Basque Ranching Culture

Basque Ranching Culture in the Great Basin

The Basques are a people with a homeland, but without a nation. The countries of Spain and France claim their homeland. Four provinces in Northern Spain and three adjacent regions in France make up the Basque Country today. The Basques inhabit the region that includes the Bay of Biscay and the forest and the granite crests of the Pyrenees Mountains. This legacy dates from the Treaty of the Pyrenees in 1659.

The origins of the Basque people are still a mystery. Their unique language is called Euskera and is unrelated to any Indo-European language today. Linguists and scholars have not been able to link it with any other known language. Basque is apparently the only language remaining of those spoken in southwestern Europe before the Roman conquest.

The Basques are considered by some to be direct descendants of the Iberians, people who once inhabited Spain. The Basque are a friendly, fiercely independent people who were known in the middle ages as skilled boat makers and courageous whale hunters. These people often ranged far across the Atlantic Ocean in their boats. Later generations grew up in an agrarian society and worked with their livestock on isolated mountain farms throughout the Pyrenees Mountains.

Basques in America:

Basque people immigrated to the western United States from their homeland in the Pyrenees Mountains, first arriving in California around 1850. This immigration to the American West was inspired by the discovery of gold in California. Many of the Basques soon found that gold was hard to find and turned to working and owning livestock on ranches. Basque-owned itinerant sheep bands ranged from the Pacific coast to the High Sierras. By the early 1859s, many Basques had become established ranchers. Basque names were so prominent in the western range sheep business that they were regarded as the industry’s founders.

A Century of Immigration

When the Basque herders first arrived in America, sheep herding was a job that required no knowledge of the English language, little formal education, but for an ambitious man, provided an opportunity to acquire his own band of sheep within a few short years. One could take sheep in exchange for wages and then head out with a band into the previously unclassified region of the vast Great Basin public lands administered by the US Government. This was all before the US Congress passed the Taylor Grazing Act, which divided and designated livestock grazing allotments on public lands. These sheep bands were called “tramp sheep outfits.” The new sheep owner sent back to the Basque country for a relative or friend once he became established and the process started all over again. Basque sheep men and Basque herders soon began to appear all over the Great Basin. Thus began an immigration chain that would continue for over a century. Many immigrants knew little of their destination in America. Some knew names, within the Great Basin, such as Elko, Ely, Mountain Home, Jordan Valley, etc. that they had heard before from their relatives or friends that had been to the American west.

Poverty was one reason for young men to leave their homeland. While the Basque sheepherder was near the bottom of the social order in the West in the early 1900s, many men viewed this life as something to be endured temporarily because they would be rewarded with enough saved wages that when they returned to their homeland they could purchase their own business or farm. Another was that the Basques were reluctant to serve France and Spain in their colonial wars. The posting of draft notices often prompted an overnight emigration of young men from the Basque country. Men leaving for this reason sometimes felt they could no longer return to their homeland even when they made enough money in America to do so.

Throughout the American west, “Basque” has been so synonymous with the term “sheepherder” it was assumed that every immigrant from the Basque country had an extensive background in sheep herding. This was not always true. What these young men brought to America was a rural upbringing that gave them some skill in caring for livestock, a hard work ethic, and a willingness to undergo extreme hardship to get ahead in life. It was here in the American west that many of these young men, with instruction from a seasoned sheepherder, learned how to care for sheep.

Basque Stockmen in Northeastern Nevada

By the 1870s, expanded agriculture and overcrowded rangelands in California pushed stockmen beyond the Sierra Mountains into the high desert of the Great Basin. This arid country with its vast rangelands and snow-capped mountains became a magnet for Basque people in America. Coming from a country barely 100 miles across in any direction, Basques, when arriving in the Great Basin, were amazed at the size and emptiness of the land.

Bernardo and Pedro Altube, who were born in the Basque country first settled in San Mateo County and then moved to Palo Alto, California. In 1871, they sold their California ranch, bought 3,000 head of cattle in Old Mexico and trailed these cattle from there to Independence Valley in northwestern Elko County, Nevada. Pedro was reported to have stood six feet six inches tall and was known as Palo Alto, or “Tall Pine.” It is said by some that the town of Palo Alto, California was named after him. Pedro Altube was elected to the Cowboy Hall of Fame at Norman, Oklahoma as Nevada’s candidate in 1960.

The Altube brothers’ ranch, located in Independence Valley, near Tuscarora, was roughly 20 miles long by 10 miles wide with thousands of additional government-owned acres on which they ranged their cattle.

In these early days, the Basque stockmen were cattlemen who brought to Nevada the customs and traditions of the Old California Spanish vaqueros. The customs and traditions that these Basque cattlemen brought could well have been the start of the buckaroo tradition in Nevada, as we know it today.

Range sheep did not begin to arrive in earnest in the Elko County area, in northeastern Nevada, until the beginning of the 1900s when the Altube Brothers, who had started as cattlemen, began to also run large bands of range sheep using Basque herders. The Spanish Ranch, today operated by the Ellison Ranching Company, was part of the vast domain of the Altubes and is still one of the largest ranches in Elko County.

Another Basque livestock family, Jean and Grace Garat reportedly drove their cattle herds over the Sierra Nevada Mountains in 1874 from California into northeastern Nevada and located on the Tuscarora Fork of the Owyhee River. The YP branding iron, first registered in California in 1852 by the Garats, was brought to Nevada and is still used today. This large ranch, started by the Garat’s, is 90 miles Northwest of Elko. It is now owned and operated by the Jackson Family and is called the YP Ranch.

In the annals of western history, there is perhaps an over-fictionalization of the conflicts between sheep and cattle on western ranges. In reality, often both sheep and cattle were run on the same ranch. A good example is the Spanish Ranch in northeastern Nevada where at one time they reportedly ran 18,000 cattle and 12,000 sheep on the same ranch. One reason this was possible is that sheep and cattle do not compete for the same forage. This ranch today still runs both sheep and cattle. Sheep are browsers, eating forbs and brush. Cattle are grass eaters-grazers.

A sheep outfit sells two crops a year, wool fleece and lamb meat. Cow/calf operators only sell calves.

Basque Sheepherders

When a young Basque herder arrived in America from half way around the world he was met by the sheep owner, who many times was a relative. At the main ranch headquarters the young herder was provided with a tent, pack burro or mule, pack saddle and panniers (canvas pack bags), a bedroll of heavy blankets and canvas tarp, Dutch oven for cooking, rifle, canteen, sheep hook and other articles for daily sheep work. A sheep dog completed his outfit, serving as a companion and an essential partner in working sheep on the open range. Many seasoned sheep dogs knew more about herding sheep than the young Basque immigrants.

While the right clothing and equipment could help in getting the young herder to be able to withstand the physical elements of the Great Basin, nothing could prepare these individuals minds for the emptiness and silence of the vast distances that would surround him in his new environment.

STRENGTH TO SURVIVE:

These Basques were tough, hardy individuals but their loneliness and the vast empty country made for a difficult adjustment. There were those who were overwhelmed by the strange country and loneliness, and became victims of a condition the Basque referred to as “txamisuek jota,” or “struck by sagebrush.” They became very reclusive and did not wish to meet or speak with strangers. Most of the herders, however, adapted to their new life in America.

Basque herders were some of the very best sheepherders in western range sheep operations. These men soon found out upon arriving in the American west, that they had entered one of the loneliest professions in the world. Herding sheep in the least populated region of the United States placed these men in a situation, which at times, bordered on total social isolation. However, most Basque men endured the isolation. Basques came from a mountainous country in Spain growing up in rough mountain terrain and an agrarian society. They understood the land and the animals. Hard work was nothing new to Basques. They were real stockmen. They were very dependable and could be counted upon to stay for long periods alone and not leave their flocks.

It is an art form to handle range sheep alone with no fence and no night corrals. The herders had to constantly guard against predators such as mountain lions, bobcats, coyotes and bears, and had to keep moving the band to fresh water and grazing. Efficient management of a band of range sheep demanded total teamwork between the herder and his animals. Herders were careful not to use their dogs too much on their sheep herd. The term, “dogged sheep,” meant the sheep became nervous from overusing a dog on them and their weight would start to fall off. The goal was to produce heavy lambs for sale at shipping time in the fall. Border Collies and Australian Shepherd dogs were the two breeds that were preferred by most by the herders.

Cattle need to be fenced in or handled by a crew of cowboys on horseback, where as one experienced sheepherder would handle 1,000 to 1,200 head of sheep outside relying only on himself, his horse and dogs.

From the herder’s point of view

In a personal interview with three former Basque sheep herders, Nicolas Fagoaga, center in this photo, said this about his early years in the sheep business: “I came to Nevada from Basque Country in 1951. I had no experience in handling sheep; I was a cabinetmaker. My brother talked me into coming to America. They sent me into the Ruby Mountains with a pack burro and a tent to work for a sheep man by the name of Tony Smith. My first camp was in a place called Rattlesnake Canyon, near Lee, Nevada. I hated the Rubies. They were rough, steep, and very dangerous. I did not like to be alone. The camp tender would come to my camp every five days. If I was out with my sheep, he left the groceries near my camp and went on. I lasted 4 months. My brother said ‘Stick it out you will become used to it.’ I told him, no, I was leaving for California. I went to work on a ranch out of Dixon, California. I helped take care of the sheep on the ranch, there were other people around, and we ate our meals as a family. I liked this much better, although it was much harder work than sheep herding in the Ruby Mountains. I stayed with the sheep business for five years, then came back to Elko and started a construction business. Sheep herding in the Rubies was not for me.” Nick is now retired from his construction company and lives in Elko.

Many Basque herders called the Ruby Mountains in Elko County, Nevada “mata hombres” which, in Spanish, means “man killers.”

Jose “Chapo” Leniz (right in the photo) also talked about his sheep herding experience. “I came to America in 1954 and first went to work in the Jarbidge Mountains in Northeastern Nevada for sheep man Pete Elia. I lived in a tent, packed a burro, and walked to my sheep. I did this for three years. Then I came to the” Rubies” and went to work for the Sorenson Sheep outfit. They promoted me to camp tender because I had learned a little English and some of the ways of sheep. I took care of six summer bands.” (A summer band is a herd of sheep comprised of 1,000 to 1,200 ewes with their lambs and cared for by one herder and his dogs.) “One day a week I baked the bread for these herders.” (The bread was baked in Dutch ovens, buried in the coals from sagebrush or aspen wood fires.) “I rode a horse and packed the supplies for each herder on pack mules. I visited each herder every five days, which meant there were no days off. Our main camp was in Secret Pass between the East Humboldt Range and the Ruby Mountains. I enjoyed the mountains and the life of a camp tender.” “Chapo” is now retired and lives in Elko.

Eustaquio Murubarria, (left in the photo) who worked for sheep man Paul Enchauspe out of Austin, Nevada in the Toiyobe Mountains for 25 years, talked about his life as a sheepherder. “I went to work as a sheep herder for Paul in 1957 and stayed at it for 25 years, 18 of these were spent sheep herding and then I moved to Paul’s main ranch and took care of his cows, horses and sheep. I herded sheep year around for 18 years. In the winter, we would take our bands south into the desert in the Ione and Gabbs country. I stayed alone most of the time and it did not bother me. After 25 years herding sheep and ranch work I moved to Elko and got out of the sheep business. I was glad to be in town and around some people. I now work for the Elko School District as a custodian and own a home in Elko.”

Basque Tree Carvings (“Arborglyphs”)

In the remote mountains of the west, during the summer months, sheepherders camped alone in tents with a pack outfit, horse or pack burro, and their dogs to tend their flocks. Camp tenders, with a pack string, visited the herder about once a week bringing groceries and other necessities. Many times this camp tender was the only other person the herder would see during the entire summer.

A portion of the history of Basque herders has been recorded on aspen trees throughout the mountains of the Great Basin. Solitary during their time in mountains for 4-5 months during the summer, seeing only the camp tenders once a week, herders used tree carving to alleviate boredom and loneliness and record events of note. These herders moved into a rhythm with their sheep and their daily movements. They wanted to leave their mark on the landscape and carved a record of their presence on the bark of aspen trees with a knife or other sharp object for other sheepherders to see. Black scar tissue builds up on the tree’s white bark. As the tree continues to grow vertical scratch lines widen more than horizontal ones, causing a unique tree carving style.

Some of the earliest tree carvings made by Basque herders found and recorded date back to 1895. There is no known tradition of tree carvings found in the Basque Country. With no record of this carving technique being passed from one sheepherder to another in the Basque country, it is assumed that the sheepherder artists in America simply saw the work of past herders who had camped in the same location and added their own tree drawings.

These carvings provide a glimpse into the herders’ idle moments away from their sheep. Most frequently, the carvings were only a name and date and may include the name of their hometown or province in the Basque country. Occasionally there are drawings of women, animals, or objects. Some herders left messages telling where they were going or where they had been, what had happened that day, or where the best feed and water was, etc. Carvings provide a valuable tool for historians because they marked the herder’s whereabouts and movement of their sheep bands.