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Rights Holder and Contact
Upland Public Library Local History Collection For more information on the copyright or about this image, please contact the Upland Public Library at (909) 931-4205 or ci.upland.ca.us/#Local_History
Description
This document is an interview with Thomas Chappell, who was the only Zanjero in Upland when the interview took place in 1977. Chappell was born in 1921 and moved to Cucamonga in 1923. His parents owned Chappell Dairy from 1925 to 1937. In 1947 or 1948 Chappell applied for the Zanjero position at the San Antonio Water Company. After being hired he learned all of the duties of a Zanjero from Roy Harris and James C. McCoy. In the interview, Chappell described how water is delivered to the people living in Ontario. He discussed how water was pulled from the wells in the area and how some of the water comes from the San Antonio Canyon via irrigation systems. He described the underground tunnel, how it caught surface water, and how gravity pulled the water to reservoirs. Chappell described his duties as a Zanjero, how he had to turn off the water during the winter, how he had to schedule when he turned on irrigation gauges, and he explained the measurements he used to deliver the correct amount of water to the customers. Toward the end of the interview, Chappell brought up some of the challenges he faced working as a Zanjero for the San Antonio Water Company.
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