NEVADA’S BASQUE COMMUNITY KEEPS RICH CULTURAL TRADITIONS ALIVE

In the mid- to late-19th century—beginning at the time of the Gold Rush—Basque people from the western Pyrenees between Spain and France began making their way to Northern Nevada. They brought skills as sheepherders, ranchers, and boarding-house proprietors, and found a home in the high desert. Root into the history at The Basque Library at the University of Nevada, Reno. Next, visit the National Basque Monument at Rancho San Rafael Park. Then follow the Cowboy Corridor Road Trip along I-80, stopping in Nevada towns long steeped in Basque culture.

The family-style tables of Nevada’s boarding houses serve hearty tastes of the Old Country. Brake for a chorizo sandwich at Elko’s Star Hotel, opened in 1910 to house herders. Pete Coscarat of Villa Basque Cafe in Carson City came to Nevada as a sheepherder at 16. Sample his famous chorizo in the paella. In Gardnerville, J.T. Basque Bar and Dining Room awaits with a picon punch. Topa!

Since 1964, the Elko Euzkaldunak Club has hosted the National Basque Festival—originally for herders and ranchers—which now draws thousands with traditional dance and music, rural sports like woodchopping, and feasts of Txuleta (steak), Bacalao al Pil-Pil (garlicky cod), pintxos, and fine red wine. Reno and Winnemucca also hold Basque festivals of their own, along with various other gatherings throughout the year.

To pass the time during their long, lonely work, Basque herders carved markings called arborglyphs into aspen trees. The images and Euskara language, which can be spotted at Great Basin National Park, provide a unique and fleeting glimpse into Basque life. Go deeper into the culture’s history with exhibits at Carson Valley Museum & Cultural Center in Gardnerville, the Humboldt Museum in Winnemucca, and Northeastern Nevada Museum in Elko.