Wing, Michael R.; Wing, Elizabeth H.; and Al-Jamal, Amin M. (2022) “The Distinctively Basque Stone Shelters of California’s White Mountains,” BOGA: Basque Studies Consortium Journal: Volume 9: Issue 1, Article 4. Available at: https://scholarworks.boisestate.edu/boga/vol9/iss1/4/

Since 2016 we have been studying old stone shepherd’s huts and windbreaks on occasional trips to California’s White Mountains.

Alfred R. Giraud is of interest to us because he left his name carved into wood posts or beams on two of the structures we surveyed, and also on a fallen log near Sheep Pass.  Born 1882 in Hyeres, France, he came to California in 1900 at the age of eighteen to join his older brother Pete (profiled as “Little Pete” in Mary Austin’s 1906 book The Flock) who was already herding sheep in the Owens Valley.

Late nineteenth century California presented vast opportunities for free grazing on public lands.  Many young men (Basque and French ) came to take advantage of those opportunities.  The “California Sheep Walk” began in winter pastures around Lancaster, Bakersfield and Mojave.  The sheep were herded north into the Owens Valley, passing the towns of Lone Pine, Independence, Big Pine,  and Bishop.  During the hot summers they grazed in the high green meadows north of Bishop, including the Sierra Nevada and the White Mountains.  In the fall they retraced their steps to the winter pastures in the south.

We have surveyed stone structures on a series of hikes departing from the University of California’s White Mountain Research Center; either the Barcroft Station (elevation 12,470’) or the Crooked Creek Station (elevation 10,150’) or sometimes along the road between them.  We climb the small hills and knolls that characterize the area and use binoculars to scan nearly slopes and meadows for telltale piles of stones.  We also get local information from the field staff of the White Mountain Research Center.

Most are square with four stone single-walls one meter high enclosing a single chamber.  The stone work is carefully laid.  There is a narrow doorway that faces downhill towards a meadow.  Sometimes the floor plan is U-shaped.  A fireplace with a chimney is usually built into the wall.  There is generally no roof.  Residual boulders are often incorporated into the structure.  Rusty cans, glass, wood, bone and/or metal scraps are sometimes present.  It is close to a spring or seasonal stream.  They don’t particularly resemble French stone shepherd’s huts in their architectural style.  They do resemble those found in the Basque region of northern Spain.

We also find small windbreaks and prehistoric tent circles and hunting blinds.