OK pioneer learned to live off the land
Editor’s Note: In recognition of Canada’s 150th birthday The Herald is publishing historical local stories from our archives. For the next several weeks we are republishing stories on prominent residents from our area. In this busy world, we tend to forget those that have gone before us. The people who made our lives a little bit easier, who carved their names in the landscape of the city, who are the true embodiment of the word pioneer.
Rosa Casorso was born Rosa Bevilaqua and fell in love with a handsome Italian by the name of Giovanni Casorzo. They married in 1872 in Italy.
At that time, the Casorzos of Italy were of a certain status and Giovanni’s marriage to Rosa, an orphan girl, was frowned upon. Nearly 150 years later, the Casorsos are one of the Okanagan’s best known and established families. Rosa gave birth to two children while living in Italy. In 1882, Giovanni left Italy to come to America, leaving behind a very pregnant Rosa. He eventually made his way to New Westminster where the Oblate priests encouraged him to come to the Okanagan.
He did and Giovanni Casorzo — now known as John Casorso — was the first Italian immigrant to settle in the Okanagan Mission.
By the summer of 1884, Rosa was ready to join her husband. Her three children, Caroline, Anthony and Charles in tow, she followed the bell ordered for the Mission Church from San Francisco to the Mission in order to find him.
She became the Mission cook and over the next 10 years gave birth to six more children. Her fourth child, Joseph was born at the Mission Ranch.
The other five, Louis, Peter, Felix, Leo and August, were born on the Casorso Ranch east of Mission Creek and bordering Mission Ranch, now easily found on Casorso Road.
When Rosa arrived she found herself alone. There were very few women settlers in the area and the men, aside from her husband, were of French and English descent.
An industrious woman with the heart of a true pioneer, Rosa was not concerned with the lack of a common language and befriended the native women in the Valley.
They taught her basic Okanagan survival skills like where to find food, which berries to collect, how to tan hides and which plants could be used as medicine.
Today, when we see women with more than two or three children, we wonder how they manage. Rosa had nine children and had none of the conveniences we have in the 21st century. Cloth was scarce then and cloth for diapers would have been a true luxury. Rosa had to find another way to keep her babies clean and dry. She turned to the aboriginal women who came to her aid and taught her which moss to gather for use as diapers. Rosa raised five of her children in the original Casorso sod roof house. Around 1889, a bigger log house was built. Rosa shared the knowledge she garnered over the years and became a midwife. She would also doctor anyone who came to her in need.
While Rosa gained confidence in her new home, John worked the land. After seven years of working at the Mission Ranch and a year or two on his own land, John was tired of working so hard for so little. His life in Italy had been much easier and he reportedly told Rosa he wanted to go back home.
She calmly replied that he could go, but she was staying with the kids. He never left.
Okanagan winters were harsh and Rosa spent most of the summer months preparing food and clothing for the winter. Again, aboriginal women were there to teach Rosa to properly prepare the foods and make warm clothing.
It was a time of sharing, a time of learning. It is reported that in some winters the Casorso family would run low or out of certain items. They turned to the aboriginal people to help them make it through tough times.
Other winters, it would be the natives who would find themselves in need and would come to the Casorso Ranch. Everyone shared everything; it was simply a matter of survival.
“These were very harsh conditions for a woman to survive,” explains Chris Schmidt, Rosa’s great granddaughter.
“You had to be resilient and very healthy to put up with the conditions she did.”
“Many people said she was the brains behind the business of the ranch.” Schmidt said. “John was a quiet man and Rosa was more ambitious when it came to growing the ranch.
“Family history describes her as a woman who would not suffer fools kindly.
As a woman raising nine children – eight of them boys – she was very determined to have things run smoothly. With so many chores, she had to be extremely organized.
The pioneer life took its toll on Rosa. In 1921, the house all set up for Christmas Eve festivities, and she headed off for church with her family. Rosa collapsed and died at the age of 66. Rosa’s legacy and spirit live on in her hundreds of descendants, many of whom still call the Okanagan home.