Basque Archelogical Site in California

Yes indeed, believe it or not.

Well, maybe you should know that Basques were roaming the American West at least a hundred years before the fundamentalist religious maniacs that got on board of the Mayflower even dreamed of going to America to dine on stuffed turkey and sweet potatoes.

But this is not that old.

Just in case you want more info about this topic, here you have it:

Sheep Camp Restorations

Whisky Creek Sheep Camp

Located in the Granite Chief Wilderness area of Tahoe National Forest, California, the Whiskey Creek Sheep Camp consists of two beautiful log cabins and an outdoor bread oven. The cabins were built in 1954-55 by Severino Ibarra (Nafarroa) and Pete Bengoetxea (Bizkaia). The bread oven was constructed by Valerio Zubiri (Nafarroa).

In accordance with certain laws governing wilderness areas, the camp was slated to be demolished. However, Tahoe archaeologists Carmel Miesenbach and Susan Rose took up the cause of the camp. Historian Jose Mallea wrote an evaluation of the camp’s significance, and Rose presented the case to the California State Historical Preservation Office. To make a long story short, the camp was declared historically significant and became eligible for federal protection.

In the summer of 1992 a crew from Euskal Telebista, the Basque television station, joined Mallea and archaeologists Richard Markley and Carrie Smith for the 3.5 hour hike to the camp. The interview recorded there was later aired in Euskadi.

The camp was in need of restoration and caretaking. A large tree had fallen across the roof of one cabin, and the lower cabin logs were rotting and needed to be replaced. The Forest Service wondered if the Basque community would volunteer to help with repairs and future upkeep of the site. Jose Mallea acted as an intermediary between the Forest Service and North American Basque Organizations (NABO) representative Jesús Pedroarena, and after months of negotiations, in the spring of 1994, Bob Echeverria, President of NABO, signed an agreement with the Tahoe National Forest Service to formalize the relationship.

Wheeler Sheep Camp

The completion of the restoration of the oven at the Wheeler Sheep Camp in Kyburz Flat, Tahoe National Forest in 1993, meant the preservation of another piece of Basque history in the West. The effort began in 1992 when Michael Baldrica, archaeologist for the Tahoe National Forest approached Jose Mallea with the idea for the restoration. Mallea took the project on, along with volunteers Javier Cillero, Erik Mallea, Analiese and Kirk Odenkranz, Abel and Judy Mendegia, Marc Ugalde, David Grippo and others. Forest Service personnel also participated in the project.

Martin Gallues ran the camp from around 1915 into the 1950s, and dozens of other Basque herders worked there from the turn of the century to the 1970s. They carved their names and the dates of their stay on the trunks of the aspen trees in nearby groves.

Wheeler Sheep Camp is now a Special Events Picnic Area and eventually it will be equipped with restrooms, running water, and similar amenities. The oven is a “working oven,” and civic groups may reserve it for a fee. Several events have taken place there, including a picnic and barbecue for Forest Service personnel, various speeches, and an exhibition of Basque dancing by the Zenbat Gara cultural organization of the University of Nevada. If your group wishes to reserve the picnic area for an event, call the Forest Service in Sierraville, California (phone: 916-994-3401).

(Professor Jose Mallea is currently working to create a videotape and photographic record of carvings left by Basque sheepherders on aspen trees in the American West. Mallea’s research has meant that records left by sheepherders in the Cottonwood Creek area were saved for posterity before those groves were destroyed in the Cottonwood fire of August 1993. He has also completed research in an area to the east of Lake Tahoe where logging has begun. Mallea also travels the West giving lectures and slide shows about the aspen tree carvings.)

.... ... .