March to Sacramento (on the road)

Marchers walking on a dirt road during the march to Sacramento, 1966. Photo by John Kouns.

Unlike the March on Washington of the Civil Rights era that had a group converged on one place, the pilgrimage to Sacramento chose Mao’s model of a traveling march that organized people along the route. Thus, the march was planned to pass through as many small towns as possible. The march was led by a farmworker carrying a banner of Our Lady of Guadalupe, patron saint of Mexico, made by 22-year-old Alicia Jiménez from Sacramento.

Marchers walking on a dirt road during the march to Sacramento, 1966. Photo by John Kouns.

American and Mexican flags were also carried at the head of the procession. As the marchers walked single file along Highway 99 and on small roads, people used to come to cheer the workers on and offer food or drinks. Sometimes, music performers welcomed the marchers and a few of these local musicians joined the march to Sacramento. A farmworker advanced team devised strategies to mobilize local farmworker committees and groups to welcome the marchers, feed them, organize a rally each evening and a mass the next morning.

Nurse Peggy McGivern inspects the feet of a marcher sitting inside a house during the march to Sacramento, 1966

The farmworkers who undertook the march to Sacramento were not expecting the toll walking all day took on their bodies, especially since many of them were working and organizing right up to the beginning of the march. Their feet became blistered and bloody, and others suffered from pulled and strained muscles. Nurse Peggy McGivern administered medical services throughout the march.

At each rally, Luis Valdez proclaimed the “Plan de Delano,” calling for the liberation of the farmworker. The plan was modeled after Emiliano Zapata’s Plan de Ayala. Teatro Campesino also performed during those rallies. The physical suffering of the long march enhanced the religious aspects. “Every step was a needle,” César Chávez recalled. He suffered from a swollen ankle, blisters, and fever for a day or two. Then, he continued the march hobbling a cane. “The penance part of it,” he said, “is the most important thing of the pilgrimage.”

Marchers walk next to grape fields during the march to Sacramento, 1966. Photo by John Kouns.

Yolanda Barrera on Family, Music, and the Farmworker Movement (video)

Yolanda Barrera talks about her family’s involvement during the March to Sacramento in this clip. Her father and uncles played guitar, accordion, and drums while marching. She also talks about the physical toll the march took on their feet.

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