Interview with Sanders "Boo" Gaspard

Accession No.: 
BE4-003-2

00:55 - Historical background. His Father was police Juror in Forked Island;
01:30 - "Cuz" Gaspard and grandfather were engineers for canals;
02:25 - 1880 to 1900 - His Grandfather helped with designing and digging canals in Vermilion Parish. They were mainly used for irrigation and drainage purposes. Eventually oil companies used the same canals for their purposes;
03:20 - Discussing his father's dealings with the owners of the oil companies - permits;
04:05 - His father's work was mostly farming rice, goats, and cattle. Wasn't very involved in oil leases;
06:00 - Sanders' involvement in the community - City Councilman, says he just tries to help all people in any way he can;
07:25 - Buying his first piece of land in 1946, about 100 acres. Discusses his farming career Southwest of Gueydan;
10:15 - In 1953, a huge flood destroyed 172 acres of rice; Hurricane Audrey also destroyed all of his rice in 1957; Had to refinance his farm 3 times - Says it was rough, but he made it;
11:40 - Weren't many oil wells in his area in the early 50s;
12:40 - Says there are currently oil wells next to his property, discusses dealing with the oil companies;
14:50 - There's not much trust between locals and the oil companies;
17:00 - Health effects on locals from oil companies' use of chemicals;
20:45 - Dump sites, open pits and the eventual clean up of these sites;
23:00 - Positives of oil companies for his farm;
24:30 - Concerns about chemicals on the health of the people;
25:00 - Cajuns never went hungry before or after oil companies came into town, they were resourceful;
28:00 - Effects of oil industry on the family units and family farms;
30:05 - The impact of the Cajuns on the oil industry;
33:00 - His mother's father, Mr. Primeaux, bought land and told his children he was going to start a town call it Primeaux Ville but the area was already Forked Island;
34:00 - Mr. Primeaux gave land to build the church and school. He was a talented woodworker, used Cypress

Media Type: 
Audio
Collection: 
Jack Beard
Subject: 
Oil Industry, Farming, Vermilion Parish
Creator: 
Jack Beard
Recording date: 
Sunday, September 30, 1984
Coverage Spatial: 
Vermilion Parish, LA
Publisher: 
Center for Louisiana Studies
Rights Usage: 
All rights reserved
Language: 
English
Meta Information
Duration: 
41:52
Digitized Date: 
Monday, September 19, 2011
Original Format: 
Cassette - 60
Digital Format: 
WAV
Bit Depth: 
24 bit
Sampling Rate: 
96 kHz
Storage Location: 
Archives of Cajun and Creole Folklore - Drawer 10 Row 4