Louise Kirkwood interview, February 28, 1979: transcript

UNLV University Libraries Louise Kirkwood 1 An Interview with Louise Kirkwood An Oral History Conducted by Richard Probst 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 Louise Kirkwood 2 © Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas University of Nevada, Las Vegas, 2019 UNLV University Libraries Louise Kirkwood 3 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 Louise Kirkwood 4 Abstract On February 28th, 1979, collector Richard Probst interviewed Louise Kirkwood (born December 13th, 1925 in Kemmerer, Wyoming) at her residence in North Las Vegas, Nevada. In the interview, Mrs. Kirkwood discusses moving to Nevada and raising her family. She also discusses recreation in Nevada and her involvement in church activities. UNLV University Libraries Louise Kirkwood 5 Okay. Say a few words or something and check it out to make sure it’s recording. I guess I’ll stop this and see what it sounds like. Okay. Well, let’s see. I’m interviewing Louise Kirkwood. What is your address here again? Let me jot that down. Okay. 2509 Taylor. Is this North Las Vegas? North Las Vegas. Now we should get started here. Place of birth and date of birth? Okay. I was born in Kemmerer, Wyoming. K-e-m-m-e-r-e-r. And what was the date there? December 13, 1925. What was it like back in Wyoming? How long were you there? Well until, (laughs) let’s see (unintelligible) Your whole family moved out or? It was about 1952 when we left there. Yes. My husband had a job in McGill, Nevada. He was working for Kennecott. Oh, in copper? Mm-hmm. So we were—that’s the first place we moved to. McGill? Mm-hmm. Okay. You lived out there for a long time? We lived there for about a year. Then he was—they had a big layoff at Kennecott. Was this just the recent one that I had heard about or? Oh no. That was— UNLV University Libraries Louise Kirkwood 6 Earlier? I think it was about ’53, ’54 —’54 I think it was. Did the price of copper drop off like it has now, or? Yes. Back then it did. They laid off about 300 guys. He hadn’t been working for the company long enough so he was at the bottom of the list. (Laughs) Yes. Then you came to Las Vegas? So we came to Las Vegas and that’s—he put in his application at Lake Mead Base and (unintelligible) (Unintelligible) Mm-hmm. Was first starting up when he went to work there. And he does now. Are you still staying in—what is in McGill anyhow? It’s just a copper town. Okay. It’s— How big a place? North of Ely. Okay. (Unintelligible) And we lived in Ely when he worked in McGill. And then we finally got out of McGill and moved over here. And I kinda hated to leave. I liked the— Did you bring any children up in McGill or? No. We were just there for—we just had the three kids. And we were only there for about a year and a half before we came to Las Vegas. So you were bringing your family from Wyoming to McGill and then? UNLV University Libraries Louise Kirkwood 7 And then back in Las Vegas. Did you live out on the base or? Uh-uh. No, we’ve been in this house since— Since ’54? ’55, we moved in. We had a little house over on Marlin Street until our house was done. We bought the house when we came here. So (Laughs) we’ve been— Now this is in North Las Vegas. What was this like back in ’54? This must have been one of the first— This was the first section of College Park. And, well, it used to be Twenty-fifth Street, now it’s Civic Center. There was nothing here, and going up Tonopah into Bruce Street was like a cow trail. And our—my daughter went to school at the Jefferson School right around the corner of what is that street, well it’s Lake Mead and—I can’t think of the name of the street. But anyway, we’ve been out here since ’54 (unintelligible). Well, when we first moved, she went to first grade in Sunrise School. Because we moved over here from over there and I didn’t want to pull her out in the middle of the school year. I couldn’t go completely down Twenty-Fifth Street. (Unintelligible) Sunrise is way—? Yes. Sunrise is down Eastern and I’d have to go back up by (unintelligible) Las Vegas Boulevard, in other words, and go up and down Stewart to get her to school, ’cause you can’t drive on that one street. The roads just weren’t in yet? No. The roads weren’t in. Was there really a business section like we have over here (unintelligible) or at that time? UNLV University Libraries Louise Kirkwood 8 No. Not until— A shopping center or? I think it was about a year later than we moved here. When we moved in, they were just building Rancho High School. Oh (Unintelligible) Yes. How many children have you brought up in this? Five. Five? Mm-hmm. My last one went through Rancho. (Laughs) Hopefully. (Laughs) Okay. Wow, then they’ll all be gone. Yes. The other ones are gone now or? Yes. Three of them are married. And one lives in California and Cathy lives in the west side of town, and Jimmy lives in the metropolitan part, so— Okay. Just one child in the house? They’re (unintelligible). At least you still have the children in town too. Oh yes. All except my oldest one, who lives in California with her husband. What does she do there? Well, she’s working for a doctor in Glendale and he’s working as a carpenter. I can’t think of (unintelligible) in Las Vegas. (Unintelligible) UNLV University Libraries Louise Kirkwood 9 They like it. (Laughs) Yes. Of course, his folks are from here too. What is your husband doing now? Well, when they closed Lake Mead base— Well, it’s still open to some extent, right? Yes. It—they closed it as a—and then they turned it back over to the air force. See, when he was out there, it was— Was it navy or something around then? It was navy and run by the army. Yes. And there was marines. ’Cause that’s when Terry came out too. Her dad was in the army out here. Yes. She knew Ed, I mean, he knew Ed out there. Those guys have been together a while? Well, he didn’t know him real well. In fact, Ed couldn’t even remember him too well. But, when Ed retired at the base, George was at his retirement. But he worked as a carpenter out there for (unintelligible) and so when he got laid off here, they wanted to send him to Albuquerque, but the kids and I—the kids were in high school and they didn’t want to leave. And I didn’t either, so he went to the union and got a (unintelligible) for the union. Well, the union is pretty strong here in town too. Oh yes. Mm-hmm. (Unintelligible) UNLV University Libraries Louise Kirkwood 10 (Unintelligible) (Laughs) (Laughs) So he has been working steadily since then? Oh yes. He’s been working steady. Once you get acquainted with some of these contractors, you get a pretty good chance of getting on. As long as there’s construction going on. Right now he’s with Hawk Masters. Cabinet shop? (Unintelligible) He likes it, so. It’s something good to get into ’cause cabinets need to be installed too. (Laughs) That’s what they did in New York. Yes. But we raised the kids here. Well, we liked it here because we are within walking distance of the church and the school. Saint Christopher’s? Saint Christopher’s. Yes. See, when we first moved here, Saint Christopher’s wasn’t here. It was up on Las Vegas Boulevard and Owens. Oh. You know, right where the road goes. Our church was there. So, we’ve seen Saint Christopher’s being built. It started out with a hall and two classrooms, and then a church, and then they (unintelligible) classroom. (Unintelligible) You’ve seen the whole town come up around here then? Pretty much so, yes. (Laughs) (Laughs) UNLV University Libraries Louise Kirkwood 11 And of course, there were no homes up in this section at all when I moved in. It was all just mesquite and the only thing out there was J.D. Smith School. That was there and let’s see, the Ivanhoe track was built the same time as that. See, when we first came here, the houses were hard to find. Was there a housing shortage in (unintelligible)? Oh yes. It was hard to find a place to even rent when we first came here. What were houses going for back then, may I ask? Yes. We rented a little place that had been converted into a little house that used to be a garage. It was two bedrooms. The kitchen was like a hallway. (Laughs) (Laughs) And we paid $100 a month. (Unintelligible) They were, yes. (Laughs) Really seemed like a lot. Did you get into the Las Vegas sort of life, Downtown? No. As far as the gambling went, it didn’t impress us. I like Nevada because I like the company. I thought the people were really friendly. And ’course, I think we’re western people. (Laughs) Well that’s a western sort of out here. But I found this in Ely, too. You know, I thought, oh I’ll be so homesick ’cause that was the first time I’d really ever been away from my family. But, we really have made some friends here, and it wasn’t hard to make friends. They were, you know, (unintelligible). It makes you feel at home. I’ve found the same thing here. And the same here. And then of course, being so involved in the church. (Unintelligible) UNLV University Libraries Louise Kirkwood 12 Right. (Laughs) What are your church activities and what do they consist of? Well, George was parish president when the parish council first started. He was also in the charter Grand Knight when the Knights of Columbus started. And I’ve been in the women’s club, and I’ve been doing the volunteer—well, I’ve done volunteer work from the time we moved here. I’ve led the religious classes for about ten years and then I—I still work up at the rectory. I volunteer two days a week. Teaching or? No. I do the deposit for the church. All of the paperwork concerns? Mm-hmm. Okay. I’ve been doing that for six years now. (Laughs) Of course, George has been in and you know, helped a lot with the remodeling. Suppose you get roped into this carnival? Oh yes. Last year was our first bazaar we missed. (Laughs) Bazaar. That’s it. We weren’t there to put the booths up. (Laughs) (Laughs) Wasn’t that—? (Laughs) We went to Hawaii. That’s it. Those booths must be a lot of fun to work at. (Laughs) Well, as far as entertainment, we really enjoyed going out camping every three-day weekend. UNLV University Libraries Louise Kirkwood 13 I saw that. We hook on the trailer, and away we go. I saw. We love going. Just for the tape, they’ve got a nice trailer out there. What is it, a twenty-footer? It’s a twenty-two foot. Yes. Well it covers the home. Yes. We really love it. (Laughs) What do you do? Go to the lake or? Well, yeah, now, like now, we’d go out to the lake. We’d go out to Echo Bay or Vegas Wash. Then, like Memorial Day, we’d go out to Eagle Valley and then Pioche. And then we’d go up to White Pine and to Lehman Caves. I’ve never been there. That sounds (unintelligible) Oh, that’s beautiful. Where is it located? It’s, you know where well, Baker, Nevada? It’s right on the border line of Utah-Nevada. Utah? Mm-hmm. Okay. Not California. Nevada. (Laughs) I knew there was a Baker over there, but— No. This is Lehman. Okay. UNLV University Libraries Louise Kirkwood 14 It’s in White Pine County. The day is—it’s beautiful up in there. Mountains? Yes, mountains and pinion pines. Your biggest pinion pine trees up there. And George likes fishing. Nevada. And of course (unintelligible) Do you get into this too? Do you like fishing or? No. I’m not much of a— Do you get to cook it? Oh yes. Do you clean ’em? No. (Laughs) That’s a rule. They clean their own. (Laughs) What does George go hunting for? He likes to go deer hunting. Okay. And he always has, even when we were in Wyoming. ’Course Wyoming has elk. Elk country. Did he ever get any? Oh yes. Mm-hmm. Every time, I come back empty handed. (Laughs) He has lately too. (Unintelligible) Deer I’m not crazy about. Venison? I like the elk meat. (Unintelligible) He can make sausages and things I understand. UNLV University Libraries Louise Kirkwood 15 Yes. Eddie got his first deer last year. And they got some salami made, and it was real good. Just depends on how it’s prepared, I suppose. Yes. If you get an old tough buck too. As far as cooking. (Laughs) Let’s see. But we had, two of our kids were born in Las Vegas. We have two desert rats. (Laughs) You can’t call them desert rats. I’m a desert rat myself. (Laughs) The rest of them, other three were all three born in Wyoming before we left there. In fact, Jimmy was only two weeks old when we left to Ely—yes, to Ely. So this has been—you really didn’t move that much? No, we didn’t move that much, I don’t think. We were living in this house when we came here and basically (unintelligible). Born in ’55, which should be twenty, twenty-four years in May. (Unintelligible) (Unintelligible) Well, it was a long ways out, the Flamingo Hotel. Was the hotel—what part of the Strip was here when you first came here? Let’s see, I guess the Sands was the farthest one out. (Unintelligible) Let’s see, there was the Sands, the Flamingo, the Desert Inn, the Thunderbird and the Sahara Hotel, and the El Rancho Vegas was still there. We were here when that was—and then the Old Frontier. Did you ever take care to catch the shows or, what was—? UNLV University Libraries Louise Kirkwood 16 Oh, we went to a couple of shows, not too many, no. Of course, when we first came here, you’d go see a show and it would maybe cost you maybe a dollar with one drink and you’d see a great show. But we didn’t really go that much. Mainly because the kids were little and we didn’t have babysitters. (Laughs) Okay. There were no babysitters then. (Laughs) It was hard getting out. Mm-hmm. (Unintelligible) Yes, but we still don’t hit the Strip or casinos. We enjoy going out to eat here and there. Do you notice most of the people you know, that they don’t hit the hotels that much? I don’t know. I think especially now what you see are these places you can eat—go eat in a candle dark, you don’t hear that noise above you. (Laughs) Slot machines? Slot machines, and it’s real peaceful. And I like it better. Mm-hmm. And I can see why tourists would come. The enjoy it. I know when my relatives come (unintelligible) Do you get a lot of relatives coming through? Very much so. (Laughs) Your relatives or? George’s folks come. In fact, my brother was here in January, here from New York. He’s retired and he came with his motorhome. And he just parked here at the Golden Nugget, in the campground. And they really enjoyed it. (Unintelligible) In fact, they’re still on the road (unintelligible) UNLV University Libraries Louise Kirkwood 17 (Unintelligible) (Unintelligible) but they’ve been on the road since November and going to head home this month, or March, anyway. The snow will be gone by then? Hopefully. (Laughs) What do you think about the weather we’ve been having? This is—I think this is one of our coldest winters, I’ve noticed. Yes. I have to agree with this. Been very unusual. I think of all the time we’d been here, I’ve only seen it snow three times right here. You know, in the valley. But I can’t remember. (Unintelligible) Yes. It was only four weeks ago, it was raining. Mm-hmm. Yes. I don’t know if Vegas is starting to get cold or something. (Laughs) (Unintelligible) Oh yes, rightly so. It’s rough. Well, let’s see. So we touched on church activities and things. What else? It says something here about a family history or ethnic ancestry? That sounds like something (unintelligible) UNLV University Libraries Louise Kirkwood 18 (Laughs) Okay. Both my parents emigrated from Belgium. My dad was a carpenter by trade and he became a contractor in the lumber yard in Wyoming. In fact that’s when I met George. He worked for my dad (unintelligible) Oh. When he came here from Odeigne too. (Unintellligible) in fact he was working at the lumber yard when we went up to Ely. (Unintelligible) Yes. What’s (Unintelligible) (Unintelligible) Right. So that’s where my father’s from. (Unintelligible) looks like cuckoo-clock McGill. There’s a great lighthouse there. Well, it seems like this is coming back to the trends right now. Yes. Right now. I think (unintelligible). (Laughs) We’ll start rationing that gas (unintelligible). Can’t get above a dollar a gallon. That’s where all people are gonna keep seeing all the construction going on. Does your husband, does he say anything about what they expect as far as building? Uh-uh. No. But, Eddie works for a painter and he got some, I don’t know, predictions on the future that next year is going to start dropping. Construction is going to start dropping. Any idea why? I think you’d find this in like one good year every couple years won’t be so. If I had finished (unintelligible) the interest rate has gone up so high? Yes. Seems like it’s in quite a bit of demand. UNLV University Libraries Louise Kirkwood 19 I hope it does, I don’t know. I hate to see Vegas get any bigger. I liked it better when it was (unintelligible). (Unintelligible) (Unintelligible) The traffic? Traffic, yes. You could go for a Sunday ride and really enjoy it. Now, I don’t think it’s enjoyable. We tried it Sunday. (Laughs) Couldn’t get away from it, huh? It’s just too many people? Yes. I think there’s too many here, too many people in traffic. I heard they’re trying to do something about that in Boulder City now. I think that would ruin Boulder City. It’s such a beautiful place. (Laughs) Well, they’re trying, if I remember, they’re trying (unintelligible) (Unintelligible) (Unintelligible) Oh, yes. Yes. ’Cause (unintelligible) The dam was built before we (unintelligible) It started in ’32. Mm-hmm. Something like that. (Unintelligible). In fact, I was still in school. (Laughs) I learned that in my history class. Yes. That’s one of the wonders of the world right there. (Laughs) (Unintelligible) UNLV University Libraries Louise Kirkwood 20 You never used to be able to go to the lake from North Las Vegas. You always had to go by Boulder Highway. We never had a (unintelligible) (Unintelligible) Yes. Or you could make a complete loop, you know. What activities did you used to do by the lake? Just get out on the water and just camp or? Yes. Just camp or—the guys would go out fishing, or they would play cards, or go for walks. Just nice and peaceful, getting away from the hubbub. And the traffic. (Laughs) Right. There’s a lot of crazy people in this town sometimes. I don’t know. I don’t think—I think this year (unintelligible) (Unintelligible)? Uh-huh. Last year was kind of nice too. I remember three years ago we went out towards Searchlight. And the desert flowers are very (unintelligible) I’m gonna check this tape. How are we doing here? It appears I’ve done this to the end of this tape. Still rolling, but I don’t know exactly how much is on there. It started (unintelligible). (Laughs) I know. We still got another side to go. Whoa! You know, there’s no problem there. I don’t know. Maybe I ought to just hold off on this. I don’t know how high this counter has to go, you see. UNLV University Libraries Louise Kirkwood 21 It’s around 436. Now where the end of that tape is, I really don’t know. Mm-hmm. It might be at 500 and it might be less. (Laughs) At 450. Let me just stop this here and I’ll flip it over on the other side. Okay. And then we can pick up anything else in just a sec here. Okay. (Unintelligible) (Tape one ends) Let’s get the tape started here. I think it—just get past this running part of it. I should reset this. Maybe not. We’ll just let it run. Gonna pause for a drink here. (Laughs) I don’t know if there’s any way we can flag this. I kinda doubt it. This is something new, because I never really sat down and taken the time to get this all on the tape (unintelligible)— Yes. So this is something new. Where were we? You were asking me about my ancestors. Yes. We kind of got away from that. You were in a lumber yard back in Wyoming? Right. And well like you said, my dad was (unintelligible) (Unintelligible) Your dad came from Dalton is that right? Yes. He came from Dalton. And he had an uncle that was in Wyoming already, so he came up—he came to Wyoming and went to work for him as a carpenter when he got there. And then he UNLV University Libraries Louise Kirkwood 22 went back and married my mother and he brought back his whole family then. (Unintelligible) I think five brothers and a sister and her husband. Were they still all living in Dalton or? They were all in Dalton. Gosh. And they all came to Kemmerer. And they lived there the rest of their life. Still back there huh? Well my mother and dad are both dead. And I think that all my dad’s brothers are dead. (Unintelligible) not too many people up there. George still has his mother and dad. They left for a town called Diamondville, which was a mining town. It’s all coal mining up there. And it’s all about two miles apart. But his mother and dad are still alive and they live up there. And he’s retired. He used to work on the railroad. Did he retire from the railroad or? He retired from the railroad and he had a little barbershop in town. He was a barber. He tore down his barbershops so he retired from that. (Laughs) Can’t do much without a barbershop. (Unintelligible) I still have a sister and two brothers out there, and their families. And George has a—well, his sister is married to my brother. And that would be what? Cousins? (Laughs) Yes. Second cousins? (Unintelligible) I’m bad at that. UNLV University Libraries Louise Kirkwood 23 (Unintelligible) What’s it like in Wyoming as far as territory (unintelligible) country? Well, we’re from (unintelligible). We’re in the southwestern part south of Yellowstone Park, in Jacksonville. (Unintelligible) (Unintelligible) Nice in the summertime, feels too dang cold in the winter. (Laughs) It gets about forty degrees below, it’s too much. You’ve seen it forty below? Yes. (Laughs) (Unintelligible) We like it better here. (Laughs) I’ve never seen forty below. I’ve (unintelligible) where it’s forty below or one hundred and thirty in the summertime. (Laughs) Sometimes a hundred and twenty. Right. (Unintelligible) Yes. I think so too. (Unintelligible) Anything as far as property or wealth achievements? Things like that? No. (Unintelligible) years ago. (Laughs) Well, better housing— Yes. Situation (unintelligible) UNLV University Libraries Louise Kirkwood 24 Well, see, when we found our house, our house was priced at I think it was eleven thousand dollars. (Unintelligible) Mm-hmm. Any idea what it’s appraised at nowadays? Uh-uh. (Laughs) It would go for forty, forty-five? I think they have been on the street. Yes. I’m sure (unintelligible) Mm-hmm. But I’m satisfied (unintelligible). (Laughs) Eventually what we plan on doing is (unintelligible) come here in the winter and go north in the summer. (Laughs) Go north and enjoy that sort of country there. And we have benefits here. We can have (unintelligible). Is that when you’re gonna retire? Well now, I’ve been driving nuts. He’s not, well, what is he forty? Fifty-five. Fifty-five? Mm-hmm. Oh. That poor guy has gotta retire sometime. Well, he’s probably got another fifteen years to go. (Laughs) Yes. I feel a lot of people drive, you know, their spouses crazy when they retire too. (Laughs) UNLV University Libraries Louise Kirkwood 25 Well, people like working then keep at it, you know? Yes. But, you know, still working (unintelligible) Travel the states? (Unintelligible) (Unintelligible) (Unintelligible) What was that like? You had coupons? What was that like? Yes. We had the coupons. Gas (unintelligible) you could only have so many gallons a week. (Unintelligible) did you have enough to get anywhere or could you just make it back and forth to work? I can remember when I was a senior in high school. (Laughs) In order to go on our sneak day, we all brought stamps from home so we could make it and (unintelligible). We made it. Well, gas was what twenty-five, thirty cents a gallon? Something like that, yes. Now we’re at fifty-six, no, sixty-three. Yes. (Unintelligible) (Unintelligible) As far as the changes, it just changes every year in Vegas. (Unintelligible) How about the political? Do you get into that much? Political? Yes. Like with this Ralph Land business? He’s (unintelligible)? (Unintelligible) (Unintelligible) UNLV University Libraries Louise Kirkwood 26 (Unintelligible) I don’t know how long he was in office, but (unintelligible) (Unintelligible) (Unintelligible) relations of a former sheriff or something. Mm-hmm. There was all sorts of political types there (unintelligible) Oh yes. Well to do people. (Unintelligible) wedding. (Unintelligible) wedding? Yes. Mm-hmm. (Unintelligible) Big wig then? Yes. (Unintelligible) (Unintelligible) Yes. (Unintelligible) Mm-hmm. (Unintelligible) It seems like Cannon’s been in office since we’ve been here. (Laughs) U.S. senator? Yes. (Laughs) I think he’s done a lot of good for us. Did you ever get into this test site business? Uh-uh. (Unintelligible) UNLV University Libraries Louise Kirkwood 27 Yes. Yes. Of course, they were having the testings, and when we were in Ely we could feel it worse over there than here. The ground shook? Mm-hmm. In fact, George (unintelligible) you could see it from McGill, or from Ely. Wow. That was all above ground at that time? Right. Mm-hmm. That was back, I forgot when it was, back in ’53, ’54? Well, it was definitely ’53. That must have been impressive to see. I didn’t go with him because I’m afraid. (Laughs) (Laughs) They said it was quite impressive to see. I always like pictures of it to see. It was quite impressive. I can remember the shock from it. I was standing in my kitchen in the first house that we lived in Ely, was built by the railroad tracks, and we had antique furniture (unintelligible). You could just hear the floor tremble. It was like an earthquake or something. How far away were you from it? How far? Well, from Ely to Las Vegas— The test site? Mm-hmm. That’s—I’d have to take a map to see how far that would be. (Unintelligible) Over here, we’re what, a hundred and sixty? Or is it closer to sixty? What? To the test site? UNLV University Libraries Louise Kirkwood 28 To the test site? Sixty, isn’t it? (Unintelligible) Mm-hmm. Probably. And again as far as it went to Ely? Mm-hmm. Just to get a better view of things from there. Oh yes. (Unintelligible) That is something if you could see the—(Laughs) Mm-hmm. (Laughs) ’Cause he used to go any further up on (unintelligible) and see the cloud. Did it ever come toward him? (Laughs) No. (Laughs) (Unintelligible) Okay. You wouldn’t want to hang around! Let’s see, what else has been changing? (Laughs) Well there’ve been quite a few churches built since we’ve been here. I think there was a statistic where this town has more churches per capita? Mm-hmm. This is—the Catholic Church. When we came here, there was Saint Anne’s, Saint James, and Saint Christopher’s was just getting started. And, (unintelligible) parish. And let’s see Saint Anne’s, Saint James, Saint Christopher’s, and Saint Francis. There were those four. And (unintelligible) nights. We watched some great (unintelligible) from Saint Francis and Our Lady, Saint Viator’s. (Unintelligible) Was that the one (unintelligible)? (Unintelligible) Yes. UNLV University Libraries Louise Kirkwood 29 Of course, then you got Saint Peter’s. (Unintelligible) in Boulder City. (Unintelligible) in Overton, which used to be Saint Christopher’s. (Unintelligible) starting a new parish across the (unintelligible) Now wasn’t he one of the pastor’s here? Yes. And he was out in Boulder City now or? No he’s here, west of Decatur. He’s been the—let’s see, Sahara throughout the California border, I guess. (Laughs) To Jean, Nevada anyway. (Laughs) A parish? Yes. Really? That’s one of the new areas out there? Yes. I think Decatur will be part of one. (Unintelligible) Quite an expansion. This is a— (Unintelligible) Is it (unintelligible) or is it just as much a (unintelligible)? No, I think it’s been at least— Just as much development as others? Yes. I had a couple missionaries stop by this morning? Yes? (Unintelligible) (Laughs) I think everything. (Unintelligible) UNLV University Libraries Louise Kirkwood 30 (Unintelligible) (Unintelligible) No. (Unintelligible) talked a little bit about what they had. I told them I thought that they were (unintelligible) Yes. They didn’t (unintelligible) I believe in my religion, but I don’t believe (unintelligible) I don’t really know that much about what they—you know, if everything has to be their way or not? (Unintelligible) No. Well, see, George used to be a Mormon. Used to be? Uh-huh. His (unintelligible). I’m Catholic. (Unintelligible) Yes. They do. Or take care of other people or something? Yes. Yes. They have warehouses full of food for their people. They have, you know, they take care of their people. (Unintelligible) Maybe that’s why they got a year supply of food stored up somewhere. (Unintelligible) (Laughs) (Laughs) Yes. This is the one thing I had a hard time getting used to, not having a basement to put stuff in. (Laughs) UNLV University Libraries Louise Kirkwood 31 No little root cellar? ’Cause there are no basements out here. (Unintelligible) (Unintelligible)? Yes. You do? I don’t anymore, but I used to. (Laughs) (Laughs) I haven’t had any luck. I tried to garden last year and it just didn’t root. I’m gonna get started today. (Unintelligible) in the garden here. (Unintelligible) My stuff just burned off. Other plants kind of wilt. (Laughs) It’s too dry for it, I think, here. You have keep going on spritzing every once in a while. Mm-hmm. Where are you from? Well, my (unintelligible) Do you like the west? For myself, yes. I mean, lets see, this is supposed to be an interview for you (unintelligible) (Laughs) I’m just trying to converse. (Laughs) (Unintelligible) I’ve never been east. Let’s see, I’m trying to consider what part of the east I might be in. (Unintelligible) Mississippi? No. Uh-uh. Let’s see, I’ve lived in Colorado. I think that’s about as far east I’ve really been. Oh. You don’t know what the (unintelligible) community is like? No. Well I got a taste of it in Hawaii. (Unintelligible) (Laughs) UNLV University Libraries Louise Kirkwood 32 Well, I don’t think anybody wouldn’t like Hawaii. I haven’t been there myself. What’s Hawaii like? (Unintelligible) Hawaii? (Unintelligible) (Unintelligible) (Unintelligible) Yes. You know, (unintelligible) to get married. (Unintelligible) (Laughs) (Unintelligible) You sent those pictures out with the handsome man and the lady? Oh yes. Trying to (unintelligible) Took a lot of pictures? Well I enjoyed (unintelligible) I think a lot of people. I know. (Unintelligible) It was different than gambling. (Laughs) Yes. But I’m certain it’s (unintelligible) So. (Unintelligible) let’s see, (unintelligible) (Unintelligible) Then I’ll just reach over here and turn the tape off. I’ve got a couple other things that I need to fill out in regards to your background. (Unintelligible) I’ll just turn this off and (unintelligible). (Tape two ends)