Piece Description

From the early 1900s through the 1950s, Basques from the Spanish and French Pyrenees moved by the dozens to Buffalo, Wyoming.  They worked as sheepherders for local ranchers, living alone in sheep wagons in the mountains and plains.  For company, they listened to the radio – particularly to a Basque language and music program.  That program began in 1956 and it became, in one man’s words, the “pride and joy” of the Basques in Buffalo, uniting them as they settled for good in this state.

Now that community is dwindling.  About 15 men and women who were born in the Basque region are still living in Buffalo – the rest have died or moved away.  And there’s a sense of uncertainty about how long this Basque Wyoming culture will live on.

This piece tells the story of that community through the radio program.  It mixes archival sound with scenes and voices of local Basques in their later years, telling their stories of sheepherding, dancing to Basque music, and the fading of their culture in northern Wyoming.