DIY History | Transcribe | Campus Culture | ""Leno and Maria: A Success Story"" by Vincent P. Cano - 1985

Transcribe
Translate

""Leno and Maria: A Success Story"" by Vincent P. Cano - 1985

Summary by Margaret Richardson Page 2

Three weeks later, after discussing his plans with Maria's family, Leno left Maria and Elena with his parents and joined his friend Antonio to find a new opportunity in the United States. In Sant Antonio they learned of job possibilities in Buffalo, New York. They bought train tickets for that destination; Leno found work hauling cement in a foundry but was soon transferred to unloading freight. For sixteen months he received $60.00 per month, sending most of it back to Maria in Botija. Upon his return to Maria, Leno purchased two cows with calves, two oxen and a pair of donkeys. In September, 1924 a second child, Maria Guadalupe, was born. Meanwhile, much land in Mexico was being seized by rich landowners. In March of 1926 Leno returned to the United States. In his absence Maria's mother died and Maria delivered twin boys. Within a month each boy died, one of colic and one of pneumonia. Leno returned to pick up his family and with them board the train for San Antonio Texas.

At this point in the narrative, author Vincent Cano discusses land issues in the United States between 1870 and 1900. Six thousand acres in irrigation grew to 1,446.000 acres in irrigation. He describes the Dingley Tarrif of 1897 concerning sugar rates and the expansion of sugar-beet acreages. Railroads experienced competition when Asian immigration decreased. Various factors aided Mexican immigrants to find work. 

Late in the evening of the day they boarded the train. Maria and Leno and their two daughters arrived in San Antonio. They were directed to a hotel exclusively for Mexicans and after securing a small room. Leno went out to seek work. Due to the heavy influx of workers in the southwest, many Mexicans were beginning to migrate the Midwest and Northeast. Leno immediately signed up with a "contratista" (labor contractor) for farm work in Crookston, Minnesota. 

Upon arriving, the family was sent to their new employer. Mr. Martin, who took them to their first American home, a one room wooden building with a dirt floor and shafts of sunlight blazing through the many large cracks. The room contained a wood stove, beds a table and chairs. They were told to use the well that was up near the main house. Leno was to report to work around four thirty a.m. when the sun came out and could expect to be in the fields with them. As he and Maria looked around and saw several stalls, they realized that their "house" was at some time a barn that housed animals. 

Early the next morning the family joined another family and began the relentless cycle of hoeing, planting, watering and weeding on acres and acres of land. During the harvest season Leno and Maria walked the field behind a team of horses; their job was to break up clumps of dirt, remove the sugar-beets and toss them into baskets. Within a month on November 4, 1927, Maria delivered their first American child, Josephine Rita Cano. Soon after, with the beet harvest finished they returned to Houston. 

Soon the Cano family was headed for Chicago but Maria began to hemorrhage from the recent birth. The train had a stop in St. Paul, Minnesota and a social worker arranged for Maria's hospitalization. After two weeks of hospitalization she joined her family in taking the St. Louis train to West Liberty, where they discovered, they would have a five 

2

Saving...

Three weeks later, after discussing his plans with Maria's family, Leno left Maria and Elena with his parents and joined his friend Antonio to find a new opportunity in the United States. In Sant Antonio they learned of job possibilities in Buffalo, New York. They bought train tickets for that destination; Leno found work hauling cement in a foundry but was soon transferred to unloading freight. For sixteen months he received $60.00 per month, sending most of it back to Maria in Botija. Upon his return to Maria, Leno purchased two cows with calves, two oxen and a pair of donkeys. In September, 1924 a second child, Maria Guadalupe, was born. Meanwhile, much land in Mexico was being seized by rich landowners. In March of 1926 Leno returned to the United States. In his absence Maria's mother died and Maria delivered twin boys. Within a month each boy died, one of colic and one of pneumonia. Leno returned to pick up his family and with them board the train for San Antonio Texas. At this point in the narrative, author Vincent Cano discusses land issues in the United States between 1870 and 1900. Six thousand acres in irrigation grew to 1,446.000 acres in irrigation. He describes the Dingley Tarrif of 1897 concerning sugar rates and the expansion of sugar-beet acreages. Railroads experienced competition when Asian immigration decreased. Various factors aided Mexican immigrants to find work. Late in the evening of the day they boarded the train. Maria and Leno and their two daughters arrived in San Antonio. They were directed to a hotel exclusively for Mexicans and after securing a small room. Leno went out to seek work. Due to the heavy influx of workers in the southwest, many Mexicans were beginning to migrate the Midwest and Northeast. Leno immediately signed up with a "contratista" (labor contractor) for farm work in Crookston, Minnesota. Upon arriving, the family was sent to their new employer. Mr. Martin, who took them to their first American home, a one room wooden building with a dirt floor and shafts of sunlight blazing through the many large cracks. The room contained a wood stove, beds a table and chairs. They were told to use the well that was up near the main house. Leno was to report to work around four thirty a.m. when the sun came out and could expect to be in the fields with them. As he and Maria looked around and saw several stalls, they realized that their "house" was at some time a barn that housed animals. Early the next morning the family joined another family and began the relentless cycle of hoeing, planting, watering and weeding on acres and acres of land. During the harvest season Leno and Maria walked the field behind a team of horses; their job was to break up clumps of dirt, remove the sugar-beets and toss them into baskets. Within a month on November 4, 1927, Maria delivered their first American child, Josephine Rita Cano. Soon after, with the beet harvest finished they returned to Houston. Soon the Cano family was headed for Chicago but Maria began to hemorrhage from the recent birth. The train had a stop in St. Paul, Minnesota and a social worker arranged for Maria's hospitalization. After two weeks of hospitalization she joined her family in taking the St. Louis train to West Liberty, where they discovered, they would have a five 2