USA > California > Imperial County > The history of Imperial County, California > Part 6
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while Steve began developing his own property, and in the fall of 1907, when the new County Imperial was launched, these Lyons boys baled more hay and threshed more grain than any other combination in the district. They operated on a large scale and kept forever going ahead with courage and unshaken nerve, in spite of all threatened river dan- gers. They bought 565 acres in Mexico, near Calexico, which they pur- posed to use as a model stock farm or a cotton plantation.
Such are some of the characteristics which go to make up the aggres- sive spirit, and yet conservative business balance in agriculture. It is ability coupled with willingness, good health, mental, moral and phys- ical, and above all an abounding faith in the work in hand. This imparts self-confidence and insures success.
Socially, perhaps, no man in the Valley has done more for the pro- motion of affairs than Phil. W. Brooks, whose ranch is between El Centro and Holtville. His generous hospitality is well known from Yuma to Cuayamaca. He came from a New England agricultural school, at Amherst College, in 1903, possessing enthusiasm and energy and cap- ital. He bought and sold ranches and developed them, and now, near El Centro, he has 80 acres of Thompson's seedless grapes, besides other lands. He is now the general manager of the Britten-Cook Land and Live-stock Company, which is investing hundreds of thousands of dol- dollars in the hog-raising industry in Imperial Valley. Mr. Brooks has recently resigned the office of receiver of the U. S. Land Office at El Centro. Mr. Brooks has been a powerful factor for good in that com- munity, through his influence in relieving the monotony of frontier life.
Dave Williams was among the early pioneers in the realm of sports. He organized, financed and managed the Imperial Valley Wild West shows, which furnished so much entertainment and amusement for thousands in the winter of 1909. He is called the father of the Christ- mas fiesta idea that made Holtville famous. He is also a public-spirited man who never fails to respond when called upon for assistance in the promotion of the best interests of the district. He takes time to enjoy life as he goes along and tries to help others do the same. And yet he is not a retired capitalist, but only a plain rancher. He came originally from Canada, ranched for some years in Washington, and then heard of this Valley, where he bought a ranch in the spring of 1907. Here he
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now has 560 acres in alfalfa and 27 stacks of hay containing some 900 tons. On one of these fertile fields this farmer found a single stalk of alfalfa 7 feet 81/2 inches long. This ranch is five miles from Holtville, on the Highland Boulevard, the finest nine-mile stretch of road in that district. He delights in outdoor sports, and is always ready to "start something" of that nature. He is credited with having added, more than any other man, to the joy of living on that side of the Alamo River.
H. J. Messinger of Holtville was a frontiersman, having served as Indian trader, teacher and reservation superintendent. Next he became a member of the territorial legislature, and assisted in the government formation. While in northern Arizona, trading with the Indians, he learned of the Imperial Valley settlement. Gathering a carload of work- stock, he reached there in 1903, when the east side was beginning to blossom. He began building ditches and sowing seed, mainly upon leased land. But, prospering in grain raising, he soon entered the grain commission and seed business. In 1904 he finally settled in Holtville, opened a livery and feed business, but also continued his farm work on leased land, although he afterward acquired an extensive acreage and speculated most advantageously. In 1908 he brought to the front what is known as the "high-line country."
Mr. William J. Mansfield came into the Valley in 1903, having some capital and business experience. He went to work himself in a new suit of overalls, with his team, on the hummocks, which he bravely sub- dued. He thinks he spent some $22,000, exclusive of his own work. But it resulted in one of the finest ranches in the district, where he soon became a prominent leader. Later he was selected as the Republican candidate for State Assemblyman from that district, for which he had every qualification, being a farmer, business man and director in vari- ous corporations. It is of course unnecessary to add that Mr. Mans- field has been an Imperial Valley booster from the first.
Mr. George A. Long was for years called the "cattle king" of the Valley. He fattened more steers than any other man, and built a mod- ern sanitary meat packing house from government plans. He fattened stock at his own expense, and bought 320 acres between the towns of El Centro and Imperial, put it into alfalfa, fenced and divided it into separate pastures. In addition to this, however, he leased nearly 1000
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acres adjoining, upon which he fattened the Arizona mountain-bred steers, of which he usually had from 1000 to 3000 head in various stages of preparation.
Thomas O'Neil, a ranch owner near Imperial now, came from a peaceful town in Pennsylvania with an absorbing desire to fight Indi- ans, but without any idea of the hardships, discomforts and dangers attendant upon that warlike pursuit. He followed the intrepid Custer through the Yellowstone campaign in 1873, and the round-up in the Black Hills the next year which led to the fatal Big Horn fight in 1876. But O'Neil had left the Black Hills and went pioneering on his own account in Phoenix, Arizona, and finally brought up in Imperial Val- ley in the winter of 1902. Here he leased 64 acres and established a small dairy. He was then a bachelor with only his famous "Snip" pony as a companion, but later he took Mrs. Adams as life partner, and he now laughs as he recalls the place and methods of his courtship, as he smokes his evening pipe of contentment in his comfortable home.
Other romantic incidents of this nature might well be cited here if space permitted. And yet the career of Harry Van den Heuvel, who came in from Riverside in 1903, with $25 of borrowed money, seems worthy of mention. He went to work for others with a vim that meant success. In 1904 he began to coax his quarter-section of land west of El Centro upon which he had filed into productiveness. His only part- ner was an old gray mare, and she stood by him from first to last and did most effective service. Finding trouble in securing help to thresh his grain crop, he secured a threshing machine and went at it himself and also worked for his neighbors with it. In this way he re-established his credit, paid all his bills with interest and had a surplus left. The old gray mare at last accounts was feeding in a broad field of alfalfa, pen- sioned for life. Six hundred of these fertile acres are now under Heu- vel's control, and his place is valued at $60,000, free and clear.
Between El Centro and Mobile is the "Poole Place," which is noted for its high state of cultivation, with many fine shade trees and a pros- perous looking home. Mr. Poole is a typical American farmer who came in November, 1903, with no capital save his personal energy and de- termination to succeed. With these valuable assets he went to work, put in his crops on 2220 acres, housing his family in a rude shelter for a time until he could build a more permanent home, which now stands
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in sharp contrast with the old quarters. Meanwhile he leased 320 addi- tional acres near at hand. While on a short vacation a fire broke out in his house, destroying 60 tons of hay and a much valued young stallion, and considerable other property. But.he took this misfortune resigned- ly, and in the spring of 1910 he erected a fine new dwelling at a cost of $2000.
It has been customary in the East in referring to these farmers and rural residents by writers who speak of them as "hayseeds," with long hair and whiskers, unkempt and unsophisticated, and even yet this class is furnishing inspiration to caricaturists and pencil-pushers for comic supplements. But it may be said here that these early pioneers in this Valley were not of that class, if indeed there ever was such a class of people any way as these imaginative writers try to picture. Pioneers with the courage and grit to squat in such a desolate waste as this was before its reclamation are made of wholly different stuff. In order to bring a ranch into a high grade of efficiency and make it yield dividends there must be business sagacity back of all the hard work.
Mr. J. H. Blodgett, who filed on a full section of this reclaimed land five miles northwest of Holtville, is a man of this type. He came from Nebraska in the fall of 1904 with small means and lots of energy and ambition. He put in alfalfa, with some grain and other annual crops, and hogs as a side line, and also a few dairy features. And he says he has found this combination profitable and desirable and would not run a ranch without it. But he also planted cotton, of which he had 250 acres in 1910, without even suspecting or anticipating the sharp ad- vance in price of this staple that the war would bring. He has made good in hog-raising, feeding them skimmed milk, alfalfa, corn and bar- ley. This man was the first in the No. 5 district to drill for artesian water, which he struck with a strong flow at a depth of 580 feet. This supply has been piped into his house and farm hydrants.
James M. Potts is another example worthy of emulation by anemic youths who stand behind dry-goods counters, or sit upon high office stools wrestling with figures and bemoaning their lack of opportunity to do something worth while at a big salary and be somebody. Mr. Potts was only 21 when he reached the Valley in 1905. But he borrowed $100 cash in some way and took up some land near Holtville. Mixing brains with his labor, he traded, worked for others and tilled his own
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farm, all with success. He brought a carload of horses and mules from the coast, turned them loose in his alfalfa patch for a time, which re- newed their youth and vigor in a way that enabled him to sell out at a handsome profit. This experiment was frequently repeated with like results, and the profits were put back into the ranch improvements, where he now has 60 acres of alfalfa and 20 acres of cotton. This shows what industry, persistence and faith will do for a man who is in earnest to succeed. The record does not show that Mr. Potts was a great genius, as the world defines that special gift. But it does show that he made the very best use of his native equipment.
Lee Dutcher, who came to the Valley early in 1905, is another man of this type. And it should be said that the region has been very fortunate in having so many of this class among its early settlers. But for this fact its development and progress would not have been so marked nor so permanent.
W. S. Moore, who came from western Pennsylvania in the fall of 1903, with $45 cash and a roll of blankets, struck a job as laborer at once, and kept at it until he could buy a team of horses and a hay- press. The following summer he secured 160 acres of land near the present site of El Centro. He planted barley and alfalfa, and the next year added some stock. In 1909 he began to call his place a "ranch" like the rest of the "fellers" because he had 150 hogs and 27 cows, and planned to feed them. He then lost a little by a cantaloupe experience which, however, he made up with his hogs and forgot about his mel- ons. His 1910 trial balance showed assets aggregating $35,200.
The personal history and achievements of I. J. Harris, who came to the Valley with an invalid wife from Louisiana in 1904, is also inter- esting. She was suffering from a bronchial affection and came here in search of relief. Instead of taking government land, as most of the set- tlers did, Mr. Harris bought his land outright, though he came to Im- perial without any capital. He went to work by the day, and after a time he saved money enough to buy 80 acres more, this time in the Mes- quite Lake section. He is a great believer in the eucalyptus, but he also raised fine crops of alfalfa, barley and grapes. After six years of this Valley life his wife had regained her health. Mr. Harris is one of the best citizens of the Valley.
In a public address to college men at an informal luncheon in Im-
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perial in 1910 President Babcock, of the University of Arizona, advised small farm units of from 15 to 20 acres in this reclaimed section. While this might result in dense population in large central towns, and in- creased business of all kinds, it would mean also more intensive farm methods.
Acting perhaps upon these suggestions, Mr. S. C. Tomkins purchased 40 acres near Holtville, where he plans to make a fortune. He started a small dairy with 30 cows, experimenting with "balanced rations," with mixed feed and hay. And he reports most encouraging results, having already built an alfalfa mill large enough for his own work and for the use of his neighbors. He now claims he can feed one dairy cow on an acre the year through and leave room enough for truck raising, fruit and poultry. All his experiments thus far have been confined to this 40 acres of land. He came from Los Angeles after a long experience in commercial life, and has therefore conducted his ranch on business principles.
J. M. Cardiff came from San Bernardino when things in the Valley didn't look very promising. After living in an irrigation country for many years he looked upon the vagrant Colorado River with consider- able alarm unless it could be permanently controlled. But he concluded to cast his lot with the many powerful corporations which he knew had everything at stake and were taking every chance. He had invested every cent he had in the Valley and never lost faith in it because he was a cheery optimist by nature and training anyway. But he lost his life in an accident in 1907, though his family were left with a comfortable competence, and his sons resumed the work where their father left off, and they have a fine ranch of 320 acres.
The hog-raising industry has become popular throughout the Valley because of its unfailing returns year after year. But owing to the high price of pork and its numerous products, and the haste to produce them little attention was at first given to careful breeding in order to secure the best results. But that is a thing of the past. Today Imperial Valley swine are among the best in the country.
Among the first to bring in thoroughbreds was Arthur McCollum, who had a ranch near Imperial. He had been a postal clerk in San Jose after twenty years on a farm, where his health failed. He preceded his wife in this Valley by some three weeks, and their combined capital at
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that time was $2.15. And yet he managed to secure a bit of ranch land, some 40 acres, upon which he raised only pedigreed stock, as Ohio Im- proved Chesters and Poland Chinas, and all under the most perfect sanitary conditions. He dealt only with hog-breeders and not with pork men.
Another man of this class is Mr. J. R. Sturgis, who has both the means and the ability to insure success. He has 160 acres not far from Holtville which are mainly devoted to alfalfa, barley and wheat. He experiments with thoroughbred stock, such as Poland China and Berk- shire, and he is making a careful study of the whole problem of hog- raising. He has found that this stock costs about one-third less feed and care, and can be fattened more rapidly than the common stock. He expects to ship a carload of this stock every two months. He also con- tends that the quality of this pork is always superior, the animals are smoother in appearance, stronger and better nourished. He came into the Valley from Ventura County in 1908.
One of the largest breeders in the Valley, however, is Mr. J. M. Prim, who arrived in 1905 from an Illinois farm after considerable ex- perience with hogs there. He leased 320 acres of land in the rich No. 5 district, four miles from Holtville. But just about that time the big river came into the Valley too, and it was a dark outlook for Prim for some months when this unwelcome water was pouring over the hopes and plans of the settlers. But by 1907, when the river break had been closed, Prim was animated with fresh courage, and he even leased some more property.
But the next year there was a decided slump in the pork market, and he lost some $10,000 with his pigs. But he kept at it, and in 1910 the buyers were fighting each other, and he sold three carloads for $5000. Having then 3200 hogs, he had to buy 80 more acres of land. Upon this he raised barley and Filipino wheat. This he feeds to his stock by an automatic feeder, with no waste nor any dirt, although the device is costly in the first instance. Mr. Prim is a systematic man with careful methods, though in some respects he has been called a "plung- er." Among his many improvements on that ranch is a large reservoir from which he can irrigate his land if necessary.
Mr. A. L. Bliss, a man of reputed wealth, was also an early believer in hogs for this Valley. He came from Illinois, where he had served as
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secretary, president and superintendent of the Swine Breeders' Asso- ciation, and a student of the hog industry for some time. On one occa- sion he had owned a Poland China boar that was valued at $8000. His advent into the Valley was in the fall of 1909. He then had an idea of buying from 40 to 80 acres for certain experiments he had in mind. But he finally bought 640 acres on the northern limits of Holtville, and afterwards invested in 320 more near El Centro. For once it seems the advertisements he had read about the Valley fell short of the truth. The surprise was most agreeable and really prolonged the short visit he had intended to a permanent stay. When a young man he taught school, became a trustee and later superintendent of the schools for many years. But now he can afford to go back on the farm and take life easy.
SOME OF THE PIONEER BUILDERS
While the farmer and the tiller of the soil must be accorded first place in the development and progress of this reclaimed Valley, there are also those in other pursuits who have had very important shares in the work of organization and construction. Some of these men deserve favorable mention in this record of achievement. While it might seem unjust or even invidious perhaps to single out any one man and pile all the honors upon him for what has been done in this line, it must be said by those familiar with the situation and most competent to express an opinion that Mr. H. H. Peterson is entitled to first mention. The vari- ous towns of the Valley might have been built without him perhaps, but they certainly were not. And yet he was only a maker of brick and a contractor who furnished the materials and did most of the work of construction. But for him many of these buildings would probably have been of wooden construction and far less substantial either in appear- ance or durability. He came here in December, 1903, and for three years had a pretty hard time. There had been a small hand brickyard near Imperial for two years, operated by Harbour & Carter. But their output was very small and inferior in quality. The demand always ex- ceeded the supply, however, on account of the scarcity of labor and the attendant expense of the slow methods in use. When Mr. Peterson arrived he took in the situation at a glance and promptly decided that contracting and brick making should be his vocation. He came from Los Angeles, where he obtained large practical experience in the work
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he was now about to undertake. He bought out Carter's interest in the firm and joined Mr. Harbour in the business. They molded and burned a kiln of brick at Calexico, where they began to erect a hotel. And they were soon swamped with orders. But they found it easier to sell their brick than to make them with their crude and inadequate appliances. Labor was scarce and the work was hard and unattractive. But in spite of all this they built another yard at Holtville, this time on a larger scale. And yet they had to haul all the water from the Alamo channel in barrels and could only work on part time for lack of men.
He also erected buildings in El Centro, Brawley, Holtville, Calexico and Imperial, and for these he made the brick himself. Among the most important of these structures was the High School building in Imperial. He made over ten million brick, and the value of his buildings is said to aggregate $750,000. From the autumn of 1901 to the summer of 1910 his contracts amounted to $100,000 in the town of Imperial alone. But in spite of his prosperity and success he has had to face many troubles, as does every aggressive man who does things. Skilled labor was almost impossible to get and keep, even at the high wages he paid. Then, too, nearly all his materials had to be brought either from Los Angeles or San Francisco. He now owns about 560 acres of land in the Valley, in- cluding his vast deposits of sand and gravel on the bank of New River near Imperial which is required for his brick-plant operations.
Mr. J. L. Travers is also widely known as a pioneer contractor in the Valley. He was really the first man on the ground. The town of El Centro was then only a spot in the desert. But when the townsite was purchased by the Redlands Syndicate, the firm of Fairchilds & Travers were prominent contractors and builders in that famous citrus region. Thus it was that Travers, accompanied by a trusty foreman, dropped off the train in this desert waste in November, 1906, half a mile north of the El Centro depot. The El Centro Hotel was Travers' first con- tract there, and everybody regarded the project as a joke. But the work went right ahead. He was next asked to build the Holt Opera House, which was another shock to the settlers, as there were only about ten permanent residents there at the time. Water had to be pumped up from the ditch, and this ditch was a pretty important ele- ment in the situation. Long before these two big contracts were com- pleted however, Travers was overwhelmed with many others, and he
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became one of the biggest contractors in that part of the Valley. Dur- ing four years there his contracts amounted to more than a million dol- lars. Nearly all the best buildings in the town were designed and con- structed by him. Extensive ice and cold storage plants in the various towns were his work. And the main street in El Centro presents all the features of leading thoroughfares in older sections of the country to- day. Then, when another flood was threatened in 1906, he took his en- tire force of men and assisted the farmers in building up the levees.
Dr. Elmer E. Patten, who came in 1908, was the first health officer and county physician. He was also a man of much public spirit, and keenly alive to the best interests of the people. A full water supply and good fire protection for the city of Imperial were secured through his efforts in 1909 ; also a public sewer system, a new city hall and a Carne- gie library, and a $55,000 high school were all built under his regime.
But in this record of personal achievement the business world, as represented by the merchant should not be omitted. Next to the oldest mercantile firm in Imperial is that organized by George Varney, and known as Varney Bros. & Co., who came in 1902. Their stock was small at first, though ample for the needs of that time. They ran the store without much assistance, but sold about $100 worth of goods a day during the first few weeks. The first carload of goods that came over the railway was consigned to them, but it had to be carted four miles from the line owing to the incomplete condition of the road. In 1910 Varney Bros. & Co. had five stores, a floor space of 28,000 feet, 32 employees and stock valued at $85,000. Their annual sales then ex- ceeded $540,000. Since then they have added a large new store in Calex- ico. They have a capital stock of $200,000, and the annual sales of the chain of stores runs into millions.
One of the first engineers in this region was Mr. C. N. Perry, a tire- less and most effective worker and a most faithful leader in that all im- portant branch of reclamation.
FINANCIAL
As has been already learned by the reader of this volume, the finan- cial end of the great project in this Valley has overshadowed every other feature from its very inception. This perhaps is the history of every important enterprise the world over. But in no case has it formed
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so vital a factor in the conduct and development of any scheme as pre- sents itself in the reclamation of this desert. And perhaps in few other instances has there been so much trouble and delay in procuring the needed money to prosecute the work as here. And it may also be said that but for the most successful diplomacy on the part of energetic men at different crucial periods of the work the entire project must have been a failure. Contributing in a large measure to this situation the per- sistent antagonism of the national government, from whatever cause it may have arisen, must share the blame. At times when the prospect of success seemed brightest this spectre of opposition cast its shadow over the scheme, discouraging the operators not only, but the heroic and faithful settlers themselves, who began to doubt, distrust and even despair of the whole project. But here were men engaged in this vast enterprise who were fearless and undaunted, ready to overcome any ob- stacle that might confront them. Their unbounded faith in the plan was not merely of a mercenary character. They wanted to succeed at any cost and were content to receive their laurels when the triumph was over. Whether or not they ever did receive their full measure of praise and glory is, however, a question. But the beneficent results of their la- bors live after them, and will continue to live through future ages when their names have been forgotten.
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