CURRY FRENCH

This story was told to me by my dad sometime in the 1960's.   When he was working as a loan agent in 1947- 48 for the Production Credit Association, a farm loan agency, he would drive around the county meeting farmers that were in need of a farm loan.   Somehow he was referred to the French Ranch up in the western foothills of the Coast Range.  It was a 3 to 4000 acre sheep ranch owned by Curry French, who was related to Peter French, who had the big cattle ranch in eastern Oregon, where the Malheur Wildlife Refuge is today.  Curry may have been a nephew to Peter French, but not sure.    When my dad found his way onto the ranch through some closed gates, he knocked on the door of a cabin surrounded by sheep barns and corrals.   He was greeted by Curry holding a shotgun wanting to know what my dad was doing.  He introduced himself wanting to know if Curry needed a loan.   His reply was a flat no and get the hell out of here.   Whoever referred my dad to seeking out Curry may have done it as a joke knowing how Curry did not care for unannounced visitors on his ranch.   

Curry was a small man always in dirty overalls, wearing a full brim hat and driving an old Willy's jeep pickup.   His wife lived in a  three story Victorian house in Willows and drove a Cadillac.  Rumors' were that Curry preferred living on the ranch and would occasionally visit his wife in town..   At the time Curry was probably 60 years of age, plus or minus a few years.   On one occasion Curry's wife was driving the Cadillac with a woman friend in the front seat with her and Curry in the back seat in his old overalls on their way to San Francisco.   In route Curry noticed a man with a sack of his belongings hitch hiking and asked his wife to pull over and pick him up in order to have some company in the back seat.    Once the hitch hiker was in the car he turned to Curry and said, "Man we got lucky."