Oral history interview with Gilbert A. Giles

Collection

Identifier: SR 2721

Staff Only

Transcript, digitized audio recording, and photograph

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Scope and Contents

Audio recording and transcript of an oral history interview with Gilbert A. Giles that was conducted by Clark Hansen on October 3, 1999, at Giles’s home in White Salmon, Washington, as part of the Columbia River Dissenters Oral History Series. Giles’s wife, Helen Giles, was also present and occasionally contributed to the interview. Accompanying the recording and transcript is a color photograph of Giles that was taken by Hansen at the time of the interview. At Giles’s request, a portion of the interview on Tape 2, Side 1, is restricted; it has been redacted from the transcript and a digitized version of the audio recording available online in OHS Digital Collections.

In this interview, Giles discusses his family background and early life in Bickleton, Washington, particularly his experience growing up alongside Native children. He describes what he learned from them about their life philosophy and spirituality. He shares his memories of visiting Native people who lived at Celilo Falls before the construction of the Dalles Dam; describes how the construction of that dam and others on the Columbia River affected the landscape and the people who lived there, particularly the Colville Tribe; and discusses how dams and pollution have adversely affected salmon in the river. He also speaks briefly about his educational philosophy and how he applied it as a teacher near Okanogan, Washington, and as principal of Lyle High School in Lyle, Washington. He talks about Johnny Jackson, chief of the Cascade Band of the Yakama people. He closes the interview by sharing his thoughts about the future of the dams in the Columbia River Basin, about immigration laws, and about racial and religious discrimination.

Dates

Creation: 1999 October 3

Creator

Giles, Gilbert A. (Gilbert Arthur), 1910-2002 (Interviewee, Person)
Hansen, Clark (Interviewer, Person)

Conditions Governing Access

A portion of the interview is restricted at the request of the interviewee. Researcher access to Tape 2, Side 1, of the recording is restricted, and the corresponding section has been redacted from the interview transcript and a digitized version of the recording available in OHS Digital Collections.

Conditions Governing Use

Copyright for this interview is held by the Oregon Historical Society. Use is allowed according to the following statement: Creative Commons - BY-NC-SA, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/

Biographical note

Gilbert Arthur Giles was born in Bickleton, Washington, in 1910. He earned a bachelor’s degree in education from Central Washington College of Education (now Central Washington University) in Ellensburg. He married Helen Cleo Hawthorne in 1932, and they later had one child. During the 1930s, Giles worked as a teacher near Okanogan, Washington. From 1945 to 1952, he was the principal of Lyle High School in Lyle, located on the Columbia River in the eastern Columbia River Gorge. When Giles retired from his career in education, he and Helen Giles moved to White Salmon, Washington. Giles died in 2002.

Sources: Vital records on Ancestry.com; information provided by Giles in his interview; Giles’s obituary in the Columbia Gorge News, November 27, 2002.

Historical note

In 1990, the Washington State Historical Society, Portland State University, and Washington State University Vancouver formed the Center for Columbia River History (CCRH) to promote research, education, and public programs about the Columbia River Basin. The center operated for more than 20 years. Among its work was the Columbia River Basin Project (CRBP), an umbrella project supported by a 1997 grant from the U.S. Department of Education. The CRBP included online exhibits, oral histories, and high school curricula about the history of the region's land, wildlife, and people.

As part of the project, CCRH partnered with the Oregon Historical Society Research Library’s oral history program, headed by Jim Strassmaier, to gather interviews. Oral Historian Michael O’Rourke spearheaded the Northwest Power Planning Council Oral History Series, while Oral Historian Clark Hansen oversaw the Columbia River Dissenters Oral History Series, with aid from two Portland State University research assistants, Dannette Rowe and Tania Hyatt. In addition, CCRH conducted oral history interviews for a third project, Columbia Communities, and later donated the interview recordings and transcripts to the OHS Research Library, where they are designated SRC 1.

As part of the project, CCRH partnered with the Oregon Historical Society Research Library’s oral history program, headed by Jim Strassmaier, to gather interviews. Oral Historian Michael O’Rourke spearheaded the Northwest Power Planning Council Oral History Series, while Oral Historian Clark Hansen oversaw the Columbia River Dissenters Oral History Series, with aid from two Portland State University research assistants, Dannette Rowe and Tania Hyatt. In addition, CCRH conducted oral history interviews for a third project, Columbia Communities, and later donated the interview recordings and transcripts to the OHS Research Library, where they are designated SRC 1.

Sources: “Voices of the Columbia,” by Bryan White, PSU Magazine, Fall 1998, Page 17; Center for Columbia River History brochure, undated (circa 2000); Center for Columbia River History website (accessed July 10, 2025), https://columbiariverhistory.org/; email correspondence with Donna Sinclair, 2025; email correspondence with Tania Hyatt, 2025; Oregon Historical Society Research Library internal documentation.

Extent

0.1 Cubic Feet (2 audiocassettes (1 hr., 31 min., 51 sec.) + transcript (34 pages) + 1 photograph (color))

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

Oral history interview with Gilbert A. Giles, conducted by Clark Hansen on October 3, 1999, as part of the Columbia River Dissenters Oral History Series. Giles discusses how the construction of dams on the Columbia River affected salmon populations and the Native people who lived along the river.

Existence and Location of Copies

Audio, transcript, and photograph available online in OHS Digital Collections.

General

Forms part of the Columbia River Dissenters Oral History Series.

Processing Information

This interview was previously cataloged as part of SR 2700.1, the Center for Columbia River History Oral Histories. SR 2700.1 included oral histories gathered for two separate projects: those conducted by the Oregon Historical Society Research Library for the Columbia River Dissenters Oral History Series, and those collected by the Center for Columbia River History for its Columbia Communities Project. In 2024-2025, as part of digitization of the Dissenters interviews, the collection was reprocessed to separate the two sets of interviews for improved access. Each of the 59 Columbia River Dissenters interviews was cataloged individually under the name of the interviewee. The interviews for the Communities project were kept together as a single collection that was redesignated as SRC 1, Columbia Communities Project oral histories.