Oral history interview with Merrill Rasmussen by Mrs. Squires Sixth Grade Class [Transcript]

Oral history interview by Mrs. Squires sixth grade students of Lapoint Elementary with Merrill Rasmussen. Topics include: His father's first car (1911 Buick Touring car) and a chauffeur business failure; Changes in automobiles over the years; Car repairs; Traveling on dirt roads; Flour mills; No need for a driver's license or car license plates; Attending a large brick two-story school in Manti; Attending a tent school in Lapoint; The use of wood-burning stoves; School teachers; Studying history, arithmetic, spelling, and language; School children marching like soldiers; Hauling water barrels for use at school; Walking or riding horseback eight miles to get to and from school; The use of slates and chalk rather than paper for school work; Bringing lunch to school in a paper sack; Discipline at school; Doing homework by coal-oil light; Playing baseball, basketball, and football during recess; Travel times and camping overnight to get from Lapoint to Vernal; Living on/near the Indian Reservation; Native Americans; Simple Christmas gifts; Wooden toy trains; Popular recess games like jump rope; Doing farm chores; Bathing in a washtub in the kitchen; Burros; Attending dances in Tridell; Dating; Sugar shortages; Sleeping in tents in below zero temperatures; Animal traps; Being sprayed by a skunk; and stopping watermelon thieves.