A friend recently wrote, “I met a Murray several times in older reunions in John Day. She was a little thing and very lovely. She would have been of senior age in those 1970 reunions. Could she have been Eva Officer Murray? hmmm….“
And he continued, “She would have remembered Eli Casey and others. I just was not into the family like I am now. I’ve had the opportunity to pick several old timer’s history but never did. My loss.“
His lament is shared by many of us who have known these “old timers,” missing them and wishing we could hear their voices once again. In part, it is the reason I wrote “The Gathering of Our Family Stories,” which I encourage you to read once again.
While we may have lost family members and their stories, sometime by digging deep we can resurrect those stories of our past and even find their treasured voices. So it was that I happened to acquire a remarkable collection of oral histories.
In the early 1980’s Royal G. Jackson, professor at Oregon State University, conducted a range of interviews with descendants of early settlers in the John Day Valley, particularly those families which were connected to the Cant Ranch. The current Cant Ranch Historic District, located in the Sheep Rock Unit of John Day Fossil Beds National Monument, is a 200-acre vernacular landscape that documents early 20th century ranching operations in the John Day River Valley.
These oral histories, voices of our elders recorded nearly 45 years ago, have resided in boxes at the Special Collections & Archives Research Center (SCARC) of Oregon State University. With permission from Royal Jackson, a former professor of mine, I have the entire collection and hope to resurrect these voices in a new book documenting the early days and life of our early pioneers.
The tiny cabin shown in the heading of this story was built by Floyd Lee Officer 1870-1948 and still stands at the Cant Ranch Historic Site. And little Eva remembered those times, and her voice, preserved by Royal Jackson in 1982, is offered here. In one way, it is a gift to my friend who lamented missing her stories when he had a chance, so that he can once again hear her voice. It is also offered here so that all of you might have a glimpse into those times… a prelude to the many stories preserved as oral history by 15 remarkable “old timers” recalling those early days. Once the recordings are all transcribed, I hope to offer an amazing first-person recollection of the life of our early pioneers.
An excerpt:
Royal: What about the Cants? What’s your earliest recollection of them?
Eva: Well actually about the first recollection is when we went down through the gorge on the wagon, the wagon road, to their housewarming.
Royal: Tell me about that. What was the trip like and what was the housewarming like?
Eva: Well there were several wagons went, I don’t know just how many, but quite a few people went. Miss Cant of course had food for everybody and they dashed up in the attic and…
Royal: How old were you then?
Eva: I was about seven or eight years old.
Royal: What did all the kids do?
Eva: Well, they played around in some of the rooms until they got tired and then they were laid down on the floor on quilts and covered up and slept till morning.
Royal: And did the adults stay up all night?
Eva: They stayed up all night. Dancing up in the attic.
Royal: What kind of music did they have?
Eva: All bagpipes and accordion.
And here is part one of the interview, initially recorded to cassette tape, then converted to .mp3 audio format, about 32minutes in length:
The collection of recordings gathers a particular group of people, in a particular region, at a particular time of early settlement in eastern Oregon. But the haunting quality of their voices speaks to all of us, for they tell a time of family, of hardships, and the life of all our early pioneering families.
I hope you enjoy hearing this voice of the past.
You may also want to consider the “Tell Me Your Story…” series of books available in the Oregon Trail Genealogy Store as another way to pass on your own stories.
