The OE History Nights
A collaboration of The Oregon Encyclopedia, McMenamins Pubs, the Des Chutes Historical Society, and the Northwest Examiner. All events are free and open to minors (with adult).
Old St. Francis School (Bend): Jan. 31, 6pm. "Amerikanuak! Basques of the High Desert," with Bob Boyd
Mission (Portland): Feb. 13, 7pm. "Abraham Lincoln and the American West in the Civil War Era," with Richard Etulain
Edgefield (Troutdale): Feb. 28, 6:30pm. "A Woman Alone: Mona Bell, Sam Hill, and the Mansion on Bonneville Rock," with John Harrison
"Amerikanuak! Basques in the High Desert"
Presented by Bob Boyd
Tuesday, January 31
McMenamins Old St. Francis School
700 NW Bond St., Bend
6 p.m., doors open at 5 p.m.
Beginning in the late 19th century the Basques, an ancient people from the fishing villages on the Bay of Biscay and the farms and villages in the rich green country of the Pyrenees Mountains, came to the High Desert. Most came as sheepherders. Some persevered and became prosperous sheepmen. Others opened boarding houses and small businesses and became buckaroos or ranchers. Over the course of a century, Basque-Americans became an integral part of the region’s diverse and distinctive culture, its economy and political leadership.
In 1995 Bob Boyd, Curator of Western History at the High Desert Museum and History teacher in the Bend-La Pine School District, produced the exhibition Amerikanuak! Basques in the High Desert. His presentation will revisit the story of these hardy immigrants to the High Desert West with historic images, artifacts of their life and work, and color photography of landscapes and historic sites from the region’s Basque History.
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