Cyrus Horse Camp
| Cyrus Horse Camp | |
|---|---|
| Location | CRNG, Ochoco NF |
| Tree Count | 11 |
| Species | 11 apple |
| Varieties | 3 identified |
History
The Cyrus Horse Camp orchard is located on the site of the 1882-1883 homestead of Enoch and Mary Cyrus. The site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on May 26, 2015 as part of the "Settlement and Abandonment of the Crooked River Grasslands, 1868-1937" Multiple Property Submission.
The Cyrus Family
Enoch Cyrus (1844-1916) and his wife Mary Sutherlin Cyrus moved from Linn County, Oregon to the Gray Butte area in 1882, where they claimed a homestead in Skull Hollow. In 1883, the family moved to a 160-acre homestead near a good spring at the base of Gray Butte. At that time, the landscape was grassland with an aspen grove, and no junipers in sight.
In 1882, the Gray Butte country was so sparsely settled that Mrs. Mary Cyrus later recalled that for their first seven months on the place, she didn't see another woman. But within a few years, they built a two-story, four-bedroom house here and farmed about 500 acres with their five sons and two daughters.
Enoch Cyrus was a remarkably innovative farmer:
- Introduced barbed-wire fences to this part of Central Oregon
- Pioneered a strain of hard winter wheat known as "Cyrus Wheat"
- Innovated new machines for harvesting grain, including a reaper-binder
The Cyruses typically ran 1,500-3,000 head of sheep, planted huge vegetable gardens, and kept orchards of apples, crabapples, peaches, and pears. Only apples survive today, including Yellow Transparents and several varieties of red fall apples.
Later History
In 1900, Enoch and Mary left the Gray Butte ranch and became homesteaders again in the Cloverdale area between Redmond and Sisters, where they practiced irrigated farming using water from what is now Wychus Creek and launched a new crop for Central Oregon—seed potatoes. In the heyday of potato farming in Deschutes and Jefferson Counties (1940-1975), the Cyrus spud cellars around Cloverdale were a prime source of seed potatoes.
After his parents moved, their youngest son Warren Dean Cyrus (W.D. Cyrus) ran the Gray Butte place (with time out for land-speculating in Florida after 1910), and eventually sold it to the Relocation/Marginal Lands program in 1934. The buildings were razed by the Resettlement Administration in 1936.
USFS records show W.D. Cyrus was formally assigned ownership of the property from his parents Enoch Cyrus in 1911. At the same time, brother Omar Cyrus was assigned land to the west. In total, five different sites associated with the Cyrus family have been recorded within a roughly one-square-mile area: the Cyrus Orchard (site 06070500509), the W.D. Cyrus Homestead (site 06070500508, just southwest of the orchard), the Omar and Hattie Cyrus Homestead (site 06070500179, about a half mile southwest), this site (the Enoch Cyrus homestead), and the Cyrus Barn.
According to Duane Ecker's 2001 field notes, the orchard contained 11 apple trees and 8 prune trees (5 needing pruning). All were pruned in 2001, with notes that juniper trees needed removal.
Today the site serves as a popular campsite and meeting place for riders, administered by the Crooked River National Grasslands in collaboration with local saddle clubs.
Sources: Oregon Historic Site Record (National Register of Historic Places); Jefferson County Historical Society "The Agate" Spring 2015; Duane Ecker field notes 2001
Primary Sources
The following historical documents are available:
- National Register of Historic Places record
- Duane Ecker field notes (2001)
- Jefferson County Historical Society article (2015)
- Orchard map (2012)
Orchard Map
Trees
- Tree #26- UAF5(fair)
- Tree #27- Unique Trees(poor)
- Tree #28(dead)
- Tree #29(dead)
- Tree #30- Unique Trees(poor)
- Tree #31- Unique Trees(poor)
- Tree #32- Unique Trees(poor)
- Tree #33- Unique Trees(poor)
- Tree #34- Red Astrachan(poor)
- Tree #35- Red Astrachan(fair)
- Tree #36(dead)
Varieties
Historical Documents
- Duane Ecker Field Notes (2001)
- National Register Historic Site Record
- Tree List (2012)
- Hand-drawn Map (2012)
- "The Agate" Article (2015)
See also: Document Archive
Maps
File:Enoch Cyrus Orchard Map GoogEarth.pdf
Related Orchards
Cyrus Family Orchards
The Cyrus orchards were established by members of the Cyrus family. This site was the original 1882 homestead of Enoch and Mary Cyrus. Five different Cyrus family sites have been recorded within a roughly one-square-mile area.
- Cyrus — Omer Cyrus orchard (site 509), ~½ mile west
- Cyrus Barn — Omer Cyrus barn orchard, ~⅓ mile northwest of the main orchard
- Omar and Hattie Cyrus Homestead (site 06070500179) — ~½ mile southwest of the orchard
