Jean Barton has strong roots in Red Bluff, CA, with a rich family ranch history spanning back more than a century. Jean has traveled worldwide in pursuit of learning more about agriculture and promoting the beef industry. As part of her passion for travel, Jean has been a loyal attendee of the Livestock Tours presented by WLJ since the late 1980s.
Red Bluff roots
Jean’s great-grandfather came to Red Bluff in 1874. At the time, sheep were a popular choice in Northern California because they provided a dual income between wool and lamb, Jean told WLJ. In 1942, Jean’s dad wanted to get into the cattle business, so he purchased a set of commercial Hereford cattle to begin the family’ cattle ranching legacy.
Jean attended the University of California, Davis, where she enrolled in the animal husbandry program and graduated with a home economics degree. At the time, of the 1,700 students, only 400 were women.
In 1951, Jean had the opportunity to become a foreign exchange student with the 4-H-sponsored International Farm Youth Exchange. She traveled to New Zealand over the course of 21 days on a ship, until she reached Auckland on Aug. 21, 1951. Over the next seven months, Jean lived with 28 farm families.
“It was a wonderful experience with these different farms,” Jean said. “It was a different life.”
After she graduated from college, Jean met her late husband, Bill, at a livestock show while he oversaw the show cattle for Emerald Angus in Elk Grove, CA. Their first date at an Angus banquet during Cow Palace was the start of a 55-year-long marriage that blessed them with two daughters and several grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
The Emerald Angus ranch dispersed in 1961, which led Bill to become the foreman at Jack’s Valley Ranch in Carson City, NV, for five years. Shortly after, Jean and Bill moved back to Red Bluff to form the Willard and Barton Ranch with Jean’s parents. Jean and Bill grazed cattle for many years in Lassen County on U.S. Forest Service lands on Eagle Lake.
But, Jean said, soon enough, “The tourists became more important than cows,” and grazing as permittees was no longer possible. In 2005, Jean and Bill stopped grazing their cattle in the mountains and instead fed hay in Red Bluff.
“I miss going to the mountains, but I really don’t because our cabin was 100 years old or so,” Jean said with a laugh.
Tour memories
In 1988, Jean and Bill finally had the chance to attend their first Livestock Tour in New Mexico. They left the ranch in Tehama County to visit the Herefords and windmills of the scenic northeast New Mexico countryside. Over the years, the couple continued to enjoy the tours together until Bill’s passing in 2012.
Since then, Jean has carried on the tradition of traveling. In recent years, Jean has traveled on the tours with her daughters, Linda Borror and Kendra McCluskey. This year, Linda’s husband, Kevin, even joined the tour, adding another family member to the tradition.
“You learn so much on these tours,” Jean said. “And you meet so many fascinating people.” One of those individuals included New Mexico rancher Linda Davis, with whom Jean maintained a friendship for many years until Linda’s passing earlier this year.
One of the tours that stuck out the most to Jean took place in Arkansas, when attendees could see an egg hatchery.
“That was fantastic,” Jean said. “So different. That’s something you don’t see in Red Bluff.”
Other tour memory highlights include seeing historical and natural attractions like Yellowstone National Park, the Grand Canyon and the Alamo.
When she’s not traveling and taking notes in her notebook for her weekly column in the Red Bluff Daily, Jean stays busy and active in the industry. She is involved in cattlewomen groups from the local to the national level and has served in several leadership positions. Late last year, Jean was awarded the California Cattlemen’s Association’s 2023 Lifetime Achievement Award “for a lifetime of commitment and service to the California cattle industry.”
Jean’s steadfast involvement and passion over the years continue to inspire those around her in the agricultural community. — Anna Miller, WLJ managing editor
