Vandevert: The Hundred Year History of a Central Oregon Ranch

Central Oregon was the last frontier of the American West. Mountains, deserts, and deep river gorges kept it isolated well into the twentieth century. The region was almost uninhabited when William Plutarch Vandevert, legendary bear hunter, homesteaded a site on the Little Deschutes River in 1892 and built a log house that served his family for three generations. The Vandeverts raised cattle, sold timber, and served their community as civilization grew up around them. The ranch has been home to a stage stop, a frontier post office, a one room schoolhouse, a dance pavilion, horses, dogs, sheep, and even a duel. Today the ranch is home to some of the finest log homes in the west.