Imperial (198 page)

Lupe’s story—From interviews in Mexicali and Calexico, June 2003.

Footnote: California bans most hand-weeding, “declaring the practice an immediate danger to the health of thousands of workers”—
Los Angeles Times
, Thursday, September 23, 2004; California edition; “California” section, pp. B1, B7 (Miriam Pawel, “Standing Up for Farmworkers: State officials are expected to severely limit hand-weeding in fields, a practice recognized as harmful to laborers”).

Footnote on county unemployment rates—Based on data in EDD printout (2001).

58. “Lupe Is Luckier ”: The Days of José López from Jalisco (2003)

Epigraph: “The spectacular incidents connected with the reclamation of the desert . . .”—Farr, p. 184.

José’s story—Interview in Mexicali, June 2003.

Footnote: Cost of labor in early-twentieth-century Riverside
vs.
south China—The Great Basin Foundation Center for Anthropological Research, vol. 2 (Archaeology), p. 315.

PART FIVE

ELABORATIONS

60. The Line Itself (1895-1926)

Epigraph: “Every now and then a word crosses the border . . .”—Torre and Wiegers, p. 191 (Antonio Deltoro, “Cartography,” 1999; trans. Christian Viveros-Fauné).

San Diego’s alert to Mr. Wadham: “I have reason to believe that Mexicans . . .”—N.A.R.A.L. Record Group 36. Records of the U.S. Customs Service. Tijuana Customs Office. Letters Received from San Diego and Los Angeles (l-62). February 6, 1894-July 29, 1922. Box 1 of 1. Folder: “Letters Rec’d from Collector—San Diego 1894-1896.” Letter from John C. Fisher (?), Collector, Office of the Collector of Customs, Port of San Diego, Cal., to Mr. Fred W. Wadham, Deputy Collector, etc., Tia Juana, Cal., April 27, 1895.

Establishment of English language requirement in naturalization—Crosthwaite, Byrd and Byrd, p. 69 (“Chronology: Changes in Immigration and Naturalization Law”).

Arrival of first Immigration inspectors at Calexico—Tout,
The First Thirty Years
, p. 263.

“Of 2,182 Japs arriving at Mazatlan . . .”—Asiatic Exclusion League, p. 12 (“Supplementary Report,” 1907).

“It makes sense to use fencing along the border in key locations . . .”—
New York Times
, Friday, May 19, 2006, “National” sec., p. A19 (Elisabeth Bumiller, “Bush Now Favors Some Fencing Along Border”).

“I halted two mexicans on 2nd Street . . .”—N.A.R.A.L. Record Group 36. Records of the U.S. Customs Service. Calexico Customs Office. Incoming Official Correspondence (9L-60). October 15, 1902-March 23, 1916. Box No. 3 of 5: November 1913 to July 1914. J. E. Shreve, Deputy Collector of Customs, Report of Seizure, Calexico, Cal., January 4, 1914.

“. . . Said W. M. Tiller . . .”—Ibid., Folder: November 15, 1913-Feb. 11, 1914. Report of Seizure #1204 (two five-tael tins of opium), April 9, 1914.

Incident at Cananea—Meyer et al., pp. 468-69.

“The Collector cites our amicable relations . . .”—N.A.R.A.L. Record Group 36, op. cit., Box 4 of 5: July 1914-June 1915. Bound volume labeled “Letters.” Letter from W. H. Holabird, Office of the Receiver, The California Development Company, to the United States Collector of Customs, Los Angeles, Cal., January 21, 1915. COPY. Re (enclosed and referred to by Holabird): Letter from H. M. House, Supt. River Division, to J. C. Allison, Chief Engineer, Calexico, Calif., dated Andrade, Calif., Jan. 14, 1915. COPY.

Trans-border acreage of Imperial Irrigation District, 1920—Imperial Valley Directory (1920), front matter.

Footnote: The same, 1918—Imperial County Agricultural Commission papers. Letter of June 29, 1918, to Mr. Phil D. Swing, Chief Counsel, Imperial Irrigation District (1-page typescript).

Easy border crossings of Colorado River Land Company cattle—Kerig, p. 86.

“A New Kind of Pioneering in Imperial.”—
Los Angeles Times
, April 11, 1926, p. J3 (Randall Henderson, “A New Kind of Pioneering in Imperial”).

Imperial County Assessor’s Map 17-15—The ancient bound volume in El Centro, of course.

Customs Collector, 1915: “Would strongly recommend, as a preventive measure . . .”—N.A.R.A.L. Record Group 36, op. cit., Incoming Official Correspondence (9L-60). October 15, 1902-March 23, 1916. Box 4 of 5: July 1914-June 1915. Bound volume labeled “Letters.” Copy of report of W. J. Smith, Deputy Collector and Inspector of Andrade, Cal., in re situation at Algodones, on or before Feb. 4, 1915.

Allegations against Harry Chandler—Blaisdell, who concludes (p. 393) that Chandler “was not the grey eminence of Baja California border intrigues in 1914-15 . . .”

Shoot to kill order at beginning of Prohibition—N.A.R.A.L. Record Group 36, op. cit., Letters Received from San Diego and Los Angeles (l-62). February 6, 1894-July 29, 1922. Box 1 of 1. Folder: “Letters Rec’d—Los Angeles 1919-22.” Letter from John B. Elliott, Collector of Customs, Los Angeles, to the Deputy Collector in Charge, Calexico, California, December 10, 1919.

Recommendation to place cement blocks at Tecate crossing—N.A.R.A.L. Record Group 36, op. cit., Port of Campo. General Correspondence 1919-1965. Box 1 of 1. Folder: “Historical Letters 1919-1965 [½].” Letter from H. T. Shepherd, Deputy Collector in Charge, Tecate, Calif., to Collector of Customs, Los Angeles, Calif., March 9, 1923.

61. The First Coyote (1895-1926)

Epigraph: “On the 28th of last February . . .”—Bowman and Heizer, p. 115 (10 April 1774).

Re: untracked movement over the border, it would seem that movement has never been accurately tracked. In 1923, for instance, fewer than 62,000 Mexicans came Northside. At least that’s what the U.S. government says. The Mexican government says that more than 100,000 came.—Watkins, p. 395.

“PARTIES WILLIAM WALKER AND JAMES CHILLISON”—N.A.R.A.L. Record Group 36, op. cit., Calexico Customs Office. Incoming Official Correspondence (9L-60). October 15, 1902-March 23, 1916. Box 4 of 5: July 1914-June 1915. Bound volume labeled “Letters.” Frank B. Ellis, Mounted Inspector, U.S. Department of Labor, Immigration Service, Port of Jacumba, Calif., February 14, 1915.

“Proceed immediately to Thermal . . .”—Ibid. Copy of telegram(?) from Connell, 1:10 a.m., WH Los Angeles, Cal., to Immigration, Calexico, Cal., February 13, 1915.

Foundation of Border Patrol HQ in El Centro; first patrol—Tout,
The First Thirty Years
, p. 263.

62. The First Hobo (1901)

Epigraph: “Two men, declared to be the first hoboes . . .”—Quoted in Tout,
The First Thirty Years
, p. 164.

63. Twenty Thousand in 1920 (1906 -1922)

Epigraph: “Bigger crops mean bigger money.”—
California Cultivator
, vol. LIV, no. 1, January 3, 1920, p. 12 (advertisement for Planet Jr. tools, made by S. L. Allen & Co., Philadelphia).

The brochure from the California Land and Water Company—UC Davis, Special Collections, California Local History coll., California Land and Water Co., brochure, “20,000 in 1920,” 1913, front cover.

Date of vote to purchase the Gary Corner—
Imperial Valley Press
, vol. XIV, no. 7, Friday, May 8, 1914; p. 6.

“The club colors are green and white . . .”—Tout,
The First Thirty Years
, p. 339; although Tout calls it “the Woman’s 10,000 Club,” the sign over the door is definitely in the plural (see my 8” x 10” negative IV-LS-EC-03-03). The absorption of the Woman’s Club of Imperial must have occurred after 1912, since the Imperial Valley Directory of that year lists both a Woman’s Club of Imperial Valley and a Woman’s 10,000 Club (p. x).

Footnote: The old lady who told me: “We used to have bridge parties at the Women’s 10,000 Club . . .”—She was Edith Karpen, interviewed in Sacramento in January 2004. Her daughter Alice Woodside was present.

Imperial County as the 3rd-fastest-growing county in the U.S.; 1920 populations of El Centro and Brawley—Tout,
The First Thirty Years
, p. 240.

“YOU MAY FIGURE THAT . . . The Population Is Increasing at the rate of 40 per cent Every 24 Months.” —Imperial Valley Directory (1912), p. 11.

Two years later there’s even a library at the Colored School!—Imperial Valley Directory (1914), p. viii, list of county libraries.

The two views of the line and Calexico in 1911 and 1920—AHMM, photo album 1, no. 29.AHM/166.1/1 and 29.AHM/166.1/8.

Encomium to Calexico: “Long before the present generation was born . . .”—Farr, p. 269 (F. W. Roach, “Calexico”).

Brawley’s Sweetwater grapes, grain and melons in 1905—
California Cultivator
, vol. XXIV, no. 26 (June 30, 1905), p. 611 (“News of Country Life in the Golden West”).

Land sales of the Brawley Town Company and the Calexico Town Company, and some typical names of grantees—California State Archives. Microfilmed Imperial County records, 1851-1919. Roll #1433101. Index to Grantees, 1851-1907.

“. . . so that there will be room for more towns and settlers . . .”—ICHSPM document, cat. #A95.242.5. Southern Pacific Passenger Department, pamphlet: “Wayside Notes Along the Sunset Route East Bound” (San Francisco, 1911), p. 19.

Various personages and occupations in Imperial County, 1912—Imperial Valley Directory (1912), pp. 290-91, 284, 1, 326, 296. Meanwhile, Imperial County boasts 3 ice companies and 17 blacksmiths! Won’t both occupations be necessary and useful forever?

Achievement of the aim of the Women’s 10,000 Club in 1940, not in 1920—Berlo, “Population History Compilation,” p. 205.

Advisory re: Hayward and Hall—N.A.R.A.L. Record Group 36, op. cit., Calexico Customs Office. Incoming Official Correspondence (9L-60). October 15, 1902-March 23, 1916. Box No. 3 of 5: November 1913 to July 1914. Folder: “Nov. 15, 1913-Feb. 11, 1914.” Letter to the Deputy Collector of Customs, Calexico, Cal., from John B. [illegible], Collector, Office of the Collector, Treasury Department, U.S. Customs Service, Port of Los Angeles, Cal. December 23, 1913.

Holtville’s “Water King”—Imperial Valley Directory (1914), p. xvii.

“Buy Hercules Dynamite . . .”—
California Cultivator
, vol. LIV, no. 1, January 3, 1920, p. 12 (just above Planet Jr. advertisement).

Photograph of the El Centro National Bank—ICHSPM photograph, cat. #P91.35.

“The winning of the desert wastes of Imperial Valley . . .”—Hunt, p. 452.

Imperial County, America’s number-one lettuce producer—Tout,
The First Thirty Years,
p. 243.

64. Coachella Waits (1912 -1917)

Epigraph: “The citrus belt is largely along the foothills from Los Angeles to Redlands . . .”—G. Harold Powell, p. 47 (letter of 21 February 1904, to Gertrude Powell).

“Here, in what was once deemed a hopeless desert . . .”—Holmes et al., p. 134.

Thanks to an army of mules and men—After a photo in
Imperial County: The Big Picture
, p. 3.

Chandler “aided the promotion of the Los Angeles Aqueduct . . .”—
Los Angeles Times
, September 24, 1944, p. 1 (“Harry Chandler Called by Death: Publisher, 80, Succumbs in Hospital Following Two Heart Attacks”), continuation on p. 6.

Soil comparison between the Imperial and Coachella valleys—Griffin and Young, p. 169.

Growth of the cities of Los Angeles, San Diego and Riverside 1900-1910—
Britannica Year-Book 1913
, p. 774 (entry on California). The exact figures were: Los Angeles 102,479 to 319,198; San Diego 17,700 to 39,578; Riverside 7,973 to 15,212.

Riverside’s luxurious electric cars and orange-grove character—ICHSPM document, cat. #A95.242.5. Southern Pacific Passenger Department, pamphlet: “Wayside Notes Along the Sunset Route East Bound” (San Francisco, 1911), p. 16.

G. Harold Powell: “I don’t expect to have such a time anywhere else in California”—Op. cit., p. 44 (letter of 19 February 1904, to Gertrude Powell).

“There is a grand ball here tonight . . .”—Ibid., p. 43 (letter of 15 February 1904, to Gertrude Powell). The ball took place at the Glenwood Mission Inn in Riverside.

Palm Springs in 1912 and before—Holmes et al., pp. 215-17; James,
Wonders of the Colorado Desert
, pp. 271-98.

“In a moment the warm liquid sand . . .”—James,
Wonders of the Colorado Desert
, p. 287.

Footnote on the fate of Rincon—Ibid., pp. 292-93.

The demise of Palmdale—Ibid., p. 291.

“Ever since 1906 Coachella has overcome the necessity of importing beets . . .”—Information from the
California Cultivator
, vol. XXVI, no. 14 (April 6, 1906), p. 323 (“News of Country Life in the Golden West”).

Recollections of Dr. John and Margaret Tyler—Interview conducted in their home in Palm Desert, April 2004. Shannon Mullen was present.

Another old-timer: “In 1911 there was one in Coachella . . .”—Mr. Ray House, interviewed in Coachella, July 2004. Shannon Mullen was present.

“Brawley’s cantaloupe-packing sheds . . . remain the largest in the world!”—So claimed by “a local observer and writer” as quoted in
American Biography and Genealogy
, p. 84.

“Where three years ago wells flowed several inches over the casing . . .”—Ibid., p. 366.

“A farmer from near Coachella and Mecca . . .”—
California Cultivator
, vol. XXIII, no. 14 (August 19, 1904), p. 346.

“A plan proposed at an El Centro meeting . . .”—Laflin,
Coachella Valley
, p. 171.

“All the north end of the Salton Sea Valley . . .”—Brown and Boyd, p. 404.

“Waiting only for the application . . .”—Holmes et al., loc. cit.

65. City of Imperial (1925)

Epigraph: “Pavements in time . . .”—Farr, p. 268 (Edgar F. Howe, “Imperial”).

Epigraph: “As the Valley’s first and oldest settlement . . .”—Tout,
The First Thirty Years
, p. 270.

Epigraph: “Imperial is still an important town in the Valley . . .”—Harris, p. 30.

“Imperial is an up-to-date little city . . .”—
American Biography and Genealogy
, p. 83.

Imperial Hotel no longer listed in 1920 directory—Imperial Valley Directory (1920), p. 399.