Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, June 7, 2023 -- NINE
150 years of history lives on
-Continued from PAGE ONE
Moving sheep -Contributed photo
Dean, Dianna, David and front row, Albert & Beverly
Wright -Contributed photo
Dianna Wright Hoeft as a child, riding in her father’s saddle
baskets with her pet lamb. The horse’s name was Sally.
-Contributed photo
pioneer family that lived
in the Eightmile area. He
continued to expand the
family holdings, though bad
asthma kept him from doing
much of the work himself.
He leased the ground out,
then tried working it with
his two oldest sons for sev-
en years.
“So, in the winter of
1916, with five feet of snow
on the ground, he leased
the ranch to his third son,
Orian, in the hopes that he
could save all that was left
of the livestock—20 head
of cattle—and make the
ranch viable again,” wrote
Bonnie Zimmerman Kiser
in 1980.
Silas, like his father,
was a strong Methodist.
Martha Cantwell Wright
was a member of the First
Christian Church, and the
two never reconciled that
difference. The story goes
that, as he was dying in
Joan, Clayton, Albert, Orian and Pearl Wright -Contributed
photo
Stairs worn down by five generations of Wright feet. -Photo
by Andrea Di Salvo
This clock came across the
Oregon trail more than 150
years ago. -Photo by Andrea
Di Salvo
Orian Elmer Wright with his sheep -Contributed photo
Ox yoke century sign -Contributed photo
Razor sharpener
-Contributed photo
Saddle with Basket -Contributed photo
L-R Silas, Pearl, Lonnie, Delbert, Martha, Moses, Front,
Orian E. and Della Wright -Contributed photo
1922, Silas asked his wife
to have his funeral at the
Methodist Church. In fact,
a story from granddaughter
Jewel Wright Hager relates
that, when he was angry, he
told his wife not to bury him
at the Christian Church, or
he would come back and
burn it down.
She disregarded his
wishes.
“That night, that church
burned to the ground,” says
Hoeft.
“It did burn to the
ground before the grave-
side service was finished,”
wrote Jewel Hager. “My fa-
ther was not a superstitious
man, but he said that he felt
extremely chilled when he
observed this.”
Orian Elmer “O.E.”
Wright married Willa Pearl
LeTrace. Together, the two
of them and O.E.’s brother
Delbert kept the ranch go-
ing through the Depression
years. O.E. later partnered
with sons Robert and Albert
Julia Ann & Albert Wright Second generation Silas and
-Contributed photo
Martha Wright. -Contributed
still be seen at the ranch. A
combination of disease and
cheaper competition made
him sell off the last of his
sheep in 1955.
Orian Albert, or Albert,
Wright and his wife, Bev-
erly Marie Maness Wright,
moved back when O.E. suf-
fered a heart attack, taking
over operation of the ranch
in 1959. O.E. was told to re-
tire but couldn’t keep from
working. He died from a
heart attack with a shovel
in his hand in 1969.
Hoeft’s father, Albert,
was the fourth generation
to live on the Rhea Creek
ranch. They first lived in the
original homestead house,
but later remodeled and
enlarged a small bunk-
house. They moved into it
in 1964, when Hoeft was 10
years old.
Albert continued to
build the cattle herd. Hoeft
has early memories of rid-
ing in saddle baskets on her
father’s horse when he was
working cows. With her
was always her pet lamb.
“The horse hated that
sheep,” she recalls with a
laugh.
Albert was chosen Cat-
tleman of the Year for Mor-
row County in 1972. It was
also during Albert’s time
that the ranch was recog-
nized as a centennial ranch
and renamed Wright’s Cen-
tury Ranch.
Both of Hoeft’s broth-
ers, David and Dean, spent
Brand used since there were cattle on the ranch -Contributed time working on the ranch.
photo
David moved on, but Dean
until they moved away to
seek different work.
While the land had set-
tled some by this time, that
generation still interacted
with the Celilo tribe when
they made their annual trek,
first with travois, then with
horses and wagons, and
finally with vehicles. The
daughter of Chief Tommy
Thompson gifted O.E.’s
second son, Bobby, with a
pair of buckskin gloves.
Flash floods were com-
mon in the area, and Rhea
Creek was no exception. A
flash flood hit the area in
the spring of 1934. A line of
poplar trees diverted most
of the wall of water from
the house, but the pig pens
along Spring Hollow were
wiped out and “pigs were
found hanging onto the
trees and farm equipment,”
according to Kiser.
It was O.E. who bought
land and cattle from Chris
Renniger. He kept the Ren-
niger CR brand, which can
and Dianna partnered to-
gether for several years, the
fifth generation to live and
work on the ranch.
Dianna and Gerald
Hoeft have now taken over
its operation. In 2005, they
began building a third home
on the property. Because
they are doing the work
themselves, it continues
to be a work in progress.
The name of the property
has been changed from
Wright’s Century Ranch
back to Midway Ranches.
Along with reclaiming
the former name, Hoeft
has gathered an impressive
collection of family mem-
orabilia—family Bibles,
knick-knacks, photos and
even the desk used in the
old 1880s post office. One
tool, in particular, was a cu-
riosity piece that her father
used to quiz visitors. Very
few, if any, guessed correct-
ly that the small instrument
was a razor sharpener.
Hoeft has completed
the process of applying for
sesquicentennial recogni-
tion and is waiting to hear
back. Accor5ding to the
Oregon Farm Bureau, only
51 farms and ranches have
reached the 150-year mark.
“It’s a pretty big deal
in my opinion,” says Hoeft.
“Not everybody makes it
that long.”
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Wagon wheel BY homestead with DianNa’s prized peony
-Contributed photo
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