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Feature
TI he CI ac I camas P rint
WEdNEsdAy, M ay 10, 2000
Snively’s Malheur field trip makes learning fun
MEGAN OLDENSTADT
Managing, Editor
"Wildbeasts and birds are by
right not the property merely of
the people who are alive today,
but the property of unknown gen
erations, whose belongings we
have no right to squander. "
-Theodore Roosevelt
Malheur National Wildlife ref
uge, one of more than 500 refuges
in the United States, has been in
existence since 1908. JohnSnively
has been taking students there for
over 27 years.
“The field trips provide a qual
ity of learning- a hands on way of
teaching- that no video tapes, no
computers, no classroom, no book
can provide. It provides the inspi--
ration people need to move along
with their education or to find the
focus in what they want to do,”
commented Snively.
The Malheur field trip, one of
many that Snively leads through
out the year, is mainly for birding
enthusiasts, but also includes
some geology and natural history
of Eastern Oregon.
Thirty-two people (of all ages)
showed up for the most recent trip
which began at 7 a.m, Fri., May 7,
when three school vans left the
campus. After ajaunt over Mount
Hood and a journey through the
Ochoco’s, the group arrived at the
refuge shortly before dark. The
trailer was unloaded and the old
hospital beds that occupy the
dorm were claimed.
The next few days were spent
identifying birds; Avocets, Black
necked Stilts, Warblers, Great
Horned Owls and Great White
Egrets are a few of the many birds
seen and heard.
The history on the geological
formation of the area, including the
John Day fossil beds and Diamond
Craters Lava flows, were explored
and examined hands-on. The
plants, some native^ and some not,
were observed and identified.
The History
Malheur National Wildlife Ref
uge has quite a story, not only geo
logical but social. In 1872, Peter
French, a 21 year old man from Sac
ramento, wanted to find a place in
the world and make money. With
financing from Hugh Glen, a wheat
trader, French headed north with
1,200 shorthorn cattle and some
Mexican vaqueros. His journey led
him to Oregon, where he met a man
named Porter, who was leaving the
area after too many of his cattle had
died from being stuck in the mud.
French bought Porter’s remain
ing cattle, which gave him the graz
ing rights to the valley. French
soon built a house, a 2-300 ft long
bam and a round bam (both still
standing). He ran his ranch of 3-
6,00 horses and more than 10,000
head of cattle very efficiently.
French drained the marshes and
channelized the rivers to benefit the
ranch.
French married his financer's
daughter and
she
came
from Sacra
mento to live
with him. She
hated ranch
ing life and
left
the
marshland af
ter a year,
pregnant
with French’s
son.
The local
townspeople
looked
to
French for
support At
Christmas, he
would buy all
the local children presents. The
townpeople both respected and
envied French. When farms went
bankrupt in the area he bought
them from his neighbors, thus ac
quiring more land. His empire grew
to over 190,756 acres.
At the time, "squatters rights"
was in effect: if people lived long
enough on any area of land, then it
became rightfully owned by the
squatters. French would allow
people to set up camp on his land,
but would ask them to leave if they
stayed too long. Ted Oliver was
one of these people, and he be
came angry and upset when asked
to move on. While French and his
workers, all unarmed, were out in
the field working, Oliver decided
to get even. He rode his horse into
French again and again. When
French finally asked Oliver to
stop, Oliver pulled out a gun and
shot the ranch owner.
Word had to be spread that
French was dead. Jim Crow was
given the responsibility to travel
to Winnemucca, the closest town,
200 miles away. He made the trip in
twenty-four hours, borrowing
horses along the way.
MEGAN OLDENSTADT I Clackamas Print
Above, students observe a bird
at Diamond Crater located in
Malheur National Wildlife
Refuge last week. Left, John
Snivley gives a talk on the
geological formation of the
John Day fossil beds and
surrounding area.
A turn of the century craze for
feather hats quickly destroyed the
nesting colonies of several species
of birds, which prompted President
Theodore Roosevelt to designated
the area a wildlife refuge in 1908.
In the 1930s the government
purchased 64,000 acres for the ref
uge to maintain water in the Blitzen
Valley. The Civilian Conservation
Camps, which were hosted by the
refuge from 1936-1942, built the
refuge headquarters, the center
patrol road and hundreds of miles
offence. In 1941 a 14,751-acre piece
of land was purchased. Today
Malheur National Wildlife Refuge
covers more than 186,500 acres of
land in eastern Oregon.
The field trips Snively has led
while at Clackamas have touched
the lives of so many people.
“That is where they get excited;
you literally see people changing
their majors, getting interested in
something for the first time, that is
a big thing... I think students find
that they can learn a lot and have
fun at the same time.. It’s a great
way to have fun,” remarked
Snivley.
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MEGAN OLDENSTADT I Clackamas Print
Jennifer Chapman, a park ranger at the John Day Fossil beds
visitor center, talks to a group of students on the Malheur Field
trip about why the fossil beds are such an important resource.
PSU School of Extended Studies