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The James Cant Ranch is a pioneer ranch complex in Grant County in eastern Oregon, United States. The ranch is located on both sides of the John Day River in the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument. The ranch was originally homesteaded by Floyd Officer in 1890. Officer sold the property to James Cant in 1910. Cant increased the size of the property and built a modern ranch complex on the west bank of the river. The National Park Service bought the ranch from the Cant family in 1975, and incorporated the property into the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument. The National Park Service used the main house as a visitor center until 2003. Today, the Cant Ranch complex is preserved as an interpretive site showing visitors an early 20th-century livestock ranch. The James Cant Ranch is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. == Early history == Native Americans used the area around the John Day River for thousands of years before the arrival of European settlers. While boundaries were never clearly defined, the site that is now the Cant Ranch was used for seasonal hunting and fishing camps by Warm Springs and Umatilla bands, both Sahaptin speaking Columbia Plateau peoples. By the nineteenth century, Northern Paiutes had migrated north from the Great Basin and were also using portions of the upper John Day watershed.〔Beckham, Stephen Dow and Florence K. Lentz, (Indigenous Peoples and Cultures” ), Rocks and Hard Places, Historic Resource Study, John Day Fossil Beds National Monument, National Park Service, United States Department of Interior, Seattle, Washington, 2000, p. 1.〕〔Taylor, Terri and Cathy Gilbert, ("Pre-Contact to Euro-American Settlement" ), ''Cultural Landscape Report''; Cant Historical District], Cultural Resources Division, National Park Service, United States Department of Interior, Seattle, Washington, September 1996, pp. 19–20.〕 As a result of the arid climate, only a few trappers and prospectors traveled through the area before 1862 when gold was discovered in Canyon Creek, tributary of the John Day River. The discovery of gold drew a large number of miners to the area. This led to the founding of a number of mining towns in northeastern Oregon. The largest of these towns was Canyon City. A wagon road, formalized in 1869 as The Dalles Military Road between Fort Dalles on the Columbia River and Canyon City, encouraged additional growth.〔〔("History of Forest Transportation System Development" ), ''Malheur national Forest Roads Analysis Report'', Malheur National Forest, John Day, Oregon, United States Forest Service, United States Department of Agriculture, John Day, Oregon, December 2004, p. 14.〕 Permanent homesteaders began arriving in the John Day Valley shortly after the miners. The Homestead Act of 1862 encouraged settlement by offering grants of to American pioneers. Livestock operations in the John Day area supplied isolated mining towns with fresh meat. Initially, most ranches produced beef cattle. However, sheep were the primary ranch stock by the 1890s. This coincided with a wave of Scottish, Irish, and Basque immigrants who were experienced sheep herders.〔 In 1890, Floyd Officer homesteaded land in the Butler Basin along the John Day River. He worked the property for seven years before securing a land patent in 1898. That same year, he married Sylvia Fitzgerald and together they began a hard pioneer life on their remote homestead. Because of his knowledge of the Butler Basin and Sheep Rock areas, Officer served as a guide for pioneer paleontologist Thomas Condon during several of his fossil hunting expeditions. The Officers sold the ranch in 1910, moving to Dayville where their children could attend school.〔Beckham, Stephen Dow and Florence K. Lentz, ("Early Settlement in the Vicinity of the National Monument” ), ''Rocks and Hard Places'', Historic Resource Study, John Day Fossil Beds National Monument, National Park Service, United States Department of Interior, Seattle, Washington, 2000.〕〔Taylor, Terri and Cathy Gilbert, ("Officer Homestead Era: 1890–1909" ), ''Cultural Landscape Report; Cant Historical District'', Cultural Resources Division, National Park Service, United States Department of Interior, Seattle, Washington, September 1996, pp. 21–24.〕 The property was purchased by James Cant and his partner John Mason for $4,000. It included in Grant County and in Wheeler County. Cant bought out Mason’s share in the property in 1915.〔Taylor, Terri and Cathy Gilbert, ("Cant Sheep Ranch: 1910–1946" ), ''Cultural Landscape Report; Cant Historical District''], Cultural Resources Division, National Park Service, United States Department of Interior, Seattle, Washington, September 1996, pp. 27–29.〕〔"James Cant Ranch Historic District, Statement of Significance", ''National Register of Historic Places Inventory – Nomination Form'', National Park Service, United States Department of Interior, Seattle, Washington, 1983.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「James Cant Ranch Historic District」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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