This is a collection of stand-alone interviews pulled together by Archives and Special Collections around the topics of logging, forestry, the timber products industry, land use, the environment, and conservation in Montana. These interviews were conducted from the 1970s up to 2010. The original interviews are held at Archives and Special Collections, Mansfield Library, University of Montana-Missoula.
This collection includes 21 interviews.
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Arnold Bolle Interview, February 1988
Arnold Bolle
Arnold Bolle explains the value of the Rattlesnake Valley in Missoula, Montana, not only as a recreational area, but a useful resource for information and scientific research. He provides background on how the Friends of the Rattlesnake and other Missoula residents worked with Montana Power ... Read More
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Arthur Johnson Interview, May 21, 1984
Arthur Johnson
Arthur Johnson recalls his time spent as a lookout during the summer of 1931, working for the U.S. Forest Service in the Slate Creek Ranger District on the St. Joe National Forest in northern Idaho. Johnson talks about packing in his rations, and the make-shift ... Read More
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Bayard "Bob" Van Gieson Interview, March 20, 2013
Bayard Van Gieson
U.S. Forest Service photographer Bayard “Bob” Van Gieson discusses attending Montana State University in Bozeman for engineering, serving in the Air Force during World War Two, then working as a logger when he returned. He talks about changing his career focus from engineering to forestry ... Read More
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Bill McDonald Interview, February 27, 1982
Bill McDonald
Bill McDonald discusses his family history and the Montana landscape during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He describes his trapping career with the Reclamation Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, his impressions of the Flathead area in Montana, and his experiences with ... Read More
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David Lake, Sr. Interview, February 1968
David Lake
David Lake, Sr. discusses working as a cowboy during the late 19th century in Eastern Montana. He describes working on logging projects with his uncle, looking for work during the Silver Panic of 1893, and the McKinley Tariff Bill of 1890. He discusses taking a ... Read More
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Donald Grant "Don" MacKenzie Speech, circa 1970s
Donald Grant MacKenzie
Donald MacKenzie gives a short speech to members of the Walford Senior Center in Missoula, Montana, about his days as a logger. MacKenzie talks about working for the Big Blackfoot Milling Company and the Anaconda Copper Mining Company during the 1910s and 1920s. He describes ... Read More
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Donald Skillicorn and Dennis Sain Interview, May 20, 2009
Donald Skillicorn and Dennis Sain
Donald Skillicorn and Dennis Sain discuss their experiences logging in western Montana for the Anaconda Forest Products Company, the evolution of logging technology, and the logging areas around Montana. Skillicorn also describes his initial job with the Anaconda Company, serving in the army during World ... Read More
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Edward George “Ed” Heilman, June 24, 1984
Edward George Heilman
Edward “Ed” Heilman discusses his career in the U.S. Forest Service. He talks about joining Forest Service in 1945, at the age of 16, and being stationed at the Blue Canyon Fire Station in California’s Tahoe National Forest. He describes his duties and numerous fires ... Read More
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Harold G. Schmidt Interview, March 22, 1988
Harold G. Schmidt
Harold Schmidt describes his career working for the Anaconda Company and the Champion Mill from 1946 to 1984. Schmidt recalls what a typical day looked like on the job, how the camps were set up, and the different tasks he performed. He explains how the ... Read More
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James Arthur “Smokey” Alexander Interview, December 8, 2002
James Arthur Alexander
James “Smokey” Alexander discusses joining the first smokejumper squad in 1940 after working as a firefighter in Great Falls, Montana. He describes the genesis of the United States smokejumping program, fellow smokejumpers, his training, and the equipment the smokejumpers used during the early 1940s. Alexander ... Read More
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John Grove Interview, June 26, 2018
John Grove
John Grove describes growing up in Ketchikan, Alaska wilderness where his parents homesteaded during the 1930s. He recalls how living in the wilderness influenced his decision to pursue a forestry degree and a career with the U.S. Forest Service. Grove talks about working for the ... Read More
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Joseph Mussulman Interview, September 9, 2006
Joseph Aggie Mussulman
Joseph Mussulman discusses moving to Missoula, Montana from Ripon, Wisconsin in 1957 and working for the University of Montana, Missoula in the School of Music. He explains his interest in the Rattlesnake Wilderness, his involvement with the United States Forest Service and Montana Power Company, ... Read More
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K. Ross Toole Interview, November 12, 1976
K. Ross Toole
K. Ross Toole discusses energy issues on the Great Plains—Montana, North Dakota, and Wyoming—and the resource extraction’s impacts on people and the environment. He describes state and federal agencies that regulate coal mining and power, such as the Department of Natural Resource Conservation, the Forest ... Read More
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Louise Bruce Interview, December 1994
Louise Bruce
Louise Bruce discusses the history of the Montana Wilderness Association [MWA] starting in 1979. She describes the Association’s founding members, the campaign to save the Lincoln backcountry area in Montana, and various coalitions with which the MWA partnered. Bruce also recalls her reasons for becoming ... Read More
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Richard Wilson Interview, September 17, 2015
Richard Wilson
Richard Wilson discusses his career fighting fires both as a smokejumper and as part of ground crews in Montana, Idaho, Oregon, California, and Alaska. He focuses mainly on his time smoke jumping in Montana and details his experience cleaning up after the 1949 Mann Gulch ... Read More
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Stewart Brandborg Interview, March 31, 2010
Stewart Brandborg
Stewart Brandborg discusses the Wilderness Act of 1964 and the grass roots activism that developed around the bill. He describes his interest in preservation, his appreciation for wild country, his relationship with Howard Zahniser, and how he became involved in environmental and wilderness activism. He ... Read More
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Thurman Trosper Interview, May 15, 1991
Thurman Trosper
Thurman Trosper discusses working for the U.S. Forest Service, including both his time as the supervisor of the Bitterroot National Forest in Montana and on the Forest Service’s Division of Legislation and Program Planning in Washington, D. C. He describes the development of the Multiple ... Read More
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Victor "Babe" May Interview, December 3, 1980
Victor May
Victor May discusses maintenance and seasonal duties on the National Bison Range. He describes calving, focusing primarily on the diseases cattle are susceptible to and the procedure used to remove Rocky Mountain ticks from buffalo. May also talks about the typical vaccinations that the animals ... Read More
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Virginia H. Vincent Interview, March 4, 1986
Virginia H. Vincent
Virginia Vincent describes the first 16 years of her career as a lookout for the U.S. Forest Service. She discusses her experiences working at the Stark Mountain Tower in the Ninemile District of Western Montana, her initial training, and memorable moments from her early career. ... Read More
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Willard A. "Montana Bill" Hartley Reminiscence, August 29, 1991
Willard A. Hartley
Willard “Bill” Hartley describes the logging techniques, equipment and methods of the early 20th century in western Montana. He details how the loggers moved logs from the logging camps all the way down to the train and load them. Hartley recalls the specific kinds of ... Read More
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William "Bill" Fox Interview, September 1, 1989
William Fox
William Fox discusses the colonial and classical architectural style of the U.S. Forest Service buildings. He describes the architectural style of the Darby Ranger Station and the Plains Ranger Station, the use of logs in the building of ranger stations in Bozeman, Montana, and his ... Read More