High above Mazatlán, a Beautiful Ranch

 

 In Mexico my family was well-to-do; we had a huge ranch.  It was my grandmother’s ranch. It was up in the Sierra Madre, where there was a beautiful climate. Down in Mazatlán, we had a lot of malaria mosquitoes, so my grandmother didn’t want us to stay there.

 

But up but the ranch it was a beautiful, beautiful climate.  The location was 5000ft., and it was pretty cool. We could see Mazatlán, and at night we could see the boats coming in with their lights.

 

My mother had quite a few cattle, and she managed at all by herself. She had six girls and one boy. But they all got married and left; no one stayed to help run the ranch. They didn’t like ranch life.

 

I was the favorite grandchild. She always saved something for me.

 

I’ve seen the ranch since I left but it’s nothing like what it was while I lived there.

 

The property has been taken over because of a tax dispute. But we always pay their taxes. They might have been paid late, but we still paid them. Mexico got very corrupt, and there were a ton of mean people there ready to fight or kill, so we got out.

 

My son has been back to see the ranch, but he didn’t like it. Now, as I said, everyone is afraid to live there.

 

 

My Father, a Mining Engineer

 

My dad was a mining engineer, and he was usually miles up in the hills somewhere.  Wherever my dad went, my mother my brothers and I went along with him.  We had the advantage of having a tutor.  We learned to read and write Spanish correctly. 

 

Dad would try to teach us English from time to time, but he was usually too busy with his mining business.  My father worked for the Guggenheim.

 

It was only my brother and I in our family; my brother’s name was Fred.  My mother was a housewife.  My first father was Valenzuela, and he passed away.  So my mother was a widow.  Then, she met Mr. York, so I took the name of York.

 

We came to the United States when I was about eleven years old. We had to leave Mexico because of the revolution.  My dad, York, married my mother, so we became American.  We went to the embassy in Mexico City, and became American citizens.

 

 

Our Family Flees the Mexican Revolution

 

When the Mexican revolution came about, they gave all American citizens only 48 hours to leave the country. Because our home was so isolated, we had to flee on horseback. 

 

We made it to the railroad, where we took the train to Mazatlán. The United States had a ship there that would evacuate all the American citizens.

 

But on our way to the boat, we were held up, and three people were shot. We finally got to the train on horseback, and walking at times. The rivers would rise, and sometimes we would have to wait for them to subside. It took a long time for us to get to the first train.

 

 

A Narrow Escape across a Burning Bridge

 

Finally, though, we reached the train. So the train started, but then it stopped suddenly. The underpinnings for the bridge were burning out, and getting weak. The train was too heavy, and couldn’t make it across. The bridge had been sabotaged.

 

Since we couldn’t make it across on the train, we had to get a railroad hand car, the kind that was used by the railway workers. You pump the handle up and down to make it go. Using these small cars, we cross the bridge.

 

 

“Oh no! We’re in Trouble!”

 

As soon as we crossed the bridge, we saw smoke up on a hill above us. It was early in the morning and we stopped to see if we could get something to eat or drink. Two of our people ran up the hill. We heard two shots, and we saw them fall to the ground.

 

My dad said: “Oh no! We’re in trouble!”

 

So these guys were pointing a gun and my mother and father. My mother held the muzzle of the gun, and wouldn’t let them shoot.  I don’t know where mother got the energy, but she held on.

 

My mother said: “when where in trouble, god will help us.”

 

My mother said we had to pray, so we all prayed, we were glad to be alive.

 

 

We Miss the First Boat to America

 

By the time we got to Mazatlán, the first boat rating for America had left. Now, there was only a sailing schooner leaving Mazatlán.  We had to disguise my father as if he was a kitchen maid. He and my mother pretended to be servants.  They took my brother and I buy the hand and somehow got us onto that boat.

 

 

 

First Impressions of the US: Strawberry Shortcake

 

First we landed in Los Angeles, and we went up to San Francisco.  It was quite a trip.  To me, it was like coming into heaven.  The lights were beautiful, and so were the stores and restaurants.  The first thing I saw that impressed me so much was strawberry shortcake!

 

For more about Emilia Gallegos, see this article in the September 14, 2007 edition of the Santa Cruz (California) Sentinel newspaper: http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/archive/2007/September/14/style/stories/01style.htm