Rocky Ford enterprise., 1906-09-07
ROCKY FORD'S STORY.


The following was prepared by the En-
terpriss for the information Of the Inter
national Press Club. which recently met
in Denver. and copies furnished each
member.
Tho traveller down the Arkansas Val
ley runs through short piece OF rather
rough and untitled country Just east Of
Pueblo. But no has not gone many
miles before the face Of Nature changes
around him and. talk about "a smiling
valley" we have !, in the fulles. sense Of
the word from tho little station Of Ne
pssta eastward TO the State line. But
tho particular spo, where the smile
hEoadens into an unnodulated laugh Is
a. Rocky Ford. Everybody in tho cas-,
has heard Of Rocky Ford. by siEture OF a
certain delee,able produe,-the eansa-
loups. But after making its continental
reputation on It's melons. the town wasn't
satisfied and so proceeded TO make for
itself double. baek-aetioa. noa-rsvsrsi-
bio Rep. by becoming further known
as tho beet sugar metropolis Of the Ark
ansss Valley" Here was erected the
first beet sugar mandatory Of the state.
into whose eapAeious nav there 10
poured one thousandtons Of raw bssts per
day. from early September ill late Feb
ruary Of saeh year: and now 1--WE miles
away. At the little suburban town Of
Swink. . like plant 10 In course Of con.
stxuetioa: while four other towns lower
down The Valley have followed suit with
factories. running o. IN eoarss Of con
s,suet,oa.
To feed these factories many aerss Of
former eantaioups land has bssa given
up 10 sugar bssts and the p,oueh-shar
has bssa run through fresh sesss Of vir-
gin soil and former fields Of alfalfa 10
make room for this svsr.sxpanding crop.
So that now between the ''smiling' fields
Of earsaioups vines and tho waving Hslds
Of alfalfa all the intervening spasss that
Can be covered with irrigation waters are
filled with tho dark green earpstine Of
tho sugar bss.:. foliage. The splendid
system Of irrieating reservoirs and canals
that wind and curve along both sioss Of
the valley and mark the line Of cultivated
area. have become very permanent con-
struesion works for storing and dists,but-
ing tho finest water supply Of any section
Of tho Stass. andihavs made The "smil-
ing" OF the valley . "sm,ls that won't
come oh."
The city Of Rocky Ford gets its name
from = rocky crossing In the bed Of the
Arkansas river :whish 10 two miles o.
more away from the city. Ia the days
bsfors the iroa:horss took the Santa Fs
trail across The plains from the Missouri
river 70 the Rocky mountains and the Pa
eife coast the "prairis schooner" ira
vsrssd Il This schooner" which was
neither bsss mug sor . water craft. but
. long. lank. low-riggsd camp wagon.
took TO the river only when Il had 70. and
Il found here . shallow and reasonably
solid river bed on which TO make eross-
ing from one bank to the other. Follow
ing the old Santa Fs trail westward from
tho Missouri. pioneer caravans Of seekers
after gold. either in tho Colorado noun
tains or on the California coast. kep, ono
well beaten path until they reached tho
vicinity Of this ford. Then those who had
taken for their motto Pixies Peak or
bust" turned northward. and those who
sought the Golden Gate turned south
ward: 'the ford" being the dividing point,
where many an intimate aequaintanc Q
growing out Of mutual tribulations mo.
and vanauished in the long and dreary
pull across the plains, was sundercd
never to DO revived. Now the prairie
schooners have reefcd their canvas and
the crews that manned them have all
gone to Davy Jones' locker. The Santa
Fe railway threads its way up one
side of the valley and the Missouri
Pacific the other; even another railroad,
the Arkansas Valley, making Rocky Ford
its western terminus, now skirts the river
for distance of sixty or seventy mile S
fos the purpose Of reaching the beet fields
and bringing the product into the sugar
factories.
Tho young city is full of business life
and activity. its Touring mill. foundry.
canning factory. creamery and concrete
block works send up their smaller tunnels
OF smoke to Join the Pittsburgian cloud S
Of hlackness that roll from the 200 foot
tunnels of the sugar factories. Tho
streets and alleys of the town are clean
and weil-kopt. with long stretches of oe-
mont side walks.
a fine growth of shade trees embower
the residence portion of the town and the
several small parks that adorn it. Rocky
Ford looks like good place to live,as one
views the landscape Ger" and that it is