Vandevert Book Addendum
The authors have uncovered more information and photographs since the 2011 publication of Vandevert - The Hundred Year History of a Central Oregon Ranch. One of the most interesting documents, if not the most reliable, is a memoir on this web site by Bill Vandevert's "long lost" niece, Mary Vandevert Hogan. Also on this web site is a 45 minute recording of a KPOV interview featuring the book's two authors. Additional photographs and information are provided below, organized by the relevant book chapters.
Introduction
Chapter 1: Bear Hunter
Bill Vandevert's father, Joshua Jackson Vandevert, moved from Cottage Grove to Powell Butte in the 1870's after Bill's mother died. He named his land "Red Cloud Ranch" after the famous Sioux chief who led his tribe superbly in both war and peace. Joshua Jackson' barn, repaired and renovated many times since his day, appears in the photograph below taken in about 1990.
The photograph below, probably taken in the 1880's or 90's shows the results of a successful deer hunt by two of Bill Vandevert's brothers and his father. From left to right are Charlie, Dick and Joshua Jackson. Charlie died in 1902 when he was crushed beneath a wagon.
Bill Vandevert appears by the tree at the far right in the photo below, taken in the late 1890's. Sadie is seated in the center of the photo with her son Arthur in front of her. Joshua Jackson is seated between her and the white horse. The other people are not identified but Grace says the men may be two of Bill's brothers, Walter and Charlie. The family never owned a surrey so it must have belonged to a friend or neighbor.
Chapter 2: Land, Water, and Nature
Chapter 3: Oregon Frontier
Dick Vandevert, Bill's brother, is the driver on the far side of this mud-spattered stagecoach. The picture was taken at Joshua Jackson's ranch in Powell Butte. Bill and Dick's brother Walt drove for the Cornett Stage and Stable Company that specialized in stages between Shaniko and Prineville but also went on to Silver Lake and other points. Dick may have driven for the same company and this may be one of their stagecoaches. (See Macdonald's Stage Coaches and Stations - Eastern Oregon 1850-1920 by Joseph F. Macdonald.)
Chapter 4: Pioneer Family
Sadie appears with two of her daughters, Mittye (born 1883) and Maude (born 1886) in the photo below, possibly taken at the Pilot Butte Inn. If you can identify the flowers in the beer stein on the piano you might determine the month the photo was taken.
Maude married Chester Catlow at the Homestead on June 25, 1912.
In the photo below Kathryn Grace is standing by the door of the Homestead and Maude is standing on the right. The other people are unknown. The photo might have been taken around 1910.
Dean Hollinshead wiped out the footbridge by the Homestead while floating rafts of logs down the Little Deschutes in 1917 (see page 69 in Vandevert). This photo may show that bridge or the rebuilt version. Thomas William (Uncle Bill) is standing with Claude Senior next to him. The next two people are unknown but the next two men are Arthur and George. The woman closest to the camera is unknown.
Addition and Correction: Page 31 - George was named after his mother Sadie’s father, the Rev. George Vincenheller, who was the abolitionist Methodist minister of Jeffersontown, Kentucky, from the 1840’s to 1870’s. George's oldest son, Vincent, was named after Vincenheller. George's wife's first name was Olda (the Norwegian version of Olga) and her middle name was Marie. His second son's name is spelled Alan, not Allan.
Chapter 5: Cattle
These White-Faced Herefords are Vandevert cattle grazing at or near Sparks Lake in the early 1940's, after the army had taken over the summer grazing area near Spring River.
Chapter 6: Community
The car visiting the ranch is a Model H Franklin, probably the 1909 model. Claude Junior believed it belonged to the Atkinsons (see pages 55, 58, and 128) and that John Atkinson and his wife are in the front seat. Right-hand drive was common at the time. Stagecoach drivers generally sat on the right. (See photo above for Chapter 3.)
Claude Senior stands next to a Ford Model T that undoubtedly belonged to the Atkinsons. On page 55, Anzonetta Caldwell Rupe reports "Mr. Atkinson has a beautiful 1916 Model T with no top and a brass radiator, carriage lamps, and a horn that squawked loudly when someone squeezed the rubber bulb." A Senior Member of the Antique Automobile Club of America, calling himself "The Money Pit" commented on this photo, "I believe the car is a 1916 as the side lights look like they were painted as opposed to brass and there is a horn button on the column - in 1915 there was an experimental horn placed on some cars, but not all and in 16 it became standard equipment." Claude would have been twenty-four in 1916.
Two excellent books on the building of the railroad from the Dalles to Bend in 1911 are The Northwest's Own Railway Vol. 2 by Walter R. Grande (Portland, OR: Grande Press 1997) and The Deschutes River Railroad War by Leon Speroff (Portland, OR: Arnica Publishing, 2007). Pearl Catlow Vandevert's brothers worked on the railroad bridge over the Crooked River.
Chapter 7: Ranchers
In this photo taken before the larger trees on the ranch were harvested, the barn appears in the foreground and the Homestead in the background. Grace says the two smaller buildings were "before my time" and she can't identify them.
Chapter 8: Timber
Correction: Page 70 - "early 1950's" should read "early 1920's".
Chapter 9: Sheep, Horses, and Other Animals
Claude Senior is astride Major, an excellent hunting horse that had once served in the army. The boy in the cowboy shirt is Claude Junior.
Grace appears in this photo with her Shetland Pony, Dolly, and with two sheep nearby
Tippy lies on a large plank by the back porch. The names of the cats in the background are lost to history.
Chapter 10: Ranch Life in the 1930s
Family members are about to depart for a camping trip to Cultus Lake. Left to right in the photo are Aunt Martha (Arthur's wife) holding her daughter Cynthia, Sallie Bird (Arthur and Martha's daughter), Mary Jean, and Grace. The girl by the car door may be Katherine Catlow. Arthur and his family visited every summer from Kentucky.
Two men in an airplane that ran out of fuel landed in the Vandevert's meadow one day in the early 1930's. The men called Redmond and two more men brought more fuel. The little girl by the back of the car is almost certainly Grace. The plane is a Stinson Jr., a plane built primarily for private owners in 1928 - 1933. A total of 321 were built and some are still flying. The barn is long gone but the ponderosa to the left of the frame is still alive and well on the ranch.
Chapter 11: Heat, Light, and Civilization
Chapter 12: Politics, Religion, Liquor, and Values
Chapter 13: Third Generation
Taken in about 1928, the children seated in this photo from left to right are Claude Junior (holding his cousin Barbara), Danny, and Vincent (Dr. George V. Vandevert's son) holding his brother Alan.
Claude Vandevert with his three surviving children - Claude Junior, Mary Jean, and Grace. The rifle is probably Claude Junior's 22. The dog is Tippy.
Grace and Mary Jean in 1941 with window boxes of flowers they have grown from seeds ordered by mail. The large-leafed plants are sunflowers that grew like mad that summer.
Mary Jean among the cabbages in the vegetable garden. The river is on the other side of the fence. The garage is in the background and the Homestead is barely visible above the willows on the left.
Mary Jean beside an "almost new" 1941 Chevrolet two-door that Claude Senior was able to buy when the price of beef went up. He was very happy his wife could finally ride in a nice car. This is the car Grace got to drive when the car the school district had given her (to avoid sending a bus all the way from Bend) went off any icy road. This "new" car, with a radio, was a big step up. The homemade ladder was used for repairing roof shingles and other tasks.
The La Pine High School senior class of 1940. Claude Junior, only 16 when he graduated, is furthest right in the second row.
Chapter 14: Town of Harper and Harper School
Chapter 15: Camp Abbot and Sunriver
Chapter 16: New Wife, New Home
Tom McNellis, Grace's son, wrote "This old photo brought back some great memories of the dusty old cinder stone road leading from Highway 97 into the Ranch. As young boys, all of us would get so excited once we hit this road on our long trips down there. We just couldn't wait to run up to the old rock pile and hunt for arrow heads or go fishing down the Little Deschutes or explore the old house. There were millions of things to do there and we just couldn't wait to get started. Sometimes, Grandpa (Claude Senior - ed.) would sit with us in his old lawn chair in front of the big picture window of the little house and tell us stories about when the Indians would come to visit them many years before. Just being there was like taking a step back into a much more wonderful time in America." Tom's visits as a boy were in the 1950's and 1960's.
The car below was an antique when this picture was taken at the ranch in the 1960's. It is a 1912 or 1913 Underslung. It had a very sporty ride for the time because the engine and the body were inside the frame instead of on top of it and that made the center of gravity very low. Note the enormous 40 inch wheels. The man on the right is Alan Vandevert, son of Dr. George Vandevert. The ranch barn is in the background with a smaller building behind it.
Below, the Vandevert family's workshop, barn, and the Homestead sometime between 1953 and 1988. The workshop, barn, and power lines are long gone and the Homestead was completely rebuilt in 1988. Note the peak of the roof of the "Guest House" visible over the top of the Homestead.
Chapter 17: New Owners, New Ranch
Carol and Jim Gardner bought the ranch as their personal property in 1987 and later decided to develop it.
Chapter 18: New Log Houses
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