L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2020 www.italoamericano.org 34 L'Italo-Americano I n a small corner of Lunigiana, in the extreme north-west- ern tip of Tuscany, l i e s a r e m a r k a b l e s t o r y b o u n d u p w i t h t h e f o u n d i n g o f a W i l d W e s t town in America. An area of outstanding natural beauty bordering the A p e n n i n e s o n t h e n o r t h , Liguria on the west and the Apuane Alps on the south, the region of Lunigiana was home to the Luni people, moon worshippers. That was in ancient times. In the 18th century, the locals began to flee their depressed land. In the years, they formed communities in N o r t h e r n I t a l y , C o r s i c a , S w i t z e r l a n d , B e l g i u m , F r a n c e , a n d E n g l a n d . B e t w e e n 1 8 8 0 a n d 1 9 2 0 , especially the inhabitants of Bagnone, a village of this enclave located in the Massa Carrara province, emigra- ted to America. They had to leave the magical valleys of the river Magra with its tributaries sprinkled with medieval villages, castles, and mills along the ancient pilgrimage trail of the Via Francigena. Beauty was n o t e n o u g h . T h e y h a d t o e a r n t h e i r d a i l y b r e a d somehow. But homesickness never went away. What part of America did t h e B a g n o n e s i p i c k o u t ? T h e y c h o s e N o r t h e r n C a l i f o r n i a , w h e r e j o b s were plentiful. Like many E u r o p e a n i m m i g r a n t s t o North America, they thought to find streets paved with gold. But no, life was har- sher than they expected, for at least several years ahead. The Bagnonesi settled in a town in the wild west that was just born. It was a com- p a n y t o w n f o u n d e d b y Abner Weed, a former sol- d i e r f o r t h e U n i o n i n t h e Civil War. At Appomattox Court House, Virginia, he w i t n e s s e d C o n f e d e r a t e General Robert E. Lee sur- rendering to Union General Ulysses S. Grant, April 9, 1865. At 27, in 1897, Mr. Weed bought his lumber business (the Siskiyou Lumber and Mercantile Mill) and 280 acres of land that is now the city of Weed for a sum of $ 4 0 0 . T h e s c e n i c a r e a nestled at the base of Mount Shasta among the sequoias o f t h e S i s k i y o u N a t i o n a l Forest is halfway between S a n F r a n c i s c o , C a . a n d Portland, Or. Those forests promised a bountiful supply of timber. M r . W e e d n e e d e d s t r o n g men to cut down trees, chop wood and haul lumber. The lumberjacks were uneduca- t e d , l o w - s k i l l e d m i g r a n t workers who undertook an enormous amount of labor. When the first Bagnonesi arrived between 1890 and 1910, the area was a giant c o n s t r u c t i o n s i t e : r o a d s , r a i l w a y s , b r i d g e s w e r e taking shape, says historian Adriana Dadà, author of L a M e r i c a , a b o o k t h a t gives voice to the Bagnonesi m i g r a n t l a b o r e r s i n N o r t h e r n C a l i f o r n i a . " I n 1914, Weed turned into a magnet town for the workers from the surrounding area because of the saloons and dance halls where men spent hours of leisure and pleasu- res at the end of the day", Addà says. The lumber and milling businesses brought a high number of nefarious characters to the locale, and t h e R e d d i n g F r e e P r e s s d e s c r i b e d W e e d a s t h e "Sodom and Gomorrah of Siskiyou County." The Bagnone lumberjacks would live together in rough wooden shacks, get up at five in the morning, scarf down mounds of food and go out into the woods to fell, strip, and stack logs. Among the first settlers of W e e d a n d t h e S i s k y o u County were the Bernabovi, the Luigi, and the Barberi families. Carmela Luigi was a beloved character. In 1907, Carmela fled to the US with several other Bagnone m e n . S h e h a d t o j o i n h e r f i a n c é L u i g i B a r b i e r i , who three years earlier was h i r e d w i t h h i s b r o t h e r Antonio by the Long-Bell L u m b e r C o m p a n y i n Siskiyou County. "Carmela was a real pio- neer. She was the second woman to arrive in Weed when the town hardly exi- s t e d o n t h e m a p s , " s a y s D a d à . " O n e o f t h e f i r s t things her boyfriend did was to build an oven so she could make bread for the family." Carmela had seven chil- dren and lived to be 100 in Weed. The day she hit 100, on March 26, 1986, the local n e w s p a p e r , W e e d P r e s s , MARIELLA RADAELLI A view of Pontremoli (Photo: Sigeric) Continued to page 36 LIFE PEOPLE PLACES HERITAGE From Bagnone, Lunigiana to Weed, Ca. and the bread with seven crusts

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