A prominent rancher in Jordan Valley, Mike Hanley IV is best known as a local historian. While many Owyhee ranchers have written anecdotal histories of their families and communities, Mike’s scope has been the I.O.N country, the broad area of the northern Great Basin that covers the tri-state territory of Idaho, Oregon and Nevada, particularly the Owyhee canyonlands. He has written several books on the topic, the best known being Owyhee Trails, co-written with Ellis Lucia and published in 1973. It remains in print.
My Granddaughters Lara & Sofie with Mike in his Uncle Bill's Buckboard in front of the old dance hall building
Less well known is Mike’s work restoring–“repairing” is his preferred term–on old wagons, stage coaches and buggies. This interest in wagons dates back to boyhood. Riding with his dad, he would watch the wagon wheels as they came up through the mud. He was fascinated by the water rising with the turn of the wheel and then falling back and he wondered how that could happen. As he grew older, he began to collect relics and parts. Some came from his grandfather, others from friends and acquaintances. While in high school, on a camping trip to Delamar, he found a stage coach in a collapsed livery barn and made several trips to bring it home in pieces. Others came from folks who wanted to see them saved. Only once did he purchase an intact specimen–a military wagon he got for $65.
Studebaker Spring Wagon
The first wagon Mike restored was a Studebaker Spring wagon that belonged to pioneer cattleman Ed Stauffer. These wagons were used by prominent cattlemen throughout the I.O.N. The oldest wagon in his collection is a Conestoga wagon used by early settler James Gusman in 1858 to haul freight from Virginia to Missouri and then on to Denver. It was pulled by oxen. His most recent project is a Henderson Mud Wagon yellow coach of which only the frame has so far been completed. Mike’s own favorites are the Delamar stage coach and an express spring wagon.
Delmar Stage
“Repairing” the wagons requires research and the skills of a carpenter, blacksmith, and wheelwright. These skills Mike learned from his father and grandfather. Mike also credits neighbor and Jordan Valley rancher Omer Stanford as a mentor who became a close friend despite a forty-three year age difference. They co-authored Sagebrush and Axle Grease, with stories of wagons and coaches (and a Model T) and descriptions of how they were built and maintained with photographs and illustrations drawn by Mike. The Model T has been included in Mike's collection "to show what came next."
Model T
For information on specifications, dimensions, colors and the like, Mike relies on books with diagrams, museums visits, and networking with other restorers to compare notes. He fashions his own wheels, obtaining hubs, spokes and tires from Amish sources in Ohio and Pennsylvania. Wagon tires are basically steel bands that are heated, placed on the wheel and cooled to draw them tight. Mike fabricates his own tires or sometimes uses old tires found locally.
Mike the Wheelwright
Mike’s wagons have been sought for a wide range of functions and events where a Western theme is desired. These have included local weddings (among them his and Linda’s), funerals, parades, the Pendleton Roundup, dedication of the Idaho State Penitentiary museum, and re-enactments, most notably the recreation of the Applegate Trail. But they have also been used as icons of the ranching way of life in making political statements, an example being the spring wagon he drove in the 1994 Sagebrush Rebellion’s “Save the West” rally in Boise, Idaho.
Studebaker Spring Wagon
Mike has always welcomed the opportunity to share his wagons, their histories and their contribution to the settlement and development of the Upper Great Basin. His hope is that his collection can find a place in an interpretive center devoted to transportation in the Great Basin before the arrival of the railroad, that is, prior to the 1880’s. He would like to see such a center in Jordan Valley. Jordan Valley was a major transportation hub through which the roads from the Snake River Valley to the Great Basin, Nevada and San Francisco and the California seaports passed. Silver from the Owyhee mines was shipped along this route and contributed to the Union effort in the Civil War. Until such a center can be realized, Mike welcomes travelers and local residents who are interested in seeing his collection. Visits are by appointment. He can be contacted by phone at (541) 586-2216, or by letter 682 Yturri Blvd, Jordan Valley, OR 97910-9500.
Chuck Wagon