"I lived in Morenci most of my life. I bought a house in Tucson and brought my family here to stay. I worked in Morenci and I came when I had days off. I liked it [Morenci]. We knew almost everybody. If one needed something there was someone else to help. We were very united, the workers. There was a Navarette that died working. He and his wife were getting ready to go to the Hawaiian Islands and I think he was working on a cooler. He was electrocuted. He was very smart. All of the Mexicans that I knew at work were very intelligent. There were some very talented machinists that came out of there.

Yes, [I remember when there were Chinese in Morenci]. The American Kitchen was in Clifton. There I met a dancer, Flora Wong. When I got off work, there was a dance there at the Y. They [my friends] would say to me, “There goes la chinita.” There was that one and there was a Chinese man that worked at the store. I think he was a custodian. They killed him. Poor man, he had not done anyone any harm. There were some [men] who were very bad. I think they knew who killed him. They were very bad. Nelo Martinez was Virgie’s father, wife of el Pelon. He and the other one, Tito Inelo were very bad. One time they threw a knife at me. El Chicanito. When there was a fiesta in the plaza I used to sell apples or tamales to the Americanos. Those darn ones [Nelo, Tito, and el Chicanito] used to take the apples away from me. El Chicanito was named Jose Garcia. He was kind of a prizefighter. They were cowardly. They were marijuanos. I am not sure if it was them, but I think it was them that killed the Chinese man. Every morning, the old man used to pass by the General Office Building, very peacefully. I was afraid to enter there where the Chinese lived. I heard unbelievable things. One time someone found a part of a finger there.

Yes of course, [I heard about la Pelona], Jose Garcia? What an end that darn man had. That was another Jose Garcia. La Pelona’s mother moved to Florence to be near him and when he got out, he left to California. Who knows how he ended up? Because of him, the Maeses got a bad name. They were playing penny-anty were they used to get together by the church. Beto Andazola helped him. La Pelona was a bad person because of what he did. The girl’s brother, Watson, told me what he [la Pelona] had done. Natcha saw her at the hospital and she was injured. Quico Alvidrez went out with a gun. They would have lynched him [la Pelona] if they had caught him. He [la Pelona] involved many innocent men. I do not know how many [they took to prison]. Arturo and Lencho Maese; they took them to jail. They were not guilty of anything. Andazola, I do not know if he helped him [la Pelona]. I found out that Lencho ran for councilman but I thought he did not get it because the Americanos put him in the wrong because of what happened in Morenci.

One time Calsadiaz, the brother of Lencho’s wife (laughs) came from Los Angeles showing off a new car. (Laughs.) You know how we la raza are. They teased him and there in front of El Imperio he turned around and he returned to Los Angeles! (Laughs.) I remember him because one time I was at the post office and he called me over to be a witness with the one who worked there. I did not know him. He wanted me to give my word that I knew him. “No,” I said to him. “I cannot do that, I do not know you.” He was very good. He was in the CCC with us.
It makes one very sad [that Morenci was torn down]. Nacha was one of those [who had to move]. Everything is very different.

I think it depends very much on the parents of one. During that time I was fine [living in Morenci as a youth] except for the absence of my parents. I am a happy person. There are things that I would have done differently but I am content. I hear, “Behave yourself! I do not want to hear any bad reports about you.” Yes, [that is how I’ve lived my life]. I have always aspired to study. I have read much but now I cannot. I have that radio and it serves me well. It gives one a lot of information.

It is very sad to me, that of the war because now there are programs of what happened. It is very sad to me and what is still happening. I have grandchildren. My granddaughter has three children. She has Desiree, Neto, and Victoria. My grandsons are David and Leo. "