M C

"M C "are letters that you will see on small yellow signs with an arrow on them that are posted around the Burns area. A movie is being filmed in this area and it is an exciting deversion for a small town. Star sitings are being discussed at coffee shops and grocery stores. It does give the locals something to talk about besides the weather and hunting. Featured in the film are Bruce Greenwood, Michelle Williams, and Will Patton. My wife and I had lunch and the local deli and Bruce Greenwood and another cast member sat at the table next to us. If you have seen the new Star Trek movie, he was Captain Pike. His voice gave him away even before I saw him.

The MC signs are posted at road junctions to give directions to the filming locations for the cast and crew. The name of the movie right now is "Meeks Cutoff". It is the story of an 1845 wagon train of 200 wagons led by Stephen Meeks, who tried to find a short cut that deviated from the well used Oregon Trail, traveling through central Oregon, over the Cascades and into the Williamette Valley. The route turned out to be a long and dry route that did not live up to Meeks promises. The result was many days of being lost with little food or water and many fatalities tallied along the way. http://www.historicoregoncity.org/HOC/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=123&Itemid=75option=com_content&view=article&id=123&Itemid=75option=com_content&view=article&id=123&Itemid=75

Several scenes for the movie were filmed on the refuge and many more in the surrounding areas. The film crew has been exposed to warm days and cool nights early in the filming and now that fall is here, cool days and cold nights are the order of the day. The flora, fuana, and dust have not changed much since 1845 as it is still a harsh and unforgiving place.

My wife and I received the opportunity to visit the site of the filming for an night-time shoot. We followed the "MC" signs to the remote location which required 5 miles of gravel washboard road. It was just getting dark but the "day" was just starting for the movie people. Workers with tools and equipment were scrambling here and there The catering truck had breakfast items ( eggs, potatoes, cereals, fruit available for them as well as torillas and the walk-up window for special requests such as ham and cheese sandwiches.

We had the opportunity to meet the location manager and received an incite into the happenings going on around us. We were welcome to be there and observe the filming, but to be aware enoiugh to stay out of the way and to remain quiet during the actual filming. As for the filming, it was nearly completed. All that remained was several nights of shooting get done.

The oxen had been shipped back to where ever they came from and the only animals remaining were a donkey and a mule. There was still and representative from the ASPCA on site to keep watch. There is a rep there whenever animals are present so that the certification, " no animal has been harmed in the filming.........." can be displayed during the movie credits.

So after and hour of conversation, we walked over to the filming site. It was the last night for Bruce Greenwood as he has another film commitment beginning in a few days. The scene we observed was Stphen Meeks ( Bruce Greenwood) lying on the ground, musing about the meaning of life or something like that. There was no dialogue, no motion. It had all the excitement and drama of watching paint dry. But they all can't be fight scenes, I guess. It was fun and interesting just being there. A little bit of Hollywood in Harney County.

John Day Fossil Beds

Drive west of John Day on Highway 26 about 30 miles through Mount Vernon and Dayville and north 2 miles on Highway 19 puts you at the Visitors Center for the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument. There are three units of the monument separated by many miles that the VC represents. Each unit is unique in it's topography, geology, and fossil remains, but the total is amazing. An hour spent at the center is almost overwhelming with the all the displays showing the varied flora and fuana that lived in the area over the eons. I recommend a visit to the area and to the visitor center.

Just 1/4 mile down the road, is the James Cant Ranch which has a large beautiful home built in 1917 by James Cant who was a Scottish sheep rancher. The home has about ten bedrooms because it was a gathering place for travelers in the early 1900s. It was also a social site as the Cants hosted "skip to my Lou" parties in the big white house, which was recently converted into a museum packed with various artifacts: Mother Cant’s recipe for macaroon cake, a beaver trap, a sack of oily sheep’s wool and other historic artifacts and pictures are displayed in part of the house.

An old haystacker hulks in the orchard of heirloom fruit trees, near the wonderful barn that was designed specifically for sheep with many shearing and lambing stalls scattered about. In the hills and flatlands where catlike nimravids and terminator pigs once stalked their prey, you can wander the Cant Ranch and explore the rest of the John Day Basin in search of a glimpse of the past and a restful escape with picnic tables available.