John was born in Mountain Home, Idaho on 16 July 1925 to José Maruri Urquidi and Victoria Irastorza. His father was part owner of the Wood Creek Sheep Company in Grandview, Idaho. Until he was in the sixth grade, John and his brother, Antonio, spent winters at the Bengoechea Hotel in Mountain Home. They went to school in the winter and spent summers with their father at the sheep camps in Little Camas, Idaho. He remembers the festive atmosphere of winters in Mountain Home, when the sheep herders came to town to celebrate Christmas and the new year.
John describes the hay farm and sheep ranch in Grandview. In 1945, at the age of 19, John was drafted into the US Army, where he served as a Ranger and MP in the Philippines and Japan. After his discharge in 1946 John enrolled in the University of Idaho, where he studied agriculture. He started a lifelong career with the Idaho State Department of Agriculture in 1951, retiring after 34 years.
John married Harriett Ocamica in 1953, and they settled in Boise to raise their children. Both charter members of the Basque Center in Boise, John and Harriett made it a point to encourage their children’s interest in Basque culture.
TAPEMINUTE SUMMARY OF CONTENTS
0-4:30 John’s father was José Maruri Urquidi, and his mother was Victoria Irastorza. His father was from Murelaga and his mother was from Zornotza and Yurreta. John’s father came to the United States in 1913 to work as a water boy at the construction site of Arrowrock Dam. He worked with sheep later on. When a bank foreclosed on a sheep company, John’s father was hired to take care of the sheep for the bank. At some point after that, José was part of the Archabal partnership that bought Wood Creek Sheep Company. John’s mother died in February 1926, a year after John was born. His aunt, John’s mother’s sister, raised John for five or six years after his mother died.
4:30-9:30 John was born in Mountain Home, Idaho on 16 July 1925. He describes the Basque community in Mountain Home. Social life centered on the boarding houses: the Mountain Home/Bengoechea Hotel, Anchustegui house, Ascartza house, and Sillonis house. He remembers how sheepherders would stay in the boarding houses when they were in town. Larry Uriona used to do cartwheels across the dance floor. The silver dollars in his pockets would fall out onto the floor, and the children would scramble for the money. The four boarding house owners would get together to decide who would host the celebrations for Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year’s Eve, and New Year’s Day. They rotated the celebrations among themselves every year. These four days were major celebrations, providing welcome entertainment for sheepherders who had been out with the sheep all year. Anchustegui used to the make the pelotas for pala games at the frontón; the palas were made from 2” by 4” pieces of wood. John lived in Mountain Home until he was in the fifth or sixth grade.
9:30-14:30 John’s uncle, Eusebio Gandiaga, sold the Wood Creek Sheep Company to John’s father and the Archabals when his partner died. His uncle went to the Basque country right before the Great Depression in 1929. John lived with his father and brother (Antonio – see minute 26) in Little Camas, Idaho during the summer and shared a room at the Bengoechea Hotel during the winter. He and his brother went to school in Mountain Home during the winter. In 1936, their father decided that they live on the ranch in Grandview, Idaho, where they had lambing sheds. The Urionas were the cooks in Little Camas and Grandview and had a son who also worked on the ranch. John, his brother, and the Urionas shared the five-bedroom house on the ranch and treated each other like family. He gives directions to the Wood Creek sheep camp in Little Camas, where they ran the sheep from May to October or November.
14:30-15:45 John and his family moved on to the ranch in Grandview when the Yturri family left for Las Vegas. Georgia and León Aguirre had run the Grandview ranch until they moved away (to Homedale, Idaho?), leaving the Yturri family in charge. When John and Felipa Yturri and their daughters left the Grandview ranch, the Urquidis and Urionas took over.
15:45-18:30 John and his brother spoke Basque to each other and learned English in school. On the Grandview ranch, they grew hay and oats for the sheep and 10-15 teams of horses. He went to Hayland Country School (sp.) while living in Grandview and was given the opportunity to graduate a year early, at the age of 16. He graduated in 1942.
18:30-21:45 At 13, John had his first paying job was as a derrick driver on a hay mower in Grandview. He describes the machine. He earned between $1 and $1.50 per day. In addition to cutting hay on his family’s ranch, John bailed and stacked hay for other farmers in the area. He helped at the Simplot farm as well. (Anecdote: Under Mr. Uriona’s direction, John felled an old poplar tree and sent it crashing into the ranch house accidentally. He tells the story).
21:45-26:30 In October of 1942, after he graduated, John decided to study at the University of Idaho. He stayed at a boarding house for $25 a week while he went to classes. John decided that university was not for him (he explains why), so he went back to Grandview at the beginning of 1943. John’s brother went to a business college in Salt Lake City, Utah. Back on the ranch, John went back to work cutting hay and helping move the sheep camps to Little Camas.
26:30-29:00 He mentions Bruneau Sheep Company and tells how the owner, who was shorthanded one season, hired a group of Jamaicans to herd sheep and work on his ranch. One of the Jamaicans was an excellent horseshoe thrower, but they were all deathly afraid of snakes and deer.
29:00-30:00 John talks about Simplot operation in Grandview at the time. He helped dig potatoes and showed some of the Native American and Jamaican workers how to pitch and stack hay.
0-4:00 Little Camas is 33 miles north of Mountain Home. He describes the sheep ranching operation. They had two lambing sheds: one was two miles from the ranch, along the Snake River, and the other was about ten miles downriver from the ranch. His uncle, John, ran the latter while John’s father took care of the former. After shearing the sheep in March, they would send the bands of sheep out toward Little Camas. He remembers the days before the Taylor Grazing Act. More than five different sheep outfits sent their sheep out around the same time of year, moving their herders and bands as in a game of chess, competing for the best grazing lands.
4:00-5:45 John’s father did not tell John much about the Basque country or Basque culture. He hung a portrait of his mother in his bedroom and could name all of his relatives in the Basque country. When John was president of Euzkaldunak, he would take a copy of a Basque newspaper to his father in Mountain Home, who by that time had retired. John’s father sold the business in 1948. His father kept up on news of relatives by reading articles and the obituaries in the Basque newspaper.
5:45-14:30 John made his first trip to the Basque country when the Basque Center chartered a plane (in 1973 – see tape 2, side 2). He met some of his relatives in Murelaga on the trip, and was surprised to see how developed it was. John got reacquainted with Pedro, a relative of his who had come to the United States in 1953 with the intention of herding sheep. Pedro worked on their ranch briefly before moving down to Los Angeles, California and eventually back to the Basque country, where he and his brother opened a Renault automobile dealership in Eibar. When John made his trip in the 1970s, Pedro drove him and two others through Spain and France. John tells some of the stories from their road trip.
14:30-17:30 He felt comfortable on his trip to the Basque country. John was able to speak Basque, which he says helped make the trip enjoyable. He and his brother had grown up with the language, which they used to talk to each other and the sheepherders. A Mexican sheep-shearing crew came through the area in the spring to shear at the ranch in Grandview. Remembering more of how he learned to speak Basque, John says that he spoke only Basque with his aunt and uncle at their hotel in Mountain Home. He remembers the difficulty many Basques his age had with learning English in school.
17:30-19:00 In Mountain Home, Basques and non-Basques got along together pretty well, aside from the occasional jeer of “black Basco” among children.
19:00-30:00 John was drafted into the US Army at 19. He and several other Basques from Grandview and Bruneau were drafted at the same time. He served from January 1945 to November 1946, and remembers having a moment of silence when Roosevelt died, as well as the experience of V-Day. He shares some of memories from his service in the Army Rangers 6th in the Philippines, and gives the timeline of his drafting and transfers. John explains how he and his division were trained for the occupation of Japan. He discusses the occupation and shares some of his more poignant memories. When his Ranger outfit was divided, John and several other soldiers were assimilated into an MP division. He remembers how African American and white soldiers were segregated in one particular camp.
0-4:00 John was seasick during his voyage home from the Japan. He was discharged at Fort Lewis, Washington, where he met Ray Alzola.
4:00-9:30 John and Ray decided to go back to college. Since there were no openings at the University of Idaho, they drove down to Reno, Nevada and tried to enroll at the University of Nevada. John and Ray planned studied agriculture there. He explains how he ended up back at the University of Idaho instead once a room opened up in one of the dormitories. He studied General Agriculture. When he graduated (in 1951 – see minute 9), he went back to Mountain Home to work on a hay farm. John and a friend, Tom Mendiola, went to Boise to see a boxing match and happened to see Gloria Izaguirre, who would help him find a job with the Department of Dairy under the Idaho Department of Agriculture. Gloria was the secretary to the Commissioner of Agriculture. He started in July of 1951.
9:30-14:00 When he first moved to Boise to work for the Agriculture Department, John lived with Mrs. Gandiaga. His starting wage, about $275 a month, helped pay for his room and board, even though Mrs. Gandiaga, a widow, did not expect any money from him. John lived with the Gandiaga family until he married. He worked for the Department of Agriculture for 34 years. He gives a brief timeline of his career with the Department, and mentions some of the laboratories it operated. John mentions Joe Gabica, who also worked for the Department.
14:00-16:45 John took a one-year leave of absence from 1966 to 1967 so that he and his wife [Harriett Ocamica] could take care of her father’s hay farm after he passed away. They hired Dan Zabala to help on the farm. They sent their children to school in Bruneau. Dissatisfied with the school in Bruneau, John and his wife decided to move back to Boise, where they enrolled their children at Sacred Heart. For the next ten years, John and his family spent weekends on the farm to keep in running. They used to drive to the farm on Friday and rush back to Boise on Sunday so that his children would be on time for dancing lessons with the Oinkari Basque Dancers.
16:45-19:15 John married Harriett Ocamica at St. John’s Cathedral on 6 June 1953. Their children are Teresa Michelle, John Brian and Kristi Anne. He gives their birthdays. They all danced with the Oinkaris; he mentions some of the trips they went on.
19:15-26:30 John discusses his membership in the Basque Center in Boise. He and his wife are charter members. He served as secretary for a few years, succeeding Joe Uberuaga and Carl Goicoechea. (Anecdote: he remembers a fire at his home during his stint as secretary). John served as president as well. He thinks back on his reasons for joining the Basque Center, citing his sense of cultural heritage, being raised around other Basques, and his family’s involvement in the Basque community as the main reasons. He remembers attending sheepherders’ dances at the Riverside Dance Hall in Boise when he was a teenager in the 1940s.
26:30-30:00 John discusses the extent to which he tried to instill a sense of knowledge and appreciation of Basque culture in his children. He talks about what his youngest daughter, Kristi, is doing today. His children have shown interest in the Basque culture. His son is active in the Basque community in Mountain Home.
Tape 2, side 2
0-17:00 He discusses the Basque flag at the Basque Center in Mountain Home. He considers himself to be American first, but feels strongly about his Basque heritage. John tells a few more stories about his trip to the Basque country in June of 1973.
NAMES AND PLACES
NAMES:
Alzola, Ray – friend.
Gabica, Joe – friend.
Gandiaga – John lived with this family in Boise right before he married.
Gandiaga, Eusebio – John’s uncle, sold the Wood Creek Sheep Company to John’s father and the Archabals.
Irastorza, Victoria – mother.
Izaguirre, Gloria – helped John get a job with the Department of Agriculture.
John – son.
Kristi – daughter.
Mendiola, Tom – friend.
Ocamica, Harriett – wife.
Oinkari Basque Dancers – his children were members.
Pedro – John’s cousin in Eibar.
Simplot – John mentions the Simplot farm in Grandview.
Teresa – daughter.
Uriona – name of the family that lived on the ranch in Grandview with John’s family.
Uriona, Laureano “Larry” – John remembers him from Mountain Home.
Urquidi, José Maruri – father.
Yturri, John and Felipa – family that lived on the ranch in Grandview before John’s family.
PLACES:
Anchustegui boarding house, Mountain Home, Idaho – mentioned.
Arrowrock Dam, Idaho – John’s father worked on the construction of this dam.
Ascartza boarding house, Mountain Home, Idaho – mentioned.
Basque Center (Euzkaldunak), Boise, Idaho – John and his wife are charter members.
Basque Center, Mountain Home, Idaho
Bruneau Sheep Company, Bruneau, Idaho – mentioned.
Eibar – John has a cousin here.
Fort Lewis, Washington – John was discharged from his military service here.
France
Hayland (sp.) Country School – John went to school here while he lived on the ranch in Grandview.
Idaho State Department of Agriculture, Boise, Idaho – John’s employer for 34 years.
Japan – John was stationed here during the Second World War.
Mountain Home, Idaho – mentioned in several contexts.
Mountain Home/Bengoechea Hotel, Mountain Home, Idaho – John spent winters here as a child.
Murelaga – father’s hometown.
Philippines – John was stationed here during the Second World War.
Riverside Dance Hall, Boise, Idaho – John remembers sheepherders’ dances here.
Salt Lake City, Utah – John’s brother went to business school here.
Sillonis boarding house, Mountain Home, Idaho – mentioned.
Snake River
Spain
University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho – John graduated from the U of I in 1951.
University of Nevada, Reno, Nevada – John almost went to school here.
Wood Creek Sheep Company, Grandview and Little Camas, Idaho – John’s father and the Archabals were
partners in this sheep company.
Yurreta – John’s mother’s family was from Yurreta and Zornotza.
Zornotza – John’s mother’s family was from Zornotza and Yurreta.
THEMES:
Basque clubs and organizations
Boarding Houses
Discrimination
Farming
Great Depression
Language
Non-Boise Basque communities
Sheep herding
Taylor Grazing Act
US Army
World War II
Tuesday – Friday: 10am to 4pm
Saturday: 11am to 3pm
CLOSED
Sunday, Monday, and Holidays
Cyrus Jacobs/Uberuaga
Restored Boardinghouse
Available Saturdays from 11:30 – 2:00*
Entrance included in Museum admission
*Pending volunteers
Adults – $7
Seniors(65+) & Students – $6
Children 6-12 – $5
Children 5 and under – free
BMCC MEMBERS – FREE
With your membership card
Adults – $35/year
Senior(65+) – $25/year
BECOME A MEMBER TODAY!
Join the BMCC! Be a part of history and culture.
Free admission. Event updates. Discounts. And more!