Miners, Milkers & Merchants: From the Swiss-Italian Alps to the Golden Hills of Australia and California
Miners, Milkers & Merchants is an moving story of immigrants and history brought alive through the letters of three Swiss-Italian brothers who migrated from Ticino to Australia and California during the nineteenth century. Forced by poverty from the Swiss Canton of Ticino, they joined the over twenty-nine thousand emigrants, one out of five inhabitants, who left Ticino between the 1850s and the 1930s.
In letters written to their father Luigi, the brothers tell of their hopes, fears, and struggles. They share excitement at new sights, announce successes, lament their sorrows and express yearnings for home.Their letters reveal details of mid-nineteenth century life in Northern California's dairy lands, silver-booming San Francisco, and Australia's gold country. They reflect the universal story of all immigrants: the dreams, fears, failures, courage, hard work, and leaps of faith required to start a new life in a foreign land.
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Marilyn L. Geary has scrupulously analyzed the migrations to explain their history in an original way. Following the vicissitudes of the Rotanzi family from Peccia described in the letters sent from Australia and California, we gain a glimpse of the demographic history woven between the continents. -Giorgio Cheda, pre-eminent expert on Ticino emigration
Nineteenth century Swiss-Italian immigrants made an indelible mark on coastal California, Marin County, and Victoria, Australia, among other places in the world. Marilyn L. Geary's welcome book not only gives us a solid history of Swiss emigration, but she writes through the eyes and words of the people who left their homes of generations, traveled under poor conditions and settled in strange but beautiful lands. A father's heart-aching concern for his sons' well-being anchors this thoroughly researched narrative, made alive by Ms. Geary's confident prose. The book is an important addition to the historical record, but will also appeal to readers who enjoy human stories and a sense of place. -Dewey Livingston, West Marin Historian
