“What is it that urges a man to risk his life in these precipitous fossil beds? I can answer only for myself, but with me there were two motives, the desire to add to human knowledge, which has been a great motive all my life, and the . . . — — Map (db m114115) HM
This haystack was built on-site from mail order hardware and locally-milled lumber. A hay buck was used to push hay onto the fork. Horses pulling a cable attached to the fork life the load. Tripping a lever near the base released the hay. — — Map (db m158014) HM
James and Elizabeth Cant purchased this property in 1910. Over the following five decades they built the ranch before you. The methods used by the Cants in their early operations were replaced with more modern machinery and techniques as they . . . — — Map (db m158007) HM
The Cant Ranch is one of the best-preserved examples of early 20th century ranching operations in the John Day River Valley. The ranch spans three historic development eras: The Officer Homestead Era (1890-1909); the Cant Sheep Ranch Era . . . — — Map (db m158010) HM
Water, the lifeblood of any working ranch, flows in irrigation ditches fed by rivers, creeks, or a steady spring or two. In this dry landscape, these human-made arteries, like the one before you, have made the rich soils of the flood plain . . . — — Map (db m158011) HM
Marker 1 Shows an overview map of the National Monument with other points of interest.
Marker 2 Like Icing on a Cake. "Between 16.6 million and 15 million years ago, eastern Oregon sat above the nascent Yellowstone hot spot's . . . — — Map (db m108677) HM
The Cant family's touring car might have traveled this trail route frequently. Before highway improvements were made in the 1930s, the trail on which you are standing is a remnant of the historic fabric that makes up this spot, a clue to the way its . . . — — Map (db m158008) HM
The dark layers of Picture Gorge were formed from seventeen distinct floods of lava flowing from nearby cracks in the earth. These basalt flows joined with others covering much of eastern Washington and Oregon, and northern Idaho, beginning about 16 . . . — — Map (db m71521)
For most of the year, this platform sat empty and quiet. For two or three weeks in the spring, however, this small space bustled with bawling sheep, sweaty workmen, and grinding machinery.
Each of the ten workstations was supplied with sheep from . . . — — Map (db m158070) HM
After the sheep were sheared, they went to pasture for the summer, typically a grazing allotment on one of the national forests. Herders trailed the sheep to and from the allotment on foot with the help of skilled dogs, a trip that could take as . . . — — Map (db m158067) HM
You are standing in the middle of a lively watershed. Supporting a diverse community of aquatic and terrestrial life, the John Day River is the longest free-flowing river west of the Rocky Mountains, flowing over 280 miles to its mouth at the . . . — — Map (db m158071) HM
Wool bag stand and bag from the Trosper Ranch near Antone, OR, about 1900.
At shearing time each spring, wool freshly sheared was packed in burlap bags for shipment. The cut wool was tossed into the bag. A person, usually a youth, was inside the . . . — — Map (db m158068) HM
