Martha Houston Sherman
By Steve Lent, Crook County Historian
Martha Malinda Houston was born on August 28, 1906 in Crook County. Her parents were Tom and Sallie Ammons Houston who were early settlers in Crook County. Martha grew up at Powell Butte near Houston Lakes. She attended one room schools in Powell Butte and graduated from Crook County High School in 1926. After graduating she worked in Prineville. She met Charles Sherman whose family owned a ranch on the South Fork of Crooked River. Calvin was born in Harmony, Washington on Oct. 31, 1897. His parents were Charles and Effie Sherman. They enjoyed a short courtship and were married in 1930. The young couple moved to Calvin’s parents’ ranch and became part of the ranching family.
There were not many luxuries at the isolated ranch as electricity had not arrived yet. Water had to be carried from a nearby spring and perishables stored in an underground cellar with walls filled with sawdust. Calvin and Martha later took over operations of the ranch from his parents. The ranch included almost 50,000 acres of deeded land and government grazing permits. Their ranch extended from the South Fork of Crooked River eastward on Twelve Mile Table. There were two ranch holding with the western site near the South Fork of Crooked River known as the Lower Sherman Ranch and the other was at the fringe of the Ochoco National Forest on the eastern edge of Twelvemile Table and was known as the Upper Sherman Ranch.
Martha did the cooking for the ranch crews and for roundup crews on the range. She often had to cook meals for up to 30 men. She and Golda Mills would cook in tents set up at buckaroo camps. The cowboys only ate two meals a day while buckarooing but they demanded good quality food in large quantities. It was a rugged life but she and Calvin thoroughly enjoyed the ranching life. Martha also would prepare meals for travelers and visitors and perform a wide variety of domestic chores.
They had two children, Leroy and Marva who attended school at Fife. Calvin and Martha operated the ranch until they sold it in 1958. They moved to Bend where they lived the remainder of their lives. Calvin passed away on Sept. 23, 1975. Martha lived on for several years and passed away on Nov. 26, 1997. They are both buried in Greenwood Cemetery in Bend, Oregon.