Cant increased the size of the property and built a modern ranch complex on the west bank of the river.

Native Americans used the area around the John Day River for thousands of years before the arrival of European settlers.

While boundaries were never clearly defined, the site that is now the Cant Ranch was used for seasonal hunting and fishing camps by Warm Springs and Umatilla bands, both Sahaptin speaking Columbia Plateau peoples.

By the nineteenth century, Northern Paiutes had migrated north from the Great Basin and were also using portions of the upper John Day watershed.

[2][3] As a result of the arid climate, only a few trappers and prospectors traveled through the area before 1862 when gold was discovered in Canyon Creek, tributary of the John Day River.

Livestock operations in the John Day area supplied isolated mining towns with fresh meat.

That same year, he married Sylvia Fitzgerald and together they began a hard pioneer life on their remote homestead.

Because of his knowledge of the Butler Basin and Sheep Rock areas, Officer served as a guide for pioneer paleontologist Thomas Condon during several of his fossil hunting expeditions.

After arriving in New York City, Cant traveled overland to the John Day country of Oregon, an area that already had many Scottish immigrants.

Alexander Murray, who owned a large ranch west of Dayville, hired Cant as a sheep herder.

[5][7][8] After Cant and his wife moved to the ranch, it became a popular overnight stop for people traveling between Dayville and the Columbia River.

Their hospitality was well known, and it was not uncommon for the Cants to serve dinner to twenty or more people including family, ranch hands, and traveling guest.

As part of this expansion, Cant built a large main house that became the centerpiece of the ranch complex.

He also improved the landscape around the main house, adding a large lawn, fencing the yard, and planting numerous shrubs and trees.

The most important change was made by the State of Oregon, when it began construction of Highway 19 from Arlington on the Columbia River to Dayville.

It recovered some during World War II; however, the shortage of labor made raising sheep increasingly difficult.

The ranch property displays original irrigation ditches, fences, gates, and feed racks plus vintage equipment purchased from the Cant family in 1978.

Cant hired two carpenters, Andrew Cress and Clarence Bisbee, to oversee construction of the house.

The builders combined design features from several Radford plans to create the Cant's ranch house.

The eastern, river-view porch extends around the house, continuing about half the building's length along the north and south sides.

After the National Park Service purchased the Cant property, the bunkhouse was renovated and used to house exhibits.

[8] The Cant Ranch national historic district is located along the John Day River in northeastern Oregon.

[16] The Cant Ranch is located within the boundaries of the Sheep Rock Unit of the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument.

This route passed through the small unincorporated community of Kimberly, Oregon, 14 miles (23 km) north of the ranch.