Joseph P. Mosconi - University of Nevada, Reno

2 Joseph Mosconi
He’s from Grosio.
Was he the first Italian from Grosio to come
to Truckee?
Well, as much as I can remember, yes.
Then there was a fellow by the name of Steve
Besio. A very brilliant man, Mr. Besio was. At
every funeral he could give a eulogy. One of
his sons—he’s retired now—was the head of
the public schools of Manteca [California], the
other side of Stockton. And he has one son..
.they have a dry goods store up at Truckee.
Then my uncle Joe came over, and there
was Capetti [and] Borsi, from the town
where I was born—Grosio—and Delfatti.
Delfatti was from the town right below, like
down here at River Inn—larger than Grosio.
Then there was Maffi; some of the Maffis are
here—Benny. You ought to talk to him. Boy,
he could tell you plenty.
I’m going to try to, yes.
He was born over there.
He was from Grosio, too?
Well, I think he was born at the foot of
that hill over there from the town of Grosio.
There’s a lot of little towns a stone’s throw
from one to the other. And then who else?
Pini. They were all over here from Grosio, I
thought.
So Jim came over that way?
Yes.
Did this fellow in Truckee send him his money
to come over?
Well, that I don’t know.
Do you know when Jim came?
No, I don’t. He was here when John
Cabona.... Now, I don’t know whether
Cabona’s from my home town or not. I don’t
think so. I think he was from northern Italy.
OK. Jim came to Truckee, then, and what was
he working at in Truckee?
He and my uncle Joe were stonemasons,
and they done a lot of stonework up there.
My uncle Jim would get these contracts
from different people—McGlashan, oh, the
elite people of the community. [Charles F.]
McGlashan was a very recognized person,
and he had a big dome rock up there. He had
a stairway built out of granite all the way up.
Then they worked for the paper mill in
Floriston. You see, there was a large paper mill
in Floriston. They used to cut wood; that’s how
the paper was made—out of wood.
They’d cut wood for that mill?
For that mill.
Back up in the hills above Floriston?
Up in the mountains, yes. They were
all over these mountains up here in back of
Truckee and, well, everywhere.
Jim, then, brought over Joe, or he brought over
your dad?
I’m not sure how my uncle Joe...I think
that’s how he came over here—by Uncle Jim.
Uncle Jim was one of the smartest of the
brothers; he had a saloon in the hotel. He
didn’t like to work; he let the other guys work.
He had what they called the Nevada Saloon
in Truckee.