Page 12A
OFF PAGE ONE
East Oregonian
MOTHERS
Saturday, May 13, 2017
CATTLE: Terry’s father started the ranch in the 1940s
Continued from 1A
Continued from 1A
reading this on Saturday
morning, at first in a sweat
because Mother’s Day
has arrived without your
notice but now hopeful I
will explain your way out
of getting your mother
something nice, you are
wrong. Do not blame me
if you greet your mother
tomorrow empty-handed.
But as you pick out
the wholly inadequate
gift, the token, the card
with the mass-produced
poetry or the bouquet
you know your mom
likes because you’ve
bought it for her the last
ten years, think back to
those first Mother’s Days.
Think construction paper,
markers, scissors and glue
and the effort you put in
to making a card that was
the most elaborate you
had ever conceived. Think
of your desire to spend
time with your mom, to
show off for her, to have
her attention and give her
yours.
When you bring a gift
to her this weekend as
you celebrate Mother’s
Day, remember it is made
infinitely better with an
accompanying gesture.
A pair of mugs that
come with an hour-long
conversation over coffee.
A potted flower with
a helping hand in the
garden to plant it (and
maybe even pulling a few
stray weeds while you’re
there.) A movie she would
like with the time to
watch it with her.
Those gifts, as meager
as they may be compared
to what your mother is
due, will become symbols
in her life of her child’s
appreciation.
There is no
relationship quite like the
one between a mother
and child. Not only does
she have all the dirt on
you, she spent many good
years getting the dirt off
of you. You may be able
to fool others, but not her.
And yet when she looks at
you, she will always see
the best in you.
Do not take Mother’s
Day as a challenge to
pay down the debt you
owe your mom. You will
never get there. Use it as
an opportunity to build
up that relationship she
treasures so dearly and
create a moment she will
carry with her.
■
Daniel Wattenburger is
the managing editor of the
East Oregonian and the
son of Barb Wattenburger,
the best mother a boy
could have.
The award aside, though,
to fully understand the
Anderson’s joie de vivre,
one must climb aboard an
off-road vehicle and roam
the ranch with them and
experience an exuberance
akin to a child exploring a
wonder-filled frog pond.
On Tuesday, Terry
climbed into one ATV
and Debby slid behind the
wheel of another. Terry
led, following a trail barely
visible on the rolling grassy
hills, but firmly etched into
his brain. The ATV tires
rolled over rocks as the
vehicles roared past gnarled
sumac trees, yarrow and
lupine and splashed through
tiny creeks. They came upon
eight or nine cows munching
grass in a meadow and
Debby greeted some of them
as she would a friend or
maybe a family dog.
“Hey, Lulu,” she called to
a black cow with a topknot.
Most don’t have actual
names, just numbers, but
Terry and Debby know
most of them, plus their
mannerisms and markings.
Debby pointed to number
5515, which had a large,
white, whale-shaped smudge
on its forehead. The cow,
unalarmed by human
presence, chewed on.
The ATVs came to a
stop at the top of the world
— at least the Anderson’s
world. Looking out over
velvety green canyons and
valleys that encompass the
Anderson’s 16,000 acres
(3,400 deeded and the rest
leased from the Confederated
Tribes of the Umatilla Indian
Reservation, Boy Scouts and
Girl Scouts of America and
private owners), one could
see black dots scattered
across the landscape for
miles as cattle grazed near
and far.
“The prettiest view you’ll
ever see,” Terry said.
The panoramic overview
prompted memories of
Terry’s father, Marvin “Red”
Anderson, who started the
ranch in the 1940s. Red,
who grew up poor in the
St. Helens area, quit school
in the eighth grade to go to
work. He washed cars for a
car dealership and sometimes
he and his brother would
travel by train to Detroit to
drive vehicles back from
the production plant to the
dealership. One day, he
stopped the car on Cabbage
Hill, just outside Pendleton,
and told his brother, “This
would be the perfect place to
start a ranch.”
The words would be
prophetic. On the walls
of the office inside the
Andersons’ home is a framed
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Cows and their calves graze in a draw Tuesday on the Anderson’s ranch southeast
of Pendleton. The Andersons run more than 500 cow pairs — cows with calves — on
their 16,000 acre ranch in the Blue Mountains.
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Terry Anderson drives past some cattle on his ranch Tuesday southeast of Pendleton.
$4,000 check written in 1944
by Red with “McKay Creek
Ranch” in the memo line.
Red started his ranch life
as a horse trader. He, his
brother, Bun, and Numie
McCoin ran wild horses in
the tough and rocky McKay
Creek Drainage.
“You think ‘The Man
from Snowy River’ was
wild,” Terry quipped.
“These were the men from
McKay Creek.”
The men, in order to
outsmart the wild horses,
would take entire days
studying the horses from
afar before rounding them
up. They would run one stud
bunch (one stud and 8-12
mares) into another stud
bunch, which caused them
to mix and mingle.
“The studs wouldn’t
leave without their mares,”
Terry said.
The business morphed
and grew along with Red’s
family. More land was
acquired as a wintering
headquarters in the Stanfield
area. The cattle business
began with the purchase
of one bull and 19 cows in
1944. Those initial cows
grew into today’s herd.
“To this date, not one
other female has been
brought into this program,”
Terry said.
After aggressive expan-
sion, economic downturn
in the ’80s brought some
downsizing and sale of
farmlands. Terry’s brother,
Introducing Silk hearing aids
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L i t t le
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D a r l i n gs !
This special section will be fi lled with photos of and
messages for adorable little darlings from Umatilla County.
Families will want to keep this special keepsake for
their child and family for years to come.
Easy in the ears, easy on the eyes.
U
U
PUBLISHES:
June 28, 2017
DEADLINES:
June 08, 2017
Olivia,
t.
I loved you from the very star
heart.
my
ed
rac
emb
,
You stole my breath
un.
beg
just
has
er
Our life togeth
.
You’re part of me, my little one
Love, Mom
Rod Anderson, who had
run the farming operations,
started Rod Anderson
Construction. Half-brother
Casey Anderson started a
career in ranch management.
Terry and Red focused on
breeding bulls. In 1989, they
sold 22 bulls. Currently, they
market around 200 bulls per
year and maintain more than
500 mother cows. Anderson
bulls are bred to thrive in
rough environments.
Daughter Shana Bailey
and son-in-law Justin Bailey
and their children, Easton
and Ali, help with the ranch
and a subsidiary horse
operation. Since peddling
his first bull in 1989, Terry
has sold more than 5,000 of
the animals. He’s learned
that knowledge is power
in the competitive bull
breeding business. He pores
over data about sires and
paid to do genetic testing
on 575 cows and almost
400 calves this year. DNA
tests are expensive at $40
a pop, but the information
they provide is invaluable
and can move the industry
forward, he said.
Debby focuses on what-
ever she can do to assist.
She helps move cattle to
different pastures. She feeds
calves (usually twins who
don’t receive enough milk
from mom) with half-gallon
bottles full of milk replacer.
She helps with calving.
“I’m his sidekick,” she
said.
“We’re basically together
every single minute,” Terry
said. “We’re a team. She’s
equally as passionate about
the cattle and the land.”
They married in 1995.
Eventually, she sold her
salon in order to concentrate
on their cows and horses.
Their recent honor, the
Legacy Award, brought
them back to the past.
“We decided we would
accept this award in honor
of my dad,” Terry said.
“He’s the guy who had the
vision.”
“Terry Anderson is very
passionate about being a
progressive cattle producer,”
said Andy Vanderplaat.
“We are proud to recognize
Terry and his family for
the commitment it takes
to maintain a ranching
heritage.”
The accolade, though
thrilling for the Andersons,
is just gravy. They find
plenty of joy amid their
gorgeous rolling hills and
the cattle that roam them.
Said Terry, “We are
absolutely, totally blessed
to make a living in God’s
country and taking care of
God’s critters.”
———
Contact Kathy Aney at
kaney@eastoregonian.com
or call 541-966-0810.
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