Beulah Testolin Oral History

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Title

Beulah Testolin Oral History

Description

Beulah Testolin Oral History

Creator

Churchill County Museum Association

Publisher

Churchill County Museum Association

Date

August 27, 1993

Format

.docx

Language

English

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Original Format

Paper Transcript

Transcription

Lander County Oral History Project

an interview with BEULAH TESTOLIN

Fallon, Nevada

conducted by Sylvia Arden

August 27, 1993

This interview is part of the socioeconomic studies for Lander County's Yucca Mountain Planning and Oversight Program.

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.

© 1993

Preface

Beulah Fowler Testolin, born in New Mexico in 1924, moved with her family to Fallon, Nevada when she was fourteen. Her father's brother and uncle were already here and the Newlands Project was flourishing by then. Her folks bought property and began ranching. Beulah helped with milking cows and pigs before school, feeding the animals and mowing hay, preparing her for ranch life with Tony.

Beulah first met Tony ice skating and they married in 1943. Their new life started on the Testolin Ranch in the little house where Tony was born. When his parents moved to town in 1947, they bought the ranch from them. They had two daughters, and moved into the bigger house. A few years later an offer came from a friend to buy a ranch in the Reese River Valley thirty-five miles from Austin. There was no school bus and Fallon schools had more to offer their daughters. They decided to buy the Reese River ranch, but kept the house in Churchill County. For eleven years Beulah and their daughters spent nine months in Fallon, driving to Reese River Friday after school, and returning Sunday night.

Beulah helped with all the ranch work--the branding and the haying. She loved to ride horses and round up the cattle. She also loved to cook, and when friends, their families and buckaroos came to help with roundup and branding, she would cook for twenty-five people. They had enough beds in the house, shop and barns for all of them.

When it became more and more difficult to do all the heavy work, Beulah and Tony decided to sell the ranch and return to Fallon. Beulah wanted to return to the old neighborhood where they knew everybody and Tony decided they would build a new home, which is on Testolin Road, named after Tony's family.

 

 

 

 

This is Sylvia Arden, interviewer for the Lander County Oral History Project, interviewing Beulah Testolin at her home at 4155 Testolin Road, Fallon, Nevada. The date is August 27, 1993.

SYLVIA ARDEN: Good morning, Beulah. I'm so pleased that you allowed us to interview you for the Lander County Oral History Project. Would you tell us your full name, including your maiden name?

BEULAH TESTOLIN: Beulah May Fowler Testolin.

SA: And where were you born and when?

BT: At Elida, New Mexico, March 6, 1924.

SA: When did you come to Nevada?

BT: In 1938.

SA: And what brought you here with your family?

BT: Oh, what did bring me here? Well, they moved here to the farm, I guess, would be the reason.

SA: How old were you when you moved here?

BT: Fourteen.

SA: Do you remember what it was like when you first moved here, and how you felt about it?

BT: Well, a place to live! (laughs) Home. They were gonna farm, so that was our project at that time.

SA: How many children were in your family?

BT: Six.

SA: And where were you in that lineup?

BT: I'm the oldest.

SA: So how many kids were there when you first moved here?

BT: All. We were all here. No, that's wrong. There's five because my brother was born here--youngest brother was born here in Fallon.

ARDEN: Do you remember what your folks heard about Fallon that brought them here? Were they still homesteading?

TESTOLIN: Well we came from New Mexico and went to Montana, and then we were there for a year and they came down here. My father's brother was here and uncle was here, and I think that's what inspired 'em to really move.

SA: So they had heard about it. Was that about the time the irrigation was coming in from the Newlands Project?

BT: Well, it was after that because I think the Newlands Project was finished in 1918 or somewhere along there. Somewhere along there.

SA: But it was flourishing by then?

BT: Right, right.

SA: Did your folks buy the property or lease? And what part of Fallon?

BT: They bought property. It was down on Norcutt Road.

SA: Did you ranch along with the family?

BT: Yes. We had cattle. We had to milk the cows in the morning 'fore we went to school and feed the calves and the pigs and whatever and mow hay and do all those kind a things.

SA: So you got experience for your later life?

BT: Right.

SA: When you came, were you in high school?

BT: No, we were still in grade school and there was an Island School and we had to walk about three miles to school.

SA: Oh, my. Did you adjust quickly to your new life here?

BT: I think so. That's all we ever knew really, you know, was that type of thing.

ARDEN: When did you first meet Tony?

TESTOLIN: When we went ice skating in 1941, I think it was. In the winter we went ice skating.

SA: Where?

BT: A party of us over on Allen Road, I think's the name of the place.

SA: How old were you then, about?

BT: Oh, probably sixteen or older. Probably seventeen. Somewhere around there.

SA: And were you kind of attracted to each other right away?

BT: I think so.

SA: Tell me how your friendship progressed until you married.

BT: We started seeing each other for a year-and-a-half and then got married. (laughs)

SA: What were some of the things you did together or with friends?

BT: We ice skated and that type of thing and, you know, birthday parties and things like that.

SA: Where did you get married?

BT: At the Baptist Church in Fallon.

SA: Do you know the date?

BT: July 1, 1943.

SA: And where was your first home together?

BT: Right on the ranch--the little house where Tony was born. A little cabin--there's only part of it left now.

SA: Was anyone here on the ranch at that time?

TESTOLIN: Yeah, his parents and his sister--two sisters.

ARDEN: Did you live with them?

BT: No, we lived in the little cabin, and they lived in the old house.

SA: Okay, so there was a cabin that's still here, and where was the other house that they lived in?

BT: Just a few feet north.

SA: Is that still there?

BT: Still there.

SA: Got pictures later?

BT: Uh-huh, right, and also the old house is the office from Fairview that they had moved it in.

SA: Now tell me what you mean by "from Fairview when they moved it in." What was Fairview?

BT: Fairview was a mine east of here, and it was the office house of the Fairview and they moved it in and they made a home out of it.

SA: In other words, Tony's parents bought it and that became their home?

BT: Right.

SA: Was that when they first came?

BT: No, no, it was later. All the other children were born in the cabin except the youngest sister, and she was born in the new house.

SA: So do you know about when they moved it, got that, approximately?

BT: Not really.

SA: That's okay.

BT: The date on that I don't really know, because I didn't know them then.

ARDEN: How long did you live on the ranch with his family?

TESTOLIN: Well, we were there when we got married in 1943, and his parents moved to town in 1947, so we bought the ranch from them.

SA: What was life like on the ranch with all the family?

BT: It was nice. We all worked together: milked the cows and fed the pigs and raised turkeys and put eggs in the case.

SA: So you did ranching here too, as well as housekeeping.

BT: Right. (laughs)

SA: So you had a real busy time in your early married years. Did you enjoy it?

BT: Oh yeah, I loved the farm and the ranching. I love it.

SA: When did you start having your children? You have two children?

BT: Two children. Irene was born July 3, 1944, and Rachel was born January 28, 1947.

SA: Where did you have your daughters? Was there a hospital here in Fallon?

BT: Yes, there was a hospital in Fallon.

SA: Was there good care?

BT: Yeah, right. At least at that time it was very good care. (laughs)

SA: You said his family moved into town and you bought the ranch. Did you move into the bigger house?

BT: Yes, we did.

SA: Then later, I know Tony told me a lot about those early years. Is there anything from your life here with the girls on the ranch that might be some different experiences than Tony had?

TESTOLIN: I don't know exactly what I would say. We moved to Reese River, then the girls, we were here on the ranch.

ARDEN: We're not gonna go to Reese River yet. Where did they go to school?

BT: They went to school in Fallon and the bus picked 'em up right here at the ranch. And then also, I don't know if Tony told you, but Tony drove school bus, I drove school bus, and Rachel drove school bus.

SA: When did you drive a school bus?

BT: In 1941 probably.

SA: Was this before or after you married?

BT: Before.

SA: What'd you get paid?

BT: Twenty-seven dollars a month. (laughs)

SA: That must have seemed like a lot?

BT: It was. (laughs)

SA: Were you out of school or still in high school?

BT: Still goin' to high school.

SA: So you would do it before class and after class?

BT: Uh-huh, besides milkin' cows.

SA: Besides your farming chores. So you both had similar kinds of backgrounds that made you compatible?

BT: Right, that's right, I think so.

SA: What kind of a wedding did you have?

TESTOLIN: Very simple. We didn't have a cake, we didn't have anything. We just got married and that was it. There was no reception, no nothin'. Just plain. Just simple.

ARDEN: Did you have time for any honeymoon?

BT: No, we didn't.

SA: Just came right here to the ranch?

BT: No, they were haying at the time, so we waited and went out to the ranch we bought later. The cattle ranch we bought later. (laughs)

SA: Did you have any family celebrations? Did your whole family when you lived here on the ranch, did they celebrate any of the holidays in any fashion? Did you have Thanksgiving or Christmas?

BT: Yeah, we always had Christmas together.

SA: And was there anything special about the family celebration?

BT: Well, not exactly, we always had the neighbor who played Santa Claus for the girls. (laughs) That's about it I guess. Offhand I can't think of anything real, real outstanding.

SA: Where did you do all your shopping? Did Fallon have any stores here?

BT: Yeah, we did most all of it in Fallon--a little in Reno, but not too often. Unless you couldn't find it here, then we'd go.

SA: Did you use the catalogues too?

BT: Yeah, right. We used the catalogues.

SA: Now I just want to move quickly into the period when you and Tony then owned this ranch and house. Did you fix up that house at all that you took over from the Fairbanks?

BT: No, I don't think so. We didn't do too much to that house.

SA: When did you and Tony start talking about leaving this area for the Austin/Reese River area?

TESTOLIN: Well, Tony had leased some land and....

ARDEN: Here on your farm?

BT: Over here across Harrigan Road. And an opportunity came that we could buy it.

SA: Buy it? You mean....

BT: Buy the piece of property we had leased here, right. And it was at the time right after the war and no one really had too much (laughs) and we debated whether we should buy that or. . . And then we had an opportunity to go to Grade A Dairy, and we didn't know if we really wanted to do that, and then this ranch thing came--this other Reese River ranch came up, so didn't really know which step to take.

SA: Do you know what year about that was or the time period?

BT: That would be about in the early fifties. Anyway, we didn't buy the ranch over here. We decided not to buy it and the next day, the fellow sold it for double the price he asked us for.

SA: Oh my!

BT: Can you believe that?! And then, we even had the choice between goin' n’ havin' a Grade A Dairy, 'cause at that time, you had to buy a quota. . . .

SA: What do you mean "had to buy a quota"?

BT: The milk. You know, the milk production--so much… I can't remember exactly how they did that. But it was gallons or pounds of milk. And then the ranch came up out there. Well, we decided to take the ranch instead of milking cows, so that's what we did, not the Grade A Dairy.

SA: Explain again what you mean about "quota of milk and butter." I don't understand.

TESTOLIN: I don't exactly understand all that either, but it's by gallons, and now I think they go by pounds instead of gallons of milk for quota.

ARDEN: A quota for whom?

TESTOLIN: For the dairy, for a Grade A Dairy. A Grade A Dairy has to have a quota of milk.

SA: So if you had a dairy, you'd have that problem.

BT: Right. You'd have that problem with a quota.

SA: Now, had you been out to that area in the Austin Reese River Valley? Had you both been there visiting?

BT: Right. We had been there, we had friends out there we visited.

SA: About how often?

BT: Not very often. Probably go fishin' in the summertime, or go hunting in the fall, was what we usually did.

SA: So did you become interested and been toying with the idea of maybe you'd like to live there?

BT: Well, not really I don't think, until the opportunity came and was offered to us, ya know. Then we started thinking about it, and with all these others at the same time. So we had to make a decision of what we were going to do, or stay here.

SA: How long did it take you to make the decision? And was it a hard one?

BT: Well, yes and no. The hard part was about the girls going to school, because we were thirty-five miles from Austin out there, and it was just far enough. There was no school bus and was just far enough that you had time to take 'em to school, come home, turn around and go back and get 'em. So that's why I had to make a decision what to do.

SA: In other words, it wasn't like the earlier period when there were five kids or something and they were obligated to put in a school?

BT: Not at that time, because there weren't enough families that had children in that vicinity right then, was the problem.

ARDEN: So then what was your decision?

TESTOLIN: Well, we decided then to go out. And then we kept the house here at the farm, and I stayed here for nine months and go to Reese River on Friday and come back Sunday night.

SA: So the girls could go to school?

BT: So they could go to school, and Fallon had more to offer for schooling than Austin had at the time.

SA: That must have been a hard decision for both of you.

BT: It was. For me, really hard. It was hard. (laughs)

SA: Yes, I can see. How did the girls feel? How old were they then?

BT: Well, I did it eleven years, so Rachel must have been goin' into second and Irene was--let's see, they're two years apart--goin' into fourth.

SA: Did they feel sad not havin' Daddy around?

BT: Well, it didn't seem to bother 'em that much.

SA: You were probably the dominant one raising them.

BT: Right, and one winter there was a drought at Reese River, and we spent the winter feeding the cattle--me and the two girls. (laughs) Get up in the morning, load the hay, (laughs) go feed the cows and they'd go to school. But you know I think that was one of the happiest winters they spent--bein' busy, I think.

SA: Being helpful.

BT: Uh-huh.

SA: When you got the property out in Reese River, was it at a time of the year when you could be there a little bit before school started, or was it immediate separation?

BT: Well, it was almost immediate, because Tony went out in November of 1954 and school was still on and we traveled back and forth--well, he traveled back and forth, and we didn't move out there until. . . What year did we move out there? Must have been the following year, but we didn't buy it until 1958, I know that.

ARDEN: How long a ride were the roads then?

TESTOLIN: It was exactly a hundred miles from here to. . .

SA: A couple hours?

BT: Two hours, right.

SA: And what was the house there like on the property that you were buying?

BT: It was a huge adobe house. It had six rooms in it, but there was no inside bathroom, there was no inside plumbing water. We packed all of our water with buckets (laughs), and that was one of the girls' chores--keep the buckets full of water.

SA: How did you feel about that?

BT: Well, I was used to that because in New Mexico, my father had homesteaded and we did the same thing. We packed the water up the hill and now too, it was up the hill. (laughs) It was similar to New Mexico.

SA: You had your training.

BT: Yeah, I had my training early.

SA: How did you furnish that place so that you could stay here and he could stay there?

BT: Well, very meekly. We had the necessities.

SA: Brought up there?

BT: Uh-huh, what had to be.

SA: So that was kind of a hectic. . . .

TESTOLIN: Well, you just planned everything: Mondays I washed clothes, Tuesdays I ironed (laughs), Wednesdays did the patchin', and Thursday I’d do my shopping, and then Fridays I'd cook to go to Reese River.

ARDEN: Oh, so you cooked here and brought the food up? It was easier to cook here with the water and things?

BT: Uh-huh, especially with the evening meal, Friday night meal. Usually it was a big pot of soup and beef or chicken, and then I'd make my homemade noodles. (laughs)

SA: It must have been a celebration Friday night, right? When you all were together?

BT: Yeah, right. And then Tony always had plenty of work picked out for us to do for the weekend. (laughter)

SA: Like his folks did with him.

BT: Yeah, right.

SA: So you had a long time to acclimate to actually living up there, because you lived more here.

BT: Right, for the first eleven years.

SA: That's a long, long time.

BT: Yes it was.

SA: And a long separation.

BT: Right.

SA: That was harder for Tony, wasn't it? to be up there alone?

BT: Well, I don't know. I think he enjoys being alone by himself some. I really think he did. Of course he had his friends out there that visited and then different ones from here'd go visit. I think he enjoyed it. But I think he was always tickled to see us. (laughs)

SA: Sure. So when did you finally move up there to stay?

TESTOLIN: Myself, I didn't go until 1965 when Rachel graduated from high school,

ARDEN: Had you leased out the land so you didn't have to do too much farming?

BT: Right. We leased the land out so that it wasn't too hard for Tony, so he had to come back and do that, and that out there is too much. It's too far.

SA: So in those eleven years while your girls were very busy in school, did you have time to get involved in the community in any way? I know you had a lot of things to do in the house, but did you have any outside activities?

BT: Not too much, no. Just at school. School activities mostly, is what I had time for.

SA: I want to back up a little bit 'cause some of the things that Tony shared, that I'll be sharing with Churchill County, was the period probably before you were married, but I want to know if on your  family's ranch, did you have activity by the CCC [Civilian Conservation Corps] doing work on the irrigation ditches here on this ranch where Tony met some of them?

BT: No, because we were just a little later than that, just past the CCC.

SA: So it was already. . .

BT: Uh-huh, they were still in town but there wasn't any activity on our property there.

SA: Did your property have the ditches that were already cemented? What kind of irrigation ditches?

BT: They were just the dirt ditches down there where we were.

SA: They didn't do much?

BT: They hadn't done anything right there.

SA: It wasn't part of the territory that they were improving?

TESTOLIN: Well, I'm not really sure about that part of it, because it was down by the government pasture there. I'm not sure if the CCC did any work right there or not. I'm sure there's a few of the large head boxes were.

ARDEN: But that was done before you came?

BT: Yeah.

SA: What kind of irrigation did your family do on their ranch when you were still at home?

BT: Just the flood irrigating--ditch water from the Lahontan Dam.

SA: Were they dirt ditches?

BT: Yeah, right.

SA: Was there a lot of evaporation?

BT: Oh, I'm sure there probably was. 'Course then, we used to get more rain than we do now. (laughs) So I don't think we had as much evaporate--well, I'm sure there was evaporation but maybe not so much.

SA: I want to bring you back now to your girls and Tony told me a little about them. What were their high school years like? Did they have a social life more than you had?

BT: Oh, I think they had more of a social life than I had, but they went to all the school activities, the dances and whatever they had. And then they always volunteered their mother to bake cupcakes (laughs) or whatever needed to be done. And then we did the PTA and things like that.

SA: Did they look forward to going out weekends to the Reese River?

BT: Oh, I think they did.

SA: Did they ever go into Austin?

TESTOLIN: No, not really that much. We were too far from town and they really didn't know the younger people there because we just buckarooed and did whatever. (laughs)

ARDEN: Did they have friends of the other ranchers in the Reese River area?

BT: Well, the one friend Irene had, but she was going to school here also. I guess she lived here at the time, that's the way it was. She lived here at the time and then when she got married, she lived at Reese River. But she used to come out and stay with us too, on the weekends. They'd bring their friends out, you know, and things.

SA: When you went out before you moved out there, did you go into Austin at all?

BT: Once in a while. Not too often. Usually we went fishin' (laughs) and camping. He was too busy. (laughs)

SA: When you did first go into Austin, describe what it was like when you first saw it.

BT: Well it's a small town. There's not too much activity there. It had its bars, and its one grocery store, Mr. Vigus. That was a great store. (laughs)

SA: Did you get to know any of the people in Austin?

BT: Oh yeah, we knew quite a few. Well, Tony already knew a lot of 'em, so I got introduced to a lot of the people. I really enjoyed them.

SA: Did you make friends? Can you name any in the area that you socialized with or knew a little bit?

BT: Well, as far as socializing, about the only thing we ever did was go to birthday parties and marriages, and weddings, you know, things like that.

SA: Any special families that you did these things with?

BT: Well Elizabeth and Louie Lani family, Anella. . . .

SA: What is that last name?

TESTOLIN: Lani.

ARDEN: Okay, I don't know them.

BT: You don't know them? They had the Shell station at first.

SA: Okay.

BT: And Joe Streshley and Lee Streshley and his family, and Rene Maestretti and Joe Dory and the Ramoses, and oh, gosh, who else?

SA: So you knew a lot.

BT: And Stricklands and Madge Bertrand and Estelle [Shanks].

SA: I've interviewed most of those people.

BT: Well, let's see, I can't think of 'em offhand who else.

SA: So you got to know a lot of people up there.

BT: I knew quite a few of the people. Jerry Utter, and Friday Dalluge and their family.

SA: So then when your girls graduated high school, I understand they went off to college.

BT: Right.

SA: Now then, that's when you moved permanently back?

BT: That's when I moved permanently back.

SA: What happened with the house? Did you just keep the house here so when you come into town?

BT: No, we leased it out to the people that are there now, Gerald Alberson.

SA: And tell me what your life was like then when you moved there permanently? Did you fix the house up a little bit?

TESTOLIN: Yeah. We fixed the house up a little and in 1968 we put in the bathroom, and a little before that, we put cupboards in the kitchen and water, (laughter) and what else did we do? That's pretty well about as much as we did, of course you always paint and fix up, you know--build in things.

ARDEN: So tell me what your life there with Tony was like and some of the changes in the first early years beside the house? What kind of ranching was going on?

BT: Well, we had our cattle and we had to ship in the fall and I'd help him buckaroo. And in the springtime, why, we'd brand and move our cattle from one field to the other.

SA: Did you do all those things too?

BT: Uh-huh.

SA: Did you do branding?

BT: Yeah, I helped him brand. At first, he and I branded by ourselves. (laughs)

SA: Was that when they were still using the hot branding iron?

BT: Yeah, usually we branded when the calves were smaller, we could handle 'em them. He'd rope 'em and I'd throw 'em down and hold 'em. (laughs)

SA: Do you have pictures of any of that?

BT: I doubt it very much if we do.

SA: That would be wonderful.

BT: It would, but I doubt it because there was only two of us there.

SA: That's right. And you wouldn't be marchin' around with a camera.

BT: No. And we did all that, and I always helped him hay out in the field--you know, mowin' or rakin' or baling, or whatever.

SA: Did your children come to visit much?

TESTOLIN: Oh yeah. That's one thing I've got to say about those girls. I gotta give 'em credit, they always come home every chance they got. That was really nice.

ARDEN: Well that's a credit to you.

BT: It really is, it really is, and to this day it's still the same.

SA: That's wonderful. I know that Tony was active in many things. Did you have any activities outside of this very busy ranching life?

BT: Not too much. He was never one to go with crowds so we'd go to a rodeo once in a while or somethin' like that. Once in a while somethin' special we were invited.

SA: Would you come back to Fallon to see your family?

BT: Yes, we always came back here, most always Christmas. Once in a while, it would be Thanksgiving, but usually Christmas.

SA: 'Cause it wasn't so easy. What was the road like from here to there in winter?

BT: In the wintertime it was icy. (laughs) If it was snowy, you know, it was bad.

SA: Now when you were out there, because of the lack of medical care out that way, what did you do if you needed a doctor or didn't feel good?

BT: Well, in 1957, I got sick and Tony called the doctor and he came out and spent the evening--the night--with me.

SA: You're kidding?

BT: Uh-uh, and take me all the way to Reno finally.

SA: Well he must have cared a lot about you.

BT: Yeah.

SA: Was it kind of scary living where there wasn't close medical attention?

TESTOLIN: Well, kinda, but we were pretty healthy, so we didn't worry too much.

ARDEN: But what if there was an accident? What would you do if there was an accident?

BT: Well, at the time our phones weren't too good, so we probably would have just loaded up and headed to Fallon.

SA: Did you ever have to do that?

BT: No, we never had to do that. Well, there's one time when we had buckaroos there and the guy got bucked off and we had to bring him to Fallon, but other than that, nothing.

SA: Now would you tell us about the buckaroos? Would you be hiring them to help with roundups or what?

BT: It was all friends that came out and helped us gather the cattle--later on. At first, Tony and I did it all. And then later on, the buckaroos would come out and I would do the cooking.

SA: Where'd they come from and who were they?

BT: They were from Fallon, people we knew, friends we knew: Weaver Bryant. After Don Bruner moved from Fallon and went to Elko, well then he used to come from there. Then Gene Hanks moved from Fallon and moved to Current, and then he would come from Current to our place to buckaroo and brand.

SA: Did you all do that for each other, or did you hire?

BT: No, they just came to help. That was just for the fun part. (laughs) Vacation for them, I guess.

SA: Okay, and they'd help with roundups?

BT: Help with the roundup and the branding in the spring.

SA: Oh, how many?

BT: Oh gosh, I don't know. By the time they got them and their families there we probably had twenty-five people. (laughs)

ARDEN: Oh my gosh, where would they sleep?

TESTOLIN: Well, here and there and everywhere. (laughs) I had quite a few beds, When I came back, I never really thought about it while I was out there, and when I counted up, I had fourteen beds. (laughs) We had 'em in the shop and in the house and just wherever.

SA: In the barns?

BT: Wherever, whatever. 'Course outside there, there was several little rooms outside. The way the ranch was set, the way it was built, I had beds in each one of those little rooms too, outside.

SA: Outside? You mean... .

BT: Outside the house.

SA: Outside the house, not attached to the house?

BT: Well, kinda. The house was here like this and then the little buildings were all like this over here, and then there was another little room here.

SA: Was that there when you bought it?

BT: Yeah, right.

SA: Did you have to cook for all these people?

BT: Oh, yes.

SA: How did you do that, and what did you cook?

BT: Just roasts and stews and (laughs) whatever. Your dessert and your salad.

SA: Did everyone help with dishes or clearing?

BT: Some of 'em. Yeah, they'd help. They'd all pitch in and help, take the dishes to the sink.

SA: Tell me what kind of cattle on your ranch, and did you sell any?

TESTOLIN: Yes, we had Hereford cattle and we only sold. . . . Well, at first, we tried yearlings one time and then eventually, we went back to selling the calves, weaner calves.

ARDEN: And who did you sell them to? How did you sell them?

BT: Well we sold 'em right at the ranch and weighed 'em right there and sold 'em right there.

SA: You'd get word out and the buyers.. .

BT: Yeah, we sold to the buyers--most of the time to one buyer for several years. And then somethin' would happen or they'd do somethin' different and wouldn't buy anymore or whatever, and then we'd sell to another buyer. So we sold to the same buyer.

SA: The calves?

BT: Yeah, calves, right.

SA: I know that the stockyard here is the only one in the state. Did you ever bring cattle down here to Fallon to sell at the stockyard?

BT: I shouldn't say this, but just the bad ones (laughs)--weren't too good, the sick ones or whatever. (laughs)

SA: Why?

BT: Well, we always sold out there and just sold everything straight across.

SA: It was easier.

BT: It was easier.

SA: You made as much or more?

BT: Yeah, made more we thought, and the trucks would come pick 'em up right at the ranch--we'd weigh 'em right there. It was nice.

SA: Now you had the cattle. What else was part of your ranching, alfalfa hay?

TESTOLIN: Yeah, well eventually, we leveled and cleared off the brush of ninety acres, or ninety-one, and Tony and I cleared the brush off, and then I run the tractor to help level the ground and smooth it off, dust and all! (laughs)

ARDEN: Oh my! Amazing.

BT: I worked outside a lot--all the time really.

SA: What was your favorite part of the ranching? What did you like to do the most?

BT: I loved to buckaroo. I liked that and I loved to cook, but a lot of times when the buckaroos came and I wasn't ridin' anymore, then I missed out on all the fun things that were goin' on. But I enjoyed the cooking.

SA: Did you raise a lot of fresh vegetables?

BT: We did have a garden, until just the last, I think about the last two or three years before we left we didn't have a garden anymore. But we raised beautiful cabbage, and carrots, and strawberries--oh they were good! But one morning I was pickin' strawberries, Tony and I, and I reached out to pick a strawberry and there was a big old rattlesnake.

SA: Oh, no, you didn't get bitten did you?

BT: No, he just ducked his head down. (laughs) He just ducked his head down.

SA: And did you always like to ride horses?

BT: Oh I loved to ride. I loved to ride.

SA: How long did you have horses to ride there? How long did you ride?

BT: Oh, let's see, I rode . . . right up until pretty close to the end. Some--not a lot, but some.

ARDEN: And during the years you were there, did you see any changes at all in the area where you were ranching? Did people come and go? Did new people come?

TESTOLIN: There was a few, and the ranch below us sold several times.

SA: Who would come in and buy?

BT: Well, Mr. Gleason was from Chicago. And Tom Noonan came from Arizona, and then the Carona Farms were from California.

SA: So it was an outside corporation?

BT: Right, outsiders that came in.

SA: How did the local people feel about that?

BT: Well, I always think of the old, old tools. They thought it was terrible when all these local people come in, they didn't know what they were doin'. (laughs) I can always remember this one time Tony wanted to plant some tall wheat grass--crested wheat grass.

SA: What kind of wheat grass?

BT: The crested wheat. Anyway you know these fields of crested wheat you see around the countryside. And the old tools thought that was the most terrible thing there ever was, plantin' that, gettin' rid of the sagebrush and that. I'll never forget that. And it wasn't too long, they were askin' for some too. (laughter) I'll never forget that. They thought it was terrible ruinin' all that sagebrush, that watershed. And then they were wantin' the crested wheat too, 'cause they saw how well the animals did on it. So they didn't have to travel so far for food.

SA: And then Tony told me how he put in the water system? Did that make life a little more enjoyable?

BT: Right, right. We had our little spring, and it only ran about three gallons to the minute. We had to carry the water to the house until we got a water system put in the house.

SA: Were there any real hardship times, heavy winters, or any hardship times?

TESTOLIN: Not like they talked about before us. I can't really say we really ever were stuck out there or really a real hardship, because we always had our wood and our propane and it was always delivered on time and we always were warm.

ARDEN: And you both were so experienced from your childhood learning.

BT: You're right.

SA: Did you ever leave there much to come here? Where did you do your main marketing?

BT: In Fallon mostly.

SA: Would you stay over?

BT: Most of the time no.

SA: Just come down?

BT: Come down.

SA: Would you visit?

BT: Yeah, visit a little bit if we had time. And if we didn't, why. . . . And then we got scolded quite a few times because we didn't visit enough. (laughs)

SA: Where'd you buy your clothes?

BT: Here in Fallon, or sometimes order out of the catalog, but mostly here in Fallon. Once in a while to Reno.

SA: You lived there for quite a long time. When did you both start thinking you were going to leave that area to move?

BT: It was probably six, seven years ago.

SA: And what caused the decision to make some dramatic changes?

BT: Well, we talked with the girls and everything, and our age. . . (laughs)

ARDEN: Your physical age?

TESTOLIN: Physical age, right, would be the thing that really made us make a decision.

SA: To keep doing all that heavy work?

BT: Yeah, I couldn't do all the heavy work and he couldn't either. His knees bothered him and my ankle bothered me. (laughs)

SA: Was it kind of hard to start thinking of making a change?

BT: Yes it was. We hadn't really planned on that part of it (laughs) when we went out there. When you're young, you don't think of it.

SA: How and when did you come to a decision then to sell there and make a change?

BT: Let's see, we moved before 1991. It would be in 1987, somewhere in there, we had thought about it a little before, but then when we finally really made the decision, I think it was probably about 1988, somewhere in there. We had to do somethin', 'cause I had noticed before, I'd see Tony buckarooin' and he'd get off and walk quite a bit. I thought to myself, that's strange he's doin' that. But he never was a complainer, ever. And I knew there had to be somethin' when I look back now, and it was his knees. He couldn't ride too long at a time. He had to get off and walk to relieve the pressure.

SA: He didn't want to tell you.

BT: No, uh-uh. He didn't want to say, so then one thing led to another until we finally decided to move--make the move, and it wasn't easy. (laughs)

SA: No, no, And then this is such a beautiful home. Probably the nicest you've ever had.

BT: Yeah, right.

SA: Was that kind of exciting?

BT: Well I was excited, yes and no. But when Tony said we were gonna build and he hadn't said a word to me before because we looked at all this property around town, cause he didn't think he wanted to live right here on account of the planes--the noise.

ARDEN: Oh, do you get that noise?

TESTOLIN: Yeah, we get the noise, but it isn't too bad right here because they take off and go over north there, and usually when they come around here, they're circling and going down, so they're not revvin' up the motor and the noise isn't so bad. With the house the way it's built, it's not....

SA: Can't hear anything.

BT: I got the windows opened this morning. I didn't get 'em shut before you got here.

SA: You heard them?

BT: I could hear 'em. So anyway, that's one reason why I was kinda worried, because he didn't want to live here, and I kinda wanted to come back to this neighborhood 'cause we knew everybody, except a few new people, and I thought well, be with your friends and relatives and stuff would be really nice.

SA: And your children are around.

BT: Yeah, right. The grandchildren are around. And so we looked around, and then he said, "Well, we're buildin' a new home." Well, how do you know exactly what you want in nothin' flat? (laughs)

SA: A new experience.

BT: A new experience: was it! So we decided to go to--we didn't know a builder or anything--so we went to this builder and talked to him and he gave us kind of a plan and then I just take and rearranged it the way I wanted it. Well, I kinda had a little bit in mind what I wanted, but there's a few details that I missed, but we'll manage. (laughs)

SA: Very, very, very nice. Do you still go back to your old area there over in the Reese River?

TESTOLIN: Yeah, well we went back and spent a little time when they went on vacation takin' care of things.

ARDEN: When who went on vacation?

BT: Wayman and Judy.

SA: Oh, the people who bought it.

BT: The people who bought the ranch.

SA: When you go back, is it with nostalgia? Do you miss it, or are you settled-in now in your new life?

BT: Well, now we've kind of settled-in, but that first year was hard. (laughs)

SA: Must have been hard.

BT: It was really hard. But we're gettin' pretty well settled now. I just think, well, they bought it, it's theirs. Let them do what they want to do and not worry about it.

SA: Sure. Did Tony's parents ever talk to you about their early years here on the ranch? Were they people who would share things that happened when they came?

BT: Not really a lot, but a little, some. She always talked about raisin' all the turkeys and how they had to herd 'em out in the brush, would eat up the grasshoppers and the bugs and stuff. And let's see, what else did she tell me? And she told about when she came from the old country. Comin' in on the train to Hazen. Of course when Tony and I got married, they had chickens, and pigs and turkeys and all that, so we just kinda stepped into their footsteps when they stepped out, and did that.

SA: Did his father ever talk about what it was like when he first homesteaded here?

BT: Well we didn't visit that much with him, 'cause he was older at the time. It was more her. And she told me about the vegetables they raised and they always used to haul the vegetables to Fairview and Rawhide and Wonder [Mines] to sell their vegetables and eggs and stuff that they raised, and that type of thing. And how they'd heat up bricks to keep their feet warm. Just things like that.

ARDEN: I forgot to ask Tony, do you know if when he was little, did they speak Italian in their home?

TESTOLIN: Yeah, they did. The girls, Marie and Katherine, and I think Ida, too--the three older ones--they went to school, there was a school down here on Wildes Road, and they couldn't speak English, and they had a struggle, and then the younger kids, they all spoke English. But they did have trouble when they went to school because they didn't speak English.

SA: When you were there, were his parents speaking English as their main language?

BT: Yeah, they speak English, but they'd speak Italian among themselves. So it worked out really nice.

SA: Now is there anything--especially in the Reese River/Lander County part--that you can share that I haven't asked you?

BT: Well, I don't know for sure because well, just the thing that Tony worked so hard to get telephone and electricity out there and he spent a lot of time--well both of us did really. And I'll never forget the one time, their old telephone didn't work in Reese River and it was my birthday and he had sent me to a sale to buy this calf, (laughs)

SA: To buy a calf?

BT: To buy a calf. (laughs) And we (laughs) had a flat tire just at Eastgate, and I had to change the tire.

SA: You changed the tire too?

BT: Oh yeah, uh-huh. Anyway, I let Irene, the oldest daughter, hold the calf while I changed the tire and we had an agreement between us, if I wasn't there by a certain time, he'd come looking. Well, I wasn't there, so he came looking and I met him on Elkhorn, the little pass comin' up over the hill there. (laughs) And he was upset. "I'm throwin' it all out", he said, "I'm throwin' it all out." I said, "What's the matter"? Well, he had cooked me a birthday dinner, fried chicken, made mashed potatoes. (laughs)

ARDEN: Oh, oh! And you couldn't call him because the phones didn't work.

TESTOLIN: No, 'cause the phone didn't work, and anyway, he said "Well, we'll go to Austin and eat." And I said, "No, Austin'll be closed by the time we get there. (laughs) We'll eat it." But you know, after that, he was always at home on time, or let me know if he was gonna be late for a meal. (laughs)

SA: Oh, that's wonderful.

BT: That was cute. And another nice thing was, we had Carol Station, you know, the old highway where Fred and Rosie Stevens lived, and they always looked out for me too. If I wasn't there Friday night by the right time, they'd send somebody. (laughs)

SA: Oh, because you had to travel. .

BT: Yeah, I traveled with the girls uh-huh, back and forth.

SA: Do you have any photographs or articles or anything that reflects your life there?

BT: We have some photographs, yeah.

SA: We would appreciate later if you find any that we can copy for the project. It was a pleasure meeting you and Tony. I want to thank you on behalf of the Lander County Oral History Project for sharing your experiences with us.

BT: You're welcome. It was wonderful. Stop by anytime.

 

Interviewer

Sylvia Arden

Interviewee

Beulah Testolin

Location

4155 Testolin Road, Fallon, Nevada

Comments

Files

Larry and Beulah.jpg
Testolin, Beulah.docx

Citation

Churchill County Museum Association, “Beulah Testolin Oral History,” Churchill County Museum Digital Archive: Fallon, Nevada, accessed March 28, 2024, https://ccmuseum.omeka.net/items/show/695.