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Homelessness
When we got here, immigration was at its height, so after days of looking for an apartment, we were still homeless. Thanks to having no home, my little twin brothers,Guiseppe and Massimo, got the flu almost died at the age of three. Mama cried constantly and we all missed Italy. On Christmas Eve, Papa searched in garbages for scraps of christmas chicken, our special meal for Christmas in Italy. -
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Vittoria De Luca's Journey from Italy to the West
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Overcrowded Tenements
After almost a month, we finally found a place to live. Turns out, it was almost as bad as being homeless. It was so crowded that some had to sleep on the stairs outside an apartment. We had to share bathrooms and water. There were rats and cockroaches everywhere and it smelled like rotton food and sewage. Mama did her best to make the one room apartment as homely as possible, but it was hard. I got dysentry from the dirty water. Despite that, Papa finally found a job at a machine factory! -
Prejudice
Papa had been working for a while and a new owner came. The owner was terrible because he hated all blacks, Irish, Italiens, and Germans. When he found out that Papa was Italien, he did not hesitate to fire him. That day, Papa came home very angry and with bruise on his face. The wretched owner slapped him when Papa refused to leave. For the next days, Mama found a job at restauraunt and Papa was gone all day searching for another job. It had to take care of my brothers while they were gone. -
We Settle in the West
After our experiances in New York City, we were done. Papa came home one day with a wagon and we piled our belongings in and left the next day. After traveling for almost three months, we found some very nice land that we got for free, somewhere in Montana. Here, there was much less industrialization and immigration! Thanks to moving to the West, we built a farmhouse with some help from neighbors and started our own crops. I got to school every day and meet new friends. -
Harsh Winter
Montana in the winter brought so much snow. The snow got so high that we couldn't even open the door, about three or four feet deep. Often, there were white outs where we couldn't even see a foot in front of us. Also, we didn't think to harvest, so now we live off salted pork and canned mushrooms. I think Massimo is getting a little chubby from all that pork. One day, Papa came in with a cole stove and we were overjoyed. We spent our first Christmas in warmth, but with little to eat. -
We Get Attacked by Indians
After the winter, we were very relieved. On a nice early-spring day, we were hanging clothes in the yard, and the Indians came storming in with their horses. They pointed rifles at us and demaned money and food. Afraid, Mama ran inside to get Papa. Papa came out and tried to grab one of the guns, but another one shoots him in the arm. They gallop with their horses into the house and grab everything in sight. The Indians caused us to lose some money and they trampled our crops too.
