B2<Lancaster Farming, Saturday, September 4, 1993 Hells Canyon Agriculture In An Unlikely Environment JOYCE BUPP York County Correspondent KIRKWOOD BAR (Idaho) “River time” they call it here. Clocks become unimportant when you live by river time. Days begin early, with the rising of the sun over the canyon’s Idaho rim, and end in the fading light of a pastel sunset sliding behind a mountain meadow in the rugged Oregon peaks. There are no TV’s, no compu ters, no meetings, no newspapers, no malls, no interstate highways, no telephones. There are only mountains endless mountains craggy, rocky cliffs that drop hundreds of feet to the’ river below, interspersed ’with steeply sloping sweeps of grass and shrubby trees. And always, there is the river. The river is the Snake, rising out of the Tetons in Wyoming and slicing its way north through some of the Northwest’s most rugged wilderness, to eventually join with the majestic Columbia River. Over the eons, the Snake has carved out of ancient volcanic deposits the deepest gorge in North America Hells Canyon. Hells Canyon National Recrea tion Area is part of the Wallowa- Whitman National Forest, more than 650,000 acres of wilderness in western Idaho and eastern Ore gon. Terrain ranges from flat bars of sandy soil deposits along the Snake River to alpine meadows reaching well over 8,000 feet high in the Seven Devils Mountains. Herds of elk, mule deer, cougar, bobcats, rattlesnakes, and numer ous small species are at home in the Hells Canyon wilderness. Birds and waterfowl of numerous species follow the river on their annual migration. Because of its relative inacces sibility, the isolation and primi tiveness of Hells Canyon remains much as it has been over the cen turies. Only a few dirt roads traverse the lower canyon’s nearly 100 miles-stretch, most of them winding, steep and dangerous in bad weather. Foot and horse trails are narrow paths carved out along the sheer rock and steep slopes along the canyon walls and are not-easily traveled. Still, thousands of visitors each year enjoy the unique beauty and recreational opportunities of Hell’s Canyon. And whether, they raft the miles of white-water rapids, bounce through them by jetboats or hike through by trail, most at least make a brief stop at Kirkwood Historic Ranch. Though it seems unlikely at first introduction to the canyon, what the visitors who stop on Kirkwood Bar come to see is a tri bute to agriculture. The 10-acre Kirkwood Bar was once home to a thriving ranch, running up to 4,000 head of sheep on this rugged and unfriendly ter rain. In fact, about 100 families homesteaded the canyon area in the late 1800 s and early 1900 s, carving out a nearly self-sufficient lifestyle far removed from the rest of the world. Nearly every one of the numerous river bars, some an acre or two, others much larger, supported canyon agriculture. v Though cattle were run by some canyon ranches, sheep proved bet ter adapted to the rugged f environment W Welcoming Hells Canyon A v* tors to Kirkwood Historic Ranch j L for the past two summers have W UAipV been two former York cguntians, Patricia Bupp Bacha and her bus- band, Andrew Bacha. Patty is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Leroy Bupp, Seven Valleys, and AJ. is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Bacha, Red Lion. Both are teaching graduates of the Uni versity of Idaho, Moscow. “I cried most of the way the first time we walked to Kirkwood," laughs Patty in remembrance of her first trip along the six-mile, cliffside hike from the downrive. trailhead at Pittsburg Landing. Even the journey to the trailhead itself is an adventure, an 18-mile drive from the main highway, along narrow gravel roads across high, rugged mountains, with steep, straight-down, dropoffs. After making the hike in and out several times in this second summer, the former dairy farm daughter casually relates that she only saw one rattlesnake the last time - and just went around it During the grazing heydays of Hells Canyon, flocks of sheep were herded to the lush grass high country of the mountains through the summer months, to graze as far away as Montana. Livestock was brought back to winter in the relatively mild, river-tempered shelter of the canyon floor. Alfalfa and grass hay was grown on the Hat sandy bars, watered through the summers’ 100-degree temper atures with hand-dug ditch irriga tion channels carrying gravity flowed water from the Snake and feeder creeks of high country snowmelt. Kirkwood became the best known of the canyon’s ranches, made famous in the book HOME BELOW HELL’S CANYON by Grace Jordan. Grace and Len Jor dan spent the depression years, 1932 through 1943, in the canyon’s isolation, raising three children, improving the ranch facilities and expanding their flock to 3,000 head grazing 17,000 acres of rangeland. Jordan spent much time away from the ranch during the summer grazing season, while his wife, family and farmhands kept Kirkwood run ning in his absence. The ranch was sold in 1943 when the Jordans moved “out side” the canyon, so their children could attend public schools. Dur ing their early school years, Grace Jordan taught them with a Balti more, Maryland, based correspon dence school curriculum. Len Jor dan later b'ecame politically active, served as the governor of Idaho for a term, then represented Idaho as a Senator in Washington, D.C. for more than 10 years. Bud and Helen Wilson, who purchased Kirkwood from the Jor dans, increased the sheep flock to 4,800 head. Then, in 1973, the United States Department of Agri culture acquired the ranch for part of a national recreation area. While a few active ranches still exist in the Hell’s Canyon, most of Kirkwood remains today as it was when the sheep grazing era ended. The crumbling timber remains of a large feeding bam and lambing shed, the round, galvanized-metal grain bins still intact, testify to the & riverbar’s thriving ranching years. Old haying equipment, with explanatory markers and pictures, tells visitors how each piece was used to farm Kirkwood’s alfalfa fields. ' Water still tumbles down Kirk wood Creek, which slices through the center of the 10-acre bar, and can be diverted into the irrigation system canals by pulling a few metal slides. And remnants of the old stands of alfalfa still bloom, enjoyed today by wide-eyed mule deer with playful fawns by their sides. The administering U.S. Forest Service has restored a former bunkhouse, built while Kirkwood was under Wilson ownership, by ranchhand Dick Sterling. Named in his memory, the long, low, expertly-crafted structure is con structed, of lodgepole pine. “There were no nails used in the sides or the roof,” relates AJ. Bacha of the Sterling Museum where he and Patty welcome visi tors and tell them about the ranch and canyon history. “Nails were used only to fasten down roofing materials.” Three display sections of the museum focus on various aspects of ranching and canyon history. One includes various old imple ments and tools of ranching, with a numbered guessing-game for visitors to match the artifacts to their use. “Usually a couple of our ranch cats are curled up on the old wooden wheelbarrow,” Patty (Turn to Pagt B 3) “HI! Wt jome to. irkwood,” Is how Patty and A.J. Bacha greet visitors to the his toric sheep ranch on the Snake River In the Hells Canyon Wilderness. Ranch and canyon artifacts are housed In the Sterling Cabin museum behind them. The lodgepole pine-built Sterling Cabin, In the foreground, is a former bunkhouse now converted for museum use to depict the agriculture and Indian history of Hell’s Canyon and Kirkwood Historic Ranch. The Jordan House In the background serves as a private residence for ranch hosts and Is on the National Historic Register. •* ‘ A Kirkwood Historic Ranch is located on a 10-acre river bar 80 miles upstream (south) on the Snake River from Lewis town, Idaho. At the left of the upper bar are remains of the sheep sheds and lambing pens. Alfalfa, Irrigated from Kirk wood Creek which crosses the riverbar, was grown on the lower portion of the ranch for winter hay needs. '’si * t *•
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