Working in the Wilderness

        

             Like most immigrants who traveled to the new world my Nana claims that her parents came for “opportunity”.  Upon reading Godine’s accounts of the trials faced by the “wildly diverse work force supplied by Ellis Island” (57, Peopling of the Park) I find it hard to imagine the conditions under which these foreigners were fleeing from.  Hearing these stories I began to think of what life was like for my ancestors that Nana speaks of.  Like many settlers in the Adirondacks they fled Lithuania to escape the oppression of the Polish-Lithuanian state by Russia.  Luckily, they settled in Massachusetts and avoided some of the harsh dangers the rugged terrain and lifestyle the Adirondacks provided.  The seclusion of the Adirondacks forced European settlers to face adversity not faced by those who settled elsewhere.

            The hope of abundant resources in the mysterious Adirondacks created much demand for laborers.  Immigrants fleeing world aristocrats who behaved as “slave holders” (49, Hidden History) were often offered travel subsidies and housing credits in order to migrate to the United States.  Those who were unlucky enough to land in the Adirondacks were met with a sort of Wild West atmosphere controlled by the WASP industrialists.  The low wage immigrants looking for opportunity in turn created opportunity for the wealthy by supplying cheap labor.  Despite the immigrants out populating the “native born”, oppression was prevalent of the migrant townspeople and farmers.  An article in the New York Call notes the presence of those in power using force as an immigrant claimed, “the Slavs claim the Adirondacks are worse than Siberia, and the mounted police are worse than the Cossacks” (57, Peopling in the Park).  By painting the immigrants as lowly and unproductive the WASPs were able to keep wages low and squash strikes before momentum was gained.  Most immigrants in the Adirondacks were subject to company housing which was segregated, crowded, and often of low quality because of the constant relocation for depletion of iron ore or timber.

            The seclusion of the Adirondacks and working conditions also lead to alcoholism and depression.  Godine mentions that over half of all mineworkers’ alcoholism interfered with their work and thirty to fifty suicides were recorded in one year alone (57, Peopling of the Park).  Early on, Adirondack settlements were kept secluded amongst nationalities preventing the workers from coming together and forming a union.  This seclusion likely made possible by the Adirondack wilderness lead to violence as those in charge played favorites.

            Fortunately European settlement in America was not always as harsh as it was in the Adirondacks.  Extremely fertile farmland in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and the Mid West lead to prosperous jobs in agriculture.  Prosperous homogenous European settlements spread out across the land (learnnc.org).  Fertile soils and a more forgiving climate were no doubt integral to the higher quality of life of these immigrants.  The other difference lies in the connection to civilization.  There was something primitive and unruly about the wilderness of the Adirondacks that allowed the poor immigrants to be taken advantage of.  It was far unlike near cities like Boston and Manhattan where immigrants were met with “settlement workers, labor organizers, fraternal groups, and a reformist press” (47, Hidden History).

             

Source

Godine, Amy. The Peopling of the Park. Adirondack Life Magazine.  September/October 1992.

Godine, Amy. The Hidden History. Adirondack Life Magazine.  September/ October 1993.

Diner, Hasia. Immigration in US History.  US Department of State, n.d. Web 17 Sept 2015.  http://www.learnnc.org/lp/editions/nchist-newsouth/5690