Pete French
By Steve Lent, Crook County Historian
Pete French was one of the colorful figures in the early livestock operations in southeast Harney County, Oregon. He was born John William French on April 30, 1849 in Missouri. His family moved to the Sacramento Valley in California in 1850 and began a small ranch operation. His father later moved further north in the valley and established a large sheep operation. John did not find sheep raising exciting.
He moved to Jacinto, California and became employed as a horse breaker for Dr. Hugh Glenn who was a wealthy wheat baron and stockman. French soon became a favorite of Dr. Glenn and became foreman of the Glenn Ranch. Sometime during his employment with Glenn he acquired the nickname of Peter which was later shortened to Pete.
Glenn was eager to expand his ranching operations and in 1872 he sent French to Oregon with 1200 head of cattle and a few vaqueros. He came to southeastern Oregon and found lush grasslands in the Catlow Valley. He met a squatter named Porter and Porter sold his small herd of cattle to French and Porter’s “P” Brand. French soon discovered the well-watered Blizten Valley and it became his favorite spot. He set up a base camp and it became the famous P Ranch.
The cattle operations began to grow and with the financial backing of Glenn it expanded to the Diamond Valley. French bought cheap swamp land through the Swamp and Overflow Act. He directed his employees to also file claims and he then purchased their claims. His aggressive tactics began to irritate local homesteaders and smaller stockmen.
In 1883 French married Ella Glenn, the daughter of Dr. Glenn. Glenn was murdered by a disgruntled former employee and French continued to manage the ranch for the Glenn family. Others began to loath French for his domineering of water rights and large land holdings. This led to an altercation on December 26, 1897 when French was shot and killed by a local homesteader Edward Lee Oliver. French was buried in Red Bluff, California. His killer was exonerated claiming self-defense, although French was unarmed. The verdict reflected the dislike of French by his neighbors. One of the most colorful legends of the Great Basin was gone.