Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 1, 2022)
“I’m actually commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Marine Corps,” he says. “I just know that I’m never going to get an opportunity like this.” He admits he had a somewhat romanticized view of what working on a cattle ranch would be like, but after a few weeks, he adjusted. “We don’t encounter people in America like this anymore,” Duffy says. “People should understand that cowboys are still here and there is still a very strong work ethic.” Part of Davies’ mission as a rancher is training new cowhands, he says. So when he gets calls from families and groups such as Boy Scouts, asking if kids can come learn ranch work, he often says “yes” — a rarity among ranchers. Some of the kids are troubled, and few have experience as cowboys. Davies takes them anyway. “Parents call and say, ‘I just realized my son is 16 and I’ve never taught him to work. Can you teach him how to work?’” Davies says. He adds that they take two a year, kids with almost the same story every time. “They have a desire to work, but they don’t have any ability to think and problem solve.” For the kids, it’s a tough adjustment. They usually call their parents every night the first few weeks, begging to be sent home. “They think they’ve died and gone to hell,” Davies says with a laugh, adding that in those first weeks their thighs are chafed from learning to ride horses and their whole bodies are exhausted from the long days. They learn self-reliance. There’s no cell service, and when they can’t open a wire gate, they can’t look it up on YouTube. Davies says as a manager — and as a Mormon — it's important for him to help share knowledge with others so they can develop these skills. “We believe in life after death, and the only thing you really take with you is your knowledge and relationships,” Davies says as the car curves around the bend of a hill. “You don’t take land, you don’t take money and you don’t take worldly things. But you do take your knowledge.” Both Miller and Davies raised their children on ranches. During the school day, their wives or friends drove the kids into Frenchglen, which still has a one-room schoolhouse. Since the school doesn’t have bus service, parents get paid mileage, at the IRS rate of more than 50 cents per mile, to drive to school. The trip from Roaring Springs is 15 miles, one way. For high school, many kids attend a public boarding school in Crane, 75 miles north of the Roaring Springs Ranch headquarters. Students live there Monday through Friday, spending weekends at home. “Sometimes we had to drive up to Joseph or North Powder and back for away basketball games,” Davies says. The drive takes about six hours when there is no snow on the road. Getting medical help can also be difficult. Miller says his pregnant daughter-in-law scheduled her delivery date so she could drive over to Bend to have the baby. At Roaring Springs, roughly 75 miles from the near- est hospital in Burns, Elaine Davies got her certification as a first responder in the case of accidents at Roaring Springs or on the state highway that cuts through it. If anyone gets injured, Davies can help assess what needs to happen and communicate with an ambulance or a life flight plane if needed. Country roads, take me home On the first Saturday of each August, ranchers and other families of the Blitzen and Catlow valleys celebrate their community at the Frenchglen Jamboree, a tradi- tion that has carried on for over 50 years. The families spend their mornings at the corral on the north end of the tiny town of Frenchglen, named for P Ranch owner Pete French and his business partner Hugh Glenn, where tiny 4- and 5-year-olds in cowboy hats — both boys and girls — ride tall horses while their parents lead them around a dusty barrel race pattern, and older kids compete in calf- roping. This year, the jamboree was planned by Miller’s daughter-in-law. In the evening, we return for the jamboree barbeque, and it’s like stepping through time. The ranchers sit at picnic tables and on hay bales in the lawn next to the old Frenchglen Hotel. They wear variations of the same cloth- ing, trading out their dirty ranch cowboy hats for clean ones, plaid button-up shirts, jeans and boots. Not a single pair of skinny jeans in sight. We join them to eat smoked beef, corn on the cob and watermelon off of paper plates while families play horseshoe on the hillside. Across the street is the one-room schoolhouse where most of their kids went to elementary school. Davies and Miller shake hands and greet each other warmly at the jamboree. If there are grudges or suspicions held between ranchers and their families, they are left at the threshold of the lawn where the evening sun casts a golden light on the distant Steens Mountain. A cover band plays “Mama Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to be Cowboys,” as I go to speak with a handful of young men working at Roaring Springs, who, in fact, did grow up to be cowboys. Later, the sun sets in the Catlow Valley. Shadows grow long on the ridge behind the Roaring Springs Ranch headquarters while cattle graze across the state high- way, awaiting nightfall. Some ranchers remain at the jamboree, drinking beer and watching their kids play on the hay bales. After the 15-mile drive back to the ranch, the work- day isn’t yet over for Stacy and Elaine Davies. A herd of cattle has been grazing all day around headquarters. Stacy mounts a red and black dirt bike with Elaine on a quad just ahead of him. They have to drive the cattle into a pasture for the night so they don’t become a hazard for passing cars on the state highway. The rancher looks across the desert, then down on his motorbike. “If only this was a horse,” he laughs. With a courteous wave, he rides off into the sunset. ■ Escape the heat at Art, Oysters & Brews August 6th and September 3rd-4th from 12-5pm on Main St in Toledo, OR There will be live music, kids activities sponsored by the Toledo Library, a petting zoo, local breweries and wineries, fresh oysters, and local artists! Enjoy music, discover new art, wander down Main Street, or take a stroll to the Waterfront Park. Thank you to our funders and sponsors VOTING ENDS SEPT. 9 BESTOFEUGENE.COM E U G E N E W E E K LY . C O M S E P T E M B E R 1 , 2 0 2 2 11
