BASQUE ORAL HISTORY PROJECT

INTERVIEW TAPE INDEX

NAME: Joaquin Arte
DATE OF INTERVIEW: January 16^th, 1976
LOCATION: Boise, Idaho
INTERVIEWER:  Joseba Chertudi
LANGUAGE:  Basque
TAPE NO: 48
INDEXED BY:  Nere Lete

TAPE MINUTE                                                SUMMARY OF CONTENTS                          

0-3:00              Born in Munitibar. Parents worked in the farmhouse. His sister also worked in the farmhouse. He went to school until he was 13 and then he went to Santander to a Jesuit monastery for 14 months.

3:00-9:00         The trip to the US took 18 days (1914). He sailed in the “Niagara”. He left from L’Havre, France. His brother came a month earlier in the same ship; his trip took 5 days. He got seasick. From France they went to Italy and got more passengers. The Italians filled up the 3^rd class; their final destination was Cuba. They continued the trip from NY to Cuba. As they first went to NY because of the rough sea. He came to the US hoping to make money. He didn’t go to the military service in Spain. His father didn’t want his boys to go to the service in Spain. Many young men used to die after been sent to Africa to the military. His older brother Pedro Mari was in the US before him. Joaquin didn’t know him because he came as a very young man.

9:00-19:00       Joaquin first came to Shoshone and then went to Rupert. He was 17 years old. His brother was in Shoshone. They arrived late. His brother went to wait for him but couldn’t stay because he had to work. Vicente Navarro went to wait for Joaquin. It was very dark and Joaquin thought Vicente was his brother. Joaquin didn’t dare to ask him. Later, he realized Vicente wasn’t his brother. His brother preferred that he stayed and worked at the ranch but Joaquin wanted better pay and wanted to herd sheep.              

19:00-24:00     Before he came he thought he was going to find hills like in the Basque Country, green with trees… He had a strong drive to make money. He earned $100 a month. Later, around 1928, salaries declined. 

24:00- 40:00    He didn’t have any trouble when he arrived in NY. People were nice to them. He came with people he knew. He got off in Shoshone with two more Basques. It was snowy. They had the addrees to come to “Frank’s” boarding house but they were late arriving to Shoshone so “Pete Andixa” came to wait for them. They took off walking with him. He had a big beard. He said he was a tramper. Joaquin was nervous and wanted to go back to the station and he and his friend did. Finally they met with Frank’s sons who Joaquin knew from Spain. They all teased them at the boarding house saying that Pete was a tramper and that he was dangerous. The three were very afraid of him. Finally they told them the truth and saw him with no beard and realized about the joke. 

40:00-45:00     He was never scared herding. Once during a storm, lightning struck a tree and broke it in half and burned it. Then he started getting a little bit more nervous.

45:00-49:00     He got along Ok with no English. He never had trouble with wild animals. He saw some coyotes but never had any trouble. He used to run away from cowboys just in case.

49:00-57:00     He hoped to work in the US for 4 years and go back. He got married in 1925, five years after he came to the US. He met his wife in Boise at the Jayo’s boarding house. His father gave him the money for the passage, around $500. He became a citizen in 1968-9. He first got his papers in 1935. His wife helped him getting ready for the citizenship exam. His children never had trouble in school for being Basque.

57:00-60:00     The hardest thing in the US was working in the mountains cutting lumber. He liked working and the people in the US.

                                                            NAMES AND PLACES                                                        

NAMES:

Niagara: name of the ship Joaquin sailed on
Pedro Mari: his brother. He came earlier to the US.
Agustin:  his brother went to France to avoid going to Moroco for the military service.  Then he came to the US.
Pedro Zabala: Joaquin’s cousin. Joaquin’s parents raised him. They traveled together.
Mallea: went to Nevada. Traveled with Joaquin.
Vicente Navarro: waited for Joaquin in Shoshone.
Goitia: Joaquin’s camp tender.
Frank: from Allustia, had a boarding house in Shoshone.
Pete "Andixa": played a joke on Joaquin at his arrival in Shoshone.

PLACES:

Gerrikaitz: church close to Munitibar.
L’Havre, France: port of departure
Shoshone, ID: final destination.