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.
