W.L. (Bill) Hoyt, Hawley Land & Cattle Co., Cottage Grove

“Ira had great vision for the future. He predicted the value of timber, mining, roads and the judicial use of Oregon’s natural resources. He is credited with building roads, providing a stage stop between Portland and Sacramento, hosting a community school and starting the first cattle drive up the Willamette Valley to markets in Oregon City, feeding the expanding Oregon population.”

The founder and patriarch, Ira Hawley, born in New York in 1824, was farming with his wife Elvira Riley Hawley in Rome, Illinois when gold was discovered in California. Struck by gold fever he struck out for the gold fields and did not return to his family until 1851. In 1852 he loaded his family of three young boys and his wife in a wagon, took 5 head of cattle, a team and 2 saddle horses, joined a wagon train and headed for a new life in Oregon. He wrote that on the journey down the Willamette Valley from Oregon City to what is now Creswell “all the good places were taken”. Our ranch is now on the spot that marks the division between the water of the Umpqua and that of the Willamette River. The old folks refer to us as the ranch at the divide, good water, good grass and … a crossroad for progress.

Ira and Elvira had 12 children, 6 of whom lived to adulthood. I am proud to say that I am descended from his only daughter, Medora Ann Hawley Stockwell. Ira helped buy farms and ranches for many of his sons and grandchildren, one of which was my grandfather, for whom he purchased a farm in 1892 near what is now Shedd. The family ranch was operated by James Hawley and after his death in the 1940s by my great aunt Alsea Hawley. Alsea took us into the seed stock business purchasing the Canadian National Champion Polled Hereford Bull. The ranch would become one of the most widely recognized seed stock producers in the state. We were proud to be awarded premier breeder in Oregon at the State Fair in 1985.

After Alsea’s death in 1973, the ranch fell to my mother and my uncle, who sold his interest to my father. For several years, my parents, who met at and graduated from the University of Oregon, operated the ranch in the tradition established by Alsea. In 1975, my mother was taken by cancer and the ranch is now owned and operated by myself, my father and my younger brother.

As the great great grandson of Ira and Elvira Hawley, with my wife Sharon Michael Hoyt, without whom I could not cope, I have lived at “Divide” and operated “Hawley Land & Cattle Co.” for the past 30+ years. We have diversified to include sheep and goats as well as cattle and we are currently involved in cutting edge forage and livestock production using new tools to work the land leaving limited footprints and growing forages that compliment the land and its occupants while requiring less conventional fertilizer. We produce “natural” grass fed lamb and beef sold in Oregon markets. Our goats are used by several Portland metro communities and the US Corps of Engineers for natural control of invasive species of weeds and brush and have hosted a Phd project from the Department of Rangeland Ecology at OSU dealing with grazing of goats to promote natural control of invasive weeds. With others, we are also exploring innovative solutions to the challenges of forage production. These are a few of the ways we have tried to continue the legacy left by the founder.

During my stewardship of the ranch, I have been privileged to serve as the president of our state breed association and the Douglas County Livestock Association and currently serve as the president elect of the Oregon Cattleman’s Association. I have tried to be active in helping move Oregon agriculture ahead in challenged times by testifying at the Legislature and working with those who wish, as I do, to see Oregon agriculture still flourishing 150 years from now. I am deeply committed to the Oregon agricultural community and the Oregon livestock community

In 2002, our family celebrated its 150 year anniversary continually ranching in Oregon and as I write this story, I am very proud to represent the fifth generation of our family to operate on the same ground without interruption.

I am very, very proud of my heritage and am thankful to include Ira’s family in this project

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These are authentic stories from real farmers.  Any editorial content does not necessarily reflect the beliefs of the Agri-Business Council of Oregon or our members.