The story of a boy who survives an Indian attack of his family's covered wagon and then endures alone in the vast and hostile land of the West.

This study explores the history of Basque immigration to the rangelands of Nevada. It views the Basque immigrant sheepherder labor within the social, economic, political, and cultural context of Nevada. Tensions and conflicts occurred as immigrant workers confronted new environments, new labor conditions, and new social adjustments in the context of their new immigrant status. As such, issues developed with other ethnic workforces and over land and water use, particularly upon the advent of the Progressive Conservation Movement in the Far West. n the late nineteenth century, as sheep and cattle grazing expanded into Nevada (especially from California and Texas), Basque immigrant labor became increasingly visible and encountered discrimination in the use of public ranges. Yet, as the twentieth century progressed stock operators (Basque and Anglo alike) in the sheep industry began to prize Basque labor in the grazing of sheep to the point where that labor became privileged above all others. A stereotype developed of Basque sheepherders that reaffirmed an image of their natural expertise for the tending of sheep that could not be duplicated by any other racial or ethnic group. This study attempts to deconstruct the essentialism surrounding the making of these views that not only attribute to Basques special sheepherding skills, but also confer upon them a degree of racial whiteness and values that entitled them to a privileged labor category. The 1924 restrictive Immigration Act resulted in a truncated labor supply from the Basque Country. During the Great Depression and especially in WWII the labor shortage became acute. In response Senator Patrick McCarran from Nevada lobbied on behalf of his woolgrowing constituency to open the immigration doors for Basques. Subsequently Cold War international tensions offered opportunities for a rapprochement between the United States and Francisco Franco despite Spain's previous sympathy with the Axis powers. McCarran took it upon himself to become an informal intermediary with the Spanish dictator to seek more flexible policies on immigration to permit Basques to enter the United States. Ultimately this study explores the role of Basque agricultural labor and McCarran's ad-hoc diplomacy as catalysts that eventually helped bring Spain into the orbit of western democracies.

Basque Immigrants and Nevada’s Sheep Industry is a rich and complex exploration of the history of Basque immigration to the rangelands of Nevada and the interior West. It looks critically at the Basque sheepherders in the American West and more broadly at the modern history of American foreign relations with Spain after the Second World War. Between the 1880s and the 1950s, the western open-range sheep industry was the original economic attraction for Basque immigrants. This engaging study tracks the development of the Basque presence in the American West, providing deep detail about the sheepherders’ history, native and local culture, the challenges they faced, and the changing conditions under which the Basques lived and worked. Saitua also shows how Basque immigrant sheepherders went from being a marginalized labor group to a desirable, high-priced workforce in response to the constant demand for their labor power. As the twentieth century progressed, the geopolitical tide in America began to change. In 1924, the Restrictive Immigration Act resulted in a truncated labor supply from the Basque Country in Spain. During the Great Depression and the Second World War, the labor shortage became acute. In response, Senator Patrick McCarran from Nevada lobbied on behalf of his wool-growing constituency to open immigration doors for Basques, the most desirable laborers for tending sheep in remote places. Subsequently, Cold War international tensions offered opportunities for a reconciliation between the United States and Francisco Franco, despite Spain’s previous sympathy with the Axis powers. This fresh portrayal shows how Basque immigrants became the backbone of the sheep industry in Nevada. It also contributes to a wider understanding of the significance of Basque immigration by exploring the role of Basque agricultural labor in the United States, the economic interests of Western ranchers, and McCarran’s diplomacy as catalysts that eventually helped bring Spain into the orbit of western democracies.

Narrative about an attempt to farm on land opened up by the new Minidoka Irrigation Project in the sagebrush desert of southern Idaho. The story of an American farm woman, her husband and family. Describes farm life and farm pyschology. This intimate record of an acute mind and sensitive spirit to the joys and sorrows, difficulties and satisfactions, and personalities describes the author's fifteen years as a farm woman on the last American frontier.

"Sixty-eight selections representing writers who spent their creative years in Nevada from the 1860s to the early twentieth century and have become known as the Sagebrush School. Features Mark Twain, Dan De Quille, Sam Davis, Joe Goodman, and Rollin Daggett, and lesser-known writers Arthur McEwen, Fred Hart, and others"--Provided by publisher.