Claude Dunham
By Steve Lent, Crook County Historian
Claude Clifton Dunham was born near Springfield, Oregon on April 29, 1880. His parents were Amos and Eliza Churchill Dunham. The Dunham family moved to old Crook County in 1884 when Claude was four years old. His father purchased the George and William Thompson ranch on Hay Creek. William Thompson was prominent in the Prineville Vigilantes. Claude attended his early school years at the Hay Creek School not far from his parents’ ranch.
Claude met Mary Elizabeth Wiltse while attending school at Hay Creek. Her parents were William and Emaline Wiltse who also had a ranch near Hay Creek. Mary was born on February 24, 1880 in Primghar, Iowa. Claude and Mary became enamored with each other and they were married on February 20, 1901. Her father who was an ordained minister performed the marriage ceremony.
They remained on the family Hay Creek ranch for a short while until his father sold the ranch to the Baldwin Sheep and Land Company. They then moved near Prineville and Claude and his two brothers Preston and Harvey leased the ranch now known as the Keystone ranch. They operated the ranch for about four years raising thoroughbred Hereford cattle. Claude also partnered with Boyd Adams in a department store in Prineville.
Claude sold his interest in the ranching operation in 1906 and with his brother Preston they bought the Jesse Yancey and Ed Smith ranches on Bear Creek. Claude and Mary had two children, a daughter Vera and a son, Clifton. They lived on the ranch for over forty years raising cattle and sheep. They sold the ranch in the mid-1940s and moved into Prineville.
Claude served as a Crook County Commissioner from 1943 to 1951. He was widely known in Prineville. Dunham Street in Prineville is named for him. Mary was selected as Crook County Pioneer Queen in 1960. Claude passed away on April 16, 1965. Their son Clifton was killed in a shooting incident on February 11, 1969. Mary passed away a few months after her son’s death on October 8, 1969. Claude, Mary and Clifton are buried in Juniper Haven Cemetery in Prineville.