Oral history interview with Mitch Sanchotena

Collection

Identifier: SR 2745

Transcript and digitized audio recording of interview

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Scope and Contents

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Audio recording and transcript of an oral history interview with Michel Sanchotena that was conducted by Clark Hansen on May 24, 2000, at Sanchotena’s home in Middleton, Idaho, as part of the Columbia River Dissenters Oral History Series. The audio quality on Tape 1, Side 1, is poor.

In this interview, Sanchotena discusses his family background and early life on a farm near Burley, Idaho, and shares his memories of salmon fishing on the Snake River before the construction of many dams. He talks about the culture of hunting and fishing in mid-20th century Idaho. He speaks about his work as a jet boat operator on the Salmon River from 1982 to 1992. He discusses Idaho anglers' concerns about declining salmon populations, and also talks about the negotiation of the Columbia River Compact, an agreement under which Oregon and Washington jointly regulate commercial fishing. He discusses his work as executive director of Idaho Steelhead and Salmon Unlimited (ISSU), which lobbied for legislation protecting fish populations, and speaks about ISSU's position on dam removal. He talks about fish hatcheries and about the lack of political leadership on the issue of salmon population decline. He closes the interview by discussing how ISSU communicates its goals to people in the Pacific Northwest.

Dates

Creation: 2000 May 24

Creator

Sanchotena, Mitch (Michel), 1942- (Interviewee, Person)
Hansen, Clark (Interviewer, Person)

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research.

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

Michel “Mitch” Sanchotena was born in 1942, and grew up on a farm near Burley, Idaho. He served in the U.S. Navy for two years in the early 1960s. He then worked for various automotive companies, and from 1982 to 1992, he operated jet boats on the Salmon River in Idaho. A hunter, angler, and taxidermist, he also served as executive director of the organization Idaho Steelhead and Salmon Unlimited.

Sources: Vital records on Ancestry.com; information provided by Sanchotena in his interview; “Decoy Ploy,” by Roger Phillips, Idaho Statesman, January 31, 2002, Idaho Outdoors section, Page 5.

Historical note

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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.

The Columbia River Dissenters Oral History Series culminated in 59 interviews (approximately 184 recorded hours) conducted between 1998 and 2001. Interviewees included Native people, activists, farmers, conservationists, fishers, and others who contributed to the shaping of policies that have had, and continue to have, significant impacts on the Columbia River Basin in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and British Columbia. The interviewees opposed policies by agencies such as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Bonneville Power Administration, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and advocated for alternative visions of management and use of the Columbia River.

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, partially archived at https://web.archive.org/web/20250215175329/https://columbiariverhistory.org/; email correspondence with Donna Sinclair, 2025; email correspondence with Tania Hyatt, 2025; Oregon Historical Society Research Library internal documentation.

Full Extent

0.1 Cubic Feet (3 audiocassettes (2 hr., 6 min., 54 sec.) + transcript (65 pages))

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

Oral history interview with Mitch Sanchotena, conducted by Clark Hansen on May 24, 2000, as part of the Columbia River Dissenters Oral History Series. Sanchotena discusses the effects of the Snake River dams on fish populations, and also talks about his work as executive director of Idaho Steelhead and Salmon Unlimited, which lobbied for legislation to protect fish populations.

Existence and Location of Copies

Audio and transcript 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.