MCDERMITT - Although McDermitt Combined School Alumni Sonya (Albisu) Mathew's ancestry, on both her mother and her father's side, dates back over 100 years in McDermitt, she only attended school there her senior year.
Living with her Uncle Ross and Aunt Dodie Zimmerman, she was able to establish Nevada residency before following her cousins, Bonnie (MHS 1988) and Annie (MHS 1989), to college in Reno.
Her maternal great-great grandparents, David and Jenny Gebhart, owned the livery stable in McDermitt in 1905, catering to the Army horses at Fort McDermitt.
In 1908, Sonya's paternal great grandparents, Ignacio and Tomasa Albisu, came to McDermitt and leased and operated the State Line Hotel located on the Nevada side of the little border town before returning to ranching.
The Gebhart's daughter, Mabel, spent her teenage years in McDermitt with area friends, but it was Dosssie McNinch (considered by many to be the most handsome man around) whom she chose to marry, making her home in Winnemucca.
In 1945, Mabel's daughter Grace McNinch moved to the River Ranch in Orovada (where she has now lived for nearly seven decades), when she married John McErquiaga, a second generation Basque rancher from Horse Creek Ranch in Kings River Valley. (John was inducted into the Buckaroo Hall of Fame in 2006.)
Sonya's mother, Dorie, and her Aunt Dodie were raised there, and there, as a small child, Sonya looked forward to visiting and spending time with her cousins.
Sonya's paternal grandfather Donato (nicknamed Donuts) was the third youngest of Ignacio and Tomasa Albisu's nine children. He married Evelyn (Gilmore), daughter of Bernard and Agnes Gilmour. Martin Etchendia, who operated McDermitt's White Horse Inn for a time, was Evelyn's stepdad after Bernard's death.
As a young man Donuts worked as a buckaroo on area ranches and eventually leased Angel Abotiz's ranch, now owned by Angel's nephew, Cleto Muguira.
He worked at the Cordero as a hoist operator for the underground mine until it closed in the early 1970s (reopening as an open pit mine). When he left the mine he and Evelyn moved to Eureka, Calif., and there owned an Arctic Circle until they returned to Nevada. They had three children - Sonya's dad, Alan (MHS 1966), Judy and Rex.
Alan Albisu played basketball for McDermitt and enjoyed working for Dora Lasa, along with friends such as Tim Campbell (MHS 1966), Skeeter Lasa, Kimble Wilkinson (MHS 1968) and Ronnie Naveren (MHS 1965).
A Vietnam War hero - a sergeant by the time he was 20 - Alan received an award as a sharpshooter, and his leadership skills landed him a position as squad leader in the violent Mai Cong Delta on boats that patrolled the water ways called Riverines. He was injured by a grenade and received a Purple Heart in 1968.
He and Dorie McErquiaga were married in 1970 and Sonya, born in Reno on July 3, 1973, joined the couple at home at the Denio Maintenance Station, where Alan was employed.
Sonya was 3, her sister Rhonda was 2, and her brother Aaron was only 1 month old when Dorie's world was turned upside down. Alan was on his way home from a trap shoot in Orovada when his life was taken in a single car accident on Nevada state highway 140.
Dorie was 24 with three babies that depended on her. She could not continue to live at the maintence station so she took her young family and returned to the River Ranch.
Sonya was five when her mom moved with the children to Lakeview, Ore., opening a dog grooming business. Two years later Dorie married Mike Webster, giving her children a stepdad. Sonya chuckles that Mike's heritage is not unlike her Basque ancestors except that Mike's family has a rich 'Irish' sheepherding background! Mike now works for the Fish and Wildlife at the Sheldon Refuge and he and Dorie make their home on his grandparents homestead. Sonya is quick to give him credit for taking the family-lock, stock and barrel!
Sonya's school years in Lakeview were fairly typical through her junior year. She had 4H steers and an FFA registered Hereford heifer that her Grandma Grace helped her acquire. High lights were spending the summers at the River Ranch as well as with her Zimmerman cousins at Disaster Peak Ranch. She remembers all of them playing and swimming until they were old enough to join the 'work force'. Her cousin, Bonnie, was the ramrod when they led colts out for 5 or 6 miles at a trot then come back and ride them in the round corral. You reached a 'rite of passage' when you were old enough to help run the broodmare bunch off the mountain, and you were allowed to pick a colt of your own when you could handle the responsibility. They also worked cattle and hayed during those summer days. Sonya enjoyed the cooking skills learned in Aunt Dodie's kitchen and has fond memories of helping make bread and cookies that they would tie up in an old pillowcase to carry behind on their saddles the next day to eat on the range.
Sonya was happy when Dodie suggested she live with them to attend McDermitt High School her senior year. Not only did she have opportunity to get better acquainted with her dad's family-she loved school in McDermitt! She had never played sports but found she loved playing basketball for Coach Cindy Sherburn. Barb Ferguson was a fun teacher; she liked Darlene Albisu and Dottie Souza; and John Moddrell taught her physics. A.J. Sousa helped apply for scholarships that she never dreamed she had a chance at, with positive results. She has a hard time defining them as teachers as they also filled roles as friends, confidants and in some cases-family.
MrcDermitt was about self discovery. Sonya graduated from the same school that her Dad did. She walked past his picture in the school hallway every day, and lived in the same house he had grown up in. She met people who knew and loved him-she is grateful to her aunt and uncle and her parents for this precious opportunity.
Sonya spent three years at UNR and during Christmas break her third year, she met her future husband while home in Lakeview. He grew up in Bishop, California and his family had recently bought a ranch in the area. James Mathew was a Desert Storm Vet and joined his family in Lakeview after he was discharged. He and Sonya were married in August of 1994 and now live on a small cow/calf and hay ranch that he manages as well as working as an officer at Warner Creek Correction facility. They have two children-Madison, a senior this year, and Cody, a freshman.
Sonya and James' goal is to one day buy the ranch that they live on. She stays busy on the ranch and follows Madison with her equine competitions (she recently won the youth National Equitation and Trail Championship). Soon Madison will be choosing a college and heading off to pursue her dream of being a veterinarian, maybe in Winnemucca with her idol, Dr. Bonnie Dory. Cody plays basketball and football and works at the River Ranch like his mom did during the summers, and when he graduates Sonya may again pursue her own passion for teaching.
Sonya likes to travel-enjoying the NFR last year, and Jackson Hole this year. She loves to cook and work in her yard and is always jotting down stories of her childhood, pets, and adventures, hoping to one day publish a children's book. It was a great privilege to graduate from MHS as so many Albisu's have. She loved getting to know her dad's family, including Patti Albisu (MHS 1973), who worked in the school office. She always looked forward to visits with Mary Lynn Hill (MHS 1969) and Lorraine Huttman (MHS 1967) who shared stories about her dad when they attended MHS together in the 60's. Mary Lou Minor also contributed to these stories that Sonya now realizes were truly a gift that she cherishes more the older she gets.
She would share with kids at MHS, "McDermitt as a community offered companionship, safety and opportunity. Somebody's Mom always knew where, why and what was going on. I could get warnings about drinking, driving, boys, or watch for cows on the road-from any of the parents, coaches, teachers, waitress' at the Say When, or even highway patrolman Dave Black, at any given time. McDermitt offers unique cultures-ranching, just as it was in years gone by; the artistry of the Native American beading and tanning, horse running and roping; and the rich Basque heritage with its wonderful cooking. It's a family type environment where your success is the school and communities success as well. At school we took for granted the scholarships, sports, clubs and organizations that were available and encouraged. Larger schools cannot promise all of this to all students. I would like to encourage you all to take a moment to stop looking ahead to the day you leave McDermitt, but instead reflect on all the friends, family, culture and memories made right there at MHS-maybe even write them down to share some day!"
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