This Basque story begins with some French monks. In 2021, Carthusian monks from a small town in the French Alps decided they were going to limit the production of their Charteuse liqueur in order to “protect their monastic life and devote their time to solitude and prayer.” In the U.S., that decision meant sales of the famed green liqueur would be limited. In stepped Henry Preiss, owner of a small U.S. distribution company Preiss Imports, who saw a neat opportunity to reintroduce the Basque liqueur Izarra. Preiss Imports is a small family business in Southern California, which has brought many ..read more

Dr. Pedro Oiarzabal clearly remembers the time he was interviewing a Basque American he knew about his experiences in World War II. The man had never talked about the war, where he had lost many friends. After several hours of interviews, Oiarzabal remembers, the man “suddenly broke into tears.” Stirring moments like that have marked the nine years Oiarzabal has been researching to find all the men of Basque origin in the United States who fought in World War II. “It’s always good to talk to the veterans,” said Oiarzabal. “There’s not that many around. We’ve been lucky to interview a few of th ..read more

Author John O’Hagan has been a lifelong fan and historian of the California missions. He left California and moved to Boise, Idaho 40 years ago to raise his family and made a lot of Basque friends there. During his research for a book about the missions, he started noticing that many of the names he ran across were Basque, with their double r’s and z’s. He realized that Basques had played a significant role in running the missions, the military establishments and political offices of California in its early years. In fact, Basques were governors of early California consecutively for a period o ..read more

So you are interested in Basque culture and you plan to visit Boise, Idaho. What should you do? Here is our list of the top Basque-related things to do in the City of Trees. Basques started arriving in Idaho in the early 1900s, mostly to herd sheep. They operated boardinghouses to give the new arrivals from the “Old Country” a place to call home. The Basques thrived in Boise and have maintained their culture through dance, restaurants, festivals and more. VISIT THE BASQUE BLOCK The Basque Block is located in the 600 block of Grove Street. While many of the Basque locations on the block have ex ..read more

Elizabette Guecamburu has been writing for many years. She has been writing a column, Hometown Girl, for her local newspaper, the Patterson Irrigator, since 2005. She has written on disability rights issues. She has also written freelance for marketing companies. She has a couple drafts of novels tucked away that she hasn’t tried to publish yet. This year, she published her first novel, “Murder in the Boardinghouse.” And she is thrilled. Guecamburu doesn’t want to spoil the plot, so she simply says “It’s about a boardinghouse and a murder and the characters are all Basque.” She described it as ..read more

The drink known as the Picon Punch was originally made with a liqueur called Amer Picon (bitter) and brandy. Perhaps because of its French origins, Amer Picon made its way to the American Far West in the Basque enclaves, where the drink Picon Punch was born. Bernard Igoa of Bakersfield, Calif., an avid fan of the drink, notes that grenadine, which is another ingredient, is also French. The Picon Punch is the true Basque American drink, because it was created in the U.S. and is not served in the Basque Country. Igoa said Bakersfield and San Francisco, Calif., Reno, Nevada and Rock Springs, Wyom ..read more

Gwenaël Breton, a military veteran of the French Special Forces and resident of the Basque Country, is on a grueling trek across the United States with his son on bicycle. It’s part of a tour he is making around the world via cycling and rowing to help promote a message of hope to wounded war veterans. His 33,000-kilometer journey began in January 2021 on bike from the Basque city of Baiona in Iparralde. Even though the pandemic had shut down much of the world, he was not about to let that stop him. But it did prove difficult to cross borders in Europe. He managed to cycle through 12 countries ..read more

A new mural in the city of Reno honors the Basque presence in Northern Nevada. It was created by artist Leire Urbeltz and Jaione Inda, two women from the Basque Country who received a grant for the project from the government of the province of Nafarroa. The mural, at Barbara Bennett Park, was painted last month. It is part of the downtown park area along the Truckee River. The subjects to be included in the mural were decided after a couple of workshops where local Basque-Americans were asked for their feedback, said Urbeltz, who is currently still working in the Reno area. Urbeltz proposed a ..read more

The power of women — in particular Basque women — was evident Oct. 21 at Basque Cultural Day in South San Francisco. The event, sponsored by the Basque Educational Organization, brought together women from several generations and the audience that came to hear them speak was enchanted. Patty Miller, former director of the Basque Museum, related funny and fascinating quotes from dozens of older Basque women who had been interviewed and photographed by the museum for the exhibit “Inner Strength: Portraits of Basque Women.” “What hit me the most, emotionally, was the courage of the immigrant wome ..read more

The contribution of Basque women to the advancement of the Basque immigrant community in the U.S. will be celebrated on Saturday, Oct. 21 at Basque Cultural Day in South San Francisco. Basque Cultural Day, which is organized every two years by the Basque Educational Organization (BEO), will take place at the Basque Cultural Center from 1 – 5 p.m., with a cocktail hour and a Boarder’s Dinner following the speakers. The day’s event is titled “Euskal Andreen Egintza Amerikan,” which means “The Impact of Basque Women in America” in the Basque language of Euskera. The Cultural Day lectures are free ..read more