Legislature honors legendary Oregon rancher

William “Bill Kitt” Kittredge, a cowboy who became a successful Oregon rancher and businessman, was honored as one of Oregon’s most influential leaders during the state’s first 100 years by the Oregon Legislature last week. House Concurrent Resolution 6, sponsored by Rep. Gail Whitsett and Sen. Doug Whitsett, both of Klamath Falls, along with representatives from Eastern Oregon, passed unanimously. Kittredge’s family members, including his nephew Jack Nicol, Nicol’s sister Nancy Thompson and Nicol’s son Mark, were in attendance on the Senate floor for the speech by Sen. Whitsett. The resolution read March 19 notes Kittredge, who was born in 1876 in Washington Territory, was 16 years old when he started as a cowboy in Eastern Oregon. He worked for large cattle companies and participated in cattle drives, including one that spanned 1,600 miles. He began acquiring a small herd of cattle in 1900 and eventually owned 19,000 head when he died in 1958, when Kittredge controlled more than 1 million acres of land and was Oregon’s largest independent cattleman. The resolution also credits Kittredge with purchasing and irrigating unproductive land and turning it into meadowland and for “reclaiming swamplands and turning them into bountiful grain fields.” He was honored by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for providing habitat and feed for wildlife, especially for migrating ducks and geese...more