Ramona (Harris) Yrazabal

No summary at this time, please refer to the detailed index below.

INTERVIEW CATALOG NUMBER:  2020.025.001

NAME:  Ramona Harris Yrazabal

DATE OF INTERVIEW:  January 30, 2020

LOCATION:  Mountain Home, Idaho

INTERVIEWER:  Patty Miller
VIDEOGRAPHER:  Megan Overgaard

LANGUAGE:  English

INDEXED BY:  Patty Miller
DATE OF INDEX:  August 12, 2022

 

 

RECORDING

MINUTE:                                                         SUMMARY OF CONTENTS                          

 

0-5:00              Ramona’s maternal grandparents were from Alliance, Nebraska. Her grandfather, Arthur Mote, was a carpenter and worked in the Sand Hills of Nebraska. Her grandmother, Cari Mote, was a teacher, as was Ramona’s mother. Her paternal grandparents were from Oelrichs, South Dakota, and raised cattle. Ramona’s parents met in Chadron, Nebrasks, where her father, Ray Harris, had gone to finish his high school education and her mother, Dorothy Mote Harris, was working her first teaching job.

 

Because it was so hard to make a living as a young couple at the time, her parents were constantly working. They had a lot of friends in their area, which featured parks and Dead Horse Creek, a popular place they would go with friends. Both Ramona and her brother, Alton, were born in Chadron and her parents had been married for two years when she was born. Ramona has three more siblings: Jackie, Don, and David. Only Jackie, David, and Ramona were alive at the time of this interview.

 

The family came to Idaho when Ramona was a freshman in high school. J.A. Terteling & Sons, whose headquarters was in Boise, Idaho, came to South Dakota to build ammunition dumps during World War II. Ray Harris was operating the Red and White Grocery Store and Turtling offered to buy him out. Her father accepted. Another job that Terteling was working on was constructing the Mountain Home Air Force Base, so her father moved to Mountain Home to set up his store and brought the rest of his family months later. They stayed in a small apartment above the grocery store, which was very cold and forced the family to share cramped beds. There was an abandoned opera house nearby and Ramona and her siblings would go there and pretend to be performing dramatic plays.

 

5-10:00            The classes that Ramona had taken as a freshman in Nebraska were equivalent to sophomore-level classes in Idaho, so Ramona was not able to go to school alongside kids her age. That school year was very difficult on her, as it was hard to make friends in a new place around kids that are a year older. The following year, she was able to meet Amelia Cristobal, who Ramona became good friends with. Amelia was Ramona’s introduction to Basque culture.

 

When Ramona was in high school, Mountain Home was a small town, but it was a rural community. The sheep and farming industries dominated the town, with only the C.C. Anderson store, grocery stores, gas stations, several hotels and boardinghouses and a single restaurant, Wilkes Restaurant where they used to go after school, making up the rest of Mountain Home. At that time, the community was made up of people who had lived in Mountain Home their whole lives, with very few “outsiders.” The construction site that Ramona’s father worked on were the first outsiders that had come to Mountain Home and after that came the Air Force Base. However, once the Air Force Base was built, more and more people started coming into town.

 

Because of the town’s reluctance to accept outsiders, it was hard for the whole family to make friends, especially Ramona. Ramona believes that the reason she became so close with Amelia (Cristobal) and other Basque people in Mountain Home is because they all felt like outcasts in a sense.

After her father finished construction on the base, he opened a store in downtown Mountain Home called, “Harris Department Store.”  It was the former Rogers’ Tire Store and was quite large, so he put the groceries there and next to it at two different entrances, hardware and clothing and he had a different manager for each one.  He hired Ralph Yrazabal, who was a sophomore in high school at the time, to help with unloading trucks, moving boxes around, stocking shelves, or whatever needed to be done.  Ramona was in the same class as Ralph and also helped the family business by stocking shelves and what could be done after school.  She cashiered and her mother was a cashier at the store too.

Ramona didn’t really know Ralph at school, but Amelia Cristobal did and she talked about him.  Francisca Yrazabal, his mother, and Mrs. Bermensolo would come in the store and visit with Ralph and buy a few groceries.

 

10-15:00          The major grocery store in Mountain Home was C.C. Anderson’s and everyone traded there so it took a long time for customers to start coming over to trade with the Harris’.
With Ralph Yrazabal there and her father hired John Monasterio as the produce manager, that helped bring a number of customers to them from the Basque community.

Ramona then talks a bit about her husband’s family.  His father was Agustin Yrazabal, but folks knew him by the nickname, “Medikotxu,” or “Little Doctor.”  He was with the Bruneau Sheep Company and whenever they had an animal that needed medical attention, he was the one who did it.  Documents that Ramona had indicates that Agustin came to the U.S. in 1906.  He worked with the sheep until he sold out and retired.  Francisca Muguira, Ralph’s mother, arrived in 1917.  Ramona tells that she worked in a boardinghouse in Boise.  She arrived in April and was married in December of that same year. They moved to Mountain Home with Joe Yrazabal (Agustin’s brother) and his wife, Andressa.  The two families lived together for some time, even as they had children, until Joe and Andressa moved to Boise.  Both brothers sold their interest in the Bruneau Sheep Company. Ralph’s father then retired.

 

Agustin and Francisca had four children – Eugenia, who they called Jean, and Gloria, and Josephine, and then Ralph was the youngest.  Gloria married Allen Harmon, Eugenia married Vic Lasuen and Josephine married Dale Hatch.  Francisca was just 44 years old when their mother passed away.  The loss of their mother brought the older sisters back to Mountain Home as Ralph was just a sophomore in high school.  She may have died from pneumonia.  Jean quite her job in Boise and moved to Mountain Home to take care of Ralph and her dad, who would be in town mostly during the winter as he was working out with the sheep most of the rest of the time.

 

15-20:00          Ramona recalls that she started dating Ralph their senior year of high school.  She had intended to go to Boise after high school to study nursing at St. Alphonsus, but Ralph’s Dad wanted him to go to the U of I and so she followed him there.  After their freshman year, Ralph was more interested in getting into business, so he left college and by December had proposed to Ramona and they planned to marry the following June.  Ralph was offered a job with J.A. Terteling and Sons to open a commissary at the construction site of Anderson Ranch Dam so they moved their wedding up to February and they moved to Anderson Ranch Dam.  There were a number of single men working there to finish the power plant and the spillway.  About a mile from the site there were barracks, a cookhouse, a grocery store, a post office, a barbershop, a four-lane bowling alley, and a bar.  Someone else managed the bar, but Ralph and Ramona were in charge of the rest of businesses.  Both of their children –Mark Allen Yrazabal was born in 1949 and Connie Yrazabal Donahue was born in 1950.  Ramona started out working in the store, but as the children came, her duties changed primarily to homemaker and helping as she could.  Ralph cut the meat and had to unload shipments that came in to stock the store.  A Japanese fellow by the name of Kay Tanaka helped him.  Kay had to have special permission by the US Government with Ralph overseeing him to be in the dam construction area.  (This was during the time of the Japanese internment camps).  His wife was with him and stayed in one of the barracks closer to the project.  He could cut hair and could do anything in the store.  His wife, who Ramona never met, would knit items for her young children.  Kay worked for Ralph for three years and was a wonderful employee.

 

20-25:00          Ramona did finally meet his wife when they were going to leave to return to Portland, Oregon in 1954.  There were a number of Japanese people and Basque men who worked on the construction site.  There were a lot of families, but mostly single men hired in the concrete mixing plant or in construction.  They returned to Mountain Home with two small children.

 

Juan and Maria Argoitia, Ralph’s godparents, had moved to Boise and Ramona thinks that they probably gave them a good deal on their little house in Mountain Home.  Jean Yrazabal Lasuen, who lived next door, would provide childcare in the afternoon for Ramona as she was working half-days as a teller at First Security Bank.  She later worked as the Recorder for Elmore County for four years and then served as the City Clerk – working for three different mayors.  She then ran for the elected position of County Clerk.  Ramona believes that having the Yrazabal name helped a lot…especially with votes from the Basque community.  They embraced her and helped get the word out and that helped with the election and she won in November of 1978 and took office in January of 1979.

 

25-30:00          Ramona talks a bit about activities in the Basque community.  When she was dating Ralph in the 1940s they would attend activities in Mountain Home and Boise and then beginning in the 1960s they helped start the Basque Association in Mountain Home and helped raise money for the Oinkari Basque Dancers. Only men could be members of the Basque club in Mountain Home when it was started. They would meet in various places – the back of Adrian’s Club [owned by Adrian Berriochoa], or would find a place large enough to accommodate them as they grew. They planned a lot of activities – they had picnics in Carl Miller Park, women would bring food and they had singing and dancing and the Oinkari Basque Dancers from Boise would go there to perform. It was an active and fun group. Ramona said that she always felt welcome and included and met the wives of the other men.  She felt a kinship with members of the Basque community.  The men met monthly.  The wives were involved in the picnics and the dances.  Once in a while the men would invite the women to go to a meal at the boardinghouse.  Ramona really loved Basque food.  She said that her husband, Ralph, was a good cook.  Her sister-in-law, Jean, would invite the men in the family over for a special Christmas Eve dinner.

 

Ramona says that the Basque Association has evolved and now includes women.  The women helped with the fundraising.  They would bring the dancers from Boise and would have a lamb auction at the Christmas Dance that was held at the church hall.
Ralph was the auctioneer for the lamb auction.  Ramona fondly remembers these and the boardinghouse dinners that she describes as exceptional.

30-35:00          Ramona recalls that there was a boardinghouse near where the handball court is.  [Anchustegui’s – Mountain Home Hotel].  The Chacartegui home, next to the Bengoechea Hotel, has been converted to the Basque Club meeting house and they have a Basque Park and stage the Basque picnic there now.

Not long after Ramona began working as the County Clerk, her husband, Ralph, died suddenly of a heart attack on May 25, 1979.  He had gone out to his farm to change water and passed away there by the ditch.  Ramona goes back to talk about the birth of their 3^rd child, Teresa, who was born in 1960.  Teresa was involved with the Oinkari Basque Dancers in Boise.

 

35-40:00          Ramona continued as the Elmore County Clerk for another ten years (2.5 terms). She could bury herself in her work. She socialized with her co-workers and the commissioners were also good to her.  She met a lot of people in the community through that job.  Ramona continued to participate in Basque activities and always felt welcome.  She raised her children to be involved in the Basque activities.  Ramona continued working as a volunteer after her retirement in 1992 at the Visitors’ Center and took a job on the Planning & Zoning Commissioner for the City of Mountain Home and they had evening meetings.  She served on the board of the Senior Center for the past few years.
Ralph was a member of Jaycee’s and helped with the 4^th of July fireworks, so their family has continued with that activity and with others, help raise money for the fireworks.
Major events that take place in Mountain Home during the year is the 4^th of July Celebration Parade and Fireworks and the Air Force Appreciation Day Parade in September.  The folks at the base and the public in Mountain Home put floats in the parade.  They have a large dinner as part of the celebration and vendors in the park.  She’s also participated in Christmas Basque Dances and dinners.

She reflects on how the city of Mountain Home has changed over the years.  The make-up of people at the base and in the community is constantly changing.  She remembers all of the Basque businesses that were in town.  She found them to be very industrious and businesslike.  Ramona hopes that she’s instilled in her children values that were passed on to her from others.  Her parents were strict, but they were honest and fair.  Ralph liked to preach with a story.  He loved people and liked to have friendly arguments.  He was fair and she believes that he taught the children good lessons – to be honest and the way you treat people is the way you’ll be treated.

40-45:00          It was important to Ralph and Ramona to provide the opportunity for their children to have an education.  Their son, Mark, got a Presidential appointment to West Point.
Connie went to the University of Idaho and became a teacher and then became a principal and is now on the school board.  Teresa began working at MCMS and then worked with Simplot [she graduated from Boise State University] and later started a business with her husband, Joe Paige, Paige Mechanical.  This business has continued to grow have expanded to Twin Falls, Mountain Home, Boise and throughout the valley.

Ramona believes that Mountain Home would be a different place had the Basques not been a part of the community.  She feels that the Basques have been the “heart” of the city.  She believes that the businesses started by the Basques are the ones that helped make the city grow.  They were good businesses, people you wanted to trade with.

Ramona reflects on her eight grandchildren and eleven great-grandchildren.  She lost one great-granddaughter.  After living at the Anderson Ranch Dam, she was visiting Ralph’s sister and brother-in-law, Jo and Dale Knox in the fall after Ralph had passed away, a neighbor of theirs stopped by to say that he was going to sell his cabin.

45-50:00          Ramona purchased it and it has been a wonderful place for family gatherings over many years and generations.  They’ve remodeled and added onto it.  Ralph’s sister had the house two doors down and now their children and grandchildren are starting to buy places up there.  Ramona has been able to do some traveling between her volunteering and has been to the Basque Country three times.  She went with BSU lead by Dr. Bieter, and then she went with Toots Urquidi and visited her husband’s relatives and found where Ralph’s parents were from and the third trip was with the [Biotzetik] Basque Choir.  She enjoyed going to larger cities and smaller towns.  She also went with Toots Urquidi on the “Red Boat” to the Bahamas.  She’s been to Alaska, twice to Germany where her son was stationed.

50-55:00          She felt that she maybe made the trip to the Basque Country for Ralph.  She’s been to Hawaii three times – going to every island.  She floated the Colorado River, along with Doris Alzola and others from Page, Arizona to Lake Mead. She enjoyed traveling with Doris and recounts some stories of this trip.

 

55-60:00          Ramona believes that the young people are doing a good job in keeping Basque culture alive.  Every other generation is often MORE interested in the culture.  She believes that it will go on forever.  They might not be doing it the same way their parents or grandparents did it, but in their own way, they are trying to keep the culture going.  The work of the Basque Museum and Nevada and clubs in California will help it continue on.

                                                NAMES. PLACES, AND THEMES                                                              

 

NAMES:

Alzola, Doris: friend of Ramona’s
Cristobal, Amelia: Ramona’s childhood friend
Donahue, Connie: Ramona’s daughter
Elmore County Clerk’s Office

Harris, Alton: Ramona’s brother

Harris, David: Ramona’s brother

Harris, Don: Ramona’s brother

Harris, Dorothy Mote: Ramona’s mother

Harris, Jackie: Ramona’s sister

Harris, Ray: Ramona’s father

J.A. Terteling & Sons: construction company that hired Ramona’s father
Lasuen, Eugenia “Jean” (Yrazabal) and Victor: sister and brother-in-law of Ramona.
Mote, Arthur: Ramona’s maternal grandfather

Mote, Carolissa “Cari”: Ramona’s maternal grandmother
Mountain Home Basque Club
Oinkari Basque Dancers
Paige, Teresa (Yrazabal) and Joe: Ramona’s youngest daughter and son-in-law
Urquidi, Toots: friend of Ramona’s
Yrazabal, Mark Allen: Ramona’s son

Yrazabal, Ramona Harris

 

PLACES:
Alliance, Nebraska
Anderson Ranch Dam
Basque Country

Boise, Idaho

Chadron, Nebraska

Dead Horse Creek, Chadron, Nebraska
Germany
Hawaii

Mountain Home, Idaho

Mountain Home Air Force Base, Mountain Home, Idaho

Nebraska

Oelricks, South Dakota

South Dakota

 

THEMES:
Business
Culture

Education

Family

Military

Migration

Travel
Values

Work