By Steve Lent, Historian

Henry McCall and his young wife, the former Dorothy Lawson, of Boston were among the affluent easterners that came to Central Oregon shortly after the turn of the twentieth century. Henry or Hal, as he was commonly known, was a Harvard graduate and a prominent baseball player during his college days. His father was the governor of Massachusetts and Dorothy’s father was Thomas Lawson, known as the Copper King.

Thomas Lawson encouraged his young son-in-law to move to Central Oregon and gave land to the couple on Lower Crooked River near present O’Neil that he had purchased. Hal and Dorothy cleared the land for farming and moved into their new home that was recently completed in 1912. Their ranch was known as Western World.

Hal brought registered Holstein cattle from Wisconsin and Illinois in 1921 and the herd represented some of the best blood lines of the Holstein breed. This also introduced the foundation for the dairy industry in Central Oregon. Hal and Dorothy raised their family at the ranch and one of their sons, Thomas Lawson McCall, later became an innovative governor of Oregon.

Hal McCall was active in the dairy industry until his early death at the age of 61 in 1947. Dorothy continued to live at the ranch for several years. She became widely known as the eccentric mother of Governor McCall. She even had an interview with Dan Rather for A60 Minutes@ in the early years of the program.

The McCall family eventually sold the ranch but the house and ranch are still an active ranch and a historical landmark of Central Oregon.