Oral Histories of the James Cant Ranch (John Day Valley, Oregon), 1982-1985

Title: Oral Histories of the James Cant Ranch (John Day Valley, Oregon), 1982-1985

ID: OH 025

Primary Creator: Jackson, Royal G.

Extent: 0.5 cubic feet. More info below.

Arrangement:

The materials described in this collection have been arranged into two series, one describing the collection's audiocassettes and a second the published transcripts that emanated from the project. An alphabetical view of the oral history interviewees whose recordings and transcripts are held in this collection is as follows:

Cant, Freda (Erikson) Two interviews: June 22, 1983; June 23, 1983 Cant, James, Jr. Two interviews: June 23, 1983; July 10, 1983 Humphreys, Dollina (Stewart) Two interviews: May 25, 1983; June 7, 1983 Humphreys, Rhys Two interviews: May 13, 1982; June 6, 1982 Jackson, Kathleen (Bales) (May 24, 1983) MacArthur, Linda (May 24, 1983) MacDonald, John (May 23, 1983) Mascall, Lillian (Cant) (June 8, 1982) Moore, Charles (May 25, 1983) Munro, Robroy (June 23, 1983) Munro, Stella M. (Pigg) (June 24, 1982) Murray, Alexander (May 22, 1983) Murray, Eva (Officer) (June 9, 1982) Murray, John Two interviews: June 5, 1982; May 23, 1983 Weatherford, Walter (June 9, 1982)

Languages of Materials: English [eng]

Abstract

The Oral Histories of the James Cant Ranch are comprised of interviews with fifteen individuals that tell the story of James and Elizabeth Cant's successful agricultural operation - established in northeast Oregon on the John Day River in the early 1900s - and of rural agricultural life in the region where the Cant Ranch was located. The Cant family raised irrigated crops and livestock for over sixty years on a tract of land that came to encompass over 11,000 acres. In 1975 the Cant Ranch complex was purchased by the National Park Service for incorporation into the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument.

All of the oral history interviews and monographs held in this collection have been digitized and are available upon request.

Scope and Content Notes

In the early 1980s, Royal G. Jackson was contracted by the National Park Service's Cooperative Park Studies Unit to lead the Cant Ranch Oral History Program on behalf of the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument. In Jackson's words, "the goal of this program" was "to document though oral sources, the historical relationship of the Cant Ranch with the Monument's natural and cultural resources, and its representative role as a typical livestock operation in the John Day Valley in the early 1900s."

The collection that resulted from this work consists of thirty-one audiocassettes of interviews with fifteen participants - including Cant children James Jr. and Lillian, as well as Stella (Pigg) Munro, the first teacher at the Cant School - and eight published monographs of transcripts prepared from a portion of these interviews. Jackson conducted his interviews in May-June 1982 and May-July 1983 at various locations dotting the John Day Valley. These locations included the Oregon towns of Kimberly, Drewsey, John Day and Dayville, as well as the Cant Ranch itself and the neighboring Humphreys Ranch. A lone interview was conducted in Portland, Oregon.

Monographs consisting mostly of edited transcripts of interviews with eight interview subjects were published by Jackson and the Cooperative Park Studies Unit between Winter 1984 and Summer 1985. Along with the transcripts, these monographs include an introduction to the project and the interviewee written by Jackson as well as facsimile copies of Gift and Release forms signed by the participants. Monographs exist for the following participants: Freda (Erikson) Cant, James Cant Jr., Dollina (Stewart) Humphreys, Rhys Humphreys, Kathleen (Bales) Jackson, Stella (Pigg) Munro, Eva (Officer) Murray and John Murray. The collection includes two copies of each monograph with the exception of the James Cant, Jr. and Freda Cant interviews, which were published in two parts and are represented by single copies within the collection. Neither monographs nor transcripts of any form exist within the collection for interviews conducted with Linda MacArthur, John MacDonald, Lillian (Cant) Mascall, Charles Moore, Robroy Munro, Alexander Murray and Walter Weatherford. All of the audiocassettes held in this collection have been digitized and these files are available upon patron request.

Topics discussed in the collection's interviews include the Cant family and life on the Cant Ranch; the Murray and Humphreys families; the culture and customs of the John Day Valley in the early decades of the 1900s, including its Scottish and Native American subcultures; agricultural practices of the era; and raising livestock in the John Day Valley.

All oral history interviews and monographs held in this collection have been digitized and are available upon request.

Biographical / Historical Notes

James Cant was born in Scotland in 1879, emigrating just before the turn of the century to South America, where he raised horses and mules. Cant arrived in northeast Oregon in 1905 where he found work at the Murray Ranch in the John Day Valley, a rural agricultural region already inhabited by numerous Scottish immigrants. By 1908 Cant had saved enough money to arrange for the emigration of his sweetheart, Elizabeth, who still resided in Scotland. The couple married shortly after Elizabeth's arrival in Oregon.

In 1910 James received a loan of $5,000 from the head of the Murray Ranch, which he used to purchase the first tract of property for what would become the Cant Ranch complex. The 700-acre purchase, located about eight miles northwest of the small community of Dayville, was made from Floyd Officer, an early settler of the region who originally homesteaded the land in 1890. Over time the Cants came to greatly expand the property and its infrastructure, using irrigation from the John Day River to cultivate wheat, alfalfa and orchard crops, and to raise sheep, cattle, hogs and chickens. The Cants likewise raised four children – James Jr., Charles, Christina and Lillian – in the large ranch home that they built in 1917. In 1919 the Cants dedicated the third floor of this home to the establishment of a local school. The first class of the Cant School consisted of ten pupils; its teacher, Ms. Stella Pigg, lived with the Cant family.

The Cant Ranch enjoyed heady success for the duration of its existence as a full-scale agricultural enterprise. At its zenith, the property encompassed 6,500 acres owned by the Cant family and another 4,500 leased from the Bureau of Land Management. In the latter decades of its operation, certain of the duties required by the ranch were assumed by James and Elizabeth's eldest son, James Cant Jr., and his wife Freda.

James Cant died in 1972 and Elizabeth passed away one year later. The John Day Fossil Beds National Monument was established shortly thereafter, in 1975. As part of its initial development plan, the monument proposed to purchase the Cant Ranch for use as a museum and interpretive site, providing visitors with a glimpse of the agricultural activities that had defined the John Day Valley for the entirety of the twentieth century. The Cant family agreed to this proposal and the ranch has been a key component of the monument ever since.

Royal G. Jackson was a faculty member in the College of Forestry at Oregon State University from 1970 until his retirement in 2004. Jackson taught courses in recreation resource management and nature-based tourism; his research interests included forest history, nature-based tourism, and protected area management. He pursued research projects in the western United States and in Costa Rica. As part of his research, Jackson conducted numerous oral history projects pertaining to the history of forestry, specifically, the Oregon State University College of Forestry and the Research Forests (McDonald and Dunn Forests); the Soap Creek Valley in Benton County, Oregon; Basques in Harney County, Oregon; the diversification of a resource-based economy in Deschutes County, Oregon, to include tourism; the Winema National Forest; the Battle of Little Bighorn from the perspective of the Northern Cheyenne descendants; and the environmental movement and ecotourism in Cost Rica. Jackson earned his BA in 1960 from the University of New Mexico, an MA in 1965 from Western New Mexico University, and his Ph.D. from the University of New Mexico in 1971.

Administrative Information

More Extent Information: 31 audiocassettes; 2 boxes

Statement on Access: Collection is open for research.

Acquisition Note: These oral histories were originally part of the Horner Museum Oral History Collection (OH 10). In 2013 they were separated out and described as a new collection.

Related Materials:

Copies of the monographs held in this collection are available in the OSU Libraries general book collection. The Royal G. Jackson Papers (MSS Jackson) are likewise held by the Special Collections and Archives Research Center. The department is also home to numerous collections documenting or related to agriculture and ranching in Oregon, including the Oregon Century Farm and Ranch Program Records (MSS ORCFRP) and the Edwin Russell Jackman Papers (MSS Jackman).

Photographs of the John Day Valley are also available in several collections including the Extension Bulletin Illustrations Photograph Collection (P 020), the Experiment Station Publications Photographic Collection (P 132) and the Ralph I. Gifford Photographs (P 218-SG 2). Finally the Oregon Pioneers Oral History Collection (OH 001) and Oral History Interviews, Personal Histories, and Sound Recordings Collection on Agriculture, Forestry, and Oregon History (OH 005) are likely to be of interest to those using oral sources to research rural Oregon in the early twentieth century.

Preferred Citation: Oral Histories of the James Cant Ranch (John Day Valley, Oregon) (OH 025), Oregon State University Special Collections and Archives Research Center, Corvallis, Oregon.

Oral Histories of the James Cant Ranch (John Day Valley, Oregon), 1982-1985

Collection Overview

Abstract

Scope and Content Notes

Biographical / Historical Notes

Administrative Information

Creators

People, Places, and Topics

Forms of Material

Box and Folder Listing