Wheat harvest is in full swing in 2022 at Baker Valley's Ward Ranches.

BAKER CITY — Ralph Ward wanted to tell the story about his family’s long history of farming and ranching in Baker Valley.

But maybe not the whole story.

“I supplied some of the stories. I left a few out,” Ward, 95, said with a smile during a recent interview.

The idea to publish a book started a year ago during a conversation with family.

The project, he said, is 90% due to his daughter, Kathy Ward, who lives in California and visited her dad at least once a month from January through August of this year to collect stories and organize the book.

And now it’s ready — 244 pages full of stories and photos about the Ward family and the role of agriculture in Baker Valley.

And especially the changes over more than a century.

“No one has lived through as much history as the last 100 years,” Ralph said.

And he’s quick to name his favorite advancement during his many years of farming: “The first combine with a cab.”

GPS technology is another new tool.

“You can tell things are GPS now — the rows are a lot straighter,” Ralph said with a chuckle.

“Ward Ranchers: A History of Farm and Family,” priced at $35, is available at Betty’s Books in Baker City.

It can also be purchased online at https://store.bookbaby.com/book/ward-ranches-a-

history-of-farm-and-family.

Photography

The book is heavy on the photos — a testament to the collection Ralph has gathered over the years.

“I have seven albums I’ve put together,” he said.

“We decided we’d do a lot of pictures,” Kathy said.

They also recruited local photographer Lori Rowland to document the 2022 growing season.

“She’s great to work with — she’s full of ideas,” Kathy said.

The book cover features a Rowland photo of a Ward wheat field with the snowy Elkhorns as the backdrop.

She photographed various stages of the wheat crops and mint, as well as a few of the Ward family’s picturesque barns.

Agriculture

The Ward history in Baker Valley starts with Ralph’s father, Clyde, who was born in 1895 in Diamondville, Wyoming. They moved to Baker in 1903 to join family already settled in the area.

A framed photograph in Ralph’s dining room is a testament to the family’s history — it shows Charlie Ward (Ralph’s uncle) on a wagon piled high with sacks of potatoes. The date is 1916.

Although Ward Ranches has produced more than 30 different crops in the past century, the book details the main ones: potatoes, hay, wheat, peppermint, corn, sugar beets, grass seed and pea seed.

Ralph describes potato harvest as “the dirtiest job.”

But, even after all these years, he still enjoys eating a potato grown in Baker Valley soil.

“I’m a meat and potatoes guy,” he said.

Family and farming

Woven through the story of Ward Ranches are several generations, and Ralph included stories involving his siblings, Alvin and Charlotte, his wife, Alice, his children and their spouses, and his grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Ralph’s sons, Mark and Craig, now run Ward Ranches, along with the next generation, and photos of family are featured prominently within the pages of the book.

A series of three photographs, spanning 53 years, showcases family members posing with the largest potatoes harvested in 1967, 2001 and 2020.

The Wards have grown potatoes since Clyde’s first crop in 1915.

“You can lose your rump on potatoes, but make good money, too,” Ralph said.

Advancements have changed agriculture just a bit since that first crop more than 100 years ago.

“I got in on all the hard work before it got mechanized. I don’t want to go back,” Ralph said with a grin.

“I supplied some of the stories. I left a few out.”

— Ralph Ward, 95, talking about his new book chronicling his family’s history in Baker County