A Conversation with Juan Vidal

Fall of 2008

    Juan Vidal has been in Alamos for 32 years. The son of a single mother, he was born in Navojoa on June 14, 1957. He has three brothers, one older and two younger. Two of his brothers are teachers. His youngest brother is an electrical engineer in Durango.

    He attended school in Navojoa from elementary through teacher training. While he was studying to become a teacher, Juan Vidal also studied general arts. He had a teacher in the museum of Alamos whose name was Arthuro Moyers Villena who was formerly a pupil of the famous muralist Jose Clemente Orozco, who's fame, was second only to Diego Rivera in Mexico. Juan Vidal painted several oil and acrylic paintings of landscapes and portraits, and sold them to Americans as well as Mexicans. He later decided to paint signs as they brought in more income for his family. Juan Vidal also studied civil law for 2 ½ years at the same time as he studied to become a teacher. From 1978 through 1981 he was in Mazatlan studying natural science. His knowledge of geology enabled him to write the section of pre-history in his 220 page book, published in 2007, Alamos, Century by Century. After his studies in Mazatlan he moved to Guadalajara, where he studied languages.

    Juan Vidal came to Alamos in 1977 in order to take a teaching position in San Juan, several hours north of the city. The first evening when he arrived in Alamos, it was raining. He took shelter on the porch of the Adolfo Bley house. Teodoro Hurtado (a local guide) told him about the history of the house where he was seeking shelter, and about the plaza and the church. This interested Juan Vidal, and he made note of the facts in a journal that he kept. The next day he made his way to Macoyahui, next to the Mayo river. He had to stay there overnight before crossing the river to go to San Juan. He asked about the ruins he saw there, and kept the information in his notebook. The next morning he was taken to the cemetery, where he saw many old tomb stones. He was told they were from the time of the Bacchomos uprising. The warriors didn't recognize their own tribal members, and so they shot each other. They were called encalzonados because they only wore calzones (a crude type of hand stitched shorts). The Indians were in an uprising against Porfierio Diaz.  Again, Juan Vidal jotted notes on the history of the area.

    Juan Vidal had to cross the Mayo river at either Macoyahui or Mexiquillo and then ride another 2 or 3 hours on a horse, a mule, or a donkey to reach his teaching position in San Juan. If he had to ride a donkey it took 4 hours because donkeys like to wander around. His first trip was very difficult because he didn't know how to ride a horse.

    Juan Vidal taught all six levels of primary school in San Juan in a one room school house for one year. There was so much work involved that he had to teach in the afternoon as well. He was paid for his work in the mornings, and was given free housing, but in the afternoons he worked for free. The community was so grateful that he did this work for free they decided to offer him free food. He rotated from household to household, being given meals for two weeks with one family, and then going to another. This enabled him to talk with the parents and gave him better knowledge of the community.

    There was no electricity in the community so the men of the village used to gather around a large tree in the central plaza in the mornings to listen to a battery powered AM radio. Juan Vidal met an old man who liked to sit under the tree and tell stories about the old times in the town. Juan Vidal wrote these stories down in his notebook. By the time he left San Juan, he had quite a collection of stories.

    The next two years were spent by Juan Vidal teaching in Tabelo, north of Alamos. He had a female co-worker at that school. In his fourth year of teaching, Juan Vidal began working in the Capilla. He preferred teaching the early grades.

    He was married to Juanita Grajeda, who worked as a secretary for the school district and was born in Alamos. They have four children, two boys, Luis Angel, 25, Juan Vidal, 21, and two girls, Brenda,14, and Jhoana, 13. Juan Vidal says they are tied, two and two, a perfect democracy. Luis Angel was recently married with his father, the Alamos Justice of the Peace, officiating at the ceremony.

    In 1989 Juan Vidal was awarded the top prize for his design of the County Seal. It incorporates symbols representing agriculture, mining, cattle, church, Indians, coins, and arches and is used in government documents and pieces of publicity.

    That same year he started the minstrel group, La Estudiantina. Juan Vidal plays the mandolin and also the accordion. At first the group was a mixed group of adults, youths, and also women. Ana Silvia Laborin (the Director of all of the Sonora Museums), and Tony Estrada were also instrumental in starting the group. They named the group in honor of Alfonso Ortiz Tirado, the famous Mexican tenor, who was born in Alamos. Juan Vidal was the director of the group and taught them the songs. Ramon Alcantar and Reyna  Sanchez were early members of the group. The group traveled a great deal, going as far as San Francisco. With all of the travel and out of town performances, Juan Vidal eventually felt he could no longer spend so much time away from his family. He stepped down as director in 1995.

    Juan Vidal has been involved with the Palacio since he first began teaching in Alamos. His interest and knowledge of local history became known, so he was asked to help with speeches and from time to time to act as a master of ceremonies. Five years ago he began his duties as Justice of the Peace. At that time he shared his time between working with the teachers' union and his work at the Palacio. He retired from teaching two years ago. His duties include the registering of births, deaths, marriages, divorces, adoptions, and recognitions (the father of the child registers his sir name). Juan Vidal performs civil marriage ceremonies. The ceremony takes at least 45 minutes.

    Juan Vidal published his book, Alamos, Century by Century. The book covers 320 years of history starting with the 1st baptism in 1685. Some of the events tell of dark times in the early 1900's to the end of the Revolution; the installation of telephone and telegraph in 1881 and 1883; the establishment of a hospital in 1887; opening of the Mercado in 1895; building the Palacio in 1899; and the inauguration of the railroad in 1908. 1960 saw the completion of the highway to Navojoa and land distributed to the Ejidos. To date he has sold over 1000 copies of this book.

    Alamos of Yesterday, Is a new book that Juan Vidal has finished, and will soon be published. This book contains many old photographs from as far back as 1909. Juan Vidal gathered these photos from his friends in the community. He has one more book that he is getting ready for publication. The book represents a chronology of events throughout the calendar year, taking each day and looking at what events took place on that day. Juan Vidal says that it will probably be his children that will publish his latest book.

  Interviewed by Ellen Price on March 2nd 2009

x