Summary:
Louis Armanino was born in Italy in 1881. He came to the U.S. at the turn of the century and settled in Lafayette in 1916. In this interview, which was conducted in 1980 when he was 99 years old, Mr. Armanino describes his dairy farm consisting of 50 cows which was located near the present day Lafayette Reservoir. He also describes working as a laborer helping to install water and power lines that would make possible the later population growth of Central Contra Costa County.
Oral History:
AB: When did your family come to this area, Mr. Armanino?
LA: When we came to this country in 1895, we first went to live in Stockton where I had an uncle. I was 13 ½ years old when I arrived in this country from Genoa, Italy. At first I worked for my room and board—no money. When I asked about citizenship papers, I was told, “You don’t need citizenship papers because you are underage.”
From Stockton I came down to Oakland to get a job, and I found that there were not many jobs for young people. Do you know Piedmont Avenue? That’s where I got my first job. It was pick and shovel and sledgehammer. The pay was 25 cents and hour at that time. They were starting to put in the first streetcar tracks down there by Lake Merritt. There were two roads… and I worked on one on Howe Street by St. Mary’s Cemetery.
The whole family moved to Oakland—my father, mother, five brothers and three sisters.
I went to look for a job, and they would tell me, “Come tomorrow, come tomorrow”. There were 500 men working on putting in the streetcar tracks in Oakland. Finally, one day comes some luck! The foreman said to the timekeeper, “I need two men.” There was me and this other guy and I said, “What kind of job are we going to get?” He said, “Pick and shovel and sledgehammer.”
After that I worked pretty near every day. There were always two or three men fired. Out, out, get more men, they said. But they never fired me, though. They never fired Louie from any job at all.
There was a ferry boat to go from Oakland to San Francisco. I saw when they put in the first pier. It was made out of wood.
After that there were no more jobs. (Approximately 1900.)
My sister knew a guy who had a big job in Rio Vista. They had a great big farm… wheat… all wheat. They worked with horses and mules and I picked the mule. They said, “Don’t holler to the mule… just whistle.” The owner was Mr. Dozier. I got along all right.
AB: When did you come to Lafayette? How did you happen to come here?
LA: About 1916 or 1917 was when we came here. There was nothing in Lafayette. The road here was just a dirt road… just sort of a trail… enough for a horse and wagon to go by… and that’s all.
I started looking for a job and at first I got some odd jobs to do…enough to make a living. I had met my wife in Oakland, had married, and had three children.
I started working in a dairy here and leased land from Mr. Puck (at the west end of town). Later I leased land from the Moraga Land Company where the Lafayette Reservoir is now. Mr. Reed was the foreman at the Moraga Land Company. I saw when they built the train station in Moraga… clear over in Moraga… nothing but pear orchards.
For a little while the milk (business) was all right. (Approximately 1921-1922)
AB: How many cows did you have in the dairy?
LA: The last bunch of cows I had was 60. I had them for only a little while because I couldn’t find enough land here in Lafayette. Then we had some trouble with hoof and mouth disease and about half of the cows had to be killed.
The Portuguese (families) were all in the diary business. They all had cows. One family was called Mercedo… Joe and Frank… three or four brothers had cows. We couldn’t sell the milk… too many cows for the people. I bought a separator. I would separate the milk and send the cream to San Francisco by train (from Lafayette) to the ferry.
AB: Would you describe what the land looked like in that area before the dam was built?
LA: There was nothing there. It was all open land. I grew my own wheat for the cows.
AB: Tell us more about Lafayette. Who was living here?
LA: There was Ratkovitch, Hollenbeck, Starks the butcher, and Pat Medau who worked as a butcher for Mr. Starks, There was a blacksmith shop with Frank Thomson.
Let me tell you about a story about Oakland. I got a job with the “Syndicate”. There was one big guy who was running the whole country around Oakland. I got a job driving two mules. I was hauling sand from the beach down here in Emeryville to Oakland where they were building a sewer from Telegraph Avenue down to the water. I was driving two mules who, when you were going between them to feed them, would squeeze you. They would put their heads together, one on each side and they would squeeze you. I decided to punch them in the nose and, by God, those two mules never bothered me again! Mules are not dumb… they’re smarter than some people.
AB: Would you like to tell us a little bit about your wife?
LA: Her name was Mary Bruno. Her father was called Pinoto Bruno. She lived in Oakland near Miles Avenue.
AB: Did your children go to Lafayette School?
LA: Yes, the school was where the church is now (Moraga Road). The new school (Lafayette Elementary) wasn’t built yet. I had two boys. The daughter went to school in Oakland. She was living with her grandmother. One of the boys went to school on his pony. I got the pony from the stables near the Claremont Hotel. Somebody didn’t pay for the feed for the pony so I bought the little pony.
I remember the first machine that came here in Lafayette. It was a Model T Ford. You know how it was in cold weather. You had to crank them for half and hour before you could get them to start!
AB: Somebody told me that you worked on the Old Tunnel Road. Do you remember that?
LA: Yes, I worked on the road from the Claremont Hotel to the first tunnel that was built on top of the hill. I worked all the way up on that road. There was nothing there… not even room for a horse and wagon… it was wild country. We started in by cutting the road around the hotel with a horse and scraper. We worked our way up the hill to the tunnel. The tunnel was not open yet. So then we started working on the tunnel. We had the trail to go back and forth with the wagon and horse. A guy with four horses would bring the timber up… two at a time!
There were three teams for horses. Two men would drill a hole to blast a hole in the hill. The rest was pick and shovel and scraper.
I can tell you about the 1906 earthquake. I was down in Redwood Canyon and I had a pan of milk on the table. It got spilt! My brother was delivering milk down by Lake Merritt. The road sunk three or four feet and he couldn’t deliver the milk.
I lived a rugged life!
AB: Did you also work for the water company, Mr. Armanino?
LA: Yes, they hired me to dig the ditch for the water company. The shovel measured five feet. The foreman would measure five feet for each man. You worked five feet until you finished and then you measured off another five feet until it was time to quit. It was ten hours a day!
One day the foreman said that now that you are through digging the water ditch, it’s time to dig the holes for the power line. This was in Wildcat Canyon. The handle for this kind of digging was about seven or eight feet. You had to scoop down inside the hole to pull the dirt out. There was a great big crowbar to loosen up the dirt and then you used the shovel to scoop out the dirt.
AB: You were a pioneer, Mr. Armanino! I want to thank you for telling us about your rugged life and to congratulate you on your 99 eventful years. Thank you from the Historical Society.
This interview was transcribed with the assistance of Mrs. Parodi.
Louis Armanino was my great great Uncle. His brother Anthony Armanino was my great grandfather who also owned a ranch where first street is located in Lafayette. The brothers immigrated from Piedmonte region of Italy at the turn of the century and came to California