Back in 1979, Denesse and I married and purchased our first home in Dos Palos, a sleepy, off the beaten path little farm town. It didn’t appear much transformed on a return visit last Saturday in company of author Mark Arax and photographer Ernest Lowe after long absence. Black gumbo clay soils characterize the vicinity and a shallow water table can turn “floating” homes into fun house rides. Our back yard’s ground cracked wide enough to swallow Chihuahuas. Thirty-five years ago, successfully farmed crops were two, cotton and rice. I field-managed Rinks Sano’s thousand-acre Westland Water District farm some miles south over unpaved Fairfax Ave. and further west of Firebaugh. Sano’s was dream soil, Panoche Loam “so rich you could eat it with a spoon” bragged locals. I was proud to land that job with the highly reputed canning tomato farmer, who passed away just a few weeks ago at 91 years of age. Our styles didn’t mesh however, much less after, without forewarning, I announced my elopement with Denesse and a fortnight’s honeymoon disappearance to the Yucatan. That gig became a springboard back to east side civilization where I envisioned launching my own modest farm enterprise. Our original Dos Palos nest was remote, but South Dos Palos was completely off anyone’s radar screen. Wandering about, I discovered this largely African American settlement of scattered ramshackle homes and clapboard mini-churches, the town’s original location, that had been abandoned to people unwelcome in my de facto whites- only community. Only after reading Mark Arax’s 2002 LA Times “Black Okies” series did I appreciate historical and social contexts underlying the existence of over one-dozen such unofficial townships that took root in our San Joaquin Valley. Longer ago, in 1960, traveling photographer Ernest Lowe visually documented these Valley African American enclaves. Mark discovered the photos’ existence, and invited octogenarian Lowe, myself, videographer Joel Pickford, historian Michael Eissinger and 16-year-old Jake Arax on a South Dos Palos road trip. Imagine my wonderment as two Caucasian-filled vehicles prowled the neighborhood while amiable Arax bounded across yards engaging African American families. Hearts melted as laconic Ernest flashed around half-century-ago photos that spoke countless words, while our gaggle of white strangers drew neighbors eager to recognize themselves from olden times. UC Merced historian Michael Eissinger researches and chronicles these extraordinary, hidden Valley communities. Join us in a “Down on the Farm” conversation this Friday evening at 5:00PM on KFCF 88.1FM radio.
Tom Willey more info: lat.ms/1bEOmES