Charles Sheldon Congleton
By Steve Lent, Crook County Historian
Charles Congleton came to Central Oregon in 1904 to join his cousin William “Billy” Congleton who had established a ranch in Paulina Valley. He worked on his cousins ranch for a while but joined the staff of the Blue Mountain Forest Reserve in 1907 and became one of the earliest “Rangers” in the region.
Charles Sheldon Congleton was born on October 26, 1884 in Slade, Kentucky on the farm of his parents. He grew up on the farm and lived there until 1904 when he got the urge to travel west. He decided to head to Oregon and meet up with his cousin Billy, who had established himself a ranch in Paulina Valley east of Prineville in 1880. He took a train to Shaniko, Oregon and then a stage from Shaniko to Prineville. He had a short layover in Prineville as he arrived on Christmas Eve in 1904. After two days he took the stage from Prineville to Paulina. He performed general ranch work for his cousin and rancher Ed Laughlin in the Paulina vicinity until 1907. He was working in the area near the peak of the infamous sheep and cattle wars of Central Oregon. He later wrote about the harrowing times of that period in a memo letter to the Forest Service.
He heard of new job opportunities in the Blue Mountain Forest Reserve and applied for a position at Paulina with recommendations from local ranchers. On April 15, 1907 he was hired as a forest guard by Reserve Superintendent A.S. Ireland. There was no established office for his position but his mailing address was in Paulina. He spent the early part of his new job searching section corners and marking the forest boundary. He also counted sheep for forest allotments and visited with permitees. Charles was promoted to Assistant Forest Ranger in August 1907 and to Deputy Forest Ranger early in 1908. He began construction of a forest summit stock driveway trail that went from the forest boundary of McKay Creek north of Prineville to the Rockpile Ranch on the South Fork of John Day River.
While working on the Laughlin Ranch on Beaver Creek Charles had met Glee Laughlin and they were married on August 24, 1910. They had two sons and one daughter. He continued working as a “Ranger” for the Forest Service when the Ochoco National forest was created. He was headquartered at the Rager Ranger Station that was constructed in 1910.
In 1914 Charles and Glee purchased 160 acres on Beaver Creek and the place was intended to be a place for the family to stay while the children went to school and to keep some livestock. They later added to their holdings by filing homestead claims and purchasing neighbor lands. The ranch holdings became large enough in the mid 1920's that Charles decided that his interests were more in the ranching enterprise than with the Forest Service.
He resigned from his appointment with the Forest Service on June 15, 1927 and went to full time ranching. He had spent his entire Forest Service career on the Paulina Ranger District. While working for the Forest Service he maintained a daily diary for many years as required by the agency. His diary entries were brief but informative. The many diaries he maintained over the years were recently transcribed by the Bowman Museum in Prineville.
Charles was a well respected member of the Paulina community and obtained the unofficial title of “mayor” or Paulina. He managed the ranch until 1948 and then his son Lowell and wife Florence operated the ranch until 1979 when it was sold. He was selected as Crook County Cattleman of the year in 1956. Charles remained active for most of his life. He died in Prineville on September 26. 1962. Glee passed away on February 9, 1971.
Charles had contributed to the early development of the Forest Service in Central Oregon and rose to be a leading rancher in the region leaving a lasting legacy of pioneer spirit and accomplishment.