Oregon150

I am a third generation rancher in Harney County Oregon. This whole story started back in 1880 when my grandfather John R. Jenkins emigrated from Wales to America. He started as a young single man working in the coal mines in Pennsylvania. He was a sheep man from Wales, but also a surveyor by trade. He worked his way west with the railroad, settling briefly in Portland Oregon, where he washed dishes in the hotels to make living expenses. When a railroad surveying job from Klamath Falls to Burns became available, he did that making his way to the Burns area. When the job ended, he went to work for Benjamin Rufus Witzel, who ran sheep and horses in the area between John Day and Lakeview. He herded sheep for Witzel and later had his brother Tom come over from Wales, and they started their own sheep operation, by saving their money to buy a band of sheep and a tent. They lived on the desert between Bend and Burns until the Homestead Act, when they took up a homestead at Sagehen hill west of Burns, called Antelope Springs. Having established residence, John then put an ad in an Aberitswith, Wales, newspaper for a bride. My grandmother Margaret Jones answered the ad, so John took the freighter back to Wales to bring his new bride to America. They then took up a homestead near Riddle Mountain where my father and aunt and uncle were born and raised.

They established a 10,000 head sheep operation at this site. By then my Father and Uncle were part of the business, so it became J.R. Jenkins and Sons. They ran sheep until the 1940’s when labor and the wool and lamb market forced them into changing over to cattle. By 1948 they were strictly running cattle. John passed away in 1945, so the operation became Jenkins Brothers with my Father and Uncle operating it until 1966, when I went into business with my Father, buying my uncle out. The operation then was Jenkins Ranches Inc. operated by my Mother and Father, and my wife Patty and myself. We run approximately 1200 mother cows as a cow calf operation. The third generation of the family included myself and two sisters, Mary Jenkins Fields, who is now deceased and Barbe Jenkins Gibson, who owns and operates the Christmas Cottage in Lincoln City. Barbe is greatly responsible for me being able to get into the tourism business. My Father passed away in 1970, consequently I had to take the responsibility of the ranch at 29 years old. Thank goodness, with help from a lot of different people, we kept things going.

Patty and I operated the ranch until 2004 when I built the Round Barn Visitor Center and the tour business, so now the cattle are managed by Patty and my son Rich and his wife Renae, as well as grandchildren, Alycia, Corey, and Elizabeth. It takes all hands on deck to keep things going. I hope to grow the tourist part of the business so the cows don’t have to carry so much of the load to keep our heritage going. My main purpose is to educate the public about our heritage and the need to manage renewable resources. We should have started this process 30 years ago but I feel we can still get the management necessary accomplished, even though it might be a few years out. If I can contribute in some small way while I’m still here, I will feel I have attained my goal and the investment will have all been worth it. We are at a very revolutionary time in history in regards to resource management and I am very optimistic about the future. We must educate about our roots in the rural areas of America.