Witchcraft in Alvarado

The Sept. 22, 1932 issue of the Oakland Tribune had an interesting article on the police trying to investigate a matter of possible witchcraft in Alvarado. The events in the article are of little historical significance, but it does make for a good read and shows the color and character of Alvarado:

Constable Tom Silva and Patrolman Don Bates today are seeking to adapt modern police methods to primitive voodooism and witchcraft spells. The aid was sought to quell the demonstrations of witchcraft in modern California when Mrs. Selca Agundez collapsed and became violently ill after discovering a substance known “as the powder of death” on her doorstep.

A second victim of the same “charm,” Mrs. Elvira Brown, also asked for police protection, in the firm belief that her escape from similar ill effects was solely due to the fact that she saw the powder in time to avoid stepping over it, for this traditions avers, is the means of escaping its potency.

Both women demanded that Silva undertake a full investigation (witch hunt) for only an authentic witch, which they assert can compound the potent powder. Its formula includes earth gathered from a graveyard, crushed pepper seeds and various herbs, prepared with incantations of necromancy.

Mrs. Ramona Romero, friend of Mrs. Brown, and her husband Casimiro Romero, childhood friends of Mrs. Agundez, also sought the aid of the authorities in putting a permanent injunction, or something, against the proactive of witchcraft in Alvarado. They feel some hidden enemy has engaged the services of a witch to bring them bad luck, sickness or even death.

The questioning of a woman suspected by the victims of witchcraft proved to have its own difficulties, as the woman, Ramona, speaks no English. Accompanied by an interpreter, the officers sought her out. With wildly waving Medusa-like black curls and gesticulating hands she poured forth a torrent of rapid and emphatic Spanish that even left the interpreter gasping.

“She says,” he tersely translated about 20 minutes worth of speech from the woman, “that people talk too much and you all can go to the devil.”