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Page Seven
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Sheep Raising Introduced
Into Section About 1870
Chairman of the En
tertainment Committee
How Organization Has
Helped Wool Industry
WOOLGROWERS SOUVENIR EDITION HEPPNES GAZETTE TIMES, MONDAY JANUARY 14, 1935
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There is doubt as to just who
first introduced sheep raising
into Morrow county, as evidence
the research of W. S. Shiach, who
in 1902 published a history of
Morrow county. That part of Mr.
Shiach's story treating with the
development of the county at the
time sheep raising was introduced,
is quoted as follows:
"... The greater portion of the
territory out of which Morrow
county was formed was, prior to
February 16, 1885, a part of Uma
tilla county. Its political history
before that date has heretofore
been sufficiently treated in pre
vious pages, but it is incumbent
that we inquire somewhat more
particularly into the early settle
ment and development of this par
ticular section. The old emigrant
road, the highway over which the
great westward moving army of
civilization wended its way to the
Willamette valley and the coast,
passes through the northern part
of Morrow county. It is, there
fore, probable that the first white
men aside from fur traders and
explorers to look upon this section
viewed its bunchgrass, hills while
journeying resolutely toward the
setting sun. But as is at present
the case with the railroads, this
primitive highway of civilization
passed through the poorest part of
Morrow county, and the early pio
neers doubtless considered it as
worthless, except for the luxurient
bunchgrass which covered each
hill from base to crest and spread
out profusely over the valleys.
"When, however, a couple of
decades later the Willamette
country began to be well stocked
with herds of cattle and sheep,
many remembered the rich pas
tures on the eastern slope of the
Cascades, and beyond, and as
early as 1862, or perhaps even
before that, it becaue customary
to drive cattle over into the val
leys of Morrow county and leave
them there to shift for themselves,
the owners returning shortly to
their homes farther west. Mr. T.
H. Bisbee, who passed through
Morrow county in the spring of
IS62, en route to the Salmon river
mines, says that there was a man
in one of the parties named Par
ker who claimed to have a num
ber of cattle on Butter creek and
stated that the party to which Mr.
Bisbee belonged were at liberty
to kill one of these animals for
the replenishment of their larder.
Mr. Bisbee seems doubtful at the
present as to the truthfulness of
Parker's representations, but no
doubt seemed to exist in the
minds of his party at that time.
At any rate there certainly were
cattle in the valley in the spring
of 1862, for a bovine was seen
shortly after the expedition reach
ed the Butter creek country. It
was executed with more dispatch
than ceremony. Mr. Bisbee also
states that there was a man whose
name he does not remember, liv
ing at Wells Springs at the time
of his trip.
"A. S. Wells, who came into the
country on a freighting expedition
in the spring of 1864, says that
the population, as he remembers
it, consisted at that time of John
Jordan, who lived on the forks of
Rhea and Willow creeks, T. W.
Ayers and William Ayers on But
ter creek, A. J. Breeden on Wil
low creek about seven miles be
low the site of the present Hepp
ner, Oscar Clark at the mouth of
Clark's canyon just below and on
the opposite side of the creek from
the present town of Lexington,
and William Cecil at the point
where Willow creek is crossed by
the old emigrant road. All these
men had settled in the county
since Mr. -Wells made his first
trip in 1858.
"The population during the next
few years did not exceed a dozen
families, but the years 1868-9-70
saw a very considerable immigra
tion of cattlemen. These settled
along the creek bottoms, where
an abundance of rye grass could
be secured for winter feed. Their
cattle were allowed to roam at will
during almost all seasons over the
bunchgrass hills, which afforded
an abundance of pasture. Ells
worth states that the first cattle
camp of the county was located
on Birch creek to which a herd of
cattle was brought some years
prior to 1870 by a Texan named
Menafee. At a very early date
also G. W. Shippey brought in
two hundred head of Durham cat
tle and established himself on Wil
low creek. Dol. Reed soon after
came with horses and cattle and
James Robinson with four hun
dred steers. 'Cattle camps,' says
Ellsworth, 'were also located up
Little Butter creek, Big Butter
creek, Kind Fork creek, Main
Kind Fork creek and on Rhea
creek.'
"Just who was the first to im
port sheep into Morrow county
also seems rather difficult to de
termine with certainty. Ellsworth
says: 'As near as can be ascer
tained, the first sheep were
brought into this county about
1870 by Messrs. P. C. Thompson
and Boone Mulkey, who were in
partnership and established their
sheep camp in what was known
as Thompson canyon, just east of
the present city of Heppner.
About this time John Davis also
came in with a band of sheep, lo
cating on Main creek about three
miles below this city (Heppner).'
Mr. Ellsworth was misinformed as
to the date of arrival of these men,
who certainly did not come here
until some three years later. The
writer has interrogated several
different pioneers as to who it was
that introduced the sheep-raising
industry, and has received the
same answer from no two of them.
The facts probably are that a num
ber of sheepmen invaded the ter
ritory at the same time. Mr. Ellis
Minor relates that early in the sev
enties Joseph Crook brought a
band of sheep into the Eight Mile
country. Shortly afterward a
number of them showed symp
toms of having been poisoned and
mm
a few died. An idea gained cur
rency that the sheep had been
poisoned by cattlemen, who are
always avowed enemies of the
wool-growing industry, but the
truth probably was that they suf
fered and died from eating a pois
onous plant or partaking of a
poisonous mineral. Sheepmen
have sustained loss in this way at
various times since. No doubt cat
tlemen were perfectly willing that
any story should be believed which
would have a discouraging influ
ence upon the importation of
sheep, the consequence of which
would be to spoil their range. The
effect of Mr. Crook's misfortune
was to discourage wool growing
in this part of Umatilla county
but the industry eventually gained
a foothold and rapidly grew in im
portance and extent, soon becom
ing a greater source of wealth
production than cattle raising.
Milton Hale, K. Lemons, Joseph
Crook and William Penland were
among those who introduced the
wool-growing industry into the
country. Penland is said to have
brought a few sheep with him
. when he came to the county in
1868."
s-s
By WALTER HOLT,
Secretary Orison Wool Growers
Increased income arising from
the work of the National Wool
Growers association reaches in
dividual sheep owners through
higher prices resulting from pro
tective tariffs on wool and lambs.
Diminished expenses are brought
about through savings in freight
rates, stockyard and commission
charges, rates of interest on loans,
and on many other items of small
er importance. The National as
sociation's income is provided
solely by payments from the va
rious state organizations. In ad
dition to their contributions to the
above line of work, the state as
sociations effect many economies
for their members in connection
with rates of taxation, local freight
rates and other charges connected
with shipping, and rental rates
on state and privately owned
lands.
Grazing Fees Cut in Half
The new grazing charges which
went into effect in 1933 were in a
large measure brought about
through the persistent efforts of
the organized stockmen. Speak
ing in average terms with relation
to Forest permits, these charges
within the new schedule amount
ed to 2.05c per head per month.
In 1931 the charge was 4.5c. This
is slightly greater than a 50 per
cent reduction in the actual cash
outlay for grazing charges among
wool growers using the National
Forest, and means a tremendous
You're sent to jail if you're prov-. saving when the total is calculat
ed a thief,
But what the heck about drouth
relief?
$-
No telling what thousands to
Geary were sent,
But up went the freight rates 10
per cent.
s-s
There are no new Smiths in
Corvallis. Muddy roads will not
permit bicycling.
s-s
For sale One pair pink paja
mas. P. M. Brandt.
s-s
Charlie' Burgess has chartered
a whole hotel.
ed. From the standpoint of the
individual, the saving alone for
each month would just about pay
the state and national association
membership fee for two years, the
basis of that membership for Or
egon wool growers being IJc
per head of sheep during the last
several years. This new grazing
arrangement, it should be remem
bered, is based upon a sliding
scale which provides charges
based upon the market value of
the livestock being grazed in the
forest. In other words, the abil
ity to pay has become the basis
for grazing costs rather than a
flat fee which, had it not been for
the organized wool growers, would
The Source of H
' 'M
eppner s
Water
1
S- r t -JK ? "
tJLntiii.-- "... Jrr ::
i 1 - Vv- ' . V. ' -
- - - iuimr- . f . . ,
The above picture was taken shortly after the city's first artesian well was brought in on April 22, 1931 at
the forks of Willow Creek, 12 miles southeast of town. The estimated flow at that time was 700,000 gal
lons every twenty-four hours. From left to right, the men viewing the gusher are the then-councilmen,
Gay Af. Anderson, W. Claude Cox, Jeff Jones and C. L. Sweek. The city has since drilled a second artesian
well, which with the first, now supplies Heppner with fine, pure water.
doubtless have been 10c or 12c
per head per month.
In 1933 the savings to the own
ers of sheep which grazed in the
forests of the 1 1 western states
amounted to $484,640.34, or
enough to keep the national asso
ciation on a working basis for
many, many years.
Association Benefits Non
Members Those who have fought the
wool growers' battles in trying to
provide fair transportation charges
know that were it not for these
organized efforts, railroad rates
would be almost unbearable. The
Oregon Wool Growers associa
tion has joined its force with the
other states to assist the National
association in rate fights which
have meant savings of hundreds
of thousands of dollars to sheep
shippers. The unpleasant thing
about all this is the fact that the
wool grower who takes no interest
in his state or national associa
tions, who contributes no support
to the solution of his major prob
lems, is reaping a very large meas
ure of benefit from the expendi
tures of time and money by his
neighbors.
It is needless to say that the
dues-paying wool growers deserve
entire credit for the present pro
tective tariff now in effect with
relation to wools imported into
this country. A price of 34c a
pound for scoured wools should
be recognized as a formidable bar
rier against outside wool, which if
allowed to enter the country,
would without question seriously
affect the complexion of the present-day
wool prices.
Helps in Many Ways
There are numerous fields of
endeavor in which the Oregon
Wool Growers association cooper
ates with the National in making
the lot of the wool grower toler
erable. The day to day campaign
for the increased consumption of
lamb and wool is given little rec
ognition by the rank and file of
wool growers, but nevertheless is
a potent factor in maintaining
prices at such levels as have pre
vailed in recent years in spite of
the extreme adversity which has
surrounded all business endeavor.
Predatory animals would be exact
ing a toll of unbelievable propor
tions if the organized wool grow
ers were not incessantly alert to
the need for continually carrying
this important problem to the ap
propriating bodies of the state and
nation.
Then there are such questions
as driveways, water development,
disease control, and many other
items which are continually be
fore the wool growers of the coun
try and which are receiving all
possible consideration by the of
ficers and membership of the va
rious wool growers associations.
With improved financial condi
tions confronting the industry, it
is hoped that a greatly increased
number of Oregon sheepmen will
come to realize that out of fair
ness and justice, not only to their
neighbors, but to themselves, they
should be making the relatively
insignificant contribution which is
necessary to place them in good
standing before the organized
wool growers of the community
and state. It is hoped that this
may be the case, and that during
1935 many of the sheepmen who
have not before been counted
among the membership in the Or
egon Wool Growers association
will so arrange their affairs as to
become a part of that very useful
organization which has been fight
ing the wool growers' battles for
38 years in Oregon.
s-s
For sale, or will give to any
kind sheepman Boston bull. R.
A. Ward.