Christmas Shopping~~Harney County Style

Yesterday was the annual Customer Appreciation Day at the Pete French Round Barn Visitors Center. To me it wouldn't be Christmas without a trip to the Round Barn! It's located between Princeton and Diamond...out in the middle of numerous cattle ranches.


The Pete French Round barn was built by cattle king Pete French in the late 1870's or early 1880's, the date is uncertain. He actually had built 3 of these barns and this is the only one remaining. In 1969 the Jenkin's family donated the Round Barn to the State of Oregon for everyone to enjoy.



During the long, cold winter months the buckaroos would train horses in this barn. They trained them for driving. Freight lines were all horses then of course, so there was a huge market for well trained driving horses.


The new training horses would be hitched up behind experienced driving horses and the unique round construction allowed them to circle around and around on the outside circle. The open outsides are facing the off-wind side.


The inside circle is constructed with thousands of stones. Windows are placed evenly around the circle to let light into the center. The inner circle housed the horses that were being trained and you find remanents of old hay feeders and such.


Also take note of the construction on this gate. There are no hardware pieces...no hinges. The gate post swings by rotating in a hole at the base and the top. The size of the timbers is amazing. They (and the stones) were hauled many a mile to this location.

This is the other gate. There are two openings going into the center circle.



The construction style of these barns was unheard of before. Pete French was a genius in his time. He also had common sense...he was the first rancher in the area to stock pile dry hay for winter feeding. One extremely bad winter, most of the other homesteaders lost all of their cows. Pete French didn't loose any...he had hay to feed! What a novel idea!

See the huge bird's nest at the base? You'll also notice the dozens of mud dauber nests in the rafters.

But, Pete French was also a very greedy man. He was short in stature and very cocky. He pushed settlers off their land so he could claim it...he amassed huge land holdings. But, he thumped on one settler at the wrong place and wrong time, one too many times. Pete French was shot dead off of his horse. It never pays to be greedy.

Ok...enough of that...the wind was blowing and I was cold enough...ready for a warm up! Off to the Visitors Center...goodies and drinks await us!

As you can see, the construction on the inside of the Visitors Center resembles the Round Barn. Dick Jenkins built the Center in 2003. He was born and raised at the same place he lives now. Dick is a wonderful man and so interesting to talk to...if you need to know something, Dick will know!

During the Spring, Summer, and Fall he does tours around Harney County to all the historical sites, Steens Mountains, and the Malhuer Wildlife Refuge. I see him come by our "Old Princeton" buildings with his tour bus.

Need a Les Vogt bit? This is where I got mine!


How about a book...I get stuck in this book store...excellent sellection of books from wildlife to cooking to the old west to training your horse! I picked out a couple for my stocking stuffers. Yep, I pick them out and My Man hides them until Christmas...heehee!

If you are interested in reading more about Pete French "Untamed Land, The Death of Pet French & The End of the Old West" is my suggestion. It's very interesting reading.

I also got a new winter coat. My Carhart coat of 1 winter's use blew out the zipper! Dang. I'm going to try to replace it, but in the meantime, this one will do just fine.

By the time we left (1:30 p.m.) the place was full of neighbors and friends chatting the afternoon away. Beer, wine, coffee, pop and a table full of finger food to enjoy. A great time was had by all!

So, if you're ever in Harney County, stop at our place and we'll all take a trip to the Round Barn for some fun shopping!