Rural And Rustic Frenchglen In Southeast Oregon Is A Place Of Natural Pleasures And An Unhurried Lifestyle

‘You are in trouble if you are not a bird watcher,” one of two elderly sisters warned me when I stopped to ask directions to Frenchglen, Ore.

But I was visiting the Malheur Wildlife Refuge merely to spend a night in the Frenchglen Hotel, not add to my bird list.

After offering advice, the sisters stood in the drizzling rain and proudly recited the list of 57 birds they had seen that day before sending me on my way.

The Frenchglen Hotel, an historic site owned by the Oregon State Parks Department, is managed by John Ross. The hotel’s eight double rooms are usually filled from March 15 to Nov. 15. Visitors eat breakfasts and dinners in the hotel’s dining room, which takes up half the ground floor.

Furnishings are as down-to-earth as the food. The menu served during my visit included meat loaf, potatoes au gratin, buttered corn, green salad, rolls and a berry cobbler smothered with ice cream. Plain fare, but simply delicious.

The name of the town, Frenchglen, is derived from the name of two ranchers, Peter French and his partner named Glen. These cattle barons settled the whole valley in the 1870s and founded the P (for Peter) ranch 3 miles down the road.

At one time, they ran 45,000 head of cattle that their cowboys trailed to Winnemucca for shipment by rail to San Francisco. All that remains today is the old 150-foot-long barn.

Homesteaders moved into the area near the P ranch and wanted land. French was feisty despite his 5-foot-6, 125-pound frame, and his arguments caused hard feelings. Apparently one of the newcomers shot French in cold blood as he rode away from his house, but the murderer was unjustly acquitted because of the unpopularity of the victim.

After French’s death, Swift and Co. bought the ranch to run cattle and package meat. No one seems to know the fate of partner Glen. The hotel and general store were built by Swift to accommodate visitors to their operation. The first hotel was not much more than a shack, but has been rebuilt and remodeled several times.

The hotel’s eight bedrooms are furnished with antiques. My room had an old treadle sewing machine, hooked rugs and an antique rocker, as well as a handmade patchwork quilt on the bed.

Two bathrooms - one for men, one for women - are down the hall. The neighborhood roosters crowed at 5 a.m., causing me to get up, beat the other female guests to the ladies bathroom and go for a long walk before breakfast.

The population of Frenchglen is 11, and the town consists of the hotel, four houses, a school and a general store that also sells gas.

Chickens wandered down the street and dogs trotted here and there as if looking for something important. A rickety old barn across the street from the hotel seemed about to collapse. One of the hotel’s guests thought it was a great subject for his watercolors.

During the 60-mile drive south from Burns, Ore., through the bird refuge to Frenchglen, I stopped at the visitors center where I found a picnic table to use while I ate the lunch I had packed. A couple of Canada geese moseyed around looking for crumbs from my sandwiches, and bird songs filled the air. I visited the bird museum and picked up a bird identification book, and later was surprised at how many birds I could identify as I toured the refuge.

I also visited Diamond Craters. At first the area looked like acres of sagebrush with just a few lava flows and craters.

The lava rock came from a volcanic vent located under present-day Burns.

About nine million years ago, a huge mass of hot gases, volcanic ash and bits of pumice violently erupted. The blast, greater than the latest eruption of Mount St. Helens, deposited debris 30 to 130 feet thick over a 7,000 square miles. The brochure I picked up at the visitors center described the craters and guided me with its descriptions through the area.

Before I left Frenchglen, I shopped at the general store for picnic supplies. The store has a limited selection of food in a glass-doored freezer sadly in need of defrosting. I also scanned the scenic post cards and bought a printed canvas apron, but passed over the sheepskin rugs.

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: If you go The Frenchglen Hotel is open March 15 through Nov. 15. Rooms are $48 a night. The address is Frenchglen Hotel, Frenchglen, OR 97736; telephone (541) 493-2825. Frenchglen is 60 miles south of Burns, Ore., on Highway 205.