Forms part of the Soap Creek Valley History Project.
Collection is open for research.
Donald Charles Dickey was born in Yamhill, Oregon, in 1914. In 1928, his family relocated to Berry Creek. In 1942, he earned a degree from Oregon State University in fish and game management. That same year, he and Maxine Ann Van Patten were married; they later had three children. He worked for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in rodent control for 35 years, retiring in 1980. He died in 1990.
Forms part of the Soap Creek Valley History Project.
Soap Creek Valley History Project Oral Histories (OH 006), Oregon State University Special Collections and Archives Research Center, Corvallis, Oregon.
Oral history interview with Donald Dickey, by Bob Zybach and Neil Vanderburg, SR 457, Oregon Historical Society Research Library.
This oral history interview with Donald Dickey was conducted by Neil Vanderburg and Bob Zybach at the Green Valley Care Center in Eugene, Oregon, from August 18-19, 1990. The interview was conducted as part of the Soap Creek Valley History Project, which was conducted by the Oregon State University Research Forests to better understand the history, ecology, and culture of the Soap Creek Valley in Benton County, Oregon. Maxine Ann Dickey was also present and occasionally contributed to the interview. The interview was conducted in two sessions.
In the first interview session, conducted on August 18, 1990, Dickey discusses his family background and early life in Berry Creek, in the Soap River Valley area of Oregon, including his memories of snowstorms, life on the family farm, and other families that lived in the area. He also briefly discusses his 35-year career in rodent control for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
In the second interview session, conducted on August 19, 1990, Dickey describes the wildlife in the Berry Creek area, his recreational activities and social life, and people and places in neighboring towns. He speaks at length about the sawmills in the area. He then revisits the topic of his 35-year career in rodent control for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. He closes the interview by discussing his marriage.
Copyright for this interview is held by Oregon State University. Use is allowed according to the following statement: Creative Commons - BY-NC-SA,
Interview was also printed as a monograph, "Donald Dickey: family history and life on Berry Creek, Benton County, Oregon, 1928-1942," published by OSU Research Forests, Oregon State University, 1995. It is viewable online at