Although it has a dry climate and is difficult to access, the upper John Day River basin near Sheep Rock peak, in western Grant County, has a long and rich record of human activity. American Indian tribes have inhabited the region for as long as 10,000 years, and European Americans, drawn by opportunities for gold and ranching, began to settle here in the 1860s.

In 1862 with the Homestead Act, the U.S. government made large tracts of western land available at a relatively low price. Frank Butler was the first settler in the basin north of Picture Gorge, hence the name Butler Basin. The Officer family established the first ranch in Butler Basin. They initially homesteaded near Dayville, and in 1881, Eli Officer took a homestead claim in Butler Basin. He was said to have brought the first flock of sheep to the John Day area. His son, Floyd Officer, homesteaded the land where the James Cant Ranch is now located.

James Cant was born in Scotland in 1879, where he worked as a sheepherder. After trying his fortunes in the sheep industry in Argentina and Portugal, he emigrated to Dayville in 1905. There he worked as a hand on the ranch of Alexander Murray, also a Scottish immigrant. In 1907, when he had earned enough money, he sent to Scotland for his sweetheart, Elizabeth Grant. They were married in 1908, and James Cant, Jr., their first son, was born in 1909.

In 1910, the Cants purchased approximately 700 acres of land along the John Day River from the Officer family, where they began their own ranch. Three more children, Charles, Christina, and Lillian, were born while the Cants lived in a small house that the Officers had inhabited. In 1917, the large Cant house was built and the nearby older structure was razed. Over the course of time, land was added to the ranch, until it encompassed nearly 6,000 acres. The younger Cants ranched the area after James and Elizabeth died in 1972-73, continuing until the National Park Service acquired the property in 1975.

During its heyday the Cant house was structurally very much like the house you see today – two and a half stories; the lower two floors each have a six-room plan. Often the family had overnight guests after hosting a large social event. These events were sometimes held in the attic, like the big housewarming party in 1919, when the family had the piano rolled upstairs so that there could be music for dancing. Midnight suppers were popular at these affairs, and neighbors remember the events often lasting until dawn. The Cants frequently had visitors staying with them.

School was held in the third floor attic for one year, before the nearby Cant School was built in 1920. Between eight and 10 children attended school there, including the four Cant children, four Humphreys children from 10 miles up the road, and the children of Cant or Humphreys employees. The school’s first teacher, Stella Pigg, came from Kentucky; she, like the subsequent teachers, lived with the Cants as a family member. The Cant School continued until the road through Picture Gorge was completed in the mid-1920s, after which the children could travel to Dayville for school.

James Cant was part of what was considered to be a “second wave” of Scottish immigration to the John Day River basin, the first having occurred between 1860 and 1870. After the discovery of gold in Eastern Oregon in the early 1860s, it was recognized that the area’s climate and terrain were ideal for livestock grazing, and eventually, nearly all of this large, near desert area was inhabited by sheep ranchers.

Raising sheep was an intensive process, requiring dedication and loyalty. Sheep were herded into remote areas for grazing during the summers; in fact, James Cant Jr. and his wife, Freda, spent their honeymoon herding sheep on nearby Aldrich Mountain after their wedding in 1932. The fall was spent shearing and trailing selected sheep to market areas. Winters saw sheepherders again in the hills with the grazing animals, and in the spring they were occupied 24 hours a day with the lambing. Sheep and lambs had to be watched carefully to prevent predators such as eagles and coyotes from stealing them, and the animals had to be protected from diseases like scabies and Rocky Mountain spotted fever.

The Cant family owned around 4,000 head of sheep and employed several ranch hands at a time. At especially busy times – lambing and shearing – ranchers in the local area often “traded” hands among themselves so that everyone could get their work done. After shearing, wool was hauled to different shipping centers: early on, it was taken to Portland or The Dalles, while after 1900, the preferred market location included Shaniko or Pendleton.

Around 1946, the Cants switched from sheep to cattle ranching. By this time, cattle had proven to be more lucrative than sheep, and skilled sheep workers were difficult to find due to the depletion of the workforce by the world wars. With this switch in livestock, several changes were made to the ranch and its grounds, including the construction of new buildings and the modification of corral fences.

Fields near the river were cultivated with wheat, alfalfa, and other crops; they were irrigated with ditches that had been made when the Officers owned the land. The grounds around the house were cultivated for the immediate needs of the family and ranch hands. There was a vegetable garden and fruit orchard, and the lower pasture was also used as an orchard in which apple, peach, pear, apricot, and plum trees were grown. One corner of the lower pasture was reserved for a hog pen, while the chicken house was located up toward the house. Near the house was the lawn with ornamental and shade trees, where the Cant children played with their pets, including a badger and some “de-skunked” skunks used to play tricks on visitors.

After John Day Fossil Beds National Monument was established in 1975, the National Park Service acquired the Cant Ranch from the Cant family. In 1977, the house was opened as a visitor center. The house was restored to its 1920s appearance. Descendants of the Cants and other early ranching families continue to cultivate the land for vegetation and livestock in the area surrounding the national monument.

Lia Vella wrote this article for the National Park Service, John Day Fossil Beds National Monument.