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A commitment to land and family
Johnsons take
pride in Century
Farm status
By ANN BLOOM
For the Wallowa County Chieftain
A
century is a long time.
To reach the 100-year
mark, either for a per-
son or a farm, is an
achievement.
The Johnson family’s farm,
located in the Lower Valley near
Wallowa, north of the intersection
of Lower Diamond Lane and High-
way 82, has been in the family for
five generations. Now occupied
by Dale Johnson and his wife, Lu,
the family can trace its roots in the
Lower Valley back to 1872.
At that time, Dale’s great-grand-
father, J.F Johnson and his wife,
Fannie Applegate Johnson, settled
in the Lower Valley and proved
up on the farm in the fall of 1884.
Proving up is the process of the set-
tler finalizing the improvements to
the property and continually work-
ing the farm for one year.
Al and Nancy Johnson Apple-
gate settled in the Lower Valley
in 1883 and in 1884 they traded
their homestead to Al’s sister, Fan-
nie. Both ranches have been in the
Johnson family since that time.
To qualify for Century Farm
status, one must apply through the
Oregon Historical Society and pro-
vide documentation such as land
grant papers granting ownership to
settlers and showing that the farm
has been continuously worked for
100 years by the same family.
In the case of the Johnson Cen-
tury Farm, the operation was a
sheep and cattle ranch, with grass
hay being the major crop. Dale
relates an interesting story of the
ranch that took place during the
Great Depression. In the middle
of the Depression, the bank fore-
closed on 3,000 sheep on the farm
Ann Bloom/Wallowa County Chieftain
Dale and Lu Johnson, owners of Johnson-Applegate Century Farm stand in front of the sign June 30, 2022, at the
end of the driveway to their house, alongside the highway.
and a few cows and sent them on
the train to Portland to be slaugh-
tered. According to Dale, the bank
left a few horses and a milk cow.
“They didn’t foreclose on the
land because there was no debt on
the land,” he said.
After that, Dale’s grandfather
and father and his four uncles
formed the Wallowa Sheep and
Land Company.
“Because there were that many
working the property the bank
agreed to finance them (to get
restarted),” he said. “They sold
hay for more that fall than they did
sheep the year before.”
When they came out of
the Depression they started
raising cattle.
“Hay is a major crop on this
place,” he said.
The house Dale and Lu live in
now, was built starting in 1918 and
finished in 1921. They bought it in
1979 from Dale’s uncle, Howard.
Before returning to work the ranch,
Dale was the personnel director for
the Corvallis School District.
“We moved up here and went
into the farming business,” Dale
said.
He worked the farm and taught
in the Wallowa schools where he
was also the principal for K-12
from 1986 through 1988. He ran
the ranch and retired from the
schools in 1988 and then just
focused on the ranch. He finally
fully retired in 2013 at 86. The
ranch is currently leased to Bare-
more Ranch, but is still owned by
the family.
Dale’s first job on the ranch was
as an 11-year-old derrick driver in
1947.
The Johnsons have four chil-
dren and in 2000 they gifted the
farm to them. Now, two sons own
the farm. Dale said their wish is
that the land stay in the family, but
the reality could be different.
“Once you’ve given a gift it’s
somebody else’s,” Lu said.
To listen to the Johnsons, it is
evident their commitment to the
land and family is strong. For
them it is about community and
leaving a place better than when
you found it. And they are under-
standably proud of earning Cen-
tury Farm recognition.
Lu mentioned one particular
summer she remembered when
three generations of the Johnson
family were haying together.
“That was absolutely wonder-
ful seeing them working together.
They loved it!” she said.
Working on the same land for a
century carries deep meaning.
“(It’s) a commitment to the
land,” Dale said. “Something solid
that isn’t going to go away. You’re
part of the community. You’re
involved with your neighbors.
You work together to share water
usage, labor and help your neigh-
bors out.”
Perhaps Lu summed it best.
“It’s exciting. It’s a feeling to
know your family has belonged
to the land this long,” she said. “A
Century Farm makes a statement
in history.”