Scott Swanson
Of The New Era
Frank McCubbins is no stranger to the residents of Sweet Home, even those who have never met him.
All they have to do is look up when they hear the whine of a small two-cycle engine and watch as his powered parachute floats by in the early morning sky during one of his regular flights over the city.
Flying is only one of the many activities McCubbins, 74, has taken up since he “retired” at age 39 after moving to Sweet Home from southern California.
That’s when he’s not traveling around the world, hunting or helping missionaries.
“In the winter, I go help missionaries, usually in some primitive spot,” he said, showing off a collection of machetes he’s brought back from most of the 15 countries, most in Africa, he’s visited. “It’s very rewarding.”
At his well-appointed 131-acre Glacier Springs Farm, near the end of Ames Creek Drive, he also does woodworking during the winter months in a large, well-equipped shop, metal working in a similar shop, raises trees, maintains several antique cars and tractors he has restored, builds and flies radio-controlled airplanes, builds toys for his grandchildren and great-grandchildren, plays tennis and “desert” golf, rides and trains horses and camels, and raised a family of champion archers with his wife Jo, one of “a very few women in the Archery Hall of Fame.”
Together, family members have won 286 world, national or state archery titles under her tutelage, he said.
He’s also hiked the length of Oregon with his daughter, who has gone on to complete most of the Pacific Crest Trail, has heads of wild game, both foreign and domestic, that he’s taken with his bow and arrows, and makes tools out of obsidian and other materials using methods similar to the Indians. He also writes magazine articles and several books.
“I didn’t do well in school,” McCubbins said. “I had both dyslexia and attention deficit disorder. I’m not much of a writer.”
His best-known book is one about his experiences with animals, entitled “Animal Tails,” which has sold about 3,000 copies.
“I got an order recently from Nicaragua,” he said. “I get lots of letters from little girls, who are usually animal lovers. The amazing thing about “Animal Tails” is that I’ve made virtually no effort to sell it. I’m not that kind of person, to push something I’ve written. But people love animals and they love stories.”
He also has written a book about his mother called “When Granny Was A Little Girl,” a book about his childhood called “Reaching Back,” and a children’s book called “Rasberry.”
McCubbins was born in Texas and grew up in Orange County, Calif., his parents settling on an eight-acre ranch on Harbor Boulevard, seven miles south of where Disneyland is today. The family got into the dog breeding business and then branched into exotic animals. McCubbins, in ninth grade, started boarding dogs and eventually his business grew into a large enterprise that employed 16 people. He also raised oranges and ran a produce market.
“We were kind of at the right place at the right time,” McCubbins said. “I kind of fell into that.”
He and Jo were married in 1950, when he was 18 and she was 16. They had two sons, Frank Jr. and Dan, and two daughters, Susie (Burns) and Melissa (Swanson).
In 1969, the McCubbinses decided to leave Orange County, which was being built up.
“We were surrounded by used car lots and businesses and banks,” he said.
Jo McCubbins traveled north to Molalla to buy a horse and came back with stories about “green pastures, cows grazing, trees.”
Frank McCubbins said he had never traveled much outside southern California, so the family decided to go north and check out Oregon.
“We crisscrossed the state until we came across this little town and we liked it,” he said.
“I bought this ranch and I’ve never worked so hard in my life.”
His initial plan was to raise cattle, but it soon became clear that wasn’t for him.
“I couldn’t see much money in doing that,” he said.
Since his father had been an animal importer, it wasn’t long before McCubbins himself had some exotics on the ranch.
Over the years he has raised various species of deer, antelope, elk, kangaroos, zebras, camels, oryx, apes and more.
“Everything but meat-eaters,” he said.
“Almost all my life I’ve loved animals,” McCubbins said. “It’s been very enjoyable, a lot of fun.”
Now most of the pastures are empty around the McCubbins home, a four-level structure built by their son Dan built for the family in 1984. He still has a few Asian deer and he was expecting the delivery of a new camel last week.
Most of the hills around the ranch are covered with firs.
“I’ve planted 46,800 trees,” he said. “I started with Christmas trees, but they were too much work. I’ve planted pastures with trees so I wouldn’t have to cut and bale hay.”
Now he spends most of his time on his hobbies and keeping up his ranch, which includes seven ponds he’s built, and various toys he’s created to entertain the younger members of his family.
One of his favorites is a cannon he built that shoots a bowling ball “so high it looks like just a dot up there.”
“I think the older you get, it’s important not to act your age,” he said. “Everything I did and have I did to make it fun for kids. It’s paid off. They love to come here.”