The apple crop at Mesa in 1942 was small, but prices were apparently high enough to make a profit.
In the spring of 1943 new owners came on the scene. Although many sources simply say that A.H. Burroughs Jr., a relative of the founders of the Burroughs Calculator Company, bought the orchards, the actual purchase from the Western Idaho Production Credit Association was made by a partnership headed by Burroughs that included J.R. Field and A. H. Langroise of Boise.
According to a 1972 Statesman article: “During the time of Burroughs’ ownership some of the land, which had been divided into smaller orchards and sold to individuals, was brought back into the original orchard.” Clyde Rush lived at Boise about this time and sold his Mesa acreage to the partnership.
In reporting the sale of the orchards, the Upper Country News-Reporter said, “F. B. Daggett will manage the orchard and A. T. Ingram and Ernest Wing will be foremen.”
In January 1945 a fire destroyed the repair shop and contents at Mesa. The News-Reporter said, “The fire spread so rapidly that only the supreme efforts of those who gathered at the fire saved the schoolhouse and dryer.”
The Burroughs partnership hired Harry Spence to manage the orchards late in WWII. Spence had been director of the University of Idaho extension service. In the 1950s, Spence resigned from Mesa to be a foreign agricultural attaché for the U.S. State Department.
Germany surrendered May 7, 1945, but the war with Japan would continue for several more months.
In August 1945 the Leader announced that Mesa was expanding its facilities, with new equipment and buildings. This may have been about the time that the Burroughs partnership established a cannery that made applesauce from the inferior apples.
A plentiful crop of apples was harvested that fall, and demand for apples was high. To make the local mood even brighter, Japan surrendered on September 2, 1945, ending the war.
The December 20, 1945 News-Reporter quoted Council Station Agent T. G. Jones as estimating that 625 carloads of apples would be shipped from Council that season. Many carloads went from the orchards immediately surrounding Council, but the biggest single shipper was Mesa Orchards.
In 1946 the demand for apples was still high, and Mesa was operating in the black.
At the end of WWII Japanese Americans were released from detainment camps. But before they could leave, they were required to have employment someplace. Several families came to live and work at Mesa.
Upper-Country News Reporter, March 21, 1946: “The Mesa Company is preparing to smudge the company’s big apple acreage at Mesa to prevent freezing, in case of cold weather after the trees start budding. A number of valuable crops have been lost because of freezing, and Mr. Burroughs, owner of the project, doesn’t care to take chances. The company is planning to provide smudge pots that will be placed at strategic points throughout the Orchard which will be fired up on nights when the thermometer indicates that a freeze might come. – Adams County Leader.”
The 1946-47 school year was the last year of classes at the Mesa school. By that time, it had only one teacher: Mrs. Millard Beigh of Cambridge. There were 28 students that year, 8 of which were Japanese. After it closed, the school was used for storage. The playground equipment was left in place and enjoyed by the local children. Beginning the next year, Mesa students were bused to Council.
The 1947 crop was the biggest in Mesa’s history – an estimated half million boxes of apples. By mid September, manager Harry Spence had shipped 10 boxcars full of pears. About 500 newly-hired workers must have made the place look like a bee hive as they hauled ladders and boxes to every corner of the vast forest of fruit trees. About six train cars were filled with fruit and shipped every day. By the end of October, 219 car loads had been shipped from the Council area.
Adams County Leader, July 13, 1951: “Idaho Horticultural Meeting to Be At Mesa”—Mesa Orchards are one of the largest in the Northwest. Harry Spence is the Mesa manager and first vice president of the Idaho Horticultural Society. Others involved in the meeting will be Virgil Stiple of Mesa; Frank S. Galey, Jr., Ernest Wing, J.W. Lofquist and John Hoover, all of Council. There will be a tour of the 1300-acre orchard. Visitors will see a new apple sauce plant, speed sprayers, tillage equipment, and experimental plots.”
Continued next week.
100 years ago
October 10, 1924
“Saturday evening eight masked members of the Ku Klux marched through town, planted five crosses and set them ablaze. The crosses were placed at the intersection of the streets in town, one in each direction from there, forming a cross. Several shots were fired from the vicinity of the crosses. No one outside of the Klan seems to know just what the significance of this demonstration is. From one on the outside we can see that neither harm nor good was done. The marchers, after setting up and igniting the crosses, jumped into cars and were soon lost in the darkness.”
Twenty-one farmers in the upper country planted trial plots of sugar beets this year. Average tested sugar content was 16.5%. The lowest content was 14.2% and the highest was grown by Mr. McGinley at Fruitvale, testing at 19.2%. “The first shipment of beets to the Paul factory went out from Midvale the first of the week and included two carloads. According to a factory man here Monday, there would be at least eight carloads more to be shipped from that point later.”
Married: Miss Laurie Taylor, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. E. C. Taylor of Midvale, to Earl Sherman of Weiser.
75 years ago
October 13, 1949
Died: David Barbour, 2 1/2-year-old son of Mr. and Mrs. Bob Barbour of near Caldwell. Funeral services were held at the Council Congregational Church, with Eunice Trumbo presiding.
A boy was born to Mr. and Mrs. Walter Schaub of Indian Valley. Mrs. Schaub is the former Maxine Wing.
A daughter named Peggy Darlene, was born to Mr. and Mrs. Bob Wolfe of Midvale at the Weiser hospital.
Indian Valley – Mr. and Mrs. Sam Stillwell of Stibnite are the proud parents of a baby boy born October 4. Mrs. Stillwell is the former Marjorie Surber.
49 years ago
October 9, 1975
To be married on October 10 at the L. D. S. Temple in Logan, Utah: Nancy Cutler, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Stanley Cutler, and Craig Keyser.
Died at his home near Cambridge: Pryor A. Legg, Sr., 76.
25 years ago
October 7, 1999
A daughter named Larissa Rae was born to Steve and Stacy Young of Midvale on September 16 in Ontario.
Died: Elanora Hulet, 80, of Council.
