End of week 1

We had 3 more days off this week and spent them seeing the area around the refuge. This area in the 1870s was dominated by California's Hugh Glenn and his employee Peter French. French, backed financially by Glenn, took over the use of huge swaths of grasslands in this part of Oregon. He had up to 50,000 cattle and 50 ranch hands or more. His methods were less than scrupulous, and when homesteaders tried to set a claim, he often drove them out. I thought these cattle Barron's were only in places like Montana or Wyoming, but nope, here in Oregon, too.

We visited a round barn that French built to train horse teams to pull wagons and about 40 miles away a hotel he and partner Glenn built. We saw a volcanic area called Diamond Craters, and we visited one of the only public campgrounds in the area.

We also saw many species of birds such as burrowing owls, various ducks and shore birds, and lots of raptors, including a bald eagle. We can go back to the Visitor Center tomorrow armed with info about what to see and where.Read more