To better understand the reasons behind the immigration of Portuguese from the Azores to California, one should try to perceive the nature of their
birthplace. The Azores Archipelago, also known as the Western Islands, is situated in the North
Atlantic and was the second or third discovery in a series that would make Portuguese seafarers the most intrepid in the world.
This boldness and seamanship gained for their tiny country a reputation which persists to this day.
Azores is named after a bird found in this area and is described as being the hawk family, believed later to be the buzzard, Milhafre. There are in total nine
beautiful islands which legend attributes as being the remains of the Continent of Atlantis (Atlantida), found in the descriptions of Chrythias by Plato. The islands are approximately 814 (N.A.) miles west of Portugal and 2,008 (N.A.) miles east of New York. Historians are still not quite in agreement on the question of discovery, but generally point to the year of 1427 as being the date of the finding of the island of Santa Maria, leaving Flores and Corvo undiscovered
until 1452.
Santa Maria, the southern most island, and the first discovered, comprises an area of nearly thirty-eight square miles. Here Columbus' crews paused on their return from their first trip of the discovery of America.
San Miguel, the largest and most industrious, has an area of 288 square miles. It contains more than fifty percent of the entire population of the archipelago, approximately 265,000 inhabitants. Terceira, meaning the third in discovery, has an area of 153 square miles and
possesses a most important air base, a strategic element in the balance of European powers, dating back to World War II. Graciosa, meaning Gracious, with an area of approximately 24 square miles, is followed in size by São Jorge with ninety-two square miles. The latter is famous for cheeses, said to be made of recipes brought by Flemish settlers.
On the western part of the archipelago lies Faial (Beechgrove), at one time the best known island of the Azores. Faial has an area of
sixty-six square miles, and elegantly watches the majestic island of Pico, the second largest covering an area of 168 square miles. On the western most tip is the last discovered jewel: Flores (Flowers) with fifty-five square miles and Corvo (The Crow) totalling nearly seven square miles with a population which has never exceeded eight hundred inhabitants. Of these last two islands, Flores played an important role in navigation and immigration to America.
The Azoreans, excellent
agricultural people, courageous fishermen and whale hunters for centuries, came from a mixture of ethnic groups which include Moors, Romans and Anglo- Saxons. The first settlers arrived in 1439 and are said to have come from Algarve and other parts of Portugal. Later the French and Flemish came to the area.
The first Lord Lieutenant of the island of Faial was a Flemish nobleman, Josse de Hurtere, a name from which Horta, capital of that island, is derived. Items existing today such as:
the windmills, the solid wheel ox-carts and the costumes can be traced to these early settlers. The popular feast of St. Mark, Festa dos Cornos, celebrated on the 25th of April of each year in Faial and other islands, is another of the few testimonies of the Flemish presence, not to mention the blue eyes and blond hair adorning many Azoreans.
The islands' history includes the French and Spanish who engaged in sea battles off their rugged coasts. The French of Breton are said to have
touched the island of São Miguel. Constance de Rohan, Princess of Soubise, married the County of Ribeira Grande in 1684.
The inhabitants of these islands survived throughout centuries of disasters such as earthquakes which, time and again, destroyed their villages, often by complete burial. Additionally, they had to fight pirates who came from England and hid in the coves of the islands awaiting the Portuguese vessels on their way to Lisbon loaded with spices and skins from India.
Crops were destroyed by strong winds; vines were attacked by illness, crippling wine production for European markets as well as destroying acres and acres of delicious oranges, abundant at one time in the Azores for export. These factors coupled with the sad fact that Azoreans were vastly ignored by the homeland, left the populace to their sad destiny - ignorant and illiterate, exploited by the self-imposed aristocracy who, with a few exceptions, would worsen those conditions for their own
economic and social benefit.
In most cases, land was poorly divided, leaving the working population in a status of forever renting the land. They had to work in order to support their large families and pay fees and royalties. These fees took the form of shares of crops called for in the agreements and leases of the landlords.
The islands, with their exhuberant scenery consisting of flora species from all over the world: palm trees, banana bushes, azaleas, camellias, tobacco and
tea, were not so appealing to those whom fortune had given these "Black Rocks" as a
birthplace. However, one alternative was always available. It laid beyond the vast horizons - emigration to faraway lands. At times the Azoreans wished they could settle in the wealthy Portuguese possessions of Angola and Mozambique in Africa. But, every time they tried, they found their wishes met by so much red tape that they ended up going to the Americas, for it was easier to go there than to
their country's overseas provinces.
The Azorean had experienced the worst, therefore, he was ready to adapt to any new situation, no matter how difficult. He left by sailing ship, later by steam and most recently by air. He left hoping to come back and enjoy the peace and beauty of those ugly rocks lost in the middle of the Atlantic. He never did return to stay. At least most of them never did. Yet, as strange as it seems, the Azorean has always had a longing for his place of birth -
black basalt adobes covered with whitewash in the middle of the plush green of the islands. That hope for returning home was, in part, a stimulus to endure life in a strange land.
Here they came - by the thousands - poor, timid and very often illiterate. But they possessed a strong will to conquer and better themselves economically so that their descendants would not have to suffer the humiliations they did in the Azores or in the early days of life in the promised land, the U.S.A.
They came to California lured by the whaling vessel captains and attracted by the news of the Gold Rush. They arrived by way of Hawaii, Canada and Brazil.
Azoreans were already a product of emigration from European Portugal and other countries. Therefore, their descendants continued a destiny forced upon them by geographic and economic circumstances. Their departure from these islands was at times considered a blessing both for those who ventured to the unknown and for those who stayed
behind. Those left behind were relieved of an ever-growing population confined to limited space and resources. Jobs left by those who emigrated were absorbed by the many unemployed. In later years these acquired blessings would have another dimension. Besides decreasing
the number of mouths to be fed, emigration represented a source of income. Often times, the immigrant would send to the islands much of his savings, to pay for debts incurred prior to departure, purchase a house and land,
or simply to help support family members who could not earn enough to live.
As it turned out, many of these immigrants never achieved their wishes of returning home. As time went by, they became accustomed to the new world that destiny had forced upon them, and their bones were buried here and there, along with those sacrifices and deeds left unsung.
The major emigration movements from the Azores were registered around the sixteenth century towards Africa and India. Later on
Azoreans sought Brazil as an escape from their hard life and it was not until the 19th century that they came in large numbers to the United States of America and more recently to Canada. The Portuguese also came from Continental Portugal, Madeira, Cape Verde Islands and other provinces, including Macau in China, but in a percentage much smaller than from the Azores.
The first Portuguese of record immigrating to the U.S.A. were Jews from Brazil who escaped persecution in that country
and came to settle in New Amsterdar (New York) around 1654. In 1763 they built, in Newport, Rhode Island, what known today as the oldest synagogue in our country. By the time of the Revolt tionary War in 1776, there were between two and three thousand Jews in all colonies, most of them merchants and traders known as Sephardin, descendant of Portuguese and Spanish. In the Azores the expression Safardão is apparently derived from Sephardin, which meant a smart dealer, able to persuade.
In later years whaling, one of the major industries of this country, became responsible for most of the Portuguese emigration from the island of Brava, the Cape Verde group, and from the Azores. Azoreans were lured aboard whaling vessels that would touch Azorean (Flores and Faial) and Cape Verdean coastlines. These ships were seeking supplies and laborers able enough to
endure the long voyages necessary to reach the hunting ground of the sperm whale in the Pacific Ocean, along Northern
California, Alaskan and Russian coasts.
Extracted from "Portuguese Immigrants" Copyright 1968 by Carlos Almeida Reprinted by Permission from the Author .
Copies are available by contacting the U.P.E.C. 1120 E. 14th St. San Leandro CA 94577-Phone: 510-483-7676 |
