The Cant Interviews - Oral Histories of the John Day Valley: The Annotated Recordings of Royal Jackson in conversation with descendants of early pioneers. Paperback – March 5, 2026

Royal Jackson traveled to the John Day Valley in 1982 and 1983 to conduct interviews with descendants and extended family members of James Cant, who established a ranch in 1910 that is now part of the John Day Fossil Beds National Park. He sat with them in their homes, walked the old ranches and hillsides, recording their conversations on a cassette recorder. Over the two-year period he interviewed fifteen of the old timers, most of them between the ages of 70 and 90, about their lives growing up during the period of great ranches of the John Day Valley. Their stories are unfolded here, annotated with family history and photos, key historical events of the late 1880s and early 1900s, and a remarkable intertwining of families that as James Cant stated, "...made this country." Read more