Domingo Bastanchury

Domingo Bastanchury was a French Basque rancher, born in the little town of Altubes, in the heart of the Pyrenees mountains, in March, 1838. In 1859 he sailed around South America’s Cape Horn to the present Orange county and became a sheep and cattle herder.

Beginning in 1885 he began purchasing large tracts of land, first for his herds, then for citrus cultivation, and finally for oil drilling. At one time, the Bastanchury family owned over 4,000 acres of land in Fullerton and surrounding areas. In the early 20th century, the Bastanchury Ranch (later re-named Sunny Hills Ranch) was the largest orange grove in the world.

The first laborers on the Bastanchury Ranch were Native Americans. As the United States policy toward Native Americans became more restrictive, Native Americans were replaced by Chinese labor (Until the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1904), followed by Japanese labor (Until the Alien Land Law of 1913), and finally Mexican labor.

Mexican laborers on the Bastanchury Ranch lived in “citrus towns” that were segregated from the dominant/Anglo community. One was called Mexicali and the other was called Tiajuana. During the Great Depression, whole citrus towns were evacuated and deported back to Mexico, so as to provide unemployed Anglos with jobs. This historical reality is described at length in the book Decade of Betrayal: Mexican Repatriation in the 1930s by Francisco E. Balderrama and Raymond Rodriguez. According to scholar Gilbert Gonzales, author of Labor and Community: Mexican Citrus Worker Villages in a Southern California County, 1900-1950, these "citrus towns" were pervasive throughout Orange County in the 20th century, and they evolved into the present-day “barrios”.

Source: http://fullertoncollegecentennial.com/socal-stories/bastanchury.html

The Basque People and Early Immigration The Basque people are Europe's mystery race. Their language is Europe's only non Indo-European language spoken and has no known linkages or similarities to any other languages. They have baffled anthropologists and historians who have attempted to discover the origins of the Basque people. Among many theories, some historians claim that the Basques have always resided in the area of Southern France and Northern Spain and that the people and their language actually evolved from the earliest inhabitants there. Written Records prove that the Basques were established in their current region prior to the Roman excursions and have survived many attempts to be conquered since then. The reason for the Basque immigration was due to the economic conditions and culture of the Basque Country which did not allow for large population growth and the right of the eldest child to inherit the family farm. The children of large families were forced into one of three choices; marry into another house, join a religious order or emigrate. Many chose the latter with America's being a preferred destination, including as far back as the earliest explorations of Columbus and Magellan. They were involved in the the early settlements of most of the latin American countries and Mexico. Basques began immigrating to southern California during the Gold Rush years. The first settlers to this area had initially tried to make their fortunes in Argentina but the rumors of instant riches lured these men to try their luck in the gold mines of Northern California. After early disappointments, they were attracted to the South where an abundance of open land allowed them to exploit their innate agricultural abilities in the new country. They initially settled in Los Angeles area, where there was still open land and conditions were ideal for raising sheep. the central district where Basque hotels and businesses were located for many years was also around Aliso and Alameda Streets. Basques from the outlying areas looked forward to a visit downtown to catch up on the latest news from the old country. These were the sites of numerous weddings, baptisms and other family celebrations. Sheepherders used the hotels as their communication center receiving their mail and other information there. Among the early men who ventured to Southern California and established some of these early families were Domingo Amestoy, Gaston Oxarart, Miguel Leonis, Domingo Bastanchury, Simon Gless, and Jean Baptiste Batz. In the early years they established their ranches around what we now refer to as the downtown Los Angeles area. As this the norm for the Basque culture, these early Basques began to contact their relatives, friends, and neighbors to follow them to this new mecca.

. http://www.socalbasqueclub.com/pages/club_history.php