A water hole dispute near Wagontire Mountain in south Central Oregon in the early 1930’s led to a bloody feud that lasted for many years. Wagontire Mountain contains several springs and water holes that persist through the summer season in the midst of a highly arid region. The valuable commodity of water and its control led to the Wagontire Mountain feud.

The Hutton family were among the first families to settle on the eastern slope of Wagontire Mountain. Several members of the family filed homestead claims in the immediate vicinity The Hutton family owned the largest block of land on Wagontire and controlled the best water holes. Although many homestead claims were filed in the vicinity shortly after the turn of the twentieth century most of the land ended up in the hands of only a few families. The Bradley family began acquiring land on the mountain in 1915 and Frank Dobkins began purchase of some Hutton land in 1919. Harry Thompson, Harry Arnold and Ray Jackson also began acquiring land in the region.

The concern over water rights soon began to create tension amongst the property owners and stockmen on Wagontire. Harold Bradley happened by the Link Hutton ranch late in December 1925. He was taking mail from Wagontire to Stauffer. Evidently he had prevented Link Hutton from shooting Mrs. Hutton in a domestic dispute. On the morning of December 29, 1925 Bradley went to warm up his car to continue his mail run when he was confronted by Link Hutton. Hutton shot Bradley and he died less than hour later. Hutton claimed to have gone for help and he was arrested near Riley. Hutton was found not guilty of murder and the feud had begun.

In 1926 Link Hutton started a large range fire while attempting to brand a young calf. The fire spread to the Jackson and Dobkins properties. Dobkins sued Hutton over damage to his property and won. This created further friction. In late April 1930 Ira Bradley, the father of Harold Bradley was found murdered. It was never determined who committed the crime. Soon after Bradley’s death the Hutton’s fenced around their water holes and the feud was in full force. A lawsuit was filed against the Huttons over their restrictions of the water holes. The suit was eventually dropped but added fuel to the feud.

Ray Jackson and Frank Dobkins began acquiring large holdings on the mountain and brought them into conflict with the Huttons. On February 1, 1938 Jackson was found shot to death in his house and it was determined to be a suicide but most residents believed it was a murder. Ranchers on the mountain became very nervous after Jackson’s death. Many wondered what Dobkins would do since Jackson was his friend. It seems the whole mountain broke into warring factions siding either with the Huttons or Dobkins. Frank Dobkins was murdered on May 20, 1939 by James Burk. There had been bad blood between them and a happenstance meeting on the range led to the shooting of Dobkins. Burk was found guilty of murder and sentenced to life in prison. This effectively brought an end to the Wagontire Mountain feud as they key players outside of the Hutton’s were now all dead. In the 1940’s a new group of ranchers began to operate the range on Wagontire and the old feuds passed into memory.