I don't know what you think a cattle drive should look like but this is how it is done in the desert near Adel, Oregon. When the historic MC Ranch was sold, the Beatty Butte Grazing Association was formed by several local families who bought up the MC properties. Every year they put their cattle together and run them communally on 500,000+ acres in total or about an 800 sq. mile range. It is the second largest BLM grazing allotment in the State of Oregon and houses one of Oregon’s larger wild horse populations. Each family participates in a staggered gather when the water and grass gets low. 3-4 days before these photos were taken riders went out to move what cattle they could find closer in. The morning these photos were taken, riders went out and gathered an area 3 miles north and 6 miles west and moved them in two large groups to a staging area at the top of notoriously steep Doherty Slide, which features a precipitous and spectacular drop-off all the way down for its three mile length. At the bottom of the hill they leave the road and go cross country to the old Barry Ranch where they are held for the night. The next day they are moved 12 miles over Blizzard Gap, to the home ranch in Adel. After a days rest the cattle are sorted by owner. Meantime other members of the association return to the rangelands to continue the gathering process which can take weeks.
The photos are of Jason Jaeger, pictured above, and in order below: Crump Ranch Manager, Jim Hiatt (gray horse) and Jason Jaeger heading out at first light; the lst smaller group coming in, Randy Cossairt (grey horse) and Hiatt's grandson, Reid Martin moved this bunch; going up the hill to the holding area; the holding area; the 2nd and much larger bunch coming in from way back on the desert; the first of the 400-500 head of cattle head down the hill with Reid Martin keeping them lined out; the horse trailers are moved thru the herd to the Barry Place. Many cars and motorcycles went thru the herd while it was going down the hill. I wondered how it was to ride motorcycles thru so much wet cow manure...hummmmm. Bottom photo; Jim Hiatt whose little Corgi dog actually fell off the hill at the top this day but managed to climb back up. (JIm says cows and calves occasionally go off the edge. Calves can usually scramble back up by themselves. The cows that can't get back up usually roll down the hill to be picked up by riders at the bottom with generally not much harm done.)
Side photos: Cows going down Doherty Slide; another Hiatt grandson, Catlin Martin who surely is hoping his young horse does not blow up at the top of Doherty Slide; Catlin at the bottom following cattle across Guano Valley to the Barry Place; , Peter Osborn, who along with Jaeger, works for the Association, and Catlin; and bottom photo, a picture I liked of Randy and Jim on their nice gray horses.
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