Issaquah History Museums 2007.12.5 Oral History
Issaquah History Museums 2007.12.5 Oral History Transcription Project Circa 1975 Narrator: Date: Interviewed By:
Irja Maunus c. 1975 Bret Allen for high school project
BRET ALLEN: This is Bret Allen, and I’m at the home of Irja Maunus. And I am interviewing her on Issaquah history. Her address is 7804 Renton-Issaquah Road in Issaquah. Irja, how are you doing? IRJA MAUNUS: I’m doing fine. How about you? BA: I’m really doing well. I’d like to ask you, when did you move to Issaquah? IM: 1919. BA: All right. How old were you at that time? IM: Seven. BA: Seven years old. Why did you move from your old home? IM: Oh, we lived in Astoria, Oregon during the war. My father was working in the shipyards. And then when the war was over, he wanted to come over here, and he bought this little farm. BA: Where were your father and mother from originally? IM: Finland. BA: Do you know why they left Finland, by any chance? IM: Oh, I think everybody left Finland at that time because there were a lot of children and no work. So they came over here. [chuckles]
1 Commercial use not permitted without written permission from the Issaquah History Museums and payment of appropriate use fees. Non-commercial use of this material is permissible to the extent that fair use laws allow; please cite as “IHM 2007.12.5, Oral History Interview with Irja Maunus.” Those who do not hold copyright do not have the right to assign, sell, broadcast, lend, modify, adapt, edit, sub-license or otherwise transfer the content of the oral history. Those who do not hold copyright are not granted any synchronization, public performance, promotional use, commercial sale, resale, reproduction or distribution rights for the content.
Issaquah History Museums 2007.12.5 Oral History Transcription Project Circa 1975 BA: All right. What do you know about this little valley you live in here? You’re right by the Pickerings down here. What do you know about this valley? IM: I think this is the first house that was built here, and it was owned by the Joneses, Bill Jones, I think his name was. And my father bought from him. And there were about five or six houses here when we came here. BA: Were there any other children in any of the other homes that you ever played with? IM: Oh, yes. Lots of them. BA: Did they go to your school? IM: Yes. BA: What grade in school were you, do you remember that? IM: Oh, I started the first grade here. And we had a school bus. And this, I’ll have to tell you. We had a strike. Mr. [Hans] Jensen drove the school bus, and he didn’t want to come up here to the valley. And he said we had to walk over to Goode’s Corner. So, we wouldn’t walk, so we had a little strike. [chuckles] It’s very faintly, I remember that walk. BA: Huh. All right. Let me ask you something about your home here. In the old barn out in back, it seems to be falling down a little bit, but it really looks like an old building. What year was it built in? IM: Well, it would be 1920 or [19]21. BA: What was the purpose of it? What did you keep in there? IM: Cows. And we had three chicken coops. BA: Who built it? IM: My father. 2 Commercial use not permitted without written permission from the Issaquah History Museums and payment of appropriate use fees. Non-commercial use of this material is permissible to the extent that fair use laws allow; please cite as “IHM 2007.12.5, Oral History Interview with Irja Maunus.” Those who do not hold copyright do not have the right to assign, sell, broadcast, lend, modify, adapt, edit, sub-license or otherwise transfer the content of the oral history. Those who do not hold copyright are not granted any synchronization, public performance, promotional use, commercial sale, resale, reproduction or distribution rights for the content.
Issaquah History Museums 2007.12.5 Oral History Transcription Project Circa 1975
BA: How old were you when it was built? Do you remember it being built? Did you help in it? IM: No, I don’t remember. I was about eight or nine, but I don’t remember. BA: Were there any exciting events that happened in your barn? Did you have any square dances or – IM: No, no. No, we used to have dances in the chicken coop now and then. BA: Did you invite a lot of the town out to them?1 IM: No, just the valley. BA: How many people usually showed up for those? IM: Oh, all the whole valley. Maybe 50. BA: What’s the small building next to it? I notice there’s a … looks kind of like an outhouse sitting out there. Is that what that is? IM: No, it’s a smokehouse. BA: Oh, is that right? What did you smoke in it? IM: Hams and bacons and salmon. We smoked salmon. BA: Let’s see … let me ask you some questions about the town of early Issaquah. Do you remember anything about the Ku Klux Klan? IM: Ye-e-s, I remember my father and I walking to Pickering’s field and watching all these white-hooded people. And that’s all I remember. In the first half of the 20th Century, there was a clear distinction between those who lived “in town” (within Issaquah’s city limits) and those who were “in the country.” 1
3 Commercial use not permitted without written permission from the Issaquah History Museums and payment of appropriate use fees. Non-commercial use of this material is permissible to the extent that fair use laws allow; please cite as “IHM 2007.12.5, Oral History Interview with Irja Maunus.” Those who do not hold copyright do not have the right to assign, sell, broadcast, lend, modify, adapt, edit, sub-license or otherwise transfer the content of the oral history. Those who do not hold copyright are not granted any synchronization, public performance, promotional use, commercial sale, resale, reproduction or distribution rights for the content.
Issaquah History Museums 2007.12.5 Oral History Transcription Project Circa 1975
BA: Did they let off a lot of fireworks at the end of that meeting? Was that the big celebration for the Klan in the early 1920s? IM: Well, that I don’t remember, if there was any fireworks or not, but I remember – BA: Do you remember who had the first car in Issaquah and when it came? IM: No, I don’t. BA: Do you remember when you got your first car? IM: 1924. BA: What kind did you have? IM: Buick. BA: Do you remember anything about the Depression? IM: Oh, yes. I graduated from high school during the Depression. BA: Did it affect your lifestyle a lot, the Depression? IM: Well, yes. It was awfully hard to get a job. Very definitely. BA: Were there a lot of food rationings and – IM: No, that, I don’t remember anything like that. I was … I was an only child, so the Depression didn’t bother me that much. [chuckles] BA: I see. I’ve got one final question for you on the mines in Issaquah. On Squak Mountain, there’s a fable, maybe, that a mine was supposed to have been built that run all the way through Squak Mountain. Have you heard anything about that? Did you know anything about that when you were a kid? 4 Commercial use not permitted without written permission from the Issaquah History Museums and payment of appropriate use fees. Non-commercial use of this material is permissible to the extent that fair use laws allow; please cite as “IHM 2007.12.5, Oral History Interview with Irja Maunus.” Those who do not hold copyright do not have the right to assign, sell, broadcast, lend, modify, adapt, edit, sub-license or otherwise transfer the content of the oral history. Those who do not hold copyright are not granted any synchronization, public performance, promotional use, commercial sale, resale, reproduction or distribution rights for the content.
Issaquah History Museums 2007.12.5 Oral History Transcription Project Circa 1975 IM: Hmm … no, I don’t. BA: Do you know anything about the mines on Squak Mountain? IM: Yes, my father worked there for about 20, 30 years. Harris’s coal mine, Bianco coal mine. And first of all, he – the old mine over here, Pacific Coast Coal Company, I think it’s called. He worked there until it was closed. BA: What year was that? IM: That, I don’t remember. BA: OK. Thank you very much for your time today and we really appreciate this interview. Thank you very much. END
5 Commercial use not permitted without written permission from the Issaquah History Museums and payment of appropriate use fees. Non-commercial use of this material is permissible to the extent that fair use laws allow; please cite as “IHM 2007.12.5, Oral History Interview with Irja Maunus.” Those who do not hold copyright do not have the right to assign, sell, broadcast, lend, modify, adapt, edit, sub-license or otherwise transfer the content of the oral history. Those who do not hold copyright are not granted any synchronization, public performance, promotional use, commercial sale, resale, reproduction or distribution rights for the content.
Irja Maunus c. 1975 Bret Allen for high school project
BRET ALLEN: This is Bret Allen, and I’m at the home of Irja Maunus. And I am interviewing her on Issaquah history. Her address is 7804 Renton-Issaquah Road in Issaquah. Irja, how are you doing? IRJA MAUNUS: I’m doing fine. How about you? BA: I’m really doing well. I’d like to ask you, when did you move to Issaquah? IM: 1919. BA: All right. How old were you at that time? IM: Seven. BA: Seven years old. Why did you move from your old home? IM: Oh, we lived in Astoria, Oregon during the war. My father was working in the shipyards. And then when the war was over, he wanted to come over here, and he bought this little farm. BA: Where were your father and mother from originally? IM: Finland. BA: Do you know why they left Finland, by any chance? IM: Oh, I think everybody left Finland at that time because there were a lot of children and no work. So they came over here. [chuckles]
1 Commercial use not permitted without written permission from the Issaquah History Museums and payment of appropriate use fees. Non-commercial use of this material is permissible to the extent that fair use laws allow; please cite as “IHM 2007.12.5, Oral History Interview with Irja Maunus.” Those who do not hold copyright do not have the right to assign, sell, broadcast, lend, modify, adapt, edit, sub-license or otherwise transfer the content of the oral history. Those who do not hold copyright are not granted any synchronization, public performance, promotional use, commercial sale, resale, reproduction or distribution rights for the content.
Issaquah History Museums 2007.12.5 Oral History Transcription Project Circa 1975 BA: All right. What do you know about this little valley you live in here? You’re right by the Pickerings down here. What do you know about this valley? IM: I think this is the first house that was built here, and it was owned by the Joneses, Bill Jones, I think his name was. And my father bought from him. And there were about five or six houses here when we came here. BA: Were there any other children in any of the other homes that you ever played with? IM: Oh, yes. Lots of them. BA: Did they go to your school? IM: Yes. BA: What grade in school were you, do you remember that? IM: Oh, I started the first grade here. And we had a school bus. And this, I’ll have to tell you. We had a strike. Mr. [Hans] Jensen drove the school bus, and he didn’t want to come up here to the valley. And he said we had to walk over to Goode’s Corner. So, we wouldn’t walk, so we had a little strike. [chuckles] It’s very faintly, I remember that walk. BA: Huh. All right. Let me ask you something about your home here. In the old barn out in back, it seems to be falling down a little bit, but it really looks like an old building. What year was it built in? IM: Well, it would be 1920 or [19]21. BA: What was the purpose of it? What did you keep in there? IM: Cows. And we had three chicken coops. BA: Who built it? IM: My father. 2 Commercial use not permitted without written permission from the Issaquah History Museums and payment of appropriate use fees. Non-commercial use of this material is permissible to the extent that fair use laws allow; please cite as “IHM 2007.12.5, Oral History Interview with Irja Maunus.” Those who do not hold copyright do not have the right to assign, sell, broadcast, lend, modify, adapt, edit, sub-license or otherwise transfer the content of the oral history. Those who do not hold copyright are not granted any synchronization, public performance, promotional use, commercial sale, resale, reproduction or distribution rights for the content.
Issaquah History Museums 2007.12.5 Oral History Transcription Project Circa 1975
BA: How old were you when it was built? Do you remember it being built? Did you help in it? IM: No, I don’t remember. I was about eight or nine, but I don’t remember. BA: Were there any exciting events that happened in your barn? Did you have any square dances or – IM: No, no. No, we used to have dances in the chicken coop now and then. BA: Did you invite a lot of the town out to them?1 IM: No, just the valley. BA: How many people usually showed up for those? IM: Oh, all the whole valley. Maybe 50. BA: What’s the small building next to it? I notice there’s a … looks kind of like an outhouse sitting out there. Is that what that is? IM: No, it’s a smokehouse. BA: Oh, is that right? What did you smoke in it? IM: Hams and bacons and salmon. We smoked salmon. BA: Let’s see … let me ask you some questions about the town of early Issaquah. Do you remember anything about the Ku Klux Klan? IM: Ye-e-s, I remember my father and I walking to Pickering’s field and watching all these white-hooded people. And that’s all I remember. In the first half of the 20th Century, there was a clear distinction between those who lived “in town” (within Issaquah’s city limits) and those who were “in the country.” 1
3 Commercial use not permitted without written permission from the Issaquah History Museums and payment of appropriate use fees. Non-commercial use of this material is permissible to the extent that fair use laws allow; please cite as “IHM 2007.12.5, Oral History Interview with Irja Maunus.” Those who do not hold copyright do not have the right to assign, sell, broadcast, lend, modify, adapt, edit, sub-license or otherwise transfer the content of the oral history. Those who do not hold copyright are not granted any synchronization, public performance, promotional use, commercial sale, resale, reproduction or distribution rights for the content.
Issaquah History Museums 2007.12.5 Oral History Transcription Project Circa 1975
BA: Did they let off a lot of fireworks at the end of that meeting? Was that the big celebration for the Klan in the early 1920s? IM: Well, that I don’t remember, if there was any fireworks or not, but I remember – BA: Do you remember who had the first car in Issaquah and when it came? IM: No, I don’t. BA: Do you remember when you got your first car? IM: 1924. BA: What kind did you have? IM: Buick. BA: Do you remember anything about the Depression? IM: Oh, yes. I graduated from high school during the Depression. BA: Did it affect your lifestyle a lot, the Depression? IM: Well, yes. It was awfully hard to get a job. Very definitely. BA: Were there a lot of food rationings and – IM: No, that, I don’t remember anything like that. I was … I was an only child, so the Depression didn’t bother me that much. [chuckles] BA: I see. I’ve got one final question for you on the mines in Issaquah. On Squak Mountain, there’s a fable, maybe, that a mine was supposed to have been built that run all the way through Squak Mountain. Have you heard anything about that? Did you know anything about that when you were a kid? 4 Commercial use not permitted without written permission from the Issaquah History Museums and payment of appropriate use fees. Non-commercial use of this material is permissible to the extent that fair use laws allow; please cite as “IHM 2007.12.5, Oral History Interview with Irja Maunus.” Those who do not hold copyright do not have the right to assign, sell, broadcast, lend, modify, adapt, edit, sub-license or otherwise transfer the content of the oral history. Those who do not hold copyright are not granted any synchronization, public performance, promotional use, commercial sale, resale, reproduction or distribution rights for the content.
Issaquah History Museums 2007.12.5 Oral History Transcription Project Circa 1975 IM: Hmm … no, I don’t. BA: Do you know anything about the mines on Squak Mountain? IM: Yes, my father worked there for about 20, 30 years. Harris’s coal mine, Bianco coal mine. And first of all, he – the old mine over here, Pacific Coast Coal Company, I think it’s called. He worked there until it was closed. BA: What year was that? IM: That, I don’t remember. BA: OK. Thank you very much for your time today and we really appreciate this interview. Thank you very much. END
5 Commercial use not permitted without written permission from the Issaquah History Museums and payment of appropriate use fees. Non-commercial use of this material is permissible to the extent that fair use laws allow; please cite as “IHM 2007.12.5, Oral History Interview with Irja Maunus.” Those who do not hold copyright do not have the right to assign, sell, broadcast, lend, modify, adapt, edit, sub-license or otherwise transfer the content of the oral history. Those who do not hold copyright are not granted any synchronization, public performance, promotional use, commercial sale, resale, reproduction or distribution rights for the content.
