the ranch making payments and all that but you just did it. That's all. I don't know, I think the kids nowadays they panic too easily, but I don't remember ever…

PAPA:   You weren't worried when you bought your ranch, making ends meet?

OSGOOD: Oh no, I didn't have any doubts but what we'd make it. Heavens!

PAPA:   You knew it'd be hard work.

OSGOOD: Oh, it was. It was hard work. It was a lot of work. I raised chickens. I used to raise two batches. Two hundred at a time and we had the eggs. We sold the eggs. They came around and got them so every night you had thirty dozen eggs to wash and clean and grade.

PAPA:   Thirty dozen!

OSGOOD: Yes, thirty dozen.

PAPA:   How many hens did you have to have to get thirty dozen eggs?

OSGOOD: We had six and seven hundred. And then in the fall we raised the meat chickens and Goldie always came over and helped us butcher them out. We'd butcher those out and then we went to Hawthorne and all around Fallon. Had a good business.

PAPA:   When you butchered them how did they kill the chickens in those days?

OSGOOD: You just hung them up and stuck them up through the mouth and then the boys roughed them, took all the big feathers out and then we had to pin them, take all the pins off.

PAPA:   Were there any special techniques to get the big feathers out or to get the small feathers out?

OSGOOD: Oh, yes. You had to know what you were doing, but they knew. They'd done a lot of them.

PAPA:   How did they do it?

OSGOOD: Well, they just started from the top and went zooop. (laughing)

PAPA:   And just pulled them out?

OSGOOD: Yeah, they just came out. And when you knew what you were doing in the, you know, the right time that the chicken was relaxed they came out easily.

PAPA:   And how did you get all those pin feathers out? Wasn't that harder?

OSGOOD: You bet it was. You took the pliers and the tweezers and everything else. But as a rule they weren't too pinny

PAPA:   How did you keep them refrigerated or safe for transportation to Hawthorne and other areas?

OSGOOD: We had the cellar down underground that was real cool and we hung them there overnight and then started out early in the morning. We had our markets so it wasn't like you had to go peddling. You just took them to different stores.

PAPA:   What kind of vehicle did you travel in?

OSGOOD: I guess it was an old Ford. I don't remember. (laughing)

PAPA:   Did you and Goldie actually do the traveling or did the men come with you?

OSGOOD: Oh, no. Henry and I took the chickens. Goldie helped us with them and Frank helped us.

PAPA:   Would you be gone just for the day?

OSGOOD: Yes.

PAPA:   Hawthorne's about sixty some miles.

OSGOOD: Yeah, we'd go. We'd start out early in the morning and we'd come back that evening. We had certain markets after we were established that we sold to. Oh, gosh, what was the big hotel?

PAPA:   In Hawthorne?

OSGOOD: Yeah.

PAPA:   The El Capitan? Or was it different in those days?

OSGOOD: No. It was smaller. It was just one story. But we had a real good market there.

PAPA:   And what else did you do on your ranch for your livelihood?

OSGOOD: We raised sugar beets and of course we had the dairy and I guess that's about all. 'Course Dad worked quite a lot. Then after we were married we had the custom harvesting. Henry built the big harvester and we used to go all over the valley here cutting the grain.

PAPA:   So you and your husband did not have the dairy or raised the sugar beets?

OSGOOD: No.

PAPA:   You did the custom harvesting.

OSGOOD: We just had mostly custom harvesting and then, of course, the haying.

PAPA:   And did you ever do any of that work or did you do the bookkeeping or . . .

OSGOOD: The men liked to eat so everyday I would load up my station wagon with a hot meal and go to where ever they were. They used to tease that we ate under every tree in the valley and I think maybe it was so.        (laughing) But we had fun.

PAPA:   You would get the food hot and bring it out to them hot.

OSGOOD: We had our card table and our chairs and I really enjoyed it because that was one hour where we all sat and talked and the boys laughed and told us funny things that happened. (laughing)

PAPA:   You had two sons?

OSGOOD: Only one son.

PAPA:   What was his name?

OSGOOD: Douglas.

PAPA:   He was born July 6, 1932, and then is Jo Ellen a daughter?

OSGOOD: Yes.

PAPA:   She was born May 12, 1937. So you took both the kids with you when you bring out the lunches?

OSGOOD: Yes, and all Jo Ellen's girls, too. (laughing) They thought that was great.

PAPA:   What was it like being a young mother in those days 'cause you're still in the thirties where the nation's in economically hard times.

OSGOOD: I don't know. (laughing)

PAPA:   You didn't feel disadvantaged or struggling?

OSGOOD: No. 'Course there were a lot of things you couldn't have but then that didn't bother me.

PAPA:   Well, it sounded like your family was optimistic,

buying the harvesting business and the ranch.

OSGOOD: Yes, they were and we made a real good living.

PAPA:   And your family had good health?

OSGOOD: Yes

PAPA:   If somebody became ill, what did they do for doctoring and nursing?

OSGOOD: I think Mama did mostly home remedies. I had pneumonia when I was in high school and the way she treated me was kerosene and it was a kind of hot oil and she just put it on there with flannel and broke it up.                'Course they got worried and they finally took me to the hospital but I was over it. And I think they did those things.

PAPA:   When you had your children did you have them at home also?

OSGOOD: No, we went to the hospital.

PAPA:   Where was the hospital?

OSGOOD: The Moore Hospital. I don't know what they call it now.

PAPA:   Was it located here in Fallon?

OSGOOD: Yes.

PAPA:   Did you have a doctor or a midwife?

OSGOOD: Oh, yes, I had a doctor. Had Dr. [Harry] Sawyer.

PAPA:   Did many people have midwives then?

OSGOOD:            I don't think so. I think they just went to the doctor and then when they were over the birth they went home

as far as I know. I don't know.

PAPA:   Did you see any differences in raising your children compared to when you were growing up?

OSGOOD: No, 'course I raised my children on the ranch and I was raised on the ranch so there really wasn't. They had chores to do and they were busy and it was interesting for them. I didn't notice any difference.

PAPA:   And your family, their ranch was right close to yours. Did you see each other a lot and help each other a lot?

OSGOOD: Oh, yes. Yes, after I was married I was always over to Mama's because she wasn't well. And then, of course, the brothers and sisters, we were always together.

PAPA:   And what did families do for entertainment in those days?

OSGOOD: We played a lot of cards and we went to the country dances.

PAPA:   What kind of card games?

OSGOOD: Five hundred.

PAPA:   Five hundred rummy?

OSGOOD: Yes, mostly.

PAPA:   Did the kids join in or was it just the adults?

OSGOOD: Just the adults and there was always something, though, for the kids to do as I remember.

PAPA: What was the weather like in those days? Was it pretty much the same as now? Right now we're in a drought, so did they have their drought years?

OSGOOD: Oh, yes. The year we were married was the first drought and we didn't have enough water for crops.

PAPA:   And how did they handle that?

OSGOOD: Well, you just waited 'til the next year and made the best of it.

PAPA:   Did that cut down quite a bit on your husband's work then?

OSGOOD: Oh, yes, quite a bit.

PAPA:   When they didn't have the water, did they still plant but maybe only half the fields or did they try to get one crop off everything and maybe not have a second and third crop?

OSGOOD: The alfalfa they could do that but of course there was no grain put in and that was hard on us because of the harvesting. Because that's what we did was grain harvest. So for a couple of years there it was, it made a difference.

PAPA:   But they still kept growing the alfalfa?

OSGOOD: Oh, yes. The alfalfa is a year-round crop. That's for the cattle.

PAPA:   Did you do any other type of work at that time to supplement your income or you just weathered the dry years?

OSGOOD: Well, no, we used to go all around at Christmas time and take turkeys. Most of the farmers had the big turkeys and they had to be ready for market. So Goldie and several of us went and we did that. We made pretty good on that. I guess that was all, I don't know.

PAPA:   When you were a young mother, did you join Homemakers then?

OSGOOD: Yes.

PAPA:   Could you tell us a little bit about that? What you remember about the first club you joined?

OSGOOD: Kemma was married and I wasn't married. I was still in high school when Kemma joined the Stillwater Friendly Club. So, of course, I had to go, too. We enjoyed it and then I don't even know the year it broke up.

PAPA:   What did you normally do at the meetings?

OSGOOD: We did a lot of quilting, I remember. I learned to quilt and we pieced quilts and just a general thing. We made money. I know we helped the 4-H clubs a lot, but I don't know there's anything special. Just the same thing.

PAPA:   Did your children belong to 4-H?

OSGOOD: Oh, yes. Fact is, my daughter has the only first prize steer in Nevada. She was under Harry Bradley at the time and so that was quite a honor. Doug, he was more (laughing) navy. But he did have pigs, but Jo Ellen was the one that had steers. Of course, she took sewing and she won lot of honors in her sewing and she's always enjoyed it.

PAPA:   Did they ever go to Club Congress which was that trip to Chicago?

OSGOOD: Yes, Jo Ellen did. She went there with one of her outfits.

PAPA:   So, she went in sewing rather than the steer.

OSGOOD: No, they didn't take their steers. Just as far as Reno.

PAPA:   Were you members of Farm Bureau at that time?

OSGOOD: Yes. I've always been a member of the Farm Bureau.

PAPA:   Could you tell me a little bit about that organization and your participation in it?

OSGOOD: It was quite different then than it is now.

PAPA:   In what ways?

OSGOOD: I think it was more family oriented. It was more family doings than there is now. That's the way I remember it, because we used to have these big meetings and all the kids would go and exhibit their things and of course we'd always go and help.

PAPA:   Was this the fair or was this the Farm Bureau activity?

OSGOOD: It was an activity. I know one of my boys had bugs. He had cigar boxes after cigar boxes of these bugs.

PAPA:   For an entomology project?

OSGOOD: Yes. Very interesting. (laughing)

PAPA:   When the kids took a project such as that, did they most of the work or did they have a lot of help from their parents or leaders or . . . ?

OSGOOD: No, that was one rule at our house. If Jo Ellen had the steer, Jo Ellen was the one that was out there washing that steer. Dad was out there, but Dad wasn't doing the work. ‘Course, like I said, Doug didn’t. He had pigs one year but that was all. He didn't go for the 4-H. 'Course he went to Annapolis right away out of high school.

PAPA:   Where did your kids go to elementary school?

OSGOOD: In Stillwater but then I don't what year it changed to Harmon. They went one year in Harmon, I think. But, then, of course, on to high school.

PAPA:   When they went to school, did they also have to walk to school or did you have transportation for them?

OSGOOD: When they went to school it was just down in the little Stillwater schoolhouse. By the time they were ready for school the schoolhouse had been built so that's where they went.

PAPA:   How many classrooms were there in the Stillwater School?

OSGOOD: Two. One great big one and then there were two classrooms here. We had the two teachers.

PAPA:   So they still went to small country schools.

OSGOOD: Yes. Oh, there’s Joy, probably wondering “what’s Grandma doin’?” (laughs) You know Marianne.

PAPA:   Right, after they went to school and then on to high school, did you see a lot of differences in when you were young and going to high school compared when they were going to school?

OSGOOD: Yes.

PAPA:   What were some of the differences?

OSGOOD: I don't know. They didn't seem like they were as interested in the individual kid is the only objection I had. And if this child was up and coming it was fine. But I had one little boy that they… the teachers kind of got it in for, you might say, at the first, and we had many battles.

PAPA:   So parents were very involved in school in those days too?

OSGOOD: I don't know. (laughing) I guess so. The parents who took care of the boy was. (laughing) Joy could tell you. She went through high school here. Davey did, too. They know more about it than I do probably. That was a long time ago when I went. (laughing)

PAPA:   Did you go on to any other organizations other than Homemakers and Farm Bureau?

OSGOOD: No, I didn't go on to anything else. [long pause]

PAPA:   When your family was growing and grown you still had your harvesting business all that time?

OSGOOD: Yes, we had the harvesters. Course we didn't have much harvesting. We also did custom leveling and that was a good paying job.

PAPA:   We said that in the early thirties there were drought conditions then, too. How did that change over the years and how did it affect your business?

OSGOOD: Well, as soon as it started getting its water again our business just went on.

PAPA:   And the water came from the Sierras as it does now?

OSGOOD: Yeah, into the [Lahontan] Dam. 'Course they had that first year that we had plenty of water for irrigation it was the same as it used to be.

PAPA:   So then you had a lot of business when the water was good. Did they handle the water allocations the same way that they do now with every farmer taking a percentage?

OSGOOD: Yes, they tried to. I think it was each one, you had your own water right. During the years when water was scarce, of course, you were allotted just like now. But I think it was pretty much the same.

PAPA:   What involvement did your family have in the haylift? Was it the 1949 era?

OSGOOD: Yes. Well, of course, Henry and our son, Douglas, went on the planes. We sold hay.

PAPA:   Where did they take the hay from and where did they take it to and how did they get it there?

OSGOOD: They took it from Fallon, I guess, and then they put it in these big cargo planes and then took it out.

PAPA:   Were the cargo planes from the Navy, the Naval Air Base?

OSGOOD: Yeah, I think so. It has to be.

PAPA:   And your husband and son went along on that?

OSGOOD: Oh, yes, they went on the haylifts.

PAPA:   And your son would have been seventeen years old?

OSGOOD: He was a senior high school. Yes.

PAPA:   Were there any special problems due to his age or did they consider a seventeen-year old a man at that time?

OSGOOD: No, we had to sign papers and papers and papers to be able to allow him to go. And that was one thing he wanted to do was go. So we signed the papers. But, you had, you know, if anything should have happened they weren't responsible which was true.

PAPA:   And then where did they take the hay to?

OSGOOD: Clear on out into the Ione and Austin valleys, I guess. Where the cattle were starving.

PAPA:   How did they distribute the hay? Just drop it from the plane?

OSGOOD: Yes, there was a big hole in the cargo there. They hauled the bales up to this opening and then pushed them on out. It was dangerous.

PAPA:   And that happened just one winter?

OSGOOD: Yes.

PAPA:   But your son wanted to go and be part of the excitement?

OSGOOD: He wanted to go and he went.

PAPA:   How did you feel? Were you worried or did you feel confident?

OSGOOD: No, I started looking at the skies (laughing) soon as it got dark until they got home. I was worried.

PAPA:   When he came home, was he all excited?

OSGOOD: Oh, you bet! (laughing) Joy didn't get in on any of that. She was too young. (laughing)

PAPA:   You had mentioned earlier that you might write a book. What would that be on?

OSGOOD: My boys.

PAPA:   About their farming experiences or…?

OSGOOD: Their lives and their life with me. I had eight boys other than my own. I took in…

PAPA:   When you say you "took in" was it like a foster parent or as a neighbor or relative?

OSGOOD: It was boys that needed homes to go to high school and we started taking them in from Dixie Valley. Henry used to say, "One boy at a time. One boy at a time, and it always ended up that boy had a friend, so we always took two boys. (laughing) Oh, we had fun.

PAPA:   So then they would board with you?

OSGOOD: Yeah, they lived with us.

PAPA:   Did they work on the farm?

OSGOOD: Well, course going to high school, those hours. In the summertime, then they worked if they stayed but some of them went on home.

PAPA:   What got you first started in that?

OSGOOD: Well, I don't know. I guess it was because I knew this boy needed a home and he wanted to go to high school and he wasn't going to get to go to high school so I told Henry, "Well, heavens, we have a spare bed and everything. Why not?" That started it. Then he had a brother and they both had friends.

PAPA:   Was this when your son was going to high school?

OSGOOD: No, our children had left, so we were alone.

PAPA:   So you had eight boys then that you . .

OSGOOD: I think it was eight. I have to start and count them over. How many uncles did you have, Joy? (laughing) The girls always used to call them "Uncle this" and "Uncle that" (laughing) and "Uncle somebody else", you know. Yeah, I think there was eight as far as I know. And I'm still keepin' track of most of them. I know where they are. I hear from them and they bring their families home. Very nice.

PAPA:   Did you have any other stories you wanted to share with us?

OSGOOD: No, I don't think so. I ramble on forever, don't I?

PAPA:   This is Marianne Papa and this is the end of tape 1, side 2. It’s the first interview with Margarite Osgood and I'd like to thank you for giving us this interview.

OSGOOD: Thank you.

Interviewer

Marianne Papa

Interviewee

Margarite Osgood

Location

205 St. Clair Road, Fallon, NV

Comments

Files

mage and henry.jpg
Margarite Osgood Oral History Transcript.docx
Osgood, Margarite.mp3

Citation

Churchill County Museum Association, “Margarite Osgood Oral History,” Churchill County Museum Digital Archive: Fallon, Nevada, accessed March 28, 2024, https://ccmuseum.omeka.net/items/show/665.