Alice Foley Yarish interview, August 31, 1993: transcript

An IMstvlsw wHh AllGE FOLEY YAFMSM

An Oral History conducted and edited by Robert D. McCracken

Esmeralda County History Project Esmeralda County, Nevada

Goldfield 1993

COPYRIGHT 1993 Esmeralda County History Project Esmeralda County Commissioners Goldfield, Nevada
89013

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CONTENTS

Preface v Acknowledgments vii Introduction jjx

CHAPTER ONE 1 Alice Yarish's parents, Thomas and Alice Dean Foley — their

meeting in Chicago, marriage and a move to Goldfield in 1906; Alice's mother, the first woman to practice law in Nevada; women who went to Goldfield to obtain a divorce in the early years of the 1900s; Alice Dean's father, a second-generation newspaper­ man; the Foleys move to Redondo Beach in 1918 after gold mining collapses in Goldfield; Alice's half-brother, Roger T. Foley, and his sons — a distinguished Nevada family; how Thomas Foley earned his law degree; the story of a long-lost cane; memories of old-time Goldfield — a burro named Smoky, the Goldfield School and poker chips from Tex Rickard.

CHAPTER TWO 13 Alice's memories of schools she attended in Goldfield and elsewhere; the wonderful Hassfurter family of Los Angeles; a happy childhood filled with travel; disassembling a Goldfield building and moving it to Redondo Beach; a childhood with a loving and tolerant father; Alice's teen years in Redondo Beach

— a clash between generations; remembering Goldfield residents; Thomas Foley's law practice in Goldfield.

CHAPTER THREE 25 An editorial in praise of Roger Foley; Alice recalls former social attitudes concerning marrying outside one's religion; Alice's parents' attitudes toward the Goldfield labor strike;

a trip to Ireland; schools and childhood activities in Goldfield in the years before 1920; a wcman's work and social life in the early 1900s; the red-light district in Goldfield; on the ethnic makeup of Goldfield before 1920.

CHAPTER FOUR 38 Clothing and women's hairstyles and makeup in the early decades
of the twentieth century; how wcmen began smoking during Prohibition; further remarks on clothing; memories of Redondo Beach in the 1920s, and the Foleys' farm there; the discovery

of oil at the Redondo Beach farm; Alice's college days at USC, and a dear friend she met there.

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CHAPTER FIVE

Alice s friend, Paul Drnkins; Alice is one of a small number of

women attending law school; marriage to Pete Yarish and their

subsequent divorce; Alice raises her children and creates a

successful career as a journalist, beginning with the P.T.A.;

Alice's children; Thomas Foley's last days; thoughts on a feminist mother.

INDEX

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PREFACE

The Esmeralda County History Project (ECHP) engages in interviewing people who can provide firsthand descriptions of the individuals, events, and places that give history its substance. The products of this research are the tapes of the interviews and their transcriptions.

The ECHP is one component of the Esmeralda County program to determine the socioeconomic impact of a federal proposal to build a high-level nuclear wasterepositoryinsouthernNyeCounty,Nevada. Therepository,which would be inside Yucca Mountain, would be the nation's first, and possibly only, permanent disposal site for high-level radioactive waste. The Esmeralda County Board of County Commissioners initiated the ECHP in 1993 in order to collect information on the origin, history, traditions, and

quality of life of Esmeralda County communities that may be impacted by the repository. The ECHP provides the framework for subsequent studies of social organization, social attitudes, and behavior effects caused by the development of the repository at Yucca Mountain and by the transportation of nuclear waste through Esmeralda County. The information collected by the ECHP will remain a source of interest for hundreds, possibly thousands, of

years to come, providing future generations with information concerning the people who once resided in Esmeralda County.

Inthemselves,oralhistoryinterviewsarenothistory. However,they often contain valuable primary source material, which is as useful in the process of historiography as the written sources to which historians have customarily turned. Verifying the accuracy of all of the statements made

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in the course of an interview would require more time and money than the ECHP'soperatingbudgetpermits. Theprogramcanvouchthatthestatements weremade,butitcannotattestthattheyarefreeoferror. Accordingly, oral histories should be read with the same prudence that the reader exercises when consulting government records, newspaper accounts, diaries, and other sources of historical information.

It is the policy of the ECHP to produce transcripts that are as close

to verbatim as possible, but some alteration of the text is generally both

unavoidableanddesirable. Whenhumanspeechiscapturedinprintthe

result can be a morass of tangled syntax, false starts, and incomplete

sentences,sometimesvergingonincoherence. Thetypefontcontainsno

symbols for the physical gestures and the diverse vocal modulations that are

integralpartsofcommunicationthroughspeech. Experienceshowsthat

totally verbatim transcripts are often largely unreadable and therefore a

waste of the resources expended in their production. While keeping

alterations to a minimum the ECHP will, in preparing a text:

1. generally delete false starts, redundancies and the uhs, ahs, and other noises with which speech is often sprinkled;

2. occasionally compress language that would be confusing to the reader in unaltered form;

3. rarely shift a portion of a transcript to place it in its proper context;

4. enclose in [brackets] explanatory information or words that were not uttered but have been added to render the, text intelligible; and

5. make every effort to correctly spell the names of all individuals and places, recognizing that an occasional word may be misspelled because no authoritative source- on its correct spelling was found.

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ACKtCWIEDGMENTS

As project director, I would like to express my deep appreciation to thosewhoparticipatedintheEsmeraldaCountyHistoryProject(ECHP). It was an honor and a privilege to have the opportunity to obtain oral histories from so many wonderful individuals. I was welcomed into the hemes

°f 911 participants and allowed to share in their recollections of local history. IthanktheresidentsthroughoutEsmeraldaCountyandNevadaand beyond — too numerous to mention by name — who provided assistance, information, and photographs. They helped make the successful completion of this project possible.

Appreciation goes to the Esmeralda County commissioners who initiated this project and whose continued support made it possible: Chairman Wade Barton, Virginia Ridgway, and Joyce Hartman. In addition to her responsibilities as a conmissioner, Virginia Ridgway provided greatly appreciated support and guidance in locating a number of individuals who were interviewed. Thanks also go to Juanita Hoffman, program director and administrator of the Esmeralda County Repository Oversight Program, who provided administrative support and helpful advice throughout the project. This project would never have become a reality without the enthusiastic assistance of the Esmeralda County commissioners and Juanita Hoffman.

Jean Charney served as administrative assistant, editor, and typist throughout the project. Her services have been indispensable. Transcribing, data entry, editorial services, and indexing were also provided by Sasha Charney, Bobette Host, Adam Karpel, Karen Mason, Connie

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Oehring,MaryPalmer,EdythePorpa,andElizabethTcwnsend. ConnieOehring, Edythe Porpa, and Rose Strassberg shouldered the task of proofreading the oralhistories. BambiMoCrackenMetscherassistedinnumeroussecretarial and clerical duties. Phillip Earl of the Nevada Historical Society contributedvaluablesupportandcriticismthroughouttheproject. Much deserved thanks are extended to all these persons.

All material for the ECHP was prepared with the support of a U.S. Department of Energy grant to Esmeralda County for oversight of the nuclear waste repository project at Yucca Mountain. However, any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recorrmendations expressed herein are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of DOE or Esmeralda County.

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— Robert D. MoCracken Las Vegas, Nevada December 1993

INTRODUCTION

Historians generally consider the year 1890 as the close of the Americanfrontier. Bythen,mostofthewesternUnitedStateshadbeen settled, ranches and farms developed, communities established, and roads and railroads constructed. The mining bocmtcwns, based on the lure of overnight riches frcm newly developed lodes, and the settlement of most of the suitable farmland were but a memory.

Yet, even in the 1990s, the spirit of the American frontier can still be found in Esmeralda County, Nevada, in the attitudes, values, lifestyles, and memories of area residents.

Esmeralda County was established by an act of the Territorial LegislatureofNevadaonNovember23,1861. Thefirstboomcampinthe county, Aurora, named after the goddess of dawn of classical mythology, mushroomed into existence in the early 1860s with a population of at least 5000. ThenameEsmeralda,Spanishfor"emerald,"wasprovidedbyamember of the party that made the initial discovery at Aurora; the individual probably had seme beauty in mind — the term was then a common name for girls

withgreeneyes. DiscoveriesatAurorawerefollowedbyothersatColumbus (1864), Red Mountain/Silver Peak (1864), Gold Mountain (1866), Palmetto (1866), Montezuma (1867), Oneota (1870), Sylvania (1870), and Lida Valley (1871). Goldfield,whichsprangtolifein1902,wasthelastgreatmining camp of the American West, and one of the greatest gold camps in the history oftheworld. AlongwithTonopah(1900)andRhyolite(1904),itstwosister boomtewns, and several score of smaller, shorter-lived daughter camps

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located on the central Nevada desert, Goldfield was the last magnificent flowering of the American frontier.

Between 1903 and 1942, Goldfield produced approximately 7.7 million tons of ore containing more than 4.1 million ounces of gold and over 1.4 million ounces of silver, worth $90 million, mostly when gold was priced at $20perounce. Goldfield'sglorydayswerefromabout1904untilthetime of World War I. After approximately 1918, mine production declined to a fraction of what it had been, yet the town lived on. It survived a terrible flash flood in 1913 and a catastrophic fire in 1923 that wiped out a

substantial proportion of the town — at least 33 square blocks, by some old- timers estimates. Another fire in 1924 nearly applied the coup de grace to the grand lady, but still she persevered.

Much has been written concerning Goldfield's prosperous years, but relatively less material is available on the town and its people from the decades following the end of World War I. Much of the history of Esmeralda County is stored in the memories of individuals who are still living.

Aware of Esmeralda County's close ties to the land and our nation's frontier past, and the scarcity of written sources on local history after 1920, the Esmeralda County commissioners initiated the Esmeralda County History Project (ECHP). The ECHP is an effort to systematically collect and preserve the history of Esmeralda County. The centerpiece of the ECHP is a set of interviews conducted with individuals who had knowledge of local

history. Eachinterviewwasrecorded,transcribed,andtheneditedlightly topreservethelanguageandspeechpatternsofthoseinterviewed. Alloral history interviews have been printed on acid-free paper and bound and archived in Esmeralda County libraries, Special Collections in the James R. x

Dickinson Library at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas, and at other archival sites located throughout Nevada.

The interviews vary in length and detail, but together they form an unprecedented composite of life in Esmeralda County after 1920. These interviews can be compared to a bouquet: Each flower in the bouquet is unxque — seme are large, others are small — yet each adds to the total image. Insum,theinterviewsprovideaviewofcountyhistorythatreveals the flow of life and events for a part of Nevada's past that has heretofore been largely neglected by historians.

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- RIM

This is Robert MoCracken talking to Alice Yarish at her residence in Mill Valley, California, August 31, 1993.

CHAPTER ONE

RM* Alice,whydon'twestartwithyoutellingmeyournameasitreads on your birth certificate?

AliceD'AltonFoley. D'Altonwasmygreat-grandmother'sfamily name.

RM: Whenandwherewereyouborn?
AY: IwasborninGoldfield,Nevada,April25,1909.I'mnow84.

RM: Now,tellmeyourfather'snameandhisbirthdate,ifyouknowit. AY: Wellhewas53whenIwasborn.
RM: Whatwashisnameandwherewasheborn?
AY: HewasThomasL.Foley,andhewasborninNewYorkstate,in Syracuse, in approximately 1856.

RM: Whatwasyourmother'smaidenname?
AY: Her name was Alice Dean. She was born and brought up in South Haven, Michigan.
RM: Doyouknow-whatherbirthdatewas?
AY: January20.[Idon'tknowtheyear.]
RM: Shewasyoungerthanyourfather?
AY: Yes, 20 years younger. That created quite a stir in the family becauseshewasaProtestantandhewasawidowedCatholic. Sothe Catholics had thought that this young Protestant woman was imposing on him. Butactuallyhewascrazyabouther.

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RM: Wheredidtheymeet?

They met in Chicago. My mother left hone in South Haven to go to Chicago and got a job on a newspaper because at hare in South Haven, she had worked for her father's newspaper, which was the South Haven

Messenger. SheworkedatalegalnewspaperinChicagoandshemetmy father, who was a lawyer in Chicago, having gone there from Sioux City, Iowa, where he was a municipal judge. In Chicago, he was associated with his brother James, who was associated with Clarence Darrow.

Well, anyway, he met my mother. He thought she was very smart. In those days, you didn't have to go to law school; you could read law in lawyer s offices. So he invited her to read law in his office and a romance ensued. Meantime, his wife had died in Arizona, where she'd been sentfortuberculosis. SotheycameouttoNevadaandtheymarriedin 1906. TheywenttoGoldfieldbecauseatthattimeGoldfieldwasahot spot of the universe as far as gold mining was concerned.
RM: Whatyeardidtheygetthere?
AY: In1906. Goldhadbeendiscoveredin1902,andIwasbornin1909. My mother was the first woman to practice law in Nevada. It was a very

colorful,wonderfulplacetobe. Westayedthereuntil1918whenthegold had run out and everybody left town because there were no more jobs. Goldfield became a ghost town. It would now be one if it were not for the fact that it's the county seat. The courthouse maintains all the governmental functions of the county, but otherwise it would be a goner. RM: Tell me a little bit about your parents' practice of law in

Goldfield.
AY: Well,hehadalotofEasternclients.Mymotherhadalotofrich

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women clients who came from the East to have divorces, because even then, in 1906, Nevada's divorce residence rule was only 6 months, and that was theshortestinthecountry. Soshegotalotofladyclientswhocame out for divorces. My dad handled an awful lot of corporate matters; he representedgoldmineinterestsandinvestorsalloverthecountry. I'm wearing a necklace . . .

RM: You'rewearingasquash-blossomnecklace,right?
AY: Yes,aNavajonecklacemymothergotasafeeinGoldfieldfor representingsomeIndiansinalandcase. Theyhadnomoneyandthey asked her if she would accept this as a fee.
RM: It'sthesamenecklaceyou'rewearinginyourpicturehere.
AY: Yes. [Laughs] It'sapricelessthing,becauseitwasmadebefore Indiansmadejewelrycommercially. Itwasthechief'snecklaceandthe Indians made them for just tribal purposes.
RM: WeretheIndianssherepresentedNavajoes?
AY: No,Idon'tthinktheywereNavajoes.ButthenecklacewasNavajo because they used jewelry as a means of exchange. So the Nevada Indians had cone across this chief's necklace. It's now, I'm told, priceless. I

met a guy at an Indian fair recently and he came up and said, "I'll give you $4,000 for that right here, now."

Isaid,"Well,I'dhavetothinkitover." SoItalkedtomy jeweler friend and he said he'd take it and he'd sell it for $10,000, and [the next] guy would sell it for $20,000 and [the next] guy would sell it

for how much we don't know.
RM: Soit'sthatvaluable?
AY: Yes.Hesaiditwaspriceless.Iloveit.

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RM: Oh,it'sbeautiful. WhatelsedoyouknowaboutNevadabeingasort

ofameccafordivorcesthenandpeoplecomingtoGoldfield? Ididn't know that.

AY: Oh,yes. Itwaswaybackthenbecauseofthe6monthsresidence law,whichlaterwasreducedto6weeks. Butthatbroughtalotof business to Goldfield.

RM: Didshemainlyrepresentwcmen,orwasitmentoo?
AY: Mostofherclientswerewcmen.ThereasonIknewthatisbecause they often paid her off in jewelry. She had seme beautiful Tiffany pieces and things of that sort. I still have a few of them. I gave my adopted daughter a beautiful Tiffany pin. It was priceless. It was called a sunburst, a design that was very popular at one time.
RM: WheredidtheystayinGoldfield? Atthehotelthere?
AY: Yes. TheGoldfieldHotelwastheboardinghouseforall[women seekingdivorce]. Theyhadalovelydiningrocm. Irememberthefloorof the dining rocm was little black and white tiles. We used to entertain there—myparentsusedtotakegueststhere,too. Wewentoccasionally. But that's where they stayed.

My father's best friend had a client — one of his friends — who <-amp out frcm Chicago to get a divorce frcm his wife, because he wanted to marryanotherwoman. Hehadthewifeccmeoutandestablishresidenceand my dad introduced one of his good friends to her as her attorney, and she wound up marrying her attorney! [Laughter]
RM: That'sfunny.Sotheywouldhavetostayintown6months?
AY: Yes, they would. And they formed a little social group. They played a lot of bridge. My mother and father were great bridge players.

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They were tournament players and they played with all the big shots, you know. So they played bridge a lot.

RM: Tellmealittleaboutyourmother'supbringingandherbackground.

AY: Well,rnymotherwasoneof4daughtersborntoDr.QrinA.Dean.

She went to high school in South Haven and was extremely good in English

and writing, so when she graduated from high school, she went to work for

herfather'snewspaper. Healsoownedthenewspaper,ofwhichhewas editor.

RM: Hewasaphysicianandaneditor?
AY: Yes. Hedroppedhismedicalpractice,exceptforafewpeople,to takeupwriting. SoI'mreallyafourthgenerationofnewspaperpeoplein our family, because iry grandfather's father - my great-grandfather - had bought the paper originally. He had been a Baptist minister. Then he bought the Messenger. When he died, he left the Messenger to my grandfather,OrinA.Dean. Mymotherwenttoworkthereandthento Chicago. Infact,myfirstjournalismlessonswereatnymother'sknee. My mother taught me enough journalism that I was able to get a job on a newspaper when I was about 19.
RM: WherewastheMessenger,again?
AY: ItwasinSouthHaven,Michigan.Ihavealotofpictures,yousee.

That framed one up there is my grandfather's discharge papers frcm the Civil War. That's very rare; you won't find that any place. This is the family heme in South Haven. So ny mother went to Chicago, fell in love with my father and they wound up in Goldfield until the gold ran out. ThentheymovedtoCaliforniaandboughtalittleranch. Andmyfather

was going broke on the ranch.

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RM: Wherewastheranch?

AY. Outside of Redondo Beach. He found that ranching was far too difficult for him because he had bad legs - phlebitis in one and varicose veins in the other. He was going broke and about to lose the ranch. We were facing disaster when we struck oil on the place. So we all got rich again. [Chuckles] My dad opened a new office in Los Angeles. So that turned out all right. I graduated frcm high school in Redondo Beach and

went to USC, University of Southern California, and I studied law for 2 years.

In 1910, my dad's son and daughter by his first wife, who had died, cametoGoldfield. ThatsonwasRogerT.Foley,thedistinguishedjurist wholaterbecamechieffederaljudgefortheninthdistrict. BrotherRod had 5 boys, all of whom are attorneys, all of whom live in Las Vegas at this time, all of whem have been in politics. One was the attorney general.

RM: Whatwashisname?
AY: RogerD.Foley. Hewasmybrother'soldestson. Helatersucceeded raybrotheronthefederalcourt. JoeisontheBoardofRegentsofthe university. Johnnywasaformerstatesenatorandranforgovernorbut failed. TernisontheClarkCountySuperiorCourt. Roger'sretirednow. RM: Sothey'reaveryprominentfamily.

AY: Oh,yes. Myothernephew,George,isthecutestone. He'sthebad boy of the [family]. [Laughs] He and I sort of get along together. RM: Howmanychildrendidyourfatherhavebyyourmother?
AY: I'mtheonlyone.

RM: Soyouwerethebabyofthefamily?

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AY: Yes. Roger's5sonshad25childrenamongthem. RM: Soit'sabigoutfit?

AY: Yes. Manyofthemareattorneys,too.

RM. Yourfather'sfirstfamilywasgrownbythetimehemarriedyour mother, weren't they?

AY: Yes. Hissonanddaughterneveracceptedmymother. Shewasa

wonderful lady, but they resented her being so young and being a

Protestant. Itkindofmadeherlifemiserableaftertheycameto Goldfield.

RM: That'stoobad.Tellmeaboutyourfather'searlylife.
AY: Hewastheyoungestsonof5childrenofTimothyandBridgetFoley, who had fled from Ireland in the Potato Famine of 1853. All of his siblings were born in Ireland except himself; he was born in New York. RM: Whatdidhisfatherdoforaliving?
AY: Hewasafarmmanager.Hewouldtakeoverlargefarmsandmanage

them. That'swhenmyfathergothisfarmingexperienceasaboy. Sowhen he was about 19, he wanted to get away frcm the farming and he wanted to getawayfromPecatonica. TheyhadmovedtoPecatonica,Illinois,andDad wasfrustrated. SohegotonafreighttrainandrodetherodsintoSioux

City,Iowa. Hegotajobwithinafewdaysastheofficecleanerand errand boy for a well-known firm - Flynn and something.
RM: Itwasalawfirm?
AY: Yes. Andtheythoughthewassobright,theylikedhimsowell,

that they had him read law in their office. So he became a lawyer working for those men and they maintained their friendship for the rest of his life. Theyfinallytalkedhimintorunningforcityalderman,andhewas 7

elected. Thenheranformunicipaljudgeafterseveralyears. Bythat

toiriehehadmadehimselfverypopular. Hewasanextremelycharming, witty, bright guy.

RM: Describehimphysically.

AY: Hewasafatman.Hehad2badlegs-onelegwasswollenallthe way from his ankle up to his hip. He had to have his suits tailored in ordertofitthatleg. Ineversawhimbeforehehadwhitehairandwas partially bald - or should I call him folically disadvantaged? [Laughter] RM: That'sagoodone.Politicallycorrect.

AY: I'mchronologicallygifted.

RM: I thought of one the other day — temporally disadvantaged. [Laughter] Folically disadvantaged is a good one. I'm folically disadvantaged.

AY: Buthewasaverycharming,wittymanandmadelotsoffriends. RM: Howtallwashe?
AY: Fivefeetten.
RM: Faircomplexion?

AY: Yes.
RM: Didhehaveredhairasayouth?
AY: Itwasbrown.
RM: Blueeyes?
AY: Yes. He was a lot of fun. I wish to heaven we'd had tape recordings in those days because he said so many funny things — they would have been wonderful to tape.
RM: SohewasamunicipaljudgeinSiouxCity?

AY: Yes.

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RM: Andhehadprobablymarriedthere?

AY: Yes. HisfirstwifewasMaryMeNamara. She'stheonewhogot tuberculosisanddied. Ihavesomethingtoshowyou.

[Tape is turned off for a while.]

RM: You'veshowedmeyourfather'scane,whichhasasolidgoldheadon it inscribed with "T. L. Foley, Sioux City." It's a beautiful thing. AY: Well,there'sagreatstorytoit. ThecanedisappearedandDad came West without it. It had disappeared in Chicago. Thirty-five years wentby. Meantime,Ihadgraduatedfromcollegeandgonetolawschool, and I was working as a clerk in his office. One day a man came in — a

funny-looking old guy with a walrus mustache — and said, "I want to see Judge Foley."

I said, "Well, may I tell him who's calling?" I went in and told him that there was this man. He jumped up and came running out in the receptionroomandtheyshookhandsandpattedeachotherlikemad. Then this guy reached in his pocket and brought out this much of the cane. RM: About6inchesofthetoppart.

AY: Yes,andsaid,"Ibroughtyouthis." HewasamanwhohadknownDad inChicago. He'dbeencomingtoLosAngelestovisithisdaughterandhe had heard that old Judge Foley was in Los Angeles now. He was walking along the street one day and he saw this cane head in a hock shop in Chicago. So he went in and bought it because he was coming West. He came inandgavethatbacktomydad35yearsafter. Isn'tthatagreatstory? RM: Yes. Now,whenapersonreadlawinthosedays,howlongdidit take?

AY: Idon'tknowthat.Ofcourse,lawschoolnewisa3-yearterm.I 9

guess it took long enough till you learned enough stuff to [practice].

RM: Itwasprobablyon-the-jobtraining,wasn'tit? Anapprenticeship, really?

AY: Yes,exactly.Itwouldtakevarious[times].Mymothermusthave

been very quick. She knew him less than 3 years before they were married and she became a lawyer.

RM: Thentheytookthebarexam—whentheyfinishedtheirapprentice­ ship?

AY: Yes.

RM: Yourfolksthengotmarried?DidtheygostraighttoNevadafrom Chicago?

AY: Yes.
RM: HowdidtheyhearaboutGoldfield?
AY: I never asked. They just thought, "Here's a hot spot. Let's go there. We're not wanted here." The families were upset with them, so they just took off.
RM: Andtheywentwiththeintentionofpracticinglawthere?
AY: Yes. My father had a lot of financial clients and corporate

clients, and they were interested in gold. They wanted somebody to represent them out there, so he had jobs lined up before he got there. RM: Doyourecallanystoriesyourfatherormothertoldaboutlifein Goldfield before you were born, when they first got there?

AY: Well,therewasnoautomobilestospeakof. Mymotherhadoneof the first automobiles in Goldfield. She was probably the first woman who ever drove an automobile in Goldfield. Burros ranged free in Goldfield. If you needed a burro to carry something for you, you went out in the 10

street and whistled or held out something to eat, and the burro would cote

andyoucouldjustuseitforaslongasyouwanted. Youweresupposedto

feed it and see it had plenty to drink, then you just turned it loose again.

There was a famous burro there named Smoky, and he had a split ear and a terrible disposition. He was temperamentally disadvantaged.

[Laughter] He roamed the streets. The guys used to love him and they used to take him into the oars downtown and feed him buckets of beer. Well, one day he was in our neighborhood and my mother had made a dozen cupcakes. Shewashavingabridgepartythenextdayandshewasgoingto serve thesechocolatecupcakes. IsawSmokyoutinthebackyardandI took the cupcakes out there and fed them to him. [Tighter]

We had a very nice school and my sister, who cane out from the East with my brother, was a schoolteacher. She was my first grade teacher. RM: That'snice.Whatschooldidyougoto?
AY: IthinkitwascalledtheGoldfieldSchool.Iwasupthereforiry eightieth birthday and my son Tim took a photo of the cornerstone at Goldfield School, 1908. I have it.

Anyway,mymotherwasverypopularwiththeladiessocially. Allof the best ladies played bridge. They all had bridge luncheons; there was oneonceaweek. Shewasalwaysofftothose. Oh,oneofthemost interestingthingsisrighthereinfrontofyou. Didyoueverhearof this?
EM: You'reshowingmethepokerchips.
AY: TexRickard's.
RM: TexRickard'spokerchips.

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AY: WhenheleftGoldfield,hegavemyfatherahalfagunnysackfullof

poker chips. This is all he had left. But you'll never see chips like those anyplace.

RM: No* They'rewonderful. Soyou'vegotachipholderandawhole bunch of chips of different colors and designs frcm Goldfield.
AY: Yes. TexRickardrantheGreatNorthernSaloonthere,whichwasthe biggestgamblinghallandsalooninGoldfield. In1909,theyhadthe worldchampionshiplightweighttitlefightthere— Gans-Nelson. Jack Denpsey came there to fight in the preliminaries, and Tex Rickard was very muchtakenwithhim. Hethought,"Boy,thisguy'sgotsomething." So

what he decided to do was sell his saloon and take Dempsey to New York and promotehim. ThenTexRickard,afterhehadtakencareoftheDempsey career,becamethemanagerofMadisonSquareGardeninNewYork. Anyway, I just treasure these chips.

RM: Oh,yes. They'rewonderful.

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CHAPTER TWO

What do you recall about going to school in Goldfield?

AY: I started in kindergarten. This big 3-story building had the

kindergarten in the basement, the first, second and third grades on the

firstfloor,andthetopfloorwasthehighschool. Itwasabeautiful

school. I have pictures that you can have of it. I was very good in school and I liked it a lot.

My mother and I traveled a great deal because of her law cases; she'dtakemewithher. She'dalwaysslapmeintoaschoolinwhatever townwewerein-itmightbeforaboutamonthor3weeks. SoIwentto an innumerable amount of schools.

RM: Whatweresaneofthem?

AY: OnewasinHayward,California;andSouthHaven,Michigan;SanJose; Reno...

RM: Youwereinschooljustwhileshewasworkingonacase?
AY: Yes. Oh,andLosAngeles. Thatwasthemainonebecauseshehad advertised for roam and board for a woman and child. It was a wanan employed and a child that needed day care. We got an answer from a Hassfurter family — Emma Hassfurter and her brothers, who became my

dearestfriendsfortherestofmylife. Infact,AuntEnmaandIwere much closer than my mother and I were. She was a little old fat German lady — 5 feet tall and 5 feet around. Funny as she could be. A jolly, wonderfulperson. Istillhavealacecollarthatshemadethatwason exhibit in the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair. Anyway, until she died in

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1933, I lived with her off and on. When I went to USC, I lived with her. She lived not far from the campus. The main thing that cane out of my travelswithmymotherwasthisdearfamilyofGermanpeople. Theyadored me and they acted as if I were just one of them.

RM: WhatelsedoyourecallaboutyourchildhoodthereinGoldfield? AY: Well,IwaskindoftheuppityonebecauseIgottotravel. Iwent to other schools and I came back. My mother brought me beautiful clothes at places like Wanamakers and Marshall Fields, so I was a little bit uPPity• AnothergirlandIwerethe2best-dressedgirlsinthethird grade,Iguessitwas. Well,wewereinfirst,second,andthirdgrade together. Hermotherwasaseamstressandshemadethisgirlthemost beautiful clothes. She could have been a couturier. I never saw her after we left Goldfield in 1918. What was her name? Aurelia, I think.

Many many years later, some 60 years later, I wrote this article in the [San Francisco] Examiner (which I wanted you to have a copy of) about goingbacktoGoldfield. GeorgedrovemeuptoGoldfieldfromLasVegas. As a result of that article in the Examiner, probably about 50 Gold- fielders got in touch with me. So we had a Goldfield party every year, a luncheon, and all the old Goldfielders came to it.
RM: Wheredidyouhavethegathering?
AY: MarinCounty,California. WehadarestaurantinSanRafael.
RM: DidalotofpeoplefromGoldfieldmoveddowntotheBayArea? AY: Yes. AndIgotacquaintedwithoneofthem,whosefatherownedthe PioneerDrugstore. Thesenamesareleavingmelikeratsleavingasinking ship. [Laughter] But anyway, I found out about Aurelia. I said, "Whatever happened to Aurelia so-and-so?"

14

She said, "Oh, she died when she was 8." I started to cry. Sixty yearslater,Istartedtocry. HernamewasAnreliaRice.
RM: Shediedrightafteryouleft,then,didn'tshe?

Yes. AndIneverheardaboutit. ShewasagoodfriendandI always thought about her.

A very funny thing happened. I got married in '42 to a man in the air force and he was going overseas. In order to get me an allotment, they had to have a copy of our marriage license and my birth certificate. So i wrote to Goldfield to the county clerk and requested a copy of my birthcertificate. Igotaletterbackfrcrnthecountyclerksaying, "Unfortunately,wedidnotkeepbirthrecordsinthosedays. ButI remember very well when you were born and I'd be glad to send you a certificate." [Laughter] Isn't that funny? Gladys Robinson is her name. RM: Sotheydidn'tevenkeepbirthcertificatesthen?
AY: No,notatthetime.Itwasaveryprimitiveplace.Wehadinside toilets, but not everybody did. There were a lot of outside toilets. The streets were not paved and the sidewalks, what there were of them, were simply board sidewalks, you know, with cracks between the boards and you werealwayslosingstuff. Mymotherlostadiamondringonetime,soshe instructed the fire department to take up the sidewalks between her street andtheGoldfieldHotel. Theylookedthereandrakedallthroughthat place. Theyfoundalotofstuff-alotofcoinsandthings-butthey neverfoundherdiamondring. Shetoldthemtheycouldkeepthecoins.

[Laughs] Thenmonthslater,ourIndianmaidwascleaningoutourbigpot­ bellied wood stove in the living room and shaking the ashes and she found the ring in there.

15

RM: Soshedidn'tloseitoutthereafterall?

AY. No,shehadbeenputtingsomewoodorpaperinthefireplace,and her ring had fallen off.

RM: Didthefireruinthediamond?
AY: Itdidn'thurtthediamondatall,butthemetalwasallmessedup.

RM. I11bedarned.Youmusthaveriddenthetraininandoutoftown, didn't you?

AY. HowIlovedthetrains!We'dgotothestationinacaborina horseandbuggy. I'dalwayssing,[sings]"We'regoingtothestation, weregoingtothestation." ThenwhenwegottothestationandIstood on the deck, I'd see the train ccming in the distance, and I'd sing, [sings]"Herecomesthechoo-choo,herecomesthechoo-choo." Thenwhen we came back to Goldfield, I would sing, [sings] "We're coming to the station,we'recomingtothestation." Alwaysthatsameboringtune. But how I loved that.

Oh, this is a wonderful memory. I remember when I got to Tonopah on the train . . . there was a family of 4 or 5 children that were always down at the depot. I saw them every time I went back or forth, and I'd always wave to them and they'd wave to me. I never had any idea who they were or they me, but we always waved to each other.
RM: Theywerealwaysthereontheplatform?
AY: Alwaysdownonthetrainplatform.
RM: Iwonderwhattheyweredoingthere?
AY: Idon'tknow. Maybe,theywerecarryingluggageorsomethinglike

that. Ialwayswonderedwhattheydid.
RM: YoualwaysrodetheT&G[TonopahandGoldfield]toTonopahand

16

then up to Reno?

AY: TonopahandTidewater.

RM: DidyougotoRenoorVegastogetoutoftown?

AY: WeneverwenttoVegas.Vegas,yousee,wasnothing-justawater

stop for the trains — until they started building the dam. Before that, nobody went to Vegas.

RM: EvenwhenyouweregoingtoL.A.,youdidn'tgothroughVegas? AY: Well,Idon'tknow.Wemighthavegonetherebecausetherewasa waterstopforthetrains. Butnybrother,whohadconetoRedondoBeach to practice with my father after the things blew up in Nevada, went back toLasVegaswhentheystartedbuildingthedam. HethoughtLasVegaswas going to prosper. It shews how smart he was, because it sure did bocm. He did very well.
RM: DoyouhaveanyotherrecollectionsaboutlifeinGoldfieldwhenyou wereakid? Anymemoriesofpeople?
AY: Oh, I remember a lot of people. I think I told you about ny favorite — Frank Hunt from Chicago, who brought his wife out there to get

adivorce. Herhusband,FrankMsNulty,wasanoldbachelorandheusedto make all his own things. For instance, he'd carve a potato masher out of wood. Hewasafixer. Ifyouwantedanythingfixed(ofcourse,youhad to be a friend of his) he'd always cane and fix them. We had 3 houses on the block across fron the fire station. At the comer up above - I think it was where Fifth Avenue and Euclid passed or something - we had a 2- story rooming house and apartment house. It had 2 apartments in it at one end and then it had about 6 rooms on each floor which were rented out, usuallytominers. WhenweleftGoldfield,everybodyhadgone,andmydad

17

hadboughtthisranchoutsideofRedondoBeach. Hehadhis2carpenter

friends, Charlie and Frank Hassfurter, and they went to Goldfield, took

dcwn the apartment house, shipped the lumber to Redondo and built all the

farmbuildingsandahouseoutofthestufffromGoldfield. Ourgranary

is built entirely of doors that had been taken off of [those buildings] frcm Goldfield.

RM. Isthatright? Whatyearwouldthathavebeen,approximately,when they would have disassembled that building like that?
AY: Thatwouldhavebeenabout1919or1920.
RM: Theyshippeditdownontherailroad?

AY: Yes.

RM: ThatwouldhavebeencheaperthanbuyingthelumberinL.A.? AY: Muchcheaper.

RM: Iimaginealotofpeopledidthatthere,didn'tthey?
AY: Idon'tknowofanybodyelsedoingit,butIknowthathouses disappeared. But a lot of them disappeared in the fire. Also, on that same street, at the other end, catty-corner frcm the courthouse and directly opposite the fire station, iry dad had his office on that corner.

(Actually on the corner was my play yard and his office was next to it.) On this end of it were our 2 houses. We bought 2 little houses and joined them by a passageway, and we put in a bathroom and a hallway between the 2 houses. So we had a 6-rocm house. [Chuckles] Of course, those houses are gone now. But that's where I grew up, more or less. My mother had nicefurniture. Nothingasgoodasmine,however. YoucanseeI'mcrazy about antiques.

RM: Yes.

18

AY: Irememberonetimeitwasveryhot.% motherandIleftGoldfield every sunnier. We couldn t stand it. So one very hot day I remember the "rcemancometh,"youknew. Healwaysbroughtthischunkofice,brought it into our back porch and put it in the ice box. One day when I was suffering frcm the heat, I took a washtub out to the back porch where the ice box was and I told the ice man - I was about 5 or 6 - I said, "My mother wants an extra cake of ice today because she's going to have a partytomorrow." Sotheguybroughtinanother25poundsoficeand

chuckeditinthetub. ButIdraggedthetubintothediningroomandput it under the table. Well, we had a great big round tablecloth that fell tothefloor,andIhauledthetuboficeintheretokeepcool. Thatwas the first air conditioning system.

RM: Thatwasprettysmartofalittlekid,wasn'tit?
AY: [Laughs] Oh,Iwasasharpone,Iwas.
RM: Well,doyourememberanyofthesharpthingsyoudidbesidesthat?

[Laughter]
AY: Mydadwasthekindestonetome,andIlovedmyfatherthemost. My mother was a scolder and a demander. Anyway, she bought me a brand new pair of white shoes one day and went heme. I thought I'd go over to the courthouseandshowirydadirywhiteshoes. Onthewayover,Istumbledin amudpuddleandIgotthesebeautifulshoesallcoveredwithmud. SoI ran over to Daddy and said [teary voice], "Daddy, I got my shoes muddy and I'm afraid to go home. Mama will be mad at me."

He said, "Well, now don't you worry, dear, I'll take you over. Everythingwillbeallright." Sohegotupandlefthisofficeandtook mehome. Aswewentintothehouse,hesaid—hecalledherDeamealways

19

New, Deanie, we ve had a little accident here and we didn't mean to do

it. There's no reason to get upset over it." I always liked him better than I did her because she was a scolder.

But they both became very, very stern. When I was in high school, theydidn'twantanyofthisteenagestuff-lipstick,cigarettes... I smoked in high school. And dates. They didn't like the guys I went out with. IrememberinRedondo,severalnightsaweekwe'dhaveabridge game at our house. It was during Prohibition, and my dad and I made heme brew. We always served heme brew in the garden. Then when my boyfriends cameover,we'dsitoutinthekitchendrinkinghemebrew. SomyrfaHsaid to me, "Alice, I don't think it's proper for your young man to get up and gotothebathroom." Hesaid,"WhenMr.Yarrcw(oneofhisbridge

friends) has to go to the toilet, he gets up and says, 'I'm going to take a little stroll,' and he walks outside and never mentions the bathroom." He said, "I think these boys are not respectful."
RM: That'sthewayitwasthen?

AY: Yes.Nowwejustsay,"Igottogotothecan."Anybody![Laughs] RM: Right. Butinpropercompany,youdidn'tmentionthat?
AY: Oh,no.Icanrememberdating,andsemegirlinthecarhadtogo tothebathroom. Shewouldsufferbecauseshecouldn'ttelltheguysthat she had to stop and go. So she'd tell me and then I'd tell the boys. RM: Whatwouldyoutellthem?

AY: "She'sgottogotothecan."[Laughter]
RM: Youweremoreoutspoken,weren'tyou?
AY: Iwasawildwoman.Yes.
RM: DoyourememberanyotherpeopleinGoldfield?

20

AY: I remember lots of the Spragues. Sally Sprague was the town

debutante, a pretty rich girl who went away to school and caire hone in the summers.

RM: Youweren'tamongthewealthyinthetown?
AY: No,wewerenotwealthy,butwewereprosperous.Wegotalotof moneyoutofthatrocminghouseandapartmenthouse. Oneofthepeople who lived in the apartment house was the conductor on the train. So my mother always used lie about try age on the train.
RM: Soyoucouldgoforchildfare,youmean?
AY: You'dgoforfreeifyouwereunder5. Shekepttellingpeoplethat I was 5 till I was 7. This conductor caught her. He said, "You know, Mrs. Foley, Alice just had her seventh birthday party yesterday."

[Laughter] So she had to pay after that.

RM: That'sfunny. Whatotherpeopledoyourecallthatstandoutin your mind?

AY: DocMcCarthywasthedoctorwhodeliveredme,andhewasaclose friend of the family for a long time. Mrs. Broderick was one of ny mother's bridge-playing friends. She played bridge with Mrs. Broderick, Mrs.Pattonandsomebodyelse,andtheirsonownedthemovietheater. You had to pay a nickel to go to the movies in those days. I remember seeing the early Charlie Chaplin pictures there in Goldfield, and there was a famousCivilWarthing. Whatwasit?

RM: BirthofaNation?
AY: Yes. Theydidthemostastonishingthingwhentheyhadthe"Birth of a Nation." They set out on the stage 2 big magnolia plants.
RM: Inthetheater?

21

AY: Yes, on each end of the Dictn-ro t u
P ture. I have never seen that done in any

theater before. Tennant _ ,
he guy who owned the movie. Tennant,

Broderick . . . they were all related. I remember my girlfriends. Edna and Elna Connolly. Erma Jean Moore was a friend of mine. Her mother, Mrs. Moore, was a client of my nother's; she got a divorce for her. They settled down there. All of Mrs. Moore's lower teeth were gold. Gold teeth were very fashionable in those days. Everybody wanted to have at least 1 or 2 gold teeth. But all hers were gold.

RM: Was it considered fashionable to have all of them gold?
AY: Oh, yes. She was super-fashionable. I don't know what they did when you were buried. Actually, my mother had a gold tooth in the back of hermouth. Itdidn'tshewverymuchunlessshelaughedwithhermouth open. She was a very witty woman. She was the first person I ever heard say, "If at first you don't succeed, to hell with it." [Laughter]

RM: [Laughs] It sounds like both of your parents were good humored. AY: They were.

RM: That's where you cone by your sense of humor, isn't it?
AY: I guess. Do I have a sense of humor?
RM: Oh, yes. You've got a good sense of humor. [Laughter]
AY: My brother Roger was very witty, and my dad was witty and my mother

too. Yes. I love to make people laugh.
RM: I'd like to know more about your father's law practice. What did a law practice consist of in those days — how did it work and who were the people that worked for him and so on?
AY: He had a secretary who worked for him, and she had a daughter who was a friend of mine. Her name was Isabelle. My mother also did

22

secretarial »ork in the office. She did a lot of theix pleadings.

RM. Whatkindofcasesdidhetake?Minerssuingoneanotherormine owners or wills or what?

AY. Everything. Hetooksanecriminalcases,butnotverymany. Of course,Iwasonly8,soIdon'trememberwhathiscaseswere. Iknow when he got to Los Angeles that he had a wide variety of cases.
RM: HewasinGoldfieldduringthetinethatPatMoCarranandKey Pittman and Tasker Oddie were there.

AY: KeyPittmanwasagoodfriendofmydad's.

RM: DoyourememberanystoriesofKeyPittmanthathewouldhavetold, or incidents that you remember?
AY: Well,whenKeyPittmanwastheUnitedStatesSenatorinWashington in about 1939 and 1940, I went to Washington to see if he'd get me a job in governmenti He said to wait for him. He had to go back to the state because he was running for reelection and he'd be back in a couple of weeks. Hewentofftothestateandgotbeat.

RM: No,hedied.
AY: Died—that'sright. Oh,therewasamysterylittlethingabouthis death.
RM: Tellmeaboutit.

AY: Whatthehellwasit?
RM: TherumorIhearineverytcwnIgotoinNevadaisthathedieda couple of days before the election and they put his body on ice.
AY: Oh,yes.
RM: Historiansclaimnowthatthat'snottrue,butI'veheardthatstory in several towns in Nevada.

23

AY: That was it. It's all gossip. RM: Itwasrightbeforethewar. AY: Itwas'39.

RM: Sohewasgoingtogetyouajob? AY: InWashington.

RM: ThenhewentbacktoNevadaanddied? AY: Yes,andleftmehighanddry!

RM. Thatsright. Butyourfatherwasgoodfriendswithhim? AY: Yes.

RM: Didheevercaneovertoyourhouseoranything? AY: Idon'tremember.

RM: DidyouevercrosspathswithPatMbCarran?
AY: Ididn't,butmybrotherdid. Mybrotherwasnominatedtothe

federal court by Pat McCarran. Pat MoCarran got mad at the Las Vegas Sun, Hank Greenspan's paper . . .

24

CHAPTER THREE
RM. YouweresayingthatPatMcCarranhadbecameangryattheLasVegas

Sun?

AY. Yes, because they endorsed his opponent in the election. So McCarran went all the gambling places in town and said, "Don't put any more advertising in the Las Vegas Sun."

Greenspun sued McCarran and the judge of the superior court then was Roger Foley, who was my brother. Everybody said, "Oh, you haven't got a chancewithFoley. He'saMcCarranappointee. You'rejustdownthe river."

Well,hewroteaneditorialaftermybrother'sdeath. It'sthemost beautiful of all the encomiums that were poured out for him. He said, "I hadn't been in that courtroom very long when I realized I had a gun walkingbesidemedownthatlegalroad." Hetoldhowinspiteofthefact that ny brother was a McCarran appointee he ruled for Greenspun. He said, "IrealizedIhadasecondgunwalkingwithme. Hewasalwaysstraight withme." Hesaidhewastotallyfair,totally-uninfluencedbythefact that McCarran had appointed him. It's just a beautiful little editorial. I hope I can find it for you.

Anyway, Greenspun became an absolute worshiper of ny brother. Everybodylikednybrother. Hewasknownforhishonesty,fairness, intelligence . . . when they named the Federal Building after the Foley family, it was his picture they put up — a lighted colored painting in the hallway at the entryway. He's probably considered the number one the

25

Foleys.
RM: Yes,Iwouldthinkso.

Mr: Musthighlyregarded.Hewasjollyandkiudandfannyand

liked him. I couldn't stand his wife. [Laughter] His wife Hell was his kindergarten girlfriend.

RM: Childhoodsweethearts?

AY: Yes,childhoodsweethearts;theyneverhadanybodyelse. RM: ThatwouldhavebeeninSiouxCity?

AY: Yes,itwouldhavebeen.Shewasarealbigot.VeryveryCatholic. It was she who created the trouble between my brother and sister and my mother, because she said to her boys one time, her 5 sons, "If any of you evermarryanon-Catholic,don'tbringherhemetome." Iwas,ofcourse, anon-Catholic. IwasaCatholicinthewinterandaBaptistinthe sunnier because I was with my Catholic dad in Goldfield in the winter, and in the sunnier, iry mother and I always went to South Haven, Michigan, on

the lake, back to her family. Those people were all Baptists.
RM: Peoplenowdon'tappreciatehowdeepthosefeelingsranonCatholic- Protestantrelationshipsinthosedays. Iremembermyauntmarrieda Catholic and you would have thought she'd married the most outrageous person in the world.
AY: Orthatshewasjustlivinginsin.
RM: Right.Thefamilywasbrokenhearted.Itwasthefunniestthing. AY: Yes,itwasverybad. Theyaresomewhatbetter,Ithink,now. But

the funny part is that Nell's 5 boys all married non-Catholics. [Laughter] ButthegirlsallagreedtoswitchtoCatholicism. Allthe children were born as Catholics. I'm very anti-Catholic.

26

RM: Becauseofthewayyourmotherwastreated?

AY: Yes,andevennew,forinstance,thePope'sattitudeonwhythe priests can't marry. And nuns - why should they not be able to marry? RM: Yes. ThePopeisverybackward,isn'the?

AY: Very backward. I was surprised when they stopped making you eat

fish on Friday. I thought that would never care about. I went to a

Catholicgirls'schoolmyfirstyearofcollege. IwenttoMountSt.

Mary's because my dad felt so guilty that he hadn't brought me up properly

in a Catholic family that he said, "If you will go to Mount St. Mary's for

one year, study Catholicism, then after that you can take any religion you want."

So I spent 3 afternoons a week after school with this Mother Killian, who taught me Catholic policy — theory and doctrine. At first, I used to argue with her. I'd say, "Well, that doesn't make sense."

Then she'd say, "Well, my dear, let's pray for the gift of faith." So I prayed for the gift of faith. I didn't get any. [Laughter] I couldn't believe all this junk, you know. I always pretended I did becauseIlikedhersowell. Ihadmyfirstconnunionandmyconfirmation that year at Catholic school. But then the next year I went to USC and I studied history of philosophy.
RM: Let'sfinishupGoldfieldandthenwe'llpickyouupinCalifornia. What do you recall about the miners in Goldfield in its heyday there? AY: Well,theylivedontheothersideoftown.Theminersweresortof lower class. They had a mining strike, you know.
RM: Thebigonewheretheycalledoutthenationalguardwasbeforeyour

time, though. Do you remember your dad talking about that at all? 27

AY: Oh,yes. Mynetherarddadtalkedaboutthatalot. Idon't

remerterwhattheysaid. Butwehavescaepicturesofthetuners. Ihave

seme good pictures to show vou of fho .
y r the miners and their tents and all that

kind of stuff.

RM: Doyouremercberanythingaboutthelaterstrikesorlaterlabor unrest?

AY: Iwasjustalittlegirl!

RM: Ormaybeyourfathertalkingaboutitinlateryears? AY: Yes,butitwasoldhatthen.
RM: HewasaDemocrat?

AY: Oh,yes. Hewasthefirstrealwhite-collarliberalIeverknew. HelovedFranklinRoosevelt. HealwaysgottheSaturdayEveningPost,and I d sit on his lap and look at the pictures. On the editorial page, they always had a picture of Labor as a skinny guy in white overalls and

Capital as a big fat guy with a tailcoat and a big gold watch chain and a silkhat. SoIsaidtohim,"What'sthedifferencebetweencapitaland labor?"

He said, "Labor was for the ccirmon man to try to help get him a fair anddecentlivingwage. Capitalweretherichpeoplewhotriedtooppress labor by getting their work frcm them at a non-living wage, keeping them pooranddowntrodden." Well,thatsetmeofftobealiberalrightthere.

Another thing he said to me when I was a little girl was, "Now, you're a very smart little girl and when you grow up you may be influen­ tial. Onethingyoumustalwaysworkforwhenyougetbigenoughtodoso is a pension for the poor folks." (That was social security.) He said, "It's not fair that people have to work so hard all their lives, pay their

28

taxes end then when they're ofd and can't work anymore, they have to go to the poor farm, unless they have children, and often the children couldn't orwouldn'ttakethem. Soyoumustalwaysworkforapensionfortheold folks." Iadmixedhimforthatsomuch.

RM: Howdoyouthinkyourfathercamebyhispoliticalviews? Whatwas it in his background that led him there, do you think?

AY: Well,youknow,theIrishwerethemostoppressedpeopleinthe

world by the British. He left the land of oppression. And he was a real fighting man.

RM: WhereinIrelanddidhecomefrom?
AY. CountyClare.That'swhereShannonAirportis.Thetcwnhecane frem was Enms. I was back to Ireland one tine. There's a Foley drugstorethere. IwentintothetowndrugstoreandIsaid,"IsMr.Foley in?"

They said, "No, Mr. Foley is on the continent right now. He won't bebackforamonth." SoInevergottomakethatconnectionthere. My, I loved Ireland!
RM: Whatstoodoutinyourmind?
AY: The kindness of the people, the beauty of the greenery, the beautiful, beautiful scenery, and all over, the little farms are all

outlinedbywallsofrocks. Theycleartherocksoffthelandandmake littlewalls. Upthehills,you'dseealltheselittlegreensquaresall overIreland. Andthepeoplegooutoftheirwaytobenicetoyou. You pick up people in Ireland if they're hitchhiking. I rented a car in Dublin and drove it around up to Shannon. It's quite proper to pick up walkers, very nice people, and they'll probably invite you to dinner. I 29

lovedit. MydadlovedIreland,buthewasneverthere.

a wonderfulIrishbroguethathecouldturnon. Hecould talk Irish like the Irish could, or he could speak very cultured, perfect English. Butwhenhewastryingtobecuteorfunny,he'dturnintothe Irish brogue. That was always great fun. I used to hear them talk, "Oh, we always sat around and sang the Irish Cumallyas. We went over to his

house and we did the Irish Cumallyas." Years later, when I was about 10, I thought "What are Irish Cumallyas? I'd better ask." So I said, "Daddy, what's an Irish Cumallya?"

He said, "You know, they're Christmas songs. 'Came All Ye Faithful.'" [Singsabitof"CcmeAllYeFaithful."]
RM: Wherewasthedividinglineintownbetweentheminersandthemore well-to-do?
AY: Theminerslivedonthatsideofthehighway—towardthemill, towardMountColumbus. Allthatsideofthetownwerelower-classminers. They would have a little school over there.
RM: Yes. TherewasColumbia,Ithinkitwascalled.

AY: Yes,ColumbiaSchool.Thentheupperclasslivedonthissideof town - the side where the Goldfield Hotel and the courthouse were; from thatpointonup. Allthatplacewereupperclass.
RM: DoyourememberSundogElementaryschool? Youdidntgotothat one, did you?

AY: No,butIhadadearfriendthatwentthere,andsheusedtotakeme there. She was in the fifth grade. When I would get out of school very early, being several years younger than she, she would get permission to bringmeovertositintheclasswithheratSundog. Ineverdidgo 30

there. Butthatwastheuppergrades-fifth,sixth,seventh,eighth. Then they came back to Goldfield School to the high school.

RM: Youwenttothebigschoolthererightdownfromthehotel? AY: Yes.

RM. Doyourememberwhatkindofgamesthekidsplayedinthosedays? AY. Oh,Iveoftenthoughtaboutwhatagoodtimewehad. Weplayed Hide-and-Go-Seek,Run-Sheep-Run. Wehadjacks,tops,kites. Thekidsnow dontplaytheseanymore,didyouknowthat? Weplayedthesewonderful games. Wealsohadagamewhereyoustackuprocksandthenyougetback and threw other rocks at them to knock them down. We had dolls. And I readagreatdeal. Mymotherwantedmetoread. Ihadagreatchildren's library. My dad read to me all the time. I remember I wanted him to read

PeterRabbiteverynight. Thenoneday,wecouldn'tfindit. Wherewas Peter Rabbit? I was in a fit. He said, "Carte here." I sat on his lap. He read it to me from memory. [Laughter] Five Little Peppers and How

They Grew and the Oz books — I loved the Oz books. I liked all kinds of children's stories and nursery rhymes and things.
RM: Didgirlsplaywithdollsinthosedays?
AY: Oh,verymuchso. Ihadmanybeautifuldolls. Myfavoritedollwas a rag doll named Maggie Platterface. My grandfather named her Maggie Platterface because she just had a flat rag [head] with a face painted on it. She was my favorite. I had her for years till she got so dirty. I think my mother burned her up. I always suspected her. But I had beautiful German china dolls and kewpie dolls — lots of dolls.

RM: Niceclothesforthem? AY: Yes.

31

BM: Didyouhavepetsorthingslitethat?

AY: YSS'1 did" 1 mtiljustthelast10years. RM: Didyouhaveadog?

, in Goldfield. His name was Trixie. My mother was horrified, frightenedtodeathofcats. Wecouldneverhaveacataroundthehouse. When she went to somebody else's houses, she'd call them first to say, "Wouldyouputthecatinanotherroom?" OnceIrememberIwentwithher to a lady's house and a cat jumped on her lap. She screamed and yelled andnearlyfainted. Theyhadtopatherwristsandgiveheralittleshot

of whiskey [laughter] to bring her out of her fear. After I got this Goldfield group together down here, I met somebody that said to me, "Was your mother the Mrs. Foley who was so afraid of cats?"
RM: Isn'tthatfunny?Somebodyrememberedthat.

AY: That'swhenIwasinmy60s.Youcouldn'thaveacatinthehouse with my mother. She'd just scream and fall apart.
RM: Whatdidamoreupscalelady'slifeconsistofinthosedays?
AY: Well,housekeeping.

RM: Didtheyusuallyhavehelp?
AY: Theyhadhelp. Mymotheralwayshadhelp,butshewasalawyer. They sewed, crocheted, knitted, played bridge, went to church, had the ladies'Aid. Mysister-in-lawNellwasalwaysbiginLadies'Aidtoraise money for church. They did pretty much what the unemployed lady does nowadays. Nowadays, most everybody works. It was pretty much the same. They went to the show.
RM: Didtheydoalotofcanningandbakingbreadandthingslikethat?

AY: Yes.

32

RM: Did they wash on the board?

AY. Oh, god. We didn t have washing machines in those days. Usually

you had the help do the wash. The upper class lady did very little

washing and ironing. That was sonsthing you hired the miners' wives to do.

RM: Did ladies go visiting in the afternoon?
Oh, all over the place. They all carried calling cards. Every lady

had a printed calling card. You know, "Mrs. John Smith." They always had them in their purse. There weren't too many telephones. They'd go to somebody s house and if they weren't home, they'd put their card in a little slot for cards. You could have Mr.-and-Mrs. cards too. My mother, wh° always forgot to do things like put cards in her purse, had a particular calling sign — when she went to visit somebody and they weren't heme, she would pick a flower out of their garden and stick it in the keyhole. That meant Mrs. Foley has been here.

RM: She didn't leave a card?
AY: That's when she forgot her cards. Then that got so popular with the ladies that she finally gave up cards entirely and just stuck a flower in the keyhole. Wasn't that an excellent thing to do?
RM: That's where the term calling card came from, isn't it? They would core calling and if they weren't home, they would leave it in the door. AY: Yes. And it was your duty when new people moved into your neighborhood, to make the first call. If the neighbors didn't want to make the first call, they would watch till the people went out, then they'd run over and put their card in.

[Tape is turned off for a while.]

33

Theywerelikethelivesofwomeneveryplace. Theladiesdressedup

rehats. Theywerentasmeticulousaboutwearingglovesasthey

were in San Ehancisco or New York. But I remember ladies coming to the

iiouseinbeautifulhatswithfeathersandflowers. Mymothercouldn't

wear the shoes of Goldfield, and she didn't want to wear the clothing of

Goldfield. SowehadtogotoLosAngelesorSanFranciscotobuyapair of shoes.

RM: Forherorforyou?

AY: Shelikedtobuyminetoo,becausesheandIhaveverynarrowfeet. She had a AAA with a AAMA heel and I have a AA with a AMA heel. That's "very elegant," you knew. Only the best people have these narrow feet. [Laughs]

RM: Wereyouawareofthered-lightdistrict?
AY: Oh,yes.Wehadared-lightdistrict.Ididn'tknowexactlywhat that was about. But my little dog, Trixie, and I used to walk down there sometimes. Thereweretheseniceladiesandtheyweresittingonthe front porch in armchairs. They'd say, "Little girl, your mother's looking foryou." [Laughter]

I'd say, "Oh, all right."
"You better go heme now." They'd say that to me. I didn't really

knowwhattheyweredoing,butIknewtherewassomethingwrong. Oh, another funny thing about Goldfield, in those days women who were a little on the questionable side were called "gay."
RM: Ohreally?

AY: Yes. Nowit'smen,ofcourse.
RM: Youmeanwomenwhowereprostitutesorofloosereputation?

34

AY: RM: AY:

RM: AY:

they were not nice people and we weren't supposed to go there. But they were always very nice to me.

RM: Whenyousaythatawomancouldbehad,you'renotreferringjustto prostitutes? You'rereferringtowomenwhoweresortofloose?
AY: Yes. "Miss Round Heels." She could be a prostitute, or just somebody who's a little promiscuous or something. And they never

associatedwhateverwiththeniceladiesofthetown. Never. They wouldn't have anything to do with them.

RM. Werethere3tiersofwomen thewomenofcompromisedreputation, the miners' wives, and then the upper crust. Is that fair to say?
AY: That'sfairtosay,yes.
RM: The3classesdidn'tmingle,didthey? Well,theminers'wives worked for the better-off women.

AY: Yes. Now,thewomanwhoworkedforuswasanIndianwoman,and guess what her name was.
RM: What?
AY: Mrs.Smith.Ihatethat.Shehadbeenmarriedtoawhiteguyand

theyhadthiscutelittlegirlwhowasmyagenamedMargaretSmith. I

35

Ofloosereputation,thatcouldbehad. "She was a gay woman," that meant .

...shecouldbehad.

Didthesewomenhangoutinthebars?

Theyhadtheirc^ncribsdownbeyondthehotel;thered-light district went down that way about a block. They were regular looking houses. Imighthaveapictureoftheoldcribsinthere;I'mnotsure. Weweren'tsupposedtogodownthereandIdidn'tknowwhy,exactly. But

thought,"That'sahellofanaxreforanIndian." Iwantedhertobe Leaping Dove or something like that. [Laughter] We had an extra cottage in the back of our house. That was a servant's cottage. Mrs. Smith and Margaretlivedthere. Mrs.Smithandmymotherwereveryfondofeach other. Mymotherdidalotofnicethingsforher.

RM: DoyourememberalotofIndiansinGoldfield?
AY: Notalot,becausetheylivedintheoutsidesettlementslikeat DiamondfieldandSilverPeak. TheywerenotwelcomeatGoldfield. That's how my mother happened to get this necklace — she was one of the few people who would bother to represent Indians in the law cases, stand up for them and their rights. So they really liked her. For a while we had a black maid, Methuselah.
RM: TheyhadblacksinGoldfieldthen?
AY: Veryfew,andtheywerenotallowedonthestreetafterdark. Her namewasMethuselahandSuntaigwasherdog. Nooneeverreferredtoher as Methuselah. They always called her Methuselah and Suntaig. Wherever she went to work, Suntaig went with her.
RM: Whatkindofdogwasit?
AY: Itwasalittlebulldogofsemesort.Hewasanicelittledog. RM: TherewerenoOrientalsinGoldfield,werethere?
AY: Idon'tbelieveIeversawone.Idon'tknowofanorientalever being in Goldfield, but I think I heard about one.
RM: Whatkindofclothingdidyouwear?
AY: Oh,Iwasverywelldressed.Iworeprettylittledressesthatmy mother bought for me at department stores.

RM: Whatlengthwerethey?

36

My mother thought long dresses on little girls were an abomination. She thought the little legs were so cute. I had pretty socks with garters around my calf - ribbon garters with laurels on them.
RM: Weretheywhitesocksorpatterned?

Well, Icouldhavethemtomatchanything. Mostofminewere white, but I remember having pink socks and blue socks.

37

CHAPTER POUR

AY. The main thing was, Anrelia Rice and I outshone everybody. We had these huge bcws, one for every color, that we wore up on top of our heads. They were big like butterflies. Other girls in town had them, but not as

big
RM:
AY:
RM:
AY:
RM:
AY:
RM:
wore their hair?
AY: I don't think so. A lot of them were old-fashioned fogies who wore rats in their hair. Do you know what a rat is? You saved the ccmbings

frcm your comb and put them in a jar called a rat jar. Then when you got that full, you could take all that hair out and roll it up into what is called a rat, and then you would brush your front hair down and then put it under the front hair and roll it back over it to make it look like a poof. Women were actually imitating women who had big thick heavy hair. They'd make their own loops and what-not. But most everybody wore rats on the side above and behind their ears and then way in back, and then up on top. That was called a pompadour — the big poofed thing with their rats

or not as many as Aorelia and I. Did you wear them every day? Yes.
How did you wear your hair? Bobbed.

No pigtails?
No. Thatwasforthelowerclasses.
Hew about the women? Was there a class distinction in the way they

were pompadour.

38

RM: Soawomanmighthave4ratsinherhead? AY: Yes.

RM: Didshehavetodoherhair:everyday? AY: Oh,yes.

RM: Shewouldhavetoputtheseratsineveryday?

AY: She'djustbrushherhairdown,pintheratson,andbrushherhair over them.

RM: Didwaxenputtheirhairupincurlers?
AY: Yes,theydid.Mymotherhadsatecalledkidcurlers.Theywere strips of kid leather with stuffing and a wire through them. You'd roll your hair up on that and bend the ends of the wire. Oh, yes, even if you had rats, you curled your hair over. My mother used to go to the beauty parlor sometimes and have it done.
RM: WasthereabeautyparlorinGoldfield?
AY: Yes,therewas.
RM: That'sinteresting.
AY: Pennieswerevaluableinthosedays,becausewecouldbuycandy— penny suckers and penny this and penny that. You could get 6 little black licorices for a penny. So we didn't throw pennies away.
RM: Whataboutmakeup? Whatkindofmakeupdidwonenwear?
AY: Theydidn'tweartoomuchmakeup. They'dwearalittlepowderto

take the shine off their skin, but nice ladies didn't wear lipstick. RM: Howabouteyemakeup?

AY: Oh,no.
RM: Soadualitywomanonlyworealittlepowdertotaketheshineoff?

AY: Yes. Soshewouldn'tblindyou. 39

RM: Howaboutwomenoflesserreputation? Didtheywearirakeup?

AY: Actressesusedtowearmakeup. Actresseswereoflesserreputation;

an actress was a bad lady. I wanted to became an actress at one time, and

myfatherhadfits. AndwhenIstartedwearinglipstick,hehadfits. But he came around to that.

RM: Waslipstickcominginasanewstyle?
AY: Inhighschool,yes. Wedidn'twearlipstickbeforewegottohigh

school,anditwasjustcomingin. Atfirst,justthedance-hallgirls wore them. (This was in Redondo Beach.) Lipstick was new.
RM: DidtheprostitutesinGoldfieldwearmakeup?
AY: I don't remember. I just know they were pretty. They dressed differently than ladies did. They had short skirts that were very full, almost like a skating skirt, with petticoats under them to make them stand out. Theywereverypretty.

RM: Howoftendidawomanwashtheirhairinthosedays?
AY: I'msureitwasn'tonceaweek,whichitisnow.
RM: Well,theywashtheirhaireverydaynow.
AY: Ifit'sshortandstraight,yes.Ithinkitwasprobablyonceevery 2 weeks or once a week. My mother, before she died, was a once-a-week type. ButIdon'tknowwhatshewasinGoldfield.

RM: Howaboutbathing?
AY: Theyhadbathtubs,butyouonlybathedonceaweek. Youbathedon Saturdaynights,usually,soyou'dbecleanforSunday. Youchangedyour underwear once a week.
RM: Didtheyheatwateronthestovetobathe?
AY: Wehadrunninghotwater.Wehadahotwaterheaterliketheyhave

40

new. Idon'trenarbereverheatingitontheetove.

EM: Profcablyitwasthesameforthemenandthechildren? AY: Yes. Saturdaywasthebigday.

RM. Whatdidyouwashyourhairwithinthosedays? Iremembermy mother using lemon juice and things like that.

AY: Iwasgoingtosay,rrymotherandIusedlemonjuiceandvinegar. But that was not to wash our hair with, that was to rinse it and make it soft. Iguesswejustusedordinarysoap.
RM: Youdidn'thavesnampoosandeverythingliketheydonow?

AY: Wemighthavehadshampoo,butIdon'tremembertoomuchofthat. RM: Whataboutsmoking? Decentwcniendidn'tsmoke,didthey,in Goldfield?

AY: Prohibitionstartedthewcniensmoking.
RM: Itdid?
AY: Yes. In1918whentheyhadProhibition—beforethat,nonicelady everysmoked. Butthatstartedniceladiesdrinking,andwhentheydrank, then they smoked.
RM: Oh, in 1918. So about the time you left Goldfield, women were beginning to start to smoke?
AY: Iguessso.TherewasawomaninGoldfieldthatdidsmoke—Isaw hersmoke. Shewasabeautifulladywhoworkedin.adressshopownedby amannamedFrankHunt.Therewere2FrankHuntsinGoldfield. There's the dress shop Frank Hunt, and this beautiful lady that worked for him.

They came over to our house one night and she smoked. I remember that. RM: Wasthatthefirsttimeyoueversawawomansmoke?
AY: Yes.ThatwasbeforeIwas8.ThenonedayIsawmymotherwitha

41

cigarette! About 1929. I nearly died! I was so shocked. I was smoking sly. ButIcameinapartyonetimeandsawmymotheratabridge

Party layacigarette,andIjustpretendedIdidn'tseeit. Iranheme.

RM. Didalltheyounggirlssmoke? Itwaspartofarebellionand assertion of yourself, wasn't it?

^ ' Yes, it was. The nice girls didn't smoke. The daredevils smoked. RM. Mymotherwouldhavebeenalittlebityoungerthanyouandshe smoked with a defiance right up to the end. It was an assertion of her identity.

AY: Howoldwasshewhenshedied?
RM: Well,shewasbornin1915.
AY: Didshedieoflungcancer?
RM: Well,errphysema.Butshesmokedwithadefiance.
AY: Ismokedtillabout25yearsagoandthenIguit. Itwasthe easiest thing I did, because whenever I started to think of smoking a

cigarette,I'dthink,"Thinkhowthisisgoingtomakeyoufeel." I inmediately would feel the tiredness and the lethargy that would ccme over me. Foryears,Ineversmokedbefore5:00intheafternoonwhenIwas through work and I could smoke during the evening. But then I got so, "I don't want to feel this droopy ever again." I just gradually guit.

RM: 'As a young girl, how did you keep your legs warm in the winter in Goldfield? Didyouwearleggings?
AY: Oh, yes. We had leggings. They buttoned up the side. They were

lrke spats that buttoned up the side. RM: Howhighupdidtheycome?
AY: Totheknee.

42

RM: Thenwhatkindofshoesdidyouwear?

alwaysworeslippers—shoeswithastrapunderneath. Semepeople wore oxfords, but I thought oxfords were very ugly and I didn't wear them

9°^ into high school and saddle oxfords came out; I liked them.

Butmostgirlsdidntwearoxfordsinthosedays. Theyworeshoeswith straps.

RM: WhatdidyoudowhenitsnowedinGoldfield?Didyouwearrubber boots?

AY: No,wehad[leather]bootsandweworelongknittedleggingsthat came under our dresses.

RM: Youkeptthemonallthetimeinclass?
AY: Yes. Theywerelikestockings,pantyhose. Weworecoatsand sweaters and scarfs. I had little sweaters; I loved red sweaters. When I got bigger, I wore laced-up boots. Remember how girls used to wear laced-up boots?
RM: Asashoe,notanovershoe?
AY: Right,thatwasashoe.
RM: WhatdidyouthinkwhenyouleftGoldfieldin1918?
AY: Well,yousee,Iwasmorepreparedforitthenmostkidsfor2 reasons. One,Itraveledwithmymotheragreatdealanyway. Two,my Aunt Enrna and the Hossfurters were here in Los Angeles, not far from Redondo. Aunt Emma had 2 nephews, Barton and Max. They were about my age and they were fun. I used to play with them a lot. So I was prepared to leave Goldfield much more than the other kids were who had been there all their lives.
RM: SothenyoumoveddramtoRedondo?

43

AY: Yes.

RM: WhatwasRedondolikethen?

AY. ItwasalovelybeachtcwnanditwasonthePacificElectricLine

to Los Angeles. The beaches were not so heavily populated as they later

became. Redondohadthelargestsaltwaterswinmingpoolintheworld. That was a lovely place.

RM: Didyougothere? AY: Yes.

RM: ItwascalledthePlunge,wasn'tit?
AY: Yes. Oneendofitwasthechildren'spool,andthemiddlesection was bigger, it was a medium pool. Then there was a deep pool for diving and water polo at the other end. In the middle, there was this great fountain and you could sit under it and have water drip over you.
RM: Warmsaltwater,wasn'tit?
AY: Yes. That'swhereIlearnedtoswim.
RM: Howfarfromthebeachdidyoulive?
AY: InRedondo,2blocks. Thenthefarmwehadwas2-1/2milesfromthe beach.
RM: Howbigwasthefarm?
AY: Itwas10acres. Mostofthefarmstherewere5-acrefarms,but this was 10 acres.
RM: Whatdidplantoraisethere?
AY: Hehadvegetables,watermelons,hogs,chickensandrabbits. Hehad about 30 hogs, 1000 chickens, 300 rabbits and a cow and a calf and ny dog. We had cats then because we had to have cats to catch the rats in the granary. Iwentbackbythereprobably10yearsagoandIcouldn'tfind

44

UP ^dustrial district, you know. My house is gone. RM: It,d ^ worthafortune,wouldn'tit?

AY: Absolutely. Itdidallrightforuswiththeoilonit. Boy,that saved us.

RM: Whendidhebuythefarm?
AY: In1918. By1922wewerebroke.

RM: Washepracticinglawontheside? AY: No.

RM: Whydidhegiveupthelaw?
AY. Well,herememberedhisboyhoodatthefarm,youknow.Sciredippy idea. You knew hew men are. [Laughter] We had a nice little ranch. Theybuiltahousefirst,asmall4-rocmhouse. Welivedinthatwhile they built the main house, which is a 3-bedrocsn house with a great big livingroom,diningroamand2baths,bigbasementandeverything. When thatwasbuilt,wemovedintothathouse. Ourformerhousebeeairethe hired help's house.
RM: DidheusemoneythathehadsavedinGoldfieldtoinvestthere?

AY: TheyhadalotofmoneytheysavedupinGoldfield.Sotheyjust wenttotown. Ithinktheypaid$100anacreforitinthosedays. Nowadays, it would be $100 a square foot. [Laughs]
RM: Thenhejusttriedtomakeitasafarmerthere? Wherewashe selling his produce, in L.A.?

AY: Yes,andRedondo.
RM: Weretherealotofotherfarmsaroundthere?
AY: Yes.Iknowoneguyhadadairyfarm.WehadItaliansacrossthe street, but I don't knew what they grew. I can't remember what they all

45

Buttheyallhadcarrots,Iknow. I'vehatedcarrotseversince. Horse food. [Laughter]

MydadboughtmeahorsewhenIwas10yearsoldinRedondo. Itwas a little mustang. During the war, they didn't have school buses anymore, so my dad bought me a horse to ride to school 2-1/2 miles. I tied it to a tree by the schoolyard and I kept a bucket in the basement. I used to give kids rides on it and so on. It was on that pony — this I can remember - on the way heme from school, on November 11, 1918 that all the bellsandwhistleswentofftoendWorldWarI. Atfirstmyponywasa little shy, because the noise was so bad, but he calmed down after a while.
RM: Hew would you describe the Redondo area at that tine?
AY: There were an awful lot of hills. You had the cliff, then you had theresidentialdistrictforseveralblocks,andthenhillswentup. All the hills were occupied by Japanese flower gardens. They were all laid out in flower squares.
RM: I'll bet it was beautiful, wasn't it?
AY: Very beautiful. That's how I got to knew my Japanese friends. They

came to the school there. There were very few of the kids, but the ones I knew were very nice and very bright.

RM: Then you were beyond the flcwer gardens?

AY: We were around that level toward the ocean. This is when we first

lived there, before we bought the ranch.
RM: You just lived there a short while before you got the ranch?
AY: Actually we lived in the town of Redondo twice. Before we went to the ranch we lived there about a year, and then after we struck oil in the

46

ranch we moved to Redondo T l +.u , .
na°* 1 1:Lved there and in Henrosa till 1935. So

from 18to'35wasquitealongtine.

EM: DidyoutaowBredArnold,whowastheauditorforRedondoforalong time?

AY: Yes,Idid!
RM: Iinterviewedhim.

AY: Bigtallguy! WhendidyouseeFred?

RM: Oh,aboutamonthago.

AY: Whereishe?

RM: Hestilllivesthere,inthesamehousehe'shadfor50yearsor something.

AY: Oh,mygosh. HewasinhighschoolwhenIwas. RM: HemoveddownfromGoldfield,hisfamily.
AY: Didhe? Ididn'tknowthat.
RM: Yes,hecamefromGoldfield.

AY: Ididn'tknowthat. WehaveanotherfriendhereinMarinnamedFred Arnold who's about 5 feet 6 inches, and I always get than kind of mixed up in my mind. That old Fred Arnold that was in high school with ire. He was a good basketball player.

RM: Tellmeaboutthediscoveryofoilonyourproperty.Yourdadwas getting -low on money?
AY: He was broke. Our tract of land was called the Dcminguez tract. The oil was first discovered on another tract of land, then they sunk some trial wells on our side of the area and struck oil. So we were just delighted. Weweresuddenlydraggedoutofpovertyintothisvery comfortable lifestyle.

47

RM: YoumovedbacktoRedondo?

Yes. WerentedourranchtoaSwissdairymanandhekeptitfor many,manyyears. Sowehadincomefrcmtherentaloftheranchandthe

royalties every month for many years.
RM. Didtheypumpoiltherealongtime?
AY. Yes. I sold it in . . . [Sneezes twice] (We're great sneezers, theFoleys. IftheyhadanOlympicmedalforsneezing,we'dwinthe gold.) Anyway,mydadbecametheattorneyforallthelittlefarmers around that Dominguez tract, because he was the big educated attorney, you know. Hemadeallthenegotiationswiththevariousoilcompanies. We were besieged by oil companies. They sent their representatives out practically every day. I remember they first offered us $10 an acre bonus — down payment. Seme of the people would have accepted that. My dad

said, "No, no." We kept getting more oil companies and more higher offers.

Finallywegotitupto$1000anacre. Wegot$10,000incash, whichbackthenwasequivalentto$100,000. Alltheguysatourtract went along with us except for one family that insisted on signing up at $250anacre. Theyhad10acres,sotheytooktheir$2,500andleft. But all the rest stayed with us. And we met all kinds of oil men.
RM: Whendidyousellit?
AY: Isolditinabout1950.Ihadtoselltheroyaltieswithit.I soldittoourdairyman;heinsistedontakingtheroyaltieswithit. So I sold those for a higher price, of course.
RM: Isitstillpumpingoil,Iwonder?
AY: No. ThatplaceiswhereItoldyouIwentbackanait'sall

48

developed into an Industrial place. They say the average length [of an oil well] is about 21 years.

RM. Sothatkindofputthefamilyoneasystreet? Yes, it did.

RM: YoumovedtoRedondothen?

Y. Yes,andrentedahouseonCatalinaAvenue.ThenIgraduatedfrom high school, and then the next year iry parents sent me to Mount St. Mary's GirlsSchoolandtheymovedtoSurfandSandClub. Haveyouheardofthe Surf and Sand Club?

RM: No. Whereisthat?

^ s o n beach at Hermosa. It was a big 4-story first class hotel. It was the beach club of the Los Angeles Athletic Club - very elegant,veryupperclass. SotheymovedintherewhenIwasincollege and I used to come down and spend weekends. They were guite popular and prominent there, because they were such bridge players.

RM: WherewastheCatholicschoolthatyouattended?
AY: Mount St. Mary's was called St. Mary's Academy. It was the Catholic, upper class girl's school. It's at Slauson and Crenshaw.
RM: Youboardedthere?
AY: Iboardedtheremyfirstyearofcollege.
RM: ThenyoutransferredtoUSC?
AY: Yes.
RM: WhatwasUSClikethen?
AY: Oh,foragirlcomingfromaCatholiccollege,itwasametropolis. That was New York to a girl from Peoria. Everybody was very elegant and rich. I was really kind of shy. It's hard to believe this, but I was shy

49

and low of self-esteem my first year there.

t then I met a guy who was probably the most charming man I've metinmylife. HewasPaulDinkinsfrcmSenatobia,Mississippi. He was very brilliant, very charming. He looked kind of like Fred Astaire and he dressed like Fred Astaire. He was the wittiest person I've ever

known. Hehadusinstitchesallthetune. Well,hetookalikingtome. Irememberonedayinthefirstsemesterofmysecondyear. Iwasa junior, because I had been first year at St. Mary's and then a year. During that first year I was in USC, people who were in my English department would say, "Do you know Paul Dinkins?"

I'd say, "No, I don't know him."
They were saying to him, "Do you know Alice Foley?"
He'd say, "No, I don't know her."
They'd all say, "You ought to know her. You ought to know him." So I remember the first of September of the next semester, I went

into a course in creative writing with Dr. Frank Baxter. I walked in the door and I saw this young man sitting in the front seat. I thought, "That's Paul Dinkins." I didn't know that. I went up and sat dcwn by him and I could see him looking at me sideways.

Finally he said, "Are you Alice Foley?"

I said, "Yes! Are you Paul Dinkins?" Frcm that time on, we were best of friends. He died when we were 40.

50

CHAPTER FIVE

AY. Paul and I were devoted friends and not anything more. RM: It was not romantic?

AY. No romance. It was just that we so liked each other so well and we were so happy together. As long as he was at USC, which was 4 years after that - he got his Masters - we were inseparable. Then he went to Duke University and then he got a Ford Foundation grant to Oxford and I never saw him again. He died when we were 42.

RM: What did he died of?
AY: He was born with a heart problem, so he never went for sports or anything like that. He was the first [Southerner] I ever knew who wasn't bigoted. There's a wonderful story from when he was about 7 years old about the family cook. His father was a judge in Mississippi, and they had this cook. She had a little boy, Perry, who was Paul's age, so they played together for a long time. Then Paul grew up and went away to school and Perry disappeared. Paul had gone home frcm USC for the summer.

This was probably in '33 or something like that. He was sitting in the living room one day and he saw a big white Cadillac drive up in front of his house. He looked out the window and a black man got out of the Cadillac, walked around to the back, and knocked on the door. Paul went to the back door. He said, "Perry!"

The guy said, "Paul!"

And he said, "Perry, you go to the front door! You're never to come to the back door in this house again," and he shut the door and went

51

aroundtoopenthefrontdoorandbroughthimin. Hewasthatkindofa guy. Hewasindependentthinker,yousee. Hewasafinewriter,a talentedpoet. HelaterbecamethechairmanoftheEnglishdepartmentat TCU. Whenhedied,theynamedthenewlibrarytherethePaulC.Dinkins Memorial Library. Oh my god, he made my life over. I suddenly started having fun and friends and being at ease and having self-assurance.

RM. Youwerelivingwithfamilytherenearby,weren'tyou? AY: AtAuntEirma's.

RM: Whatdidyoumajorinthere?

AY. Englishandpsychology.ThenIwenttolawschoolfor2years. RM: Wheredidyougotolawschool?
AY: SouthwesternUniversityinLosAngeles.
RM: Thatwasinthedayswhennotthatmanywomenwenttolawschool, wasn't it?

AY: Wehadabout100menand6girls.
RM: Whatwasitlikeforawomantogotolawschoolinthosedays? AY: Weweredifferent;weweren'tlikealltheotherpeople. Someof the men resented us very much. Seme of the men were very nice to us, but semeofthementhoughtthatwomenhadnoplaceinlawschool. That reminds me of a wonderful Goldfield story. Can I tell you?

My Had had all these law books in Goldfield. When he went practice law in Los Angeles, he took them with him. He had a big library. Then when he died, I told my nephews, who were lawyers by then, that they could have Dad's old law books. So Joe came to Los Angeles and got all of Dad's lawbooks. Thenoneday,IwentuptovisittheFoleysinLasVegas. [Laughs] I said, "Oh, there's ny dad's law book up there." They had

52

T. L. Foley [printed on them].
He said, "Would you like one?"
I sard, "Oh, could you spare one? Don't you need it?"

Hesard,"No,Ihaveotherreports." Hereachedup,grabbedone, pulled rt down and gave it to me. I went hare. Of course, I love law books. Icametoacase,Foltzv.Hastings. Myboyfriend'snamewas Foltz. And Hastings, "That's Hastings Law School," I thought. I read into rt. It was a woman named Foltz in 1895 had sued Hastings Law School

foradmissronbecausetheydidnotadmitwomen. Thishadgoneupon appeal. She, eventually won. So I knew a very prominent woman lawyer,

FayeStender. DidyoueverhearofFayeStender? RM: No.

AY: ShewasafriendofGeorgeJackson's,aprominentpoliticalleft- winglawyer. Ithought,"Gee,IbetFayewouldliketoknowaboutthis case that I got in Las Vegas. I'm invited to a party in San Francisco — I'll bet Faye will be there," because she knew a lot of the same people. So, I wrote down the citation of Foltz v. Hastings to take to her. When I got in, the roan was crowded and I saw her across the room, and I waved at her and I beckoned to her to cone over because I wanted to show her thiscase. Shewalkedoverandasshedrewnearme,Icouldseeshewas

wearing a white T-shirt on which were emblazoned the words, "Foltz v. Hastings."
RM: Oh,mygosh.[Laughter]
AY: Isn'tthatodd?

RM: Isn'tthatacoincidence! Whatyearwouldthathavebeen,thatyou saw her with the T-shirt?

53

iff: She'sbeendeadabout20years.Shegotkilled,youtoTM. Sanebody

Shot her when she vent to China and shot herself. At least 20 years. It was in the '70s.

RM: SOdidyouevergetallofyourfather'slawbooksorjusttheone? onlygottheone. Ididn'twantthemanymorebecauseIstopped

studying law.
RM: Didyoueverpassthebar?

AY: No,Ididn'ttakethebar. Ionlywent2years. RM: Youneeded3?

AY: Yes.
RM: Whydidyouquit?

AY. Romancereareditsuglyhead!Imarriedintotheairforce,sothat meant traveling around.

RM: Howdidyoumeetyourhusband?

AY. Myboyfriendintroducedhimtome.[Laughs]Iwasgoingaround with a guy named Stacy Maslyck and he was frcm Ohio. So he went to Ohio onceforvacationandbroughtacarbackthereanddrovebackwithit. He broughtPeteYarishwithhimandheintroducedmetoPete. Wewere friends for a couple of years. But I got awful tired of Stacy. He was very self-centered, very cheap. Pete was very handscme and very generous and kind of sweet. I didn't realize he was also stupid. [Laughter] RM: Loveblinds?

AY: Oursixthdatewasourwedding.
RM: Oh,boy.[Laughter]
AY: ButIlefthimabout26yearsago.IranawayfrcmhemewhenIwas 59. [Laughter] Iwroteabook,youknow.

54

RM:

Yes. I want to hear about that.

AY:
RM.
AY: The first line in it is "T

It's called, Growing Old Disgracefully. [Laughs] That's a good title.

' 1 ran away from hare when I was 59, [laughter] saying a happy farewell to my grouchy husband."

RM: Is that right? So you left him, and what did you do? AY: I had a good job as a reporter.

RM: Tell me about your career as a reporter.

AY: It was a lovely career. We were at Hamilton Field - my husband was in the air force - and I sold the farm.

How much did you sell it for, to give an idea of hew much that land was worth by the time you sold it?

AY: Probably $65,000 or $70,000.
RM: Cheap. When did you sell it?
AY: About 1950. We moved to Marin and I had all these little kids. I thought, "I've got these kids, I've got to belong to the bloody P.T.A."

So I went to the P.T.A. — 3 of my 4 kids were in school. They had elected a new president, and I said to her, "I've had sane newspaper experience, and if you'd care to have me handle your public relations, be publicity

chairman, I'd be glad to do that."
She said, "Oh, that's wonderful. That's the hardest job to fill."

So I immediately became the P.R. for the P.T.A. So I started turning in P.T.A. stories to the I-J [Independent Journal of Marin County], as if I was covering the United Nations. The I-J has been the daily for here for 50 or 60 years. The Independent Journal had a reporter out in Novato and she said to me one day, after I turned all these stories in, "Alice, I'm

55

going to quit this job. Would you like to have it?"

I said, Oh, my god! Would I love it!" I hated housework and all that.

So she said, Well, the boss doesn't know it yet, but when I tell

him, I m going to recommend you highly because you can tell you really

kno» hew to write." Because I'd been a stringer on the papers in Redondo.

RM: What'sastringer?

AY. Astringerissomebodywhowritesbytheinch. Theyhaveastring with a dot tied at every inch so it measures how long your [articles are]. I was a stringer. Whereas a staffer gets paid by a salary. So anyway, I went into see Jack Kramer, who was the publisher, and I started tellinghimaboutallmyeducationandexperienceandstuff. Hecutme off. He said, "Yes. Yes. We knew what you can from your stories of the PTA. Whencanyoustart?"

I wanted that job so badly I couldn't believe it! So he put me to work right away! I said, "Monday?"

"Monday, yes." I hired a lady to take care of my children. Now, that was the first full-time job at a newspaper I'd ever had.
RM: Whatyearwasthis?
AY: Itwasabout1953.ThenIgotmadatJackandquitandwenttowork at the Santa Rosa Press Democrat for a year. I was the Petaluma bureau chief. I covered all of Petaluma. Then I got the Pacific Sun in Marin County. The Pacific Sun is a very sophisticated weekly. I covered the

county government and San Quentin and planning and politics for them. Then, I found that all of the little weeklies in Marin were in need

56

of county coverage, so I started a news bureau, of which the Pacific Sun was one of my customers, but I had 7 other customers.

Then I went to work as a weekender for the San Francisco Examiner. They needed somebody out here weekends. I worked for them simmers and during sick leaves. Finally I became a member of the staff of the Examiner, and I was still working for the Pacific Sun - half time for the Pacific Sun and half time for the Examiner. San Quentin was ny rain beat out here for the Examiner.

I quit the Pacific Sun finally in about '78 and quit the Examiner in about '84. In the last 4 years, I had half-time employment. I've advocated ever since that people should have a choice of part-time employmentaftertheygettotheretirementage. Thatkeepsthemintouch with things and it retains their expertise for management. It creates part-time jobs, and there's a lot of demand for part-time jobs. It saves both on your wage, on management money, and it saves also your retirement fund money. So it's a really good idea.
RM: It'sagoodideaallthewayaround,isn'tit?
AY: I'vepromoteditsomanytimes. Everybodysaysit'sagoodideaall the way around, but nothing happens. I think I'm going to write to Clintonaboutittoseeifhe'lldoanything. Who'stheDepartmentof labor?

RM: RobertLusche?He'sagoodman.
AY: Well,I'mgoingtowritetohim. Whatwerewetalkingabout? Oh, how I got started. Well, then I was so good . . . working for the Pacific Sun I had ny own style. For the Examiner, I had to use the regular Associated Press style. But the Pacific Sun wanted a literary narrative

57

style. Iwassogoodatthat,Isoongottobetheirstarreporter. When I retired from the Pacific Sun, they had a retirement party for me, for

which they charged admission, and 300 people cane! RMt SOyouwerewellknown?

M : Very well kncwn. People tell me I was the best reporter ever. mi What kind of stories did you cover?

Everything. IcoveredfeaturestoriesandIcoveredthecourthouse,

trials, covered the San Quentin shootings, the San Quentin 6, the George

Jackson murders. I also covered just interesting things. I covered

countygovernment. ThatwastheBoardofSupervisors,thePlanning

Commission and sometimes, if there was something interesting in the

cities,Imightcoverahotcitycouncilmeeting. Icoulddoanything-

absolutelyanything. Icouldevendoladiesstuff,butIdidn'tdoit very much.

My greatest story was a series of 3 on the Marin Narcotics Bureau. I exposed them for dishonesty, incompetence, bribery, forcing users to become informants . . . I wrote this up in a series of 3 stories. I attacked the Marin bureau, the state bureau of Narcotics, and the National Department of Drug Administration. They were all in it together. As a result of that series, the Marin Narcotics Bureau was abolished.

The cops still had their own police departments that were looking outforthis. Butthecountybureauwassocorruptandsoguiltyof malfeasance that a judge called me up and asked me if I'd investigate it forhim. IwenttomybossatthePacificSunandsaid,"JudgeRothwants me to go into this in depth."

He said, "Hew long will it take?" 58

I said, "I don't know. Probably about a month."

said, Well,itsoundslikeagoodstory. Goahead." SothenI tarted interviewing dope fiends, drug dealers, probation officers, cops, wives of people, and I wrote this series that won first prize in the San

Francisco Press Club Annual Competition. You see that silver tray? EM: Yes.Inoticedthat.

When I was 80 years old, I was elected to the Marin County Hall of

Fame. I'm the only journalist that's ever been admitted. I really am the best!

EM. Howdidyougetthisability? Diditjustconenaturally?

AY. Well,mymotherwasagoodwriter.Herfatherandgrandfatherwere newspapermen.

EM: Soitwasinyourblood,almost?
AY: Ithinkso. Ihaveasonwhocouldbeagreatwriterifhewanted to be. He has all the talent. I don't see any signs of that talent from mygrandchildren. ButIthinkitwastalentthatIwasjustbornwith. I really think I have to agree with the people who say I was the best reporter who ever worked this county. I had such a wonderful life because

I had so many friends in high places — all the news-makers. I met everybody. I met the presidential candidates that came through here, I met Beverly Sills, everybody who was anybody.
RM: Wemightmentionthatyou'vegotapictureofycuandRichardNixon on your wall, and you've got a reporter's notebook and you're taking notes.

AY: Ihaveasmallerpicturethatthatwasblownupfrominwhichare Harry Truman, Gerry Ford and Richard Nixon. See the head under my 59

notebook?
KM: Oh,mygosh!

AY: That's Harry Truiren's head. I wanted to do a story about ho* to spend 2 weeks vacation in the Bay Area without ever having to leave hone at night - you know, all the places you could go in the daytime. So I went to the Wax Museum in San Francisco and I saw these cases with these 3presidentsinit. Weaskedtheman,andhesaidsure. Heputmein there in between Nixon and Ford.

RM: You'vegotanotherpictureofBobbyKennedyandwho'stheother fellow?

AY: ItwasTcmStore. HewastheChairmanoftheBoardofSupervisors in Marin.

RM: TheGoldenGateisinthebackground?
AY: Yes. ThatwasthedaythatBobbyKennedycamethroughwithCesar Chavez at a fund raiser for a clinic for the farm workers. I interviewed bothBobbyandCesarChavez. CesarChavezwas10timessmarterthan Bobby; he was a darling man.
RM: YougotyourstartinreportingdowninRedondo?
AY: Yes,ontheRedondoBreeze.
RM: Howdidthathappen?
AY: IwasahighschoolreporterontheRedondoBreeze.AfterIgotout ofhighschool,theygavemefeaturestoriestodo. Bidyoueverhearof Judge Samuel Austin?
RM: Idon'tthinkso.
AY: Well,hiswife,BlancheAustin,wasareporterontheLosAngeles

Herald Express. I guess in those days it was The Express. So I went to 60

work as a stringer for her, covering the Bay Area - Redondo and Hermosa and Palos Verdes. That's how I got that experience. I really never studiedmuch. Itookonecourseinjournalismatschool;alltherestI learned from Mama and just because I read. When I was a child, I knew thatthestyleofanewspaperwasdifferentfromthatofabook. Sowhen

I was in high school, when I had to write a newspaper article, I wrote the newspaperstyle. Noonetoldirewhatitwas.
RM: Itjustcameout?

This is the way you write for newspapers, and it turned out to be

right. ThenItookacourseinjournalism-onehighschoolcourseone

semester. Ilearnedalltherestofmyjournalisminthatwayandwound up being in the Hall of Fame!

RM. Whydon'tyoumentionyourchildren'snamesandwhentheywereborn, starting with the oldest?

AY: TheoldestisTom,namedaftermyfather,andheliveshereinMill Valley. He'stheoneItoldthatwasatalentedwriterwhodoesn'twrite. RM: Whenwasheborn?

AY: Fiftyyearsagotomorrow! Onthe3rdofSeptember,he'llbe50. RM: Thenthenextoldestis?
AY: Tony,whoisalandscapearchitect.Heusedtoliveandworkhere in Marin, but he was put out of business by the drought; we went 5 years with no rain. So he moved up to Oregon, where it rains. He had a good job up there and then the depression hit that job. So now he goes back

and forth — he has a truck — between here and Oregon and has jobs both places.
RM: HowoldisTony?

61

Tonyisabout47. MythirdchildismydaughterRobin. Tony,Robin and Tim were all born in Marin County, out at Hamilton Air Force Base. Robin lives in Brookings, Oregon. She has 3 children. Tony has moved to Brookings,Oregon,andhehas3children. Myex-husbandhasmovedto Brookings, Oregon, because everybody wanted him to move there where the kidscouldlookafterhim,becauseIwouldn'tdothingoneforhim. The youngest child is Timothy Yarish, who's on the San Anselmo City Council. He's going to be the mayor next year. He's 6 feet 6; a very nice boy. RM: Areallyourchildrentall?

' Yes. A lot taller than my husband and me.
RM: Whatrankdidyourhusbandachieve?
AY: Hewasawarrantofficer. Heneverhadanyambition. Ididn't imaginethatamancouldbebornwithnoambition. Whenallhisenlisted 11161:1 friends were putting in for officer's training school, he wouldn't do it. Hedidn'twanttobeanofficer.
RM: Whendidyourdadpasson?
AY: In1935.WelivedinHermosaandhehadretired.
RM: Hewaslivinginthehotelthere?
AY: No,hehadretiredfrcmhisofficeandwehadtakenanapartmentin Hermosarightnearthebeach. Iwasworkingasasocialworkerandhehad

theincomefrcmtheranch. HebecameillandirybrothercameupfrcmLas VegasandtookhimuptoLasVegas,wheretheycouldtakecareofhim. I was working and they felt I was kind of irresponsible. So he died in Las Vegas. Mymotherhaddiedin'33ofcancer.

RM: Wouldyouthinkofyourmotherasafeministofherday?
AY: Shewaswayouttherebeforetherewasafeministmovement. She

62

alwaysvoted. Iwas10yearsoldbeforemymothercouldvote! She'dbeen practicinglawfor15yearsandcouldn'tvote. ButIdon'tthinksheever did get involved in the feminist movement; she just went her own way. RM: Shejustwentoutanddidwhatshewantedtodo?

AY: Yes.IthinkIwassomewhatmoreofafeminist.IalwaysrHHwhat I wanted to do, but I supported the feminists more when it became more the thing. Wewerebothverymuchindependent.

63

apartment house (Foleys'), 17-18, 21

Arnold, Fred, 47 Austin, Blanche, 60 Austin, Judge Samuel, 60 automobiles, 10

bars, 11, 35
Baxter, Dr. Frank, 50
Birth of a Nation, 21 bridge (card game), 4-5, 11,

20, 21, 32, 42, 49 Broderick, Mrs., 21, 22 Brookings, OR, 62 burros, 10-11

California, 5
Catholic, 1, 26-27, 49 cats, 32, 44
Chavez, Cesar, 60
Chicago, IL, 2, 5, 9, 10, 17 clothing, 14, 34, 36-37, 38,

42-43
Columbia School, 30 Connolly, Edna and Elna, 22

Darrow, Clarence, 2
Dean, Dr. Orin A., 2, 5, 59 Democrats, 28
Dempsey, Jack, 12 Diamondfield, NV, 36 Dinkins, Paul, 50, 51-52 divorces, 3, 4, 17, 22 Dcminguez tract, 47, 48

Esmeralda County courthouse, 2, 18, 19, 30

Euclid Street, 17

farm. See ranch, Foley farm management, 7
Fifth Avenue, 17
fire (Goldfield), 18
Flynn (law firm), 7
Foley (Thomas L.'s daughter

by first wife), 6, 7, 11,

26

(Foley, Alice Dean, cont.), 31, 32, 33, 34, 36, 37, 39, 40, 41-42, 43, 49, 59, 61, 62-63

Foley, Bridget, 7
Foley, George, 6, 14
Foley, James, 2
Foley, Joe, 6, 52, 53
Foley, Johnny, 6
Foley, Mary McNamara, 2, 6, 9 Foley, Nell, 26, 32

Foley, Roger D., 6
Foley, Roger T., 6, 7, 11,

17, 22, 24, 25-26, 62 Foley, Thomas L., 1, 2, 3, 4, 5-6, 7-9, 10, 12, 17, 18,

19-20, 22, 23, 24, 27, 28-29, 30, 31, 40, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 52, 53, 54, 62

Foley, Timothy, 7
Foley, Tcm (son of Roger T.),

6

Foltz v. Hastings, 53 Ford, President Gerald, 59,

60

gambling, 12, 25
games, children's, 31 Gans-Nelson fight, 12
gold, 2, 3, 5, 10
Goldfield, NV, 1, 2, 4, 5, 7,

10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 23, 26, 27, 32, 34, 36, 39, 40, 43, 45, 47, 52

Goldfield Hotel, 4, 15, 30, 35 Goldfield School, 11, 13, 31 Great Northern Saloon, 12 Greenspun, Hank, 24, 25 Growing Old Disgracefully

(Yarish), 55

hair, 38-39, 40, 41 Hamilton Air Force Base, 55,

62
Hassfurter, Charlie, 18 Hassfurter, Emma, 13-14, 43,

Foley, Alice Dean, 1, 2, 3, 4,5,6,7,10,11,13, 52

14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22-23, 26, 27, 28,

Hassfurter, Frank, 18 Hastings Lav;School, 53

64

Hermosa, CA, 47, 49, 61, 62 high school, 20, 31, 40, 43,

47, 60 housekeeping, 32-33 Hunt, Frank, 17, 41

ice, 19
Independent Journal of Marin

County, 55
Indian people, 3, 15-16, 35-

36
Ireland, 7, 29-30

Jackson, George, 53, 58 Japanese people, 46 jewelry, 3, 4, 15

Kennedy, Senator Robert, 60 Kramer, Jack, 56

Ladies' Aid, 32
Las Vegas, NV, 6, 14, 17, 52,

53, 62
Las Vegas Sun, 24, 25 law

practice of, 2-3, 6, 10, 13, 22-23, 32, 36, 45, 48, 63
study of, 6, 9-10, 52, 53, 54

Los Angeles, CA, 6, 9, 13, 17, 18, 23, 34, 43, 44, 45, 52

Los Angeles Athletic Club, 49

Los Angeles Herald Express,

60

McCarran, Senator Pat, 23, 24, 25

McCarthy, "Doc," 21 MbCracken, Robert, 42 McNulty, Frank, 17 makeup, 39-40

Marin County, 14, 47, 55, 56, 60, 61, 62

Marin County Hall of Fame, 59, 61

Marin Narcotics Bureau, 58 Maslyck, Stacy, 54 Methuselah, 36
miners, 23, 27-28, 30, 33, 35

miming, 2, 3
Moore, Erma Jean, 22 Moore, Mrs., 22 Mother Killian, 27 Mount Columbus, 30 Mount St. Mary's Girls

School, 27, 49, 50 movie theater, 21-22 municipal judge, 2, 8

news bureau, 57
newspapers, 2, 5, 56-57. See

also reporting; specific

newspapers

Nixon, President Richard, 59 60

Gddie, Tasker, 23
oil, 6, 45, 46, 47, 48-49

Pacific Electric Line, 44 Pacific Sun, 56, 57, 58 Palos Verdes, CA, 61 Parent-Teachers' Association

(PTA), 55, 56
Patton, Mrs., 21 Pecatonica, IL, 7 Petaluma, CA, 56
Pioneer Drugstore, 14 Pittman, Senator Key, 23-24 politics, 6, 7, 28-29 Prohibition, 20, 41 prostitutes, 34-35, 40 Protestant, 1, 7, 26

ranch, Foley, 5-6, 18, 44-45 46-47, 48

red-light district, 34-35 Redondo Beach, CA, 6, 18, 20

40, 43-44, 45, 46, 47,

48, 49, 56, 61
Redondo Breeze, 60
Reno, NV, 17
reporting, 55-59, 60-61 Rice, Aurelia, 14-15, 38 Rickard, Tex, 11-12 Robinson, Gladys, 15 Roosevelt, President Frank­

lin, 28 Roth, Judge, 58

65

San Francisco, CA, 34, 53, 60 San Francisco Examiner, 14, 57 San Francisco Press Club An­

nual Competition, 59
San Quentin, CA, 56, 57, 58 Santa Rosa Press Democrat, 56 Saturday Evening Post, 28 school, 11, 13. See also high

school; specific schools Silver Peak, NV, 36
Sioux City, IA, 2, 7, 8, 26 Smith, Margaret, 35, 36 Smith, Mrs., 35-36

smoking, 41-42
social class divisions, 27,

29, 35, 38
South Haven, MI, 1, 2, 5, 13,

26

South Haven Messenger, 2, 5 Southwestern University, 52 Sprague, Sally, 21
Sprague family, 21 Stender, Faye, 53-54 Store, Tom, 60

strike, mining, 27-28 summers, 19, 26 Sundog Elementary, 30 Surf and Sand Club, 49 Syracuse, NY, 1, 7

Tennant, Daniel, 22
toilets, 15, 20
Tonopah, NV, 16
Tonopah and Goldfield (T & G)

Railroad, 16
Tonopah and Tidewater (T & T)

Railroad, 17 trains, 16, 17 Trixie, 32, 34

Truman, President Harry, 59, 60

University of Southern Cali­ fornia (USC), 6, 14, 27, 49-50, 51

visiting, 33

Wax Museum, 60 winters, 26, 43 World War I, 46

World War II, 24

Yarish, Alice Foley, 1, 3, 5, 6, 9, 11, 13, 14-15, 16, 19, 20, 21, 23, 24, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30-31, 32, 34, 36-37, 38, 40, 41-42, 43, 44, 46, 47, 48, 49- 50, 51, 52-53, 54-59, 60- 61, 62, 63

Yarish, Pete, 15, 54, 55, 62 Yarish, Robin, 62
Yarish, Timothy, 11, 62 Yarish, Tcm, 59, 61

Yarish, Tony, 61-62 Yarrow, Mr., 20

66