BASQUE ORAL HISTORY PROJECT

INTERVIEW TAPE INDEX 

NAME: Cristobal Gabiola
DATE OF INTERVIEW: January 13^th, 1976
LOCATION: Boise, Idaho
INTERVIEWER: Joseba Chertudi
LANGUAGE:  Basque
TAPE NO: 43
INDEXED BY: Nere Lete
 

TAPE MINUTE         SUMMARY OF CONTENTS

0-2:00              Born in Mendexa. Father was a farmer and town mayor as well as a judge. Cristobal went to school for six years in town, then went to Lekeitio to a private school. Next, he went to Bilbao and studied to be a finish carpenter. Since he could not pay to avoid his military service, he left for the United States before going to the military.  

2:00-10:00       His older brother was in Boise, Idaho. Father gave him the money for the passage. His parents told him to return home with lots of money. He went back on 1923 with his brother. He hoped to buy a house in the Basque country but didn’t.  

10:00-24:00     He describes his two overseas voyages.  First, he went from Bilbao to La Havre to New York (crossed the Atlantic aboard the “Niagara”).  The trip took 10 days.  On his second trip, he went from Bilbao to La Havre to New York (crossed the Atlantic aboard the “Paris”).  The second trip took 5 days.  He came in a big group. They stayed at Valentin Agirre’s boarding house in New York when they arrived, and didn’t have any trouble in the city. In Chicago, they were locked up at the station. They had little colored cards showing their destination.  He first worked for Boise-Payette Company in the timber, but earned less than he would have as a sheep herder.  He decided to start herding without knowing anything about it. He was always happy to see wolves. One night a wolf ate a whole sheep 50 feet from where he was sleeping but he didn’t even hear it.  He was a sound sleeper.    

24:00-32:00     While working for Boise-Payette he managed as best he could to understand what was going on. He bought some sheep and kept them around Kuna and Centerville (by Idaho City). He bought a ranch on 220 acres of land.       

32:00-38:00     He got married in 1948. He met his wife at her uncle’s house. First thing he bought was a rifle he needed for herding. He became a citizen in Boise, didn’t have any trouble. The hardest thing was the English language. He thought the life in the US was easier than life in the Basque country.

NAMES AND PLACES 

NAMES: 

Niagara: name of the ship on his first trip.
Paris: name of the ship on his second trip.
L'Havre, France: French port.
New York, New York: arrived in the US.
Tomas Bicandi: traveled, among others, with him. He didn’t know him at that time.
Valentin Aguirre: one of his workers waited for them in New York.
 

PLACES: 

Anduiza boarding house, Boise, Idaho: stayed here when he first came to Boise.
Boise-Payette Company: now called Boise Cascade.  He worked in the timber and truck driver while building
roads.
Kuna, Idaho: herded sheep here.
Centerville, Idaho: herded sheep here.