This collection consists of recollections about Mount St. Helens that were gathered by the Oregon Historical Society Research Library from June 1980 through December 1981, as part of a project to preserve memories and experiences of the mountain as it was before it erupted on May 18, 1980. Potential participants were identified and selected by Linda S. Dodds, who was then the Oregon Historical Society's oral historian, and Patricia Keith, a public historian in Longview, Washington. The project culminated in 21 oral history interviews with 24 participants, and written recollections submitted by 6 participants in lieu of an interview. Some of the interview recordings and written recollections are accompanied by photographs or slides, which are also included in this collection. Most of the oral history interviews were conducted by Dodds and Keith, either at the Longview Public Library or at the home of the interviewee; one was conducted by U.S. Forest Service employee Julie Koler.

Participants in the project include people who lived and worked on and near Mount St. Helens, including lodge owners and employees, timber workers, and a fire lookout; visitors to lodges and youth camps near the mountain; recreationists, including mountaineers, hikers, and skiers; and a geologist who studied Mount St. Helens. Topics discussed in the interviews and written accounts include Harmony Falls Lodge, located north of the mountain; the YMCA camp on Spirit Lake; the Longview Ski Club; Mount St. Helens Lodge owner Harry Truman; the legend of the "Hairy Apes," cryptids rumored to have lived on the mountain; logging and mining operations in the area; climbing, hiking, and skiing on the mountain; and what was lost in the eruption.

Oral history interviews were conducted with: Gilbert T. Benson; Julia S. Bernard; Dorothy H. Blasen; Russell J. Carmichael; brothers Allen B. Cripe and Don E. Cripe; Edmund Hayes, Jr.; Harold S. Hirsch and Amos M. Lawrence; Kathleen A. Johnson and David W. Harvey; Jake C. Jones; Alice S. Koehler; James P. Langdon; Emil W. Lange; Helen M. Leonard; Hazel M. Marcellus; Gunnar Nilsson; John W. S. Platt; Robert E. Quoidbach; Susan M. Saul; Silas W. Scoggins, Jr.; Willard H. Walker; and Rex L. West. Written accounts were submitted by Patricia E. Dyke, Retlaw W. Haynes, Bettie Lou Rogers, Maxine L. Shannon, E. Mowbray Tate, and Thomas Vaughan.