"I went to school and was there until sixth grade. I left sixth grade because in my family we were nine. With my parents, we were eleven. There came a very bad time at that time and the price of copper after the war in 1917 was low. Because Morenci is a mine that produces copper, and the copper would go up in price and sometimes down, it devalued. Because at that time there was not a great demand for copper, they were working only three days per week. Sometimes they worked four days. So a family like ours, we were nine and my mother and father eleven, they got me out of school when I turned sixteen years old. That is the law in the state of Arizona. One has to go obligatory to school until the age of sixteen. After sixteen, they cannot obligate you.

My father bought a burro and I went to get wood to sell. At that time, there was not any gas. Well, there was nothing modern. All the people used wood in their house to cook and for everything. I went and brought wood and I sold a burro load for $1.25 to help us. From there I also had to support the burros. For three years that is what I did. When one handles burros, one should be smarter than the burros. (Smiles)"