September 9, 2010
Oregon ranches
Oregon's vast cowboy country, which covers the eastern two-thirds of the state on the far side of the Cascades from the familiar green and wet west side, has some of the biggest and most isolated ranches you can find.
The ZX Ranch near Paisley, owned lately by Boise potato magnate J.R. Simplot, has been said to be the biggest contiguous cattle operation in the country, at a million acres or so -- that's about a third the size of Death Valley National Park.
Other well known ranches on the east side include the Alvord, which sits at the base of Steens Mountain in splendid isolation; the White Horse, even farher off the beaten path; and Roaring Springs Ranch, near -- yes -- a noisy spring south of Frenchglen.
Despite their pickup trucks and small airplanes, the ranches maintain a 19th century lifestyle in the 21st century. The cowboy cuture here is strongly influenced by Spanish vaqueros, and the common term for cowboy in eastern Oregon, as a result, is "buckaroo." Ranch kids grow up working hard and knowing how to be polite. And the economics of raising cattle makes it all but impossible for the family ranches to survive without massive federal subsidy, sometimes dismissed as corporate welfare, in the form of low-cost grazing on public land.
Respect the fact that ranches are private property and always seek permission before entering private land.
Photo: Alvord Ranch, 2005
all text and images © 2005-06 by Bob Keefer
no reproduction allowed in any form without written permission