Latinos are remembering and honoring Dolly Parton for her cover of Woody Guthrie’s “Deportee (Plane Wreck at Los Gatos)“ a song with strong ties to Fresno County.
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As fans mourn the death of Dolly Parton, many Latinos are remembering and honoring Parton for her cover of Woody Guthrie’s “Deportee (Plane Wreck at Los Gatos)“ a song with strong ties to Fresno County.
“She caught my attention, and my respect, when she included this Woody Guthrie song about the demise of a plane load full of Mexican immigrant workers on the soundtrack album of the popular film ‘9 to 5’ in 1980,” said Felix Contreras on a post on social media.
Parton recorded and released her cover of Guthrie’s song on Nov. 17, 1980, as part of her album “9 to 5 and Odd Jobs.”
The song commemorates the 1948 plane crash in Los Gatos Canyon near Coalinga that killed all 32 people on board, including 28 Mexican nationals being sent back to Mexico. Some were undocumented residents being deported once their labor no longer was needed.
Initial news reports listed only the pilot, first officer, immigration guard and stewardess, with the remainder of the passengers listed only as deportees.
The Mexican victims of the accident were buried in a mass grave, marked only as “Mexican Nationals,” at Holy Cross Cemetery in West Fresno. Thanks to writer Tim Hernández, there now is a tombstone with the names of all 32 victims. In 2024, a monument across the road where the DC-3 crashed was unveiled, again with all the names.
Fermín Ramírez Lara traveled approximately 2,000 miles by plane to the city of Fresno, to visit for the first time the grave where his father’s remains rest. Jaime Ramírez
Guthrie’s poem “Deportee (Plane Wreck at Los Gatos)” lamenting the anonymity of the workers killed, was set to music by college student Martin Hoffman, made famous by folk singer Pete Seeger and performed by many others, including Parton.
In is poem, Guthrie wrote, “You won’t have your names when you ride the big airplane, All they will call you will be ‘deportees.’”
Like Contreras, many are posting on social media honoring Parton and how she stood up for undocumented immigrants and used her voice to honor migrant workers.
Last year, an immigration crackdown in Kern County detained farmworkers on their way to work. ICE arrests in Fresno and the central San Joaquin Valley rose 58% in early 2025, with 1,156 regional arrests and at least 516 deportations across six counties.
“She parleyed her popularity to tell a story about marginalized farmworkers. Plus, she sang it from the heart. I will forever regret not being able to thank her for that,“ Contreras said.
This story was originally published August 27, 2026 at 7:57 AM.
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María G. Ortiz-Briones is a reporter and photographer for McClatchy’s Vida en el Valle and the Fresno Bee. She covers issues that impact the Latino community in the Central Valley. She is a regular contributor to La Abeja, The Bee’s free weekly newsletter on Latino issues. | María G. Ortiz-Briones es reportera y fotógrafa de Vida en el Valle de McClatchy y el Fresno Bee. Ella cubre temas que impactan a la comunidad latina en el Valle Central. Es colaboradora habitual de La Abeja, el boletín semanal gratuito de The Bee sobre temas latinos.
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