What is your full name and where were you born?

My full name was Bertha Faure. I was born in East Long Meadow, Masschussets, in 1909.

How did your family come to live in Worland?

I had two uncles that were here in Worland. I my one uncle came back to Mass and said there were a lot of opportunites out here and we should come out to Wyoming. So we p acked up and came to Worland. Me,my parents and my two sisters. Two older sisters. I was nine years younger than my second sister.

Do you remember the move out here?

Just barely.

How did you come out here?

We came on the train to Billings, Montana and my uncle came up there and picked us up.

So where did your family live when they first moved here?

We lived out on the Hake ranch. It was out south of Worland on South Flat road.

Tell us about growing up. Did you grow up on the ranch?

No, then we moved to town. I didn’t like the school because my folks were French and they talked French all the time at home. And that was all I knew and then when I went to school, that was a different story. I couldn’t talk French. So, anyway, I finally did. I graduated in 1928 from the Worland school.

What were your parents doing? Where did you dad work?

He worked several places but ended up as a janitor at the school. And he contracted pneumonia and died in 1965 is when he passed away.

What about your mom? Did she stay at home with you and your family?

She didn’t work at all.

Where did you live in town?

1215 Coburn Avenue. My dad built a home there. That’s where I lived until I was married.

Is the house he built, is it still there?

Oh yes, it’s still there.

But you get to see the house your dad built?

Oh yes.

What was a normal day like for you during the school year when you were growing up?

When I got into high school we had a teacher, Mrs. Ferry that was very musical and she put on a lot of plays and operettas and I was in all of those. I was almost in everything. We had a football team that was very very good and we followed along with them quite a bit.

What kind of chores did you have to do as a young child?

I don’t think I did any chores that I know of. I babysat a lot.

What did you do for fun?

After I got up into high school, I went to a lot of dances. They had a celebration and some of the business men took us around to different towns to advertise whatever function there was going to be. That was mostly after I graduated after I went to work for the Wyoming Gas Company in 1928.

Right out of high school?

No, I went to University first for a quarter then came home. This job was open at the gas company and I decided I better go to work there rather than go to school. A permanent job. So I worked there for seven years until I got married. They didn’t believe in hiring married women so I had to give up my job. So that’s when I went to work for Mrs. Hampton [Washakie Trading Company]. Mr. Hampton didn’t believe in women working, but she didn’t care. She hired married women. That’s when I went to work for her.

Tell me about working there.

It was really nice. I enjoyed it very much. One thing that stands out is New Year’s. We always inventoried on New Year’s Day. It was pretty hard for young people to stay out all night and then have to go to work and inventory. That was her rule, that we inventoried. After I’d been there for quite awhile, we’d have style shows and things like that and I always helped.

What was it like to work for her?

It was very good. She was very very good. I got acquainted with her and her girls and I was just like one of her girls at that time. But she was a very easy person to work for. I can’t remember having any trouble at all. And [Marion] your girls used to work in the office too. What Marion was talking about, sending the money up in those cups up to the office. That was quite the antique.

What kind of things did the store sell?

It was a General Store. They sold hardware. They sold groceries. On my side yard goods, all kinds of notions and clothes. Sheets and pillowcases and everything that a household would need.

How did people pay for their goods?

Some people would bring in eggs and get credit for it. I know they charged a lot. She had a big list of people that charged. Of course some would pay and some wouldn’t.

You were telling us what happened on the weekends with the farmers coming into town to shop and do their in-town business.

They mostly came in the evening. They’d stroll up and down the street and go to the movies then they’d come and do their shopping.

So the store had to stay open late?

Yes. The stores stayed open real late.

And they were the ones who primarily traded rather than paying cash?

Yes, a lot of them.

You were telling me that you went to college for a little while then came back. And then you got married. Tell us how you met and married your husband.

His brother lived here and he came out to visit him. And we got to going together and that’s when we got married.

So he ended up staying here in Worland?

Yes. He became a barber. He went to barber school and was a barber for several several years.

Did you move out of your parents’ house then? Where did you move to?

We moved several places. Apartments. I don’t remember some of the addresses.

Do you have any children?

I have two girls. My oldest girl died in 1998 from cancer and my other daughter lives here in Worland.

What were their names?

Claudette and Carolyn Tharp.

Did you work somewhere else after the Trading Company?

I went to work for the Washakie Hotel.

Can you tell us about that?

It was very nice. I was a receptionist some of the time and the rest of the time I was in the office. I worked for Mr. Gee. We had a lot of experiences hiring help and I took care of all the hiring and scheduling and things like that.

Anything really interesting happen while you were working there? Any notable guests?

I can’t think of anything that happened. It seemed like we were always having trouble hiring people. They’d come to work for three or four days and next thing you’d know they’d quit. Mr. Gee put on a lot of big dinners. Things like that.

What was your favorite part of working at the Hotel?

I think being in the office. Working in there. Making out the payroll and stuff like that. I really enjoyed that part of it.

Tell us about what Worland was like while you were working at the hotel. What did you and your husband do for recreation?

We went to Oklahoma to see his folks and then before he retired, in the winter time, we’d go down south to Arizona and places like that. It was very interesting.

Do you remember anything about the weather in Worland? Were the winters really hard?

Some of the times it was. I remember once it was fifty below zero? That was really hard cold.

What did you do when it got that cold?

Just stay in the house and try to keep warm.

What about the summers? Did it get this hot in the summer time?

Yes it did. It got quite warm. We’d go to the mountains a lot.

What was that like?

That was fun going up there. It was nice and cool.

Did you camp in a tent or in a camper?

We had a camper.

Tell me about raising your kids here in Worland. What was that like?

They both graduated high school and went on to college and before you knew it they were married.

How long did you work at the Washakie Hotel?

About twenty years. He decided to sell it to someone else so when he changed managements I decided it was time for me to quit.

Did you work somewhere else after that?

I retired for good.

What is the thing you like most about living in Worland?

It’s a nice clean town and really I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else. We didn’t have too many things that went wrong with it. I enjoyed everything about Worland.

Thinking back to working at the Washakie Trading Company and the Hotel? Was there any interesting guest or visitor or interesting story?

We used to have what was called Oktoberfest. Debbie Reynolds came one year. They always seemed to get someone who was well known to come.

Did you and your family go to the fair?

Yes. We enjoyed them very much. We took in all the events.

Marion: Tell us what happened to Mr. Hampton.

Well he died. I think it was cancer.

Marion: It left Jessie with how many children?

Four girls and a boy. She had five children to raise by herself.

Marion: Tell us about Saturday night dances.

The pavilion is where the Rendevous is now.

Marion: Everybody went to those.

Yes. Young and old.

Marion: Getting back to the Faure family.

My mother was a Faure and my dad was a Faure but they weren’t related. It was just like Johnson and Johnson and Thompson and Thomson. There was no relation.

Marion: What were your aunt’s and uncle’s names?

Fred and Ema Faure. They were in the sheep business.

Marion: And your dad?

He came out here and worked lots of places. You remember where the Worland Garage was? He worked there for many years as a night clerk, night watch man, for many years. Then he went to the middle school. That was when he passed away. They called him Shorty.

Marion: No one had any money during the Depression. Mrs. Hampton ran quite a charge business, didn’t he?

I think Mr. Hampton took over the Carl Hampton’s.

Bob: We’d heard that he lost the farm because of a grocery bill.

You mentioned your parents were French. Did your parents come here directly from France?

Yes.

When did you retire?

In 1981. I enjoyed working. I just was not made to stay home.

We had a flood in 1962 in Manderson. There was a lot of stuff we lost. That was quite a flood. It just flooded the whole town. We moved out of the house in a boat.

Bob: Is that because of the ice jams?

Yes. We moved all our household stuff into a house on the hill where we had some friends.

So you lived in Manderson for awhile?

Yes. We went there in 1956.

Interview with Bertha Tharp

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