Transcript of interview with Sally Halko by Roberta Farmer, March 11, 1978

UNLV University Libraries Sally Halko i An Interview with Sally Halko An Oral History Conducted by Roberta Farmer 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 Sally Halko ii © Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas University of Nevada, Las Vegas, 2018 UNLV University Libraries Sally Halko 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 Sally Halko iv Abstract On March 11, 1978, Roberta Farmer interviewed Sally Halko (born 1921 in Gowen, Oklahoma) about her life in Las Vegas, Nevada. Halko first talks about her family background, education, traveling, and church membership. She later talks about the development Las Vegas casinos, racial minorities, housing growth, Lake Mead, and the first theaters. UNLV University Libraries Sally Halko 1 Today, the narrator is Mrs. Sally Halko. The date is March 11th, 1978 at 9:34 a.m. The place, 4950 Eugene Avenue, Las Vegas, Nevada. The interviewer is Roberta Farmer of 4924 Eugene Avenue, Las Vegas. The project is A Local History Project, Oral Interview: Life of a Las Vegas Old Timer. Okay, Mrs. Halko, what is your full name and present address? Good morning. My full name is Sally Halko, and my present address is 4950 Eugene Avenue. Where were you born, and what date? I was born near Oklahoma City, Oklahoma in 1921. How many members of your family, and what are their names? Well, I had six brothers, and I was the only girl. And my parents died when I was much younger, and my brothers were, from the eldest down to the youngest, was Frank, John, Bart, Michael, Charles, and Stanley. I hope I have all six of them. (Laughs) Where were your grandparents born? Oh, my grandparents, I imagine they come from the European section, some place near Czechoslovakia, Poland, and Warsaw and through there. Is that on both sides? Yes, my mother and father. When did they come in? Well, they must have come here in the early 1900s. They settled in Oklahoma. When did you come here? To Las Vegas? Yes. UNLV University Libraries Sally Halko 2 Well, we’ve been coming here almost an average of once a month since about 1947, but we finally decided to move here in 1961. Is this with your first husband? No, that’s my second husband. Who was your first husband? My first husband, I was married to him in Chicago. His name was Frank Horace, and we had divorced, and then he had remarried, and so did I, and then shortly after that, he passed away, and I have been living with this one, second husband, about thirty-one years, and he passed away a year ago. What would you call your ethnic ancestry? Well, (unintelligible) different descent. I’m a mixture of Polish and German and I wouldn’t know exactly what you mean by ethnic— Well, what do you identify as your histories, it’s German and Polish, right? Well, I’m of European background. What kind of education have you had? Well, I just barely finished high school with going to night school, ‘cause my mother died when I was twelve, and I had to be around the house a lot, since I was the only girl. And so, I tried to help as much as I could with my six brothers for my dad. Where have you lived? Well, my school day years, most, well, I would say I’ve lived in Oklahoma as a child—don’t remember much about that—and then we moved to Ohio, and my father was a coalminer, and we lived there about three years, and then we came to Chicago, and I must have spent about twenty years in Chicago, and I’ve lived in California for a few years—I would say at least ten—and UNLV University Libraries Sally Halko 3 Hollywood, we lived in Hollywood. And then we moved here in ’61, like I said. But my school years were in Chicago, and my mother and dad both passed away in Chicago. I have some brothers still living in Chicago, and one living here. What made you decide to move here? Well, my husband loved Nevada. He liked the ghost towns, and he just loved to travel around the deserts and enjoy the lake and go fishing and go to Death Valley and stuff. So, we really enjoyed living here. It’s a dry climate, and for one, after living in Chicago and California for all those years, Nevada is such a nice dry climate that it made us all feel much better, especially my arthritis and (unintelligible) bothered us. So, I think this weather is great here; that’s why we moved here. Have you done any travelling other than just for (unintelligible)? Have you been out of the country? Not out of the country, but I’ve been travelling—when we lived in Chicago, I travelled to the Midwest to go back to Oklahoma to see what it’s like, and we also went to Pennsylvania and West Virginia, ‘cause I have relatives living there. I have an aunt and eleven cousins living there. So, every now and then we go back east. But otherwise, we just kind of stayed on the West Coast for the last, I would say, twenty-five years anyway. Have you ever held a job here? Not in Las Vegas, not a steady job. I tried—I used to work for a bank in California, and I didn’t feel too well, so when we moved here, I tried to go back to work, working for some banks over here, Nevada State Bank and a couple of others that changed their names already—that was in the early sixties—but I haven’t been well enough to work at the time, so I just never attempted to go back again. UNLV University Libraries Sally Halko 4 Have you ever received any awards or honors in your lifetime? Well, nothing to speak of, except that when I was in school, I was a very good speller, and I used to enter these spelling bee contests, and I won an award for being the best speller of my school. That sounds nice. Have your grandparents or your parents have any history of illness in your family? Well, the only thing that I know of is my father was a diabetic, and outside of that, no one else seemed to have it, out of the seven children, that I know of. And there is a little history of heart disease and high blood pressure, because I know my dad had a heart attack, and that’s how he died. My mother had gallstones or gallbladder problems, and then I guess she died from that many years ago when I was a little girl. Do you have any property in Las Vegas other than this one? In Las Vegas, or in Nevada? In Nevada. We have ten acres of land in Elko, and my son also has ten acres in Elko, and my children have property here, also, the ones that live here—Gary and Linda—and I think it’s a great place to invest in myself. And I also have a little condominium in Paradise Spa, it’s a two-bedroom apartment that I rent out that I was hoping someday I might go out there and retire. It’s located on Las Vegas Boulevard South, way down near the Henderson cutoff. What does your son do with his property, with ten acres in Elko? Well, right now, he’s just standing still. We’re hoping that something develops around there so maybe we could either resell or make an investment of some kind of maybe trade in for something closer to Las Vegas so we could keep an eye on it and maybe do something with it, ‘cause Elko is so far. It’s about, I think over 400 miles, between 400 and 500 miles. UNLV University Libraries Sally Halko 5 Was there anything expected? Well, from what I hear, it’s starting to boom over there now, so maybe we’ll get a bite on it. I’d like to buy some land in Pahrump; that’s a nice area. It’s a very good vegetation area there. They grow a lot of alfalfa. They raise—oh, they have beautiful melons and things. I have some friends living out that way, and, oh, when they bring something from out there, it just puts all the stores to shame how big everything grows—it really does. What grows there? Zucchinis, melons, and all kinds of honeydew melons and watermelons, and they taste so good—it’s so different. They have no trouble with the soil, the alkaline soil? No, Pahrump is a great area for vegetation; it’s pretty nice and green, too. Do you have any special skills or interests? Well, I play the piano a little, and I love plants, houseplants. I just practically could watch them grow in front of my eyes, and sometimes I watch them die, too. (Laughs) (Laughs) But I love to keep a nice garden. I have roses, and I have—oh, an enormous orchard in the backyard. I have all kinds of fruits; you name it, and I have it—grapes, cherries, apricots—apricots grow great here in Las Vegas, and pears, too, by the way—finally got myself a pear tree last year, but I have about seven peach trees. And you get good food there? Oh, yes, great. And figs, oh, they’re tremendous—big, black figs—and I did have so many that I just share them with all my friends and neighbors—it’s just too much for me. Do you ever have to treat the soil? UNLV University Libraries Sally Halko 6 Yes, I feed it. I mean, you know— What kind? Well, I buy the stuff that’s good for your trees and stuff. Sometimes I get this dry stuff, and sometimes I get the regular (unintelligible). Do you belong to a church or any other type of activities? I belong to the St. Francis de Sales Catholic Church here on Michael Way and Washington Boulevard; it’s up on the hill. It’s a beautiful church; it overlooks practically all of Las Vegas. And I’ve always been a Catholic, and so are my children. My two children got married here at the same church. So, activities, no, I don’t have any activities; I’ve been so busy with the house trying to keep it up since I am alone. And it’s a big piece of property, and I try my best—I’m doing a little remodeling here right now. I don’t know how it’s going to come out, but I’m trying. Do you remember any key points in your life that determined your present (unintelligible)—when did you decide to get married, or what made you decide to choose the way of life that you chose? Oh, well, I don’t know. When you’re young, it doesn’t really—you more or less go the way your heart goes. I mean, you don’t think. I guess I just fell in love, and I got married. I don’t know—it was no, really, special point, but the reason why I came out this way was because my husband’s heart was up this way, and I’m glad I did, because I sure am glad I didn’t stay in Chicago in all this miserable weather they’re having now. So, I’m very happy out here. Do you have any goals now besides your immediate (unintelligible) goals, I mean, do you have any life plans or aspirations? Well, I have a daughter living in California near San Diego, and I would like to spend a little more time with her and my three grandchildren in California, and I’d like to spend a little more UNLV University Libraries Sally Halko 7 time near the ocean and visit her and the kids. They grow up so fast, and it seems like you don’t recognize them from time to time if you don’t see them. Outside of that, I don’t know—I would like to make a trip to Europe someday. We planned to make a trip last fall; that was before my husband died, and we never made it, so if I get myself a good companion someday, maybe I will make that trip. Mrs. Halko is about five-foot? Five-foot, six. Six? Yes. She’s about— My weight? 160. 160. She has reddish-brown hair— Blonde. Blonde. She is Caucasian and quite amiable. She has consented to do this, which I am grateful for. We are going to try to talk more about her recollections on Nevada aspects that she’s been with now. Can you think of anything, since you have been here—well, first of all, how long have you been here (unintelligible)? Well, actually living here, established residence since 1961, of August, but I’ve been in and out of Vegas since the late forties when my children were very small. I remember making a trip to Hoover Dam with them, and my husband insisted on them seeing it—it was the first time we’ve ever seen it, and it was quite a nice thing to see for the children, and some went to school and some were babies. But all in all, it was something I’ve never seen before in my life, and I thought it was just great. UNLV University Libraries Sally Halko 8 What did Las Vegas look like around 1947? Well, there were a lot of vacant lots around the Strip. I don’t remember too many casinos. Do you remember a few of their names? Well, I guess it was before—there was the Frontier Casino—I believe it was not diagonally across the street from the Sahara Hotel. It burned down during, I think—I forget what year it was, but it was so many years ago, but I noticed that there were a lot of famous stars that actually had performed there. One of them was Betty Grable, I know. But there were very few—I think there was probably Sands and Sahara—and none of the new ones were up yet, like Aladdin or—I think Stardust was there, but all these new ones, of course, most of the people have seen them pop up the last ten years. But when I was here, there were very few of them. I remember the days when—I don’t know, but the laws here in Las Vegas were so funny—they were so prejudiced, I would say—they wouldn’t even allow a colored person to come and gamble in the white casinos. And they built this Moulin Rouge up on Bonanza, and that was supposed to have been strictly for the colored, but evidently, it didn’t do so well because all they used it for now is just a hotel, and I think it was when Joe Lewis, prize fighter, he sort of wanted something for the colored people because the colored people were not allowed to enter the gambling places at the time. So, since Sammy Davis, Jr. started coming here, he even had trouble; after performing on the stage, he couldn’t even get a decent room for himself, from what I understand. So, as things went by and things progressed, and I guess everything turned out for the best, and now, I guess we’re all free, white, and twenty-one, mixed and whatnot. When did you start seeing a change in the way the people around here treated the Blacks? I think—in fact, in 1960, when I used to come here—in the fifties, they were not allowed. They were allowed to work as maids and things, but they were not allowed to mix in or gamble in the UNLV University Libraries Sally Halko 9 casinos. But I imagine it was in the—the change came over, I would say, in the sixties, to where they integrated. In the forties when you came here, were coming here on and off, about how much of the population do you think there were, proportionally to the Negro people? Well, I remember when we used to come here, we used to ride the freeways, and we’d look at the signs coming into Las Vegas, and it said, “Population of Las Vegas at such-and-such time”—well, we used to laugh, we’d say, “Oh, such a small little city.” It was about 60,000—I think, in fact, when we moved here in 1961, it was about 65,000 people is all we had in Clark County area. But I imagine it was quite a bit less in the forties. And there were no freeways here, either. It just was, as you came in, it was the Old 91 coming in from L.A., and then you would just wind up right on the Strip. You couldn’t come across any other way. Did you ever look around the city at that time? Oh, yes, because we always had intentions of buying something, so my eyes were always open. We traveled around and checked the schools, and from what I understood and what I read, I used to always buy the paper and take it home and read it, and I learned a lot of things about what grew the best here at the time. I remember there was a woman here that had a picture in the paper of a pear—it was a huge pear, I would say it was bigger than a grapefruit, and she was so proud of growing such huge pears in Las Vegas, and this must have been in the early fifties. But I always had my eyes open for the churches and the schools, and they always said that Las Vegas had more churches per capita than any place in the United States. And they do have a lot of schools here, too, but people never bother to go out and look for them, ‘cause they’re such a distance away from all the casinos, and most people think that’s all there is in Las Vegas is just the casinos—“where do the people live?” they say. UNLV University Libraries Sally Halko 10 Were the houses rich looking, or were they Mexican, impoverished, or just Negro blocks, or? No, they were simple little homes when we used to come here near the Twin Lakes area—we used to like to stay at the Twin Lakes Lodge at the time. And that’s near Washington and Bonanza, and there’s a big park now, they call Lorenzi Park. And now, the homes around, they were simple little homes. A lot of homes were little block houses, but they were neat and clean, and all the residential sections were nice, and I think a lot of the old folks really were proud of their homes and they kept it up with beautiful flowers and trees and stuff like that. And of course, I don’t know what they call the Westside, they used to call Westside in the colored area, but actually, where I live now is considered the Westside. I don’t know, that should be called the east side, that’s just the way the papers got it years ago, and they just—where the colored section is and the poor section. Now, there’s a lot of little shantytown areas—till today, it’s a pity that people have to live like that. It’s a disgrace, because if anybody can ride through that area right now and see for themselves that it’s really a shame that people have to live like that. But in the areas on the outskirts of Las Vegas, generally speaking, it is beautiful. Have there been any homes torn down for tract housing or even back then that started growth? The only improvement I think the houses that have been torn down is when they get condemned and the firemen practice putting out a fire—I’ve heard of that in North Vegas, when they get condemned, the little shantytown houses that are too dangerous to live in, you know, (unintelligible) safe. But otherwise, I think they tear mostly some of the older homes to bring in the new, like big hotels or apartment houses and things like that, just to improve, and I guess the people that have a lot of money just invest, and where they could get their money back out of UNLV University Libraries Sally Halko 11 rentals and stuff. And I think it’s a good thing, ‘cause they keep it neat, and it makes the city look nicer, too. Were you here when Rancho Circle started building up into the large homes here? That hasn’t been started, I imagine, probably around the time when I first used to come here, but those homes are quite old, I imagine some of them are. But Rancho Circle was here when I started coming here. If it did sneak up on me, I don’t know when, but I’ve always remembered it. Do you remember anything about the expressway? Before they started putting that Las Vegas expressway—they changed the name so many times—coming in from Downtown, going up to Washington Boulevard is it, or to Jones—well, when they started digging over there, I remember, about three or four years back, they had taken pictures and all, there was an Indian village there at one time or something, and they also spoke of the Mormons stopping there. It’s sort of an oasis, and there was a water, like a well there or something. I thought I cut out the pictures in the paper, and I was going to save it for the history of Nevada, but right now I don’t know where it’s at. But I remember, it was a big thing, and they were going to fence it off and make a (unintelligible) place out of it just like they would for old Nevada or something like that, you know. And they may still do it someday, ‘cause they found proof of the Indians had lived there, and their families, right around, I would say, where that new shopping center is now off the freeway, the Meadows. [Audio cuts out] Okay, when you moved here from, what was it, Los Angeles? Yes. With your husband, how did you come here? UNLV University Libraries Sally Halko 12 Well, I came in on the train, and he drove in with the car with the dog and my son, and I came in on the train, ‘cause he had to take a lot of stuff in the car, his personal things and tools and things. But the day he arrived in August, it was about 118 degrees. When I got off the air conditioned railroad car, where Union Plaza stands today, was a little bitty Union Station—it wasn’t a very attractive station at all. It wasn’t even air conditioned or anything—it was just, had some swamp coolers in there. But when I got off the train, and that heat hit me, boy, I thought I was going to pass out. But today—well, I’m sorry for the interruptions—well, what I was going to say was, now where Union Plaza stands, well, we had this little Greyhound Bus station and a little bitty station for the train, but service on the train was great. We always enjoyed it, and my kids loved to ride the trains—we used to come back and forth on the trains to Las Vegas. And in fact, after we moved here, my daughter used to take the three little ones on the train, including her Chihuahua on the little basket and ride here in on a sweeper, and she enjoyed riding the trains. We sure missed the trains. However, maybe someday they will return, the Amtrak, but things have sure changed. Well, what else? Your husband, before you met him assume, you mentioned that he came here in 1930s—what were some of his impressions of this city? Well, (unintelligible) passed away since. He always spoke of wooden sidewalks—in other words, Fremont Street used to look like old Virginia City does now, which they keep up and make it look like a little city. But Las Vegas has just turned modern, and as the years went by, they just tore everything down and just re-modernized it, but he says none of the casinos that you see today were there—they were all gone. Although when I used to come here in the fifties, there used to be a club named Old Lucky’s, and there was a Westerner or Nevada Club—they’re all torn down. They had the new Nevada Club, but it was nothing like that—that was the one on UNLV University Libraries Sally Halko 13 Fremont. But he said it was nothing like it is, has been today. There’s tremendous change here in Las Vegas since the thirties and forties, naturally. And he always spoke of the dam—he worked at the Boulder Dam, and so he was quite proud of that project, seeing that he, at one time as a young man, did help put it together, and it was probably why he was passing through because he was left to the travel up this way all the time. Where did he live at that time? Well, he stayed with his sister. And that was his base. But he mostly used to ride—I hate to say this, but he used to ride here on boxcars and just travel—he got a free ride whenever he could— Was that in Boulder City? No, he’d come directly to Vegas, I guess, or somehow, and then hitch a ride to Boulder City or Lake Mead, wherever, but that’s how he used to get here is on freight trains. He always talked about it, about the days that they’d get thrown off, and then they’d make them hike through the desert and the mouths and lips and legs would swell up from the heat. And he had a terrible time as a youngster, but he just kept going, and he lived to a ripe old age at that. How old was he when he passed away? Sixty-six. When he was coming here, how did—well, actually, how did he get his job at the dam? At the dam? Well, I guess they were hiring, and he knew where they were gathering to hire young and strong, healthy men, and he just happened to be there. And I guess they must have picked him up on a bus or on a truck and just took him there to work as laborers. Just general laboring? General labor, yes. Was this in Los Angeles, where he got hired? UNLV University Libraries Sally Halko 14 No, this was here. Like I told you, he has been through here many times and must have known about the jobs that were open. And he worked wherever there was work, whether it was picking strawberries or picking lettuce or wherever, he went, and where there was work, that’s where he went during the Depression days. That was during the Depression? That was years and years ago. When you came here—or actually, when he came here, were there any residences as such during the—? Oh, yes, in the forties, and fifties, yes. Were there ranches? Ranches, yes. And beautiful ranches and nice homes. But I imagine in the twenties and thirties, it was quite barren, but like they say, a sand bowl, but slowly the people moved in. And there were quite a few old timers here, like Ronzonis and Von Tobels—and they still, the name carries on in their children and grandchildren. Did you know any of these people? Well, I didn’t know them personally, but I did meet the people, and I did know them personally, and I remember Rex Bell was, when he first moved here, I think he was the one that was married to Clara Bow, that movie star, the It Girl. And his son—in fact, he was running for something here recently in politics. He is a very good-looking son, Rex Bell and Clara Bow. I think Rex Bell, during one of his political years, he was running for something over here, I forget whether it was the governor or what, but he had passed away—we sure missed him because he was a nice, strong healthy man. We thought he’d go a long way here in Las Vegas, but I think maybe his son will probably do what his father wanted to do. UNLV University Libraries Sally Halko 15 Do you remember his son’s name? Is this in—? No, he’s pretty well-known here. I think it’s, he must be carrying—unless it’s a movie name—but I met his son here several times, and we discussed things about his father, I think it’s Bell, his last name, but he’s a politician. He’s been running for something. He’s a tall, handsome blonde man. When you first arrived here, can you describe his station and the Strip? The streets? The streets, mostly. Well— Were they dirt? No, not in sixties. There was quite an improvement in the sixties; they had a lot of nice, new tract homes here. In fact, we bought a home in 1961, beautiful four-bedroom home, which we sold to my husband’s niece and is still standing on Alta near Fletcher Jones there, near Decatur, and it’s a beautiful home. The sixties, they had many, many tracts. In fact, they overbuilt at that time, and then a lot of those homes were under foreclosure because they had just built too many all at once. But I imagine—when I used to come here in the forties, it was mostly just the Strip, and we used to stay at the smallest hotels and motels, which were available, where they took children and the dog, and we never stayed at any of the bigger casinos with the children, because we liked to be on the ground floor and have our car parked right close to window where we would get to the car and then out. It was more convenient for us at that time. When your husband was here, did he mention, were the streets paved yet, or? Oh, when he was— You mentioned the board sidewalks. UNLV University Libraries Sally Halko 16 Yes, that was Downtown—well, naturally, you know, Downtown Fremont had just board sidewalks and just little shanty businesses and saloons and gambling inside, but it was mostly just dirt roads all around. I don’t think he said much about streets being paved very well because, what would they pave the streets for when there weren’t too many people living here at the time, and the taxes weren’t that high to pay for everything. When was the majority of the casino building started, was it in the mid-sixties or later? Oh, I would say good in the mid-sixties, yes. The biggest part, the big ones. Big name talents were coming in before that, though? Oh, yes. Even before we moved here, I remember a lot of stars used to come here. Strictly for the gambling, or for shows? No, there was always shows. Just, they were on a smaller scale. Naturally, they weren’t paid near as much as they’re being paid now, but there was shows here and there was quite a bit of activity, but they were in the smaller casinos. Like, Silver Slipper, they have always had entertainment there. They had, mostly it was burlesque shows, but Tropicana and Stardust—they’ve been there—and Sahara—they’ve always had pretty nice shows. When you were travelling around at this area after you had gotten here, did you use to use the trains also? When we travelled? Or did you use, what roads? Oh when we used to come here, you mean? Well, in Nevada. Oh, no— When you travelled in Nevada? UNLV University Libraries Sally Halko 17 No, Nevada trains wouldn’t take you anywhere except to Barstow or towards L.A. or to Utah, as far as I remember. We did most of our travelling by car. We’d go to Red Rock Canyon or Bonnie Springs or Pahrump in to that area, Blue Diamond, and the kids loved to explore and hike and stuff. In the wintertime, we’d go to the mountains where the snow is, and that’s just about thirty-five miles from here to Lee’s Canyon. And we wouldn’t go too much further past there because then it’s kind of a dull ride towards Beatty and towards Mercury, so didn’t find it very interesting for ourselves. Did you ever go up to Tahoe? Oh, yes. We went to Tahoe—in fact, about two years ago, my husband and myself, we had the most boring ride doing down past Mercury, Beatty, and Tonopah and all the way through there. I think it would be much nicer to ride through California, actually, ‘cause it’s so barren. You don’t see anything for miles and miles and miles, no gas stations or anything. Did your husband have any mining interests, or? Yes, he spoke of mining all the time. He always had high hopes of someday discovering some gold or silver—he’d be wandering around. He was a great fisherman. He used to fish and awful lot in the lakes over here in Eldorado Canyon. Just before—it’s a wonder he wasn’t caught in that flash flood, ‘cause he used to love to go there and just spend hours and hours with a friend or by himself just fishing and—I guess that was at Eldorado Canyon when they had that flash flood and it killed so many people. I imagine it was about four years ago. And he says, “Boy, it’s a wonder that he wasn’t there that weekend. He probably would have been wiped out with it.” But it took some house trailers down into the lake, and the boats that went in there. I suppose most of the people—might look up in the records—they could see, remember when that happened. When he first came here, did he ever mention what he used to catch? UNLV University Libraries Sally Halko 18 Oh, he’d catch bass, trout, oh he’d catch most anything that was in season. He used to be a shore fisher; he’d go into the coves and to the tiniest and toughest spots to get into, he’d hike down the hill, as old as he was even for his age, even until he died, he’d park someplace and he’d find himself a cove and just sit there and fish. And if he didn’t catch enough, he’d give it to some people, and if he’d catch enough, he’d bring them home. Did he do this in his younger days, in the thirties? Yes, he used to fish a lot. Did they change—did his catch change over the years, or did they stock the lake, or what? Well, each year is different, it seems like. Some years were good, and some weren’t, and I imagine they do stock the lake for different fish, because they’ve gotta come from somewhere. But especially out Lake Mead, since it’s a manmade lake. But there were times he was disappointed he didn’t catch anything, and then there were times when he’d be very happy—I have some pictures of him with some beautiful fish, and in my backyard, he’d just lay them out in the lawn, and I’d take a picture of them, or he’d hold them on a string. I know people who are now fishing; they like it very much. I understand this year is very good for fishing. My children love to water ski; my daughter had that boat there for a few years, and my husband, and they sure enjoy wa