Besides preserving habitat for wildlife, Malheur National Wildlife Refuge is pretty unique among our nation’s refuges in that it also preserves vast amounts of human historical artifacts. It is one of only two refuges in the nation that has a full time archeologist on staff. I have alluded to some of this historical diversity in several of my posts over the last few weeks. One of the posts showed you petroglyphs, pictographs, and ancient stone tools. Today, Emma and I made a return trip to a more recent historical location on the refuge: Sod House Ranch.
Sod House Ranch served as the Northern headquarters of the French-Glenn Livestock Company, and construction began on it around 1880. Pete French was manager of the cattle ranch which became the nation’s largest. Many of the original buildings are still in tact, but the first thing I noticed was the original fences. :) ( I’ll be using a number of collages today since there are so many photos of this interesting place.)
The ice house/cooler is on the left, and as you can read was built in 1900. As hot as it gets here in the summer, ice was kept all year in this thickly built stone building. The headquarters’ office building is in the center under the big cottonwood tree, and the kitchen building where three meals a day were prepared for the vaqueros is on the right. The cottonwood trees are immense, and are now almost 120 years old. Sod House Ranch is only open to the public after August 15 of each year because the cottonwoods are home to the colonial nesting great blue herons and double-crested cormorants.
Quite a few old ranch implements are preserved on the ranch, also. Even the wheelbarrow wheel is made out of wood.
Aren’t you glad braking systems have improved over the years? :)
The biggest structure left on the ranch is the long barn. This was used for housing the many horses used on the ranch. Remember the Round Barn I posted a while back? Well it is located about 40 miles from here and was part of the same ranch. I told you it was big!
If you can get here by this weekend, you can still get an excellent guided tour of the ranch from fellow volunteer, Tom Killian. You had better hurry, though, because he and his wife, Sue, are pulling out on Monday and there aren’t any volunteers left to take his place this year. I suppose you could come over next year, but just remember to do it after August 15. :) The two folks taking the tour this morning, were none other than JoAnn and Judd Munsell, two of our newest volunteers.
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Of course, one of the most important structures on any homestead has also been preserved! Notice it’s a two hole model, and which side you use depends on how big of an ‘asparagus’ you have. :) Do you think people really did this daily chore in tandem??? Karl, the amateur archeologist volunteer, really thinks this is a marvelous outhouse. You see, apparently there was a square area on the left of the two holes were the male ranch hands could stand up and relieve themselves therefore making it more pleasant for the female users when they sat down. (I think you can figure out my drift here.) Anyway, while I was telling the others about Karl’s theory, Tom remarked that he would be surprised if the ranch hands rode their horses all the way over to the latrine just to relieve themselves. Good point, Tom. :)
And finally, JoAnn says:
“THE END!!”
Thanks for stopping by….talk to you later, Judy
As it made it’s way through all the sites, I just hoped it would get to some water and be safe for the evening. It’s wings didn’t appear to be broken, but this is not normal behavior for a pelican. As it strolled in back of the last RV, the coyotes began their nightly chorus. Vaya con Dios, mi amigo! :( (Go with God, my friend)
Sod House Ranch served as the Northern headquarters of the French-Glenn Livestock Company, and construction began on it around 1880. Pete French was manager of the cattle ranch which became the nation’s largest. Many of the original buildings are still in tact, but the first thing I noticed was the original fences. :) ( I’ll be using a number of collages today since there are so many photos of this interesting place.)
The ice house/cooler is on the left, and as you can read was built in 1900. As hot as it gets here in the summer, ice was kept all year in this thickly built stone building. The headquarters’ office building is in the center under the big cottonwood tree, and the kitchen building where three meals a day were prepared for the vaqueros is on the right. The cottonwood trees are immense, and are now almost 120 years old. Sod House Ranch is only open to the public after August 15 of each year because the cottonwoods are home to the colonial nesting great blue herons and double-crested cormorants. 
Quite a few old ranch implements are preserved on the ranch, also. Even the wheelbarrow wheel is made out of wood.
The biggest structure left on the ranch is the long barn. This was used for housing the many horses used on the ranch. Remember the Round Barn I posted a while back? Well it is located about 40 miles from here and was part of the same ranch. I told you it was big!
If you can get here by this weekend, you can still get an excellent guided tour of the ranch from fellow volunteer, Tom Killian. You had better hurry, though, because he and his wife, Sue, are pulling out on Monday and there aren’t any volunteers left to take his place this year. I suppose you could come over next year, but just remember to do it after August 15. :) The two folks taking the tour this morning, were none other than JoAnn and Judd Munsell, two of our newest volunteers.
“THE END!!” 
On the way, I made the usual stop at the Narrows to see if anything new could be seen in the shallow waters. I caught this group of ducks taking an early morning snooze.
Over on the side of the pond was also a young black-crowned night heron. He was also trying to catch a few winks, but that’s normal. That’s why he’s called a night heron…he hunts at night and sleeps during the day.
Before long, I reached the fields where the thousands of cranes had moved to early this morning to feed. (I think you can click to enlarge each pic if you like)
After quietly waiting for a half hour, the bird was directly beneath me. I guess good things come to those who wait. :) I’m sure glad I didn’t leave home without my camera today!
Overnight, thousands of sandhill cranes migrated into this oasis in the high desert from places far North. The moon is full, and the winds must have been right! Almost everyone that came into the VC reported seeing large flocks of cranes in the fields. I’m sure they were fueling up after their long flight. They are joining the 200+ pairs and their young that nest here.
I was happy to see an Osprey pull one of the carp out of the pond below the VC this morning. The refuge needs all the help it can get in eliminating this invasive species of fish!
As I took this picture of the departing Osprey with it’s booty, I was able to capture a bit of Malheur Lake in the background. The lake is about 40,000 acres this year, and this is about the only way you can see it unless you have an airplane. There are no access roads open to the public. Those cranes in the first photo were flying over the VC and headed to the field area between the pond and the lake. 
I didn’t have very many opportunities to get out of the VC for photos today, but I had a few. The resident fawn has just about lost it’s spots, and I’m wondering if maybe it is a male since I can sort of see those buttons on it’s forehead.?
I did get another chance at a pic of the black-throated gray warbler today in a more natural setting than the plant cage of yesterday. Man, those little warblers barely sit still for a second!
The white-crowned sparrows have arrived from the North, and really take advantage of the seeds from the bird feeder that get spilled on the ground.
I’m still filling the bird baths daily, and this robin stopped by for a dunk. I haven’t filled the hummingbird feeders this week since they all seem to have headed for warmer climes. 
THE END! 
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