10/19/1955
He is general foreman of the City Park Department and remembers when workers cut park grass with a mower drawn by Maggie the mule. That was back in 1919 when Mr. Gonzalez joined the department as a laborer.
In those days, the department was responsible for the care of trees along some 60 blocks of streets, including Nevada, Rio Grande, Grant, Magoffin and streets in Richmond Terrace and Austin Terrace.
Mr. Gonzalez and about five other men were assigned to the care of about 500 street trees in Austin Terrace. In 1925, Park Superintendent Hugo Mayer put Mr. Gonzalez in the general program of tending park trees and shrubs. He began to learn more and more about how plants grow.
Bossed Up a Crew
There developed between Mr. Gonzalez and Mr. Meyer a friendship which lasted during the many years of working together until his death in 1952.
"He did a lot for me," Mr. Gonzalez said. In 1928, Mr. Gonzalez was made assistant foreman of the department. He remained in this job until 1947 when he became general foreman.
He was placed in charge of a Works Progress Administration crew of more than 80 men who in eight months in 1932 built the rock bridges and retaining walls at Hillside Gardens in Memorial Park. Memorial Park was a grassless six acres in 1919 when the park was begun under the guiding hand of Real Estate Developer James L. Marr, Mr. Gonzalez said. In 1923, Park Superintendent Meyer began expanding the park. It now includes more than 40 acres.
Remembers First Tree
Mr. Gonzalez remembers the first Christmas tree placed by the City. It was 18 feet tall as compared to a tree picked for this year's San Jacinto Plaza decorations to stand 94 feet. A crew of eight men brought the first tree from Cloudcroft. It was placed in the park at City Hall and Mr. Gonzalez climbed a ladder to attach the star.
Many El Pasoans do not know that at one time there were two lakes, one on either side of what is now Paisano drive. People came to fish and take boats on the lakes and the WPA maintained fish hatcheries along the shoreline of one of the lakes.'
Mr. Gonzalez said that in 1928 the lake in Washington Park was filled to form the present sunken gardens. In the late 1930s, dredging operations in the second lake scooped down to quicksand and the lake drained away, he said.
Recalls Ranch Days
When Mr. Gonzalez joined the department in 1919, the equipment included the mule-drawn mower, two mule-drawn dump wagons, a mule buggy, chain-driven Liberty truck and a Model T Ford truck. Today the department has 24 cars, trucks and tractors, nine power mowers and two sets of tractor-drawn mowers.
Mr. Gonzalez at 61 still remembers vividly his childhood in Ft. Davis where he was born and where he returns each year to see old friends. He visited his grandfather's ranch often as a child and was a chuck wagon cook on other ranches in his youth. He still fixes his own breakfast after arising at 4:30 each weekday morning.
Soon after he arrived in El Paso in 1917, Mr. Gonzalez began working as a mule driver for the El Paso Southwestern Railroad, a line later absorbed by the Southern Pacific. Mr. Gonzalez’ teams hauled earth for railroad embankments in New Mexico.
Today, Mr. Gonzalez is in charge of 70 men in the Park Department. Crews working under him perform a variety of jobs. They must take care of flowers, shrubs, grass and trees, maintain the Washington Park zoo, decorate for events such as the Sun Carnival and assist in such projects as the Fourth of July park celebrations.
Park Superintendent Bryc Lammert has a deep respect for his general foreman. "He's tops." Mr. Lammert said. "I always know I can count on him to get the job done."
Mr. Gonzalez works along with his men on the jobs and gives the crews much credit.
"It's like a general," he said. "He can't do much without good soldiers. I've always done the best I can, not only for Mr. Meyer and then Mr. Lammert, but for all the people of El Paso.
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