The Hole in the Ground marks the point where the Owyhee River leaves its narrow soaring rock confines and enters a broader, more gradual canyon that leads ultimately to the alluvial flats at the Snake River. From rim to river there is a 1500 ft elevation difference that presents a stunning vista spanning from the walls of Rinehart Canyon to the south, northward to the vertical columns of Stacia’s Back Stoop (aka Devil’s Tower).
Frank Davis at Hole in the Ground
The broad and flat bottom together with a milder climate attracted a human presence. First were the Native Americans whose presence is marked by a rich petroglyph field; they were followed by European Americans whose impact is represented in the abandoned ranch buildings. Ranching began in 1901 when Riley Horn was granted a homestead patent for 160 acres; this he later expanded with purchases from the State of Oregon of another 320 acres. His spread became known as the “famous Hole in the Ground Ranch.” Horn also built a rock dam across the river at the upper end of the flat. Remnants of the dam provide a rapids for boaters.
The Hole in the Ground Ranch was acquired in 1917 by John Kiernan of Portland for $51,000 and then by Frank Davis of Ontario in 1919 for $26,000. Davis and his second wife Leroa Blanton Davis resided there in a board and batten house into the 1930s, when he sold the ranch to son, S(cott). Conley Davis and his wife, Stacia Hall Davis for $10,000.
Conley Davis at Birch Creek in 1927
Conley and Stacia made substantial improvements, including tearing down the old ranch dwelling and building a new house, which with its stone chimney still remains. Stacia was especially proud of the bathroom–a rarity in the area. She said cowboys came from all around to bathe and amused her by drying off with the bath mat she had draped over the side of the tub. The Davises also built a fifteen stall horse barn on a stone foundation and blasted the rim to bulldoze a road down to the flat. (See her description in Chapter 3 of Early Life in the Owyhee.
Stacia Hall Davis
The Davises primarily raised horses for the US Remount Service, which supplied stallions for breeding and bought back geldings. They raised thoroughbred and quarter horses, and in 1942 they registered more quarter horses than any other breeder in the US.
S. Conley Davis
In 1944, the Davises sold the ranch to H.T. Morcom and moved to Ontario because both Stacia and Conley had been raised there and many of their acquaintances were there. The Morcom family kept the ranch until 1972. Subsequent owners were the Cutler brothers, who raised cattle, and Marty Rust, who bought the place in 1980, planning to convert it into a dude ranch. In 1985, a large fire destroyed most of the ranch buildings. The remaining buildings give little sense of the size of the original complex, and the cottonwood trees shown behind Conley in the above picture are completely gone.
The BLM bought the ranch in 1993, and it is now part of the Lower Owyhee Canyon WSA.
Sources:
BLM interview with Stacia Davis, July 10, 1980.
Susie Manezes to Bill Crowell e-mail, 8/10/2010. I want to thank Susie Manezes of the Vale BLM office for her very detailed and informative letter.
Photos: Upper two photos from 200 Years in the Making. Ontario, Ore: Malheur Publishing Co, 1976; bottom two courtesy of Stacia Hall Davis.