Spaghetti Westerners MORE THAN 5,000 MILES from the fires of the northern Rockies, a mother in the village of Rivara Canavese opened a letter from her son in the faraway American West. Domenico Bruno had left Italy with his friend Giacomo Viettone to find work in the United States. Every few months, the boys sent money back to their families, enough to allow them to keep some measure of dignity. Tucked away in the foothills of the Italian Alps, Rivara was nearly empty of its young men in 1910, like many places in Italy at the turn of the century. Though it was only thirty miles from the bustle and prosperity of Torino, the village had the feel of gloom and yesterday on it. Through the ages, under a succession of rulers dating to feudal times, Rivara had existed primarily to supply ore for European cities. People were poor, with little education, isolated from the outside world. The fortress walls of the Alps blocked weather systems from the west and north, making Rivara a balmy respite year-round.
