A10
Ag Day
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, March 14, 2018
The John Day cattle drives
Two thousand
head came
through town
By Richard Hanners
Blue Mountain Eagle
It’s been more than a
decade since the big cattle
drives came through down-
town John Day. Ranchers
with divided property, such
as the Holliday family,
brought their cattle north
from pasture land in Bear
Valley to the John Day Val-
ley for calving, Darrel Holl-
iday said.
When the drives start-
ed around 1958, five
ranches moved their cattle
cross-country west of High-
way 395, entering the val-
ley west of town at Screech
Alley Loop. The growth of
subdivisions put an end to
that route, Holliday said.
The 38-mile trip from
Bear Valley to John Day took
three days. Cows were put up
in 40-acre holding pastures
first at Izee Road and again
about 9 miles south of Can-
yon City. Drovers guided the
cattle down South Canyon
Boulevard to Main Street
where they took a right-hand
turn and headed to the Holli-
day ranch east of town.
“They didn’t much like
it heading to Starr Ridge the
first day — they kept turning
around,” Darrel said. “Then
the second day, they were
scared by barking dogs and
cars.”
The Hollidays typi-
cally chose a weekend in
mid-February — driving the
cattle through town on Sun-
day and separating cows at
the ranch on Monday.
See CATTLE, Page A11
Celebrating
agriculture
Blue Mountain Eagle
Contributed photo
The Holliday Ranch cattle drives used to travel through the streets of John Day once a
year. Here the Holliday crew is lined up headed east on Main Street in John Day.
Grant County ag through the years
Grant County
Chamber of Commerce
would like to
recognize the
hard work our
local ranchers and
farmers do for
our county this
Ag Day.
Thank you for
everything!
Each American farm-
er feeds more than 144
people — a dramatic in-
crease from 25 people in
the 1960s. Quite simply,
American agriculture is
doing more — and doing
it better. As the world
population soars, there is
an even greater demand
for the food and fiber
produced in the United
States.
National Ag Day rec-
ognizes and celebrates
the abundance provided
by American agriculture.
Every spring, producers,
agricultural associations,
corporations, universi-
ties, government agen-
cies and others across
the country join together
in recognition — and ap-
preciation — of agricul-
ture in our country.
Did you
know?
• Honeybee work-
ers must visit 2 million
flowers to make one
pound of honey.
• Each worker honey
bee makes 1/12th tea-
spoon of honey in its
lifetime.
• An acre of trees
Contributed photo
See AG, Page A11
Grant County 4-H’ers get a briefing on Grant County agriculture in 1964.
John Day Polaris
Licensed in the State of Oregon
is a proud sponsor of Ag Day
42713
Lori Hickerson, Principal Broker, GRI • Office: 541-575-2617 • ljh@ortelco.net
Sally Knowles, Broker, GRI • Office: 541-932-4493 • sknowles@ortelco.net
Babette Larson, Broker, GRI • Office: 541-987-2363 • ddwr@ortelco.net
rmls.com • eastoregonrealestate.com • farmseller.com
• centraloregonrealtors.com • oregonreanchandhomes.com/dukewarner
W e c arry everything you
ne ed t o get the job done.
Helping Grant
County’s
Farmers &
Ranchers Hold
it Together
for 22 Years
Boyd Britton
Welding, Inc.
8 a.m. - 5 p.m., Mon-Fri • 841 W Hwy. 26.
John Day • 541-575-0763
• Repair &
Fabrication
• Steel & Aluminum
Inventory
• Complete Machine
Shop
• Welding Supplies
• Gases
821 W Hwy. 26, John Day • www.jdpolaris.com
ly
p
p
u
S
ing
d
l
i
u
B
Mills
ll
t For A
s
e
B
e
ith Th
s
Build W ultural Need
ic
r
g
Your A
Horse Barns • Storage Buildings • Hay
Barns • Sheds & Building Supplies
Metal Roofing & Siding
751 W Main St. • John Day
541-575-1021
551 W Main St • John Day • 541-575-1346