Thursday, August 11, 1938
Heppner Gazette Times, Heppner, Oregon
Home of Purebred Herefords, Answer to
Cattleman's Prayer, Has Single Drawback
Page Three
When a whole family knows every
member of a large herd of cattle,
feels compassion for any one of the
animals' least misfortune, and likes
nothing better than taking pictures
of them and talking about them
then, surely those cattle are of more
than usual interest.
Casual personal acquaintance only
with Roy Robinson and family, but
with a background of much enthus
iastic praise for his contribution to
the livestock industry of the north
west, led the editor's family to accept
gladly an invitation to visit the
Robinson mountain farm south of
Hardman last Sunday afternoon.
It was there that we gleaned some
of the information explaining the
Robinson family's love for the pure
bred Hereford cattle they have made
a specialty since 1929, and since
which time Mr. Robinson's name has
become respectfully spoken on every
cattle ranch in the northwest.
Just as a parenthesis, when on a
visit in Wallowa county a few weeks
ago we met a man who runs cattle
out in the "north woods," thirty
miles from Joseph. He had never
been to Heppner, but in referring to
probability of a visit here he re
marked: "I may drop in there some
time this fall. I understand a man
by the name of Robinson has fine
polled Herefords some place near
there, and I want very much to get
some of them"
Actually, there is no mystery about
the fame of the Robinson cattle. The
economic angle is easily explained by
Mr. Robinson's statement that the
average weight of his steers was in
creased by 150 pounds on no more
and possibly less feed by introduc
tion of the purebred stock, he hav
ing formerly raised grade animals.
And as for the affection evidenced by
Mr. and Mrs. Robinson, their daugh
ter and two sons, it is largely ac
counted for by the gentle disposition,
especially of the polled animals, that
makes them so easily managed.
For novices at the cattle business,
such as ourselves, it may be said
that polled Herefords are a strain
that reproduces without horns. Mr.
Robinson has purebreds of both
horned and polled strains as he finds
some cattle men prefer the horned
animals. A noticeable difference , in
docility of the twp strains is evi
denced from birth, however, he said,
as the bull calves of the horned va
riety kick up their heels and show
other signs of more friskiness right
from the start.
Cattle men often refer to the pure
bred Herefords as "white faces," as
they are distinguished by white
faces and other white markings on a
solid red body. An evidence of the
size is given by Mr. Robinson's state
ment that he showed a two-year-old
bull at Condon last year that weighed
2800 pounds. Two large cows were
pointed out, each of which weighed
1700, and the steers he was prepar
ing to ship this week he expected
would average 1100.
When we received this informa
tion we had already seen what more
than a ton of beef clad in its dis
tinctive red and white coating looked
like in contrast to the predominant
ly green background of the landscape
on upper Camas prairie. And it was
a beautiful sight. Mr. and Mrs. Rob
inson and daughter drove part of
the cattle, by car, down to the cor
ral on the old Tom Graham place
while our party was having lunch
on the Canadian bluegrass on the
slope a short distance below the
watering trough fed from an ice cold
spring by pipe. Shortly another
bunch of the cattle came stringing
on to the prairie of their own voli
tion. Mr. Robinson invited us into his
car for a closer view, for while the
animals showed the shyness of deer
when approached on foot, they would
come almost up to the car, inquisi
tively. Thus it was that we obtained
"close-ups," and heard from the
three Robinsons present much fam
ily history of a number of the ani
mals viewed. A young bull showing
lameness in one hind leg gave cause
for concern, and Mr. Robinson prom
ised himself to attend to the injury
on the morrow. One fine looking cow
was announced as the recent mother
of twin calves. Showing our igno
rance of such animals, we remarked
that a stocky little bull calf must
not be more than six weeks old, only
to be informed that this youngest of
animals in the herd had been intro
duced to the world exactly two
weeks before.
We were surprised to learn that
no rider was kept with the cattle.
Mr. Robinson said his range was all
well fenced, most of it accessible by
car, and that the regular habits of
the cattle made constant watching
unnecessary.
Which leads us to the assumption
that Mr. Robinsin has one of the
most ideally situated cattle ranches
in the country. Headquarters for the
summer operations are reached
about two miles off the Heppner
Spray road, 18 miles from Hardman
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a distance, by the way, which the
three children drove almost every
day last winter to Hardman high
school. To reach the house meadows
of tame hay are skirted, mountain
gems to look upon and one of the
ranch's large assets.
All in all, it appeared the ultimate
in a cattle raiser's dream of para
dise. But Mr. Robinson opined all
was not too well. Going from the
house to the cattle, he stopped to
show us .the work of some trouble
makers, though he viewed their
work good naturedly.
We were taken into a grove of
large quaking aspens, where we
could see on approach that a con
siderable number of the trees had
been felled. Among these we went
to where the course of a stream was
dry except for a large pool behind a
dam yes, the scene of activity of
a colony of beaver. There were holes
in the mud, possibly where the ani
mals were hiding during our pres
ence, and fresh chips about fallen
trees, some 8 to 10 inches in diam
eter, gave evidence of the recent ac
tivity. Determination of the Little ani
mals was evidenced, said Mr. Robin
son, by the fact that he had but a
few days before cleared out part of
the dam to ditch off the water only
to find the next day that the dam
had again been thoroughly repaired.
In this instance what appeared to
suit the desires of the cattle man
wasn't at all to the beaver's liking.
For Sale 20 tons wheat hay. R. E.
Driskell, Eight Mile, Ore. 22-25p
PLAYING GOOD BALL
Fred Hoskins is in receipt of a
letter from Alexander McDonald,
teacher in the lone schools last year
who left this spring to play ball
with Bellingham in the northwest
league. McDonald reported that he
was in seventh place among hitters
of the league. He is playing third
base. The request was made to say
hello to all his Morrow county
friends. He expects to attend Uni
versity of Oregon the coming winter.
Mrs. Dessa Hofstetter and daugh
ter, Miss Otillia, from Ontario were
visiting friends and relatives in
Heppner yesterday while Mrs. Hof
stetter is on vacation from her work
as county librarian for Malheur
county.
.LockerBoxes
3 SIZES TO SUIT EVERYBODY
NOW READY FOR USE
Locally Butchered Meats
FRESH and CURED
CENTRAL MARKET
TURE PETERSON, Mgr.
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August 26-27-28
efc Into the Parade
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Liberal Cash Awards for All Types of Entries in
SATURDAY'S BIG EVENT
The More Entries, the Larger the Attraction and
the More Fun for Everyone
LIST YOU R ROOMS
at Hotel Heppner. The hotel is already com
pletely reserved, and rooms are needed
ABOVE ALL PLAN TO ATTEND
Heppner Rodeo : Aug. 26-7-8
"Te Biggest Little Show of Sports of the Old West"
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