GEOGRAPHY
Use our resources to learn more about herding traditions, and gaze through the photo galleries throughout this post.

Photograph by Matt Moyer, National Geographic

Photograph by Matt Moyer, National Geographic

Photograph by Matt Moyer, National Geographic

Photograph by Matt Moyer, National Geographic

Photograph by Matt Moyer, National Geographic

Photograph by Rob Crow, courtesy Flickr. This image is licensed under the Creative Commons NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic license.
Discussion Ideas
- Read through our encyclopedic entry on herding. What type of herding is celebrated by the Trailing of the Sheep festival—nomadic, semi-nomadic, transhumance, or ranching? What are the characteristics of this type of herding?
- Transhumance. Transhumance is the seasonal migration of livestock and herders between warm valleys and cool foothills.
- The Trailing of the Sheep Festival is held in Ketchum, Idaho. According to the Trailing of the Sheep Festival and the Idaho Agricultural Statistic Service, “sheep migrate north each spring from the lower elevations of the Snake River plain of Southern Idaho, traveling in bands of close to 1,500 sheep, through the Wood River Valley to summer high mountain pastures. This traditional route takes them up Highway 75 through newly populated, residential areas and the towns of Bellevue, Hailey, and Ketchum. Some continue their journey over Galena summit into the Sawtooth Mountains. In the fall, the animals retrace this trail south to desert fields and it is this return migration that we celebrate as the Trailing of the Sheep Festival.” Now take a look at our MapMaker Interactive, focused on Ketchum, and use it to map the sheep’s general migration route. Remember to use the zoom and search features, and use our wide variety of markers!
- What geographic clues might help you map the migration?
- rivers (Snake River, Wood River)
- towns (Ketchum (already marked with a sun, recognizing its neighboring ski resort, Sun Valley), Hailey, Bellevue)
- mountains (Sawtooth, Galena summit)
- roads (Highway 75)
- Here’s a peek at what your map might look like! I used boat markers for the rivers, dots for towns, and mountain peaks for mountains.
- What geographic clues might help you map the migration?
- Skim through our encyclopedic entry on herding. According to the Idaho Agricultural Statistic Service, early Idaho herders had Scottish and Basque ancestry. “Today,” however, “most Idaho herders are Peruvian. There are some Mexican, Chilean, and several Mongolian men as well.” Do these cultures have strong herding traditions?
- You bet!
- Scottish and Basque cultures have strong traditions of herding sheep. In fact, Scottish immigrants were the first to import several varieties of sheep to Idaho in the 1800s. Check out this utterly irresistible “Extreme Shepherding” video. (OK, it actually takes place in Wales.) Really, watch this video.
- Scottish and Basque cultures have strong traditions of herding sheep. In fact, Scottish immigrants were the first to import several varieties of sheep to Idaho in the 1800s. Check out this utterly irresistible “Extreme Shepherding” video. (OK, it actually takes place in Wales.) Really, watch this video.
- Peruvian herders have strong traditions of herding alpacas, vicunas, and llamas (as well as sheep and goats—check out this photo) through the foothills of the Andes—which make the Sawtooth Mountains seem like bumps in the road!
- Mexican vaqueros are most famous for herding cattle, but also herd sheep and goats.
- Chilean herders have traditionally herded llamas, sheep, and cattle.
- Mongolian herders have an historic tradition of herding horses, goats, yaks, reindeer, and (most awesome) two-humped Bactrian camels!
- You bet!
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