Legacy of a Name (Barney Salusso)
Barney opened his eyes as the morning light peeked timidly in through the window over the East Ridge. The miners in Butchertown were switching shifts again, calling greetings to one another in the streets. Barney rolled out of bed and stretched. He splashed water in his face from the basin and then carefully dressed for another day of delivery, carefully putting on his starched white shirt and tie, like he did every morning.
The garden at Bull Run was particularly abundant this summer, and he was grateful. He walked into the kitchen and set about making his customary pancakes for breakfast. His little robin chirped in his cage. Barney chuckled quietly to himself. So nice, his little “pettirosso” or robin. She loved pancakes. He broke off a few crumbs and fed it to the bird between the wires of the cage. It was time to let her out for the day. She would come home just before the sun fell behind the western horizon. He opened the cage, and she flew out the window, and Barney continued getting ready for work.
Not much is known about my great grandfather Barney before he came to America. He did not talk much of Italy or of his childhood. His grandchildren and daughter conjecture that it was too hard to leave his family and homeland to keep bringing it up. I know that he was also a hard worker from a young age. When was 14, he led a cow over the Alps into France to be sold. His only daughter, Mary Calcaterra, thinks he came from a family of four boys and one girl. One of his brothers moved to Argentina and raised a large family there. Apparently, from 1870-1900, the standard of living in rural Italy fell dramatically due to a reduction in shipping charges. North American and Argentine produce flooded the market, sending Italy into an agricultural depression. Families were spending three quarters of their income on food, and this amount was barely enough to avoid starvation. In Northern Italy, most of the rural inhabitants lived solely on polenta. However, this meager diet caused severe vitamin deficiency, which then resulted in a disease called “pellagra,” characterized by insanity and death (Oxford History of Italy).
If the poor standard of living didn’t bring Barney to America, he may have come as a result of the lack of work. He came to America just as Italy was undergoing its second industrial revolution, which involved the development of hydroelectrical industry. Barney, however, would not have been part of that revolution. Giovanni Giolitti was the leading statesman at that time, following King Umberto’s assassination in July of 1900. He allowed, for the first time, the unions of rural laborers freedom to organize. Two hundred thousand laborers showed up for the first strike, protesting the work conditions and pay on behalf of their starving, dying families. It is very interesting to note that Barney moved from a country of “separate government and strong local identity” and labor unions to Butte, Montana—a city of warring political powers and strong local identity and heritage (Lintner). He also left an agricultural depression in Italy, only to find another in Montana, which lasted from 1910-1940, mixed with the Great Depression. But Butte had more opportunity than much of the rest of the country for a man of vision and ambition.
My great grandfather made it to Butte and stayed at the Tamietti boarding house. One day, in 1910, he was riding southeast of Brown’s Gulch, and he happened upon Bull Run Gulch. He fell in love with the gulch and proceeded to homestead it with George Johnson. There is some speculation in the family that he had tried hard rock mining briefly, but couldn’t stand to be underground. He and Johnson piped a spring into Bull Run, dug a well, and built a house out of recycled timber from a house they had demolished in Walkerville. He was handy at carpentry, plumbing, and mechanics, and clearly had a green thumb. He started a large garden of cabbage, lettuce, carrots, etc., and as soon as it produced, he would cart the vegetables in to sell them to the miners living in the boarding houses.
When he had made enough money, he sent for a bride from Italy. Margarita Chiono Roncoglioni arrived from Priacco, Italy, roughly 56 miles south of Barney’s hometown in Pinerolo. Both towns are located at the foot of the Piedmont, but would have been fairly isolated before the age of vehicles and highways. Margarita, or Maggie, arrived under the agreement that, if she didn’t want to marry Barney upon meeting him, she would return directly to Italy. Obviously, she chose to stay. Barney was a good-natured, patient man, with a quiet humor.
He was not a man of great stature, but he made up for it in hard work. Maggie became the matriarchal head of the family on account of her strong personality and controlling nature.
At that time, the Salussos were strictly Catholic, and attended mass at St. Lawrence Church every Sunday possible. After mass, the family would return home and enjoy “bagna calda”, a dish of hot butter, olive oil, garlic, and anchovies. Business must have been fairly good for the family, because Barney was able to purchase the small house in Butchertown in 1921. And Mary Calcaterra remembers that when she and George were very young, they would each receive a whole dollar for Christmas. She would buy Maggie a box of chocolate-covered cherries and George would purchase a pouch of Prince Albert pipe tobacco for Barney with his gift. My family has a long tradition of taking care of each other, in all circumstances.
They also know how to make do with that they have on hand. In a world before refrigerated delivery trucks, Barney cut the back out of a car, filled it with ice, and covered it with a canvas to keep the dairy and vegetables from spoiling. Salussos are a resourceful, pragmatic family.
The garden at Bull Run was particularly abundant this summer, and he was grateful. He walked into the kitchen and set about making his customary pancakes for breakfast. His little robin chirped in his cage. Barney chuckled quietly to himself. So nice, his little “pettirosso” or robin. She loved pancakes. He broke off a few crumbs and fed it to the bird between the wires of the cage. It was time to let her out for the day. She would come home just before the sun fell behind the western horizon. He opened the cage, and she flew out the window, and Barney continued getting ready for work.
Not much is known about my great grandfather Barney before he came to America. He did not talk much of Italy or of his childhood. His grandchildren and daughter conjecture that it was too hard to leave his family and homeland to keep bringing it up. I know that he was also a hard worker from a young age. When was 14, he led a cow over the Alps into France to be sold. His only daughter, Mary Calcaterra, thinks he came from a family of four boys and one girl. One of his brothers moved to Argentina and raised a large family there. Apparently, from 1870-1900, the standard of living in rural Italy fell dramatically due to a reduction in shipping charges. North American and Argentine produce flooded the market, sending Italy into an agricultural depression. Families were spending three quarters of their income on food, and this amount was barely enough to avoid starvation. In Northern Italy, most of the rural inhabitants lived solely on polenta. However, this meager diet caused severe vitamin deficiency, which then resulted in a disease called “pellagra,” characterized by insanity and death (Oxford History of Italy).
If the poor standard of living didn’t bring Barney to America, he may have come as a result of the lack of work. He came to America just as Italy was undergoing its second industrial revolution, which involved the development of hydroelectrical industry. Barney, however, would not have been part of that revolution. Giovanni Giolitti was the leading statesman at that time, following King Umberto’s assassination in July of 1900. He allowed, for the first time, the unions of rural laborers freedom to organize. Two hundred thousand laborers showed up for the first strike, protesting the work conditions and pay on behalf of their starving, dying families. It is very interesting to note that Barney moved from a country of “separate government and strong local identity” and labor unions to Butte, Montana—a city of warring political powers and strong local identity and heritage (Lintner). He also left an agricultural depression in Italy, only to find another in Montana, which lasted from 1910-1940, mixed with the Great Depression. But Butte had more opportunity than much of the rest of the country for a man of vision and ambition.
My great grandfather made it to Butte and stayed at the Tamietti boarding house. One day, in 1910, he was riding southeast of Brown’s Gulch, and he happened upon Bull Run Gulch. He fell in love with the gulch and proceeded to homestead it with George Johnson. There is some speculation in the family that he had tried hard rock mining briefly, but couldn’t stand to be underground. He and Johnson piped a spring into Bull Run, dug a well, and built a house out of recycled timber from a house they had demolished in Walkerville. He was handy at carpentry, plumbing, and mechanics, and clearly had a green thumb. He started a large garden of cabbage, lettuce, carrots, etc., and as soon as it produced, he would cart the vegetables in to sell them to the miners living in the boarding houses.
When he had made enough money, he sent for a bride from Italy. Margarita Chiono Roncoglioni arrived from Priacco, Italy, roughly 56 miles south of Barney’s hometown in Pinerolo. Both towns are located at the foot of the Piedmont, but would have been fairly isolated before the age of vehicles and highways. Margarita, or Maggie, arrived under the agreement that, if she didn’t want to marry Barney upon meeting him, she would return directly to Italy. Obviously, she chose to stay. Barney was a good-natured, patient man, with a quiet humor.
He was not a man of great stature, but he made up for it in hard work. Maggie became the matriarchal head of the family on account of her strong personality and controlling nature.
At that time, the Salussos were strictly Catholic, and attended mass at St. Lawrence Church every Sunday possible. After mass, the family would return home and enjoy “bagna calda”, a dish of hot butter, olive oil, garlic, and anchovies. Business must have been fairly good for the family, because Barney was able to purchase the small house in Butchertown in 1921. And Mary Calcaterra remembers that when she and George were very young, they would each receive a whole dollar for Christmas. She would buy Maggie a box of chocolate-covered cherries and George would purchase a pouch of Prince Albert pipe tobacco for Barney with his gift. My family has a long tradition of taking care of each other, in all circumstances.
They also know how to make do with that they have on hand. In a world before refrigerated delivery trucks, Barney cut the back out of a car, filled it with ice, and covered it with a canvas to keep the dairy and vegetables from spoiling. Salussos are a resourceful, pragmatic family.
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