Marvin Myers
(1913-1994)
Marvin was born on June 28, 1913 in Napa, California to Albert (Rink)
and Myrtle (Cranmer) Myers, and was an only child.
The Myers family moved to Drewsy, Oregon that same year near Myrtle’s
family. Rink Myers made a living working on ranches and leased a
small place called Middleworth Place 12 miles north of Drewsy, Oregon.
Marvin spent most of his younger years just outside of Drewsey and
attended both middle and high school at Mildale School. Marvin went
to work at age 18 for Pacific Land & Livestock of Oregon working
with cattle and breaking horses. During those years he was always
interested and involved in rodeos. Marvin attended every rodeo he
could in places such as Burns, Caldwell, Vale and the Pendleton
Roundup. Marvin met and married Fannie McMullen a close family friend.
Her family the McMullens had lived on the Frahan Ranch near by.
Marvin and Fannie were married on May 10, 1933 in Ontario, Oregon.
In the first years of their marriage Marvin worked for the forest
service around Drewsey taking care of cattle on the reserve and
other odd jobs he picked up to support the family.
After two summers they leased a small ranch, Johnson Ranch and Marvin
worked on his own. Their first child Ivan was born in 1938 in Burns,
Oregon. In 1939 Marvin and his Dad Rink loaded up the family car
a 1937 black Chevrolet Coupe and moved to Nevada in hopes of finding
work.
In Nevada Marvin first found work in the Elko Area for Allied Land
& Livestock. He worked for March Scott the superintendent of Ranches.
Allied Land & Livestock owned the main ranches in Nevada, at the
time the IL, Upper and Lower Clover. Marvin and Fannie both worked
on the Upper Clover Ranches. Fannie cooked for Buckaroos and Marvin
was the Ranch Boss. At the time Marvin was paid $50.00 a month and
Fannie $35.00 a month including room and board. They stayed there
and worked for two years until Allied and the Ranch ownership changed
hands, so Marvin and Fannie moved to Paradise Valley and went to
work for a haying contractor. In the fall of that year they went
to work for the CS Ranch. They lived and worked at the Bullhead
Ranch, in Paradise Valley. As the Buckaroo Boss Marvin was away
from home a great deal of time as they wintered their cattle at
the CS Ranch out of Winnemucca. Consequently, the CS Ranch changed
ownership so Marvin and Fannie moved to Winnemucca where they bought
their first small home for about $1800.00. While living in Winnemucca
Marvin worked for different Ranches around the valley. One of his
first jobs in Nevada was for Les Stewart of Paradise Valley breaking
horses all the while he attended rodeos where he did a lot of roping.
At this time about 1947 Marvin heard that the Pettit Ranch was for
sale in Golconda. He got acquainted with George Hoskins a local
banker at the First National Bank. George loaned Marvin the money
to buy the land and livestock and Marvin purchased the Pettit Ranch
from Hughie Bain.
While at the Pettit Ranch Marvin began gathering horses for the
BLM. For a long time ranch hands helped gather horses until he met
Ted Barber a pilot whom he hired to help him out. They used Ted’s
plane for a little while and were very successful. Shortly thereafter
Marvin purchased his own plane a J-3 Cub and two of them flew together
because there were so many horses. Ted Barber had some very close
calls but could land a plane most anywhere. In fact he did have
to land his plane on a mountainside a few times and had to be hauled
out by truck. Ted was a wonderful pilot and close family friend.
Some of the other fellows who helped gather horses at that time
were Vern Ryan of Winnemucca and Bill Garaventa of Fernley. Marvin
gathered horses for a good seven years and must have gathered close
to 20,000 head. He saved very few of them for his own use. At this
time Marvin was more active and involved in rodeos. He accumulated
his own rodeo stock for several years and sponsored several rodeos
in Nevada, Oregon and Idaho.
Following this time in 1954 Fannie and Marvin had another son, Marvin
Jr. who was born while the family was still at the Pettit Ranch.
While at the Pettit Ranch Marvin Jr. was attending grammar school
in Imlay, Nevada and was there up until about the fifth grade. He
was eventually boarded out for school in Lovelock with Bill and
Emma Singer to finish grade school. In 1956 they sold the Pettit
Ranch and purchased a large property that was the George Brown Ranch,
in Unionville, Nevada. The ranch was to be used primarily for cattle
grazing where as many as 300 head of cattle grazed. In 1960, Marvin’s
son Ivan married Anna (Baldini) Myers. During their marriage they
had three children Dolores, Bret and Lana. They spent a lot of happy
times together at the ranch in Unionville riding horses and playing
with all the animals.
During Marvin Jr’s grammar school years in Imlay his mother drove
the school bus for about 5 children every morning and night. It
was hard for all of the families to get their children to school
from the ranches.
The family left Unionville in 1969 and Marvin moved to Smoke Creek
Ranch, in California. Following this move Marvin settled in Denio,
Oregon still ranching and remained there until he sold his cattle.
After this he went to work for the Whitehorse Ranch in Oregon and
stayed there until his death February of 1985. He was 71 years old.
Fannie and Marvin Jr. had settled in Winnemucca to finish Marvin’s
education. Marvin Jr. married Arlene Bodily in 1979. They had two
children, Sadie Beth and Annie Rae. Both Marvin Jr and Arlene worked
for CB Brown, until Marvin Jr’s death in 1994. Fannie, Arlene, Ivan
and their families currently reside in Winnemucca, Nevada.
Marvin Myers was inducted into the Buckaroo Hall of Fame in 1998.
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