Transcript of Interview with Merna Dennison by Ken Pyatt, March 1, 1980

UNLV University Libraries Merna Dennison i An Interview with Merna Dennison An Oral History Conducted by Ken Pyatt Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas Special Collections and Archives Oral History Research Center University Libraries University of Nevada, Las Vegas UNLV University Libraries Merna Dennison ii © Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas University of Nevada, Las Vegas, 2017 UNLV University Libraries Merna Dennison iii The Oral History Research Center (OHRC) was formally established by the Board of Regents of the University of Nevada System in September 2003 as an entity of the UNLV University Libraries’ Special Collections Division. The OHRC conducts oral interviews with individuals who are selected for their ability to provide first-hand observations on a variety of historical topics in Las Vegas and Southern Nevada. The OHRC is also home to legacy oral history interviews conducted prior to its establishment including many conducted by UNLV History Professor Ralph Roske and his students. This legacy interview transcript received minimal editing, such as the elimination of fragments, false starts, and repetitions in order to enhance the reader's understanding of the material. All measures have been taken to preserve the style and language of the narrator. The interviewee/narrator was not involved in the editing process. UNLV University Libraries Merna Dennison iv Abstract On March 1, 1980, Ken Pyatt interviewed his grandmother, Merna Dennison (born September 9th, 1917 in Blanding, Utah) in her home in Henderson, Nevada. During the interview, Merna pinpoints Cashman Field as a landmark of Las Vegas. She recalls the Helldorado Parade as one of Nevada’s biggest annual celebrations in which her family attended and participated on numerous occasions. She mentions serving on the Clark County School Board and discusses the growth of the city of Las Vegas, particularly the development and expansion of both McCarran Airport and the Strip.UNLV University Libraries Merna Dennison 1 The following interview is of Merna Dennison. It was done the 1st of March, 1980 in the interviewee’s home, 531 Karen Way, Henderson, Nevada. My name is Ken Pyatt, I’ll be the interviewer. My address is 2688 Topaz Square, Las Vegas, Nevada, and this is the Nevada History Project for History 117 Section Two. Okay, first of all, your name and your present address? Merna Dennison. 531 Karen Way, Henderson, Nevada. Alright, ah, where were you born and when where you born? I was born in Blanding, Utah, September 9, 1917. Okay. What are some of the significant things that happened in Blanding that you remember? I do not remember. (Laughs) As I was just a small baby, child, when we left Blanding. Ah, where did you move to after Blanding? Moab, Utah. Okay. Then tell me about Moab? (Laughs) Just go ahead. I attended grade school in Moab, Utah, and when I was about ten years old, we moved to Cedar City, Utah. Okay. What’s some of your family history in Utah? My father owned the first truck, motor vehicle, I guess you’d call it, in Blanding, Utah, back in about 1918. And he was very, they all thought he was pretty big man, back them days. Because UNLV University Libraries Merna Dennison 2 he owned a truck. (Laughs) And when we lived in Moab my mother was a homemaker and my father worked for a garage in Moab. Course back them days, there wasn’t too many motor vehicles. But that was his job and he did a lot of freighting and driving over rough roads and with gullies, where there’s gullies and deep holes and we’d get out of the rut why, you couldn’t get back in again. (Laughs) Okay. What about some of the other members of your family? I have five brothers, one older than myself, and four younger. They live, I have two brothers in Salt Lake City, one in Nephi, Utah, one in Springville, Utah, and one in Henderson, Nevada. Okay, what are some of the significant things that they did? All five of my brothers served in World War II and five of them came back without any injuries. Two of them was with Patton in Germany, one, two in the pacific, and one was in the paratroopers, and we feel that that was pretty good record for five sons to be in the service at the same time and all five of them coming home. Okay. Did any of ‘em earn any special honors or awards while they were in the military? No, not any special that I can think of at this time. Okay, we got you down to Cedar City or Moab, one. What are some of the other places you’ve lived and some of the places you’ve traveled to? I, after leaving Cedar City, we came to Sloan, Nevada, where my husband was a—worked for the U.S. line. Well, first he came to Nevada during the war to, as a guard on the railroad, at a tunnel in Sloan, Nevada. And after, shortly after that, he went to work for U.S. line, and worked for them until his retirement in 1977. Okay, how did you come to meet your husband? UNLV University Libraries Merna Dennison 3 During, when President Roosevelt was president, they had what they called the CCCs. And he was, he joined CCCs and came to Utah. He was from Bowling Green, Kentucky, and we went and met one night at a dance at the camp in Cedar City. Okay. What are some of the special things you remember about Sloan? Sloan was a very small mining town, with about, oh, three hundred people. And it was, we had a church, a Catholic Church there, and a small two room school. And all, it was a nice little community, and everybody enjoyed one another and we just all, was like one big happy family, all the time that we lived there. Okay. When did you actually move to Sloan? We moved to Sloan in May of 1942. Okay. As you watched Las Vegas grow from up on the hill there, what were the—what were some of the things that you remember in particular about the growth of Las Vegas? The growth of Las Vegas has been very fantastic since, from the time we first came here. When we first came to Las Vegas there was only one hotel on the Strip, which was the El Rancho Vegas. And shortly after that they built the—now what is called the New Frontier. And there, then it seems like it’s just been growth ever since. When we was, we could’ve purchased some of the land out on the Strip for homestead from the government for about a dollar an acre back them days. But as usual your foresight isn’t as good as your hindsight so we got left out on that deal. Okay, ah, and are you active in church or other civic organizations? I belong to the LDS church and the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers. Okay. What are some of the things you remember about the church history that helped settle the Las Vegas area? UNLV University Libraries Merna Dennison 4 Well, the, I guess the Mormons were about the first in the Valley. And there’s the Old Fort in Las Vegas that is still standing. That they’ve—it has been preserved through the years. The LDS church has played a big role in the growth of Las Vegas and still does. Okay. In what ways does your family influence the growth of the church and therefore, I guess, the growth of Las Vegas? Living out to Sloan, we didn’t have much a chance to attend church and so I guess there’s not much that I can say that I contributed to the growth of Las Vegas. Okay. What are some of the places that you’ve worked at in your lifetime—around here and up in Utah? In Utah, I worked at the Es (Unintelligible) Hotel, and after moving to Nevada, I worked, during the war, I worked as a service station attendant. And then, I worked as a waitress and housekeeper at the Alamo Airways, which is now part of McCarran Airfield, and I worked there for a good many years, and saw the growth of McCarran Airport, being just a very small airport in comparison to what it is now. Okay. Who were some of the people that you’ve met during your time here that have gone on to become quite prominent? I was on the Clark County School Board in Sloan, Nevada, for a couple of years, and some of the people that influenced the growth of Las Vegas at that time was Roxy Copenhaver. She was the president of the school board and William Alice and Guy Mathis, Mr. Butterfield, George Crockett. George Crockett owned the Alamo Airways and he was—Mr. Butterfield, he was president of the Bank of Nevada, and Guy Mathis, he owned part of the Golden Nugget, which was one of the first Downtown—big Downtown gambling places, and— Okay. Let’s go back, and—what prompted your move to Las Vegas, mostly? UNLV University Libraries Merna Dennison 5 Well, it was, ah, during the war, and they needed guards for the railroad, and the tunnels and everything along the railroad, in case of a bombing, so that—and they needed, was needed, in Nevada, and that’s where we was sent, when my husband applied for the job, and that’s how come we come to Nevada. What was life like around here during the war? Living out at Sloan we didn’t see too much of what was going on, except the Choo trains going by all the time, and during the rationing of food and things. But we had a little commissary at Sloan and Mr. MacFarlane, that run the commissary, he done pretty good job of getting everything that was rationed. And we, we never had too much trouble with the rationing, except gasoline, which—and there wasn’t too many cars, so there wasn’t too much trouble with that. But we did, all of us would get together and cool our stamps and if we needed to go to Las Vegas to get any supplies or anything, we’d just all cool our stamps and get the gas and a bunch of us would go in and buy whatever we needed and come on back. So, the war had just—it never, I remember one time, we was, a bunch of us in Vegas on few supplies and there was a blackout and we had a little Model A Ford and we couldn’t dim the lights and we got picked up for not dimming our lights in the blackout. But as far as the war went, we was pretty well sheltered out at Sloan there. Because we didn’t suffer too much from all the rationing and things. But it was— Okay. Um, what are some of the activities that you’ve been a member in and other organizations and what of, what do they consists of? The school board out in Sloan, I was a member of that, as I said before for a few years, and we had ah, sought all the needs of our little school, which was two rooms and we had two teachers. And we, and then there we had a teacher ensure the teachers (unintelligible) and we kept that in repairs and all that goes along with the school board. We had made enemies and we made friends UNLV University Libraries Merna Dennison 6 there. And then I was a Girl Scout leader for quite a few years out in Sloan and we had many good times and camping and teaching the girls all of the—about outdoor life and homemaking and all the things that goes with Girl Scouting. And then I’ve been a member of the Daughters of Utah Pioneers for a number of years as my ancestors came to Utah in early 1800s and we studied the pioneers and the lives of the pioneers and how they settled the different parts of the country. And then I belong to the Relief Society and the LDS Church and we have many activities there. What are the, some of the things that you’re particularly interested in? Mm. Let me think. (Laughs)–I’m interested in genealogy work and my ancestors and in seeing that my family is—I can help them do as much as I can and hope that they’ll remember a few of the things that I’ve done for them in the later years. What are some of the events that stand out in your mind from your life? (Laughs) I have such a bad memory. (Laughs) (Laughs) Oh dear. Do you remember? (Laughs) (Unintelligible) Some of the things I remember (Laughs) most in my life really, is the trips that we’ve taken back into Kentucky and back into the south, which were very interesting. My husband is from the—we visited quite a few places of interest back there, like my own old Kentucky home in Lenkinsburg Place and many others. I think too, when I had my daughter and she was alright, that was an outstanding event in any woman’s life, if they’re—first time they’re babies placed into their, into a mother’s arms. And also my, when each one of my grandchildren was born that UNLV University Libraries Merna Dennison 7 seemed like it was a very special event. And now that the boys old and in college and grown that’s another special event this time is, when you see your family grown. And accepting life as it comes to them and— Okay. And when you came down here did you come all by yourself or were you ever joined by any members of your family? We hadn’t lived here too long when one of my brothers came to Nevada and lived in Sloan with us for a while and then he moved into Las Vegas—or rather I should say, Henderson. And his wife worked in a drugstore and he was a bricklayer, then built quite a few homes in and around the Las Vegas area. And shortly after that, my father and mother came to Nevada and they lived out to Sloan, same as we did and he worked for the U.S. Line as hydrator, and he was working for U.S. Line when he passed away in 1957 at U.S. Line Plant at Sloan. And then, one of my other brothers came down here and he was, went to work for Titanium here in Henderson and he is retired from—after having a heart attack in 1979, no, 1977, and he was retired from the Titanium and he still lives here in Henderson. And his wife and daughter run a (unintelligible) shop in Las Vegas, and they have stock in Clown Alley. And then my—I have a, my husband’s—some of his family came out here from Kentucky. James Dennison, he works for, he’s the manager of Farmer Brother’s Coffee Company, and has been for about twenty years. And then some of his family came out here and settled in and around the Valley. My father and mother, both, are both—passed away here in Nevada and are buried out at Woodlawn Cemetery. Mother had a stroke and about three years ago and is, her and father both are buried down here, after living most their lives in Utah. My father really loved Nevada. He just felt like that Nevada was his home from the very first time that he ever come down to my place. He, other than working at Sloan, he had quite a few mining interests around and gravel and mineral rights. I UNLV University Libraries Merna Dennison 8 don’t know just what happened to all of that after he passed away, it just seemed like we never did keep track of everything that we shoulda done. But, Nevada’s been real good to us. We always made a good living in Nevada and we consider it our—our home, and I always will. Some people say, “Back home,” all the time. But I feel the only home I have is good ole’ Nevada. Okay. During the times you moved here, who were some of the public officials and state officials that you’ve seen go in to bigger and better things or lesser and worser things? Pat McCarran was senator when we first come to Nevada or along about that time, and there’d been Governor Russell and Governor Sawyer, Sheriff Ralph Lamb, and Senator Cannon, Laxalt. The airport is named after Senator Pat McCarran. Another outstanding thing that’s happened here in Nevada since we’ve lived here is the atomic testing at the Test Site. (Laughs) I remember real well how we—every morning when they set off a blast, we’d hurry and get up and get ready and ride down the road so could watch the mushroom up over the hill at Sloan. And I think Grant Sawyer was governor at that time and he, him and—he used to come out to Sloan politicking all the time. (Laughs) And we got quite well acquainted with him and with Governor Russell; he used to come out every once in a while and so they, there was quite a few of the prominent politicians at that time that was running for state offices that had come out and spent time in our home. At the—right now at the present time I can’t seem to remember all their names. But the atomic testing was an outstanding thing in the growth of Nevada. Okay. During the time you’d been here, what are some of the local businesses that have kind of faded into the sunset and who were, which ones were they, who were the owners and what did you know about ‘em? UNLV University Libraries Merna Dennison 9 The Fifth Street Drugstore has been in Las Vegas for so many, many years, I guess it’s still there. And out along the Strip there’s been so many changes, I used to know every place along the Strip, because I’d drive it some nights. But now I even get lost when I go into Las Vegas. There used to be a Round Up Drive-In that we used to go to after we’d been to a movie at the Huntridge Theater, which is now the—I think there’s a post office in there and the theater’s been closed for some time. But, and there used to be a movie theater down on Fremont Street, way down at the bottom of Fremont Street, we used to go to a movie about once a week down there and it’s gone. There’s been so many that I can’t even—and the El Rancho Vegas, it burned down, I remember when that happened and there’s been the change at the Thunderbird, it used to be and now it’s the Silver Bird. And the Last Frontier, in the beginning it was and now it is the New Frontier and there’s been so many changes along the Strip as well, and the churches, there’s been so many churches built around in the Valley. And there’s, according to what you read about Las Vegas, there’s more churches per capita in Las Vegas than many other parts of the country, there’s every denomination of church that there is that has a branch or whatever here in the Valley. They call it the Sin City, but if you look around it, there’s a lot of good in Las Vegas. And it all depends on what you’re looking for, what you’ll find. What are some of the traditions of Las Vegas or Southern Nevada that you enjoyed during your time here? (Laughs) The one thing that I remember most is the Helldorado days. It was, that is still going on each May. Back in the early days it was really something. Everybody would hurry home from work and get dressed up in their Western outfits and rush in from Sloan into Las Vegas. And—to watch the parades, which back them days, they had four days of parades. They had an old-timers parade, the children’s parade, the beauty parade, and the—let’s see, what was the other one? I UNLV University Libraries Merna Dennison 10 can’t recall right now. But I remember one year that it was so cold that during the beauty parade that it snowed a few, little bit and the poor girls on the floats they almost froze to death. And then another time it was so hot that people was passing out on the streets and back them days it seemed like more people turned out and they had a big dance that Helldorado Village, where they had a carnival and dances and just everything. It was really a fun time of the year to attend a big celebration. (Tape two) The first Helldorado that we attended was in 1942 when my daughter was just a little over two years old and we bought her a little western outfit and she really looked cute. And I can—I still recall the outfit that my husband and I had. We had matching outfits and we really went all out that year. And we attended then up till, oh, for many years until we just, it just got kinda got to where we didn’t get out anymore. But I really enjoyed all the Hellodorados that I attended. What were some of the landmarks of Las Vegas that you remember? They sold Cashman Field, which was a, you still hear it talked about and going to put a big sports complex down there, where the field used to be. We used to go to quite a few ball games down there and rodeos and we just really had a good time down there. Now my husband was involved with the young boys in little league baseball. And so, we had quite a few baseball games we attended around with them in different places: out in Goodsprings and Blue Diamond and down Needles, California and Baker, California—which we enjoyed very much and we really enjoyed all the times we had with the young people at Sloan. Do you regret the fact that the town has grown and its become more impersonal? Yes. In a way yes, because—but a city has to grow. It wouldn’t be right if it just stood still. But seemed like back in the old days, it—everyone was so friendly and you could go in a place and UNLV University Libraries Merna Dennison 11 everybody would know who you was and what you done and where you was from and everything. And nowadays, you’re just—seems like it’s more or less just, strangers, and Fremont Street used to be a—the friendliest place in the world, I believe, everybody knew you, and you’d just meet people and your friends. It just seemed like everybody was on Fremont Street during the old days. Have you ever had any thoughts about leaving this area, and for what reasons? No. I’ve lived here for so many years that this is my home and this is where I’m going to stay, right here in Henderson. Okay, thank you for your time. (Tape ends)