Emmett Elizondo talks about his arrival in the United States from the Basque region of Spain and his first sheepherding job in Buffalo, Wyoming. He remembers building his own herds through a sheep leasing deal with a business partner in Salt Lake City. He recalls his move to Colorado’s Western Slope and eastern Utah, where he amassed a large sheep operation and owned 25,400 acres by 1980. He speaks about his community involvements, including his help organizing a bank in Fruita in the 1930’s, and helping to found the Western Colorado Center for the Arts (now known as the Art Center). He talks about his trips to Spain to visit family, and about the Basque community of Grand Junction. He remembers how grazing changed with the advent of the US Grazing Service, managing sheep operations with shepherds and sheep dogs, financing sheep operations, and the history of ranches along the Colorado River. The interview was conducted by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries and the Museums of Western Colorado.
