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We
are the fifth generation of Eatons on this ranch living off
the land and cherishing its natural beauty. We would like
to share the land and our story with you:
The
story of the Eaton Season’s Ranch begins with the Eatons
four generations ago. Great Grandpa L. Eaton and his son,
Dewey Eaton bought the land in the 1930s. They farmed wheat,
peas, and barley. Grandpa Dewey decided he wanted to raise
cows more than he wanted to raise a grain crop. So in the
late 1930s he bought some canyon land.
Grandpa
and Grandma decided to move down to the river where it was
warmer. By then, Joe’s dad, Jerry, and his brothers
were getting old enough to farm and raise cows too. Jerry
and his brother, Uncle Les, decided to farm and raise cows
together. They added to the ranch in the 1960s and made it
what it is today. They added on piece by piece. Uncle Les
resides on the summer ranch in Emida, Idaho and Jerry raises
cows here with Joe on the winter ranch. This is the winter
ranch because in the winter it is warm and it is ideal winter
weather for the cows and us! The summer ranch cools off in
the evening and it gives us rotational grazing so the pastures
can rest in between seasons.
We love the stories Dad tells us about his mom using a gas
motor powered washing machine and in the winter she would
haul the clothes up to the attic to hang dry them. Jerry and
Joe still reside in the houses they grew up in here on the
ranch. Grandpa Dewey and Grandma Ruth used pack horses and
the two of them built fence along the ridge on the ranch.
The
road that leads to the ranch used to be a dirt road that you
could only travel on when weather was good…until the
early 60s. The school bus driver lived down river from them
and he would pick them up in the morning on the way to his
work in Colton and drop them off on the way home from work.
There was no electricity until 1946 and the phone came much
later.
The
youngest two generations of Eatons consist of Nikki &
Joe and our three children. Molly (7) loves to play in the
creek areas and find things. She is quite the entomologist
and will pick up just about any insect and gets very excited
when she finds moving living things in the soil or under rocks.
Samantha (4) loves to pack her back pack and bring everything
she possibly can with her on outside journeys. She loves to
eat fresh fruit when we are fruit picking. If we can ever
get Clayton (2.5) off of his little battery operated John
Deer four wheeler, he loves to dig in the dirt with his shovel
and run his trucks and tractors in the dirt. When we hike,
sliding down the trails is his favorite.
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