Table Of ContentOF FORESTS AND FIELDS
Latinidad
Transnational Cultures in the United States
Th is series publishes books that deepen and expand our understanding of
Latina/o populations, especially in the context of their transnational relation-
ships within the Americas. Focusing on borders and boundary-crossings, broadly
conceived, the series is committ ed to publishing scholarship in history, fi lm and
media, literary and cultural studies, public policy, economics, sociology, and
anthropology. Inspired by interdisciplinary approaches, methods, and theories
developed out of the study of transborder lives, cultures, and experiences, titles
enrich our understanding of transnational dynamics.
Matt hew Garcia, Series Editor, School of Historical, Philosophical, and Religious
Studies; and Director of Comparative Border Studies, Arizona State University.
For a list of titles in the series, see the last page of the book.
O F FO RESTS
A N D FI ELDS
Mexican Labor in the
Pacifi c Northwest
Mario Jimenez Sifuentez
Rutgers University Press
New Brunswick, New Jersey, and London
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Sifuentez, Mario Jimenez, 1979–
Title: Of forest and fi elds : Mexican labor in the Pacifi c Northwest /
Mario Jimenez Sifuentez.
Description: New Brunswick, New Jersey : Rutgers University Press, 2016. |
Series: Latinidad : transnational cultures in the United States | Includes
bibliographical references and index.
Identifi ers: LCCN 2015024443| ISBN 9780813576909 (hardcover : alkaline
paper) | ISBN 9780813576893 (paperback : alkaline paper) | ISBN 9780813576916
(ePub) | ISBN 9780813576923 (Web PDF)
Subjects: LCSH: Migrant agricultural laborers—Northwest, Pacifi c—
History. | Foreign workers, Mexican—Northwest, Pacifi c—History. | Mexican
Americans—Northwest, Pacifi c—History. | Mexicans—Northwest, Pacifi c—
History. | Immigrants—Northwest, Pacifi c—History. | Working class—
Northwest, Pacifi c—History. | PCUN—History. | Agricultural laborers—Labor
unions—Northwest, Pacifi c—History. | Northwest, Pacifi c—Economic conditions. |
Northwest, Pacifi c—Ethnic relations.
Classifi cation: LCC HD1527.N87 S54 2016 | DDC 331.5/4408968720795—dc23
LC record available at htt p://lccn.loc.gov/2015024443
A British Cataloging-in-Publication record for this book is available from the British
Library.
Copyright © 2016 by Mario Jimenez Sifuentez
All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means,
electronic or mechanical, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without
writt en permission from the publisher. Please contact Rutgers University Press, 106
Somerset Street, New Brunswick, NJ 08901. Th e only exception to this prohibition is
“fair use” as defi ned by U.S. copyright law.
Visit our website: htt p://rutgerspress.rutgers.edu
Manufactured in the United States of America
For my parents Mario and Lilia
and
in memory of Tam Ngoc Tran
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction 1
1 Many Miles from Home:
Th e Bracero Program in the Pacifi c Northwest 10
2 Los Tejanos:
Th e Texas-Mexican Diaspora in Oregon 36
3 Th e Genesis of the Willamett e Valley
Immigration Project 58
4 Whip Th at Hoedad in the Ground:
Undocumented Workers in the National Forest 82
5 “Now I Can Hold My Own with Anybody”:
IRCA, Immigrant Organizing, and the
Pineros y Campesinos Unidos Noroeste (PCUN) 101
6 Huelga!: PCUN Organization of Farmworkers in the
Willamett e Valley 117
Epilogue: La Lucha Sigue 136
Notes 139
Index 157
vii
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I would like to begin by thanking the most important people in my life, Mario
and Lilia Sifuentez. My parents are two of the hardest-working people I have
ever known, and I am grateful that I have inherited a small portion of their work
ethic. My sister Brenda has been an instrumental part of my success. I know of
no other siblings who share the same bond as we do. I would like to thank my
enormous extended family. Th ey have labored in the fi elds for over fi ve decades,
and I am indebted to the sacrifi ces they made so that future generations could
take advantage of opportunities they never had. My grandmothers have been
an inspiration to me. Although they are very diff erent from one another, I have
never met two more powerful forces of nature.
Next to my family members, my advisor and mentor Matt Garcia has played
the most infl uential role in my life. He continues to mentor me through a profes-
sion that I am ill-equipped to handle. As the son of migrant farmworkers and a
fi rst generation college student, I had no idea what the writing of a book entailed.
Matt Garcia has guided me through the transition from consuming knowledge
to producing it.
I would like to thank Karl Jacoby and Evelyn Hu-DeHart for their mentor-
ship and guidance during my time at Brown University, and my colleagues
in academe, Jerry Cadava, Marcia Chatelain, Matt Delmont, Maria Hwang,
Hilary Jenks, Heather Lee, Erin Linell, Mireya Loza, Mark Padoongpatt , Felicia
Salinas-Moniz, Sarah Wald, and Julie Weise, who at one point or another off ered
invaluable advice, comments, sources, and suggestions. Grey Osterud played
a crucial part in helping me turn the dissertation into a manuscript, Her exper-
tise in labor and the Pacifi c Northwest were invaluable. I would like to thank my
copyeditor, Gary Von Euer, whose careful att ention to detail have made this text
more readable, engaging, and accurate.
My special thanks goes to Larry Kleinman and the people at PCUN. Th ey
have been gracious with their time, memory, and archives. I am grateful for their
trust and for their work in the farmworker community. Larry Kleinman was
essential to the completion of this book. His insight, candor, and connections
led me down a fruitful path of discovery. Th is book could not have been writt en
without his expertise and generosity.
No less important were the staff s at the University of Oregon special collec-
tions, the Four Rivers Cultural Center, Malheur County Library, University of
Texas El Paso Oral History Project, Oregon State University Libraries Special
Collections and Archives Research Center and the Smithsonian. A special
ix
x Acknowledgments
acknowledgment goes to my support system, Keith Allen, Richard Butler and
Cecilia Butler, Desiree Garcia, Huy Ong, Ryan Shaw, Ty and Alex Shaw, and
Gloria Wong. All of you played a special part in my life outside of academia.
Th e University of California, Merced has been instrumental in the
publication of this book. Th eir institutional support has been that of a fi rst-
class research institution. Just as important are my colleagues in history, Susan
Amussen, Kevin Dawson, Sean Malloy, Ruth Mostern, Sholeh Quinn, and David
Torres-Rouff , who have mentored me, encouraged me, jealously guarded my
time, and protected me from many of the pitfalls of junior faculty. But above
all I want to thank the students because they remind me on a daily basis why
I wanted to be in this profession in the fi rst place.
My editor Leslie Mitchner and the rest of the staff at Rutgers University Press
have taken much of the stress and tension out of the process. Th ey have been a
pleasure to work with and have been timely, conscientious, and engaged. I can’t
imagine working with a bett er publisher. Th e anonymous readers who off ered
insightful comments and support for my manuscript have been invaluable.
Finally and most importantly I want to thank my wife Sarah Garcia Sifuentez.
Your companionship, comfort, and love are immeasurable. You are one of the
most compassionate, caring, genuine, and understanding people I have ever
met. You are truly selfl ess. Not only could I not have fi nished this book without
you, I look forward to never having to do anything without you again. ¡Hasta La
Victoria Siempre!
