Voyage #2: SS
Siberia, 1909
Our grandparents left after 2 ½ years, they needed to stay
for at least 18 months to pay off their passage to America. On Oct 22, 1909, our
families boarded the S.S. Siberia which
sailed to San Francisco,
arriving on Oct 28, 1909. According to The Manifest, this included, Great
Grandpa Antonio Ortega (42), ‘Josepha’ Ortega (44), Jose Ortega (20), Francisco
Ortega (11), Juan A. Ortega (22), Guadalupe Ortega (21), Manuel (6 mo.), Francisco
Cañada (44), and Maria C. Cañada (44).
California, 1909 to 1910 or 1911
Most of the early immigrants had planned to return to Spain
at the end of the contract. Our family intended to head to California from the beginning. California was reported
to have rolling hills, hot days and cool nights which were perfect for farming,
lots of land and the climate was the same as their homeland. When they arrived they found great fertile
farm land with lots of water for irrigation, freedom from an oppressive
government and Grandpa and his brothers would not be forced to serve in the
military. With their history as qualified farmers, this was a land of great
opportunity. In California, our family blended
well with mainstream America.
Sometime between Uncle John’s birth in late 1910 and late
1911 they traveled to Mexico, again for employment on a plantation, only to
return to California aboard the S. S.
City of Sydney in December 1911.
1 comment:
Thanks for posting. I loved reading about your family history! My great great grandparents arrived in honolulu on oct 21 1909 on the ss siberia from russia as contract laborers for the sugar plantations. Your ancestors left a day after mine arrived on the same ship! I love family history and the similarities on how our ancestors arrived are very unique!
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