Nottestad, Birger oral history interview

Birger Nottestad’s father immigrated to the United States from Norway as a child. The immigrant was the foreman of a river crew in the Brown Company for over 40 years and also served in World War I. As he grew up, Birger Nottestad camped at lumber camps with his father during school vacations. Nottestad worked the river himself in the summers of 1954 and 1955 but did not like the work. Nottestad quit high school in the April of his senior year to join the Navy. When he returned from the service, Nottestad worked briefly in local mills. He worked in sawmills and hotels until he retired, and also managed a family campground