A Basque immigrant who came to Mesa County in 1925. Along with other Basque immigrants, he was a sheepherder in the Pinon Mesa and Green River, Utah areas. After approximately five years of herding sheep, he and other Basques pooled their money and purchased a sheep ranching outfit, which they did in the middle of the Great Depression. In 1935, he purchased the LaSalle Hotel on Grand Junction’s Colorado Avenue, and helped decrease prostitution and...

Father of Jean Urruty. He was a Basque smuggler aiding the Allies during WWII.