American Falls press. [volume] (American Falls, Idaho) 1907-1937, 1915-01-28
WAS HERE AHEAD
OF THE SACEBRUSH
SAGEBRUSH, EXCEPT A NARROW
STRIP ALONG THE RIVER;
CAME AFTER CATTLE HAD
TRAMPED THE GRASS OUT.r-
First Election in This Part of Snake
River Valley Was Held at Neeley-
First Permanent School Started
There-First Orchard Planted by
J. ]. SOrensOn, Also at Neeley.
(RecOliectiOns of j. j. SorensOn)

(RecOliectiOns of j. j. SOrensOn)
l came to Neeley in the fall of 1882
and took up the land which 1 now
own. The climate, it seems to me
was very different from what 1t was
then. The winters were colder and the
summers very hot. Following the time
OF my coming. for several years. there
were severe drouths 1t was SO hot
that l have grown watermelons weigh
Ing forty pounds. This cannot be
done now. The winters we're so cold
that fruit trees froze. They do not
winter kill now and have not for many
years. as it does not get colder than 12
to 15 below.
VIM. Neeley, who came the spring
of 1881, planted the first fruit trees at
Neeley, but had little success as he
did not take care of the trees. plant
ed the first apple and plum trees at
Neeley In 1884, and they are still i'm
fine bearing condition. Last year one
OF these fruit trees planted yielded is
bushels of apples. The yield is heav-
Ter some years than others, but have
never had failure. l now have peach
trees that Withstand the winter and
have had peaches for the last three or
four years. The quality is not as good
as the peaches grown in Utah, but the
noteworthy fact is that they can he
grown safely at all. They would not
have lived, let alone bear fruit, for a
number of years after ! came grow
the finest kind of apricots, both in
size and flavor. They are a Russian
variety and were guaranteed to me to
Aithstand temperature of 80 below.
Whey fwerc planted fi:tsen OF sixteen
the roots on one side, bent the trees
over and protected them with straw
i did not have much confidence in the
guarantee that they would live through
our cold winters. The third year
forgot the trees until the ground froze
They came through the winter in fine
shape and have never protected them
since. They are now eight or ten
inches In diameter and yield abund-
antly every year. They are among the
best trees In my orchard.
The winter of 1SS7-SS was the cold
est we ever had. We had to move into
one room to keep from freezing. For
ten days we could not thaw the frost
off the windows, although we kept
up roaring hot fire all the time Ice !
at Neeley froze "a inches thick. 1t has |
not been more than ten inches thick |
since then, and this winter only sew
en- inches. That winter thousands of |
head OF cattle froze to death. 1t was |
30 cold the mercury in the thermome-
ters froze. All the big stock outfits
lost fortunes. I skinned more than |
200 cattle that had belonged to Sparks |
which had frozen.
Saw Hard Times.
The pioneers certainly saw hard /
times. For many years the best price
paid for wheat was 35 cents a bushel,
and Campbell & Stebbins who sup
piled the only market We had, were not
anxious to buy it even at these prices.
As an illustration of what man will
do for money when he needles it right
bad, recall one incident soon after |
came. An Indians horse had gotten
away from him, and could not be
caught. The Indian offered a dollar
to anyone who would bring him in |
saddled my horse and ran the In
dams animal for several hours before
l caught him. My horse was almost
completely exhausted, and | would not
its value. But I needed the money. l
wanted to get a few small supplies,
including some nails and a door lock
/ was a stranger and did not feel like
asking Danielson & Stevens for credit.
was attracted to this locality by
the fine grass that grew everywhere
here. l was engaged in freighting and
followed the railroad construction
camp. / freighted from Shoshone to
Boise and then from Boise into Ore
gon.
The finest grass in the whole coun-
try was here and ! was stuck on the
country for that reason. ] thought we
always would have range and could
not have believed it had anyone pre-
dicted that the hills would ever be as
M as they are now. But sheep and ;
cafSle tramped 1t out. absolutely kill
ing IL. There was no sagebrush here
then. except a small strip along the
river Most of the sagebrush has come !