Prisoners of War in New Mexico Agriculture
Abstract of Interview
CONSULTANT:
Hilario Bernal
TAPE NUMBER: RG2000-012
DATE
OF BIRTH: December 2, 1934
DATE
OF DEATH: July 25, 2001
SEX:
Male
DATE(S)
OF INTERVIEW: April 6, 2000
LOCATION
OF INTERVIEW: Bernal residence in Mesquite
INTERVIEWER:
Jose Gomez
SOURCE OF INTERVIEW: NMF&RHM__X___OTHER___________
TRANSCRIBED: YES___X____
NO_______
NUMBER
OF TAPES: Three
ABSTRACTOR:
Caroline Palmer
DATE
ABSTRACTED: November 2000
QUALITY
OF RECORDING (SPECIFY): Good
SCOPE
AND CONTENT NOTE: Early Tortugas
and Las Cruces history
DATE
RANGE: 1934 to 2000
ABSTRACT (IMPORTANT TOPICS IN
ORDER OF APPEARANCE):
TAPE
ONE, SIDE ONE:
Jose Bernal, father of Hilario Bernal, and his brother, Juan Bernal, owned the T-Hook Ranch on the north side of Highway 70 at the Organ Mountains. Previous to 1945, because of the atomic bomb being built, they had to sell the cattle from that area. The cattle were sold in Mexico, and the land was sold.
His mother worked as a nurse at the McBride Hospital
then as a chef at the university. Mr.
Bernal discussed his grandparent’s farms and the regular floods until the
reservoir was built.
Mr. Bernal went to Tortugas grade school, Mesilla
Park school, and graduated from Las Cruces High School.
As he grew up Mr. Bernal worked on the farm with his father, then as a
car mechanic in high school. He
described the location and men in the Italian POW camp and their work on
Transmountain Road. Mr. Bernal’s
father, Jose, drove the truckloads of Italian POWs to Transmountain Road and
stayed there and worked with them all day, then drove them back to camp. When the Italian POWs were moved out, the German Prisoners of
War were moved in. The POWs helped
build the courthouse.
His father’s uncle farmed a little cotton, mostly
alfalfa which they baled and sold to the ranchers. Mr. Bernal’s uncle, Juan, worked at the university dairy.
His parents lived in a house in Tortugas, but the
property was sold after his mother’s death.
The ruins are still there. His
father’s family home in Old Mesilla is still there on San Albino St. and the
property is now the Snow Ranch. Mr.
Bernal learned to drive and got a driver’s license at eleven years old to help
his father transport the alfalfa harvest.
TAPE ONE, SIDE TWO:
Mr. Bernal stated that the car was used to carry the
load of alfalfa, and the family traveled by horse and buggy.
Mr. Bernal’s father, Jose, was very ill as a result
of being gassed in World War One and often had to be taken to the Veteran’s
Hospital in Fort. Bayard. Mr.
Bernal had to work during his high school years to help support the family.
Not only the Bernal’s, but all of the ranchers at
the Organ Mountains had to get out because the ground was contaminated.
Mr. Bernal graduated from mechanic school and high
school. He was a partner in a
garage until his partner went to work at White Sands.
He then moved to Los Angeles, got married in 1954,
and returned to Las Cruces because of his father’s illness, sold cars for
Truman Welch, then moved his wife and two children back to Los Angeles where he
entered the police academy. He
served as a police officer in Los Angeles for five years, then moved back to Las
Cruces and served as a police officer until retirement.
After retirement Mr. Bernal worked as a private investigator in El Paso
for Jay Arms. After his retirement
from Jay Arms, Mr. Bernal founded and ran the local security agency, Ranger
Patrol. Although his son, Eric, now
runs Ranger Patrol, Mr. Bernal is still a part of it.
Mr. Bernal generally describes the careers of some of
his eleven children. Although Mr.
Bernal and his first wife are divorced, they are united as parents and everyone
gathers for family celebrations.
Mr. Bernal’s father, Jose, was gassed in World War
One and frequently spent time in the Fort Bayard Veterans Hospital.
Mr. Bernal’s oldest son, Juan, is preparing a family tree.
TAPE TWO, SIDE ONE
Jose Bernal’s brand is Diamond 4 Diamante
Cuatro, but Mr. Bernal no longer has it.
His mother’s house in Tortugas was looted and the brand, pictures, and
family memorabilia were stolen.
Mr. Bernal discussed the changes in the weather.
Although in his youth the family had a radio (which he still has), they
had no telephone. Mr. Bernal still
has some of the harness equipment.
The farm in Tortugas was often referred to as
“Rancho del Silo” because of the silo that is still there.
At the farm were apple trees and alfalfa.
Mr. Bernal and his uncle both worked at the
university dairy, delivering milk in bottles, and learning how to make cheese
and cottage cheese. The worst work
he did at the university was digging up trees by hand with a shovel.
Mr. Bernal described cutting alfalfa with a horse
rig. His father was good with
horses, and taught Jose to bronc ride. Mr.
Bernal’s mother’s family had a farm where the Cinema 4 on El Paseo is now
located. Because it flooded so
often, that was sold and land on Mesquite St. was bought. His mother’s family had the Panderia
Guadalupana. His grandparents
on his father’s side were horsemen.
Electricity came to their house in Tortugas
in the early forties. This
home was built of adobe with a wood floor and a well, eventually with a hand
pump. His father butchered a hog or
a calf and dried the meat because they had no refrigerator, but they did have an
icebox. Eventually his father
installed an electric pump at the well. His
father grew watermelons and cantaloupe in his garden.
His parents had milking sheep and Mr. Bernal was
raised on goat milk.
TAPE TWO, SIDE TWO
Mr. Bernal described how his father and uncle were
experts in windmills, not only fixing their own but also being hired to fix the
windmills of others.
As a small boy, Mr. Bernal’s father would put him
on one of the “dancing” horses to ride in parades. Mr. Bernal admits he was a show-off.
Growing up in Tortugas everybody knew each other.
The Iglesia de Guadalupe is still there.
Every year on Dec. 12, the day of the Virgin of
Guadalupe, the town comes alive. People
from throughout the United States come to walk “A” Mountain and to watch the
Indian dances because of the miracles. For
more than fifty years Mr. Bernal participated in the Indian dances.
His mother as a child had participated in the Pueblo dances.
Ten of his eleven children danced also.
As Tortugas is more Indian, Mesilla is more western.
When Billy the Kid was in jail in Mesilla, Mr. Bernal’s father talked
with him. Downtown Las Cruces had wood sidewalks and was very short.
The church and the hotel on Main Street were torn down while he was with
the Las Cruces Police Department. A
western movie was made about that hotel.
The original name was San Juan de Guadalupe.
The name “Tortugas” was a nickname because of the arroyo full of
turtles nearby.
In the early years the Rio Grande frequently
overflowed its banks. Now it’s
only streams. People would often
drown in that river and the police would have to go in the river looking for the
body.
When Mr. Bernal was with the Los Angeles Police
Department, he was badly beaten, bones broken, and left for dead.
He was in the hospital being prepared for surgery.
He knew he had to come and dance on Dec. 12.
He lied to the doctor, and came here on crutches and with his brother’s
help dressed in his costume and went and danced for two days, rested the third
day, went back to Los Angeles for the surgery, but the doctors found nothing.
Un milagro.
He was cured. His son, Eric,
now dances in the costume and headdress.
Mr. Bernal retired from Las Cruces Police Department
in 1993. Even though he is on
dialysis now, he is still part of his security business with his son, Eric.
TAPE THREE, SIDE ONE
Before the freeways, Tortugas and the University and
Las Cruces and Mesilla were all one. Now
they are divided.
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