Washington State University Libraries, Manuscripts, Archives and Special Collections
CT 14
Wheeler, Jeanie Shaw, b. 1882
Jeanie Shaw Wheeler Oral History Interview
1979
.2 Linear feet of shelf space
1 box
Oral history interview (audiocassettes) of Jeanie Shaw Wheeler, conducted by Margot Knight in 1979.
Collection materials are inEnglish
In April of 1979, Mrs. Jeanie (Shaw) Wheeler visited Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections at Washington State University accompanied by her daughter, Mrs. Millard Hastay. Mrs. Hastay thought someone might want to interview her mother, feeling her pioneering experiences in Humptulips and Hoquiam, Washington were particularly interesting. During the next week, Margot H. Knight spoke with Mrs. Wheeler about some of her life experiences in front of a tape recorder.
This collection consists of an oral history interview (three audiocassettes) of Jeanie Shaw Wheeler, conducted by Margot Knight in 1979. Mrs. Wheeler's memory was sharp on some events, spotty on others. Mrs. Hastay often reminded her mother of stories she remembered her telling. The tapes consist primarily of her experiences settling and growing up in the rainforest near Humptulips, WA. She later moved to Hoquiam and became a schoolteacher. From 1918 through 1943 Mrs. Wheeler and her husband, Frank, owned and operated a small orchard in what was White Bluffs, Washington, until they were forced to move due to the building of the Hanford nuclear site. She talked of the apple and peach business in White Bluffs.
The tapes are arranged chronologically in order of the interview dates.
(MASC STAFF USE): range 3-4.
This collection is open and available for research use.
Copyright restrictions apply.
[Item Description]
Jeanie Shaw Wheeler Oral History Interview, 1979
Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections,
Washington State University Libraries, Pullman, WA.
Margot H. Knight donated this collection to the Washington State University Libraries in 1979 (MS.1979.37).
Margot H. Knight abstracted this oral history interview in August 1979.
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the online
catalog. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or
places should search the catalog using these headings.
Wheeler, Jeanie Shaw, b. 1882
Washington (State) -- History.
White Bluffs (Wash.) -- History.
Frontier and pioneer life -- Olympic Peninsula (Wash.)
Oral history -- United States.
Oral Histories
Washington (State)
Series 14/1: Jeanie Wheeler (Shaw), homemaker,
1979
Birthdate of : 1882
Geographical Areas Covered: Humptulips, WA
Interviewer: Margot H. Knight
Location of Interview: Pullman, WA
Date of Interview: 3/30/1979
Length of Interview: 60 minutes
Abstractor: Margot H. Knight
Date of Abstraction: 8/3/1979
Release: Yes
Restrictions: No
1, side A
Minutes (approx.): 0-6
Childhood in Wisconsin. Father worked in
the woods. Mother was from Glasgow, Scotland. Her mother's trip from
Scotland
1, side A
Minutes (approx.): 6-8
Her first spanking. Brothers and
sisters.
1, side A
Minutes (approx.): 8-12
Travelling west on the immigrant train
when she was 8 in 1890. Her father had built a house for them in the
rain forest. Arriving at Hoquiam.
1, side A
Minutes (approx.): 12-16
The trip from Hoquiam across Gray's Harbor
to an Indian camp. Canoeing up the river to Humptulips. Siwash Indians
helped to paddle the canoe.
1, side A
Minutes (approx.): 16-21
Describes their house with shake floors.
Flooding on the river -their house was built on stilts.
1, side A
Minutes (approx.): 21-26
Garden in hollowed-out trees. Ate a lot of
canned food. Eating beaver.
1, side A
Minutes (approx.): 26-30
Taking a trip up the river with her father
and meeting a little Indian girl. She had no girls to play with for 2
years,
1, side B
Minutes (approx.): 0-2
Her father had been hired to help build a
town to be called Frederick on the Humptulips River.
1, side B
Minutes (approx.): 2-6
A half-breed, Tom Ford, who had a
daughter. Siwash Indians. They called her father Siwash George because
he adapted so well.
1, side B
Minutes (approx.): 6-8
She doesn't recall helping around the
house very much. Carrying water to the house. She read all the
time.
1, side B
Minutes (approx.): 8-11
Teachers were only there 6 months out of
the year. Teaching was very individualized. Mail was brought up the
river for them.
1, side B
Minutes (approx.): 11-13
Her grandparents. Her mother's mother was
very strict.
1, side B
Minutes (approx.): 13-14
Story of a cougar who jumped on the
roof.
1, side B
Minutes (approx.): 14-17
Mother was a staunch Presbyterian. No
church when they lived in the rain forest. No work was done on
Sunday.
1, side B
Minutes (approx.): 17-20
More about her Scottish grandmother's
family and how they came to America.
1, side B
Minutes (approx.): 20-23
Monday was always washday. They used
store-bought soap. Memories of making soap. Her hair was thick and
blonde and she always wore it in braids.
1, side B
Minutes (approx.): 23-25
Her mother had a sewing machine and made
all their clothes.
1, side B
Minutes (approx.): 25-30
No memories of big Christmas celebrations.
Her favorite doll with a kid body and a bisque head.
Series 14/2: Jeanie Wheeler (Shaw), homemaker,
1979
Birthdate of : 1882
Geographical Areas Covered: Humptulips, WA; Hoquiam, WA
Interviewer: Margot H. Knight
Location of Interview: Pullman, WA
Date of Interview: 4/2/79
Length of Interview: 60 minutes
Abstractor: Margot H. Knight
Date of Abstraction: 8/6/1979
Release: Yes
Restrictions: No
2, side A
Minutes (approx.): 0-4
Leaving the woods to live in Hoquiam when
she was 10. Describes the house they lived in.
2, side A
Minutes (approx.): 4-8
The school she went to when they lived in
the rain forest. She was the only girl. Schoolhouse in
Hoquiam.
2, side A
Minutes (approx.): 8-14
Hoquiam was a wild, lumbering town. Eight
saloons in town. Describes Hoquiam. Buying a bicycle. Selling tea and
spices for the Baker Company.
2, side A
Minutes (approx.): 14-19
The madame in Hoquiam named Cottontop
because of her bleached hair. Story of a lawyer killed by a logger.
Getting caught on the mudflats.
2, side A
Minutes (approx.): 19-28
She was glad to move into Hoquiam. Young
folks' parties.. Box socials. An elocution group at her
schools
2, side B
Minutes (approx.): 0-6
More about camping. She always wore short
skirts which was very daring. Other entertainment. Ice cream socials.
Dancing.
2, side B
Minutes (approx.): 6-10
Father-in-law was a Methodist minister.
Went to Goucher Academy at Montesano for one year. Attended summer
school in order to get teacher certification.
2, side B
Minutes (approx.): 10-16
She got 45 dollars a month for teaching at
Humptulips. She saved her money and built a new house for her mother.
Her first class. Then she taught in Hoquiam.
2, side B
Minutes (approx.): 16-21
Selling milk in Hoquiam. Doctors in
Hoquiam. Home remedies.
2, side B
Minutes (approx.): 21-27
Teaching in New London. How she met and
husband and got engaged. He was a bricklayer in California.
Series 14/3: Jeanie Wheeler (Shaw), homemaker,
1979
Birthdate of : 1882
Geographical Areas Covered: White Bluffs, WA
Interviewer: Margot H. Knight
Location of Interview: Pullman, WA
Date of Interview: 4/3/79
Length of Interview: 60 minutes
Abstractor: Margot H. Knight
Date of Abstraction: 8/7/1979
Release: Yes
Restrictions: No
3, side A
Minutes (approx.): 0-3
Memories of her wedding. They lived first
in Tacoma. Going to Point Defiance for picnics by streetcar,
3, side A
Minutes (approx.): 3-4
They moved to White Bluffs in 1918 where
they had an apple orchard.
3, side A
Minutes (approx.): 4-10
Story about visiting Grandpa. Early
married life and children. Tells about orchard in western Washington.
She used to work packing the apples.
3, side A
Minutes (approx.): 10-16
Their place in eastern Washington was on
the banks of the Columbia. Packing boxes. They always had wood because
they lived on the river. They had 20 acres all of which was
irrigated.
3, side A
Minutes (approx.): 16-22
Picnics on the island near White Bluffs. 7
cents a box for packing apples.
3, side A
Minutes (approx.): 22-24
Grew most of their produce.
3, side A
Minutes (approx.): 24-29
Story of being put off by the orchard by
the U,S. Government so the Hanford Nuclear Site could be built. Talks
about the good peach growing conditions.
3, side A
Minutes (approx.): 29-30
Being gypped by a commission man in
Seattle.
3, side B
Minutes (approx.): 0-5
More about Schroeder, the commission
man.
3, side B
Minutes (approx.): 5-11
More about the destruction of White Bluffs
in 1943. Bulldozer plowed the place while they were still there.
Travelling in a government truck with all their furniture to Seattle.
They only got a few days notice.
3, side B
Minutes (approx.): 11-14
Tells about the land swindle in White
Bluffs, the story of White Bluffs' move.
3, side B
Minutes (approx.): 14-21
Workers on the orchard were usually from
the area. Fire in the smokehouse. Other farm life incidents.
3, side B
Minutes (approx.): 21-25
During the winter her husband went to the
Coast. Getting electricity.
3, side B
Minutes (approx.): 25-30
Talks about her son, Donald, who became a
Rhodes scholar in 1935. He also traveled to Portland on a raft. Her
other children.