24
CROOK COUNTY JOURNAL'S ANNUAL NUMBER.
poplars, under whose rustling green leaves
nestled beautiful cottages. Little streams
flowed and gurgled here and there through
a green-carpeted lawn; flowers and shrubs
bordered the long walks, birds sang in the
trees, fruits hung ripening in the orchards,
and all of the inhabitants wore bright
smiles of contentment. A comfortable
hotel was farther down among the trees,
and numerous walks led to it. Long barns
and sheds were in the rear and a large
general store-house, supplied with all kinds
of general merchandise, groceries and hard
ware, was just across the boulevard,
where a bare-armed blacksmith was ham
mering a red-hot piece of iron. Young
calves scampered across the lawn like
antelope, children played with joyous glee
and the dogs and cats and chickens, even,
showed an air of fine breeding. Everything
looked as if it was well-bred and of the
best. I had dashed into this jlysium from
the rock-ribbed mountains and sandy des
ert. "What place is this?" was the first ques
tion asked of a stroller beneath the trees.
With a good-natured smile he replied,
"Hay Creek!" as if everybody hadn't heard
of Hay Creek.
Being ignorant of this wonderful place,
and from its general home appearance, 1
made further inquiry. I was informed
that this was the central ranch and
main headquaiters of the great Baldwin
Sheep & Land Company. All well-posted
citizens of Oregon know what this means,
and every citizen of Crook county is
familiar with the history and purposes
of this institution. A stop over night, a
hearty meal and a pleasant conversation
with the genial proprietors brought out
a rehearsal of the whole story.
There are larger individual ranches in
the world than this one, but it is the
largest of the kind. The company is one
of the oldest institutions in the state. It
was organized about twenty-seven yeais ago
for the purpose of breeding fine sheep.
This purpose has been carried out from year
to year until it has almost reached per
fection in its line. But like all ambitious
people, the owners aie not resting on their
oars, but are still striving to accomplish
better results. They have 12,000 thorough
bred ewes as a basis, and have 50,000 head
of sheep on the ranch. They have now
ready for the spring market 4,000 head of
the choicest yong fine-bred rams ever
raised in this country. These breeds pro
duce more wool and a better texture of wool
than any other grown. A general improve
ment in stock has been the watchword
all over Eastern Oregon for a number of
years, but in no branch of the industry
has there been greater success than in
sheep, and the Baldwin Sheep & Land Com
pany has made the greatest progress of
them all.
Dr. Baldwin was the founder of this com
pany and inaugurated the original plans.
It was first organized in 1873. The doctor
made some of the first purchases from a
Mr. Hammond of Vermont, at that time
paying enormous prices for some of the
rams. He even paid as high as $800 per
head for some of them. Strowbridge,
Severance and Pelt, of California, were also
patronized, and by adding their best breeds
to the Vermont flock, Dr. Baldwin imagined
that he had about reached perfection in
improved sheep in 1884, and sold his en
tire interest to Charles and J. P. Van
houten. In 1887 the present company was
formed with Vanhouten Bros., C. M. Cart
wright, A. H. Breyman and John Summer
ville as incorporators, covering the entire
plant and adding to it and increasing the
number of sheep. More than a year ago
Mr. J. G. Edwards, of Wyoming, having
been purchasing stock sheep from the com
pany for a number of years, and being
familiar with the .methods of the com
pany and the reputation of its sheep, pur
chased all interests except that of Mr. C.
M. Cartwright. These two gentlemen are
now the owners of the entire property.
Originally the amount of real estate
owned by the company was small, but it
has kept purchasing from year to year un
til it now owns a large area of land and
has a chain of ranches hat rival the world
for richness and perfect equipment.
Besides the hundreds of thousands of
pounds of wool clipped by it annually and
sheep breeders of the state of Ohio have as
their leaders, rams bred on his Oregon
ranch. The sheep are hardy and healthy,
and here is. scarcely any loss from the
diseases so often prevalent among sheep.
The company is erer on the lookout,
and no new breed, or plan of improvement
escapes its notice in any section of the
country, and it is proposed that the repu
tation of the concern shall never recede,
but that it shall grow with the strides of
civilization and always remain at the head
of the line.
The company is one of the most solid
in the country. Its financial standing is
at the top notch. It has long since ceased
to be an experiment. Every step is taken
with confidence and firmness. Every im
provement is made of the most substan
tial order and made to stay, and improve
ments are going on all the time. Large
sheds are under construction, averaging
from 120 to 150 feet in length, some of
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INTERIOR OF SMITH 4.
the heavy sales of stock sheep, the com
pany cuts several thousands tons of hay
from its alfalfa fields and natural meadows.
A great deal of this hay is raised by means
of irrigation from the mountain streams
that flow through the valleys where the
ranches are located. Such a concern nat
urally keeps a large corps of laborers em
ployed, and the number by this company
comes up to 100 during the busy seasons
and many of them receive as high as $50
per month.
It it not boasting to state that this com
pany produces the finest breeds in the
world. The quarter of a century of care
ful study and experiment, and never sparing
any cost in the interest of improvement,
together with the natural advantages of
the location, have produced the results.
The climate, the vegetation, the water, the
air, the very ground, is perfectly congenial
to the industry. Some of the leading fine
CLEEK'S " RECEPTION."
them two stories in height. The lower
stories will be used as storm sheds for
the protection of the rapidly increasing
flocks, and the upper stories will be used
for the storage of feed. A neat sleeping
apartment is also being constructed for
the employes of the company. It is the
pride of this company to provide well for
is employes and see that they have all
the comforts and necessaries of life.
The chain of ranches have a regular sys
tem of water works supplied from springs
in the mountains through pipes, and pure
water is conveyed all about the premises
in neat uniform ditches, The hotel is
one of the best equipped and most com
fortable in the country and it is always the
delight of the traveler to pass this way and
spend a night. The proprietors are men
who have worked themselves up in the
world, and, being of this class are not pam
pered with bigotry, but are commonplace