Day 22 Mile 242-251

Brothers

I woke up this morning being very hot as my tent trapped the direct sun within it. A drastic shift from the blizzard of the night before. Todays heat and dry brought the deserts truth. The dried up river bed told a story of a lush landscape and like the song “A Horse With No Name” I too was sad that it was dead, but the Human spirit thrives in any clime as I would learn form my encounter later in the day with the folks of Brothers. On the short nine miles in from my camp under a tree on the way into Brothers, I found an orb that shows me the world and sings to me with a rhythm that always matches my pace. Up here in the high desert, the air is so clear and the horizon so vast on all sides that when a jet flies across the sky, the jet stream goes from one horizon to the other. I stopped in at the only establishment in Brothers run by Jerrie and Dixie Hanna, two sisters that keep the town fed, gassed, and posted. According to Jerrie there are just 22 active mail boxes in Brothers. At the counter when I came in were Carol and James. James who is engaged to be married if his fiancé doesn’t shoot him first was there helping Jerrie and Dixie set up for the Cinco de Meyo Party that would take place at the Brothers Stage Shop starting at 5:30. James had grown up out here in brothers and was like family with all the folks around. We joked that he was the VP of public relations for Brothers and then he was promoted to President when nobody else wanted the job. Carol is an archaeologist and rancher. She scours the High desert for days at a time searching for human artifacts and remains. There are native artifacts, wall paintings, projectile points etc. throughout the desert. She was the first of many to explain to me how the ranchers up here are one with their environment and how they have a symbiotic relationship with the desert. These are open Range Ranchers that move cattle over hundreds of thousands of acres to ensure that they don’t overgraze any particular range. Up here in the High Desert it takes 40 acres of the best land to raise a single head of cattle. I was in town in the early afternoon but decided to stay around until evening for the party that was sure to bring over 60 guests. I’m sure glad I stayed because I ended up visiting with the most decent folks on this here good Earth. John Grant, a strong framed-man with a kind face and a western mustache was the first to offer an invitation for the evening. He was the lead of John Grant and the Western Revue the group that would be providing music for us this evening. He was going to be staying with his good friend Donny Brown who ran the Desert Creek Ranch and whom I would learn is the most respected and decent of ranchers. I was so fortunate to have accepted his offer. Set-up for the party started at 3:30 when Jerrie and Dixie closed the cafe early and started getting the tables moved around and the drinks ready. I stepped out on to the front step and opened up the laptop to try and find signal. While I was walking around with the laptop to the sky a couple from Sweet Home who had read the article about me pulled up outside the Stage Shop and recognized me. They were out driving the desert and exploring the route in preperation for when they will ride bikes coast to coast along US 20 this summer. Doug Robin and Donna Short will of course make much better time than I do and perhaps I will meet up with them as they pass me in Nebraska this coming July. Once the party got started I visited with Larry and Susan Fildes who run an 11,000 acre ranch called Sunrise Valley Ranch. They have horses and cattle and also run it as a vacation destination where you can bring your own horses and experience the Ranchers existence out on the range driving cattle and riding fences. They supplied me up with peanut trail bars and invited me out to visit on the Ranch when I come back through next fall. I walked out with them to their truck to say farewell and on my way back in, the Congressman drove up to get gas. Greg Walden who is the Congressman for the Second District which I will be walking through till I leave Oregon came in when he saw the crowd and visited for a while and let anyone bend his ear who had something to say. He made sure to shake every hand in the place and he seemed to have a real grasp on the issues that were facing his constituents. He listened to the problems of some of the community members and chatted with others about ranching and environmental issues and legislation. Some of the Ranchers out here see him as about the only friend in government they have left. He seemed to be well liked and popular. I got to visit with him and told him about my walk across his state. I asked him about being a congressman and about staying in touch with the people and having the time and patience to listen to anyone who wished to speak. Seeing him come in and chat with people I kind of feel like WFP is doing something similar... I go in, listen, shake hands, make friends, and try and gain as much of an understanding as possible. Thanks Greg for listening and I would love to hear from you and discuss some of my insights into the State of Oregon if you would like! Back to the party... The potluck food was great and of course since it was Cinco de Meyo it was an all Mexican feast. the festivities really took hold and folks were dancing and mingling. I visited with Gary Cutsforth for a while and he and his wife, Dorthy, had been married 60 years. Gary had been a truck driver before he decided to retire. They had moved to Brothers to join in with a community of real kind and decent people. The first time they met their new neighbors, they were welcomed as part of the family... they were told where the keys to all the vehicle were, invited to come into the house to use the phone anytime, the doors to places up here are kept unlocked, and everyone is kind, decent and trustworthy. They have really enjoyed living amongst the Ranchers. I got to visit with Bill MacDonald who was up here visiting from Sisters and who had known John Grant and many of the Ranchers for many years. He and his son Graham came up for these parties whenever they could. Graham is going to build and airplane this summer and wants to be a pilot like his dad. Graham and his dad have come up to the high desert often to find arrow heads and and to find obsidian glass to make their own. Graham made friends with another boy who was up at the party with his dad. The other boy was named Tanner and was a very lively social boy who got to dance with all the older ladies. Asked if he would want to go to outer-space, he said “heck no... I wouldn’t want to die up there!” I finally got to meet Donny Brown. He was not a tall man but he was surely the strongest and he had a determination in his eyes tempered by a kind joy. He has been Ranching on Desert Creek Ranch for 30 years. At its peak, he would range between 2,000 and 3,000 cattle on the 120,000 acre ranch. He had been out branding calves and giving them their vaccinations in the early part of the day. It was a light day as far as branding goes with only 19 calves to brand. Most of the calves had fallen last month and most of the branding and work was already done. They now have over 900 cattle and 800 calves. In this day and age they use video to sell their cattle so they can be sure of their sales before they go transporting hundreds of cows hundreds of miles to auction. Donny is more than just a rancher... he is also the best dancer I’ve ever seen. He and his wife Lavonne danced quicker and finer than I thought possible. Another sweet gal, Tommay, was up and about getting folks to dance and dancing with the kids too. Tommay and her husband could tear it up as well. I had avoided the dance floor until Joanne, came up and asked me to join her for a dance. The songs I was dancing too just happened to be Elvis country love songs to which I knew all the words... and I sang to her as we danced. She was the sweetest and most frail lady I have known and she danced beautifully. This was my most fun Cinco de Meyo party ever... I have never known a bunch of people to be a kind and true as the folk I met in Brothers. When John and his group finished playing the party started to wind down. I hopped in with John to go out to the Desert Creek Ranch. We chatted back at the ranch house for a while with Donny and Lavonne, and Bill MacDonald and his son Graham who had also come out to Donny’s place. We talked elk antlers, and Z-coil shoes. I had a wonderful warm bed for the night. What a day! Thank you Donny, Lavonne, John, Bill, Jerrie, Dixie, Larry and Susan!