About Twelve Mile Ranch

Twelve Mile Ranch is an incredible place consisting of just over 300 acres spanning about a one mile stretch of the South Myrtle Creek valley.

Geologically the ranch sits in the flood plain of South Myrtle Creek in the foothills of the Cascade mountains.  The valley floor is at about 1000 feet in elevation and the benches on the north and south at about 1500 feet.  Most of the rock nearby is metamorphic or volcanic.  The soils in our pastures feature broad bands of cobblestone in places, indicating that our little creek was once a much more powerful and wide-ranging river.  Just fifteen feet or so beneath that topsoil lies a sheet of granite several hundred feet thick.  The top of that granite layer can be seen exposed in the creek bed.  As the last ice age began to retreat about 27,000 years ago, glacier melt probably first swelled the creek to form the valley and then--as the climate continued to warm--caused the creek to recede to the size it is now.  Crater Lake--which formed from the eruption of Mount Mazama about 7,700 years ago--sits about 40 miles due east of the ranch.  We believe that the many springs on the ranch—all of which come in from the east—may originate from Crater Lake’s enormous and very high elevation water reserves.

South Myrtle Creek which runs through about a mile of the ranch is a tributary to the South Umpqua River via the very short main stem of Myrtle Creek.  The South Umpqua in turn joins with the North Umpqua to form the main stem Umpqua which flows directly to the sea near Reedsport, OR.  If you're interested, you can learn more about the Myrtle Creek watershed here.  

It is likely that many different Native American peoples either have either lived in, used, or passed through this valley over the past 14,000 or so years.  Takelma and Umpqua peoples are generally recognized as being among the more recent native inhabitants of the region.  At least one ethnobotanist has also suggested that Klamath/Modoc peoples migrated through the area historically, encouraging or propagating Sugar Pine along their routes.

 

European settlers first entered the valley probably in the early 1800s.  An 1855 survey map shows the earliest depiction of a farm just to the west of Letitia Creek which constitutes the western border of the ranch.  Letitia Carson whom that creek is named for homesteaded the farm in 1863 and was likely the first African American woman in the United States to file a successful homestead claim.  She was awarded the claim officially in 1868.  When Carson died in 1888, her children took ownership.  A few years later they they sold the homestead and moved out of the immediate area.

Shortly after the Letitia Carson’s descendants left the area, gold was discovered and was mined extensively on the west side of Letitia Creek.  A small mining community called Nugget opened a post office in 1902 and existed for about 30 years very near the site of the current buildings on the ranch.  The town disappeared when the mine gave out.

After Nugget, the ranch became part of a large land holding used to raise cattle and farm wheat.  A bunkhouse for ranch hands from that era still exists and is being used as a tool shop today.  It’s the small red farm building directly across the road from the farmhouse.  You can see the ranch’s old cattle brands burned onto the wall aside the door to the bunk house.

In the 1970s, the large land holding—approximately 3000 acres--was broken up and the current boundaries of the ranch were established around the 300 or so acres that were the core of the old cattle ranch.  Since the 1970s the ranch has seen a string of mostly absentee owners.  At points the house was vacant or even abandoned to the elements.  Not much was done to make use of the land.

Things to See and Do

The ranch offers a lot of opportunities for exploration, exercise, recreation, learning, and just plain goofing around. 

There’s an outstanding swimming hole in South Myrtle Creek about a third of the way down the east pasture.  You can spot it by looking for a green metal gate which swings open at that point in the fence run which lies about 100 yards west of the old barn.  The scramble down to the creek is a little challenging, so proceed with caution.

·       We have mowed paths out through the nut orchard, down along the creek to the east across the bridge, up onto the south hillside, and up the north hillside.  These make for great walks/hikes!  In hot times of the day, the path along the south side of the creek which runs to the east end of the property is probably the most welcoming.

·       The water supply for the farm is spring fed and sits up on the south hillside, across the bridge, and just to the east.  The forest up there is very lovely and stays cool even on warm days.  Squeeze through the fence and continue up the path to see the water intake and enjoy a very sweet stretch of cool forest along the way.  As return toward the house, the view of the valley just past the concrete cistern is exceptional!

·       Also across the creek bridge on the south hillside there’s a mown path which T’s out at the south property line.  If you turn left there, you can walk past a couple of truly amazing old hardwood trees:  a large Oregon White Oak and a massive Oregon Ash.  These trees are probably about 250 years old.  If you continue on that road to the east beyond the trees, you’ll go through a gate and into a forested part of the path.  At the termination of that road—a few hundred yards farther—you can look around and see some old growth Douglas Fir.  These are the largest trees on the ranch.  We think some of them are probably about 250 years old.  There are also many lovely wildflowers on the cool part of the road back into the forest.

·       Just behind the farmhouse and slightly to the west, there’s a canyon which runs up the north hill and which is favored by a tiny spring fed stream.  We enjoy walking up this canyon and occasionally see wildlife up there…deer, elk, bear, etc.  Toward the top where the spring lies, step carefully to avoid losing your shoes in the mud!  You can continue up the hill to the top on the northside and then circle back via mowed paths and the road to the farm house area if you like.

         On top of the north hillside you can find a number of really great vantage points from which to see the valley.  Some of those spots generally afford the best view of Letitia Carson’s original homestead which spanned both side of Letitia Creek.  Keep a lookout for a pair of old Ponderosa Pine trees on the lip of the hillside.  Near the base of them we’ve mowed the pasture around a particularly good viewpoint.  In general, the mown paths will take you to a number of good spots, but feel free to wander in the tall grass if you like.  Be mindful of ticks!

      Also on the north hillside, there is a wonderful old Sugar Pine tree which likely predates Letitia Carson’s time in the area.  It is one of the only remaining Sugar Pines we found on the ranch when we arrived.  We have since planted several hundred new Sugar Pine starts in an effort to reintroduce them to areas where they likely thrived prior to the 19^th century.  Sugar Pine were important sources of food for Native Americans and are thought by some to have been propagated and encouraged by Native Americans along migration routes from the Lake Tahoe region.  Since European settlement, Sugar Pine have mostly been pushed out of woodlands by commercial timber operations which tend to mono-crop using Douglas Fir.  However, in southern Oregon at elevations between 1000 ft to 4500 ft, you can still find quite a bit of Sugar Pine on public lands.   They are the largest member of the White Pine family.

·       For apple enthusiasts, the various young orchards on the farm contain a growing collection of interesting old apple varietals…almost all of them are heirloom cider apples.  Some varietals represent hundreds of years of grafting and cultivation.  We have about fifty different varietals in all now, including a couple of oldies that were on the ranch when we arrived.  The orchard along Letitia Creek is mostly crab apples which were the staple of pre-Prohibition cider production.

 

Who Lives Here Today?

After looking for almost twenty years, we were thrilled to find the ranch in early 2020.  We came from farm families and had always dreamed of a place like Twelve Mile Ranch…but never really believed it would be possible!

We share the space with a number of other species including bear, bats, elk, deer, mountain lion, bobcats, ringtail cats, and coyotes…to name a few.  There are also dozens of different birds, innumerable insects, salamanders, frogs, lizards, snakes, fish, and rodents.  Wolves, steelhead, and salmon are reported to have been seen on or near the ranch in recent years.  We hope they will return!  We’re doing our best to make them feel welcome.  No hunting is allowed on the ranch at the present time.

What’s Happening on the Ranch These Days?

So far, our focus at Twelve Mile Ranch has mainly been on establishing heirloom apple orchards.   At this point we have about 250 trees in the ground and plan to add another 800 or so over the next couple of years.  We have started orchards in the east pasture, along South Myrtle Creek near an existing water right, and along Letitia Creek.  Our planned main orchard will be located at the far end of the west pasture where we also have a water right.

We’ve been very interested to discover some trace of the orchard that Letitia Carson created for herself almost 150 years ago…but so far, no luck!  Grafting from one of her trees would be a dream come true for us!  Admittedly, it’s a long shot…apple trees seldom live that long.  In the meantime, we have been actively grafting from a couple of very lovely, productive, as yet unidentified, and somewhat decrepit trees on the ranch in order to see them into the future as best we can.

Beyond apples, we’ve also set about reforesting parts of the ranch with species like California Black Oak, Garry Oak, and Sugar Pine that were once a more prominent part of the historical landscape.  In the east pasture near the creek, we’ve also started a walnut and chestnut orchard.  We keep a few bees and rent out pasture for cattle.

Because most of the buildings and systems on the farm date back to the 1950s or earlier, we seem to spend a very large amount of time simply repairing or replacing things.  We also spend a lot of time learning by making what we’re sure must appear to be the most basic of newbie-farmer mistakes!

What’s Likely for the Future?

Our hope is to make cider at scale on the ranch someday soon and—at least in our mind’s eye—can already envision a cider house down at the west end near Letitia Creek as an appendage to the existing hay barn.

Beyond cider, orchards, and the like, we also constantly search for ways to attend to the long term health of this valley and all of its inhabitants…to the best of our abilities and understanding.  We hope that others will join us seeing the ranch forward into a healthy and radiantly beautiful future.  We want the ranch to be a welcoming place focused on restorative agriculture, conservation of wild space, and celebration of the multiple natural and cultural legacies which have been part of the ranch’s incredible history.