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Rangeland Resources Department Maps, 1936-1967

By Finding aid prepared by Elizabeth Nielsen.

Collection Overview

Title: Rangeland Resources Department Maps, 1936-1967

Predominant Dates: 1936-1941

ID: MAPS Rangeland

Primary Creator: Oregon State University. Department of Rangeland Resources

Extent: 0.3 cubic feet. More info below.

Arrangement: The Rangeland Resources Department Maps are arranged in 3 series: I. Range Surveys for the Keating Soil Conservation District, Lower Powder River, Baker County, 1940-1941; II. Vale District, circa 1965; and III. Squaw Butte Experimental Range and Squaw Butte Ranch, 1936-1937.

Languages of Materials: English [eng]

Abstract

The Rangeland Resources Department Maps consist of materials created and assembled by Rangeland Resources faculty and alumni documenting range type surveys and studies in the Lower Powder River basin, Vale District, and Squaw Butte Experimental Range in eastern Oregon.

Scope and Content Notes

The Rangeland Resources Department Maps consist of materials created and assembled by Rangeland Resources faculty and alumni documenting range type surveys and studies in the Lower Powder River basin, Vale District, and Squaw Butte Experimental Range in eastern Oregon. The collection includes detailed range type maps of the Keating Soil Conservation District on the Lower Powder River in Baker County; these maps also include a land ownership overlay and tabulated acreages of different range types, cultivated land, and pasture as well as grazing capacity. These were prepared by E. William (Bill) Anderson of the Soil Conservation Service. One map of range types in the Vale District in eastern Oregon is also part of the collection. Materials created for range studies conducted in the 1930s and 1960s of the Squaw Butte Experiment Range in southeastern Oregon comprise a portion of the collection. Charles E. Poulton was involved in the 1960s studies.

The collection includes maps prepared by the Soil Conservation Service, Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Geological Survey, and Division of Grazing within the Department of Interior. In addition to maps, the collection includes two aerial photographs.

Biographical / Historical Notes

The first course in range management at Oregon State, Range and Pasture Botany, was offered by the Botany Department in 1917. Additional courses were offered by the Farm Crops and Animal Husbandry Departments during the 1930s. In 1949, C.E. Poulton was hired to develop a 4-year undergraduate curriculum in range management; Poulton had a joint appointment in the Departments of Farm Crops and Animal Husbandry. In 1971, the rangeland curriculum was reorganized as the Rangeland Resources Program within the Department of Animal Science. The Department of Rangeland Resources was established 10 years later in 1981; in about 2007, it was re-named the Department of Rangeland Ecology and Management. The former Animal Sciences and Rangeland Ecology and Management Departments were merged in 2012 to form the new Animal and Rangeland Sciences Department.

E. William (Bill) Anderson earned his MS in range management and animal husbandry from Oregon State College in 1940. After serving in World War II, Anderson worked for the Soil Conservation Service and became the state range conservationist for Oregon. He taught senior seminars at Oregon State on coordinated resource management planning. Anderson was born on July 26, 1914 and died on March 3, 2011.

The Squaw Butte Range Livestock Station was established by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 1935. It was merged with the Harney Branch Station in 1944 to form the Squaw Butte Harney Range and Livestock Experiment Station, which was renamed the Squaw Butte Experiment Station in 1954. The Squaw Butte and Eastern Oregon Experiment Stations were combined in 1974 to form the Eastern Oregon Agricultural Research Center.

Administrative Information

More Extent Information: 4 map folders

Statement on Access: Collection is open for research.

Acquisition Note: These maps were transferred to the Special Collections & Archives Research Center in 2013 from materials housed by the former the Rangeland Resources Department.

Related Materials: Additional materials pertaining to the Squaw Butte Experimental Range are available in the Agricultural Experiment Station Records (RG 025). The Rangeland Resources Department Photographs (P 288) document ranges and rangeland research in Oregon. The College of Agricultural Sciences Records (RG 158) include materials that document rangeland resources research and academic programs at Oregon State. The Agricultural Experiment Station Records (RG 025) and the Extension Service Records (RG 111) also provide additional information about the Rangeland Resources Department. The Edwin Russell Jackman Papers (MSS Jackman) and the Edwin Russell Jackman Photographic Collection (P 089) include extensive documentation of rangeland issues in Oregon.

Preferred Citation: Rangeland Resources Department Maps (MAPS Rangeland), Oregon State University Special Collections and Archives Research Center, Corvallis, Oregon.

Processing Information:

We acknowledge that materials in SCARC collections and the language that describes them may be harmful. We are actively working to address our descriptive practices; for more information please see our SCARC Anti-Racist Actions Statement online.

SCARC describes the contents of its collections using the language and terminology of the collections themselves. Since culturally acceptable terminology shifts over time, some of the terms that appear in these materials are currently outdated or offensive.

Historically, “squaw” has been used as a misogynist and racist slur to disparage indigenous American women. Within this historic usage, it has been applied to place names, and scientific or colloquial names for plants. In this collection, the term “squaw” is used in the context of the Squaw Butte Experiment Station. This station is now known as the Eastern Oregon Agricultural Research Center.

In order to provide historical context and to enable standardized searching and access across our collections, we have retained the use of this phrase in the collection description. We acknowledge the racism represented by this language and the harm it may cause our users. Providing access to these historical materials does not endorse any attitudes or behavior depicted therein. For more information on impacted collections, see the blog post.

[Date of Acknowledgement: December 2023]

Creators

Oregon State University. Department of Rangeland Resources
Anderson, E. William
Geological Survey (U.S.)
Poulton, Charles E. (Charles Edgar) (1917-)
Squaw Butte Range and Livestock Experiment Station (Burns, Or.)
United States. Bureau of Land Management
United States. Grazing Service
United States. Soil Conservation Service

People, Places, and Topics

Natural Resources
Oregon--Maps.
Oregon State University. Department of Rangeland Resources
Powder River (Or.)
Rangelands--Oregon.
Range management--Oregon.
University History

Forms of Material

Aerial photographs.
Maps (documents)


Box and Folder Listing

Series 1: Range Surveys for the Keating Soil Conservation District, Lower Powder River, Baker County, 1940-1941
Series I consists of range surveys of townships within the Keating Soil Conservation District of the Lower Powder River Grazing District #6 prepared by E. William (Bill) Anderson of the Soil Conservation Service. The surveys consist of 2 large-scale maps for each of the 15 townships in the area extending from Township 8 South to 10 South and Range 40 East to 44 East. One map of the pair is hand-colored and depicts range types; the second map is a land ownership overlay and indicates which lands are federal, state, or county property as well as individual and corporate land owners. The scale of the maps is 1 inch = 0.25 mile or 1:15,840. In addition to the maps, the series includes 68 summary sheets with tabulated acreages of different range types, cultivated land, and pasture as well as grazing capacity. Summary sheets are included for each township; two sheets include compilations of acreages for all of the townships surveyed.
Extent: 98 sheets

Folder 1
Series 2: Vale District, circa 1965
Series II consists of a 1962 base map of the southern half of the Bureau of Land Management Vale District that has been annotated with range types and hand-colored. The map scale is 1 inch = 2 miles or 1:125,000. The map covers the area of Townships 27 South to 41 South and Ranges 36 East to 46 East.
Extent: 1 sheet

Folder 2
Series 3: Squaw Butte Experimental Range and Squaw Butte Ranch, 1936-1967

Series III consists of range type maps prepared in the 1930s as well as range studies completed in the mid-1960s. The series includes maps and 2 aerial photographs. Several of the maps from the mid-1960s study are stamped with the name of Charles E. Poulton.

This series references Squaw Butte Experiment Station. This station is now known as the Eastern Oregon Agricultural Research Center. Historically, "squaw" has been used as a misogynist and racist slur to disparage indigenous American women. In order to provide historical context, we have retained the use of this phrase in the collection description. For more information please see the blog post.

Extent: 24 sheets

Folder 3: Squaw Butte Regional Range Experiment Station, 1938
Maps prepared by the Soil Conservation Service, Oregon State College, and the Division of Grazing depicting range types and range study plots. Two of the maps are hand-colored. Scale of 1 inch = 0.25 mile or 1:15,840.
Extent: 3 sheets

Folder-Item 4.1: Squaw Butte Ranch Range Livestock Research, 1936-1937
For Township 24 South Range 25 East. Scale of 1 inch = 2000 feet (1:24,000). Depicts the results of a cooperative project of the U.S. Department of the Interior Division of Grazing and the Oregon State College Agricultural Experiment Station.
Extent: 3 sheets

Folder-Item 4.2: Squaw Butte Ranch, circa 1960
Topographic maps prepared by the U.S. Geological survey at scale of 1:24,000.
Extent: 4 sheets

Folder-Item 4.3: Squaw Butte Experimental Range, 1967
Depict soil type and vegetation for Township 24 South Range 25 East; prepared for the Bureau of Land Management by Oregon State University Range Management. Multiple sheets are available at scales ranging from 1:15,840 to 1:62,500.
Extent: 9 sheets

Folder-Item 4.4: Squaw Butte Experimental Range aerial photographs, 1967
Includes two aerial photographs annotated with vegetation and soil types; also include overlays and legends. One of the photographs is at scale of 1 inch = 0.5 mile (1:31,680); the other has a scale of 1 inch = 0.25 mile (1:15,840).
Extent: 5 items


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