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Basque Oral History Project Index Interview Tape Index
NAME: Eulogio Aiden
Madariaga
TAPE MINUTE SUMMARY OF CONTENTS
Tape 1
Side 1
0-7:00 Aiden’s parents were Eulogio Madariaga from Ibarrangelua and Trinidad Arriola from Elantxobe. [See typed biography accompanying index]. Eulogio broke his leg working on the original Arrowrock Dam, and was recuperating at the Letamendi boarding house when he met Trinidad, who was working there; the couple was married in Boise in 1910. They managed the Overland Hotel in Boise for a few years before moving to Jordan Valley, where Eulogio worked in the old Tenenbar Hotel and as a sheepherder. The couple also operated the Madariaga boarding house for many years until their retirement about 1945, at which point they moved to Boise for a few years. The couple ultimately moved back to Jordan Valley until their deaths. Eulogio also ran a sheep, cattle, and hog ranch to help supply the boarding house. During the Depression, times were tough, but the Madariagas never went hungry. Aiden’s parents came legally to the US in 1906 and 1910 to escape Franco and make a better life for themselves. They chose Boise initially because of its renown as a Basque immigration center, but chose Jordan Valley to follow economic opportunities (the town was an important shepherding base). He remembers that each of the sheepherders in the area had a locked stall in a large shed where supplies were regularly deposited; it was the children’s job to help unload the supplies and deliver the goods to the herders. Several of the Madariaga boys worked for herders such as John Archabal.
7-18:00 Aiden was born on June 10, 1924, in his parent’s boarding house in Jordan Valley. His siblings are Joe, Sabino, Aurora, Rosario, Felisa, Leanor, Beatrice, Richard, Alec, and Mary; he is the 8th born. Aiden was actually born Eulogio, but goes by his middle name, a tribute to a well-liked Jordan Valley doctor named Aiden Garretty. He remembers growing up during Prohibition, during which time his parents gave the children alcohol as medicine. Aiden’s dad was caught by the police the night Aiden was born, spending the night in jail as well as paying a $100 fine. Aiden started out working with grain (destined for moon shining in the hills) at a very young age. He recalls his early dealings with illegal alcohol, of which his mother was kept in the dark. Other than moonshine, Aiden helped his father with more than just moonshine, including feeding and milking livestock, hay collecting, and others [He shares photos with Mikel]. Building a haystack was a lot of work, but Aiden learned very quickly, beginning at the age of 7.
18-25:00 Aiden helped out at the boarding house as well, chopping wood, washing dishes, peeling vegetables, butchering meat, etc. The family had a large, meticulously cared-for garden as well. He describes his family’s delicious chorizo and solomo, with pigs butchered every fall. It was Aiden’s job to shoot the pigs—which requires quite a bit of accuracy (small brains)—and to clean the animal. At any given time, there would be between 2 and 12 boarders at the Madariaga house, especially during the winter. Every Sunday, there was a big dance at the boarding house, with live accordion and harmonica music played on the veranda. Christmas Eve, there was usually a dance downtown; the Markinas hosted a Christmas Day dance; New Years Eve saw another downtown dance, and the Madariagas hosted a big New Year’s Day party every year. It never took much of an excuse to have a party—Aiden even learned how to play spoons! His uncle Fernando played the accordion. Even though Trinidad got all the credit for the boarding house cookery, Eulogio was quite accomplished himself, and did about have the cooking.
25-30:00 Aiden remembers his school days. His grade school still stands, but the old high school has since been demolished. He remembers performing plays downtown several towns a year. Picnics were a big deal in those days as well, with ball games, dances, and Senior Sneak (his class of 13 was quite the renegade bunch, traveling for 3 to Winnemucca, despite the presence of their straight-laced English teacher). Aiden later flunked English—he explains why. Amusingly, Aiden met his English teacher several years after he had graduated, and she had become quite a renegade herself. He recalls that his older brothers, even though they were born in Boise, spoke no English when they started school, and even taught their non-Basque playmates Basque. Aiden had no problems in this regard, and considers that he speaks better English than Basque today, but says that every now and then, a Basque word will slip out into a conversation.
Side 2
0-10:00 Aiden’s parents spoke little English before their kids began attending school, at which point they became quite fluent. By the time Aiden’s younger siblings were born, the family was speaking very little Basque at home. “About the only time [they] ever heard Basque was when [they] were catching hell.” Both Eulogio and Trinidad became US citizens when Aiden was still in grade school, signing the documents in Ontario. Aiden’s father always wanted to go back to Euskadi too visit his family, but his mother never wanted to. Spain was considered an enemy country during WWII, and while Aiden was serving on border patrol, he describes a run-in with a French Basque man he inebriated and asked to serve as a tour guide to the Basque country. All the man wanted was cigarettes. Aiden remembers his war years, going from Texas to Kentucky to New York, and got very sick when they boarded a ship across the Atlantic (mostly due to the disgusting food and cramped living conditions. He landed in Liverpool, England. Aiden had been drafted in 1943. He traveled through many different countries under Field Marshal Montgomery (an Englishman), and saw the Battle of the Bulge. There was quite a bit of disagreement between different nationalities. Aiden extols the virtues of General Patton, who always participated with the actions he ordered his troops to complete. He describes a run-in with Russian troops and the Battle of the Bulge, which lasted 10 days. Aiden was snow-blinded, and didn’t heal completely for 4-5 years. He crippled his leg and met his wife Sabina Traczyk while convalescing in a Heidelberg hospital.
10-22:00 When Sabina was 14, she was taken captive by the Germans while walking to school one day in Poland, and she never saw her parents again. Sabina rarely talked about her war experiences, but Aiden saw one of the camps where she had been kept and how the prisoners had been treated. Before she was liberated, she had witnessed mass burials and cremations. When Aiden and Sabina started to date at the hospital in Germany, they had to sneak around a bit. There were drink rations every week, but since many soldiers didn’t drink, Aiden obtained the extra for his wedding party, and the mess hall cooks built a 7-tier wedding cake. During the party, friends even provided entertainment. Aiden and Sabina were married in Heidelberg on February 25, 1947. The ceremony actually had to be performed twice: once at 10am by a German civil servant, and again at 2:30 by the Catholic chaplain. Sabina spoke 14 languages (not English at the time Aiden met her), and even served as an interpreter on the ship that brought the couple to New York not long after they were married. It took her a while to get adjusted to the desolateness of Jordan Valley (New York didn’t bother her at all, and she was frequently in trouble for leaving the “war bride” camp without leave!). Aiden was determined to be home, however, and Sabina dealt with it.
22-30:00 Aiden began working for his sister Felisa’s husband on various ranches, then for the State of Oregon Highway Department. He helped lamb for different sheep operations as well. Aiden decided to settle and work in Jordan Valley permanently in 1951. He worked for a hotel owner there for 25 years. He bought the Sahara Motel and a Chevron gas station later and runs them both with his son to this day. Aiden has one son, Johnny Madariaga, born on March 17, 1955, in the old Mercy Hospital in Nampa. Aiden describes visiting his son for the first time in the maternity ward (and being told by the doctor not to get his wife pregnant again right away). He describes his spat with the reception nurse. He worked for the Delamar silver mines from about 1976 until 1978, which was not the most pleasant experience (his supervisor was a “horse’s ass”). The owner of the gas station now belonging to Aiden, Floyd Aceragui, was anxious to sell it to somebody right after Aiden had come from the mines.
Tape 2
Side 1
0-11:00 Aiden and Sabina took over the gas station in 1978, entering the deal with his son. They took over the nearby Sahara Hotel as well, and original helper Opal Ackerman still works there (despite her initial fears to the contrary). Johnny’s wife helps out, too—Madariaga, Inc. is very much a family operation. Johnny didn’t learn Basque as a child because it was too hard to do so with a Polish mother; the kid was lucky to learn English! Aiden and his son picked up some German and Polish, however. There are no Basque clubs in Jordan Valley or nearby, but the Basque community in the town has been closely knot for years. While Aiden was growing up, Basques married only other Basques, but that has changed as generations progress—Aiden’s siblings are a good example of intermarriage. Aiden had been engaged to a Julia Achabal before marrying Sabina, but ethnicity was never a deciding factor in his relationships, and the Madariaga family was very accepting of Sabina. Younger generations have also been breaking away from the Catholic Church and other Basque traditions, and have only recently begun trying to relearn them (Aiden’s younger brothers are cases in point). Aiden himself enjoys practicing Basque whenever he gets the chance.
11-22:00 Aiden took his trip to Euskadi in 1971 (on a 26 day charter flight from Boise), and spoke Basque so well that he even attracted the suspicion of the Spanish government. He describes entering a bar where he couldn’t convince people that he was born and raised in America! He was rescued by a man who had met him while shepherding in Idaho. Aiden very much liked the Basque country when he saw it; his parents had never talked about it much, but since he spoke the language and loved the food, he could have lived there. Twenty-six days was just not enough. He describes hearing his cousins imitate birds. Aiden would like to return to Euskadi someday, but would have to go with a group and will probably never make it. He does not stay in contact with family members and friends there. He describes seeing the town of Elantxobe for the 1st time.
22-26:30 Jordan Valley had mostly Irish and Basque as ethnic communities, even though there were about 3 German families. There was very little tension between these different groups. After all these years, Aiden considers himself an American who is still Basque. It is “easier for [him] to trust [him]self in Basque than it is in English”. Today, he likes to go fishing and hunting (though he has scale back this activity as he gets older). He also likes to 4-wheel around Jordan Valley with his son and work around his business.
NAMES AND PLACES
NAMES:
Aceragui, Floyd: owned
Jordan Valley gas station before Aiden acquired it
PLACES:
Arrowrock Dam
THEMES:
Battle of the Bulge |
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