The years of the Y
By TOM DROEGE World Staff Writer 091006
Immigrant's story told in book
Walking across a gravel lot between railroad tracks in west Tulsa, Cecil Gomez says he can almost hear the old days in the passing train whistles. "If I look around, I can see my friends," says Gomez, scanning the area recently. "There was a man who lived right over there. He couldn't speak a word of English." Surrounded by intersecting train tracks that form a giant triangle, Gomez recalls the small shantytown occupied by Mexican immigrants, including his family. Nicknamed the "Y" by the immigrant railroad workers who lived there, this section of the rail yard near 21st Street and Southwest Boulevard was home to roughly 45 Mexican immigrants during the first half of the century. Today, the railroad tracks and rumbling freight trains are still there. But the clapboard houses have been replaced by industrial outbuildings and a parking lot. "The Y is gone but not forgotten," Gomez said.
The 83-year-old recently wrote a book about growing up in the "Y" and his father's experience migrating to the Tulsa area in 1915. He came from a small Mexican town called Villas de Reyes, or Village of the Kings. The book, others say, is timely for two reasons. It fits into an Oklahoma centennial project that local Hispanic groups are planning. And it shows the historic scope of immigration in light of recent efforts to tighten the U.S.-Mexico border and deal with an estimated 11 million undocumented people living here. "Cecil's story reminds us that most of us have a family member that came over in the same way," said Sara Martinez, coordinator of the Hispanic Resource Center at Martin Regional Library in Tulsa. "Immigration is not something that just happens and is over. It's a series of waves."
Sympathetic to the immigrants' plight, Gomez is a U.S. citizen who says immigrants should follow the law and not cross illegally. But he's torn because he knows their struggle. "They didn't come over here to start trouble; they came over here to work," he said. "I'm in favor of whatever our country decides to do. These people deserve a break." Gomez's father left his desolate Mexican village more than 90 years ago for financial reasons. "The economy was such that nobody could make a living," Gomez said. His father hopped trains and hiked north, crossing the border without a problem because there were few immigration restrictions back then. He eventually landed in Sapulpa where he worked for a railroad company, wiping down locomotives. When the company moved to a west Tulsa rail yard, it built houses for the immigrant workers. About 11 families, all from Mexico, lived in the houses and worked for the railroad for decades. Gomez's book describes life without electricity or running water and how they survived during the Great Depression. "Those were hard days for everybody," he said. "We were right smack dab in the middle of the train yard." Despite the tough times, Gomez said, his father's decision to immigrate helped his brothers and sisters go to college and launch careers. "Back then the term 'American Dream' didn't really exist," he said. "It was just a better life." Tom Droege 581-8361 tom.droege@tulsaworld.com
Gomez Family Survives Hard Times in the Y
Tim Ashley 03/18/1998
Tulsa World (FH Edition), Page WTZ8 of West Tulsa Zone, Community
SAND SPRINGS -- Imagine living in a home on three acres of land occupied by 11 other families. Such was the case with Cecil Gomez, who grew up in a railroad settlement in West Tulsa known as the Y. Gomez, now living in Sand Springs, has documented his family history and memories of growing up around the Frisco Railroad Yard in a book he wrote, `Mama and Papa's Twelve Children and the Y.` He shared his book and vivid memories at a March 8, 1998 meeting of the Southwest Tulsa Historical Society at Carbondale Church of Christ, 3114 W. 51st St.
Originally intended for his family only, Gomez said his book has received such tremendous response that he intends to have more copies printed to be sold outside of his family. `I have received calls from people I don't even know,` he said. `I've had calls from Louisiana, Texas, Colorado and even one from New Hampshire. `I originally intended the book to be for my family only. It was not intended to be distributed commercially, but I have orders for 40 more books now.`
Gomez said Roy Heim, President of the Southwest Tulsa Historical Society, wants to buy enough books to distribute to all of the local public libraries. In his book which was published in 1996, Gomez shares both positive and negative memories of growing up in the Y. The Y was a settlement consisting of mostly Mexican railroad workers and their families. Eleven homes were crowded together on just three acres of land on the 1500 block of West 21st Street, approximately two blocks west of what was then Quanah Boulevard and is now Southwest Boulevard. Frisco railroad tracks surrounded the settlement on all sides, leaving the land in the shape of a Y. `The Y was hidden,` Gomez said. `There was only one way in and one way out. There were no streets, no sidewalks, and no grass, but a lot of tall weeds. `There was also constant noise coming from the nearby trains.`
Born in Sapulpa in 1923, Gomez and his family first moved to the Y in 1927. His father, Juan, and mother, Edelia, migrated to Oklahoma from Mexico. Gomez shared memories of hard times growing up in the Y. `The main section of our house was 20 feet long,` he said. `That included everything. It was a true shack. We had a large family (12 children) also.` His father made 37 cents an hour working for the Frisco Railroad as a locomotive engine wiper. `He had to wash the engines when the trains came in from out of the state making their rounds,` Gomez said. `Dad worked seven days a week most of the time.`
There was no running water and no electricity in the Y, Gomez said. `Until about 1939, we had to haul our water from about two blocks away,` he said. `I had a shoulder bar with two chains on it that had two five-gallon buckets attached.` While a teen-ager, Gomez said he `came up with the brilliant idea of installing a waterline for the house,` thus giving the family running water for the first time. He also built an outdoor shower, consisting of a garden hose with a valve on the end of it. The only means of heat in the Gomez home was a wood-burning stove. `When dad spotted railroad ties he would get them and bring them home to be burned,` Gomez said. `I mean, it was just like a squirrel getting ready for winter. When you saw the railroad ties you had better take them because there were other people doing the same thing.`
Adding to the difficulties of living in the Y was seeing how other families lived nearby in West Tulsa, Gomez said. `Other than some families who lived just across the tracks from us, everything else was different in West Tulsa,` he said. `There were a lot of nice houses with picket fences and they had plumbing, running water and electricity.` Gomez also had to overcome the language barrier while growing up. He was taught to speak Spanish -- his father spoke very little English -- and his family came in contact with very few white people.
Not all of the memories of living in the Y were negative, Gomez said. Some local merchants were more than willing to help the Gomez family. He recalled the Ozark Pharmacy, `Doc Reynolds never turned anyone down,` and the family doctor, `Dr. Taylor, who made house calls.` Fred Walker, a nearby grocery store owner, often extended credit to the Gomez family even though sometimes their bill was high. Gomez said in the book that `he (Walker) was very good to our family and every payday, when Papa paid his bill, he always threw in a free sack of candy, cookies or some kind of treat for the kids.`Gomez eventually learned the English language and earned some money in the process when he was called upon to interpret for Mexican families living in the Y who ventured into town to shop or pay bills. He also fondly recalled his mother being generous to others who were in dire straits. `Hobos came from everywhere looking for work at the railroads,` Gomez said. `They always found our house for some reason when looking for a hot meal to eat. `They were always polite and offered to do chores around the house. Mom let them fetch some water or chop some wood. She was quite a woman. She never turned anyone down. Mom did all the washing, sewing, ironing and cooking. I don't know how she did it with 12 kids and dad working such long hours.`
In 1943 Gomez left the Y to join the U.S. Navy. After completing his military service, Gomez returned to Tulsa where he shared an apartment with his wife, Josephine. A few years later Gomez' family was forced to leave the Y. `They were evicted from the Y in 1949,` Gomez said. `Frisco wanted to redeem the land. It was a total shock to all of us and no one knew what to do. `We went looking in West Tulsa for a house to buy, but we just didn't have the money needed.` However, Gomez was familiar with carpentry work and eventually built the family a new home at 2427 S. Olympia Ave. `We bought two lots for $400,` he said. `I was given eight months to build the house. When I told mom I wanted to build a house, she didn't believe me. Gomez was given an eight-month deadline to build the house by the company who was financing the construction, he said. `The only help I had to build the house was three of my younger brothers. I worked on it during evenings and weekends and I had no power tools. I really didn't know anything about building a house.`
In 1950, the family moved into the new home. Despite the hard times of growing up in the Y, Gomez said the story of his family has turned out to be a positive one. `The message in the book, if any, is one of triumph,` he said. `We can be proud now. There is some pride based on our degree of success. `The roots of our lives are in this book. It's all documented now.` Gomez said he obtained a college degree and became an accountant at two large manufacturing firms. One of his brothers became a doctor and other siblings also went on to lead successful lives, he added. Gomez has lived in Sand Springs since 1964.
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