Dominating these were Swiss and Portuguese. Italian-speaking Swiss arrived in 

 great numbers from the Valleys Maggia and Verzasca in the southern Alps. 

 Thousands of men left their overpopulated, poverty-stricken villages in 

 Switzerland to come to Marin County and California, and most stayed. These 

 men were sponsored either by their villages or by a man who had already found 

 success in the United States, and repaid their passage in labor; wives and family 

 members soon followed. A similar situation occurred with Portuguese from the 

 Azores, or Western Islands, about 800 miles west of mainland Portugal. 

 Azorean laborers arrived beginning in the 1860s, having traveled by ship around 

 Cape Horn to Hawaii, then to San Francisco, a trip of about three and a half 

 months. Azorean immigrants brought religious and social customs to Point 

 Reyes, including the religious festival, Festa do Diuino Espirito Santo or 

 Festival of the Holy Ghost. 71 



Many of these immigrants, especially the Portuguese, received criticism 

 from "Americans" about coming to the country, working for cheap wages, then 

 buying up the productive land. R. G. Sneath wrote: 



Most of these arrivals are young men about of age, 

 and physically able to do any labor. Their experience 

 in the home country, except that of milking a cow, is 

 of little value to them here, and not being able to 

 speak English, they are perforce compelled frequently 

 to work for their board and a very few dollars per 

 month. 



This is true not only of the Swiss but of all foreigners, 

 and is the principal reason why foreigners that 

 employ many laborers, especially in the dairy and 

 vegetable line, have become wealthy in a few years. 

 They have thus been able to crowd our own people to 

 the wall in many industries where labor is the chief 

 factor, and their presence in the country is looked 

 upon by many unfavorably. 72 



Most of these complaints, however, were countered by general support of the 



71 Rae Codoni, The Corippians. A Retrospective View (Riverbank, CA: Baker Graphics, 1990), 

 pp. 17-21; Hallock F. Raup, "The Italian-Swiss in California," California Historical Quarterly. 

 December 1951, pp. 308-309; August Mark Vaz, The Portuguese in California (Oakland: I.D.E.S. 

 Supreme Council, 1965), pp. 53-57; various documents in Leases. MCRO. 



72 R. G. Sneath, "Dairying in California," Overland Monthly. January-June, 1888, p. 389. 



42 



