A10
News
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, April 5, 2017
WAGONS
Continued from Page A1
The nostalgia of those ear-
ly days came back in 1999
when a relative found wagon
remnants on their property
near the South Fork John Day
River. With those parts, Gregg
built his first doctor’s buggy.
“I always wanted one, so
I messed around and built a
buggy and started riding in
parades,” he said, adding he
won a blue ribbon once in
Canyon City in the Whiskey
Gulch Gang’s ’62 Days Pa-
rade.
Later, John Day resident
Jim Jensen, an expert in an-
tique wagons, saw Gregg’s
first carriage. Jensen and
his wife, Mary, own Oxbow
Trade Co. in Canyon City,
a warehouse and museum
with dozens of horse-drawn
vehicles, which sells nation-
wide and across the globe.
“Jim saw it and said I
ought to start making things
for him,” Gregg said. “Ce-
cil (Gagnon) and Jim taught
me just about everything I
know about woodwork, and
style and the quality.”
Cecil Gagnon of John
Day, now retired, was an-
other wagon builder for Jen-
sen, creating patterns from
old wagons to make new
ones. Gagnon specialized in
sheep wagons, while Gregg
mainly made meadowbrook
carts and buckboard wag-
ons.
“We knew when Gary
finished something, it was
going to be good,” Mary
said.
“It would be done right,”
Jim added.
As the wagon sales have
slowed over the past few
years, Gregg is less in-
volved in the production.
Jim Jensen, who’s been
in the business of antique
horse-drawn vehicles for
57 years, said despite the
downturn, there is enough
work to keep him busy.
“The older folks seem to
Wagon wheels at the Oxbow Trade Co. in Canyon City.
Eagle photos/Angel Carpenter
Jim Jensen, left, and Gary Gregg look at a pony-sized two-seated bobsled at the
Oxbow Trade Co.
Visit the Oxbow Trade Co. for tours
The Oxbow Trade Co., owned by Jim and
Mary Jensen, has many varieties of horse-
drawn vehicles for sale, as well as harnesses,
other wagon parts, and handcrafted western
items and small decor.
The warehouse/museum was built as an opera
house in 1902, and in the ’50s, the building was
used as a dance hall.
When the Jensens are available, they offer
tours at the Oxbow, located on Highway 395
on the south side of Canyon City.
Horse-drawn vehicles located at the Oxbow
include: chuckwagons, carriages, buggies,
surreys, coaches, carts, sleighs, bobsleds, even
an antique ice cutter. The Jensens will next be
available for tours at the Oxbow in April.
For more information, they may be reached
at 541-575-2911.
A wagon sits outside the Oxbow Trade Co. in Canyon City.
have all the vehicles they
need, and they have fewer
horses due to age and health
problems,” he said, adding
the younger generations ar-
en’t as interested in them.
“It’s changing times,”
Mary said.
Gregg said some people,
including the Amish on the
East Coast, still use wagons
for work, but overall requests
have diminished.
“We make ’em if they
want ’em, and we try to make
them to their specifications,”
Gregg said.
His most recent project
was a meadowbrook cart,
finished for Ray and Shelly
Gibbons of Baker City last
year. It’s the type of horse-
drawn vehicle a couple might
take to church or on a picnic,
Gregg said, adding he used
FUND RAISER
M ONUMENT B OOSTER C LUB
Gary Gregg, left, chats with Jim and Mary Jensen at their
Oxbow Trade Co. business in Canyon City.
mountain ash, a sturdy yet
lightweight wood, to build it.
In a letter to Gregg, the
couple said they hooked the
meadowbrook up to their
horse, and were looking
forward to many enjoyable
slow-paced miles.
“We will always appreci-
ate your craftsmanship,” the
Gibbons said in the letter.
Gregg said he’s enjoyed
the work that goes into build-
ing horse-drawn vehicles,
and said his wife of 60 years,
LoLeita, has been supportive
of the hobby.
To stay busy without wag-
ons to work on, Gregg has
found a new, more modern
project: restoring an old jeep.
Yet, the horse-powered car-
riages of yesteryear still rear
up and command his atten-
tion.
As he and Jim Jensen
looked over a pony-sized
two-seated bobsled a few
weeks ago at the Oxbow, the
sled sitting amid row after
row of various horse-drawn
vehicles, Jensen noticed the
dash needed to be reattached.
“We can bring that into my
shop,” Gregg said, “and we
can fix it.”
He said it wouldn’t take
more than an hour.
invites you to a trap shoot at
Brad and Julie Smith’s
Kimberly Rock Pit Products
HWY 402 Marker #9
Monday - Thursday
7am- 6pm
Friday 8am - 5pm
April 15, 2017
11:00 am to 4:00 pm
$3 per shoot
Every other Monday in John Day at
Blue Mountain Hospital
170 Ford Rd. • 541-575-1311
Ed Anderson
will be barbecuing
Also a dessert raff le
Mendy Sharpe FNP
Apppointments
available
0513