Italian roots...			...in Houston
			by Debi Osborne

The history of Ermildo Giovanni Bellicini (1884-1969) is one of the most inspiring of Houston's early pioneers. It's the story of a poor, yet determined, young man that left Bianzona, Italy in 1904 to make a life for himself in the still vast, uncivilized "New Colonies". He arrived in New York with fifty-seven cents, three years of school education as well as instructions on shoemaking and accordion building from his uncles. It seemed enough to make his way in a distant country.

use BACK button to return E.G. arrived in Houston in 1908

The youngest of ten, "E.G." would now spend the rest of his life trying to make the money he never had when living with his widowed mother in Italy. His first job was in a coal mine, as a switch operator. Tales of fortunes in the Klondike gold rush soon convinced him to head north to Alaska. On his way, he befriended a man named John Brown who was also interested in prospecting. John told him about a mine 50 miles west of Houston, called Sibola. Their plan to reach the mountain together ended when John was killed in a mining accident in Alaska. In 1908, E.G. began the long trip southeast, alone, toward his dream mountain. The trip was arduous and E.G. lived off whatever wild provisions he could find as he travelled. At one point he was invited to taste smoked salmon at an Indian camp. The Italian accent must have seemed as strange to them as their aboriginal tongue was to him. He arrived in Houston just before Christmas of the same year and pre-empted his first piece of property. This would not be the first, nor last, long hike in Emil's life. One story tells of a winter trip from Houston to Hazelton for supplies and of his return with a 110 pound pack on his back. He was 28 at the time.

use BACK button to return E.G.'s son, Morice, goes on a prospecting trip

More recently, at the age of 83, E.G. decided to restake and resell a claim on Sibola that had reverted back to the Crown. It was a hard five-mile incline to the old claim, so his daughter and her husband Bill and their son Dan, went with him. On the way, the old Italian fell into a swift-running creek and had to be pulled out. He then continued to the mine opening, not realizing until reaching the top, that he had carried a full pack of creek water, along with their lunch.