page_title: Jose Antonio Bengoechea
section_title: Early years in the U.S.
hierarchical_section_title: Jose Antonio Bengoechea / Early years in the U.S.
caption_attribution_description: Wedding picture of Jose Bengoechea and Margarita Nachiando (c.1912)
context_page_description: Jose Bengoechea Anduiza was a Basque-American born in Bedarona, Biscay, Spain. He is most notable for his self-made fortune in the early 20th century. He moved to the United States in 1897 and within twenty years he had a herd of over 100,000 sheep in southern Idaho. His motivation and ambition was seen through his many different roles as a local Basque "king" or "father" in Mountain Home, Idaho, serving as the Vice-President of the Mountain Home Bank and the owner of the finest hotel in the western United States at that time, The Bengoechea Hotel.
context_section_description: Jose first moved to California then to Palo Alto, Nevada to work for the Altube family. He then moved to Bruneau, Idaho to start his own business. He was what we would call a modern day entrepreneur. He called on his brother Gabriel Bengoechea to come work on his farm and later called on Meliton Bengoechea; this was the beginning of his successful life as an American immigrant. The Bengoechea sheep company broke down into the Bill Smith Sheep Company and the Wood Creek Sheep Company after Jose's death.
caption: Wedding picture of Jose
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