TAPE MINUTE SUMMARY OF CONTENTS
Tape 1
Side 1
0-10:00 Maurice’s father, Mauricio Guerry, was born and raised in Guerrica and his mother, Juanita, was from Regoitia. Maurice discusses his theory on how his father’s last name was shortened. Juanita’s brothers sponsored her so that she could come to the US, and the elder Mauricio may have elected to come to the US in 1909 to avoid joining the priesthood. Once he arrived, he stayed in the Soloaga boarding house in Shoshone and adopted Dominga Soloaga as a mother-figure.
10-19:00 When the elder Mauricio came to the US at 17 years of age, he immediately began herding sheep, and for a time even helped build the Salmon Dam near Rogerson. Maurice undertakes to recite the obituary of Frank Trigueiro, Maurice’s father’s employer, and it has some distinctly comedic elements. In the obituary, it is said that Trigueiro left much of his land and sheep to Guerry, who was referred to as Trigueiro’s “Spanish boy.” Trigueiro was almost a father-figure to the elder Guerry.
19-24:00 Maurice explains how the instigation of the Bureau of Land Management changed the grazing patterns and practices of the shepherds. Maurice is uncertain how exactly her parents met, but explains that his mother was employed by John Landa in the boarding house in Salt Lake City and likely met there. After they were married, she moved up to Castleford to be with her new husband. His parents never spoke much about the Old Country, and surmises that the experience might be likened to the silence of World War II veterans.
24-31:00 Maurice was born on August 21st, 1930, and was the older than the other two children, Mari and Jimmy. The children grew up on the ranch at Castleford, and Maurice’s primary chore was to milk the cow. Due to his severe hay fever, however, the hardest part of this task was often making it back to the house. Sometimes he would also grab his pony and ride water out to the workers in the field. He was six years old when he started school, and the assimilation wasn’t that difficult because his mother required that the children respond to her in English and his father almost always spoke to them in English. In his twenties, though, he did manage to learn a little Basque from the workers, who at that time numbers between 14 and 16. He explains that in that era, people didn’t know anything but to work all day long: there were few modern conveniences.
Side 2
0-7:00 Juanita used to have breakfast ready for the family and workers by about 6 or 7 in the morning, and wouldn’t stop cooking and cleaning until she went to bed. People would gather together on holidays and talk, play music, dance, laugh, and have a lot of fun. Maurice would look forward to those gatherings with enthusiasm. There were also annual Basque dances and festivals in Bule and Shoshone that the family would attend when the demands of the sheep business allowed.
7-16:00 There were not really any other Basques in the same grade as Maurice, and he doesn’t recall there ever having been any discrimination. In fact, he felt no difference between his self and the other children. Lunches were not served at school, but a gracious woman—the mother of Doloris Aguirre—used to make lunches for him. Sports were a major part of his experience at high school. He graduate in 1948 and went to the University of Idaho that fall. He doesn’t recall having been overly enthusiastic about going to college, but it was very important to his mother and, in a more silent way, to his father as well. Both his parents became citizens. Maurice concentrated his studies in Agriculture and Business at the U of I and, after his mother, sister, and asthmatic brother had moved to Arizona, he too moved there and participated vigorously in extracurricular activities before returning to the U of I to graduate.
16-26:30 After graduating, John was drafted to the Air Force base in Spokane, Washington for two or three months before being relocated to California, and then on a ship toward Japan. He was proud to have been able to serve, but glad that he didn’t get sent to Korea. While on duty, he served as a supply officer and didn’t make the same mistake in Japan as he had before: while in Spokane, he had let the base run out of toilet paper. He tells a story about trying to procure better vehicles for the wounded. He returned from Japan in 1954 and knew of no other place to go than Castleford. While in Japan he had been writing love letters to Marlene Hopkins, his future wife, whom he had met at the U of I his senior year. In those days, it was popular to go to soda shops for dates, he did so, she agreed, and their relationship was begun.
26:30-33:00 Maurice and Marlene were married in 1954 and they moved to Castleford—she was originally from a town to the north of Lewiston—and he began working the sheep ranch with renewed vigor. He admires her for accepting such remoteness, but she entertains herself by reading and reconstructing her family tree. She has no Basque blood, but she is an excellent cook of Basque food. She can also read in Spanish, and seems to have a gift for languages. The two had three children—Maurine, Mark, and Mike—who were all interested in their Basque ancestry to varying degrees.
Tape 2
Side 1
0-7:00 Marlene was pivotal in fostering interest in Basque Culture into her children. Mark is, in his father’s eyes, 150% Basque—and thinks that he and Pete Cenarussa have done great things for Basques everywhere. Mark even attended school in Oñate for a while. The Basque community in Castleford had changed between Maurice’s childhood and that of his children. There never really were very many Basques there, but there are far fewer now. There were always more festivals in Gooding and Shoshone, and Maurice regrets not having taken advantage of them.
7-14:00 Maurice and Marlene flew to the Basque Country in 1979 to visit his father’s half-sister and an uncle Francisco (a priest), and to just admire the people, the geography, the food, and the atmosphere in general. He went again in 1989, but his uncle had passed away and his aunt died a couple of months after they departed for the US. Maurice’s half-sister was survived by her son and Maurice was glad to see him, too. He returned to Euskadi again in 1989 and was very glad to see his cousin Isidro before he did. He stayed in Isidro’s apartment in Gernika and admires the graciousness of the people. Throughout the twenty years that spanned his three trips he managed to note some differences in the Basque Country: it was becoming Americanized. The young people were forgetting traditional music and instead adopting American-style pop and rock music.
14-20:00 According to Maurice there’s a spirit in Euskadi that exists nowhere else. There’s a feeling of pride, kinship, welcoming, and independence that is omnipresent there. Also, one doesn’t see the obesity that seems so common in the US. They are also nicely dressed, which reflects a pride in themselves that they have maintained, and which many in Castleford have lost. There’s an unexplainable uniqueness to the Basques and their country.
15-26:00 Maurice and Marlene are members of the Gooding Basque Association and the Boise Basque Center. Asked why they joined, he answers that he considers the Basques in this area to be extended family. Basques have made a lot of themselves in the Boise Valley, and he considers it a privilege to be a member of these associations. Maurice’s father had strong ties to Euskadi but also loved America. Similarly, Maurice shows reverence to both the Basque and American flag and flies them both. He feels proud whenever anyone refers to him as a Basque. In short, he acknowledges and respects both aspects of his heritage. The accomplishments of Basques all over the world are admirable.
26-32:00 Maurice elaborates on the family properties in and around Castleford, which have been in the family since 1934. He says that he will always enjoy irrigating pastures, and likes incorporating new lands into pasture. He likes the little things which his children don’t have time for. Right now all of his workers are from Peru and, as per federal law, they are required to leave at the end of their three-year contracts. By renewing contracts, many of these Peruvians have shown great loyalty and stayed for upwards of 20 years. He discusses a conversation he had with his father concerning the character of people to employ.
NAMES AND PLACES
NAMES:
Boise Basque Museum and Cultural Center
Cenarussa, Pete; Basque benefactor
Gooding Basque Association
Guerry, Mark; son
Guerry, Maurine; daughter
Guerry, Mauricio “Maurice”
Guerry, Mauricio “Maurice”; father
Guerry, Mike; son
Hopkins, Marlene; wife
Juanita; mother
Landa, John; father’s employer
Soluaga, Dominga; mother-figure to Maurice’s father
Trigero, Frank; father-figure to Maurice’s father
PLACES:
Boise, ID
Castleford, ID
Gernika, Bizkaia
Gooding, ID
Japan
Korea
Oñate, Euskadi
Rogerson, ID
Salmon River Dam
Salt Lake City, UT
Shoshone, ID
University of Idaho
Vergocia, Bizkaia
THEMES:
Basque-American identity
Draft to Korean War
Raising a family
Participation in Basque events
Passing Basque heritage to children
Visiting Euskadi
