Closing a Circle: From the Basque Country of Spain to Marin County, California

The Barinaga family has been sheep-ranching in America for more than a century. My grandfather, Valentin Barinagarrementeria, travelled from the Basque village of Markina to Mountain Home, Idaho, in the early 1900s to make his life as a sheep-herder on a ranch in southern Idaho. He was a diligent worker and soon became a partner in the ranch, and eventually owner, with my grandmother Eulalia. Theirs was a typical American sheep ranch…