Where We Live

The most beautiful valley in Nevada has the most beautiful ranch. It is stationed by the beautiful Quinn River. I bet you would love to learn some of its history!

Quinn River Crossing Ranch got its name from the main crossing going from Denio to the south end of the Black Rock Desert. What makes the crossing so unique is it was made out of rocks. When the river was high we don’t know how they crossed the raging river. The rocks were probably covered by water. This crossing is how Quinn River Ranch got its name.

Quinn River Crossing Ranch was established in 1865 as a military outpost. The outpost was needed because the Pauite Indians would often attack the settlers. Then the time finally came when the military outpost was no longer needed.

In 1918 the ranch was established by Nathaniel Hockett Allen Masson. When Masson owned the ranch he only had about 80 acres. He built the houses on the ranch.

Quinn River Ranch is about 1-½ miles away from a C.C. Camp. The C.C. Camp was home to over 200 men who helped build dams in the area. The camp offered a job for young men to help their families during the Great Depression. Several foundations of the camp are still visible.

Now days Quinn River is owned by a ships’ captain. He takes ships down the Sacramento River to unload their cargo. When he is not doing that he is usually at the ranch helping out. He takes great pride in the ranch.

This is the oldest ranch I know about in the area. It has a lot of history, and I hope you enjoyed reading about some of it. Thank you for getting on the Denio Website.

The Andrews School is a really old school that has been standing for over 80 years. The school lies silent today.

The Andrews School was named after the town of Andrews. It was the school that kids were taught at before and after the Fields School was built.

The Andrews School is now permanently closed. In fact, it was closed on the spring of the year 1993. The Andrews School was closed because all of the kids were going to the Fields School.

The thing that is incredible about the Andrews School is that it is really old and yet it still standing. All of the playground equipment is still the same. The slide and the swings still work. The Andrews School is a part of the history of Fields and Andrews.

In 1881 the Fields store was built by Charley Fields as a mail stop and stage stop between Burns and Denio. It was a two-story building, but it later burnt down. It was rebuilt to a one-story building.

Charley Fields sold to John Smyth in 1911 after Charley wife, Tillie, passed away. Then George A. Smyth and family move down to Fields in1921. The store was G and J General Mercantile. G and J sold to Arthur and Tuelle Thombag in 1931. Then was leased to Marvin Puney 1937. The lease was taked by Helen Ralph Bate in 1945. She sold it to Louie and and Bill Fenleny in 1947. They sold it to Josis Detz. She wanted to sell it in 1970. Then Julie and Ken Thompson bought the store in 1978. They later were wanting to sell it in 1986. Then William Stor and his wife Joann and son Randy bought the store. They sold it in 1989 to Darrel and Charlotte Northrup. They sold it in 2004 to Sandy and Tom Downs.

It is still is in good shape. It still serves a warm meal and gives you a soft bed to rest on. You can gas up and even mail a letter.

Trout Creek

Trout Creek! What a wonderful place. It is located in Fields, Oregon. Trout Creek came about in the early 1900’s.

The name Trout Creek came from, not only the trout-filled creek in the mountains, but the brand, a fish, and the first owner, Mark Fisher. Speaking of brands, it has changed from a fish, to a VF, and now it is a flying S. The brand has changed along with the owners. It changed to a VF because after Mark, came the Orlando’s family. Mr. Orlando had a father with the initials V.F., so that became the brand. After the Orlando’s family, William Stafford bought it. He changed the brand to a flying S because Bump, William wanted to. The S comes from Bump’s last name. The wings come from Bump’s wealth.

Did all of these owners run the cattle and take care of the farming equipment by themselves? No! They hired managers to take care of these things. There have been many managers, but I only know of a few. The people that I know are the following: Dolph Ugalde, Del Sherburn, and recently Steve Wiseman. All of these men have mad the ranch a whole lot better.

There are a few things that make the Trout Creek Ranch unique. There is an old white house that hasn’t been lived in for a long time. The paint is chipping and there is a lot of the structure that is falling apart. At night, the house is very spooky because you hear all kinds of noises. It gets especially spooky when the moon is full because you hear all kinds of moans and groans. It is only the rotting wood, but it sounds like there are people or ghosts that are moaning to get out. In the top part of the house there is an attic, and in that there is an old wooden hammock still there. The attic looks spooky. You could image that it was used to punish children, or adults for that matter, that have done something wrong.

Another unique thing that makes Trout Creek unique today is that there are apartments that the workers get to stay in. In each one there are two bedrooms, a bathroom, a kitchen, and a den. They are great!

The Fields School was built in the early 1900’s. It started off as a one-room building near Willow Creek. Some 20 years later, a new school was built in the actual town of Fields. This old building is just south of the store and café in Fields. Nowadays it is used for storage.

The building used as a school now was built in the 1950’s on donated ground. A man named Bill Fenley donated the ground.

In the 1980’s a roof was added over a cement slab. That was their gym. Now there is a complete building there. It was built in the 1990’s. It has a hard wood floor and a complete kitchen. It is often used by the community for different community events.

The school that is up and running now is a two-room building. It educates 15 students. This school is unique because it doesn’t have “big school” problems.

I know of a very interesting place with lots of history. It is on the side of the road going from Denio to Fields. It is called the Catlow place.

The Catlow place was a stage stop that was established in the 1800’s. It is made out of rock. There is also a barn made out of rock where people put their horses over night. They stayed on the top floor of the house. The bottom floor was for the people who ran the stop. The Catlow place and the Catlow valley were named after a man who was killed in an Indian attack. The man has a grave behind the house.

In the 1900’s it became a home. The house has a garden were 22 shells were found. They probably were the ones shot in Indian attacks.

The Catlow stage stop is a very historical and unique place. Just looking at the old rock building can tell you quite a bit about its history. It is a very interesting place to look at by Fields.

The Starr Place is a unique place in Fields Oregon. It was established around the 1900’s by Nick Starr, who was the original home steader. The Starr Place also got its name from Nick Starr.

There are a few unique things around the ranch. The snow from the winter melts off the Trout Creek Mountains and irrigates the meadows on the ranch. It’s also unique, because it’s only 400 acres. It used to be bigger, but some of the ranch got sold off.

At the Starr Place an interesting thing happened. There was a cougar attack. The cougar killed a calf and chewed the ears and nose off and that was it. It left the rest of the body.

I think the Starr Place is a neat place. I really like to see it too. It’s good shape today.

Trout Creek School was moved three times on a feeding wagon! They jacked it up on a wagon. They rolled the school about ten miles from the Defenbaugh’s to the Whitehorse Ranch.

There was no plumbing in the school so all the kids had to go outside in an outhouse. They did have an oil stove to heat the school in the winter.

It got its name from a creek that ran right by it. The school was established in the early 1900’s.

One teacher spent eighteen years teaching there. She had a lot of fun in the years she taught school there. The top enrollment at the school during her career was ten. She had to drive 15 miles a day to get to school.

The school now sits on the Whitehorse Ranch. Children from the Whitehorse Ranch now go to school at Fields. They travel over double what the Trout Creek teacher traveled.

Do you know when the town of Fields was established? Well if you don’t I will tell you not only when it was established, but about history and who found it.

Charles Fields established Fields in 1881. Charles decided to name this little town after himself. The store and café have also been around since 1881. Did you know that 100 yards away from the store there is a cemetery? The people who are buried there are Charles Fields and his wife.

Back then for money the people would send borax from the Alvord desert to the railroad in Winnemucca. This borax was sent to Winnemucca by mule. This was a long trip for the mule and the drivers, because it was about 136 miles away. That is why people stopped in Fields and Fields grew.

Now Fields is a town with the population of 11. The town has a running store, café, post office, hotel, and motel. It also has a running school. So if you don’t have anything to do, you should come out and see how it is now.

Defenbaugh's Ranch

The Defenbaugh's ranch has a lot of pretty landscape. When you get to the canyon where it lies it is very beautiful. It has a lot of old buildings that are still there. Many are empty and quiet today.

There were two brothers who homesteaded at the Defenbaugh's. The ranch was established in the 1800's. Many generations of Defenbaugh's have called this ranch home.

Many people have heard a tall tale about a shooting by the Defenbaugh's. The story goes that John Devail, Whitehorse Ranch owner, had a ranch hand who stole a very prized racehorse from the ranch. John and other ranch hands followed the ranch hand to the Defenbaugh's. They asked for the expensive racehorse back. He simply said, "No!". Then the horse stealer reached for his gun. The ranch hands shot him and buried him in Defenbaugh's upper field. After all these years they still have not found the grave of the ranch hand who stole the race horse. Yet, the story lives on.