Secretary Ken Salazar told the big crowd it’s important to recognize the historic significance of the UFW. And he said the "moral courage" of UFW founder Cesar Chavez should be an inspiration for the future.

"That moral courage today summons us to do what we can to make sure that we move forward. That we achieve an immigration reform that is just," Salazar said. "Immigration reform that recognizes that those who put the bread and butter and vegetables on our tables are entitled to the dignity of lives in this planet and this nation, and we’re going to work together to get that done in the memory of Cesar Chavez."

It was at Forty Acres that Chavez had his fast for 25 days in 1968, pushing for organizing farm workers. Sen. Robert Kennedy came to the compound when Chavez broke that fast.

It’s the place where local grape growers signed the first union contracts in 1970, after years of grape strikes and boycotts.

And in 1988, Chavez held another long fast to bring attention to the union’s concerns over pesticide impacts on farm workers and their children.

Paul Chavez told the crowd when his father started the farm worker movement almost 50 years ago, he knew it would take a strong union, and Forty Acres has been home to that work. He called the compound a place where "giants walked."

"Today we honor those who set us on this course by their labors and sacrifices," Paul Chavez said. And, he said that work continues from the San Joaquin Valley to Phoenix, Arizona.

Forty Acres is still where the farm worker movement organizes, and next year marks the 50th anniversary of the founding of the UFW.

Salazar told the crowd he met Chavez, and remembers him as a person who walked the Prayer of St. Francis, recognizing that "it’s in giving that we receive."

"And the history of the legacy that he has lived for all Americans, and that included Latinos," Salazar said. "So we know that there is a better future for all of us."