American Falls press. [volume] (American Falls, Idaho) 1907-1937, 1915-03-18
UNTOLD WEALTH
WITHIN REACH
TOWNSHIP OWNERS HAVE Wis.
IONS OF FACTORIES OF MANY
KINDS AND POPULATION OF FIF-
TY THOUSAND THAT NEVER
CAME.
Contracts Signed to Sell Half the Lots
Mt $5 each. One Fourth at SO. and
Remainder at Appraised Value
Contract Annulled by Court After
Many Lots Had Been Disposed of.

Contract Annulled by Court After
Many Lots Had Been Disposed of.
We had not any more than gotten
the townsite surveyed than we got in
TO deeper water than ever and actually
gave good deal of our town proper-
ty away. About 1898 Duke NJ Farson.
James G. Graft and Mr.. Harvey, trav-
cling missionaries, travelling in a Pull
man, stopped here. 1t is my recollec-
t1on that they were advance agents of
the M. E. church. There were about
twenty travelling in the car. men and
their wives. They held services here
three or four nights I'm building about
16x2b, which is now a part of the old
Golden Rule store, on the corner south
OF the Oliver house. Duke NJ. Farson
did the preaching. These were the
first religious services ever held in
American Falls. A Sunday school was
organized, Vera Oliver being elected
secretary.
The party remained here several
days, loking into the country near
town quite thoroughly. The next year
they returned and said they were
looking for a site to locate a number
OF factories and build large city. We
got the impression. whether they said
so in so many words or not, that they
had a number of factories all ready
to locate, with millions of capital be-
hand them. These included a tannery.
wool securing plant, knitting factory,
woolen mill, shoe factory, and
branch of the Armour Packing compa-
ny. This was a great stock country
then and they were going to utilize the
materials that were then so abundant.
They discovered sand here which they
said was ideal for making glass and
they decided to add glass factory to
the others they had projected.
They agreed 10 have the town sur
veyed and plated at their own expense
and would find buyers for the lots who
would build houses and erect factories
IL we would enter into a contract pro-
viding: That the townsite owners
owned to buyers sent by them at s5
per lot; the next one fourth of the
lots at $40 per lot, and the price of the
remaining one-fourth at a price fixed
by appraisers, which we were led to
believe would be thousand dollars
or more a front foot, as American
Falls by that time would have a popu-
lation of forty or fifty thousand. We
fell for the proposition like real inno-
cents, and could hardly wait for the
contract to be drawn. We figured il
out that we would all soon be IN rho
Millionaire class. SO we had our half
mile deep lots cut into ordinary sized
city blocks and lots, and the sale was
on. The real estate business took on
anactivity that has never since been
equalled. / lite about 25 of my lots go
at IS each, and / afterward learned
that the man I decided one lot to paid
$500 for it. / have forgotten his
name but he lived in Wisconsin.
Mr.. Bennett parted with about
fewer of his lots were taken. Mrs
brisk real estate transactions that
were taking place.
In the meantime Farson and compa-
nv located and constructed the Warm
Creek reservoir and made desert filings
on lands surrounding the town extend
ing from the reservoir on the south to
the Sparks ranch north of town, there
being several thousand acres In he
tract They worked like beavers
building irrigating bitches and fumes
to every forty acre subdivision on the
tract, and we millionaire townsite
owners watching the progress OF the
work with unconcealed satisfaction.
They hired men to work night and day
getting water on the land. They used
lanterns at night to assist them in
their work They finally got water on
every forty acres, and the very day
they did they took the train for Black
foot and made proof on the land and
from there went to Chicago, and that is
the last we saw of them.
We soon began to noticethat there
were no houses nor factories being
built and gradually our dream OF
riches began to fade. We finally en-
ployed Kentucky Smith to take our
case into court and try to annual the
contract we had signed. think Judge
Hays was then on the bench. We had
no difficulty in having the contract an
nulled. We paid Smith $50 for his SER
vices.
The only house ever built as a result
Of the sales was the Clifford residence
which was built by ]. p. Hayward, TO
whom the company had sold some pro-
perty. Mary Franklin came here to go
to work in the shoe factory There
were many lots sold, however, in many
parts of the country. and some of the