This 1953 photo was taken during the Malheur County Centennial celebration as a part of the Oregon statehood commemorations. Basques were among the many who attended the two-day centennial celebration as they felt proud to belong to that portion of the state of Oregon.
During the first half of the 20th century, Jordan Valley had become the nucleus for a group of Basque immigrants as far as businesses and community were concerned. In Malheur County, as in other places of the American West, Basque immigrants had made their livelihood in the open-range sheep industry. In the early 20th century, those immigrants had settled throughout the vast ranching hinterland surrounding Jordan Valley, turning this town into a Basque enclave.
On one of the floats was Pete Larrinaga, a Basque from Aulestia (province of Bizkaia) who immigrated in 1920 to work as a sheep labourer, standing firmly and leaning on a cane.
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