Highway 140 makes the perfect cattle trail in southeastern Oregon.
Vince Patton / OPB
Jose Villagrana prepares to round up cattle for the day's drive (file photo).
Vince Patton / OPB
Why did the cows cross the road?
To get to more grass. It's always about food.
Vince Patton / OPB
Jose Villagrana has been a cowboy since he was a teen.
Vince Patton / OPB
Videographer Michael Bendixen shoots grazing video for Oregon Field Guide.
Vince Patton / OPB
The Oregon Field Guide camera shoots out the car window since cows ignore vehicles but get skittish if people stand nearby.
Vince Patton / OPB
Jose Villagrana graciously agrees to wear a "Cowboy Cam" on his chest during part of the drive.
Vince Patton / OPB
Jose Villagrana doubles as a lighting assistant by holding the reflector during our interview with fellow cowboy Hank Vaughn.
Viince Patton / OPB
Cattle head up hill towards a new watering hole.
Vince Patton / OPB
Cows walk nearly single file in an off-road cattle drive.
Vince Patton / OPB
Cattle move into the sagebrush grasslands of Guano Valley.
Vince Patton / OPB
The drive ends precisely where the cattle like it best: a watering hole.
What's the fastest way to move 500 head of cattle five miles from one butte, down a steep slope and across a valley?
Let the cows set the speed.
"Old timers will tell ya that going slow you’ll get there faster," says Stacy Davies, manager of Roaring Springs Ranch. "Young men want to move at their speed, not at a cow’s speed."
Oregon Field Guide visited this historic cattle ranch in southeastern Oregon and learned that cattle drives, in many ways, have changed little since a century ago. For instance, Jose Villagrana follows the wisdom of his elders. He'll guide cattle, nudge them and whistle to them. But we never saw him or his horse move any faster than a trot or break a sweat to to get several hundred head to follow his lead. Plus, we never heard him holler. If he's got to signal the cattle, he and fellow cowboy Hank Vaughn save their voices, instead resorting to whistles, spurts, trills and what can graciously be described as "mouth flatulence."
Whatever they did, it worked. The cattle followed willingingly, rewarded hours later by a watering hole by midday.
