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RP: Okay, this is an oral history for the Manzanar National Historic Site. This afternoon we're talking with Clyde Taylor. And the interview is taking place at the Sacramento United Methodist Church on 6929 Franklin Boulevard in Sacramento. The date of the interview is December 16, 2009, and our interviewer is Richard Potashin, our videographer is Kirk Peterson, and our interview will be archived in the Park's site library. And, we'll be talking with Clyde about his years in Big Pine area, going to Big Pine High School and kind of framing the interview with his participation in the historic Manzanar High School, Big Pine High School football game of October 24, 1944.

CT: Long time ago.

RP: A long time ago. Thanks so much Clyde for taking some time to talk about your life today. Do you, can you give us permission to record our interview?

CT: Oh yes, surely.

RP: Okay, thank you very much. When and where were you born?

CT: In Hollywood, California, February the sixteenth, 1930.

RP: Uh-huh. And, is that where you grew up as well?

CT: No, shortly, I think I was three or, less no, about three or four years old and we moved to Oregon. It was sort of the Depression era then, too, in the '30s. And I believe my dad had a thousand dollar thing from the army. 'Cause he was in the navy. So he took that and bought a small place in Oregon and then we moved to that.

RP: Where in Oregon?

CT: Drain, Oregon was where I went to high school, oh no, grammar school, excuse me. And after grammar school we moved to Big Pine.

RP: Drain, Oregon, where is that located near?

CT: Approximately between Roseburg and Eugene. It was on 99 then but it's probably 5 now.

RP: Uh-huh. Can you describe that community to us a little bit?

CT: It was very remote. Trees, no running water, two-holer out in the back. Lots of chores, carry the water from the spring. Just a very, very remote area. It was out in the country.

RP: What did your father do for a living at that time?

CT: Cut wood and sold wood posts, cedar posts and wood to Yoncalla and Drain to people who lived there. And raise a garden and had some cows and a couple of horses and some goats and stuff like that. Just a regular old country farm.

RP: Uh-huh. What was that like for you growing up there?

CT: To me it was wonderful but I guess to the mom and dad it was sort of tough with not very much money, monetary stuff. But that was one of the best parts of my life. I was sorta small, I think I was eleven or twelve years old, twelve years old when we moved from Drain.

RP: Did you have chores on the farm there?

CT: Constantly.

RP: Like what?

CT: Oh, milking, feeding, gathering eggs, everything you had to do. Had to walk a mile to catch the school bus to go four miles to school. Stuff like that. And mostly it rained, a little bit of snow, but mostly rain in the winter.

RP: What did you do for fun?

CT: Fun?

RP: Yeah.

CT: I don't know. Everything seemed fun. I hunted, and I could go anywhere in the woods and nobody would bother me or ask me a question. Just so free, free growin' up part of my life.

RP: Who were your parents? Can you give us their names?

CT: Lynn Taylor and Anna Taylor.

RP: Okay. And where did they come from originally?

CT: Oh, my dad, he probably came over with the Mayflower. I don't know just when they... my mom, my mom, her father migrated from Czechoslovakia when he was seventeen. So it was in the early 1900s somewhere.

RP: Did you have any other siblings, Clyde?

CT: I have a sister and a half brother.

RP: What were their names?

CT: Patricia Taylor was the daughter, was my sister's name, and Thomas Marx was my half-brother's name.

RP: Uh-huh...

CT: Thomas Martin, I'm sorry.

RP: Were they older or younger than you?

CT: Sister was two years younger and the brother was ten years older. He's still alive. Sister has passed away.

<End Segment 1> - Copyright © 2009 Manzanar National Historic Site and Densho. All Rights Reserved.