Basque Americans -- West (U.S.)
Showing
1 - 3
of 3
, query time: 0.01s
Format:
Voice Recording
Jean Urruty discusses his time in Mesa County, the history of Basque people in the Western United States, and Basque culture. He also talks about his life as a sheepherder, discrimination he and other Basque people faced, and his eventual success as a hotel owner on Grand Junction's Colorado Avenue. The interview was conducted by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries and the Museums of Western Colorado.
Format:
Voice Recording
Emmett Elizondo talks about his arrival in the United States from the Basque region of Spain and his first sheepherding job in Buffalo, Wyoming. He remembers building his own herds through a sheep leasing deal with a business partner in Salt Lake City. He recalls his move to Colorado’s Western Slope and eastern Utah, where he amassed a large sheep operation and owned 25,400 acres by 1980. He speaks about his community involvements, including his...
Format:
Voice Recording
Lawrence Aubert talks about his father’s immigration from France and his arrival on Pinon Mesa in 1926, where he homesteaded and ran sheep. He remembers changes in sheep ranching after the passage of the Taylor Grazing Act, sheep rustling, and friction between sheep and cattle ranchers. He discusses the effect of predatory animals on sheep herd size on Pinon Mesa. He talks about Basque and Mexican immigrants who came to herd sheep in Colorado and...
