The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1903-09-26
AN IDAHO ROMANCE
Irrigation Is Its Motif and an Indi-
ana Lad Who Had Courage
It's Hero.
Blue Lakes Farm and Its Wonderful
Success-Finest Fruit in the
Wide World.
FROM 4 STAFF Corre,poondent.


initiation of the Garden Of Eden on this
earth is a spot in Idaho, reached by a
thirty mile stage ride from Shoshone on
the Oregon Short Line, thru a sage brush
desert, on which no live thing is seen ex
cept jack rabbits, badgers and rattle
snakes. The most beautiful running
water, the grandest natural setting, the
finest fruit grown in the world are to be
found at this oasis in the Great American
Desert.
Lest any one suspect that this is an
exaggeration, 1 shall hasten to add that
to the fruit from this remote spot have
been awarded the gold medals at the
Paris exposition, at the Omaha Trans
Mississippi exposition and at Buffalo In
competition with the most expert hor-2
ticulturists of Europe and America the
display from Blue Lakes Idaho, was ad-
judged the best. And to one who has
seen it grow. in such profusion as to
break the young trees limbs with it's
weight, and so perfect as to suggest the
repeal Of Gods curse, it is no surprise
that it claimed the first prize.
Blue Lake is a postoffice established for
the benefit of the original settler and
present proprietor of the frAit ranch
located on the Snake river, about four
miles below the Shoshone. falls. The
name-and none could be- more appro-
priate-is derived from two tiny bodies
of water, hardly more than ponds, which
lie at the bottom Of a huge volcanic Gre
vase in the broad, fiat lava beds which
underlie the desert. The lakes are blue
with blueness which def1es description,
and so clear that the bottom, sixty five
feet below the rim, shows every pebble
to the person looking over the bluff
thousand feet above. The lakes are not
Sky-blue, or merely Opaque, the water Is
sparkling. Transparent indigo shading into
purple, and all about the rim Is bor-
der Of green and reddish foliage. The
color of the water is said to be derived
from minute shells, but it is more likely
something in the composition of the vol
canic rock.
A Romance Of Irrigation.
Eighteen years ago boy from Indiana
wandered into this section and took a
trip to the Shoshone falls Being inter-
ested in mining and of an adventurous
disposition he explored further down the.
canyon and came upon the blue lakes
Close by he found a stream bursting from
the ground and flowing down thru the
great boulders and volcanic debris at
the foot of the cliff He looked at the
spot and decided-what would seem a
wild and impossible thing-to use this
stream for. irriga ton and to plant fruit
trees among the boulders. The boy was
then 1S, now he is SO, and the proprietor
over $4,000 a year. The lumber for his
first house had to be let down with ropes
over the edge of cliff $50 feet high.
Next year he expects to buy an automo-
bile in which to climb the fine, smooth
road which zigzags up the height, and
to take the trip Of thirty miles to town.
I. N. Perrine-for that is his name-built
the road himself. He had to. There was
no one else to build it. The road was
largely blasted out of the bluff. He took
up the land under the homestead law,
the presumption act, and the desert land
act. He did all three things, pre-empted
made home and reclaimed the desert,
and thus became entitled to $40 acres Of
land which was still part of the govern
ment domain, and which no one else
cared for. He saw the possibilities Of the
ation-that the dirt at the foot of
these towering cliffs was largely disinte-
grated lava and volcanic dust, and that
all 1T needed was water to make it the
most productive in the world. Difficulties
which might have daunted another, the
remoteness, the isolation, the desert, the
inaccessible walls of rock and the char
acter of the undertaking, served to spur
his ambition and courage. To-day he
begins to see the results. He has strung
telephone wire across the desert, and
can talk with Chicago or New York from
his sitting room. He has comfortable
well appointed house, around which is
hospitable porch enclosed with wire
screening and shaded with clambering
grape vines. "A green, ve1vety lawn slopes
down to a brook as beautiful as a mir
age, in which are large, flashing trout SO
numerous and tame that they are the
pets of the family, whom the little
daughter feeds every evening with bits
of meat chopped fine.
steriIIzed by Nature
In this favored niche i'm the earth there
are no harsh winds to chill the growing
lthings, the lofty lava walls which hem the
valley furnish perfect shelter. The frosts
may strike the high plateau, but they do
not trouble here. The skies are always
bright the sun always shines, and water
never fails. Is it any wonder that the
cantaloups are sweet, or the winter water
melons luscious, or that plums and
peaches have a flavor which makes them
seem like a different fruit? Nor are there
insect pests to prey on the trees or dis
Eases infect the fruits, for all about the
country is sterilized by the desert. There
are no neighbors to do slovenly farming,
lor to breed things which spread More
than 80 per cent of the fruit is perfect,
without speck or blight.
On the Blue Lakes farm there are IL, 900
trees which bear winter apples alone.
This season Mr.. Perrine has shipped TO- >
900 crates Of peaches. He also raises
plums.5 pears, cherries. melons and grapes.
and alfalfa for his horses. There is no
lfear Of advertising Mr.. Perrine's farm or
wares, for a long time the market has
sought him, not he the market. His fruit
never gets east OF Salt Lake City. The