Sidney "Sam" Seale (Condon) owns the "White Elephant Ranch" and shares the stories of his family. As a storyteller, Seale tells the lore of his family's strangely named ranch and ranching in Gilliam County during the Depression.
Bio
Sidney “Sam” Seale (Condon) is a storyteller and owners of the “White Elephant Ranch.” He shares his family stories about ranching in Gilliam County during the Depression. How Seale’s ranch, located north of Condon, got its name is part of his rich family lore. As a young man, Sam’s father bought a piece of property to raise sheep and cattle. There were several other homesteads nearby, and during the Depression their neighbors couldn’t hang on to their ranches. Sam’s dad starting buying them as they came up for sale. Because the country there is high and dry, rendering it difficult to grow anything, his dad used to say that all those properties weren’t anything but white elephants—the name stuck. Sam recounts a range of tales about his father and his own years growing up on the White Elephant Ranch raising sheep, cattle and farming wheat. He also tells stories about his father’s career as a famed trick rider who performed at the Pendleton Roundup and the Seattle World’s Fair. Seale, whose grandfather homesteaded in Arlington, Oregon, was born and reared in Oregon. His mother’s side came from Baker County, where they had a cattle ranch, raised milk cows, and ran a saw mill. Seale’s father bought his ranch in 1901 and raised sheep, cattle, and wheat. He phased out sheep in 1947, and in 1970, Sam Seale took over the family ranch. Seale tells lots of stories about lambing time, shearing sheep, and working on horseback—all skills he learned from his father.
