|
|
|
Basque Oral History Project Index Interview Tape Index
NAME: Rufina “Ruth” Bilbao Glenn
TAPE MINUTE SUMMARY OF CONTENTS
Tape 1
Side 1
0-5:00 Ruth’s dad was John Bilbao, born in Ea, Bizkaia, and her mother was Santa Guisasola, from Ibarrangelua. John came to the United States first, arriving in Boise at about the same time as Santa’s brother, who brought her over later. The couple met and married in Boise, and opened a boarding house where the Owyhee Hotel now stands. John and Santa soon moved to Jordan Valley, where they had sheep until the Depression bottomed out the business. They opened up another boarding house in Jerome, then moved to Twin Falls, where John found a job with Idaho Power. The couple divorced when Ruth was 6, and Santa opened another boarding house in order to make a living and raise her kids. She rented a dilapidated building and fixed it up, and the owners promised her she would have the first option to buy. Unfortunately, the owners sold it out from under her, but Ruth’s oldest sister Rosa’s husband Frank Gandiaga helped Santa get financing to build a new place. The building still stands, and is now adorned with a historical plaque telling the story of Santa’s life.
5-16:00 Santa did not have enough money to send her daughter to college, so Ruth went to work for the local paper. Ruth’s mother promised her that if she helped her pay off the boarding house, she would take her on a trip to Spain, and made good on the promise in 1943. Ruth’s grandmother Magdalena Ardanza was still alive, and the three-month trip (Santa’s first time back since coming to the US at age 16) right after the war was the best one of Ruth’s life. They went over on a barge and returned by plane. Ruth’s husband Gene speaks about the trip he took to the Basque country with Ruth and some relatives: he was scheduled to come back early, but was so smitten that he stayed on for the whole month. Gene lived in Santa’s boarding house during the Depression, while he was working at the veterinary clinic across the street. This is where Ruth and Gene met and fell in love. It was Ruth’s nephew who arranged the move, and everyone laughs about the circumstances. Gene went off to war, and the couple ended up in San Francisco coincidentally, at which point they decided to wed.
16-18:30 Santa died of colon cancer in 1950, and Ruth took over the boarding house for a few years before selling it to the Berriochoa family. She realized later how much the building had meant to her all through her life. When she was in school, she was never able to bring her friends home, since the boarding house was a rather raucous place by her friends’ standards. During the war, the herders gave their shoe coupons to Ruth, who had more than any of her friends!
18:30-28:00 Ruth was born at home in Jerome on December 15, 1923. She is one of four children (her mother lost 3 others); Rosa, Henry and Isabel are the others. The family spoke Basque at home (which Gene remembers with chagrin), even though Santa did pretty well with English. Ruth says that the sale of the rented house turned out for the best, as the new one Santa built turned out to be much better. [The family dog Molly makes an appearance at the door]. Santa paid off the new boarding house in 4 years, after lots of hard work. There were no steady employees, since all the Bilbao girls put in time, except for a few Basque girls who helped out from time to time (including Mary Ocamica). Even though many Basque girls can say they met their husbands in boarding houses, their tenure there was never more than a year or two.
28-30:00 Ruth and her mother always helped the boarders with their medical needs, official papers, advice, and so on. Santa even ironed their shirts for them when they went out on job interviews or out to dances—the boarding house fostered a real feeling of family. Gene remembers that the hunt for good Basque sheepherders was pretty competitive, and ranchers would travel from house to house in search of the best men.
Side 2
0-8:30 Santa treated all the boarders just like her family, and many of the men saw her as a mother figure. The same boarders were very loyal, and came back every year (sometimes twice, if they had vacation). At the time, there were 2 other boarding houses in Twin Falls, including the Zelaya and the Zabala establishments. All these places times their parties for different days so that everyone could work together and go to each other’s functions. Ruth went through grade school and high school with the girls from the other boarding houses, and since they were all in “the same boat”, they became fast friends. Basque kids and non-Basque kids always got along very well together, with only a very few exceptions (like Johnny Zabala). Many people back then were curious about the Basques, who are accepted and cherished nowadays. Gene admits that there were a lot of men and women in Twin Falls who didn’t know what a Basque was; like in Spain, ethnicity was never a topic for conversation.
8:30-18:30 Ruth must have learned English from her sisters, because she had no problem adjusting to her classes. She graduated in 1941, the same time as WWII began, and since she couldn’t go to school, she began work at the Times News. She was a little disappointed about not being able to go to college, but she got over it quickly and made the best of things. She worked hard at the boarding house: Gene knows, because he had to help her clean many a dish in order to free up time for dates! He has always been impressed with the Basque people, and explains how he came to Idaho and met them for the first time. Henry Gandiaga was a great friend, and was responsible for Gene’s introduction to Ruth. Santa took right to her son-in-law; he helped a lot and was not impeded by the difference in languages. It didn’t take him long to learn how to act and eat around the Basques, and has loved it ever since.
18:30-25:00 Gene came back to Twin Falls after the war because he was sweet on Ruth and had become accustomed to her culture. Most Basque socializing centered on the boarding houses, which took turns and helped each other; there were no organized festivals at the time. Ruth admits that the houses were the nuclei of Basque life for many years, and not even the Depression and war years could phase this trend. The abrupt drop in Basque immigration to the US was what sounded the death knell for the Basque boarding houses. Even in the US, the Basques found better jobs than herding sheep, and so the need for temporary housing dried up. In their prime, however, the boarding houses served their purpose.
25-30:00 Ruth and Gene married in 1947 in Twin Falls, and have 3 children: Julie Ann Wildman, Jeannine Berriochoa (only one to marry a Basque) and Carla. When the couple got back from their trip to Spain with Ruth’s sisters, they decided to send their girls over as well, and so they sent the three over the following year (1975). The Glenns have tried to foster an appreciation for the Basque culture in their kids, which travel, conversation, and letters from Spain have greatly aided. Today, all three girls love their heritage, and Ruth quips that Gene even wishes he were Basque.
Tape 2
Side 1
0-10:00 Ruth explains her work history. She kept books for Pacific Fruit after her job with Times News, and stayed on until she got married. After the marriage, Gene was tending bar, and the couple lived at the boarding house for a little bit. Santa ran the house until her death in 1950. Ruth didn’t want her husband to be a bartender, so she picked up an ad for a farm equipment store, where Gene was engaged as a salesman. After about 15 years, Ruth and Gene borrowed the money to buy Twin Falls Tractor and Implement, where Ruth worked as a bookkeeper. In a reprise of the boarding house payment, the debts were covered in only 4 years. The family still owns the business (which their son now manages) and had opened another one in Jerome
10-16:00 The tractor company took a lot of hard work, but the return on the investment has been great, allowing Ruth and her family to travel to many exotic places. She says that being Basque is now quite in vogue, and non-Basques hold them in respect. This is probably due to better education. Ruth is a member of the Basque Center in Boise, in order to support the culture; they also support the Gooding Basque Association. Ruth’s heritage is very important to her, and she is proud of it. She considers herself American, but loves her heritage. At the time she was working so hard and went through a lot of privations, looking back now, Ruth recognizes what great years she has spent as part of the Basque community.
NAMES AND PLACES
NAMES:
Ardanza, Magdalena: Ruth’s
grandmother
PLACES:
Basque Center (Boise)
THEMES:
Boarding house |
| Copyright © 2001
Basque Museum & Cultural Center, Boise, Idaho USA All rights reserved. Webpage designed by Lisa Corcostegui, Center for Basque Studies, Reno, Nevada USA |
