The Story of a Cattle King
Posted by: 
Volcanoguy
N 43° 07.949 W 118° 38.537
11T E 366426 N 4776835
History sign about the Pete French. The sign is located behind the Round Barn.
Waymark Code: WMAX4K
Location: Oregon, United States
Date Posted: 03/06/2011
Views: 3
Marker Name: The Story of a Cattle King
Marker Text: In the spring of 1872, 23-year old Peter French set off from California headed for Southeastern Oregon with about 1,200 head of cattle, 20 hourses, several supply wagons, a cook and half-dozen cowhands. He eventually settled in the Donner and Blitzen Valley. Here he established a ranching operation that grew over the next quarter-century to 200,000 acres, making him one of Oregon’s first “Cattle Kings”.
At the time the Round Barn was built, French ran several thousand horses that had to be trained and exercised every day. Sheltered from the harsh winter weather, this Round Barn provided a place for French’s vaqueros and buckaroos to ready the horses for the rigorous work required of them during the busy ranching season. Of the three original round barns on the “P” Ranch, only this one remains.
French’s reign as a cattle king ended in December 1897 when he was shot and killed in a land dispute with a local homesteader. His legacy lives on and Peter French remains one of Harney County and Oregon’s best-known and most legendary figures.
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