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TAPE
MINUTE SUMMARY OF CONTENTS
Tape 1, side 1
0-4:15 Ted was born in Gernika, Bizkaia on 4 July 1918. His mother was born in Ispaster. Ted came to the United States in September of 1935. His father had immigrated to the US in 1905, where he met Ted’s mother, who had immigrated with one of her younger brothers to work. Ted’s mother was about 19 or 20 years old when she arrived. She had another brother already in the United States. He and Ted’s father were partners in a sheep company. Ted’s parents married in 1910; he supposes that his mother must have arrived a year or two before they married. Ted’s father was one of five children: four brothers and a sister. Three of the brothers came to the United States. The other brother and sister stayed in the Basque Country. Ted’s mother had three sisters and a brother. Ted’s mother also had a sister, Basilia, who married one of Ted’s father’s brothers.
4:15-7:30 Ted discusses his parents’ reasons for immigrating. In those days, mines in California drew people from the Basque Country that wanted to make money. He remembers his father telling him about seeing signs in taverns in Gernika. The signs advertised mines and other opportunities in the America, trying to recruit new immigrants. Ted explains that although people were able to support themselves, very few were rich or had much money. His father lived on a baserri. His mother lived in a house in Ispaster. Ted doesn’t think that there were agents in the Basque Country actively recruiting people to come to the United States, but there was a significant amount of advertising for workers to come to gold mines in California. Ted says that much of the advertising was false, a lie to bring labor to the US. Many immigrants arrived to find no work in California. Others, hearing that there was no work in gold mining stopped in Idaho and found jobs with sheep companies.
7:30-11:30 Ted’s father was José Francisco Totorica. His mother was Leandra Erquiaga. Many people from Gernika and Ispaster came to Idaho around the time they immigrated. José Francisco went to work as a sheepherder when he first arrived in the US. Leandra had been working as a maid for a family in Bilbao, but decided to look for better work in America. When she arrived in Mountain Home, Idaho, she found a job with Montgomery Blunk, a general store in town. She taught Spanish to the owners’ children in addition to her job at the store. Leandra read Don Quixote to the children. She stayed for a year or two before marrying José Francisco, whom she had met at the store when he stopped in to buy groceries. They married in Mountain Home in 1910. Both had immigrated to Mountain Home.
11:30-15:15 Ted’s father owned a sheep company. He explains how his father started the company. In those days herders were paid in sheep instead of dollars. After herding for a few years, José Francisco was able to start his own sheep company with the sheep he had earned. When he and Leandra married, they moved out with the sheep. Three of the children were born in the sheep camp without a doctor or midwife. When it came time for the fourth to be born, Leandra demanded to be taken to Mountain Home to have a midwife. Ted and his siblings are Enriqueta, Urbano, Leandro, Segundo, Celestina, himself, and Miren. Of them, the first five were born in the United States. Ted and Miren were born in the Basque Country.
15:15-22:00 Ted’s family moved back to the Basque Country shortly before he was born. He immigrated to the United States in 1935 at the age of 17. Ted went to school in Gernika. During the First World War (1917), Leandra decided that is was time for the family to move back to the Basque Country. Ted does not blame her for being tired of working with the sheep. José Francisco agreed, sold his sheep company, and moved his family to Gernika. A few years after arriving in Gernika, he received word that the sheep business was failing. He went back to Mountain Home to save it in 1922. As the years progressed, the economic situations of both the US and the Basque Country worsened. It was difficult to find work, even though Ted and his siblings were relatively well educated. When Urbano turned 16, he left for Mountain Home to join his father. When they were old enough, Leandro and Segundo immigrated together. Leandro was 16 years old, Segundo was 15. Segundo went to school while he worked on the ranch. Ted immigrated on his own about three years later, in 1935.
22:00-30:00 Ted had a good idea of what to expect when he immigrated because his father and brothers were already there. He was not apprehensive about the journey. His sisters and mother stayed in Gernika. Soon after he arrived, the Spanish Civil War broke out in Spain. His sisters, who were working as seamstresses, left with their mother to Bilbao. His mother had withdrawn all her savings from the bank. They stayed with one of José Francisco’s brothers on a baserri on San Roque. As the war raged on, many refugees boarded fishing boats to Bordeaux, France. The rides were offered free of charge. Ted’s mother and sisters took advantage of the offer to get away from the fighting. They were terribly seasick during the trip. When they arrived in Bordeaux, Leandra took her daughters to the American consulate to arrange for passage to the United States. Since they were born in Mountain Home and were American citizens, the older two were granted passage. Since Miren and her mother were not citizens, they were not allowed to leave for the US. Rather than splitting the family up, they all stayed in Bordeaux for two months while José Francisco and a lawyer worked to get special permission for Leandra and Miren to come to America. While she was in France, Ted’s mother supported her daughters her savings.
Tape 1, side 2
0-4:30 When they were granted permission to do so, Leandra and her daughters boarded the La France, a French ship in Le Havre. They crossed the Atlantic and arrived in New York, where Valentin Aguirre helped them find the train to Idaho. They were not held over at Ellis Island. After they arrived, they went to work as housekeepers for other families. He tells a story about Enriqueta’s first job as a housekeeper. She was not fed very much, and the family kept a lock on the refrigerator. Her mother told her to pack her things and find a family that would treat her fairly.
4:30-11:00 Ted was herding sheep for his father’s sheep company during this time. He did not particularly enjoy that type of work, and laughs when he remembers reading an article describing Basques as solitary people who enjoyed being alone. He challenges the notion, asking for one example of a Basque person who did not like other people. Ted says that even though Basques love the outdoors, they also love socializing with others. Ted considers himself lucky to have worked with his brother, Segundo. Working with his brother made the job better, but he still did not really enjoy herding sheep. He remembers spending a few days at the Anduiza boarding house in Boise in 1935 while he was in town to see a dentist. While he was in Boise, a man told him about some job openings at the Morning Mine in Mullan, Idaho. Since the mines were paying two dollars an hour, which was a very large sum in those days, Ted left the sheep company and went to work an the mine. The head office of the mine was in Wallace, Idaho. Ted applied at the office and got the job. At the time, Basque workers were preferred at that mine. He was only 17 years old, and most of the other Basque miners were older. They had been working at the mine for quite some time. He remembers a man named “Panadero” and the Mingo family.
11:00-20:15 Ted describes the mine. He worked 3600 feet underground, mining silver and a little gold. The mines ran 24 hours a day, dividing the workday into three shifts of workers. Ted was the only Basque on his crew, but there were about six or seven others at the Morning Mine. After three months, his father asked him to come back to the sheep company. He worked with his father until about 1946. He remembers working at the lambing sheds and describes the process of lambing. The company had about 4000 head of sheep divided into three bands. The population would more than double during lambing time. He worked with his older brothers, Leandro and Segundo. The company had been based in Grandview previously, but decided to move to Nyssa, Oregon after a certain point. His mother and Enriqueta cooked for the workers. They rented a house in Nyssa and would trail the sheep from Nyssa to Juniper Mountain, where they lambed in the spring. His father owned about 4000 acres of land on the mountain and had a right to a certain amount of government land. The family stayed in Nyssa for about three years before moving back to Grandview. He tells a story about two carpenters who came to work on the ranch for two dollars a day plus room and board. Ted’s mother was a very good cook.
20:15-21:15 Ted was the only one of his brothers to work in a mine. His brother, Leandro, owned a lumber business in Mountain Home in his later years until he passed away.
21:15-26:00 Ted explains how he got married. He worked for Wilbur Wilson during lambing time in the winter of 1953. His father and brother, Segundo, were planning to visit the Basque Country. His mother told Segundo and Ted to find wives while they were there. Sure enough, both brothers met their future wives (Ted met his wife in Gernika), married, and returned to the United States. Both brothers have seven children. They had a double wedding at the church of Santa María in Gernika. Their reception was at the Taberna Basca in Gernika. All of Ted’s children live in Boise, except for one who lives in Salt Lake City, Utah. He remembers enjoying his trip back to the Basque Country.
26:00-28:15 When he returned to the United States with his wife, Ted went to work building missile bases in southern Idaho. He remembers the beginning of the Cold War. There were three missile bases: one in Boise (Orchard street), one in Grandview, and one in Bruneau. He worked at the ones in Boise and Grandview for a few years.
28:15-29:45 After his work at the missile bases, he found a job with a building contractor for a few months, then moved to building mobile homes. He stayed with the mobile home factory for 14 years.
29:45-31:00 Ted has taken several trips to the Basque Country. He describes his last trip, which he took about eight years ago.
Tape 2, side 1
0-3:00 In 1962, Ted’s wife convinced him to move back to Gernika for a year. They stayed with their children and relatives in an apartment. He laughs when he remembers that he did not work the entire year. He shares some of his memories from his visit. They returned to Boise when the year was up and Ted went to work for the mobile home factory, where he stayed for 14 years until his retirement.
3:00-5:30 He remembers what it was like to be young. His former wife, Mari Carmen Egurrola, is from Gernika. They met at a hotel in Gernika where she was working as a dishwasher. She was 19 years old, and Ted was 35. Talking about the custom of going back to the Basque Country to meet a girl, marry, and bring her back to the United States, he says that many young Basque girls wanted to marry Basque men who had worked in America. Those who had worked in the United States were thought to be rich.
5:30-12:00 Both of Ted’s parents passed away in 1956. He explains how his parents died. His father was 76 at the time of his death; his mother was about 74. Ted has wonderful memories of his mother, whom he says was a very intelligent lady. He shares some of them from living in a sheep camp, dancing at the Anduiza and other boarding houses in Boise, and of her cooking. She was a very good cook. Ted lists some of the dishes she used to prepare, including her unusual way of cooking paella. While he and his mother lived in Gernika after his older brothers had gone, Ted worked for a blacksmith next door to their house. He used to look forward to going home for lunch every day. His mother often bought half a pig, which the butcher prepared for her. She made her own morcillas and chorizos. The family did not have their own garden as they lived in town, but his mother had grown up on a small baserri.
12:00-12:15 Ted’s mother and sisters went to church every week, but his father did not. He did not attend church while he was working with the sheep.
12:15-22:00 Ted’s parents talked about the Basque Country from time to time. His mother shared her memories of working for another family in Bilbao. She would go dancing with friends during her time off on Sunday nights. Sunday night was her only time off during the week. Looking back, he says that children today have life too easy. He admits that his life was easy compared to his mother’s. She used to tell him what it was like to arrive in the United States and work in the sheep camps. He tells one of her stories before the children were born. While her husband was out with the sheep during the day, she stayed at a cabin, which was the headquarters for the sheep company. One night while her husband was out, a Mexican cowboy (cowpuncher) stopped by the cabin. She fixed him dinner, but he did not catch her hints to leave after he had eaten. He put his pistol on the table and told her that if she let him sleep in the barn with the horses, he would leave his pistol with her. Ted’s mother agreed, relieved that he did not want anything else. In those days, it was customary to feed travelers who stopped by cabin before they went on their way. The cabin was made of logs. Ted describes the cabin, which he went back to visit years ago. They drew their water from a spring close by. She and her husband stayed up in the hills for long periods of time. To buy the supplies they would need, her husband took the horse into Mountain Home, a two-day trip one way.
22:00-26:30 Ted’s mother was a very friendly person. He remembers that his mother made friends everywhere she went. She was lonely while she stayed at the cabin up in the hills. Her first three children were born at the cabin. She gave birth without the help of a doctor or midwife. He lists some of the wildlife in the area. Ted underscores how lonely his mother must have been.
26:30-27:45 Ted has visited the Basque Country several times since he settled in the United States. He says that he enjoys visiting, but that the country has changed to such an extent that he does not know much about it anymore. Many of his old friends have passed away, and young people have very different habits from those he grew up with.
27:45-28:30 Immigration to the United States has also changed over the years. He remembers the years when ten or twenty new Basque immigrants came to the Basque Center in Boise every month.
28:30-32:00 Thinking back, Ted does not remember his parents sending money back to their families in the Basque Country. While he and his mother were in Euskadi without his father, his father would send money to them from Idaho. He remembers that some immigrants did send some of their earnings back to their families. They got a cashier’s check or certificate from a bank and sent it to their parents. Ted says that the height of Basque immigration to Idaho occurred in the 1950s. Few people came at the time he did (1930s). He gives an example of one man in particular, a typist, who tried to immigrate in the 1950s but could not because his hands were not callused enough.
Tape 2, side 2
0-2:30 According to Ted, none of the Basque immigrants to Idaho knew much or anything about herding sheep before they came. He laughs when he thinks about the typist, because the man ended up becoming the head of the city hall where he lived. Ted says that it turned out to be better for the man to stay in the Basque Country.
NAMES AND PLACES
NAMES:
“Panadero” – Ted remembers this man from Mullan, Idaho.
Aguirre, Valentin – owned a boarding house in New York. Helped Basques reach their final destinations.
Basilia – mother’s sister.
Egurrola, Mari Carmen – Ted’s former wife.
Erquiaga, Leandra – mother.
La France – a French transatlantic steamship.
Mingo – Ted remembers this family from Mullan, Idaho.
Totorica, Celestina – sister.
Totorica, Enriqueta – sister.
Totorica, José Francisco – father.
Totorica, Leandro – brother.
Totorica, Miren – sister.
Totorica, Segundo – brother.
Totorica, Urbano – brother.
Wilson, Wilbur – owned Hammett Livestock Co. in Hammett, Idaho. One of Ted’s former employers.
PLACES:
Anduiza boarding house, Boise, Idaho – Ted remembers this boarding house.
Basque Center, Boise, Idaho – gathering place for countless Basques.
Bilbao, Bizkaia – Ted’s mother worked as a maid for a family here.
Boise, Idaho – current residence.
Bordeaux, France – during the Spanish Civil War some refugees from Bilbao took boats to Bordeaux.
Bruneau, Idaho – location of a missile base.
California – Ted talks about gold mines in California.
Ellis Island, New York, New York – Ted and his family all passed through Ellis Island when they first arrived in America.
Gernika, Bizkaia – birthplace and childhood home.
Grandview, Idaho – one of the bases of the Totorica sheep company.
Ispaster, Bizkaia – mother’s birthplace.
Juniper Mountain – the Totorica sheep company would trail sheep from Nyssa to Juniper Mountain.
Le Havre, France – French port. The La France left from this port.
Montgomery Blunk, Mountain Home, Idaho – Ted’s mother worked in this store soon after she immigrated.
Morning Mine, Mullan, Idaho – Ted worked at this mine.
Mountain Home, Idaho – Ted’s parents met here.
Nyssa, Oregon – one of the bases of the Totorica sheep company.
Salt Lake City, Utah – one of Ted’s children lives here.
San Roque – a mountain near Bilbao.
Taberna Basca, Gernika, Bizkaia – Segundo and Ted had their wedding receptions here.
Wallace, Idaho – headquarters for the Morning Mine.
THEMES:
Basque clubs and organizations
Boarding houses
Cold War
Cowboys
Family
First World War
Food
Immigration
Language
Mining
Missile bases
Non-Boise Basque communities
Refugees
Sheep companies
Sheepherding
Spanish Civil War