National Park Service LogoU.S. Department of the InteriorNational Park ServiceNational Park Service
National Park Service: U.S. Department of the InteriorNational Park Service Arrowhead
 
 
Support the National Park Service
John Day Fossil Beds National MonumentImage of the Thomas Condon Paleontology Center
view map
text size:largestlargernormal
printer friendly
John Day Fossil Beds National Monument
History & Culture

history & culture includes:

People
Places
 
 
Image of the Cant family in a portrait.
The Cant Family, early sheep ranchers in the John Day valley.
Between 1862 and 1909, the Homestead Act allowed settlers to claim 160- to 640-acre tracts of free land. Frank Butler was the first to settle in the valley north of Picture Gorge. The Officer family was the first to ranch in this valley when in 1881 Eli Casey Officer took a homestead claim; he was said to have brought the first flock of sheep to the John Day area. His son, Floyd Officer, homesteaded the land where the Cant House is now located and sometimes accompanied geologist and minister Thomas Condon on his study expeditions.
Image of pictographs
American Indian pictographs
Learn more about the American indian presence in the John Day Valley.
more...
Image of the lab viewing window inside the paleontology center.  

Did You Know?
Inside the Thomas Condon Paleontology Center there is a viewing window into the museum's laboratory.

Disclaimer Accessibility Privacy Policy FOIA Notices USA.gov

Last Updated: September 15, 2006 at 11:07 EST