Talbott Sheep Company
By: Mia Artadi DiGiovanni, Gianna Artadi DiGiovanni, Bianca Artadi Soares & Tristan Talbott Soares
The story of Talbott Sheep Company is many things. Of course, it is a story of a sheep business that has survived over 100 years. But it is so much more than that. It is a story of culture and history. It is a story of Hardworking Basque Sheep Men and Strong Basque Women. It is a story of good and bad times, of perseverance and grit. A story of innovation and adaptation. But most of all, it is the story of our family. We have grown up hearing these stories and watching our grandparents, Aitachi and Amachi, live and breathe the Sheep Industry all our lives. Putting their story, our story, on paper has been a privilege and an honor.
Talbott Sheep Company is a 101 year old commercial sheep business, a lifeline for Basque sheep herders who immigrated to the United States for a better life. To understand the story of Talbott Sheep Co., you need to understand the story of two different families, the Iribarren’s and the Artadi’s. Thomas Iribarren immigrated to the United States in 1921 from Elizondo, Navarre Spain and worked as a herder for a sheep man in Lost Hills, CA. He eventually built his own sheep business and married Marie Jeanne Eyherabide, daughter of Pascal and Grace Eyherabide, another sheepman, in Bakersfield, CA and raised his daughters, Teresa and Dolores around the sheep. This is where Teresa’s passion for sheep began. The Artadi’s are a slightly different story. Ramon Artadi immigrated to the United States in 1906 from near Gernika, Bizkaia, Spain, when he was eleven years old with his father, Jose Artadi. They both worked as sheep herders for a man named James Talbott, in Nevada. After a few years, Jose decided it was time for him to go back to Spain. Ramon didn’t wish to return, stating, “This is my home.” Jose then went to Mrs. Talbott and asked her these famous words that every member of our family knows, “Will you have him?” Mrs. Talbott turned to Jose, smiled, and said, “Yes, we will have him.” The Talbotts adopted Ramon, he changed his name to Ramon Artadi Talbott, and he never saw his father again. Three generations later, and every member of our family still carries Artadi as our middle name.
Ramon eventually got a job working for Tryon and Mckendry Wool Company near Klamath. One day, he was out moving sheep in terribly rough weather, and a car pulled up with a man in the back seat. The man asked, “Who do these sheep belong to?” and Ramon responded, not knowing who the man was, “They belong to Tryon and Mckendry.” It turned out that Mr. Tryon was the man in the car. He later inquired about Ramon and gained a lot of respect for him. “Anyone that’s going to be out in weather like that moving sheep for another man has got to be a pretty square guy.” Some time after that, Ramon was offered a new position with the wool company in Stockton, CA. Stockton was a hub for the Central Valley Sheep Industry, and therefore, the Basques as well. His job was to visit sheep producers that were being financed by Tryon and count the sheep, to assess their assets. At this time, sheep outfits were financed by the wool companies, not by banks. Ramon carried a little pink book around with him for his counts, and came to be known by many as “Pink Book.”
It was in Stockton where Ramon started Talbott Sheep Co. in 1920. During this time, he met Elena Celayeta. They married in 1929 and moved to Los Banos, CA in 1931. Ramon and Elena had two sons, James “Jim” Artadi Talbott born in 1933 (named after James Talbott, Ramon’s adoptive father) and Raymond “Ray” Artadi Talbott born in 1938 (named after Ramon). The boys grew up in the business, and when their father Ramon suddenly passed away in 1956 while Ray was a senior in high school, the brothers took over and ran Talbott Sheep Co. together. While the brothers managed the sheep, their mother, Elena, managed the books.
Elena has always been described to us, her great-grandkids, as a “very impressive woman”. Elena left school at age 12 to work in order to help her family. As an adult, she returned to school and graduated from high school the same year as her son Ray, by attending night classes. She was very well-read, spoke 5 languages, and was involved in many community organizations. She was always ready to help those in her community, helping many in the Basque community with the paperwork necessary to achieve American Citizenship.
Our Aitachi (grandfather), Ray Artadi Talbott attended University of California, Davis for 2 years while working with the business. He eventually decided he needed to focus on the business more and returned to the ranch full-time. He also served in the National Guard for a few years. He met Teresa Iribarren at the Reno Basque Picnic and they were married in 1965. After their wedding, Thomas Iribarren, Teresa’s father, retired and sold his business to Talbott Sheep Co., uniting their herds and their families. To this day, we still use some of Thomas’s original brands. Ray and Teresa had two daughters, Michelle and Andrée, who were raised around the sheep, but both followed in their mothers footsteps and became nurses. When they bought the sheep from Thomas, that meant they also gained one of his Basque herders, Santiago. Santiago worked for Talbott Sheep Co. until he retired. Ray Bilbao “Quinientos'' was another significant herder. Quinientos came to Stockton from Reno with Ramon and worked for Ramon from the start. He was very close with the Talbott Family until he passed.
In the 1980’s, due to pressing economics, Ray and Jim had to sell the sheep. During this difficult time, Ray always knew he could and would get back into the industry. Little by little he began trading old ewes, and eventually got right back into the sheep business, this time on his own. However, he credits his wife, Teresa, for keeping their affairs together during this period, as she had an off farm job which provided stability.
If you are in the sheep industry in most of the Western United States, you likely know of Ray Talbott. Ray has served on many different boards of industry organizations throughout his life, including the California Wool Growers Association, Western Range Association, and even received the Master Shepherd Award from the California Wool Growers Association to honor his time and service to the industry. He is a historian of the industry, and a wise sheep man who has been looked to for advice and guidance by others for many decades. Ray is known as a quiet man, he’s always told us grandkids that we have two ears and one mouth for a reason. That is to listen twice as much as you speak. But anyone that has attended a conference or meeting with Ray knows that when he does talk, the room goes silent to listen to what he has to say. He speaks wisely, and isn’t afraid to challenge an idea or opinion. That kind of respect comes from a lifetime of paying attention and learning what’s going on around you, another piece of advice he’s often given to his grandkids.
After Elena passed, Teresa managed the books. She did so while working full-time as a school nurse, and raising her two daughters.
Today, Talbott Sheep Co. is a meat and wool production sheep outfit. We raise Rambouillet sheep and focus on raising them with the best practices available in order to ensure the best quality of lamb and wool. Our sheep spend their fall and winters in Los Banos, California in the heart of the Central Valley just as they have since 1931 when Ramon and Elena moved the sheep and their family to town. The only difference is now, they spend their spring and summers grazing in the Sierra Nevadas. While Talbott Sheep Co. sheep were originally herded by Basque shepherds, today our bands are herded by H2A Peruvian shepherds who are experts in their trade. Sheep companies would not exist without the expert care of these herders. They are a crucial part of the industry, as is the H2A worker program. These men are very special to our family and many have worked with us for many many years. They are truly invaluable and part of the heart of our operation. While our sheep are grazing the Sierras, they are also providing wildfire fuel reduction, and in some areas working to maintain native vegetation species that are monitored by the U.S. Forest Service. The sheep and the land have a very symbiotic relationship. The healthier the soils, the more nutritious the feed is for our sheep, the more efficiently we graze, the more impact they have on helping to stimulate healthy plant growth and diminish wildfire fuel.
In 2014, Ray and Teresa’s daughter Andrée returned to the sheep business and began growing Star Creek Land Stewards Inc. (SCLS) into the company it is today. SCLS is a sheep & goat fire prevention grazing company. After 29 years working as a nurse for Valley Children's Hospital, Andrée decided it was time for a change and came back to the sheep industry. She now heads the company and serves on many of the same boards her father did including the California Wool Growers Association (the oldest agricultural organization in the state) and is the first woman to serve on the Board of the Western Range Association.
This change opened up a grand opportunity for Andrée’s daughter Bianca who, like her Amachi, (Teresa), has a grand passion for this industry and the animals. Bianca works as the Project Manager for SCLS and is also heavily involved with continuing the work of Talbott Sheep Co. If you haven’t gotten the impression yet, our family has a long tradition of strong women guiding our businesses forward. SCLS is effective in what it does because of the tradition, experience, Basque culture, and passion we all bring to the company. Andrée, along with Bianca, and Emilio Huarte Jr. head the company in leadership. Emilio’s father, Emilio Sr. immigrated to the US from Ardaiz, Navarre Spain in 1958 at the age of 21. He began working for Talbott Sheep Co. in 1959. Emilio was the Foreman for Ray for many many years, and Emilio Jr. and his siblings were all raised around the sheep business and the Talbott Family. Emilio Jr. always had an immense passion for the industry and eventually took the role of Foreman at Talbott Sheep, just as his father did. Emilio Jr. brought the concept of SCLS to Andrée in 2013 and currently serves as Foreman for both Talbott Sheep Co. and SCLS. The knowledge he has from years of listening to old sheep men tell him secrets of the trade, mistakes to avoid, and those to learn from, along with his overall experience have made him, his father, and their families not only crucial parts of our businesses, but also part of our family.
SCLS specifically focuses on wildfire preventative grazing with sheep and goats, land restoration and vegetation management. Compared to a typical sheep outfit, we require more attentiveness from our herders, as we put our animals and herders in urban settings, exposing them to many different types of risks. But on the ground level, we are using the same practices our great grandparents used when they began raising sheep in the US over 100 years ago. It is a business that is being more commonly utilized as states like California learn the importance of tending to the land. We can no longer allow our state to neglect its public lands, leaving them at risk to become completely overgrown, overtaken by invasive species and brush, and ultimately an imminent threat for wildfires. Utilizing a service like what we provide not only helps to protect from disasters such as wildfires, but using grazing animals mimics the native herd species that used to roam the land. These species kept native grasses at healthy levels allowing them to thrive. They control invasives and disturb the soils stimulating root growth and create a natural fertilizer providing the soils with a healthy, strong microbiome. Grazing is one of a few healthy options to managing our lands along with other natural practices, and it is what sheep outfits have been doing across the western United States for centuries. SCLS, has simply pivoted and found a new way to apply them to the needs of California today.
Some today would look at a legacy like ours and say how easy it must be because it’s a family business, and we already have so much knowledge and know-how to run a sheep outfit. But the sheep business is anything but easy. It is very complex and never dull. It is an industry that has been challenged to fail for decades. The market for lamb and wool has virtually been on a decline since the late 1970’s when lamb began to be imported from other countries. The wool market followed a similar trend with the end of the wool incentive program in 1995. Sure, today there are more niche markets in search of quality companies that are indeed providing a superior product, but that is still not the norm. What is truly impressive is that we have survived. It is a testament that a multigenerational company, challenged by economic, financial, personal and environmental challenges has adapted time and time again. We have continued to change and will continue to do so.
When I, Bianca, was no more that 8 years old in about 2003, I remember riding in the back of my Amachi Teresa and Aitachi Ray’s car, and my little brother Tristan produced a picture he drew of the two of us with the sheep. My brother showed my Aitachi Ray and said, “Look Tachi, this is going to be Bianca and me when we’re grown up and running the sheep!” My brother was very excited, as was I because it was a dream for us as kids. Aitachi Ray looked back at us and said, “The sheep industry will be gone by the time you’re adults,” and turned away. That was the opinion of many many sheep men at that time. It’s the opinion of many sheep men even today. Faced with more and more challenges regarding the reliability of labor, and diminishing markets for American wool and lamb, it is no wonder that he felt that way.
And yet here we are, 101 years later. The American Dream of a young Basque boy from Spain has inspired generations after him to love the sheep industry. Talbott Sheep Co. and Star Creek Land Stewards are thriving, well respected companies because of this. We keep our standards of care and work high, just as Ramon taught our Aitachi Ray, and it shows to those who come in contact with us. We deal with our challenges as they come, and boy do they come. We adapt and we change, we continue to evolve, and we step up when necessary.
Nowhere in our story is this perseverance more clear, then when you reflect on the common thread throughout all four generations: the women who stepped up. Starting four generations ago, Marie Jeanne, Elena, and Teresa stepped up and helped run their husbands businesses when they were in need, undoubtedly the reason we are still here today. It is no wonder that Andrée and Bianca have stepped up in recent years to continue the legacy of Talbott Sheep Co. When we think about it, it makes sense that our Aitachi has always emphasized the importance of Jose Artadi’s question to Mrs. Talbott. If she had not said “Yes, we will have him”, we would not be here today. Our family and Talbott Sheep Co. exist today because Mrs. Talbott said “Yes.”