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“R.T. married Willie, and they had three daugh-
ters, two of whom died as children of diphtheria,”
Bensel said.
Their daughter Margot Jane married Alva Foster,
which couple’s daughter Janice Elaine married Don
Bensel in 1955.
“The early crops raised were dryland wheat,
alfalfa and some milk cows,” Bensel added. “They
farmed with horses until about 1919.”
R.T. built a house, barn, granary and sheds during
this early period.
“In 1923, a fire destroyed most of the home except
the living room,” he said. “It was salvaged and moved
across the creek with a team of horses to its present
site, and added on to in 1926. The living room was
remodeled into the kitchen.”
This house still stands today. Bensel’s son Kelly
and his wife Brenda live there.
Willie died in 1939 and R.T.’s brother Bayard and
his sons helped him keep the farm going at the time.
“R.T. got depressed after his wife’s death at 41,”
Bensel said. “He almost lost the whole place, but a
lady friend from Los Angeles bailed him out. No one
knows what his relationship with the mystery woman
was.”
Bensel said it was the goal of he and his wife Jan
to get back all the parts of the original homestead sold
off during the Depression.
“My sister-in-law inherited half of what was left,”
he said. “We were able to buy her out, including the
40 mountain acres. We finally achieved our goal.”
Wheat and alfalfa still are the farm’s main crops
today. Kelly Bensel raises alfalfa and a neighbor
farms the wheat acreage.
R.T. Gilliland Farm was one of a dozen farms and
ranches the Oregon Century Farm & Century Ranch
Program recognized in 2021. The program is a state-
wide recognition effort honoring farmers and ranch-
ers who have worked the same land for at least 100
years. The program is administered through the Ore-
gon Farm Bureau Foundation for Education. It is par-
tially funded through a partnership of the Oregon
Farm Bureau, Wilco, Oregon State Historic Preser-
vation Office, & OSU Libraries’ University Archives.
Since the start of the program in 1958, 1,247 farms
and ranches across the state have been registered.
Oregon’s is one of the oldest agricultural heritage pro-
grams of this type in the entire nation.
There also is a Sesquicentennial Award for farms
and ranches that have existed for 150 years or more.
Forty-seven family operations have reached the ses-
quicentennial mark so far.
The program requires the completion of a formal
application process for properties that could meet the
criteria. Successful applicants receive a certificate
signed by the governor. A durable metal road sign
to identify their property as having historic Century
Farm or Century Ranch status also is available. Addi-
tionally, each family is honored during a special cere-
mony and reception at the Oregon State Fair.
“R.T. GOT DEPRESSED
AFTER HIS WIFE’S
DEATH AT 41. HE
ALMOST LOST THE
WHOLE PLACE, BUT A
LADY FRIEND FROM
LOS ANGELES BAILED
HIM OUT. NO ONE
KNOWS WHAT HIS
RELATIONSHIP WITH
THE MYSTERY WOMAN
WAS.”
— Don Bensel
Kathy Aney/East Oregonian
TOP: Don Bensel sits in the only remaining part of the original homestead on the R.T. Gilliland Farm, which was established in
1914 and recently designated a Century Farm. ABOVE: R.T. Gilliland Farm was one of a dozen farms to receive the Century Farm
honor in Oregon in 2021.