When Lodi Was Settled
By Dr Ghulam M Haniff
St. Cloud, Minnesota
It is not very well known but the first Pakistani settlement in the United States of America goes back to the beginning of the 20 th century. At that time there was no Pakistani nation-state but would-be Pakistanis landed on the American soil from a ship named S. S. Korematsu. The ship disembarked its passengers at the port of San Francisco, CA. When I found this out in the course of this research I expected a substantial Urdu-speaking community but none was to be found. I also expected many more Muslims but on that score it was also a disappointment.
The first immigrants who got off the ship were around one hundred and almost all of them were from Punjab who had hoped to generate some cash on their way home. All of them were also discharged veterans of the British Army who had fulfilled their contractual obligation. After settling in the middle of California they found the land to be hospitable and the climate much to their liking. It reminded them of their homeland and they quickly got accustomed to the Central Valley cities.
One of the cities they settled in was Sacramento but workplace further out needed their labor, so a number of them moved to Lodi. At that time Lodi was a very small town and looked rural in orientation. For the newcomers it was a distinct advantage to be in a rural area since they were looking for work as agricultural hands. Almost all of them had some type of experience as agricultural workers, at least in their period of growing up. Eventually, some of them became tenant farmers, bought the land or rented it to raise crops of wheat, oats or fruits. In fact, much of the tomatoes raised today is done by the Punjabi farmers and some of the almond groves are also owned by them.
Today, the city of Lodi has not undergone substantial changes although it is beginning to look more and more urban in outlook. At the moment there is some push for urbanization and the area surrounding it is becoming more like an urban community in the making. Quite a bit of land is within commuting distance and is being sold to entrepreneurs from the Bay Area.
At the moment there are around 2,000 Muslims, many employed in agriculture, with two mosques to serve them in the Lodi area, although plans are in the offing for additional mosques. One of the mosques is located well within the rural area and the other is closer to town. Most people drive by it without realizing that they have just passed a mosque, even though it is a strange sight for the rural people. Diversity is not one of the features that had caught on in the rural area.
One of the first batches of immigrants to arrive at the port of San Francisco was in 1908, an early date for the Indo-Pak newcomers as far as the immigrant history is concerned. These were mostly ex-soldiers hoping to cash in with a small bundle of dollars on their way home. Some of the settlers were joined in by a few Punjabis from Canada and ostensibly they stayed on until the citizenship issue was settled.
The newcomers were mostly Sikhs but also included about 13 percent Muslims and 2 percent Hindus. They did not speak English very well, except some, and almost all of them spoke Punjabi and Urdu. In farming their land they introduced some of the techniques they had acquired in their homeland.
In the course of conducting research for this article I ran into a man by the name of Nasim Khan. He also came to the United States as an agriculture worker some time back and has since become a machinist. He now has a job in the Bay Area and commutes to his place of employment. There were other people who came here without skills but acquired them quickly, became proficient in some line of work, and were upwardly bound. Nasim Khan could give speeches and became the President of the Muslim Organization in Sacramento.
Among the newcomers, most of them Muslims, it became common early on to take Mexican brides. Only a handful of those women accepted Islam though they all learned very quickly how to cook chicken and roti. The descendents of these marriages are still around though none of them are Muslims. The most recent newcomers go back to Pakistan to get married in the proper manner.
Owing to their large numbers the Sikhs have done very well with large houses and property to their names. They have even established business enterprises with specialization in transportation. The Sikh gurudwaras are as many as the Muslim mosques although Muslims are on a construction binge since the incoming immigrants are interested in education of their children. Fortunately, the Sikh headquarters is located in the town of Yuba City, where considerable number of Sikhs had settled to conduct business.
The largest Muslim mosque is located in Sacramento which is also their main area of employment and settlement.
Back to Pakistanlink Homepage
