Odd, Old News: Anti-Gypsyism in 1897 Humboldt County

Sketch of a Brazilian Romani Camp from the San Francisco Call, 4/26/1896.

Nuggets of old news are served up by David Heller, one of our local historians.

Romani families came to America from both Europe and Brazil. As we have stated in our previous article about the Romani on the North Coast, some 800,000 Romani “Gypsies” live in Brazil, comprising the second largest population of the Romani in the western hemisphere. Unbeknownst to Odd Old News, there was an intense and horrific history of their persecution in Western Europe that led to their exile, and forced immigration to Brazil. To mention the Romani without referring to their long history of persecution is the equivalent of talking about Native American history without referring to genocide.

This online excerpt, ”Romani people in Brazil: From Exile to the Search for Social Rights”, shares the grim early European history of anti-gypsyism, and the subsequent Romani flight from Portugal to the new world. Initially given land in Brazil’s sparsely inhabited northeast, the European experience with the Romani was not lost on the Brazilian government, and early legislation was enacted in a number of Brazilian provinces to “keep them moving”. The paper shows that their centuries long struggle for human rights in Brazil continues, and highlights what has been said about the historic lack of understanding about the Romani minority in Brazil(and elsewhere):

The gayos (gadje, or non-Gypsies) know little about Gypsy life and cannot understand the Gypsy way of looking at the world. A wall of mutual ignorance divides Gypsy from gadje; as long as there is no attempt to bring them together, each will continue to reject the other, and the prejudices which surround the Gypsy culturewill persist”.

According to a United Nations report on the Brazilian Romani: “They are still largely stereotyped […] as thieves, beggars or fortune tellers”.

When Romani families first traveled to and through Humboldt County, early news accounts focused on their fortune telling activities. The arrival of one particular group of Brazilian Romani in 1897 provoked a fearful and defensive community response, seemingly warranted in this case. Once again, Odd Old News reveals language and attitudes of a different time, as this week we review the encounters of one group of Brazilian Romani travelers with the local citizenry in 1897.

“They are still largely stereotyped […] as thieves, beggars or fortune tellers”.COMING THIS WAY
The Del Norte Record in its last issue has this to say of a band of gypsies that arrived at Crescent City last week: Thursday a band of gypsies numbering about thirty, with six wagons, arrived from over the mountains. They are now camped on the Klamath wagon road about two miles from town. The band is a hard looking lot. A coast Indian makes a respectable appearance alongside of them. They are Brazilians, and came through from that country overland, begging and stealing a livelihood. Much trouble was experienced with them last spring, as they passed north through the Sacramento and Rogue river valleys. They will steal anything and it would be well to look to valuables while they are here. From here they will head for Humboldt county. (Humboldt Times Standard, 8/6/1897)

A week later they had arrived in Eureka:

THE GYPSIES HEARD FROM
The band of gypsies which have been mentioned several time, in these columns the past week, have at last arrived here and have commenced their thieving and stealing. They are camped near Ryan’s Slough and number about fifty, men and women. Yesterday morning, about two o’clock, they raided the cattle pen of George Gibson, on the Arcata road. They drove all of his cows out of the pens and were on their way to the gypsie camp when overtaken by members of Mr. Gibson’s family, who had been awakened by the noise incident to the driving. When overtaken, the thieves jumped over the nearby fences and escaped, leaving the cows in the road. The cattle were then driven home. An investigation of the premises was then made and disclosed the fact that about a dozen of Mr. Gibson’s choicest chicken’s were missing.

Other depredations have been reported. A gentleman driving a horse, visited the camp a few days ago, when the gypsies asked him to trade horses with them. He replied that he did not desire to part with his horse. Finally he was surrounded by members of the band and they proceeded to un-harness the animal and remove him from the shafts, stating that the owner had agreed to trade. The gentleman declared himself, whereupon the horse was returned to him.

Another visitor did not fare so well. A peddler with a wagon load of fruit and vegetables visited the camp, thinking that he might be able to dispose of some of his stock. This he succeeded in doing, but no cash changed hands, the gypsies stealing nearly the entire load.

A large number of the band usually visit a store and several of them will make trivial purchases while the others steal all they can conveniently remove. The Union says that when the clan passed through Arcata their wagons were loaded with fresh oat hay which they found, so it is stated, floating down Mad river at the crossing of that stream.

The authorities should see that our county is no longer infested with these people. If they are unable to cope with them, the Naval Reserve might he called into service. (Humboldt Times Standard, 8/14/1897

The Blue Lake Advocate made their position clear with a threat:

THE GYPSIES ARE HERE
The band of gypsies, who recently came down from Crescent City, are now in this county and a few of them are infesting this neighborhood. Nothing of value has been stolen yet, but as our people are keeping an eye on them they have better make it a rule to remain honest for the time they expect to remain around here, or else some of them may never see the sunshine in old Brazil any more. (Blue Lake Advocate, 8/14/1897)

One Native American man didn’t let the Romani get the best of him in a horse trading transaction:

There was quite a commotion the fore part of this week growing out of a “horse trade” between the gypsies and Indian Jim. The gypsies had the best of the trade for a little while. They agreed to give Jim two horses for one, but finally put his saddle on one of their horses, ordered him to mount and move on, keeping his horse. Jim did move on. He moved around to where the gypsies’ horses were, took one and two more followed. The matter was finally settled by the horses being returned to their original owners. (Humboldt Times Standard, 8/22/1897)

Later in the month, tragedy struck when a woman living near Yager Creek was said to have been frightened to death by the sight of the Romani, her passing provoked her neighbors to keep the Romani moving along.

Their travels were closely monitored and communities were warned ahead by telegraph when possible. Blocksburg citizens were ready to deny them welcome:

L H Miner telegraphed last week to Bridgeville and Blocksburg that the gypsies were making their way to those places, and Friday has received word from his operator at Blocksburg that the people there were awaiting their arrival, that the residents were armed and that the “gang” would not be allowed to stop in that vicinity at all. That’s business; keep them moving until they cross the county line. (Humboldt Times Standard, 9/1/1897).

It seems likely that this band of Romani were part of a group of some 200 Brazilian Romani traveling in seventeen wagons who had been rousted out of Colusa, Marysville, Chico, Red Bluff and Redding in the spring of 1897. Compared to what transpired with this one aggressive band, future local encounters with the Romani would be almost innocent. They continued to pass through Humboldt County, telling fortunes, accumulating wealth through stealth, sporting dancing bears and monkeys, and leaving us a small wake of news stories for future Odd Old News posts.

Earlier Odd and Old News:

There are many, but here are the most recent:

• Early Adventures in Automotive Travel
• A Trip Up the Coast to Crescent City
• ‘Dope Evil Plainly Growing,’ Warns Early Eureka Newspaper
• A Real Fight With a Bear Up Mad River
• A Carriage Ride Down the Coast in 1892
• Lively Times At Klondike
• Drinking And Gambling Didn’t Mix
• The Round Valley Coal Fields
• ‘The Gypsies Are Coming!’
• Who Were the Romani?