Basque Americans

Basque people were originally from the western Pyrenees region of Spain. Some of the first Basques entered the United States to mine gold in California during the Gold Rush. Many of these Basques came not from Spain but from Argentina, Chile, and France. They came in the hundreds hoping to attain a good deal of wealth and return home better off. After the first wave of Basques reached California, they wrote home and sent for friends and relatives, which in turn brought many more Basques to the American West. Some Basques continued to mine, but many opted to try their hand at raising livestock and grazing. The tending of sheep proved to be a favorable business for the Basque community, for there was a great deal of open land on which sheep could graze.

By the 1860s, the Basques coming to the United States came mainly from Spain rather than from South America. Many of these Basques left their homes, crossed the Atlantic Ocean, traveled across the United States, and settled somewhere in the western United States. Prior to coming to America, the longest trip for many Spanish Basques would have consisted of a trip of around 50 miles. It is not known exactly how many Basques came to the United States, as most Basques were labeled citizens of Spain. Like many immigrants from other lands, many Basques came seeking to earn money and return home, and like many other groups, they chose to stay rather than return home. Basques were pulled by economic opportunities or pushed by economic hardships. Basques in Spain continued to use a form of primogeniture, in which the oldest child often inherited the bulk of their parents’ property, leaving the younger children with little hope or chance of economic advancement.

The Basque language proved to be a barrier for assimilation, so when offered jobs as sheepherders, these foreigners took the opportunity. Sheepherding required little education. Basque herders proved to be sturdy and honest in their work. As a result, Basque newcomers replaced Indian and Mexican sheepherders. Many of the first Basque sheepherders wrote home about the opportunity of working with sheep, and many Basques back home responded by leaving Spain in search of work.

Basques thrived at their new occupation. They often would agree to tend to a herd in exchange for a few head of the flock at year's end. The owner of a flock of sheep did not have to own land; instead, the sheep could graze on public lands. Because sheep have a strong herd mentality, all that was often needed to look after the sheep was a herder and a dog or two. Sheepherding also proved ideal for Basques because, with their inability to speak English, they did not have to interact much with native residents. The late 1880s to the 1920s was a time of large migration to the American Northwest. Basques settled in northern Nevada, northeastern Oregon, and southern Idaho.

The newly arrived Basques were strongly Roman Catholic and in several places built Roman Catholic churches. In Boise, Idaho, a Basque Roman Catholic priest came from Spain to preach to the growing Basque population. The priest, Father Bernardo Arregui, arrived in 1911 and ministered to the Basques in southern Idaho and northern Oregon. The Basques of Idaho also created a mutual aid society for those who needed help. By World War I, Boise was the center of Basque culture in the Pacific Northwest.

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