Rhythm of Life from the Saddle

Amidst old family photos of the ranch, and near hanging cowboy hats and looped lassos, visitors gather around the breakfast table sipping Central Oregon coffee out of handmade mugs.

Those who sit around the table may be cowboys working on the neighboring ranch, or travelers from the Ukraine, or quilters from Sisters, or movie directors from California, or senators from Washington DC. They may swap stories for hours, surrounded by the ancient Eastern Oregon landscape in a house ordered from a Sears Roebuck catalog more than 100 years ago. Here, everyone is family.

“That’s western hospitality — to always have an open door policy,” said Phil Wilson.

Phil owns Wilson Ranches Retreat Bed & Breakfast near Fossil, Oregon, along with his wife, Nancy. The working cattle ranch is a place of family and history with 9,000 acres, but also acts as a Bed & Breakfast, welcoming everyone to reconnect with the land, with themselves, and with one another. In the western landscape, with this western family living genuine western values, it is possible to return to one’s roots, and to remember what is important to each of us.

“You see the progression of [the guests] starting to relax and enjoy their surroundings and be at peace with themselves,” Phil said. “That’s the most rewarding thing.”

The four-generation ranch started with a pasture, purchased by Phil’s great grandfather in the 1890s, where he kept spare horses from his livery stable. Both Phil’s and Nancy’s ancestors homesteaded in Oregon in the 1800s. Some moved while building the railroad, or because the Willamette Valley had become too crowded by the 1870s. The ranch continually grew and evolved with the family.

Phil remembers growing up and having big crews of ranch hands eating dinner around the table. It was an eclectic bunch of people, he recalled. Eating would take 15 minutes, and then they would linger at the table for a few hours. The well-read group – many who consumed The Oregonian and The Wall Street Journal – might tease one another for the day’s mishaps, share knowledge, and partake in sparring political debates.

Now, those memories are made over the breakfast table, at the working ranch Bed & Breakfast.

Phil and Nancy were married in 1970, and in 2000, they officially opened the ranch to guests. It was a natural progression, since the Wilson’s pioneer hospitality meant that there were often friends and relatives already staying at the ranch. Soon, unknown friends of friends were visiting the Wilsons, who likened their home to Grand Central Station with all the comings and goings.

In the past 15 years, more than 33,000 guests have stayed at Wilson Ranches Retreat. Laminated maps on the walls are covered in pins that denote the origins of visitors. Guests travel from around the world to ride horses, gaze at the stars, watch the birds, study local geology, fish, hunt, and, sometimes, simply to get away.

“Everyone lets go,” Nancy said. “They come and relax and share their lives. There are lots of tears shed here.”

The tears fall for all kinds of reasons, from laughing to healing. They are sometimes shed at the breakfast table, where the Wilsons cook and serve eggs, bacon, biscuits, oatmeal or German pancakes.

It’s “nourishment for the body and soul,” explained Kara Wilson Anglin, who is one of the Wilson’s three children and who works on operations with her husband, Brian Anglin. It is a place for “unplugging and reconnecting,” she added.

At one particular three-hour breakfast, a blind man played guitar with a musician from New Jersey, as a 14-year old girl sang with them. Everyone was in tears, Nancy remembered, and guests had to practically crawl under the table if they wanted to leave.

“We almost feel that this is sacred ground,” Nancy said. “People are drawn here to heal.”

The landscape, painted with muted colors of sage, rust, and charcoal, feels still and ancient. The ranch, three miles west of Fossil, is in the John Day Basin and near the John Day Fossil Bed National Monument. The area’s dry climate has preserved 40 million years of geologic and ecological change. The ranch, at an elevation between 2,500 and 4,000 feet, is home to deer, elk, antelope, coyote, bobcats and cougars. It rests under an open sky, with a natural musical score of birdsong and nature.

“The fun and entertainment is being on these sacred lands and taking a step back in time,” Kara said.

Slowing down to live the historic western values of integrity and honesty on the ancient land, guests may also participate in daily operations of the ranch. Depending on the season, they may assist in moving cattle to different pastures, ride the fence line, check stock water, find a stray cow, watch branding, or witness birthing of calves.

“We have a wonderful opportunity to educate guests about the work and blood and sweat and tears and love that goes into raising a herd,” Phil said.

Guided horseback rides are always available across the ranch for all guests, some whom have never been on horses before. Members of the ranch crew, such as Kara’s husband, Brian, lead guests through the Junipers and Aspens, pointing out rocks that Native American used as mortars, or sharing anecdotes from the founding fathers of the region.

“Each experience is unique and different,” Brian said. The local teacher, by day, explained that one of his favorite parts about working on the ranch is observing the children return through the years and grow up making memories on this land.

Gayle and Dave Lee, from Paradise, Ca., started visiting the ranch in 2006 after learning about it from a hunting and fishing expo. The couple continually returns every few years.

“It’s always very comfortable,” Gayle said. “You know you are always welcome here.”

The unassuming farmhouse offers six rooms, sleeping a maximum of 25 guests. A series of pear trees in the back yard were planted at the turn of the 20th century. The rooms are decorated with western antiques, including handmade lamps from deer horns and curtain rods crafted from horseshoes. A rack of already worn-in boots of various sizes, creased with ranch dirt, are ready in the basement for guests to use.

The Pioneer Room is especially decorated with old photographs of family history.

“We had to have this room with family photos,” said Nancy, “because of the history. It’s so good to share the story – that’s what we stand for.”

Guests can easily procure extra quilts and bedding from the antique trunks open in the hallways, and they might even notice the mallard hanging upside down on the wall before a staircase. It hangs there as a sign to “duck” underneath the low overhang. Most everything at the ranch is served with a helping of genuine and good-hearted humor, just like you would find being part of the family.

“Soon they relax and start acting like we do,” Phil said.

The family works every day, and often conducts business in the saddle, riding to and from the varying needs of the ranch. Guests sometimes join them, living a slower rhythm riding over the open land.

“They come from the city and their jaws are clenched and they have that 60 MPH drive they go through life at,” Phil said. Soon, out in the saddle riding with the family, Phil notices guests relax and see what surrounds them, “and they go whew – that’s pretty.”