Hispanics, Idaho’s largest and fastest-growing minority group, have
lived in the Southwest for hundreds of years on land that was ceded to
the United States in 1848 in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, after the
Mexican-American War. At that time, 80,000 Mexican residents who lived
in the area that is now Arizona, California, New Mexico, Texas, and
parts of Colorado, Nevada, and Utah could choose to become citizens of
the United States.47
Some early Hispanics in Idaho were miners and packers. Jesus Urquides came to Idaho in 1863 and set up a freight company in Boise. He had a large string of pack animals and built 30 cabins to put up the packers. The settlement was known as “Urquides Village” and was standing in Boise until the 1970s.48
Immigration Hurdles
When Congress closed the door on immigration from Asia and Southern and Eastern Europe in the 1920s, labor recruiters turned more and more to Mexican immigrants.
Jesus Urquides /Photo Citation 46
Farm workers/ Photo Citation 50
In the twentieth century Mexicans provided cheap labor vitally important to Idaho’s agricultural economy. In 1935 Hispanic farmworkers went on strike in eastern Idaho over low wages. Governor C. Ben Ross declared martial law and sent in 125 National Guardsmen to deal with the workers. Troops entered the labor camps and arrested about 125 “Mexicans who were causing trouble,” picked up another 30 or more in Driggs, and escorted them all to the county line, telling them not to return. The remaining workers, supposedly now content with their low wages, returned to work the next day.
49A National Geographic article from the 1940s titled “Idaho Made the Desert Bloom” shows images of unsuitably attired European-Americans working in the fields. Since the 1950s, however, Idaho’s farm laborers have been predominately Hispanic. While some have been migratory, returning to their homes in the off-seasons, many have been year-round Idaho residents.50
Braceros in Idaho Idaho’s need for labor during World War II resulted in the contract worker (bracero) program with Mexico. About 15,600 Mexican braceros came to Idaho between 1942 and 1947, mainly to perform agricultural labor.51 According to human rights activists such as Maria Salazar from Emmett, Idaho, wretched housing conditions, poor food, low wage scales, and widespread anti-Mexican sentiment accompanied the backbreaking labor.
In 1946 a labor inspector from the Mexican government came to Idaho in response to complaints by Idaho farmworkers about living conditions and problems of discrimination. He noted that seven establishments in Nampa barred Mexicans from entering, as did 11 in Caldwell. In 1948 the Mexican Consul banned further importation of braceros into Idaho because of discrimination, contract violations, and inadequate housing.52
Mexican Pea Pickers, ca. 1930s /Photo Citation 47
Farm workers with baskets of peas, ca. 1930s /Photo Citation 48
Although the braceros worked on the railroads and in the sugar beet fields, they frequently were denied service or given segregated service in restaurants and theaters. Antonio Rodriguez, Sr., now a prominent Nampa businessman, recalls seeing signs in the Treasure Valley stating “No Mexicans! No Negroes! No Jews! No Indians! No Dogs!”53
Rodriguez and many others who found this type of treatment discriminatory worked for the passage of a civil rights bill that would ban discrimination in public accommodations and employment. The law has been on the books since 1961, but it wasn’t until 1969 that a statute creating the Idaho Human Rights Commission addressed remedies for discrimination.
Idaho’s Largest Minority Group Speaks Out
Hearings held by the Human Rights Commission in the 1980s heard complaints of discrimination against Hispanics by law enforcement and schools, as well as a shortage of safe and affordable housing. Hispanics continue to protest conditions seen as discriminatory. Hispanics have gained political power and are increasingly politically sophisticated, and have had the help of powerful allies, such as Governor Phil Batt. They have been successful in making legislative changes, such as the inclusion of farmworkers in Idaho’s minimum wage and workers’ compensation laws.
Camilo Lopez, Hispanic activist, testifying before Human Rights Commission /Photo Citation 51
Former Governor
in Nampa, Idaho /Photo Citation 53
Sign advertising for laborers /Photo Citation 49
Former Director of the Idaho Migrant Council, Humberto Fuentes/photo Citation 52
FOOTNOTES: 47- Jones, Errol D. and Kathleen R. Hodges, Mexicans in Idaho and the Struggle for Civil Rights, 1898-1971, unpublished paper presented at the Idaho History Conference, Boise, ID, March 18, 2000, p. 2. 48- Ibid., p. 6. 49- Ibid., p. 11. 50- Jones, Errol D. and Kathleen R. Hodges, Mexican and Mexican-American Workers in Idaho: A Significant Force in Conquering the Desert, 1920-1950, unpublished paper, p. 1. 1psonet.org/congress/5papers-pd/edjkrh.pdf, accessed May 2003. 51- Ibid., p. 15. 52- Ibid., p. 16. 53- Ibid., p. 1.
Children at migrant labor camp /Photo Citation 45