Dallas Craig’s brother, Stephen, lives down the road from the Century Ranch he grew up on, and manages day-to-day farming of the land. Stephen and his wife, Carol, are also owners of an Oregon Century Ranch on Summerville Road.

SUMMERVILLE — Good old, down-home Northeastern Oregon grit and determination received a nod of recognition recently, when the Dallas and Bonnie Craig family ranch was awarded status as an Oregon Century Ranch.

The Oregon Century Farm & Century Ranch Program is a statewide program honoring farmers and ranchers who have worked the same land for at least 100 years. The program is administered through the Oregon Farm Bureau Foundation for Education and is partially funded through a partnership of the Oregon Farm Bureau, Wilco, Oregon State Historic Preservation Office, & OSU Libraries’ University Archives.

This year five farms and ranches, including the Craig ranch near Summerville, were so honored in a ceremony at the Oregon State Fair.

Stephen Craig, who manages the family property and resides on Summerville Road with his wife Carol, said he is proud of the designation.

“It’s quite an honor, something to behold,” he said.

In truth, the Craig family has worked their land outside Summerville — just up Summerville Road from the landmark Dry Creek school — for more than 100 years. The story starts with Daniel and Lydia Craig, who came to Oregon from Iowa in 1889.

Family tradition says the couple decided to settle in the Grande Ronde Valley after their wagon broke down. In 1901, they bought 70 acres of land, built a house, and started a large garden to feed their family.

They would have five children.

Their oldest son, George, and his wife Dot bought the family farm in 1938. In 1949 Thomas and Dorothy Craig, parents of Stephen and Dallas, assumed ownership. They concentrated their efforts on livestock, breeding and raising cattle, sheep and pigs. Also, they grew hay and grain for the stock.

Dallas and his wife Bonnie eventually took over, continuing with livestock while also raising hay, oats, barley and wheat. The couple remodeled and lived in the house built by Daniel and Lydia Craig.

Dallas and Bonnie have spent a considerable part of their married life on the west side of the state, but their connection with the Summerville land has always been strong. They were most involved with the ranch from 1971 to about 1983. They lived there full time those years, building a successful timber management and sales program, and also making major irrigation improvements.

These days they lease out pasture on the property. As for the timber, Bonnie said the current emphasis is on sustainability.

“It’s been about ten years since we logged. We do a lot of thinning. You have to so there’s a continuous crop,” she said.

Dallas and Bonnie were living in Pleasant Hill and renting the old ranch house out when it was destroyed by fire in 1991. The couple built a new house on the same site, though it took several years.

Though they visit Summerville regularly, Dallas and Bonnie are retired and living in Pleasant Hill. For 35 years, they owned and operated a Dairy Queen there. Stephen, who in addition to ranching worked for years for the Oregon Department of Transportation, is retired also. He looks after the Craig land.

Stephen and Carol Craig live just down Summerville Road from the Craig family ranch. Their place too is designated an Oregon Century Ranch.

Carol Craig was formerly Carol Sanderson. She grew up on the ranch where she and her husband now live. The Sanderson family, like the Craigs, trace ownership of their land back more than 100 years.