TRANSCRIPTION
Uncle Pete, you were born in 1930 in Missouri City, Texas, where is that exactly?
It is located just outside of Houston, and close to Sugarland Texas.
Having been born in the 30's, can you tell me if you remember if times were hard for you and your family during that time?
No, things were not too bad. Daddy always provided good for us. We always had food to eat. Daddy worked very hard and was also always on good terms with the Ranch owner. Daddy was a good hard working man.
How many brothers and sisters do you have?Well, I have one brother who is younger than me, and then there are, let me see, Lupe, Tila, Pauline and Ninfa, four sisters
Are you the oldest of all your siblings?
No, it is Lupe, Tila, then me, Pauline, Frutoso and then Ninfa
How old were you when you first started working in the fields? And where was that at?
I was about 10 or 11 yrs old and it was in San Marcos, Texas
What were you picking?
We were picking cotton at the time.
Where did you go to school and to what grade did you complete?
Well I went to Centerpoint School in Centerpoint, Texas and I only went to the 4th grade.
Where is Centerpoint, Texas?
It is right by San Marcos, it is behind the outlet mall.
Was it a school with lots of rooms or was it a one room classroom?
No it was just one big room, and there were about 20 or more of us kids in the class. We were of all different ages.
Do you remember the name of your teacher?
No, I can't remember her name, but she was a pretty little thing.
How did you and your siblings get to school and how far was it from your home?
Well, it was about 3 miles from our house one way, and we would walk to school. Me and my two older sisters and some friends would all walk together. There were about ten of us Mexican kids that would all go together. Sometimes me and the boys would take off running and leave the girls behind.
What about lunchtime, did you go back home to eat? And what did your lunch consist of?
Oh no! It was too far to walk back home to eat, momma had a Tio (uncle) who lived right by the school. We would take our tacos that momma had made for us over to our Tio Basilio's house and warm up our tacos and eat them there while visiting with our Tio Basilio./B>
What chores did you have to do on a daily basis, if any?
I use to help daddy plow, and I would water the garden with a bucket. And when the time came to pick the vegetables, I would take them to town to Pauline's, to sell. Pauline is the daughter of Mr. Washington.
Tio Pete, where and who taught you how to ride and train horses? I heard stories that Great Grandpa Frutoso was also good with horses, is that true? Do you think that maybe you got it from him?
Mr, Washington helped me to learn how to ride when I was living in San Marcos as a young boy. Mr. Washington was a real good rider, he never got thrown off of a bad horse. Yes Grandpa Frutoso was also a very good rider, he knew a lot about horses.
As a little girl growing up and coming from Ohio to visit you and the family, I remember always seeing you on a horse. When did you get your first horse and what did you name it? Do you remember what color it was?
Well, I was about 13 years old and it was 1943 in Kennedy Texas. I bought my first horse for $35. I had worked hard and saved up my money, for when I would get me a horse. I had heard from some cousins that my Tio Guerrero was selling a horse, so I hitched up the trailer to the truck and I drove to Kennedy Texas. I told my Tio that I came to buy the horse and I did. I didn't name her, she already had a name, it was "Phyllis", and she sure was pretty! She was a dancing horse, the kind that they use in the parades. And I use to ride her in the "Deis Seis de Septembre Fiesta Parade in San Marcos. I remember that your momma, my sister Tila was the Queen of the Deis Seis de Septembre Fiesta. I kept "Phyllis" for about six years, and then I sold her to a preacher
Where did you get the money to buy your horse?
Well, I worked with Mr. Cliett; he owned the cotton ranch that daddy and I worked on there in San Marcos, Texas. And that was in 1940 or 1941 when I started working for Mr. Cliett. He was a very nice man.
Tio Pete you mentioned that you and your daddy, my Grandpa worked for Mr. Cliett, do you remember how much pay Grandpa was receiving at the time?
Daddy was making about fifty cents a day, and then when he made 2nd foreman he made more money.
Do you recall the house you lived in as a child growing up on the Cliett Farm? Did it have indoor or outdoor plumbing? Did you have a fridge or an icebox then?
It was a new house that Mr. Cliett had built, it had two bedrooms and a kitchen. It was real nice, and momma always kept it clean, because daddy didn't like a dirty house. We had an icebox and we would go into town every 3 or 4 days to get a block of ice to put in the freezer, so our food wouldn't go bad. Momma would break off pieces of ice and put them in a cup and let the ice melt and then we would have some cold water to drink. No, we did not have an indoor bathroom; just to take a shower we had a little room. But when you had to use the restroom, you had to go outside to the outhouse. I remember when the outhouse would get full, we would dig another hole about four feet deep and then just move the outhouse over the new hole, and then fill in the old hole.
So how did Grandpa manage to feed such a large family o fifty cents a day?
Oh your Grandpa Enrique was a real smart man and friendly with all people. He knew how to save his money and knew how to spend it. He always had food and drinks for us kids and of course his beer to drink. Daddy always would get chickens, hogs, and turkey from old man Cliett. Mr. Cliett would kill a hog and give some to daddy. I use to help take care of the hogs and the cows on Mr. Cliett's ranch.
What did you and your family like to do for relax time and entertainment?
Well we would work on Saturdays until noon, and then we would go home and get cleaned up and smelling pretty and then to into town. Daddy drove a Model A then, after town we would then go and visit friends and family in Martindale, Texas.
How did you come to live in Floydada, Texas?
Well, I left my home in San Marcos, Texas in 1956, and I was heading for California. I ran out of gas and I had just a little bit of money in my pocket, so I had to find myself some work to earn some money for gas.
Why were you going to California, any special reason? And did you ever make it to California?
Well, I wanted to go to California and see what was there; I was going to try and find myself a job. But, no I never did make it to California
Tio Pete when did Grandma and Grandpa Salazar join you in Floydada?
It was in 1957 when I went back to San Marcos to get married to Celia Delgado, and I told momma and daddy that I was going to take them back home with me, and I did!
Ok, now you're living in Floydada, so who are you working for now?
Your Grandpa Enrique and I both work for L.D, he had a big ranch and we helped him around the ranch with the animals and working in the fields.
What do the initials L.D. stand for?
His real name was Love Divine, but they called him L.D.
Who was the man you worked for when you were growing the pumpkins?
Oh that was Mr. Robertson he had a lot of land and he would plant pumpkins and we would grow them and then pick them and take them to Dallas to sell. We would grow all kinds of pumpkins from little baby ones to the "Big Mac". Now that Big Mac would grow to be about 133- to 135 lbs. And I have been doing that all of my life, I like to plant some seeds over on my ranchito (small ranch). I like to go there and be by myself and drink my beer, feed my goats and chickens. No one bothers me there. I still go out there every day.
Tio Pete is it true that Great Grandpa Frutuso was a bootlegger?
Oh no! You see this is what happened "First of all it was because of Grandpa Frutuso that daddy and me got the job working for Mr. Cliett, because Grandpa Frutuso worked for Mr. Cliett. Now you have to understand that San Marcos was a dry county (no alcohol sold allowed in the county). Well Grandpa Frutuso had brought back a bottle of whiskey from Mexico and he got caught with it and he was sent to prison, for that one bottle. He was tortured in prison; they had him standing up and had water dripping down on him. It was Mr. Cliett that got Grandpa Frutuso out of prison. And since Grandpa Frutuso was good with working with horses and mules, and breaking them, Mr. Cliett gave him a job on his ranch again. But he didn't last too long, he (Frutuso) left Great Grandma Luisa and the family and was gone. We didn't see him again for a long time. Not until your momma Tila, wrote him a letter telling him that my sister Pauline was going to get married. Well Grandpa Frutuso came home for the wedding, but early the next morning he was gone before anyone else woke up and we didn't see him anymore.. All I know is that he was living up in Fort Worth Texas with another woman and a son. But when he got real sick and was dying from cirrhosis of the liver, then that there woman he was living with sent him to Houston to go and live and die there with his son Raymundo Salazar. And that is where he died at in Houston Texas. But I didn't go to the funeral. I don't know why he ever left Grandma Luisa, he just up and left the family and daddy had to take care of everyone, because he was the oldest.
Tell me some stories that you remember, did you ever experience any racism?
Well it was in Littlefield Texas, about in the 1940's sometime. It was during the wartime. Me and two other Mexican fellows walked into a café and sat down, now we waited and waited to be served but no one ever came to our table. So when the waitress finally came to our table, she told me that she could serve me but couldn't serve the two Mexican guys. (You seen Tio Pete is very light skinned Mexican, with light colored hair also, he could pass for a white man). Since they didn't serve the two darker skinned Mexicans, they all got up and left the café. Then a few weeks later, one of the dark skinned Mexicans came back into the café, wearing his war uniform and sat down and waited to be served. When the waitress came to his table to serve him, he reminded her of the incident when she told him that he couldn't be served. And he pointed out to her that there were no signs posted saying that Mexicans were not allowed. So the dark skinned Mexican in his war uniform got mad and tore up the place and he walked out.
Can you tell me about a spooky story that you hear about all of the time?
Well there is this one story they talk about around here all of the time, It was when this fellow was riding a motorcycle and he was going back to Floydada, you see he was coming from Lubbock. And he was driving through the canyon, now this fellow was drinking and when he was driving he had said that he had seen a lady in a white dress and she was walking along the road in the canyon. Well he kept driving and when he looked in his mirror, the man had seen the lady with the white dress on sitting right behind him. And boy did he get scared! When he looked again she was gone. No one ever had heard of a lady in white dress getting killed around there, but several people had seen the lady themselves. And then one day an old man went and took a cross and placed it on the hill in the canyon for the lady in white.
Tio Pete, is there anything else you would like to tell me about your life growing up in Texas?
Well I just want to say that Mr. Oran Cliett was a really good man to work for, and I really liked him a lot. You know that his daddy was killed while he was riding a white horse, and he was hit by lightening. And then he only had one son, his name was Taylor; well he died too, in a car accident. I guess it was then that he took a liking to me and treated me like I was his son. I guess I reminded him of his son Taylor; anywhere Mr. Cliett was I was right next to him. That is how I got my driver's license at the age of twelve years old. Mr. Cliett took me to town and told them that he needed to get me a license, because he( Mr. Cliett) couldn't drive because he had asthma, and that he was being seen by his nephew a Doctor in Seguin and that Pete was going to be his driver. Mr. Cliett had me spoiled and I sure did like it. Because I could do what I wanted to do and not get in trouble, as long as my momma didn't find out. I use to go out into the fields and drive the tractor, I loved to do that. And when Mr. Cliett wanted to go into town or to the bars, he would have me drive him. I remember one time I was driving him in the '42 Chevy, and we had gone to the "Be Back In Bar" in San Marcos. And Mr. Cliett ordered three beers; well he got one for himself, one for Mr. Washington and one for me. And no one told him anything about it.
Oh and I remember one time, you see Mr. Cliett didn't like niggers. And he had only one nigger working for him. Now I don't know why but Mr. Cliett killed him and he never went to jail over it. But I don't know what happened there. And one time I remember also is when (Pete is already laughing) me and another Mexican man were working hoeing in the fields; we were close to the road by Seguin. And we saw this nigger man walking real slowly, well the Mexican man told me "Pete say hello nigger" to the man walking. So when the nigger man got closer I told him "hello nigger" and me and the Mexican man were laughing. And the nigger man just got mad and was making faces and talking real low, I couldn't hear what he was saying. Well my momma found out about what I had said and done, and she got real mad with me and she gave me a real good whipping. Mr Cliett found out what had happened, and that my momma had whipped me, Mr. Cliett got real mad that my momma had given me a good whipping, and he told the Mexican man that I was working with not to ever let Juanita Salazar find out whatever I did. And then Mr. Cliett told me(Pete) that the next time I see a nigger walking down the road, you tell that nigger "hello nigger you son of a bitch!".
(By this time my Tio Pete and I are laughing so hard! Not that I condone the use of the "n" word but you have to hear the way that my Tio Pete talks and tells his stories. Not everyone can be a story teller, but my Tio Pete can!)
