Wednesday, July 3, 2019 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
23
Historic ranch on quilt garden tour
By Sue Stafford
Correspondent
A historic treasure south-
west of Sisters will be a stop
on the Quilts in the Garden
Tour on July 11, 9 a.m. to 3
p.m., sponsored by the Sisters
Garden Club.
The Black Diamond
Ranch began as the 160-
acre homestead of Prentiss
and Lula Van Tassel in 1902.
They raised their six children
on the homestead, which had
1903 water rights out of then
Squaw Creek (Whychus)
through the Plainview Ditch.
Allen Harrington bought
the ranch in 1935 from the
Federal Land Bank, which
was created in 1916 to provide
low-cost credit to farmers,
ranchers, and rural America.
In the 1930s, in the midst of
the Great Depression, many
farmers defaulted on their
loans. Speculation would say
that Van Tassel lost the farm
to the bank and Harrington
then purchased it.
Allen shared the ranch with
his father, Mel Harrington.
They added to their holdings
in 1948 when they purchased
160 adjoining acres in 1948
from Jesse South. That same
year, Allen9s brother Ray
bought out Allen. Ray and his
wife, Gladys, moved to the
ranch with their two children
Mike and Darlene, who grew
up on the ranch.
Ray farmed with his father,
Mel, until Mel retired in 1955
and Ray bought his father9s
half interest. Ray raised 225
tons of hay annually. He had a
five-month grazing permit on
Brooks Scanlon land for 90
ABBENHUIS: Public
Works employee
is departing
Continued from page 4
tours for a total of 33 days,
one all Dutch. Then she9ll
come north to take Orry to
Eugene for school, and get her
belongings out of storage. At
this point in time, she plans to
live in Summerlin, a master-
planned development outside
of Las Vegas, near Red Rock
Canyon.
She said given the nature
of Las Vegas with their hotels,
airlines, tourists, and conven-
tion center, jobs for people
with multilingual skills are
plentiful.
<I am excited for what9s
coming but I will miss the
good people of Sisters 4 my
co-workers and neighbors,=
she concluded pensively. <But
I9ll be coming back. Orry
will be in Eugene, and this is
home.=
head of cattle.
On February 16, 1918,
while farming on a differ-
ent parcel of land in Sisters,
Mel had applied for and
was granted a brand featur-
ing a quarter circle lazy four.
Ray had Mel9s old branding
irons so he applied for and
was granted the same brand,
exactly 33 years to the day of
Mel9s original registration.
The Harringtons sold the
ranch in 1961 to people who
owned it for over 20 years. In
the late 1980s, the Sharps of
Vancouver bought the prop-
erty to breed and raise cattle.
They redid the barn, put in
all the white fencing, and
added white metal siding to
the house and farm buildings.
The ranch, which is now 136
acres in size, was purchased
from the Sharps by the current
owners.
At some earlier point in
time, 30 acres were sold to
Brooks Scanlon for construct-
ing a portion of their logging
railroad between Bend and
the ponderosa forests to the
west. In the 1950s they recon-
structed the old railroad grade
into a modern fast logging
truck route. Some blasting
was necessary to widen the
roadbed.
Gladys Harrington com-
plained to the road crew she
feared the blasting would
keep her goose eggs from
hatching. An agreement was
reached between Gladys and
Brooks Scanlon. For any eggs
that didn9t hatch, she would
receive a gosling. Brooks
Scanlon ended up having to
give Gladys nine goslings for
the nine of 15 goose eggs that
didn9t hatch. From that day
forward, the rocky promon-
tory has been called Goose
Egg Point, from which a
beautiful view is available of
the pastures below and Mt.
Jefferson, flanked by Black
Butte.
The original saltbox farm-
house, although enlarged
and modernized, still sits on
the property, with a grace-
ful large front porch. For
the garden tour, the Three
Sisters Historical Society
will have two Sisters historic
quilts displayed on the porch
along with historic photos.
The quilts were made by the
women of Cloverdale Grange
No. 623 in 1935 for baby
Viva Lucille McDaniel and
Plainview Grange No. 623 in
1913 for Etta Fryrear.
Gardens for viewing at the
ranch include old-fashioned
The look and feel of true
hand-forged ironwork is different...
“Your Local Welding Shop”
CCB# 87640
...than mass-produced,
powder-coated or
painted cast iron
or fabricated steel.
All our products are
finished with a natural
patina – age-old
wax and oil finishes.
541-549-9280 | 207 W. Sisters Park Dr. | PonderosaForge.com
PHOTO BY SUE STAFFORD
The Black Diamond Ranch will be featured on the Quilts in the Garden Tour
during Quilt Show week.
perennial beds, including
lovely heirloom rose bushes
and old lilacs, as well as a
verdant vegetable garden bor-
dered by sunflowers.
A special feature on the
shaded lawn in front of the
house will be a collection of
succulents for sale by Five
Feathers Farm. Raffle tick-
ets may be purchased for a
chance to win a succulent
arrangement.
From the Black Diamond
parking lot, shuttles will ferry
tour-goers a half-mile up the
hill to the lodge-style home
and gardens of the current
ranch owners.
Tickets are $20 (children
under 12 free) and are avail-
able for purchase at Sisters
Chamber of Commerce office
and The Gallimaufry.
Note: Some information
for this article came from a
1957 Bulletin article, and
information was also pro-
vided by Mike Harrington.
S a n d a l s a n d S h o e s
i n s t o c k !
290 W. Cascade Ave. 541-549-8424
www.mackenziecreekmercantile.com
Our agents are ready to meet
your insurance needs
As life changes, so should your policy
Call or come in today for a
free Farmers Friendly Review
541-588-6245 • 257 S. Pine St., #101
www.farmersagent.com/jrybka
AUTO • HOME • LIFE • BUSINESS
CONCEALED CARRY
PERMIT CLASS
WHEELER COUNTY
BLUEGRASS FESTIVAL
Friday-Sunday, July 5-7, Fossil, Oregon
Buffalo Kin • C J Neary & Short People
Danny Lee Allison • Down Range • Grand Young Opry
Hardly Heard • Keening Foxhounds • Mountain Honey
Old Growth Quartet • Portland Radio Ponies
Whiskey Deaf • Wild Rose Trail • Wheeler County Ramblers
WORKSHOPS • CAMPING • JAMMING
PARADE FRIDAY 2 P.M.
MULTI-STATE $ 80
i including
n c l u d i n g Oregon
O r e g o n ( (See
S e e s states
t a t e s o on n o our
u r w
website)
e b s i t e )
OREGON ONLY $ 45
July 18 • 6 p.m. only
Best Western Ponderosa Lodge
500 Hwy. 20 W., Sisters
For more information:
www.FirearmTrainingNW.com
www.wheelercountybluegrass.org
FirearmTrainingNW@gmail.com | 360-921-2071