27 April 1934 Stockmen First Settlers on Sherman County Wheat Land By J.A. Price. [Lang, Ryan, Seawright, Helm, Fulton, Finnegan, Donnell, Barnum, Engleman, Booten, Price, Gibson, Eaton, Willerton, Pearson, Minton, Dickerson, Davenport, Baldwin, Bettingen, Gordon, Fulton, Cooper, Douglas, Stone, Everett, Diggs, Johnson, Price, Brookhouse, Young, Hulery, Floyd, Cacherre, Dunlap, Chapman, Richardson, Corbly, Bolton, Booten, West and McCoy] In the early days one of the best stock countries in the west was between the Deschutes and the John Day rivers, now known as Sherman County. From the late seventies until about 1886, when this county was being changed from a good stock country to a splendid farming country, there were thousands of horses and cattle ranging here. I have been asked to tell what became of this stock, and something of the men that owned them. When the first settlers took up land the stockmen thought it a joke, and said these fellows would soon starve out. But good grain was produced, and it became certain that the stock must give way to the plow. Lang and Ryan, the Seawright brothers, and other eastern buyers bought several thousand head of cattle and drove them to Cheyenne. From there some were shipped east to market, and some were taken to ranges north and south of there. C.I. and W.R. Helm also took a band of cattle to Cheyenne. The hard winter of '81 and '82 killed thousands of cattle in eastern Oregon. After this winter Orv Donnell bought the remnants of several bands and later sold a thousand head to Lang and Ryan, who drove them east. The eastern buyers bought cattle from such men as the Fultons, Finnegans, Donnell, Barnum, Engleman, Booten, Price, Gibson, Eaton and many others. Some of these men took up land and became successful farmers. There were others who wished to stay in the stock business. These men found ranges elsewhere, and rounded up their herds and drove them to new locations. Much of this stock was taken to the Big Bend country in northern Washington. Some was moved to southern Oregon, and some to Montana, Idaho and different places. The largest band of cattle taken to the Big Bend was owned by James Pearson and his three boys, Bill, Jim and Tom. There was more than 1,000 head in this drove. Henry Willerton and old Jimmie Burden, each had a few head in this herd. They were taken by way of the mouth of the Snake River, White Bluffs, Moses Lake, and on to Foster creek, which runs into the Columbia, about the mouth of the Okanogan. The next hard winter, which I think was 1889, just about put them out of the cattle business. I was at the Pearson ranch the next summer and Jim told me that they went into the winter with 1,200 head and next spring they gathered 99 head, and they were the ones that had drifted down in the Moses Lake country. The Fultons took both horses and cattle to the Big Bend and settled on Badger Mountain, north of Moses coulee. The hard winter killed most of the cattle, and some of the horses. They moved what was left to White Bluffs. Jake Minton took 200 head of cattle to Badger Mountain. The next spring he told me he had seven head left. And as he filled his pipe he said to me in a confidential way: "Jay, I feel worse about my neighbors than I do about myself. You see if they had plenty of cattle I would soon be all right." Jake certainly had a run of hard luck. In about 1875 he took a band of cattle to the Ochoco country, and a cow killer cleaned him out. In about 1879 J.B. Dickerson moved 500 head of cattle east of the Deschutes and Minton took charge of them. He also had some of his own. The hard winter killed most of them. After his experience in the Big Bend he got hold of some land and sold it and cleaned up several thousand dollars. He moved to Portland and died there several years ago. In the late seventies, Louis Davenport moved a band of cattle east of the Deschutes and the winter of '81 and '82 took most of them. He sold the rest to Orv Donnell. Tim Baldwin and Al Bettingen had cattle at the mouth of Hay Canyon. What the winter did not kill they sold to Orv. Donnell finally took some cattle to the Big Bend and was cleaned out by the hard winter of '89. I have accounted for most of the cattle that were on the range at that time. I will now tell you about the horses. Colonel James Fulton and Thomas Gordon owned the first two bands of horses on this range. They had some horses there in 1860. In about 1878 the Fultons sold to Jack Cooper, who continued in the business for several years. He finally drove them to Montana. The Gordon horses were sold and taken to Nebraska, and resold to the farmers. C.I. [Charley] Helm had a band of horses on shares for several years that belonged to Watson and "Doc" Helm. Charley sold his interest to his uncles, and they took them to southern Oregon. The men that went with them were Watson Helm, Douglas, Stone, Ben Andrews and Will Lancaster. John Young started with them, and a couple of days afterward his father was killed by a runaway team. Frank Hulery overtook them at Antelope with the news and John came back. Charley then bought horses from Jim Jenkins, Uncle John Graham, and William Lair Hill. He then owned over 700 head of fine horses. He took them to the Big Bend country. The men that went with this herd were C.D. Helm, Jasper Garrison, Vene Everett, Gene Diggs, Ralph Helm, Dick Johnson and Jay Price. We ferried the Columbia at Grants and went by way of Yakima, and Ellensburg, and swam the Columbia at the mouth of Moses coulee. The horse ranch was ten miles below the coulee. The Brookhouse boys took their horses to the Big Bend, and located north of Moses coulee. They finally sold out and all came back to Wasco County. The Floyd boys first moved their horses out south of Prineville, and kept them there several years, then brought them back to south of Grass Valley, and the next year moved them to White Bluffs. Pierre Cacherre (spelling varies) took a small band of horses to Badger mountain and the hard winter cleaned him out. He went to the Yakima reservation, where he married a "breed" girl, and died there a couple of years ago. At one time a trainload of horses was bought up and loaded at Grants, and shipped to North Dakota. The men selling to these buyers were Clark Dunlap, Chapman, Eaton, Pearson, and other small owners. Watson [Helm] sold his interest in the horses in southern Oregon to his brother, and bought the Dr. Richardson horses, and drove them to Big Bend. He also went north of Moses coulee, and sold them to Platt Corbly on terms. The hard winter cleaned them out and they went broke. There was a vast difference between the north and the south side of the coulee. All that went north lost heavily. Dan Bolton had about a hundred head of horses that he took to Rock Creek, Klickitat County, Wash. After feeding them all winter, he turned them out on grass, and soon after they were stolen and he never did get them. There were more than a thousand head stolen that spring and were never recovered. In about 1881 E.O. McCoy and his brother brought a band of horses from the Walla Walla country. Their headquarters were at China Hollow. A few years later, "Dutch" as we all called him, took them to northern Washington. Allie West owned a band of horses that he sold in small lots, and traded some for land. He sold his interest in Sherman country [sic] several years ago and moved to the coast where he still lives. Rube Booten owned both horses and cattle in Grass Valley. He sent his horses to White Bluffs, and moved his cattle to the Prineville country. There probably were other small lots of stock, which I have overlooked or forgotten, but I have mentioned the most of the stock that was disposed of to make way for the development of this vast region into the wonderful farming country that it has proved to be.