Oral History
Interviewee:  Daniel Torgerson (b. 06/11/1958 - d. xx/xx/xxxx)
Interviewer:  James "Jim" McCarver - SHM Volunteer
Audio Number: 1635
Duration: 01:11:48
Date:  June 30, 2022
Topics Discussed:   Torgerson discusses meeting, "hanging out"  and his youth experiences with Hollywood star and actor Steve McQueen during the filming of Junior Bonner in Prescott, 1971. Torgerson family history; Parents Lewlyn Telford Torgerson and Irene Delores Gangelhoff; Senator Highway; Granite Dells; Erickson’s Road House; “Timber”; Dr. Scholl’s orthopedic shoes; Torgerson Boot and Shoe Service; Rodeo grounds; Siblings; Riding the rails; Whipple Hospital: Dexter School; Taylor Hicks School; Miller Valley School; Prescott Downs racetrack; Shoeshine boy; Whiskey Row; Steve McQueen; Sam Peckinpah;”Bad Boy”; “Junior Bonner” movie; Frontier Days Rodeo; Horse racing season; “Lucky Leprechaun” and “Mark T-Bar”; Yavapai Indian Reservation; “Adventureland”; Simpson’s Market; Ida Lupino; Silent Giant Aquarium Pump factory; Racing on Highway 89A; Slaughterhouse Motocross track; Senator Drive-In; Chad McQueen; Arnold Cox; Bob Cox; Freddy Fender; Rod Hart; Studio Theater; “On Any Given Sunday”; Joe Don Baker; Big Brothers and Big Sisters Organization; Hiking through New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, Grand Canyon; Hard Banning Drill Pipe Company; American Freedom Train; GED; Granite Lake, City Dump; Watson and Willow Lakes; Iron Springs; Stuart Rosebrook; Robert Preston; Stanley Kramer; “Bless the Beasts and the Children” film; “Gumball Rally” “Wanda Nevada”; Spirit Walk; US Navy; NASA; Tactical Support Center; Bermuda; Cordova, Alaska; Inventions; “The Pretender” television program; Fred Wandos; Datalink II; Stuart Rosebrook’s book.

Time          Topic /Subject Discussed
00:00:41    Grandparents from Minnesota and South Dakota
00:00:56    Only one out of 9 children born in Arizona
00:00:59    Dad migrated down with family in 1956 or 1957
00:01:07    Goal was to open a shoe shop
00:01:15    Dad and his brother Arnold wanted to relocate
00:01:22    Earn money and head to Alaska
00:01:29    Get rich and take family to Australia
00:01:35    Dad – Lewlyn Telford Torgerson
00:01:58    Born in 1925 died in 1963 at 38 years old
00:02:11    Dad was born in Minnesota – parents immigrated from Norway
00:02:12    Mother – Irene Delores Gangelhoff
00:02:37    Daniel born in Tempe, AZ  06/11/1958
00:02:48    Moved to Alaska when Daniel was 1 ½ years old
00:02:55    Drove up old Senator Highway through Granite Dells
00:03:20    Broke down in Granite Dells
00:03:29    Erickson’s Road House
00:03:35    Sold rock candy
00:03:39    Mr. Erickson had a 1 room shack – 12 x 12
00:03:54    Concessioner’s shack
00:04:09    Daniel just starting to speak at 1 ½ years
00:04:20    Daniel’s nickname “Timber”
00:04:27    Dad cleared trees off the land with Mr. Erickson
00:04:29    Daniel’s first word was “Timberrrr”
00:04:47    Dad got certified by mail for orthopedic shoe specialist thru Dr. Scholl’s
00:05:03    Moved into Prescott
00:05:21    Shoe shop was in rock building at Schemmer Drive and Miller Valley
00:05:23    Torgeson Boot and Shoe Service
00:05:31    Shop open from 1960 – 1963 (when dad died)
00:05:36    1994 – Daniel broke his back
00:05:57    Came to Prescott and stayed with sister Kathy
00:05:52    Physical therapy nurse Irene knew Dad
00:06:32    Irene would send patients to Mr. Torgeson for orthopedic shoes
00:06:58    Dad was an inventor
00:07:01    Daniel’s older brother Clyde
00:07:14    Dad invented return putter
00:07:21    Never marketed or patented it
00:07:26    Siblings
00:07:31    Eileen and Clyde both worked in the shoe shop
00:08:01    Daniel also worked in the shoe shop – leather smell
00:08:05    Rodeo ground – smell of the barns and hay
00:08:17    Siblings: Eileen, Clyde, David, Bonnie, Cathy, Dale, Luke, Lauren and Daniel
00:08:41    Between Bonnie and Cathy, sister Luellen. Passed away before Daniel was born
00:08:45    Whooping Cough and pneumonia
00:08:54    Daniel’s father died from alcohol
00:09:32    Family lived above the shoe shop
00:09:34    Dad did a lot of construction
00:09:48    Staircase down the back 
00:09:51    Train was still running
00:09:56    Brothers and sisters would hop the train, ride as far as Whipple Hospital
00:10:01    Daniel did the same when he was older
00:10:12    Daniel attended Dexter School – first through third grade
00:10:25    Straight A’s and B’s
00:10:31    Desegregation
00:10:40    Took poor kids and put them in rich kids school
00:10:48    Daniel moved from Dexter School to Taylor Hicks School
00:10:52    Grades went to D’s and F’s
00:10:54    Fighting all the time
00:11:01    Told mom “Get me out of school”
00:11:04    Refused to go back to school
00:11:10    Rumble every day
00:11:14    Fighting tree
00:11:26    Little guy growing up
00:11:30    Non-violent person
00:11:37    Moved to Miller Valley School after 5th grade
00:11:43    Nemesis from Taylor Hicks School moved the same year
00:11:59    “We can do this every day or we can become friends”
00:12:04    Became friends
00:12:16    Worked at Prescott Downs racetrack from 6 years to 15 years
00:12:24    Also shined shoes at age 10 on the Plaza
00:12:37    Worked at racetrack on the weekends
00:12:51    Age 15 – Bookstore next to Walgreens on Whiskey Row
00:13:11    Managed bookstore that summer
00:13:27    Started hitchhiking at 14
00:13:35    Met Steve McQueen at the racetrack
00:13:40    Got Daniel into movie – introduced to Sam Peckinpah
00:13:57    Mr. McQueen found Daniel outside bar at 1 AM
00:14:01    Palace Bar
00:14:06    Daniel, Butch and Terry on bikes
00:14:12    13 year old kids
00:14:16    Steve took kids home
00:14:25    Daniel had a Beretta 25 pistol and a machete
00:14:31    Was still going to school
00:14:39    Violent wild west town – lower income
00:14:41    Fought all the time
00:14:44    Always a rumble somewhere
00:14:48    Supported family with shoeshine business
00:14:58    Collected scrap, shined shoes, picked up soda bottles, mowed lawns
00:15:03    Money he earned from “Junior Bonner” movie – check for $1300.00 or $1800.00
00:15:12    Participated all 3 months of filming
00:15:18    Kept $80.00 and gave the rest to Mom
00:15:40    Only worked the rodeo during Frontier Days
00:15:45    Worked racetrack during horse racing season – Labor Day to Memorial Day
00:15:53    Cleaned restrooms for tips
00:15:57    Got paid $13.00 every weeks – 2 days of work
00:16:06    8 years old – could make $100.00 worth of tips
00:16:11    Started selling candy and gum
00:16:18    Was gambling by 8 years old – knew racing forms
00:16:22    No restrictions in those days
00:16:24    “A tip for a tip”
00:16:43    Biggest race won – “Lucky Leprechaun” and “Mark T-Bar”
00:16:39    Big Q - $560.00 paycheck
00:16:42    Mom got $500.00, Daniel got $60.00
0016:48     Mortgage was $80.00/month
00:16:55    House was on 3rd street
00:17:03    Corner of Whipple Street and Montezuma was 2 lane road
00:17:11    Didn’t have a good camber on it
00:17:14    Cars wrecking into trees and house
00:17:29    Hillside across street dead-ended into Yavapai Indian Reservation
00:17:34    Current trailer park was just a hillside
00:17:35    Played in abandoned 1 room shack – no windows or door
00:17:46    King tree - Ponderosa pine – bonsaied by weather
00:17:55    Big long limb like a throne
00:18:06    Rock foot trail
00:18:10    Catching scorpions
00:18:14    “Adventure Land”
00:18:29    3rd Street across Merritt -  dirt road – dead-ended at Granite Creek
00:19:00    Nursery           
00:19:06    Radio tower
00:19:13    Walked to Dexter School
00:19:29    Simpson’s Market
00:19:39    Great pickle jar
00:19:40    Simpson’s were great people
00:19:51    Dad and Grandfather Simpson both worked there
00:19:47    Down home Norman Rockwell market
00:19:57    Roby and Tori Simpson
00:20:08    Roby now pilot for American Airlines. Now flies 777’s
00:20:20    Steve McQueen
00:20:35    Daniel wanted to be in movie
00:21:01    Freedom to do what he wanted to do
00:21:27    Walked up to Steve McQueen working on motorcycle
00:21:48    Inner field of rodeo grounds
00:21:57    No idea who he was
00:22:18    Mr. McQueen took Daniel to meet Sam Peckinpah
00:22:30    “Give this boy something to do in the movie”
00:22:32    Ida Lupino
00:22:39    Right size for Matthew
00:22:55    Stand in
00:23:20    Invited Mr. McQueen home to dinner
00:23:44    Friday night – mom on the couch in a house robe
00:24:08    8 kids
00:24:14    Mom worked at Silent Giant Aquarium Pump factory
00:24:18    Steve McQueen at the doorway
00:24:35    “Wanted: Dead or Alive” television show
00:24:44    Steve went and got chicken for dinner
00:24:55    Got enough food for family
00:25:11    Mom called family and friends
00:25:26    Second time Steve came to home, brother Dale was home on leave from the Navy
00:25:38    Whole family – motor heads
00:25:46    Built classic racecars
00:25:50    Steve McQueen also into racing
00:25:55    Brother’s 1964 Ford Galaxy 500
00:26:06    Took off to 89A
00:26:08    Raced Galaxy against Steve’s 1971 Ford – no emblems
00:26:38    Brother won 1st race
00:26:52    Brother Clyde helped break ground for Prescott Valley
00:27:00    No lines across the road
00:27:15    Set up markers
00:27:26    The Bridges – 1/4 mile run
00:27:46    89A
00:28:04    Just beyond the back entrance to Prescott Valley
00:28:22    2nd race – next day
00:28:41    “Swap ‘em out”
00:28:19    Slaughterhouse Motocross track
00:28:49    Steve taught Daniel to ride a  motorcycle
00:29:03    Motocross racing
00:29:21    Swapped out motor in Steve’s truck
00:29:23    Racing motor
00:29:39    2nd time – tailgate dropped
00:30:03    Thin board – couple of cement bags for weight
00:30:14    Steve left brother Dale in the dust
00:30:43    Steve didn’t brag
00:31:32    Mr. McQueen was acting in and producing “Junior Bonner”
00:31:44    Story teller
00:32:19    Daniel had been working at racetrack 6 years
00:32:35    Worked fairs and carnivals
00:33:26    Sister Kathy took photos
00:33:28    Lost all photos when divorced husband
00:34:13    Daniel met Steve when he was working on a motorcycle
00:34:51    Steve had a talk with mom after meeting Daniel in the alley
00:35:27    Mr. McQueen was a getaway driver  in a bank heist
00:35:52    Boys rode from Senator Drive In
00:36:11    Wino bought beer for the boys
00:36:36    2 girls with Mr. McQueen
00:36:50    Unimposing
00:37:13    No entourage – down to earth regular guy
00:37:17    Husqvarna 500 Yugo 500
00:37:33    Raced at Slaughterhouse
00:37:50    Steve’s son Chad McQueen
00:38:03    Arnold Cox – son of Bob Cox
00:38:17    Bob played in band at the Palace Bar
00:38:40    Freddy Fender
00:38:53    Rod Hart
00:39:04    Watched parade on Cortez
00:39:27    Movie parade scene shot on Cortez
00:39:41    Studio Theater
00:39:53    Cast and crew treated to sneak preview of  “On Any Given Sunday”
00:40:11    Highlighted motorcycle racing
00:40:23    Cast and crew invited
00:40:39    Produced by Steve McQueen
00:40:58    Son Chad 2-3 years younger than Daniel
00:41:01    Daughter only there a brief time
00:41:25    Sam Peckinpah
00:41:55    Joe Don Baker
00:42:05    Scene – 2 kids leaning on the fence
00:42:19    Joe Don Baker – “You boys get down from there”
00:42:32    Wrestling with kid in a ball cap
00:43:12    Leaning on metal rail that led into bucking fence
00:43:24    Bull “Sunshine”
00:43:35    Saw all the rodeo scenes
00:43:49    Exercised retired racehorses at age 15
00:44:07    Brothers Dale and Warren exercised horses
00:44:12    Jockey runner – running errands for jockeys
00:44:36    Didn’t bulk up until after the Navy
00:44:55    Weighed 145 pounds when entered Navy and 155 pounds when he left
00:45:27    Mr. McQueen came to the Torgerson home 3-4 times
00:46:10    Daniel was “weaponized” – rebellious mindset
00:46:25    Recommended Big Brothers and Big Sisters organization to Mom
00:47:04    Learned from Big Brother – could choose different things
00:47:25    Hitchhiked across the state
00:47:36    Visited sister Kathy in Phoenix
00:47:39    Hitchhiked to Texas and back to visit sister Eileen
0047:52     Age 17 had hitchhiked close to 100,000 miles
00:48:01    Walked from Prescott to New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, Grand Canyon
00:48:14    Lived off the land
00:48:16    16 years old – drilling wells in New Mexico for Uranium
00:48:22    Hard Banning Drill Pipe Company – drilling rigs
00:48:31    Moved to Yuma – worked delivering milk for brother’s milk company
00:48:41    American Freedom Train
00:48:46    Got job on Freedom Train at age 17
00:48:55    17 cities in a couple months 
00:48:01    Attended school through Junior year
00:49:22    Was told not enough credits to graduate
00:49:37    Maintained grades
00:49:53    GED
00:49:58    Mom stayed in Prescott until 1975
00:50:11    Moved to Oklahoma with sister
00:50:29    Sold house
00:50:48    Mom stayed with sister until moved to assisted care
00:50:47    Sister Kathy stayed in Phoenix
00:50:53    16,000 people when he lived there
00:51:20    Now lives in Cordova, Alaska
00:51:32    Granite Creek was his highway
00:51:34    Granite Lake, City Dump
00:51:36    Watson and Willow Lake
00:51:38    Out toward Iron Springs
00:51:50    Followed the creek beds
00:51:58    Catching pollywogs and salamanders
00:52:01    Bull frogs
00:52:46    Stuart Rosebrook
00:53:02    Steve McQueen was Daniel’s focus
00:53:16    Ida Lupino – a lot of fun
00:53:20    Easy to laugh – no airs
00:53:32    Just like Mom
00:53:42    Got to know  her
00:53:57    Light visage
00:54:07    Robert Preston – didn’t interact a lot
00:54:28    Joe Don Baker
00:54:38    Too busy for a 13 year old kid
00:54:56    Steve McQueen “For movies I just act”
00:55:46    Mr. McQueen had a “drive” to raise Daniel’s consciousness about what he was choosing to do
00:55:55    “You’re also an actor”
00:56:12    Shoeshine
00:56:37    Met “old” people (age 40 – 50) when hitchhiking
00:57:04    Met film director Stanley Kramer 
00:57:08    “Bless the Beasts and the Children” film
00:57:14    Made a bet with Kramer – picking wrong horses
00:57:22    Bet was a roast beef pastrami sandwich and get to hang out on the set
00:57:24    Got the job and got to hang out
00:57:27    “Gumball Rally”
00:47:38    “Wanda Nevada”
00:57:37    Every time movies filmed in town wanted to be near it
00:57:41    Steve wrote a letter of recommendation for Daniel
00:58:08    Spirit Walk
00:58:18    Not an academic but not stupid
00:58:37    Learn as much as I can - learn something every day
00:58:49    White water rafting, climbed mountains
00:59:03    Burros – Ely, NV – changed jobs
00:59:09    Joined the US Navy at 17 in 1976
00:59:24    Been around the world 31/2 times on ships
00:59:25    Been on 30 of the world’s waterways
00:59:30    Worked for NASA in Bermuda
00:59:36    Shooting satellites with a 3.8 million watt laser
00:59:41    Tactical Support Center
00:59:47    Crypto-top security – Atomic SCI clearance
00:59:54    Classified material
01:00:12    Failed GED – not academic
01:00:21    Tested IQ – high
01:00:34    Radio communications
01:00:45    PSI Program – Post School Entry
01:00:54    Go to the fleet 15-18 months then go to school
01:00:58    A school in San Diego – 14 week school done in 14 days
01:01:14    Tests in 10  days
01:01:32    Brother duty with Brother Clyde
01:01:51    Transferred to Bermuda
01:02:05    Left Prescott at age 15
01:02:16    Placed on probation a couple of times
01:02:33    “Too smart to get caught”
01:02:55    Not Prescott anymore
01:03:06    Went from working class ranch town to a “Yuppie” community
01:03:29    Now builds commercial fishing nets in Cordova
01:04:00    Live adventure
01:04:42    Intended to write a book
01:05:11    Started a blog
01:05:24    “The Pretender” television show
01:06:14    Revising book
01:06:42    Writes software – 2 inventions
01:06:52    Oil spill invention
01:06:57    Evaluation program
01:07:19    Teaches architects and engineers
01:07:54    Interaction with Steve McQueen led to his success
01:08:10    Fred Wandos
01:08:25    Roommate in 1978
01:09:00    “Just Do It”
01:09:02    Challenge to learn jobs at Tactical Support Center
01:09:48    Datalink II
01:10:19    Stuart Rosebrook’s book
01:11:26     Serendipity