Juliana Ascargorta Cislini Oral History
Dublin Core
Title
Juliana Ascargorta Cislini Oral History
Description
Julian Ascargorta Cislini Oral History
Creator
Churchill County Museum Association
Publisher
Churchill County Museum Association
Date
June 21, 1994
Format
Analog Cassette Tape, Text File, Mp3 Audio
Language
English
Oral History Item Type Metadata
Duration
54:43
Bit Rate/Frequency
128kbps/44100hz
Transcription
CHURCHILL COUNTY MUSEUM & ARCHIVES
ORAL HISTORY PROJECT
an interview with
Juliana Ascargorta Cislini
June 21, 1994
This interview was conducted by Anita Erquiaga; transcribed by Glenda Price; edited by Norma Morgan; final by Pat Baden; index by Gracie Viera; supervised by Myrl Nygren, Director of Oral History Project, Churchill County Museum.
Preface
Julia said at the beginning of her interview that her grandparents in Spain, who raised her, were wonderful people . . . angels from heaven. Anyone who knows Julia will say that she is a pretty special person too. She doesn't raise her voice in anger and is very patient with everyone, no matter what they might say to her.
She has a great deal of pain from arthritis and appeared to get tired as the interview went on but she didn't complain. The week following the interview she went into the hospital for a few days. She was having trouble with hypertension, which she has had for quite some time.
People who worked with her at the school hot lunch program remember her stories about the things that happened in Ione. They might be disappointed that this interview is not full of those stories but she is older now and in pain. She seemed to be trying to tell a serious story of her life, rather than just telling humorous stories. And she doesn't have the energy now at ninety-three that she had in those days.
She has a large family and a lot of friends who will always have a lot of laughs over the things she told them, and most important they will always say what a nice lady she is . . . just like the "angels from heaven" who raised her in Spain.
Interview with Juliana Ascargorta Cislini
This is Anita Erquiaga of the Churchill County Museum Oral History Program. Today is June 21, 1994, and I am interviewing Julia Ascargorta Cislini at her home 345 Lincoln Street in Fallon, Nevada.
ERQUIAGA: First of all, Julia, I want to thank you for taking the time to do this interview. I'm sure you'll have lots of interesting stories to tell us. Now, first thing I'd like to ask you is will you give me your full name?
CISLINI: Juliana Ascargorta.
ERQUIAGA: That was your maiden name, and then you married Cislini, so your name is Juliana Ascargorta Cislini.
CISLINI: Of course, my neighbors, they change it afterwards to Julia.
ERQUIAGA: Oh, after you came to this country?
CISLINI: Yeah.
ERQUIAGA: They changed it to Julia. And where were you born?
CISLINI: In Spain. I was born in Bedarona.
ERQUIAGA: Bedarona. That in Viscaya?
CISLINI: Yeah.
ERQUIAGA: Spain. And what was the date?
CISLINI: Twenty-third of April, 1901.
ERQUIAGA: Can you tell me the name of your mother and father?
CISLINI: Yes. Gregoria Barainca Ascargorta and Felix Ascargorta.
ERQUIAGA: And were they both born in Spain?
CISLINI: Yes. Same place I was born.
ERQUIAGA: What did they do for a living in Spain?
CISLINI: They farmed. Everyone has a little bit of farms, and, of course, back there you don't have to irrigate. You have a dew.
ERQUIAGA: Oh. Was there a lot of rain?
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CISLINI: Lot of rain. No snow. I didn't see snow until I come to the United States.
ERQUIAGA: Is that right?
CISLINI: Um-hum.
ERQUIAGA: When did they come to this country?
CISLINI: I don't know.
ERQUIAGA: You don't know what date it was?
CISLINI: Oh, I was twenty-two months old when my mother left me back home. So you could imagine.
ERQUIAGA: You were twenty-two months, so that would mean they probably came here in 1903 then?
CISLINI: Probably.
ERQUIAGA: I see. So, why did they leave you in Spain?
CISLINI: I was a baby so mother didn't want bring me to United States because it was too much trouble.
ERQUIAGA: Well, and they probably didn't know what they were coming to, either.
CISLINI: That's right. My brother, Ted was five years old, and I was twenty-two months old.
ERQUIAGA: And did they leave you with family?
CISLINI: My grandparents. They were wonderful people. They never swear. They never raised their voice or nothing. They were angels.
ERQUIAGA: Was that your mother's parents?
CISLINI: Mother's parents. Um-hum. They were little angels from heaven.
ERQUIAGA: Did they come over with any relatives, or did they come by themselves?
CISLINI: My father was here already.
ERQUIAGA: Oh, oh, okay.
CISLINI: They come to my father.
ERQUIAGA: Your mother and Ted came to join him.
CISLINI: Yeah.
ERQUIAGA: Did you know your grandparents very well when you went to live with them? They weren't strangers, were they?
CISLINI: Oh, no, they were wonderful people.
ERQUIAGA: And you knew them so you weren't afraid to be left with them. Were you the only child there with the grandparents?
CISLINI: Only one. My grandparents had eleven kids of their own, and me, twelve.
ERQUIAGA: You were twelve, but the others were all gone.
CISLINI: All gone excet Uncle Joe. He was drowned after I came to the United States.
ERQUIAGA: What did your grandparents do for a living?
CISLINI: They had a little farm.
ERQUIAGA: Did you go to school in Spain?
CISLINI: Yes.
ERQUIAGA: Oh! But you didn't learn English there, I don't suppose.
CISLINI: No English. Just the plain Basco.
ERQUIAGA: Just plain Basco. No Spanish?
CISLINI: No Spanish.
ERQUIAGA: Oh. So, then, when did your parents send for you to come to this country? How old were you then?
CISLINI: Fourteen.
ERQUIAGA: You were fourteen! You lived there all that time.
CISLINI: Yep.
ERQUIAGA: You didn't come alone, I don't suppose.
CISLINI: No. She wasn't my auntie then, but Firmin's [Bruner]
auntie and a little boy came along with me.
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ERQUIAGA: What do you remember about the trip over on the ship?
CISLINI: (laughing) Oh, that trip! When I left Spain I said to
my grandma, "Mama, I'll be home in six years," but six years never came.
Why did you figure you could come back in six years?
(laughing) I don't know. Just came to my mind. My grandparents came to Bordeaux, France with me. After we got settled down they went home, and we was there until the ocean was cleared because it was during the war, and the people we were staying with there in France, she lost three or four people during the war.
Was that World War I?
Yeah. Of course, after we went to the depot every day to see if the ocean was clear and, the ocean wasn't clear so when we come back we bought some peanuts, and I put some peanut shells to the monkey. Monkey spit at us, and we never came that way anymore.
(laughing) You didn't like having that monkey spit on you?
(laughing) No! So we came across the ocean. We stop in New York quite a bit.
How long did it take on the ship?
Quite a while 'cause we stop in places. The ocean wasn't clear, you know. The ship was blowing a whistle every once in a while. When we came to the ocean, the thing blowed, blowed, blowed, and we kneeled down, and we say our prayers. We were scared. We were scared to drown. After a while, before we left in the ship, we went down to first class, then we went to second class and third class. We came in the second class. Third class it was terrible. Oh-h-h. It was just terrible, and the first class, it was beautiful. It had carnations on the table, and places to hold the cups and plates, and it was just beautiful. And we came second. This lady came with me. Later on she was my auntie, and I sat up all night on the bench because she was sick, and then after awhile a Navy nurse and the doctor came and said I had tonsillitis.
ERQUIAGA: CISLINI:
ERQUIAGA: CISLINI:
ERQUIAGA:
CISLINI:
ERQUIAGA: CISLINI:
ERQUIAGA: Now, this was after you got to Ellis Island?
CISLINI: Yeah, after we got to Ellis Island, and, of course, I
ERQUIAGA: 5
CISLINI: had to go to the hospital because my tonsils was so bad, but anyway when we got to the hospital they gave us pills to take and I don't know what the pills were because back in the old country we never had no pills. No kind of medicine in fact, so I stuck my pills in my shoe. I had seventeen pills in my shoe.
ERQUIAGA: Oh, you didn't want to take them because you had never seen pills before?
No. I was afraid to take them. I drink the water but I didn't take the pills. I stuck them in my shoe. I had seventeen. So after awhile, at four o'clock in the afternoon, a little old man came along, and he bring great big red delicious apples. We eat that. That was fine, so anyway we went back to where I was before, where my folks were, and then they call our name and they were there yet, so, although before that then after awhile they give food to us, and we didn't like it, so we passed it to their third class. There's a lady, oh, she said her prayers and prayers and prayers. She was very religious. When she went to bed, she says, "OH-H-H, son of a bitch!" That was the first English I learned. (laughing)
The first English you learned. (laughing)
CISLINI: So, every time I waited for something "son of a bitch." But anyway when we got to the Salt Lake, and I started to recover at Salt Lake or Ogden, Utah, my auntie came before I did, and she didn't know me, and she said, "Who is the Juliana?" I said, "Behind you." She said, "That's not Juliana. She had red hair when I left eight years ago." So she dolled me all up, beautiful hair combs, white dress with the blue ribbon and the blue ribbon on my hair, and then my hair was all combed through like in the United States. Then when we got to the Battle Mountain, I made a mistake. We were talking about the old country and I said to my mother, "You mean my mama in the old country?" and she raised her voice and she hollered her head off.
ERQUIAGA: I want to go back and ask you something here. How did you come across the country? Was that by train when you left Ellis Island?
CISLINI: Yes.
ERQUIAGA: Now, tell me about the basket they fixed you.
CISLINI: We came by train, and when they fix us a basket with crackers and an orange and a little chocolate and
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baloney, and there was something else. Did I say apple? Orange and apple. We got the apple and orange out. Crackers, we didn't know what crackers was. So crackers and baloney out. Oh, yeah.
ERQUIAGA: You threw them out the window, huh?
CISLINI: (laughing) Threw them out the window.
ERQUIAGA: You didn't know what crackers were or baloney? CISLINI: No, crackers or the baloney.
ERQUIAGA: Well, you were not going to be taken in by anybody. If you didn't know what it was, you threw it away.
CISLINI: Yeah, we threw them away.
ERQUIAGA: Well, then, you stopped at Battle Mountain? Is that where your train went, and that's where you met your mother?
CISLINI: Yeah. That's where my mother was.
ERQUIAGA: Did you remember her at all? I guess you wouldn't.
CISLINI: No.
ERQUIAGA: But she's the one that got upset when you referred to your mother in Spain?
CISLINI: She was really upset because the only mother I knew was my grandma, because fourteen years with my grandma and they was so sweet and they was so dear. (crying)
ERQUIAGA: You still feel bad about that, don't you? CISLINI: Yep.
ERQUIAGA: So then you got on the train and traveled with your mother from there?
CISLINI: From Battle Mountain to Austin. In Austin we got loaded, and Alec Dyer took us to Ione in the stage, and it was a little old Ford, and he was very wonderful man. Mother came with us from Austin to Ione. Then we went to Mercury. When we left at Mercury, Mama said, "That's your daddy." I said to myself, "Oh, my Daddy is in the old country." "And this is your brother." I was glad to see my brother because the folks talk about Ted.
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ERQUIAGA: CISLINI: ERQUIAGA: CISLINI:
ERQUIAGA: CISLINI: ERQUIAGA:
CISLINI:
ERQUIAGA:
CISLINI:
ERQUIAGA:
CISLINI:
Oh. Your grandparents?
And my grandma and grandpa talk about Ted.
You knew about him?
He was so bashful. He come out and hided in the corner. Then my uncle, Pio, he said that's your uncle,
Shorty. I didn't know it.
Well, no, you hadn't seen him. You wouldn't know him. No.
Did anybody write to you, like your mother or any of them write letters to you all those years in Spain?
Yes. When I was in Spain. One time Mother sent me a red ribbon with Ed Gorino.
Oh? When he came back to Spain?
When he came back to Spain. He came from the United States to old country, and when he came, and he said he was going to take me back to United States, I hide under the bed. I said, "No, no, you're not going to take me to United States. I'm going to stay with my mother. But he gave me a five-dollar gold piece, I think it was, and a red ribbon. That was Ed Gorino.
Oh, he gave you a five-dollar gold piece and a red ribbon?
Yeah. Uh-huh. When we got to Ione, then Billy's mother, who was cooking for Mother up to Mercury and when she got through cooking, Mother took her job cooking. She was cooking, and they had twenty-two men, and when Billy came, she said, "Come on. I want you to meet somebody." So I went to meet Billy and I shook hands with him this way. After we were married I said to Billy, "How did you fall in love with me?" and he said, "It was the way you shook hands." (laughing)
Oh, the way you shook hands with your hand behind your back?
Yeah. (laughing)
ERQUIAGA: CISLINI:
ERQUIAGA: Well, you met Billy soon after you got to Ione? CISLINI: Yeah. He was there packing the wood for my dad.
ERQUIAGA: CISLINI: ERQUIAGA: CISLINI:
ERQUIAGA: CISLINI: ERQUIAGA: CISLINI: ERQUIAGA: CISLINI: ERQUIAGA: CISLINI: ERQUIAGA:
CISLINI:
Oh, he carried wood. Where was Mercury?
Three miles from Ione.
And that was the mine?
That was the mine. Then my dad was boss there. Quicksilver mine, and during the wartime the quicksilver was very high.
So there were a lot of people worked there, I suppose.
Yes.
And did your mother cook?
For twenty-two men.
That worked at the mine. Was there a boarding house.
Yes.
Did she run the boarding house, too?
Yes. The Company run it. She run it for the Company.
I see. Well, where did they live, and where did you live? Did you have a house?
We lived up in the Mercury, too. We had a little house. Then we went down to boarding house, and then Mother cooked.
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ERQUIAGA: She cooked at the boarding house, but you didn't live at the boarding house.
CISLINI: No.
ERQUIAGA: Well, did you go to school in Ione?
CISLINI: One year. I learned more in one year than I did in all the years I went to the old country.
ERQUIAGA: Oh. Was it hard to learn to English?
CISLINI: Well, it was kinda little hard, but Mrs. Myles was our first teacher, and she said to us, "Katie," Celly's wife, Katie . .
ERQUIAGA: Katie Barainca?
CISLINI: Yes. "How did you pack the water for your mother this
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morning?" She said, "The basket." (laughing) Pretty soon she said to me, "Julia, what you do?" They called
me Julia. "What'd you do for your mother?" I said, "I sweeped." We learned.
ERQUIAGA: Well, by this time there must have been more children than you and Ted. Were there others?
CISLINI: Oh, yes. There was a lot of Indians. ERQUIAGA: No, I mean in your family. Was Mary born? CISLINI: Mary was born in United States.
ERQUIAGA: After you came, or before?
CISLINI: My two sisters died after I came here to United States. When my other sister died when she was five years old, then she sent for me to come to United States. I have two sisters and Bill.
ERQUIAGA: Your brother, Bill?
CISLINI: And Mary.
ERQUIAGA: They were all born before you came to the United States?
CISLINI: Before I came to United States. Yes.
ERQUIAGA: Oh, I see, and they knew how to speak English?
CISLINI: Yeah.
ERQUIAGA: So you pick it up fast that way.
CISLINI: Yeah. Then I went to the Schmaling ranch, and they
talk all English. I had to learn to speak English.
ERQUIAGA: But, did you speak English at home? Did your mother and father speak English?
CISLINI: Yeah.
ERQUIAGA: So, you just talked English at home.
CISLINI: Yeah. Very much so.
ERQUIAGA: Well, did your mother cook on a wood-burning stove at the boarding house?
CISLINI: Yeah.
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ERQUIAGA: Did you know how to cook?
CISLINI: I didn't know how to cook, but I learn afterwards.
ERQUIAGA: You hadn't learned in Spain, huh?
CISLINI: No, I was spoiled baby back in the old country.
ERQUIAGA: No wonder you liked it there! (laughing)
CISLINI: (laughing)
ERQUIAGA: Now, what kind of clothes did you wear out in Ione? Did girls wear slacks?
CISLINI: No, dresses. We didn't wear slacks.
ERQUIAGA: The girls didn't wear slacks in those days. So was it cold in the winter keeping your legs warm?
CISLINI: Oh, you bet it was cold!
ERQUIAGA: Did you get letters from Spain from your grandparents?
CISLINI: Yeah. I did. After they died, I think I could go back easy after I was married but they were both dead.
ERQUIAGA: Well, you said you met Billy right away after you came to . .
CISLINI: Yeah. He was there. Packing the wood. ERQUIAGA: How old was he at that time?
CISLINI: I don't know how old he was. He was eleven years older than I was.
ERQUIAGA: So he was earning a living carrying the wood. CISLINI: Um-huh.
ERQUIAGA: He was an adult and carrying the wood. Well, then, when did you get married?
CISLINI: When I was twenty-one.
ERQUIAGA: Twenty-one. You want to tell me about your wedding. Did you have a wedding?
CISLINI: Wedding.
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ERQUIAGA: Was it different in those days?
CISLINI: I didn't have no wedding.
ERQUIAGA: Oh, you didn't?
CISLINI: No.
ERQUIAGA: Did you get married in Ione?
CISLINI: No, in Fallon. We were going to get married several times, Billy and I, but break off, break off, break off.
ERQUIAGA: Oh. You weren't quite ready?
CISLINI: Yup. My mother did. Broke off. I was ready. ERQUIAGA: (laughing) You were ready, but she wasn't? CISLINI: Huh-uh.
ERQUIAGA: Well, after you did get married, how did you and Billy earn your living?
CISLINI: He was packing the wood.
ERQUIAGA: He was still carrying the wood, huh?
CISLINI: Uh-huh. That was the best honeymoon I ever had. We lived in a little wood camp with tent here and a fireplace here where you cook, and then one time I didn't much know how to cook. We had toilet made out of piece of wood under the pine tree and, like I said, I cook this ribs, and I burned them, so I didn't know
what to do, so I put them in the toilet. (laughing)
ERQUIAGA: Did you ever tell Billy that you burned .
CISLINI: Yeah. (laughing) We had no secrets.
ERQUIAGA: Well's that good. So, that was your house. Part of it was a tent.
CISLINI: Part of it was tent and part of it was cooking stove, cooking place. It had fireplace, and tent had dirt floor with the wood around it to step on it, you know, to go to bed in there. Where the cook, was dirt. You know, you put the water all on it to make it hard.
ERQUIAGA: Did you ever move to a different place, or did you live there all the time?
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CISLINI: We moved to Ione afterwards.
ERQUIAGA: Oh, this was still in Mercury?
CISLINI: Yeah. This was still in Mercury.
ERQUIAGA: Your first house was in Mercury.
CISLINI: Yeah, and, wait a minute, when I was married, we married in St. Patrick's church in Fallon the ninth of April, and when we got married then we moved to Ione, and we stayed in Ione the rest of our life until we moved to Fallon when Anita was in second grade of high school.
ERQUIAGA: After you moved to Ione, you said you had a nice home in Ione, and you had electricity and refrigerator and all that.
CISLINI: Yeah. Everything.
ERQUIAGA: Did you have a cellar?
CISLINI: Yep. We had a cellar.
ERQUIAGA: Your mother was a midwife, but you didn't learn to do that?
CISLINI: No, I didn't do that.
ERQUIAGA: But, you say you did embalm people?
CISLINI: Yeah.
ERQUIAGA: Well, maybe you'd like to tell me that story again because we didn't get it recorded.
CISLINI: Okay. When the boy came over to the house and said, "Julia, my mother died." And I said, "Your mother died? You want me to come along?" I got ready. I say, "Who else is coming?" He said, "Mrs. Phillips." who was my partner, and when we were up there, of course, naturally, there was a hot stove, and I said, "Get the door down, put a clean sheet down." So we packed her body on this door, and when we moved, she'd go wiggle . . . it was so hot, you know, and she just moved all around, so I said to myself, "I'll go outside, have a shot of whiskey." My uncle gave me a flask of whiskey, so I went out and had a shot of whiskey, and then I went in. Everybody was out yet. I said, "You can come in now." She was all black. Her
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body was black. She was all black, her face and hands. We used saltpeter.
ERQUIAGA: What is saltpeter?
CISLINI: Saltpeter's the one you put in the ham and things to
cure. It's like a really salt to cure things, so we put that in cold water and melt it all up and put all over the face and we bleached it all but one ear. I
couldn't bleach that. I don't why.
ERQUIAGA: Your mixture would bleach it out though?
CISLINI: Yeah. Everything else was bleached. Even the hands was bleached, but only one ear wasn't bleached, and that was it. Then, Mrs. [Ned?' died, and she didn't have no clothes, no nothing, and people said, "Oh, she's full of disease. Why'd you go down there take care of her?" So, my husband's partner said, "Somebody has to go down and take care of her," so I had the little kids, and when I went home I used something to clean my hands, to disinfect me, so I wouldn't take it to the kids, but she wasn't. She was just as pretty as anybody you could find, but people's mouth is pretty big sometimes, and that was it, but she had nothing. She died, and in those days, we didn't have no coffins. We took a piece of old hay house and we made a coffin. We calcimined the whole thing, and then when, she didn't have nothing, I went home and made a little pillow, and we lined the coffin with curtain material because she had a lot of curtain material, so we put a lot of curtain material, and we lined it all up, and we calcimined it blue, I think.
ERQUIAGA: Calcimine is a type of paint. Is that right?
CISLINI: Yeah. Cold water paint, but the inside was all fixed with curtain material, so I went home and got stockings, and she had a dress, but we made the pillow. I combed her hair and then we laid her in the coffin, and we buried her. She was county patient, but we buried her like anybody else.
ERQUIAGA: I want to ask you, did you get paid for doing this work of embalming people?
CISLINI: No.
ERQUIAGA: Not at all?
CISLINI: No, and I furnished everything.
ERQUIAGA: But, there wasn't an undertaker there, though?
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CISLINI: ERQUIAGA: CISLINI:
My husband and Paul got married. After several times up in drag Mr. Lampa down Lampa had a store together before we was married, we have hold-ups Ione. That's the time that they the road.
CISLINI: ERQUIAGA:
No, there was no undertaker.
Well, that was quite a job that you did, anyway. Something that was needed to be done. Now, tell me, you and your husband owned a store in Ione, didn't you?
Yeah.
When did you start running the store?
ERQUIAGA:
CISLINI:
ERQUIAGA: CISLINI: ERQUIAGA: CISLINI: ERQUIAGA:
These people that held up the store were dragging him down the road?
Yeah. I said to Billy and Castor, "They're dragging Lampa away!" and Billy said, "Oh, hell, they wouldn't take him for his good looks." Between times I was kicking all the cans, and I was down the road kicking it up, and them holding him in the brick house over the bridge. They say Lady Bart was the bootlegger, and she went home and got some whiskey, and she bring it to me, and I drink it, oh, maybe two glasses about like this, and it never affected me. I was too scared! That's about all I know.
Did Billy come and help you, or did you rescue Mr. Lampa alone?
After awhile he came along, laughing like everything. (laughing)
And at your store you had a post office, too?
Yeah. We had a post office. We had all kinds of stuff. Men's underwears, all that stuff. Ladies' dresses.
Where did you get your supplies for the store?
Drummer used to come.
Oh. Did you haul groceries from Fallon?
No, from Reno.
Well, at least, you had what you needed that way. Did
ERQUIAGA:
CISLINI:
ERQUIAGA: CISLINI:
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you come into Fallon, or did you stay in Ione all the time?
CISLINI: No, I used to come. I quite often go to Reno with him because we had partner, and we had a lady taking care of the post office.
ERQUIAGA: Oh, I see. Were your children all born in Ione?
CISLINI: No. They were born in Fallon at my mother's house. Dr. Sawyer was the doctor.
ERQUIAGA: But, you were still living in Ione?
CISLINI: Yeah. We went back and forth.
ERQUIAGA: Your mother had moved into Fallon.
CISLINI: Yeah. Mother moved to Fallon seventh of April, [1923] and I got married the ninth of April.
ERQUIAGA: Oh, she was living in Fallon before you were married. Was that why she moved to Fallon, so they could go to high school? The younger kids?
CISLINI: Yeah. Uh-huh.
ERQUIAGA: And all of your children were born at her house,
though, in Fallon with Dr. Sawyer attending. Do you have any memories of the rabies epidemic when they had so many problems in the Austin area? There were a lot of animals bit by rabied animals.
CISLINI: No, I don't.
ERQUIAGA: Maybe it was before your time. How about the flu epidemic? Do you remember that?
CISLINI: No, that was before I came, too.
ERQUIAGA: Before you came. I see. Was there a doctor in Ione?
CISLINI: No doctor in Ione. Had to go to Austin.
ERQUIAGA: And then you just continued to run your store out there? You and Billy?
CISLINI: Um-hum. After Mr. Lampa died we sell it to Joe O'Toole. Then I moved down.
ERQUIAGA: You moved here when Anita was in high school? When she went into high school?
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CISLINI: Yeah.
ERQUIAGA: So that your children could go to high school.
CISLINI: Yeah.
ERQUIAGA: Did you sell your house in Ione?
CISLINI: We sold it to Joe O'Toole.
ERQUIAGA: Sold the house and the store to Joe O'Toole?
CISLINI: Yeah.
ERQUIAGA: I see. Well, how was life different in Fallon from Ione?
CISLINI: Oh, it was pretty lonesome for awhile, but you get used to it because some of the Indians still come along to the house, and he said, "Julia, you'd better come back to Ione." And they bring us a bunch of carnation flowers, and they were so lonesome for Ione. You know, that was the rest of my life in Ione.
ERQUIAGA: But, I guess you've gradually made friends in Fallon. You have lots of friends.
CISLINI: Yeah, I have a lot of friends. Yeah. The hot lunch made a lot of friends.
ERQUIAGA: That's what I was going to ask you now. What did Billy do when you came to Fallon? Did he work any place, or did he farm?
CISLINI: He was janitor.
ERQUIAGA: Oh, he was janitor. At the school?
CISLINI: Yeah. Oats Park. He worked thirteen years in there,
janitor, and I worked twelve in the hot lunch.
ERQUIAGA: How did you happen to decide to go to work at the hot lunch?
CISLINI: (indicates with her fingers that it was money)
ERQUIAGA: Needed a little money, huh?
CISLINI: Yep.
ERQUIAGA: Well, that was good that you got that job. Well, tell
CISLINI: ERQUIAGA: 17
CISLINI: me the names of your children. You have three children, right?
Anita is first, then Dolores, and Basil.
And Anita lives here. You live together, you and Anita and her husband?
Yeah.
ERQUTAGA: Where does Basil live?
CISLINI: ERQUIAGA: CISLINI:
ERQUIAGA:
CISLINI:
ERQUIAGA:
CISLINI: ERQUIAGA: CISLINI: ERQUIAGA: CISLINI:
ERQUIAGA:
CISLINI:
ERQUIAGA:
CISLINI:
ERQUIAGA: In Sparks, and Dolores lives in Sparks, too. Oh. How many grandchildren do you have?
Oh, I have a lot of grandchildren. I have Billy, Nonie, Ted, and five of Dolores's. [14 grandchildren]
Do you have great-grandchildren, also?
Yeah. Three times great. [20 great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild]
Three times great-grandmother. That's pretty good. I believe you lost a couple of your grandchildren in accidents?
Yeah. Eddie. [Steve and Mike]
Eddie was in an automobile accident?
Eddie was such a good boy.
And did one of Basil's children die?
Yeah. One of Basil's children died, too. Car ran over him. [And one other passed away]
Oh, my! After you got used to it, do you like it better in Fallon that you did in Ione?
I can't say that. I like Ione better.
You like Ione awfully well. Those were good years for you evidently.
Those were good years for me, yes. Ione was my first home, and I lived in Ione thirty-six years. That is quite a long time.
Yes, it is.
CISLINI: ERQUIAGA: ERQUIAGA: CISLINI:
ERQUIAGA:
CISLINI: ERQUIAGA: CISLINI:
ERQUIAGA:
Thirty-six years, but it was good years. It was very happy years.
Those are always happy years when you're raising your family and everything.
Well, do you feel you're in pretty good health, now? You're ninety-four. Is that correct?
Ninety-three. I was ninety-three the twenty-third of April, so I'm pretty good for an old lady. I have aches and pains, but who don't have those?
Well, at ninety-three, I imagine everybody does. How old did your mother live to be?
Ninety-eight. So I hope I don't live that long. Oh, really.
My mother never was sick. Never. I enjoyed to work
with people. I loved the people. I always did. I
really love all the people.
Do you have any other little stories you want to tell me?
18
CISLINI: No, that's about all.
ERQUIAGA: Well, it's probably time then that we ended our interview, but I certainly want to thank you for this.
CISLINI: Thank you.
Julia Ascargorta Cislini Page 11,
Index 9
Ascargorta, Bill 1-2
Ascargorta, Felix 1-2, 3, 6,
Ascargorta, Gregoria Barainca 2, 3, 7
Ascargorta, Ted 1
Birth 15, 16-17
Children
Cislini, Bill 7, 10, 14, 16
Gorino, Ed 7
Grandchildren 17
Grandparents 2, 3, 7
Immigration experiences 3-6
Ione experiences 12-15, 17
Marriage 10-11, 12
Mercury experiences 7-12
O'Toole, Joe 15-16
Richards, Mary Ascargorta 9
Schooling 3, 8-9
15
ORAL HISTORY PROJECT
an interview with
Juliana Ascargorta Cislini
June 21, 1994
This interview was conducted by Anita Erquiaga; transcribed by Glenda Price; edited by Norma Morgan; final by Pat Baden; index by Gracie Viera; supervised by Myrl Nygren, Director of Oral History Project, Churchill County Museum.
Preface
Julia said at the beginning of her interview that her grandparents in Spain, who raised her, were wonderful people . . . angels from heaven. Anyone who knows Julia will say that she is a pretty special person too. She doesn't raise her voice in anger and is very patient with everyone, no matter what they might say to her.
She has a great deal of pain from arthritis and appeared to get tired as the interview went on but she didn't complain. The week following the interview she went into the hospital for a few days. She was having trouble with hypertension, which she has had for quite some time.
People who worked with her at the school hot lunch program remember her stories about the things that happened in Ione. They might be disappointed that this interview is not full of those stories but she is older now and in pain. She seemed to be trying to tell a serious story of her life, rather than just telling humorous stories. And she doesn't have the energy now at ninety-three that she had in those days.
She has a large family and a lot of friends who will always have a lot of laughs over the things she told them, and most important they will always say what a nice lady she is . . . just like the "angels from heaven" who raised her in Spain.
Interview with Juliana Ascargorta Cislini
This is Anita Erquiaga of the Churchill County Museum Oral History Program. Today is June 21, 1994, and I am interviewing Julia Ascargorta Cislini at her home 345 Lincoln Street in Fallon, Nevada.
ERQUIAGA: First of all, Julia, I want to thank you for taking the time to do this interview. I'm sure you'll have lots of interesting stories to tell us. Now, first thing I'd like to ask you is will you give me your full name?
CISLINI: Juliana Ascargorta.
ERQUIAGA: That was your maiden name, and then you married Cislini, so your name is Juliana Ascargorta Cislini.
CISLINI: Of course, my neighbors, they change it afterwards to Julia.
ERQUIAGA: Oh, after you came to this country?
CISLINI: Yeah.
ERQUIAGA: They changed it to Julia. And where were you born?
CISLINI: In Spain. I was born in Bedarona.
ERQUIAGA: Bedarona. That in Viscaya?
CISLINI: Yeah.
ERQUIAGA: Spain. And what was the date?
CISLINI: Twenty-third of April, 1901.
ERQUIAGA: Can you tell me the name of your mother and father?
CISLINI: Yes. Gregoria Barainca Ascargorta and Felix Ascargorta.
ERQUIAGA: And were they both born in Spain?
CISLINI: Yes. Same place I was born.
ERQUIAGA: What did they do for a living in Spain?
CISLINI: They farmed. Everyone has a little bit of farms, and, of course, back there you don't have to irrigate. You have a dew.
ERQUIAGA: Oh. Was there a lot of rain?
2
CISLINI: Lot of rain. No snow. I didn't see snow until I come to the United States.
ERQUIAGA: Is that right?
CISLINI: Um-hum.
ERQUIAGA: When did they come to this country?
CISLINI: I don't know.
ERQUIAGA: You don't know what date it was?
CISLINI: Oh, I was twenty-two months old when my mother left me back home. So you could imagine.
ERQUIAGA: You were twenty-two months, so that would mean they probably came here in 1903 then?
CISLINI: Probably.
ERQUIAGA: I see. So, why did they leave you in Spain?
CISLINI: I was a baby so mother didn't want bring me to United States because it was too much trouble.
ERQUIAGA: Well, and they probably didn't know what they were coming to, either.
CISLINI: That's right. My brother, Ted was five years old, and I was twenty-two months old.
ERQUIAGA: And did they leave you with family?
CISLINI: My grandparents. They were wonderful people. They never swear. They never raised their voice or nothing. They were angels.
ERQUIAGA: Was that your mother's parents?
CISLINI: Mother's parents. Um-hum. They were little angels from heaven.
ERQUIAGA: Did they come over with any relatives, or did they come by themselves?
CISLINI: My father was here already.
ERQUIAGA: Oh, oh, okay.
CISLINI: They come to my father.
ERQUIAGA: Your mother and Ted came to join him.
CISLINI: Yeah.
ERQUIAGA: Did you know your grandparents very well when you went to live with them? They weren't strangers, were they?
CISLINI: Oh, no, they were wonderful people.
ERQUIAGA: And you knew them so you weren't afraid to be left with them. Were you the only child there with the grandparents?
CISLINI: Only one. My grandparents had eleven kids of their own, and me, twelve.
ERQUIAGA: You were twelve, but the others were all gone.
CISLINI: All gone excet Uncle Joe. He was drowned after I came to the United States.
ERQUIAGA: What did your grandparents do for a living?
CISLINI: They had a little farm.
ERQUIAGA: Did you go to school in Spain?
CISLINI: Yes.
ERQUIAGA: Oh! But you didn't learn English there, I don't suppose.
CISLINI: No English. Just the plain Basco.
ERQUIAGA: Just plain Basco. No Spanish?
CISLINI: No Spanish.
ERQUIAGA: Oh. So, then, when did your parents send for you to come to this country? How old were you then?
CISLINI: Fourteen.
ERQUIAGA: You were fourteen! You lived there all that time.
CISLINI: Yep.
ERQUIAGA: You didn't come alone, I don't suppose.
CISLINI: No. She wasn't my auntie then, but Firmin's [Bruner]
auntie and a little boy came along with me.
3
4
ERQUIAGA: What do you remember about the trip over on the ship?
CISLINI: (laughing) Oh, that trip! When I left Spain I said to
my grandma, "Mama, I'll be home in six years," but six years never came.
Why did you figure you could come back in six years?
(laughing) I don't know. Just came to my mind. My grandparents came to Bordeaux, France with me. After we got settled down they went home, and we was there until the ocean was cleared because it was during the war, and the people we were staying with there in France, she lost three or four people during the war.
Was that World War I?
Yeah. Of course, after we went to the depot every day to see if the ocean was clear and, the ocean wasn't clear so when we come back we bought some peanuts, and I put some peanut shells to the monkey. Monkey spit at us, and we never came that way anymore.
(laughing) You didn't like having that monkey spit on you?
(laughing) No! So we came across the ocean. We stop in New York quite a bit.
How long did it take on the ship?
Quite a while 'cause we stop in places. The ocean wasn't clear, you know. The ship was blowing a whistle every once in a while. When we came to the ocean, the thing blowed, blowed, blowed, and we kneeled down, and we say our prayers. We were scared. We were scared to drown. After a while, before we left in the ship, we went down to first class, then we went to second class and third class. We came in the second class. Third class it was terrible. Oh-h-h. It was just terrible, and the first class, it was beautiful. It had carnations on the table, and places to hold the cups and plates, and it was just beautiful. And we came second. This lady came with me. Later on she was my auntie, and I sat up all night on the bench because she was sick, and then after awhile a Navy nurse and the doctor came and said I had tonsillitis.
ERQUIAGA: CISLINI:
ERQUIAGA: CISLINI:
ERQUIAGA:
CISLINI:
ERQUIAGA: CISLINI:
ERQUIAGA: Now, this was after you got to Ellis Island?
CISLINI: Yeah, after we got to Ellis Island, and, of course, I
ERQUIAGA: 5
CISLINI: had to go to the hospital because my tonsils was so bad, but anyway when we got to the hospital they gave us pills to take and I don't know what the pills were because back in the old country we never had no pills. No kind of medicine in fact, so I stuck my pills in my shoe. I had seventeen pills in my shoe.
ERQUIAGA: Oh, you didn't want to take them because you had never seen pills before?
No. I was afraid to take them. I drink the water but I didn't take the pills. I stuck them in my shoe. I had seventeen. So after awhile, at four o'clock in the afternoon, a little old man came along, and he bring great big red delicious apples. We eat that. That was fine, so anyway we went back to where I was before, where my folks were, and then they call our name and they were there yet, so, although before that then after awhile they give food to us, and we didn't like it, so we passed it to their third class. There's a lady, oh, she said her prayers and prayers and prayers. She was very religious. When she went to bed, she says, "OH-H-H, son of a bitch!" That was the first English I learned. (laughing)
The first English you learned. (laughing)
CISLINI: So, every time I waited for something "son of a bitch." But anyway when we got to the Salt Lake, and I started to recover at Salt Lake or Ogden, Utah, my auntie came before I did, and she didn't know me, and she said, "Who is the Juliana?" I said, "Behind you." She said, "That's not Juliana. She had red hair when I left eight years ago." So she dolled me all up, beautiful hair combs, white dress with the blue ribbon and the blue ribbon on my hair, and then my hair was all combed through like in the United States. Then when we got to the Battle Mountain, I made a mistake. We were talking about the old country and I said to my mother, "You mean my mama in the old country?" and she raised her voice and she hollered her head off.
ERQUIAGA: I want to go back and ask you something here. How did you come across the country? Was that by train when you left Ellis Island?
CISLINI: Yes.
ERQUIAGA: Now, tell me about the basket they fixed you.
CISLINI: We came by train, and when they fix us a basket with crackers and an orange and a little chocolate and
6
baloney, and there was something else. Did I say apple? Orange and apple. We got the apple and orange out. Crackers, we didn't know what crackers was. So crackers and baloney out. Oh, yeah.
ERQUIAGA: You threw them out the window, huh?
CISLINI: (laughing) Threw them out the window.
ERQUIAGA: You didn't know what crackers were or baloney? CISLINI: No, crackers or the baloney.
ERQUIAGA: Well, you were not going to be taken in by anybody. If you didn't know what it was, you threw it away.
CISLINI: Yeah, we threw them away.
ERQUIAGA: Well, then, you stopped at Battle Mountain? Is that where your train went, and that's where you met your mother?
CISLINI: Yeah. That's where my mother was.
ERQUIAGA: Did you remember her at all? I guess you wouldn't.
CISLINI: No.
ERQUIAGA: But she's the one that got upset when you referred to your mother in Spain?
CISLINI: She was really upset because the only mother I knew was my grandma, because fourteen years with my grandma and they was so sweet and they was so dear. (crying)
ERQUIAGA: You still feel bad about that, don't you? CISLINI: Yep.
ERQUIAGA: So then you got on the train and traveled with your mother from there?
CISLINI: From Battle Mountain to Austin. In Austin we got loaded, and Alec Dyer took us to Ione in the stage, and it was a little old Ford, and he was very wonderful man. Mother came with us from Austin to Ione. Then we went to Mercury. When we left at Mercury, Mama said, "That's your daddy." I said to myself, "Oh, my Daddy is in the old country." "And this is your brother." I was glad to see my brother because the folks talk about Ted.
7
ERQUIAGA: CISLINI: ERQUIAGA: CISLINI:
ERQUIAGA: CISLINI: ERQUIAGA:
CISLINI:
ERQUIAGA:
CISLINI:
ERQUIAGA:
CISLINI:
Oh. Your grandparents?
And my grandma and grandpa talk about Ted.
You knew about him?
He was so bashful. He come out and hided in the corner. Then my uncle, Pio, he said that's your uncle,
Shorty. I didn't know it.
Well, no, you hadn't seen him. You wouldn't know him. No.
Did anybody write to you, like your mother or any of them write letters to you all those years in Spain?
Yes. When I was in Spain. One time Mother sent me a red ribbon with Ed Gorino.
Oh? When he came back to Spain?
When he came back to Spain. He came from the United States to old country, and when he came, and he said he was going to take me back to United States, I hide under the bed. I said, "No, no, you're not going to take me to United States. I'm going to stay with my mother. But he gave me a five-dollar gold piece, I think it was, and a red ribbon. That was Ed Gorino.
Oh, he gave you a five-dollar gold piece and a red ribbon?
Yeah. Uh-huh. When we got to Ione, then Billy's mother, who was cooking for Mother up to Mercury and when she got through cooking, Mother took her job cooking. She was cooking, and they had twenty-two men, and when Billy came, she said, "Come on. I want you to meet somebody." So I went to meet Billy and I shook hands with him this way. After we were married I said to Billy, "How did you fall in love with me?" and he said, "It was the way you shook hands." (laughing)
Oh, the way you shook hands with your hand behind your back?
Yeah. (laughing)
ERQUIAGA: CISLINI:
ERQUIAGA: Well, you met Billy soon after you got to Ione? CISLINI: Yeah. He was there packing the wood for my dad.
ERQUIAGA: CISLINI: ERQUIAGA: CISLINI:
ERQUIAGA: CISLINI: ERQUIAGA: CISLINI: ERQUIAGA: CISLINI: ERQUIAGA: CISLINI: ERQUIAGA:
CISLINI:
Oh, he carried wood. Where was Mercury?
Three miles from Ione.
And that was the mine?
That was the mine. Then my dad was boss there. Quicksilver mine, and during the wartime the quicksilver was very high.
So there were a lot of people worked there, I suppose.
Yes.
And did your mother cook?
For twenty-two men.
That worked at the mine. Was there a boarding house.
Yes.
Did she run the boarding house, too?
Yes. The Company run it. She run it for the Company.
I see. Well, where did they live, and where did you live? Did you have a house?
We lived up in the Mercury, too. We had a little house. Then we went down to boarding house, and then Mother cooked.
8
ERQUIAGA: She cooked at the boarding house, but you didn't live at the boarding house.
CISLINI: No.
ERQUIAGA: Well, did you go to school in Ione?
CISLINI: One year. I learned more in one year than I did in all the years I went to the old country.
ERQUIAGA: Oh. Was it hard to learn to English?
CISLINI: Well, it was kinda little hard, but Mrs. Myles was our first teacher, and she said to us, "Katie," Celly's wife, Katie . .
ERQUIAGA: Katie Barainca?
CISLINI: Yes. "How did you pack the water for your mother this
9
morning?" She said, "The basket." (laughing) Pretty soon she said to me, "Julia, what you do?" They called
me Julia. "What'd you do for your mother?" I said, "I sweeped." We learned.
ERQUIAGA: Well, by this time there must have been more children than you and Ted. Were there others?
CISLINI: Oh, yes. There was a lot of Indians. ERQUIAGA: No, I mean in your family. Was Mary born? CISLINI: Mary was born in United States.
ERQUIAGA: After you came, or before?
CISLINI: My two sisters died after I came here to United States. When my other sister died when she was five years old, then she sent for me to come to United States. I have two sisters and Bill.
ERQUIAGA: Your brother, Bill?
CISLINI: And Mary.
ERQUIAGA: They were all born before you came to the United States?
CISLINI: Before I came to United States. Yes.
ERQUIAGA: Oh, I see, and they knew how to speak English?
CISLINI: Yeah.
ERQUIAGA: So you pick it up fast that way.
CISLINI: Yeah. Then I went to the Schmaling ranch, and they
talk all English. I had to learn to speak English.
ERQUIAGA: But, did you speak English at home? Did your mother and father speak English?
CISLINI: Yeah.
ERQUIAGA: So, you just talked English at home.
CISLINI: Yeah. Very much so.
ERQUIAGA: Well, did your mother cook on a wood-burning stove at the boarding house?
CISLINI: Yeah.
10
ERQUIAGA: Did you know how to cook?
CISLINI: I didn't know how to cook, but I learn afterwards.
ERQUIAGA: You hadn't learned in Spain, huh?
CISLINI: No, I was spoiled baby back in the old country.
ERQUIAGA: No wonder you liked it there! (laughing)
CISLINI: (laughing)
ERQUIAGA: Now, what kind of clothes did you wear out in Ione? Did girls wear slacks?
CISLINI: No, dresses. We didn't wear slacks.
ERQUIAGA: The girls didn't wear slacks in those days. So was it cold in the winter keeping your legs warm?
CISLINI: Oh, you bet it was cold!
ERQUIAGA: Did you get letters from Spain from your grandparents?
CISLINI: Yeah. I did. After they died, I think I could go back easy after I was married but they were both dead.
ERQUIAGA: Well, you said you met Billy right away after you came to . .
CISLINI: Yeah. He was there. Packing the wood. ERQUIAGA: How old was he at that time?
CISLINI: I don't know how old he was. He was eleven years older than I was.
ERQUIAGA: So he was earning a living carrying the wood. CISLINI: Um-huh.
ERQUIAGA: He was an adult and carrying the wood. Well, then, when did you get married?
CISLINI: When I was twenty-one.
ERQUIAGA: Twenty-one. You want to tell me about your wedding. Did you have a wedding?
CISLINI: Wedding.
11
ERQUIAGA: Was it different in those days?
CISLINI: I didn't have no wedding.
ERQUIAGA: Oh, you didn't?
CISLINI: No.
ERQUIAGA: Did you get married in Ione?
CISLINI: No, in Fallon. We were going to get married several times, Billy and I, but break off, break off, break off.
ERQUIAGA: Oh. You weren't quite ready?
CISLINI: Yup. My mother did. Broke off. I was ready. ERQUIAGA: (laughing) You were ready, but she wasn't? CISLINI: Huh-uh.
ERQUIAGA: Well, after you did get married, how did you and Billy earn your living?
CISLINI: He was packing the wood.
ERQUIAGA: He was still carrying the wood, huh?
CISLINI: Uh-huh. That was the best honeymoon I ever had. We lived in a little wood camp with tent here and a fireplace here where you cook, and then one time I didn't much know how to cook. We had toilet made out of piece of wood under the pine tree and, like I said, I cook this ribs, and I burned them, so I didn't know
what to do, so I put them in the toilet. (laughing)
ERQUIAGA: Did you ever tell Billy that you burned .
CISLINI: Yeah. (laughing) We had no secrets.
ERQUIAGA: Well's that good. So, that was your house. Part of it was a tent.
CISLINI: Part of it was tent and part of it was cooking stove, cooking place. It had fireplace, and tent had dirt floor with the wood around it to step on it, you know, to go to bed in there. Where the cook, was dirt. You know, you put the water all on it to make it hard.
ERQUIAGA: Did you ever move to a different place, or did you live there all the time?
12
CISLINI: We moved to Ione afterwards.
ERQUIAGA: Oh, this was still in Mercury?
CISLINI: Yeah. This was still in Mercury.
ERQUIAGA: Your first house was in Mercury.
CISLINI: Yeah, and, wait a minute, when I was married, we married in St. Patrick's church in Fallon the ninth of April, and when we got married then we moved to Ione, and we stayed in Ione the rest of our life until we moved to Fallon when Anita was in second grade of high school.
ERQUIAGA: After you moved to Ione, you said you had a nice home in Ione, and you had electricity and refrigerator and all that.
CISLINI: Yeah. Everything.
ERQUIAGA: Did you have a cellar?
CISLINI: Yep. We had a cellar.
ERQUIAGA: Your mother was a midwife, but you didn't learn to do that?
CISLINI: No, I didn't do that.
ERQUIAGA: But, you say you did embalm people?
CISLINI: Yeah.
ERQUIAGA: Well, maybe you'd like to tell me that story again because we didn't get it recorded.
CISLINI: Okay. When the boy came over to the house and said, "Julia, my mother died." And I said, "Your mother died? You want me to come along?" I got ready. I say, "Who else is coming?" He said, "Mrs. Phillips." who was my partner, and when we were up there, of course, naturally, there was a hot stove, and I said, "Get the door down, put a clean sheet down." So we packed her body on this door, and when we moved, she'd go wiggle . . . it was so hot, you know, and she just moved all around, so I said to myself, "I'll go outside, have a shot of whiskey." My uncle gave me a flask of whiskey, so I went out and had a shot of whiskey, and then I went in. Everybody was out yet. I said, "You can come in now." She was all black. Her
13
body was black. She was all black, her face and hands. We used saltpeter.
ERQUIAGA: What is saltpeter?
CISLINI: Saltpeter's the one you put in the ham and things to
cure. It's like a really salt to cure things, so we put that in cold water and melt it all up and put all over the face and we bleached it all but one ear. I
couldn't bleach that. I don't why.
ERQUIAGA: Your mixture would bleach it out though?
CISLINI: Yeah. Everything else was bleached. Even the hands was bleached, but only one ear wasn't bleached, and that was it. Then, Mrs. [Ned?' died, and she didn't have no clothes, no nothing, and people said, "Oh, she's full of disease. Why'd you go down there take care of her?" So, my husband's partner said, "Somebody has to go down and take care of her," so I had the little kids, and when I went home I used something to clean my hands, to disinfect me, so I wouldn't take it to the kids, but she wasn't. She was just as pretty as anybody you could find, but people's mouth is pretty big sometimes, and that was it, but she had nothing. She died, and in those days, we didn't have no coffins. We took a piece of old hay house and we made a coffin. We calcimined the whole thing, and then when, she didn't have nothing, I went home and made a little pillow, and we lined the coffin with curtain material because she had a lot of curtain material, so we put a lot of curtain material, and we lined it all up, and we calcimined it blue, I think.
ERQUIAGA: Calcimine is a type of paint. Is that right?
CISLINI: Yeah. Cold water paint, but the inside was all fixed with curtain material, so I went home and got stockings, and she had a dress, but we made the pillow. I combed her hair and then we laid her in the coffin, and we buried her. She was county patient, but we buried her like anybody else.
ERQUIAGA: I want to ask you, did you get paid for doing this work of embalming people?
CISLINI: No.
ERQUIAGA: Not at all?
CISLINI: No, and I furnished everything.
ERQUIAGA: But, there wasn't an undertaker there, though?
14
CISLINI: ERQUIAGA: CISLINI:
My husband and Paul got married. After several times up in drag Mr. Lampa down Lampa had a store together before we was married, we have hold-ups Ione. That's the time that they the road.
CISLINI: ERQUIAGA:
No, there was no undertaker.
Well, that was quite a job that you did, anyway. Something that was needed to be done. Now, tell me, you and your husband owned a store in Ione, didn't you?
Yeah.
When did you start running the store?
ERQUIAGA:
CISLINI:
ERQUIAGA: CISLINI: ERQUIAGA: CISLINI: ERQUIAGA:
These people that held up the store were dragging him down the road?
Yeah. I said to Billy and Castor, "They're dragging Lampa away!" and Billy said, "Oh, hell, they wouldn't take him for his good looks." Between times I was kicking all the cans, and I was down the road kicking it up, and them holding him in the brick house over the bridge. They say Lady Bart was the bootlegger, and she went home and got some whiskey, and she bring it to me, and I drink it, oh, maybe two glasses about like this, and it never affected me. I was too scared! That's about all I know.
Did Billy come and help you, or did you rescue Mr. Lampa alone?
After awhile he came along, laughing like everything. (laughing)
And at your store you had a post office, too?
Yeah. We had a post office. We had all kinds of stuff. Men's underwears, all that stuff. Ladies' dresses.
Where did you get your supplies for the store?
Drummer used to come.
Oh. Did you haul groceries from Fallon?
No, from Reno.
Well, at least, you had what you needed that way. Did
ERQUIAGA:
CISLINI:
ERQUIAGA: CISLINI:
15
you come into Fallon, or did you stay in Ione all the time?
CISLINI: No, I used to come. I quite often go to Reno with him because we had partner, and we had a lady taking care of the post office.
ERQUIAGA: Oh, I see. Were your children all born in Ione?
CISLINI: No. They were born in Fallon at my mother's house. Dr. Sawyer was the doctor.
ERQUIAGA: But, you were still living in Ione?
CISLINI: Yeah. We went back and forth.
ERQUIAGA: Your mother had moved into Fallon.
CISLINI: Yeah. Mother moved to Fallon seventh of April, [1923] and I got married the ninth of April.
ERQUIAGA: Oh, she was living in Fallon before you were married. Was that why she moved to Fallon, so they could go to high school? The younger kids?
CISLINI: Yeah. Uh-huh.
ERQUIAGA: And all of your children were born at her house,
though, in Fallon with Dr. Sawyer attending. Do you have any memories of the rabies epidemic when they had so many problems in the Austin area? There were a lot of animals bit by rabied animals.
CISLINI: No, I don't.
ERQUIAGA: Maybe it was before your time. How about the flu epidemic? Do you remember that?
CISLINI: No, that was before I came, too.
ERQUIAGA: Before you came. I see. Was there a doctor in Ione?
CISLINI: No doctor in Ione. Had to go to Austin.
ERQUIAGA: And then you just continued to run your store out there? You and Billy?
CISLINI: Um-hum. After Mr. Lampa died we sell it to Joe O'Toole. Then I moved down.
ERQUIAGA: You moved here when Anita was in high school? When she went into high school?
16
CISLINI: Yeah.
ERQUIAGA: So that your children could go to high school.
CISLINI: Yeah.
ERQUIAGA: Did you sell your house in Ione?
CISLINI: We sold it to Joe O'Toole.
ERQUIAGA: Sold the house and the store to Joe O'Toole?
CISLINI: Yeah.
ERQUIAGA: I see. Well, how was life different in Fallon from Ione?
CISLINI: Oh, it was pretty lonesome for awhile, but you get used to it because some of the Indians still come along to the house, and he said, "Julia, you'd better come back to Ione." And they bring us a bunch of carnation flowers, and they were so lonesome for Ione. You know, that was the rest of my life in Ione.
ERQUIAGA: But, I guess you've gradually made friends in Fallon. You have lots of friends.
CISLINI: Yeah, I have a lot of friends. Yeah. The hot lunch made a lot of friends.
ERQUIAGA: That's what I was going to ask you now. What did Billy do when you came to Fallon? Did he work any place, or did he farm?
CISLINI: He was janitor.
ERQUIAGA: Oh, he was janitor. At the school?
CISLINI: Yeah. Oats Park. He worked thirteen years in there,
janitor, and I worked twelve in the hot lunch.
ERQUIAGA: How did you happen to decide to go to work at the hot lunch?
CISLINI: (indicates with her fingers that it was money)
ERQUIAGA: Needed a little money, huh?
CISLINI: Yep.
ERQUIAGA: Well, that was good that you got that job. Well, tell
CISLINI: ERQUIAGA: 17
CISLINI: me the names of your children. You have three children, right?
Anita is first, then Dolores, and Basil.
And Anita lives here. You live together, you and Anita and her husband?
Yeah.
ERQUTAGA: Where does Basil live?
CISLINI: ERQUIAGA: CISLINI:
ERQUIAGA:
CISLINI:
ERQUIAGA:
CISLINI: ERQUIAGA: CISLINI: ERQUIAGA: CISLINI:
ERQUIAGA:
CISLINI:
ERQUIAGA:
CISLINI:
ERQUIAGA: In Sparks, and Dolores lives in Sparks, too. Oh. How many grandchildren do you have?
Oh, I have a lot of grandchildren. I have Billy, Nonie, Ted, and five of Dolores's. [14 grandchildren]
Do you have great-grandchildren, also?
Yeah. Three times great. [20 great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild]
Three times great-grandmother. That's pretty good. I believe you lost a couple of your grandchildren in accidents?
Yeah. Eddie. [Steve and Mike]
Eddie was in an automobile accident?
Eddie was such a good boy.
And did one of Basil's children die?
Yeah. One of Basil's children died, too. Car ran over him. [And one other passed away]
Oh, my! After you got used to it, do you like it better in Fallon that you did in Ione?
I can't say that. I like Ione better.
You like Ione awfully well. Those were good years for you evidently.
Those were good years for me, yes. Ione was my first home, and I lived in Ione thirty-six years. That is quite a long time.
Yes, it is.
CISLINI: ERQUIAGA: ERQUIAGA: CISLINI:
ERQUIAGA:
CISLINI: ERQUIAGA: CISLINI:
ERQUIAGA:
Thirty-six years, but it was good years. It was very happy years.
Those are always happy years when you're raising your family and everything.
Well, do you feel you're in pretty good health, now? You're ninety-four. Is that correct?
Ninety-three. I was ninety-three the twenty-third of April, so I'm pretty good for an old lady. I have aches and pains, but who don't have those?
Well, at ninety-three, I imagine everybody does. How old did your mother live to be?
Ninety-eight. So I hope I don't live that long. Oh, really.
My mother never was sick. Never. I enjoyed to work
with people. I loved the people. I always did. I
really love all the people.
Do you have any other little stories you want to tell me?
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CISLINI: No, that's about all.
ERQUIAGA: Well, it's probably time then that we ended our interview, but I certainly want to thank you for this.
CISLINI: Thank you.
Julia Ascargorta Cislini Page 11,
Index 9
Ascargorta, Bill 1-2
Ascargorta, Felix 1-2, 3, 6,
Ascargorta, Gregoria Barainca 2, 3, 7
Ascargorta, Ted 1
Birth 15, 16-17
Children
Cislini, Bill 7, 10, 14, 16
Gorino, Ed 7
Grandchildren 17
Grandparents 2, 3, 7
Immigration experiences 3-6
Ione experiences 12-15, 17
Marriage 10-11, 12
Mercury experiences 7-12
O'Toole, Joe 15-16
Richards, Mary Ascargorta 9
Schooling 3, 8-9
15
Interviewer
Anita Erquiafa
Interviewee
Juliana Ascargorta Cislini
Location
345 Lincoln Street Fallon, NV 89406
Files
Collection
Citation
Churchill County Museum Association, “Juliana Ascargorta Cislini Oral History,” Churchill County Museum Digital Archive: Fallon, Nevada, accessed May 17, 2024, https://ccmuseum.omeka.net/items/show/181.
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