StoryCorps interviews recorded in Wenatchee Click here to watch the slideshow presentation of Harriet Bullitt and Wilfred Woods’ interview. Thanks to Central Washington University Archives and Gerard Hogan for help with historic photos for the slideshow.   Wenatchee bills itself as the Apple Capital of the world, and indeed North Central Washington is one of the largest and most productive tree fruit areas in the world. But without irrigation, this region is essentially a desert. The irrigation which makes agriculture possible, is the result of Grand Coulee Dam. The retired publisher of the Wenatchee World newspaper, Wilfred Woods, told his friend Harriet Bullitt about the role played in the creation of the dam by his father and the founder of the paper, Rufus Woods Sr. Harriet Bullitt: “Your father was tremendously influential in the economy and the political world in Eastern Washington. As a high school kid, what was it like growing up with such a powerful father?” Wilfred Woods: “Dad was a traveling man. He went all over the world, but he was convinced that development of Central Washington was important. Back in 1918 he went to Ephrata looking for a story and found a story from an attorney by the name of Billy Clapp, who said: “We ought to put a dam on the Columbia River at Grand Coulee to irrigate the Columbia Basin.” The Columbia Basin was drying up. People were leaving because it had been wetter about the turn of the century. But everybody recognized that they couldn’t raise crops without water.” Harriet Bullitt: “It was getting drier?” Wilfred Woods: “It was getting drier, that’s right. So when Dad wrote that article in 1918, he was laughed at [for this] crazy idea. The Superior Court judge up in Waterville, Judge Steiner, said “Rufus, Baron Munchausen is a piker compared to you.” (Harriet and Wilfred laugh) Wilfred Woods: “But the idea of irrigating - the Columbia Basin Project – began to grow, and back in the mid 30s, finally the Corps of Engineers was ordered to study the river and validated the idea of a dam at Grand Coulee. And believe it or not, the Hoover Administration got interested in this project. And the Bureau of Reclamation under Herbert Hoover actually engineered the dam and the Columbia Basin Project. So it was ready when the Depression came. Hoover, of course, was not about to start a big irrigation project, but Franklin D. Roosevelt saw the need for putting men to work. So he started Grand Coulee Dam as a make-work project in 1933 and allocated 63 million dollars of public works funds without Congressional authorization, to start a low dam at Grand Coulee.” Wilfred Woods retired as publisher of the Wenatchee World in 1997. His son, Rufus Woods Jr., is the paper’s current publisher. Harriet Bullitt is owner and founder of Sleeping Lady Mountain Retreat in Leavenworth and Icicle Broadcasting. Ten years ago she created the Icicle Fund to support the arts and environmental protection in the upper Wenatchee Valley. On the web: Read more on Rufus Woods’ proposal at HistoryLink.org, the free online encyclopedia of Washington state history Wenatchee World history Bureau of Reclamation Grand Coulee Dam page He Predicted His Death The death of a family member is tragic especially when it occurs around the Holidays, as in the case of the Fitzsimmons family of Yakima. On New Year’s Eve seven and a half years ago they lost their 29 year-old-son, Kevin, who stopped to help a motorist and was killed. In the last Storycorps Wenatchee on Northwest Public Radio daughter Abby interviews her mother, Gale about Kevin’s death. Listen     Storycorps Wenatchee: Keith Sexson and Matt Cadman The Liberty Theater in Wenatchee opened for business in 1919 playing Soldiers of Fortune. Since then it has hosted vaudeville acts, numerous plays and musicals. Today the Liberty Theater is a multiplex with ten movie screens, but is still a venue for live performances. In today’s Storycorps Wenatchee, Keith Sexson recalls the beginnings of the Music Theater of Wenatchee and its relationship with the Liberty Theater with his friend, Matt Cadman. Listen Korean War Veteran Share the Story Behind His Silver Star In 1950 war broke out in Korea and American soldiers found themselves fighting in the mountainous terrain. David Gelb was in his early 20s when his company tried to take a strategic hill. It was suicidal mission, yet David survived and earned a Silver Star. He never spoke about the indecent until he was interviewed by his son, Tracy Gelb for StoryCorps Wenatchee. Listen   Click Here to View Older Stories

Summary Independent producer Dave Isay turns the microphones over to the masses with StoryCorps, a national initiative to reach and inspire Americans from all walks of life to record meaningful oral histories with family members and friends. StoryCorps in Wenatchee sponsored by: