By Rodrigo Torrellio, Humanities Major, Class of 2025

                                                                        Una Mejor Vida?

   Pablo Duenez, a young Mexicano, ventured to El Paso, Texas, in 1925 at the age of 24, leaving Mexico behind in pursuit of better wages and opportunities.

Pablo came alone, but later Maria Marquez, possibly in a relationship with him back in Mexico, joined him two years later, and they married in 1927 in El Paso, Texas. However, their time in Texas was short-lived, as records indicate that by the 1930s, the couple had moved to Lane County in Oregon where Pablo found employment as a laborer for the prominent Southern Pacific Railroad.

   Although I am focusing on Pablo Duenez’s Journey, it is important to acknowledge that he was part of a larger migration movement that intended to benefit both the United States economy and the Mexican working class, particularly in two major fields: the agricultural industry and the expansion of the railroad. This demand for labor presented an opportunity for young and ambitious Mexicans to strive for a better life. However, the reality was far from ideal. While the results of their labor could earn them six times more than in Mexico. Higher wages also came with increased living expenses and deplorable living conditions. Rigorous work and discrimination were all part of the hidden side of the promise for a better life.

Texas segregation

   The image of a better life in the United States was quickly shattered by the reception Mexicans faced at the Texas border, where, in the early 1920s, crossing became an increasingly humiliating experience for Mexicans, marking a foundational moment in their racialization as a distinct and undesirable group. For example, In El Paso, border health inspectors put Mexicans through degrading inspections. They forced them to undress, checked their hair for lice, and sprayed them with a solution of soap, kerosene, and water, all due to a misguided belief that Mexicans were more likely to carry diseases.

   When Pablo settled in Texas, he encountered the harsh realities and dynamics of the time. Physical segregation between Mexican and Anglo towns clearly showed a stark social hierarchy. American neighborhoods had paved streets and wooden-framed houses, while Mexican towns consisted of corrugated tin shacks and dirty roads. Social etiquette compounded the discomfort of Mexicans, who had to maintain a deferential posture and respectful tone when interacting with Anglos. Mexican women could only shop on Saturdays when Anglos weren’t shopping. Simple activities like going to a café were off-limits for Pablo and Maria; they could only use take-out services. Additionally, Mexicans were only allowed in Anglo areas until sunset.

 Lane County Oregon

   Although I can assure that Pablo, like many other Mexican workers, worked relentlessly, life in Texas probably did not improve significantly, which may explain why, by the 1930s, Pablo and Maria immigrated to Oregon, as I was able to see in the 1930s Census of Lane County, in hopes of a better life. However, I can deduce with the evidence I found that Pablo and Maria were not so fortunate. Resentment towards Mexicans was increasing in Oregon; the state even asked Congress to limit Mexican immigration. Employers, however, disagreed, arguing that Mexicans were not a threat and would not seek relationships with white women. They compared Mexicans to homing pigeons, expecting them to eventually return home, and felt reassured that, if necessary, Mexicans could be deported if they chose to stay permanently. Furthermore, Pablo had the lowest laborer position at the railroad company even five years after his arrival in the United States. This can be explained by a common phenomenon described by writer David Montejano; although skilled laborers in Mexico, many Mexicans were forced into low-skilled labor positions in the United States due to their limited English proficiency.

 

   The Great Depression also contributed to the hatred towards Mexicans, as white Americans blamed Mexicans for taking working-class jobs. Additionally, Mexicans were often categorized as inferior, unclean, indolent, with inclinations towards vice and crime, and incapable of meeting ‘American standards.’ It is estimated that between 400,000 to 1 million Mexicans were deported in the following years, using various modes of transportation such as buses, trucks, cars, and ships, in what was called the ‘caravan of sorrow,’ reducing the Mexican population in the US by 41%.

   There is no evidence of Pablo and Maria Duenez in the United States after 1930—no records of their deaths or any other documentation. This suggests that the couple left the U.S. The most probable situation is that they left the US voluntarily, something that correlates with what we have seen as

Mexcians immigrants as “Birds of Passage” as well as considering the lesser impact of mass deportation in Oregon compared to other regions.

An unlikely scenario could be that Pablo and Maria were deported during the period of mass deportation that reduced the Mexican population in the US by 41 percent. However, given the context, voluntary departure seems more plausible.

There is so much to unravel in the 1930 census of Lane County, and there are several comparisons we can make that are relevant to the life of Pablo. Out of the 144 Mexicans and Mexican Americans in this census, Pablo Duenez is one of the 37 married members of this particular group in Lane County, forming a minority compared to the majority of single individuals. However, he belongs to the majority group of laborers, along with 99 other members of this census, most of whom work for Southern Pacific Railroad Company. The median immigration year is 1925, coinciding with the year Pablo Duenez immigrated or crossed the border. The average age of people in this census is 33.1, making him slightly younger, with a median age of 32, Therefore, based on this information, I can deduce that in terms of work, he is a fairly typical Mexican in Oregon in the 1930s.

   However, in terms of personal life, I would say he is privileged as he has someone to endure the difficulties of that period, especially racial discrimination. But this fact also made him less mobile in terms of constantly migrating. However, as he does not have children, this makes this mobility issue more debatable. Pablo Duenes, when contrasted with others, was a person with a few advantages over his fellow workers at the company. This could be a reason why he does not appear in any criminal records, but also a few disadvantages, such as having a wife, which may have made him a target as someone likely to settle, increasing the mistreatment and resentment as Mexicans who wanted to settle were seen as a threat by the white Americans with exception of their employers that benefited from the work of Mexicanos.

   When I think of the value of this story, the first thing that comes to my mind is the contrast between the humanity of the actions of the Duenez’s and the inhumanity of how everything worked. It is very human to desire a better future, which is why Pablo went to the U.S. It is even more human to decide to follow your partner on an adventure far from your native country. It is human to decide to leave a place when you are constantly mistreated and treated as inferior, and it is completely human to return home like birds of passage. What is not human are the humiliating inspections at the border, the fact that Mexicans couldn’t even sit at a coffee shop in Texas, and that on weekends, after a long week of work, they had to leave the nice parts of town by sunset before night started. They were underpaid, considered inferior and dumb, and they were lied to because even if wages were six times higher, housing was higher in comparison as well. It is inhuman that they were blamed for the Great Depression. It is this contrast, this ingratitude, and how the Mexican workers were so disposable. People know that the U.S. has a questionable past, but it is by telling these stories that we will know better.

 References

• Aultman, Otis A. “[Mexican Railroad Workers].” The Portal to Texas History, December 6, 2009.

 

• “1930 Census.” Ancestry Library. Year: 1930; Census Place: Oakridge, Lane, Oregon; Page: 6A; Enumeration District: 0094; FHL microfilm: 2341680.

 

• Gonzales-Berry, Erlinda. Mexicanos in Oregon: Their Stories, Their Lives. Corvallis: Oregon State University Press, 2010.

 

• “Marriage Index.” Ancestry Library and U.S. Newspapers.com. El Paso Herald, Publication Date: November 10, 1927; Publication Place: El Paso, Texas, USA.

 

• Montejano, David. Anglos and Mexicans in the Making of Texas, 1836-1986. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1987.

 

• “Permanent and Statistical Manifests of Alien Arrivals at El Paso, Texas.” NAI: 4644598. Record Group Title: Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, 1787-2004. Record Group Number: 85. Microfilm Roll Number: 07.

 

• “Street Railroad Workers Laying Concrete Slabs at 21st Ave. and Jackson St., Central District of Seattle, February 14, 1934.” digitalcollections.lib.washington.edu. Accessed May, 2024.

 

• Weise, Julie M. Corazon de Dixie: Mexicanos in the U.S. since 1910. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2015.