Imperial (201 page)

Colonel Esteban Cantú as one of those who “sold their souls to the devil . . .”—Ruiz, p. 43. Volstead didn’t create Sin City, as we know. Mexicali was always the other side of the ditch. Five years before Volstead we see something like a feeding trough and chute of a stockyard, overhung by a wooden trapezoid; men are sitting on a pile of lumber. The caption reads: “Gambling place after earthquake, Mexicali” (ICHSPM photograph, cat. #P85.19.1 [1914]).

News of W. F. Holt—Wright, p. 378 (facsimile of article, March 1915).

A Customs Collector in Andrade: “It is very well known that the town of Algodones . . .”—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 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 February 4, 1915; p. 1.

Description of Aleck Gibson’s gambling house—Horace Bell, p. 12.

“ ‘Red light’ district was raided by Constable Taggart . . .”—Tout,
The First Thirty Years
, p. 175,
Imperial Press and Farmer
files.

“. . . raided thirty gambling joints . . .”—Ibid., p. 239.

Recipe for “Russian punch”—
Imperial Valley Press
, Saturday, May 1, 1926, p. 2.

Remarks of Hermenegildo Pérez Cervantes—Interviewed in the AHMM, December 2006. Terrie Petree interpreted.

Report on Hoy and Coffroth—Record Group 36. Op. cit. Incoming Correspondence Regarding Smuggling (9L- 61). July 25, 1914-May 23, 1922. Box 2 of 2: From May 1914 to May 1922. Folder: May 1916-16 December 1916. Letter from F. E. Johnson, Special Agent in Charge, Treasury Department, United States Customs Service, Los Angeles, Cal., to the Collector of Customs, Los Angeles, California, May 1, 1916.

“The evils of gambling, drinking and debauchery in Mexicali”—Tout, op. cit., p. 245.

Ratio of money invested in vice establishments
vs.
in the CRLC—In 1920, in Mexicali, the respective figures were $3 million and $40 million (Duncan, p. 629, n. 4; estimate by U.S. Consul).

The take of Mexicali’s
jefe político,
1909—Kerig, p. 120.

“. . . Intends running a stage to and from the Gate . . .”—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 [1/2].” Deputy Collector, Tecate, Cal., to Collector of Customs, Los Angeles, Cal., June 19, 1925.

Report on Navy men in Tecate—N.A.R.A.L. Record Group 36. Ibid. Letter from James S. McKean, Rear Admiral U.S.N., Commandant, Eleventh Naval District, San Diego, California, to Mr. D. S. Kuykendall, Inspector in Charge, Immigration Service, San Diego, 19 November 1926.

Same matter; lack of Immigration officer at Tecate gate—Ibid., Kuykendall to McKean, November 26, 1926.

“This Tijuana happened to be in Mexico . . .”—Hammett, p. 230 (“The Golden Horseshoe,” 1924).

1927 Hetzel photo of WCTU—ICHSPM photo, uncoded as of 2002.

The brandy doll in Boston—
Fresno Morning Republican
, Tuesday, March 23, 1920, p. 3.

“Beautiful Girl Pays Big Fine . . .”—
Imperial Valley Press
, Wednesday, May 5, 1926, p. 2.

The “huge whiskey still”—Ibid., Wednesday, March 24: “Capture Big Whiskey Still.”

Volstead gets quoted as saying that 3.75% beer is innocuous—Ibid,. Tuesday, April 1, 1926, p. 1.

Footnote: End of Prohibition decreases Baja population by 35,000—Chamberlin, p. 35. This number, says the author, may be inflated. In any event, vice went on before, during and after Volstead on both sides of the line. A local history of the Imperial Valley (Henderson, p. 44) tells us that “a white woman ran a bar next door, where a phonograph ground out songs at five cents a melody . . . Nearby was a dance hall. Filipinos were preferred customers, and white girls took the dimes.” That was El Centro for you. But the WCTU did not entirely fail. Nearly a century later, the telephone directory for all Imperial County, which unlike most California counties continued to be accommodated in one slim volume, listed no strippers, no outcall masseuses, and only one “personal escort agency,” whose number I dialled, solely for research purposes, and a lovely-voiced lady explained that they were actually in San Diego and “we don’t go out there.” I said that in that case I guessed I wouldn’t be seeing her, and she replied that she hoped I had a good night. Then I took a stroll outside to Broadway. As it turned out, I needn’t have even gone that far, because as soon as it got dark on State Street, here came the fat black girl who panhandled in the afternoons; now she was renting something out. All the taxi drivers knew her. Here came the skinny blonde. Both of them were slowly pacing around the block which began across the street from the Greyhound station.

Case of Casino S. Glenn—N.A.R.A.L. Record Group 36. Op. cit. Incoming Correspondence Regarding Smuggling (9L-61). July 25, 1914-May 23, 1922. Box 2 of 2: From May 1914 to May 1922. Folder: May 21, 1919-October 6, 1921. Letter from S.T.H. Esterbrook [? signature illegible], Special Agent in Charge, Treasury Department, United States Customs Service, Los Angeles, Cal., to Deputy Collector in Charge, Calexico, Calif., September 4, 1917.

Opium in lard cans—N.A.R.A.L. Record Group 36. Ibid. Letter (not in folder) from J. B. Cretcher, Special Deputy Collector, to Deputy Collector in Charge, Calexico, Cal., February 13, 1915. Copy of letter [unsigned] from FBC, Special Deputy Collector, Los Angeles, Cal., to The Deputy Collector of Customs, San Diego, Cal., February 18, 1915.

The opium container disguised as a flashlight battery—N.A.R.A.L. Record Group 36. Ibid. Folder: May 1916-16 December 1916. Letter from J. B. Cretcher, Special Deputy Collector, Los Angeles, to Deputy Collectors in Charge, All Ports and Stations, December 24, 1919.

The letter from Jesús Guaderama—N.A.R.A.L. Record Group 36. Ibid. Folder: June 18, 1917—April 24, 1919. Letter from Jesús Guaderama, San Diego, to David Ochoa, Jerome, Arizona, and forwarded to U.S. Customs by U.S. Marshal Harry Carlson on September 9, 1919.

The case of the druggist and veterinarian in Holtville—N.A.R.A.L. Record Group 36. Ibid. Letter (not in folder) from W. B. Evans, Deputy Collector in Charge, Treasury Department, United States Customs Service, Tia Juana, Calif., to the Collector of Customs, Los Angeles, California, August 16, 1916.

Report on Wolf and Block—N.A.R.A.L. Record Group 36. Ibid. Folder: May 1916-16 December 1916. Letter from F. E. Johnson, Special Agent in Charge, Treasury Department, United States Customs Service, Los Angeles, Cal., to the Collector of Customs, Los Angeles, California, May 1, 1916.

Report on the Alexander Gladstone gang—N.A.R.A.L. Record Group 36. Ibid. Letter (not in folder) from J. B. Cretcher, Special Deputy Collector, Treasury Department, United States Customs Service, Los Angeles, Cal., to the Deputy Collector in Charge, Calexico, Cal., July 6, 1916.

The case of Zurbano and la Fuente—N.A.R.A.L. Record Group 36. Ibid. Letter (not in folder) from J. B. Cretcher, Special Deputy Collector, Treasury Department, United States Customs Service, Los Angeles, Cal., to the Deputy Collector in Charge, Calexico, California, June 7, 1916.

Report on Francisco Gonzales—N.A.R.A.L. Record Group 36. Ibid. Letter (not in folder) from J. B. E. [signature illegible], Collector, Treasury Department, United States Customs Service, Los Angeles, Cal., to the Deputy Collector in Charge, Calexico, California, June 5, 1916.

“Miguel Gonzalez is a Mexican . . .”—N.A.R.A.L. Record Group 36. Ibid. Letter (not in folder) from Deputy Collector in Charge [signature cut off on carbon], Calexico Calif., to Special Agent, Treasury Department, El Paso, Texas, August 19, 1918.

The case of Mark Yeates—N.A.R.A.L. Ibid. Record Group 36. Letter from F. E. Johnson, Special Agent in Charge, Treasury Department, United States Customs Service, Los Angeles, Cal., to the Collector of Customs, Los Angeles, California, June 16, 1916. File 1-157. (2) Letter from F. E. Johnson, Special Agent in Charge, Treasury Department, United States Customs Service, Los Angeles, Cal., to the Collector of Customs, Los Angeles, California, June 13, 1916. COPY. (3) Letter from F. E. Johnson, Special Agent in Charge, Treasury Department, United States Customs Service, Los Angeles, Cal., to the Collector of Customs, Los Angeles, California, June 27, 1916. (4) Letter from E. G. Brown, Deputy Collector in Charge, Port of Calexico, California, to the Collector of Customs, Los Angeles, California, September 16, 1919.

Report on Ben Hodges and Mr. Barrera—N.A.R.A.L. Record Group 36. Ibid. Letter (not in folder) from H.P.L. Beck, Inspector in Charge, Tia Juana, to Inspector in Charge, Immigration Service, San Diego, Calif., August 6, 1919.

Case of A. Leyra and the two unknown Americans—N.A.R.A.L. Record Group 36. Ibid. Folder: October 11, 1921- May 23, 1922 + Index. Letter from C. O. Miller, Deputy Collector in Charge, Tia Juana, to the Collector of Customs, San Diego, Calif., November 11, 1921.

Report on N. Sakiyama—N.A.R.A.L. Record Group 36. Ibid. Folder: October 11, 1921-May 23, 1922 + Index. Memo from Imanaka, U.S. Department of Labor, Immigration Service, Office of Inspector in Charge, Calexico, Calif., March 3, 1922.

Report on Cecil Dennis—N.A.R.A.L. Record Group 36. Ibid. Folder: October 11, 1921-May 23, 1922 + Index. Letter from H. G. Dunlap, Inspector, en route, Train No. 4, S. D. & A., East, to U.S. Customs Service, San Diego, January 29, 1922.

Report on Leon Maddox—N.A.R.A.L. Record Group 36. Ibid. Letter (not in folder) from F. E. Johnson, Special Agent in Charge, Treasury Department, United States Customs Service, Los Angeles, Cal., to the Collector of Customs, Los Angeles, California, April 24, 1916.

Report on Dan Hayes—N.A.R.A.L. Record Group 36. Ibid. Letter from unknown Deputy Collector [signature cut off from carbon], Calexico, Calif., to the Collector of Customs, Los Angeles, Calif., August 16, 1916.

73. The Chinese Tunnels (1849 -20 03)

Epigraph: “Stay home and lose opportunities . . .”—Hom, p. 89 (“Immigration Blues,” song no. 16, JSGJ II. IIa), slightly “retranslated” by WTV to cut dead wood out of the English.

My interview with the sisters Hernández took place on Good Friday 2001. They spoke English.

My conversations with Jose Lopez about the tunnels took place in July 2001. He spoke English, and indeed sometimes served as my interpreter that year. He has since disappeared. They say he is in Salinas. José López from Jalisco is a different person.

Information from the owner of the Golden Dragon: History of the tunnels, and Chinese population of Mexicali in 2003: 4,000-5,000—Rosalyn Ng report, 2003 (based on the Ngs’ visit in July). The first time I met this man in person was in October 2003.

“In the Chinese district of Mexicali . . .”—Ruiz, p. 48.

Frank Waters: Chinese smuggled “in crates of melons . . .”—Op. cit., p. 314.

My interview with Stella Mendoza took place in October 2003. Most of our conversation had to do with the IID-TO-MWD water transfer over whose negotiations she had unwillingly presided at the beginning of the year. The bulk of what she had to say will be found in the chapter “We Should Have Had a Better Negotiating Position,” below.

The tale of the Chinese vampire—I heard this independently from a woman at the Reforma church on Good Friday, 2001, from Jose Lopez in 2002, and from a would-be
pollo
named Ramón in April or May of 2003. Jose Lopez was by far the most educated of these three tellers.

My interview with the Mexican journalist on a Sunday took place in front of the cathedral on Reforma, in late May or early June of 2002. He spoke English.

My interview with the Mexican mother in Condominios Montealbán took place in July 2001. She spoke English.

My interview with the Mexican waiter at the “Nuevo Peiping” took place in May or June of 2002. The interpreter was José Quintero, a homeless would-be
pollo
whom I employed for several days with great success (he was also a fine bodyguard) and then never saw again. I miss him.

My interviews with the parking attendant Lupita took place in October and November of 2003. She spoke English and Spanish. When it was the latter, Terrie Petree and José López from Jalisco interpreted.

“Planta Despepitadora de Algodón ‘Chino-Mexicana’ ”—Unnumbered album in the AHMM.

The enrichment of Chung Ming and Cheong Yum—Auyón Gerardo, p. 31ff. (working translation by Terrie Petree).

Statistic on Chinese emigration as of 1852 (20,000 per year)—Bain, p. 205.

One of the white magnates (Charley Crocker): “Wherever we put them we found them good . . .”—Ibid., p. 221.

An Irishman: “Begad if it wasn’t for them damned nagurs . . .”—Ibid., p. 222.

Departure of white laborers from L.A. in 1860, “City still rapidly improving” and “The Chinese are a prominent factor”—
An Illustrated History of Los Angeles County
, pp. 99, 105, 255.

Footnote: Account of the Chinese Massacre—Ibid., pp. 249-50. The “other source” which claims that 72 Chinese died is Newmark, whose versions of events tend to be more colorful than others’.

Ma You Yong and the tunnel cave-in—Auyón Gerardo, loc. cit.

“When a striker kills with a brick the man who has taken his place, he has no sense of wrong-doing . . .”—London,
Novels and Social Writings
, pp. 1121-22 (“The Scab,” 1904). The reference to Chinese coolies is on p. 1133.

An eyewitness judgment: “They sent up to the mines for their use . . .”—Quaife, p. 237 (from ch. XVII of J. D. Borthwick,
Three Years in California
). The same source reports (p. 240): “. . . with a quick motion of the chop-sticks . . . they cause the rice to flow down their throats in a continuous stream.”

Clare Ng’s interview with the old couple at Condominios Montealbán took place in July 2003. They were the same people whom I have indirectly quoted at the beginning of the “Creation Myths” section. I had to send the Ngs down without me since my pelvis had been fractured in an accident.

The tale of Mariano Ma and Chang Peio—Auyón Gerardo, p. 41ff. (Terrie Petree’s working translation, slightly polished by WTV). I have been assured by several older Mexicans that there were Chinese homesteads in the Mexicali Valley before the nineteenth century ended; they were growing cotton on their own, my informants said, but the salt defeated them.