Whiskey Creek Camp in Olympic Valley, California

Livestock grazing was one of the founding economic activities in the development of the Western Frontier and remains important today. Sheep raising increased in importance by the beginning of the 20th century, and provided opportunities for Basque sheepherders who came to the West in substantial numbers. Hailing from the Pyrenees Mountains between France and Spain, these people, who speak a language unrelated to any other, were renowned for their expertise in sheep husbandry.

A sheep camp was established here by the Basques in the early 20th century, and in the early 1950s, the present structures were built. They include a bunkhouse, a storehouse, and a bread oven, the latter built as a separate free-standing masonry structure. Such ovens were common in the Basque community.

The site now lies within the Granite Chief Wilderness Area, which was designated in 1984, and the buildings were initially slated for demolition as inappropriate in the wilderness. Fortunately, the camp was then designated as a historic site, and the structures are now preserved on that basis. Indeed, they were restored in the early 2000s. Whiskey Creek Camp is now one of the handful of intact Basque sheep camps remaining.