Shoshone journal. [volume] (Shoshone, Idaho) 1884-1931, 1899-07-07
THE BRAVE BASQUE.

Wv -
In the most northern part CT Spain,
where the Pyrenees dip into the Bay
Of Biscay, is the country Of the
BasQues, the unconquered Spaniards.
These are the people of whom Caesar,
in his account OF his conquest OF
Spain, writes. "a few pretty people
higher up in the mountains, did not
make submission or send hostages. !"
The Roman poets called these people
Iberians, and pictured them as almost
supernatural, whom neither hunger,
heat, cold, nor armies could conquer,
and whose greatest Jo. was facing
peril. The Basques Of today bear the
stamp Of this ancient people; in char
acter, disposition, language and Gus
toms, they. are entirely different from
the Spaniards south Of them, and in
deed they can be classed with no other
race OF the earth. Their earliest an
cestors were probably the cave dwell
ers OF the Alps and Pyrenees, whose
bones are found in the caverns Of tn
mountains, together with the remains
Of those gigantic animals which were
the ancestors. OF our present Quadru-
peds. Only in this tiny country,
among the mountains have these
sturdy, stalwart people succeeded In
retaining anything OF their own In
II this is their true orr
gin, their earliest ancestors must have
lived twenty centuries before Christ,
and have been surrounded by a conn
try different in physical features, and
covered with plants and animals which |
have long since ceased to exist. Since |
those days long ago, their whole force
has been used in fighting their way In
the world, in trying to preserve their
racial distinction. All previous to the
Roman conquest of Spain is, as far
- Basque history is concerned, q
blank. Even the Romans found 1t i'm
possible to conquer these sons of the
Mountains, who, when hard pressed
~ armies, or besieged in their forth
led towns, dashed themselves from
he highest rocks, and died by their
'wn hands rather than surrender. At
ength Caesar, with great wisdom,
made them his allies, since they would
lot become his slaves. AS followers
4 his army they left their mountain
ZONES and often the tide of battle, and,
indeed, the trend of history has been
urned by their boldness and courage.
! few centuries later, it was the t
'asQues who fell upon the army OF t
har1emagne and brought death and I
isaster to the cause OF the Francs.
tut no sooner had they esta blished
heir claim to liberty with their north t
IN neighbors than they were met IL
le Saracens, who had crossed into
pain from Africa. In overcoming
lese uusurpers, the Basques took so p
,tive part that they were all en-
obled, and now there is but one class
nong the Basques; to be Basque is z
J belong to the nobility. When the
te queen, Isabella, came to the
rome, the BasQues sent to her the fol- Il
wing message: Sonora, in little 3,
rner OF your kingdom Is people :
W, living in a poor and rugged re-
on; we will be loyal to you, if you
II, as we beg you to do. respect our
eros (parliaments) and the freedom
1ich has never been impaired"
The Basque language is unlike any
lropean tongue and is, In fact, al
3st unique, for it can scarcely be
used with any other language nor is
y other allied to 1t. 1t Is highly in
cted, each word and even each letter
the alphabet being capable to
ange to express many different ideas. 4
ldents OF the Basque language tell
that although 1t is hardest of
lgues to learn, it is the richest OF
lguages. Until the fifteenth century,
re was no written Basque SO. Of
lrse. the literature is quite unim- '
'tant. This Is matter OF much a..
ret for had this people written ira an
Ions OF the far away centuries they "a
sht throw much light upon those hal
ly days, There are three Basque An
vinces, Biscay (vizcaya), 0uipriz- '"
, and Alva. Each province has its v
chosen by it's own people, Di,
there is also parliament of the pre-
ee, which decides the general policy a dSs
he people and deals with the Span S Sa
government. tin
, the mountains there are rich s sss
es of iron, lead and zinc and the syl
eys are sufficiently fertile to yield pei
N OF various kinds. Along the sea -
It the fisheries are extensive.