Life of a Sonoma County Bracero

Rafael Morales was one of the ‘Heroes of Chapultepec.’ He laughs when he remembers how he came to Mexicali from his native town of Tequixtepec in Oaxaca and met other young men like himself who had hoped to find a labor contractor in the border town but found no one. ‘I talked to myself,’ says Morales, ‘and I said “‘No I don't go back.’” We got together to find a way to cross the border and find work. We called ourselves the Heroes of Chapultepec,’ he says. ‘We waited for days, planning ways to cross. Everybody had a different way that was easier and safer.’

Before Morales ‘got papers’ three years later, he would have a chance to try all the border crossings. He and the other ‘heroes’ literally shuttled between Mexicali and the farms of the Imperial Valley — Brawley, Calapatria, Westmoreland, where the heat is 110 degrees all day — hiding in the daylight, traveling at night, working a day or two at backbreaking work for 35 cents an hour.

Morales had left his wife and three children in Oaxaca, determined to send the American dollars that would make them a better life. He came to Sonoma County as a contract laborer and went to work for Harold McClish on his Westside Road ranch.

— LeBaron, Gaye. “Sonoma County Hispanics Recall 'Bracero' Days.” Santa Rosa Press Democrat, June 14, 1987.