In March 1963 Emma Ball sold 3,000 acres of Mesa land to Lee Dahl of Vancouver, Washington for $475,000. Two homes were included in the sale. The Leader said: “Mrs. Ball retained 330 acres in Mesa, which includes the townsite and adjacent land east of the highway. Mr. Dahl shipped in 1,092 cows by rail Tuesday night and nine more carloads were scheduled to arrive Wednesday and 46 more carloads are expected by the end of next week for a total of about 5,000 head. Mr. Dahl said he will summer between 500 and 1,000 head at Mesa this year, depending on what the place will support.”
In what seemed like an unrelenting series of disasters for the community, in October 1964 Council High School burned to the ground. Once again classrooms had to be found in the community. Some of the same buildings were used as in the last such emergency, including at the Mesa School
The sale of the orchards to Lee Dahl fell through in some way, and the property reverted back to Emma Ball.
Adams County Leader, March 9, 1967:
“The 3,500 acre Mesa Orchards, owned by Mrs. Emma Ball, has been sold to Mr. and Mrs. Harry M. Daum, Parma, who also own the Karcher Mall shopping center between Caldwell and Nampa. The ranch is to become a cattle operation. The present plan, calls for the removal of the old trees, which began this week when men and tractors were brought in. The younger orchards are being checked to see if they are worth keeping. Old buildings are being sold and torn down. The present water system, which consists mainly of seven miles of wood flume, will be replaced, and all but 160 acres will be brought under irrigation. Mrs. Ball plans to live on a 20 acre plot belonging to her brother, Pat, near the townsite.”
The part about the water system and flume being replaced was either a misunderstanding or an overly optimistic prediction. It was never used again.
Mrs. Ball had permission to continue to operate the store as long as she wished. She continued to live at Mesa. Her son, Patrick, bought the Brown and Lofquist acreages at Mesa. Another son, Bernard, bought the Card acreage.
In the spring and summer of 1967, trees continued to be removed. Harry Daum was never able to successfully raise cattle on the mesa, as he was unable to get enough water for them. Emma Ball bought the property back from him.
The set of winding set of switchbacks that was the highway off the north side of Mesa Hill had been adequate for the cars of the era when it was built in the 1920s, but now vehicles had vastly better brakes and horsepower. A comment in a 1966 Leader said Mesa Hill was the worst section of Highway 95, and the Council Chamber of Commerce was advocating its improvement.
The inadequacy of the highway was illustrated by a wreck in the spring of 1968. The Upper Country News-Reporter, said: “A truck belonging to Dorsey Campbell of Boise, hauling cattle belonging to his cousin, Albert Campbell of New Meadows, went off the Mesa grade on the last hairpin turn on the north side of the Mesa Hill Monday afternoon. The truck was reported to have been carrying 54 head of cattle from Baker two New Meadows, and as a result of the accident 28 head were reported killed.”
More than one deadly wreck occurred on this section of highway over the years. Plans to replace it started as early as 1969, but the current highway reroute was not completed until 1975. The contract for the new highway section was awarded to Galely Construction, owned by Frank Galey, Jr. who was a former orchard owner near Council.
On Sunday, April 18, 1971 another catastrophe struck Mesa. The Leader reported: “Flames fanned by high winds in the Mesa area Sunday completely consumed two large wood frame homes owned by a Mesa woman, Mrs. Emma Ball. Both old homes were demolished by 2:00 p.m. despite efforts by a volunteer Indian Valley fire department. The houses were situated along US Highway 95, and one was believed to date back to the original owner of the Mesa Orchards. The flames missed a smaller house nearby, as well as several packing shed.” These houses were built in the 1920s by the VanHoesen family.
In a 1972 Statesman newspaper interview, Mrs. Ball said: “We have only enough apple trees for our personal use, and run about 150 head of cattle.”
I don’t have much more information about Mesa after this point. Emma Ball died in January of 1981 in California. The Mesa post office was discontinued in 1983 when Postmaster Audrey Kilborn retired. Most of the land, except some still owned by the Ball family, has been subdivided and sold for home sites. Almost all of the fruit trees are gone. The old water tank still stands, as does a shop building and the old log building, said to be one of the earliest structures at Mesa. Little more is left, except for the stories and memories.
A few years ago, I videotaped Thurn Woods at Mesa, talking about his days working for the company, irrigating and other jobs. He showed me where Clyde Rush lived; the house is long gone. Thurn and most of the people who have any memory of the orchards in their prime are gone now too.
I hope that you have found this very long series interesting.
100 years ago
November 7, 1924
“A meeting of the K. K. K. was held at the Methodist Church here last Saturday night.”
“James Scilley, district manager of the Amalgamated Sugar Company is well pleased with the result of the experiment of raising sugar beets in this section.”
Every business in Cambridge was given a scrubbing to remove the soaping received during Halloween night.
“The Farmers Cooperative Creamery opened for business Friday morning in their temporary quarters next door to the telephone office. As soon as the remodeling on the station where the Swift Creamery has been operating can be completed and the new equipment for the Cooperative can be installed, they will be running full blast with V. W. Keele in charge.”
“The upswing in prices of farm products in the last five months reflects the best sustained period of agricultural improvement since the wartime boom in the spring of 1917, says the U. S. Department of Agriculture. The general index a purchasing power of farm products has moved up to 90 the year 1913 being considered as 100.”
Died: Bertha Margaretta Buhl-Holms-Haller. She was born in Denmark in 1854 and came to the Salubria Valley, with her parents, in 1869. “The Buhl’s were the fifth white family in the Valley.” Burial in the Salubria Cemetery.
“J. I. Lorton has been wrestling with the big task of moving his drugstore from the building where it has been for many years to his newly acquired property – the Shepherd building.”
Died: James T. Thorp of Goodrich. Burial in the Salubria Cemetery.
75 years ago
November 10, 1949
“Up until it started raining Tuesday, we had received only 4.55 inches of moisture this year. This included moisture in snow in January and February.”
Died: Presley Pettit, 88, at his home in Weiser. He lived at Cambridge until 1942. He served as Cambridge Constable for seven years. Interment at the Hillcrest Cemetery.
49 years ago
November 6, 1975
After winning their first football Long Pin Conference title since 1942 with nine straight victories, the Cambridge Bulldogs won their first state championship at the Bronco Stadium last Saturday.
Died: Betty J. Coski of Weiser. She married Louis E. Coski at Cambridge in 1948.
25 years ago
November 4, 1999
Incumbent Midvale Mayor Jay Langer was reelected.
Died: Ruth Cecilia Pearson Jacks, 94, of Midvale.
Died: James Lester Smith, 69, of Midvale.
