The Basque Block and the Basque Museum in Boise, ID commemorate the Basque culture in one of the largest Basque communities in the country. In the 1800s, people from a region in northern Spain arrived seeking gold, and stayed to work on the sheep ranches. During the summers, sheepherders accompanied their flocks up to mountain pastures, and in the winter they returned. Boardinghouses were established to house the sheepherders when they were in town.
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| Two sculptures (2000, by Ward P Hooper) of Laiak/a Basque agricultural tool for turning the earth, with 4+3=7 ribbons representing seven Basque provinces in Spain and France |
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| Basque Mural (2000, by Bill Hueg and the Letterheads) depicts the old country on the left, Basque culture in the center, and a Sheep Camp on the right |
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| Bar Gernika (1912 as a Chinese laundry that later became a Basque-owned eatery and pub) is named for the town in Spain, a sister city of Boise, and site of the Tree of Gernika, where in the Middle Ages, representatives from the towns gathered under the branches of the tree to discuss political and administrative issues, making this one of the earliest forms of parliament in the world, and the tree a symbol of democracy |
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| Anduiza Hotel and Fronton (1914) was a boardinghouse for sheepherders and location of the fronton /pilota court for the community |
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| Not yet a tourist site, we were allowed to step into the hotel ... |
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| ... and see the pilota court that is still in use; pelota is a version of jai alai, but in a much smaller court, and uses gloves or a paddle rather than a basket-type racket |
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| The Basque Museum (1985) sign |
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| Juana (1991, by Frank Goitia) is a friend of the artist's mother |
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| Fidel Otazua Playing the Accordion |
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| Trikita/Basque accordion |
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| Listening to the Basque Program (2020) |
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| Arborglyph/carving on tree bark depicts a church on an aspen tree, found in the Idaho Sawtooth National Forest |
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| A peek inside a sheepherders wagon |
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| Woman's dance costume (by Josefina Astondoa Mendiola) |
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| Uberuaga House (1864 as the Cyrus Jacobs House, in 1917 became a boardinghouse) |
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| Bolo-jokoa/Basque bowls "alley" |
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| Basque Market (2000) in a former warehouse (early 1900s) |
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| Basque Center (1949-1950, 1972 renovation in Basque farmhouse style) was built for social events, cultural festivals, and educational classes |
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| Leku Ona (1935, as the Belaustegui Boardinghouse), now a restaurant club serving traditional Basque meals |
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| Leku Ona Hotel in part of the former boardinghouse |
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| Arriola's/Saracondi's Boardinghouse (c 1909) |
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| We returned to the Basque Market for lunch of pintxos/Basque tapas |
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| On the left are gildas/marinated skewers with olives, guindilla peppers and anchovies, and on the right are bechamel croquettes with guindilla peppers |
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| It was billed as bean and chorizo soup, but it was missing the chorizo (this a Basque Red Bean Soup), and a thick slice of dense sheepherder's bread |
Next: Craters of the Moon National Monument.
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