Teles was born in Mendata, Bizkaia on 5 January 1903 to Domingo Hormaechea and Paula Astelarra. His parents were farmers. When he told his family of his plans to emigrate to the United States, his father was the only one to encourage him. His mother and siblings had reservations about the journey, but Teles was optimistic and happy.
At 17, he arrived at Ellis Island, New York on the “La Touraine,” a French ship that left from La Havre, France. Teles was destined for California, but ended up in Nevada, where he found work as sheep herder for Smoke Creek Sheep Company.
Teles eventually made it to California, where he met his wife, María Encarna. They married in Fallon, Nevada in 1929 and moved to Homedale, Idaho in 1930. Teles worked for a number of sheep companies in Idaho, including Mendiola Sheep Co., Archabal Sheep Co., Jump Creek Sheep Co., and as a farmer and foreman for Simplot in Marsing and Caldwell. His children, Richard, Dolores, and Daniel, were born and raised in Idaho. Active in the Boise Basque community, Teles served on the board of directors of the Basque Center and was elected as its second president.
TAPE MINUTE SUMMARY OF CONTENTS
0-6:00 Born in Mendata. Parents were farmers. They were six brothers and sisters. He went to school until he was 13. His father encouraged him to come to the US. He was 17 years old. Mother cried and his siblings didn’t want him to come to the US. He paid $300 for the passage and he had to show $50 in NY. His destination was California. Some were sick so they went to Nevada. His mother didn’t want him to come. He was happy to come.
6:00-9:00 He didn’t speak any English and his Spanish wasn’t very good. In New York, the Aguirres gave them bread and cheese to eat. In Chicago they got sliced bread and thought it wasn’t good at all, finally they got some bread in an Italian store.
End of first tape.
0-14:00 He took the train to go to L’Havre, a port in France. They arrived in New York 9 days later. He was seasick during the trip (“La Touraine”: name of the ship) They were in New York for 8 days. They took them to the island. They got them all naked and made them take a shower and took them back to the ship. Waited for 5-6 days. He came with Epifanio Aguirre and Saturnino Lanbarri, both from Mendata. They worked for Smoke Creek Sheep Company until 1924 when they got fired because they didn’t work for less money and were replaced by Mexicans. Basques went to Reno. Spring of 1925 they all got rehired by the same company.
14:00-19:00 When he arrived in the US he saw an advertisement written in English and Spanish asking for herders. He got his first job like that. He went to work close to Susanville.
19:00-28:00 His first job in the US was to help herders. His first salary was $60 a month. He first lived in Stockton, California. He didn’t go to town in five years. He invested his money in an automobile company. He wanted to make money to go back to the Basque Country. He didn’t make any money.
28:00-34:00 The hardest thing in the US was herding sheep. An old herder told him that he couldn’t teach him herding because the sheep would teach him how to take care of them. He got in trouble with cowboys because of some misunderstandings about fees. He didn’t have to use English at all because he was always among Basques. He managed well with the little English he knew.
34:00 He met his wife in California. She went there with her aunt. The first thing he bought was a bed for $16. He became a citizen in 1936. His children never had trouble in school for being Basque. The first year herding was very hard.
NAMES AND PLACES
NAMES:
Epifanio Aguirre: travel companion. He stayed in California.
Tomas Aguirre: Epifanio Aguirre’s uncle. Teles’ godfather.
Saturnino Olanbarri: travel companion. He went to Nevada.
Torres: Basque man from Nafarroa. Teles met him at his first job.
Toni Menchaca: Teles met him at his first job.
Smoke Creek Company: Teles worked for them until 1924.
PLACES:
Costancia: area close to Susanville, California. Teles first worked there.