Owyhee Visit to Birch Creek and Hole in the Ground Ranch
When I made my initial visit to Hole in the Ground back in 2007, I first took a side trip to Birch Creek ranch. To reach the ranch meant driving down the hairiest road I’d been on since roaring about the back roads in my 1948 Dodge above Weiser, Idaho when I was in high school. This time I was in an AWD Subaru Forester. After a few narrow curves, some creek crossings, and a 10% grade or two (probably closer to 6-7%, but we’re talking impressions rather than scientific measurement), I arrived at the ranch. I checked out the campground along the river and was excited to find a dozen or so big horn ewes and lambs grazing in the hay field. I didn’t stay long, and on the way out I stopped at the caretaker’s house to ask whether my Forester would be able to make it into Hole in the Ground. The lady who answered the door took one look at the car and replied “No!” An hour later I was pulling up to the abandoned ranch house at Hole in the Ground confident that my ‘48 Dodge with its Fluid Drive could have made it too and wondering what my godparents had driven down there.
Descent into Birch Creek
Since that trip I have been back to Hole in the Ground by SUV, 4WD pickup, boat and now–most comfortable of all–a Toyota 4 Runner. But I had not returned to Birch Creek and was anxious to do so. For Birch Creek is one of the prettiest and most interesting spots on the river. So, when Tim Davis of the Friends of the Owyhee asked if I wanted to join his group on a trip to Birch Creek and Hole in the Ground, I lept at the chance. The present ranch in fact comprises two places: the Morrison Ranch established just downstream from Birch Creek in 1900 by James Morrison and the Birch Creek Ranch founded by a Basque, Juan Domingo Lequerica, around the same time. Over the years, both ranches changed hands several times until they were purchased by Marty Rust of Boise–the Morrison ranch in 1968 and Birch Creek in 1971. Rust used them pretty much as hobby ranches and planted alfalfa and trees that added to the beauty of the site. In 1988 they were purchased by the BLM. The division between the two ranches is at about the site of the water wheel, placing the campground on the Morrison ranch. The ranches were combined into a single unit for a National Register of Historical Places study in 1988, which resulted in a determination of eligibility for designation as a “rural historic landscape: by the State Historical Preservation Office. Those interested in knowing more about the two ranches should consult the Birch Creek Ranch “Historic Structure Report.” In addition to historical background, the report also contains descriptions of the individual buildings and plans of the property.
Birch Creek Campground
The trip was an opportunity to try out my Casita trailer on rough backcountry roads, and both it and the tow vehicle performed well–though of course the worst part of the road was all downhill (physically, not metaphorically). Arriving ahead of the rest of the group, I found that I had forgotten just how stunning the campground setting is, with towering pinnacles and hoodoos to the east and the river desert heights on the west. There was only one other person–a chukar hunter from Eugene named John. Aside from the quiet murmur of the river, all was silent. I set up my trailer and then grabbing Camelback pack and camera, I started down the east side of the river.
Side Canyon
The trail (formerly a road) was threaded between river and towering rock cliffs. It seemed that about every 100 feet I would stir up a covey of chukars. The hunting season opened the following day, and the chukars would all disappear. Once I reached a point close to the cliffs, a golden eagle flew over me and circled back. The only other wildlife I saw were a couple of rabbits and many lizards. I walked for about forty-five minutes or an hour until the way was blocked by brush and talus that extended down to the water. The flat beyond looked interesting with a large pile of sandstone blocks that appeared to be remnants of a building. I decided to save it for a time when I could start earlier in the day and had footwear for wading in the water. I sat, drank a bit of water and ate the trail mix I carried as I examined the rock pile and the flat on the opposite side of the river through binoculars. I could see a rusting hay rake and other bits of detritus here and there. No buildings, though later Tim would tell me there were some ruins hidden in the locust trees. He would also tell me (and the map of water wheels a previous BLM archeologist had given me) the flat belonged to the Griffith ranch, which had been leased by my god parents before they purchased Hole in the Ground. It was probably somewhere around here that Conley had his still and Stacia “borrowed” the sheriff’s car to warn Conley that the law was after him. Having rested and in want of a cold beer, I got up and headed back. At the campground, I found the rest of the group had begun to arrive, as had more chukar hunters with their dogs and quads. The silence was gone, though everyone was spread out enough as not to disturb the general peace.
Across River from Griffith Ranch
In the morning we set out for Hole in the Ground about mid-morning. The steep canyon throws off one’s sense of the time, because the sun does not reach the camp until after 8:00. Hole in the Ground is not far from Birch Creek, but the drive took about an hour, even with high clearance 4WD. While the road down into Birch Creek is maintained (sort of), that into Hole in the Ground is not, though at times it has appeared as though someone has tried to fill in some of the holes or knock down one or two of the oil-pan scraping rocks. As described elsewhere on this site, Conley built the road into Hole in the Ground by dynamiting the rim to clear a place for a CCC dozer to push a road down tom the bottom. I doubt that it has change much since. At the bottom, we found hunters’ camps and sporadic gunfire suggested there were some chukar around as well. But the hunters we came across later weren’t having much luck.
Hole in the Ground Ranch House
I remember the heightened anticipation of my first visit to the Hole in the Ground, especially walking through the house my god parents built in 1934 and that Stacia described in her BLM interview. On the second visit, I found the house pretty well boarded up with new plywood, but on the subsequent visits I have been dismayed by the vandalism of birds (flickers?) that have punched holes through the walls and hunters who have torn down the fence and probably cut up the plywood for firewood. There is no possibility that the house will ever be preserved as those at Birch Creek, but it is disheartening to see it allowed to be disposed of in this manner. There is not even a sign inveighing against vandalism or telling people to stay out.
Hole in the Ground Rock Art and Chukar Hunters
From the house Tim took us to a petroglyph site downstream that is just across the river a larger site we hoped to visit. We had planned to wade the river, which is usually down this time of year, but rains in the mountains the previous two days had raised the level and speed of the water. That did not bother me so much, since I had been to the other side several times and was excited about what I was seeing on the near side for the first time. (Dismaying, were the signs of vandalism. There is no protection, not even a sign warning of the penalties for defacing the art.) Native American rock art can be fun, since one can only guess at what the images symbolize and that makes it possible for anyone to become an instant expert. But if one one takes the time to examine images thoughtfully, it is hard not to be impressed by the conceptual and technical skill involved. I like to look for similarities between the symbols and those found on the ancient Chinese oracle bones. I recall in the mid-sixties an exhibit of Pacific Rim art when I was at the East-West Center in Honolulu that included similar motifs stretching from New Zealand up around the Bering Sea and back down to South America. I don’t know whether they derived ultimately from the same source, whether primitive peoples generally are inclined to represent a particular thing in similar ways, or whether it is happenstance. For that matter, one cannot always be certain what a particular symbol represents or whether it has the same meaning from one culture to another. For example, a circle with a dot in the middle ☉ on Shang dynasty oracle bones we know to be the sun. Does that same symbol in Native American rock art have the same meaning? Probably, but who knows for certain?
Birch Creek Water Wheel
But I digress. From Hole in the Ground, we stopped at Jordan Craters, a relatively young (4000 years) lava flow. Some of those interviewed by the BLM claim that as children they saw the craters blowing ashes and smoke. From there we returned to Birch Creek. The following day I returned home, stopping to admire the waterwheel (Owyhee waterwheels warrant a separate post) and another rock art site. It was a great trip, and I strongly urge anyone who wants to visit the Owyhee Canyonlands to sign up for a Friends of the Owyhee outing. (Check out their FaceBook page.) Indeed, do so even if you’ve been there before. In addition to stunning landscape and wildlife, one can learn a great deal of man’s place in the Canyonlands from Tim. Few people know it better.