Interview by Deanna Rommel-Noland
February 18, 1991
(Present were Mr. Orlie Hannas, Mrs. Orlie Hannas, Mrs. Roberta Rommel
Orlie Hannas - That was down Ilia.
Deanna Rommel-Noland - Was that one of the grain chutes that came down at Ilia?
Orlie Hannas - There was no chutes there, they had to haul it down to Ilia [instead of the tramway, Mrs. Hannas], there were three different roads you might say, there was the Landing grade, and then the Casey Creek grade and what we call the Tetrick hill. A lot of grain came from the Tetrick hill there, Oscar Miller's, Tetrick's gone [but it wasn't the tramway, Mrs. Hannas], Gone right over there above where Connoll lived. But . Orlie Hannas yes there was Jack Mcgrann, and Starts, James and Kluties all came down at Ilia.
Deanna Rommel-Noland - OK, what I'd like is this is going to sound silly, could you please state your full name?
Orlie Hannas - Orlie Arn Hannas.
Deanna Rommel-Noland - And your age.
Orlie Hannas - 85
Deanna Rommel-Noland - And your date of birth.
Orlie Hannas - February the 2nd nineteen hun.
Deanna Rommel-Nolanded and six [1906]
And you were born on the home place there on the Snake River.
Orlie Hannas - Yeah, [at Mayveiw, Mrs. Hannas]
Deanna Rommel-Noland - . Orlie Hannas up at Mayview, in the township of Mayveiw?
Orlie Hannas - It's about two miles north of Mayveiw.
Deanna Rommel-Noland - All right it's towards the river side of Mayveiw. And your parents names?
Orlie Hannas - Orlie Hannas and Gurie {sp?} Hannas
Deanna Rommel-Noland - . Orlie Hannas neat names. [they were Norwegians you know, come from Norway Mrs. Hannas] . Orlie Hannas that's wonderful. They immigrated over?
Orlie Hannas - Yeah
Deanna Rommel-Noland - Like you're the first generation American.
Orlie Hannas - Yeah well dad came over here , I don't remember just when it was, it was along about 1888 or 90 something like that. And then came, and he was first in Seattle, and then he came to Garfield County.
Deanna Rommel-Noland - So he had been in the county at least a couple years before he came to Garfield county.
Orlie Hannas - . Orlie Hannas yes. He must have been here several years, because he'd had a half interest in the home place in 1902, not too far from a century farm.
Deanna Rommel-Noland - Yeah. Do you happen to know you mother's maiden name?
Orlie Hannas - Tviet.
Deanna Rommel-Noland - . Orlie Hannas, could you spell that for me?
Orlie Hannas - T - V - I - E - T
Deanna Rommel-Noland - I'd never got that one at all! Now your father was primarily a farmer?
Orlie Hannas - Yeah.
Deanna Rommel-Noland - And you grew up in Mayview?
Orlie Hannas - He grew up in Norway.
Deanna Rommel-Noland - But you grew up in Mayview.
Orlie Hannas - I grew up in Mayview because I was born on a farm. [That would be down at Viola's place. Roberta Rommel]
Deanna Rommel-Noland - What are your earliest memories living on the farm? Of being in a farm community at that time?
Orlie Hannas - I don't know if I can remember back that far. I can remember the house, and that was built in 19 and 16 [1916]. Of course then I was ten years old. And I rode the horses, when I was six years old I rode a horse to Mayview school.
Deanna Rommel-Noland - And who was your teacher?
Orlie Hannas - . Orlie Hannas.
Deanna Rommel-Noland - I got to ask you all these tough questions. [She makes you think. Roberta Rommel] Now was that the school house that's one your place.[Mayview school located at south end of Mayview on property owned by Cecil Rommel]
Orlie Hannas - Yes, Cecil bought that.
Deanna Rommel-Noland - Yeah it's still there.
Orlie Hannas - That's the first school I ever went to school at. And I also went down to school down at the river, when the winter's were rough. Instead of going up over the hill to Mayview the river would be easier.
Deanna Rommel-Noland - That makes sense, a lot of sense.[Mr. Hannas brought out a photo album] . Orlie Hannas good, I like people who are ready for me. I like looking at pictures. [The Mayview school's there , do you have the Ilia school there? Mrs. Hannas] [I remember that Ilia school down there. Roberta Rommel]
Orlie Hannas - You do. [Before it was tore down. Roberta Rommel]
Deanna Rommel-Noland - Was it tore down? Or under water?
Orlie Hannas - It was tore down.
Deanna Rommel-Noland. - And that's the one at Ilia? [Is that the one at Ilia or the one at Mayview? Roberta Rommel] No that's not the one at Mayview mom. [No Mayview's got the building on the front. Mrs. Hannas] Yeah. Of course this picture was taken when it was in much better shape then it is now. [Boy isn't that a fact. Mrs. Hannas] [Now it's a hay shed. Roberta Rommel]
Orlie Hannas - Is that right? But how many of these school houses through out the county are still standing?
Deanna Rommel-Noland - Not very many. [I can remember when we first got that there were still some old school desks still in it. Blackboards on the wall still had writing on them. Roberta Rommel] Yeah! [Well and some of the schools they've lost the desks, people will just take them. Mrs. Hannas] [We had them stored up in that house. On the Cotton place, a bunch of that stuff got stolen out of there. Roberta Rommel} {I know they do. Mrs. Hannas]
Deanna Rommel-Noland - So how old were you when started working? I mean not just doing chores.
Orlie Hannas - Well lets see, first when I actually worked I . Deanna Rommel-Nolandove and eight horse team on plow when I was probably 13 years old. Gang plow, still on gang plowing when I was a teen.
Deanna Rommel-Noland - What do you remember about the Tramway?
Orlie Hannas - What do I remember about the Tramway? Well I have a very good knowledge of how it operated.
Deanna Rommel-Noland - good. Tell me how it worked.
Orlie Hannas - Well the first thing a team with a load of wheat would come up the road and through the gate. It didn't any more then get through the gate then it . Deanna Rommel-Nolandove up on a scale and was weighed right there. And it was assigned a place down along the track. Those tracks came up from the brake house, along side of the brake house and there were folks all along here, space enough between those tracks to sack a row of grain.[That was on the flat? Roberta Rommel] That was on the flat. Two rows of grain along the track, so that they could . Deanna Rommel-Nolandive down between these rows and pile their wheat in about six sacks high and they could come down to the brake house with their little flat cars, push cars, and load them onto that push car and push that down to the brake house where it was loaded onto the larger car that. There were two tram cars that came up here loaded with wheat and they loaded those two cars onto the big one and it went down to the river, down the track. Well this went down the track, in the brake house there was a cable that came up from the car and went two or three raps around the . Deanna Rommel-Nolandum. And it had a great big wheel, probably that high or more [motioned approximately three and a half feet off the floor]then it had a flexible band around it that was operated by a lever which you could stand on with foot pressure. So that this car didn't off down the track, lickety split.
Deanna Rommel-Noland - Are these the stacks? would the rails be in here? I know this is a bad picture.
Orlie Hannas - I've got a better one
Deanna Rommel-Noland - . Orlie Hannas yeah he's got a lot better pictures then I do.
Orlie Hannas - Where's that book we had he yesterday or what's her name?[June? Mrs. Hannas]
Deanna Rommel-Noland - Crithfield? Yeah I've got that book
Orlie Hannas - There's some pictures in there.
Deanna Rommel-Noland - Yeah.
Orlie Hannas - That explains how that, shows better how that was. The brake house was down here.
Deanna Rommel-Noland - Would you mind sketching on here for me. Just sketch away. [We've got the Crithfield book. Roberta Rommel]
Deanna Rommel-Noland - Crithfield, Kuykendall, Sherfy. [I told Orlie that you'd have those books, cause we've all got them. Mrs. Hannas.]
Orlie Hannas - I don't know whether I can do this very good, cause I can't see too well.
Deanna Rommel-Noland - Well that's ok. [He says that it throws him off. Mrs. Hannas]
Deanna Rommel-Noland - Well sure. [Mr. Hannas had just had eye surgery and had one eye covered with a patch]
Orlie Hannas - Well maybe I should have put this down here.
Deanna Rommel-Noland - Just sketch it in, it doesn't have to be perfect.
Orlie Hannas - Here's the main track going to the river, then they had these tracks come out of here and come down here, and down to here and out around here. And they come off of here and maybe off of here and maybe off of her. And sacks stacked up along here, and maybe another line off here.
Deanna Rommel-Noland - So basically they're just feeder lines down to the brake house.
Orlie Hannas - Yeah, now a man would come in here with a load of wheat and he'd . Deanna Rommel-Nolandive between here, no there was more room, cause he could always . Deanna Rommel-Nolandive back out here.
Deanna Rommel-Noland - I see.
Orlie Hannas - But he'd come down here and pile his wheat up here and go out. One load he'd take here and the next he'd unload over here. so that when they loaded these cars here they would load about twenty sacks on each car and they'd come up here two men maybe three or maybe even four, and each one of them would get this man's wheat. One side here and one side here and get it down and he'd have a load of wheat, and they'd take it down to the river. There was a turn table down at the river cause when the car went here it would be headed that away [towards the river] and they had to have this turn table to either head it this away or that away [into either warehouse].
Deanna Rommel-Noland - Well that was pretty clever.
Orlie Hannas - And that grain, then they'd push that car, that track was way up in the eves of the warehouse.
Deanna Rommel-Noland - Above? the car?
Orlie Hannas - Yeah! It was up over head, then they'd take a chute, a grain chute, maybe so wide [two feet] and maybe 25, 26 feet long and chute it out down there to a table where they could put it on a hand truck where they could take it over and start a pile. [That was in the warehouse down below. Mrs. Hannas] The warehouse down below. [some of that warehouse was still there when we was down there. When my folks was first down there. Didn't remember that. Roberta Rommel] Yeah it went in up in the, through the, right up next to the roof. Chute it right down.
Deanna Rommel-Noland - Well that makes sense.
Orlie Hannas - Then they didn't have to have a sack piller, that was before the sack piling days.
Deanna Rommel-Noland - Well now you think about it, all the talk today about energy conservation and finding alternate forms of energy, they let gravity move the grain down the hill. Just on and on about all these things they thought of simply because they didn't have the combustion engines to do it all with.
Orlie Hannas - Yeah well that was the idea behind this, because that loaded car went down the track. They dad a telephone system there too. That was like these old systems, they dad one wire and then a a ground wire. but the only connection they had was from the bottom of the hill to the top of the hill.
Deanna Rommel-Noland - So it was just a straight line.
Orlie Hannas - Could communicate with the ones below when they had that top car loaded they had better have the car off in the warehouse back up and hooked up to the cable, ready to go.
Deanna Rommel-Noland - so were there just two cars, on the track? At a time?
Orlie Hannas - Two cars, one going up and one going down.
Deanna Rommel-Noland - Were there spares parked somewhere else?
Orlie Hannas - They may have had, one car going up, and one car in the warehouse unloading. It didn't take them but just a little while to load those cars because they had these two cars along side of this big car down there. They'd put about four men on each side of those cars and slap them forty sacks on there in less than no time. And that's about the way it ran, and then of course when they shipped them out they'd take them down and take it to a chute and load it onto a steamboat.
Deanna Rommel-Noland - Now they only operated when harvest was on, right?
Orlie Hannas - Yeah, they'd ship, send this wheat up the top of the hill down just as fast as they could. Lots of time it was hauled in there faster than they could handle it down at the river. I guess they could only handle it just so fast. And they'd sometimes have quite a pile of wheat out there.
Deanna Rommel-Noland - I imagine!
Orlie Hannas - See here's a bib pile. [photograph]
Deanna Rommel-Noland - I wish I had Rob here with me and his little machine, or big machine. My husband has a table built that he can take pictures of old photographs.
Orlie Hannas - . Orlie Hannas? [Wasn't there a couple boys killed out there on it? Roberta Rommel] After it was started, after it was in operation.
Deanna Rommel-Noland - It was in the first year it was in operation.
Orlie Hannas - That hurts. [You better lay down. Roberta Rommel]
Deanna Rommel-Noland - We can always come back. when you're feeling better.
Orlie Hannas - But that grade down Ilia was all hauled down by wagon.
Deanna Rommel-Noland - That would have been where Cecil was saying they used to haul down.
Orlie Hannas - Yeah. I think George Shepard had a truck hauling down there. Before they closed down, maybe a year or two.
Deanna Rommel-Noland - I think we should let you rest.
Interview ended.
Return to Interviews
Orlie Arn Hannas • Clarence Kohler
Cecil Rommel • Norma and Walter Wills
Introduction
Geography
• Farming
• Transportation
• Grain Chutes
• Mayview Tramway
Bulk Handling
• Conclusion
• Bibliography
• Oral Interviews
• Maps
• Illustrations
Acknowledgements
• Comments
