In this
“J.O., a staunch Baptist, donated land to
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Ranch's 19th-century fence preserves story of an early Oregon romance
James Oliver Maxwell's pride in his work attracted Nancy Hand, and the rest was history
RICHARD COCKLE
The Oregonian
HAINES --
M iles of splintered split-rail fence still crisscrosses the Maxwell Ranch in northeast
James Oliver Maxwell began building this tamarack rail fence in 1880. He was a good-looking bachelor who rose at
He had no family and nobody to pass the ranch on to. But fate took a hand, literally, in the form of 18-year-old Nancy Hand.
"They were stranded," says her great-grandson, 67-year-old Tommy Moore of
According to family lore, one golden morning, passing by J.O. Maxwell's fenced fields with her mother,
Her mother said, "That ranch is owned by some old bachelor."
"How old is he?"
"He's 33 years old," replied her mother.
The teenage girl pondered the vast gulf between their respective ages, and said, "I'm going to marry that man."
"She measured the man's character by the pride in those haystacks," said Tommy Moore.
History fails to record how
He ran the ranch, and she took charge of the garden and orchard, the cooking, and a growing tribe of youngsters who ultimately numbered six sons and four daughters. Mondays on the Maxwell Ranch were washdays for
Joann Bond Boyer, a neighbor and former schoolteacher of several Maxwells, described washdays during an Oregon Historical Society century farm award ceremony in 1980. She wrote that
"On summer days, it must have seemed hot enough to be standing over hell," Boyer wrote.
During harvest season, meals were eaten at a table that seated 18. Threshing crews were so large that
"Every woman who grew up on that ranch can bake cakes, pies, cookies and cobblers," said Tommy Moore. "They can smoke and cure meats, make ice cream; they can can any fruit or vegetable, make jams and jellies, make sauerkraut, pickles and sausage, and never look at a recipe."
Nevertheless, 40 percent of everything produced on the Maxwell Ranch was consumed by the 19th century's equivalent of diesel-guzzling farm equipment: 20 draft horses.
Raising 10 children tried
A weary
In 1901, their home burned, and they built an impressive two-story house with a southern exposure and view of the
J.O., a staunch Baptist, donated land to
In 1917, after 30 years of marriage, the Maxwells' love story ended. Sixty-four-year-old J.O. succumbed to an influenza epidemic.
"It was hard on grandmother when she lost him," said Alta Rose. "But she carried on. She just took over that ranch. She did all the books and the hiring and firing of the men, and the cooking."
"She was a gentle, brilliant manager," he said.
During the Great Depression of the 1930s, jobs evaporated and money was scarce. The Maxwell clan came home to the ranch. Alta Rose said it wasn't unusual for 30 people to sit down to Sunday dinner. Nancy and her daughters and granddaughters spent all day cooking and washing dishes.
Today, four or five miles of J.O. Maxwell's original split-rail fence still stands, says 75-year-old Gerald Maxwell, a grandson of Nancy and J.O.'s and current owner of the ranch with his wife, Farrell. A son manages the farming end while a daughter oversees the cattle.
The Maxwells and kin number at least 200, and there is always something visually striking about family gatherings, Tommy Moore said.
"The women all look like Nancy Hand," he said. "It's amazing what happens when two people fall in love."
Richard Cockle: 541-963-8890; rcockle@oregonwireless.net