This is mine, as in I was assigned, I went to the talk, show, meeting or whatever you want to call it, I took notes, I typed things up , and voila! Taffy was happy. He sent me a card.
I have not responded to that card yet. sigh I get busy. It was a lovely card, though, and I appreciated the thought, very much. So, if you are out there, Mr. Tafoya: thank you!

Newspaper article - all my own

Tafoya article 3 – 25- 2009

Onofre, Mother Magma, and Other Family

This is an article more for those who as of yet have not had the pleasure of Onofre Tafoya’s company, in public or in private; those who have, already know most of what I have to say. They may wish to stick around, anyway, as there’ll be some quotes from him, which are always well worth reading.

Before setting out to write this article, I already had plans to attend the event to celebrate Onofre Tafoya’s book, ‘Mother Magma’. I did not plan to attend due to a love of mining, as the mining where I come from is much different. I was going because Mr. Tafoya, and his lovely wife, Allison, made a mark in my life and the life of my youngest son, by taking up the challenge of sponsoring him through Adelente Juntos. I don’t know him well. The sponsorship, due to personal reasons, was short-lived, but, I know enough to be personally impressed with Mr. Tafoya (“Taffy)as a man, who shows deep and abiding respect for other’s beliefs, ways of life, and persons. So, I went, in support of someone I could not quite say is a friend, but, whom has definitely, from the start, because of his giving personality, always been more than an acquaintance.

What did I expect? I was told it was to be a reading from Taffy’s book, and that there might be a few slides shown. What I was not told, and so did not expect, was that instead of merely reading what was already written, Taffy was going to regale us with personal stories of his life and times with a dynamic personality that somehow managed to enthrall a room full of persons, imbuing them with some measure of the love of mining that he possesses; even the people who, like me, really knew nothing about the subject of mining in Arizona before they came to hear him speak.

It goes back to his respect for others shining through. Taffy never talks down to his audience; his goal is not to prove what he knows, but, to share his joy in what he has discovered. He carries on with forthrightness, allowing one to be privy to mistakes and foibles of a young man who spent more time at work than at love. Too, he packed the small meeting room of the Mammoth Community Center with (mostly) black and white photos of his friends and their families, events, and operations of the Magma Copper Co. underground mine, near San Manuel during his years there. Many of them were thoughtfully labeled with names; and, he invited questions and comments from others with similar experience, or who simply wanted to better understand what the experience really was like. So, in the end, it was not a book reading, as I had been led to believe it would be, nor was it a lecture; it was more a friendly meeting of friends and family, one of whom had a rather long and engaging anecdote to tell.

Taffy was born in 1929, during the Great Depression, and, as he proudly announced, he will be 80 years of age, shortly. I’m sure he’d like no present better than for you to purchase his book ‘Mother Magma’ which will, then, give both of you joy. It has sold at least 1,000 copies so far, or, to quote Taffy “Almost enough to make my money back.” In an area as small as the Tri-Community, full of artists, you are bound to run into someone who can critique the book for you before purchase, so I shan’t go into it here, but, get right into the meat of Mr. Tafoya’s enjoyable talk.

Onofre “Taffy” Tafoya, was born during the Great Depression, and was the eldest of five. His mother died when he was 12 years old. Two years later, at the age of 14, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy. As Taffy tells it,when he got out of the Navy, the Navy thought he was 21 years of age, but, he was pretty sure he was 18. He loved the Navy, and spoke lovingly of the best pair of shoes he’d ever had, the warm pea coat, and the good food. “I wanted to stay in, “ said Onofre, “but, I fell in love.” In 1947, he married, and by 1956 they had 6 children, including the two she came into his life with.

They lived in a low-rent area of Phoenix, where he worked in a brickyard in the early 1950’s, until a friend sent for him, beckoning him to come work in the mine, and giving him a $20 bill to help him make his way there, in 1955. “I could pay cash for my groceries and gasoline,” he says of the job he took in 1955.

That was the year he discovered his true passion in life, underground mining. This was also,where and relatively when, he got the nickname Taffy. I’ll leave off the rest of what he said about his other nicknames and the nicknames of other miners, so there’ll be something for you to look forward to when you go to hear Taffy speak. Trust me, though: it’s a real gas!

During his public talk, Mr. Tafoya brought up certain subjects again and again. Those were his love of mining; the camaraderie built between miners and family’s of miners during their long years of work together; the trust the miners had in the mine which was hard but reliable work that a body could do, without a degree, and which paid enough to support a family; and, the betrayal felt when the mine shut down in 1999.

Why betrayal? True, the price of copper had suffered a decline but, there were still nearly 2 billion pounds of copper in the San Manuel and Kalamazoo ore bodies. More than 2,000 jobs were lost, when the San Manuel mine was sold to foreign investors, who then shut it down. After four decades of operation, Arizona lost the largest underground mine in North America, and the people of San Manuel lost a way of life.

“I felt betrayed,” Tafoya said. “If you had a family to support, you had to get out.” Later, he touched on this subject again, stating ““It’s called Mother Magma, because she always took care of you.”

Even those of us who are newer in town have had a small piece of this pain, as we lived through part of our country’s history, being knocked down. The smelter towers were not known to some of us as personally as they were to others, but over the years they became a landmark for my family, who would look up and see them from their car window and say “Yes, we are almost home.” How sad that loss is, then, for the people who already knew they were home, thanks to Mother Magma.

In an interview with Barriozona, which can be found atwww.barriozona.com/onofre_tafoya.html, Taffy expanded more on the subject of how intense working conditions can bring people together, saying “ When men work together for a long time –ten, twenty, thirty years– and they have not abused one another in a serious way, a sense of respect and tolerance of each other’s faults and failings develops. Male bonding is built on this respect and tolerance. Each day that I go out into the street or town, I meet men who I have known for three, four or five decades. We are drawn to each other. We must make contact, however brief, to renew this bond and relive the past. My wife, Allison, is astonished on how many men I know, and the many more who know me and I cannot remember, until they tell me where and when we worked together. Others remind me of some incident or of a mutual friend. We shared a harsh and demanding life for many years deep in the ground, where we depended on each other to complete our tasks and protect each other from hurt or harm.”

Onofre is retired, ostensibly, but keeps himself busy. As a member of the Mammoth Miners Memorial Organization, has worked with the senior citizens of Mammoth to help build the memorial to miners who perished while working in the San Manuel area. More information about the Mammoth Miners Memorial Organization may be found atwww.theMMM.org
The monument was not discussed during Taffy’s talk, but, some of the accidents were; including that they were relatively few and far between, considering the size and scope of the operation and the records of other, smaller mines. Several retired miners chipped in their own memories, and their own feelings regarding the loss of a mine that they feel should still be producing.

The next time you are at a library and you see a book by Onofre Tafoya, you should pick it up. If you don’t see it, you should ask for it. Regardless of your interest in mining, you will be in for a literary treat, as Onofre Tafoya shares his life and loves between the pages. Or, look for it online and make a purchase. At $24.95, it’s cheaper than its weight in copper, and that’s pretty good for something touted by those who have read it as “pure gold”.

30

• 
  Janelle McKainabout 2 years ago

  Insightful story about an amazing gentleman… your ARE a good writer! I enjoyed reading this very much!

  Reply | Delete | Report
• Probably not as much as I enjoyed your comment.

   

  He is a very cool guy.. And, thank you, very, very much.

   – Arletta