Chapter 4

I had just handed the bank draft to the auctioneer’s clerk and collected all my papers on my new ranch property when I turned to see Luther standing near me.

“Les, you are now the owner of one of the best farm and ranch spreads in Yuma County. You must have brought the Luck of the Irish with you to Yuma.”

“If that’s the case, I hope my luck never runs out. Luther, if you have a few minutes to spare, I’d like to have a private talk with you. Walk over to the courthouse with me while I file my deed.

“Sure, on our way over there, tell me about New York.”

“How did you know, Luther?”

“I know a New Yorker when I hear him speak, Les. I lived the better part of my life there until the need to leave was thrust upon me. I would guess you’re from the same part of the city as me? Possibly Lower Manhattan?”

“Be very aware – Luther Street – no one here knows of my past and no one will ever know!”

“Your past is safe with me, Les. I was given the chance to get out a few years ago, by a close friend. My past is not a good one either, but I have been able to put that behind me out here and have a good life.”

“Luther, I was told by a close friend of mine, to look you up when I arrived in Yuma. The same friend who told me to get out of town before it was too late. He called you by your name and said he was a friend of yours.”

We were walking away from the court clerk’s office, when Luther rattled me with his next question.

“Tell me, Les, how is our friend, Al doing these days?“

“He’s in Chicago by now, and if you know Al, you know he’s doing good no matter where he goes.”

“What about Johnny and Lucky?”

“I have no idea – but my guess is, they followed Al, with all the heat that was coming down on the streets back there.”

“I saw you pay in full for the Sisemore spread. Was that part of your grubstake?”

“No, I paid with my own money. Be it stained or not, I earned it the best way and only way I knew how. I still have my grubstake. I take it Al had a stake in your future?

“Yes, and I invested in farm land and other properties. I have returned my investments five fold in doing so. If you’re interested, I can cut you a better-than-fair deal, on that five hundred acres which joins Tom’s land. The low land on it is the most fertile in the valley, though that part may be subject to flooding in late spring.”

“I’d like to take a look at it, but I’m not sure I need to buy up a lot of land this soon after arriving here. People will wonder where my money is coming from.”

“I’ll come out one day and show you the property. After you see how the previous owner has laid out the land with irrigation canals, with the water coming from the Yuma Siphon, you’ll want to do the same with your new land also ... If, when you see the land, you decide you want it, I’ll sell it to you per acre, for what you paid for the Sisemore spread and we’ll draw up a rent contract. That way it will be yours and you’ll pay for it as rent each year and no one will know but you and me.”

“Tell me about this Yuma Siphon you mentioned.”

“Back about ten or eleven years ago they built dams upriver on The Colorado, so they could control the flood waters in the lower valley. Then they built an irrigation system called the Yuma Siphon which supplies river water to all the farm land out there on the Yuma side. I’m not sure exactly how it all works, but from what I’ve been told, the water comes through a large tile underneath the Colorado River, to this side, simply by gravity, providing water for irrigation on the Yuma side. The same water which could be used on your land, Tom’s land and the Santiago land, when you need it.

“That makes it even more interesting, but what about the deed, if we did work a deal?”

“I’ll deed the land over to you and you can have it filed at any time you feel it’s safe to do so.”

“Why are you selling me that land as cheap as the land in the auction, if it’s already set up to irrigate?”

“I’m in the business to turn land into money. I bought it from the owner cheap because I had cash. I’ll still make a profit off you, and I’ll have my money back to invest in even more land at a better price. Besides that, the land is just sitting there idle and will soon grow up in weeds and grass if it’s not farmed ... I have no intention of becoming a farmer, though there are many up and down the Colorado and Gila River Valleys who have become very, very rich selling produce on the wholesale markets back east and up north.”

“I’d like for you to take me with you to have a look at those farming operations real soon, to get an idea how to make my land produce crops as well as the best farmers are doing.

“If I may, I’ll bring my wife and two young sons out to stay a few days while we go have a look at the more prosperous farms and ranches in the two valleys.”

“You’ve married since you came here?”

“Yes and we have two handsome young sons. I married a Mexican woman a few years younger than me and I have never been so happy in my life as I am now. You should set your hooks in Lucia Diega Santiago, Les. That young woman and Juan Carlos could be millionaires many times over, with the right management and a man like you running the operation with an iron fist.”

“A man like me? I don’t know the first thing about farming or raising crops for market.”

“Maybe not, but you have a strong back and a strong will, Les. You are just hardheaded enough to make it work for you as well as it does for others, once you know how. Let me come show you how the better farmers in the valley are irrigating their lands. You’ll become a millionaire also, because you now own some of the richest lands in all the valley. Also, you are within arm’s reach of the most beautiful young Mexican woman in Arizona, who will make you the best partner and wife. She also has the will to succeed and between the two of you, you’ll own the produce markets in Yuma County and the river valleys.”

“You remind me of our friend. He was always thinking of better ways to make more money and then putting the people in place who could make it happen.”

“He taught me well, Les. Then he kicked my ass out of New York with a threat to kill me if I came back. As you can see, I took him at his word.”

“I had my ass kicked out too, with that same threat. I’m glad we’ve met, Luther. I’ll need a good man at my back who knows what it means to have a friend he can trust at his back.”

“I’ll never fear another man again in my lifetime knowing you’re at my back, Les Savage. I’ve heard more than one account of the fight at the Yuma Corrals yesterday, just as every man, woman and child in this county has by now.”

“Come see me soon, Luther, and bring your family to stay a few days or even a week. I want to see what it would look like to have two sons of my own, following me around.”

“ ... And a beautiful young Mexican wife at your side, tending your every need?”

“That most of all.”

“Sold, to the man with number twenty-five,” I heard the auctioneer yell and I looked around to see who had taken my sign. I’d forgotten where I left it. The last time I saw it...

As I looked around, there stood Tom Wancho, smiling at me as he held my sign out to me.

“Les, you just bought fifty head of sheep. You need to go pay the man one thousand dollars. You’ll need some sheep on that pasture land to keep the weeds and vines out, that the cattle won’t touch.”

“I thought sheep and cattle didn’t mix well on the range? I heard that sheep eat the grass so short that it wouldn’t grow back.”

“Whoever told you that has never raised sheep or cattle ... One compliments the other on range land. If you don’t tell the cattle or the sheep any different, they’ll never know they’re not supposed to get along with each other...

“Out here, it’s called pasture management. When you’ve grazed a pasture with your cattle, put them on another fenced pasture and turn the sheep loose on that one. They’ll take out all the nettle, weeds and vines that would otherwise take over your pasture and choke out your forage grass over time.” Tom was laughing when I went to pay the man out of my pocket. I had no idea what was so funny to him until I paid for the sheep.

On the bill of sale was Juan Carlos Santiago’s name.

I walked back to where Tom stood waiting. He was looking right at me, and he was still laughing.

“Tom, you just bought Juan Carlos’ and Lucia’s sheep.”

“No Les... You did, and here they come. I see Juan Carlos laughing and Lucia has a fire in her eyes.” He started laughing again as he backed away from me a few steps. I knew I’d get him back one day for this, no matter how long it takes.

“Tell me quick, Tom. How much are the six horses of Juan Carlos’ worth?”

“I’d give a thousand for the six, if I had the money to spare and needed some some big fine, fancy-stepping saddle horses like his.”

“Les Savage, why did you do that? The price of those sheep was way too high and you just did that because it was our sheep, didn’t you? All we need is for you is be our friend and business partner, we don’t need charity.” Lucia stood facing me with her hands on her hips, glaring at me with her hair scattered all over her head and shoulders.

“I did it because a good friend told me I needed at least fifty prime sheep to breed a flock and to keep the nettle, weeds and vines from ruining my pastures. I didn’t even know they were your sheep until I paid for them, Lucia. Now stop behaving like Catherine Sprague and give me another hug.” I didn’t wait for her, I grabbed her with both my arms and lifted her off the ground as I held her to me.

I felt her body relax, then her arms went around my shoulders as she pressed her face against my neck, and cried.

“Stop crying, Lucia, and stop trying to tell me what I can and cannot do with my own money. You’re a beautiful young woman and you need to just relax and start smiling more. Here, keep this money for Juan Carlos. It’s the money for his six horses I’m buying,” I told her and pulled ten bills out of my pocket.

Lucia jerked her head back, wiping her eyes as she looked at me with a smoldering glare. I just knew I was about to get schooled in a few choice Mexican curse words. Then she smiled and took the money, stuffing it down inside the back pocket of her denim trousers which already fit her backside like skin.

Tom was standing beside me now that the storm had blown over, and I turned to him, “Tom, I’d like for you to join Lucia, Juan Carlos and me for dinner at the hotel before we head out to the valley and have a look at this ranch that I now own ... We have a business proposal we’d like for you to consider, if you’re even interested.” I took Lucia’s hand as I spoke and started toward the hotel leaving Tom and Juan Carlos standing there.

When we reached the hotel, Tom had caught up to us and Juan Carlos was nowhere to be seen.

“Where is Juan Carlos?” I asked.

“He said he was going to have Renaldo start the sheep back toward their new home and that he would be right back. He said to tell you to wait until he returned to talk about business.

“Then he mumbled something about, the big man taking over in Yuma County.”

I looked at Lucia and she wasn’t laughing, but she did have a big smile for me.

We had placed our orders for dinner and I was ready to talk some more about Lucia’s plans to raise vegetables for market. “Tom, Lucia’s been working on a deal for some time now, while trying to find out all she can about it before she jumped in. She told me about it when it looked like I may get my hands on that ranch out there that joins your spread and their land. She says we can raise a wide variety of vegetables, with melons, table-corn, and fruit in the valley and ship our produce to the canneries and they’ll buy all we can harvest. I’ve offered to put up my share of the expenses for a share of the profits. When we talked it over, I asked Lucia and Juan Carlos if they thought you may want a chance to get in on it.”

“What’s the deal? Is there good money to be made? What’s the cost of getting in?”

I turned to Lucia, “Lucia, you tell him what you’ve got planned and what you already have in the works.”

“Tom, a few years ago I had our soils tested by sending them to the university in Tucson to see what, if anything, we could grow to make more than we could raising hay, sheep and cattle. When the results came back, I learned that we have some of the richest soil in the state, and our soil is even ranked near the top in the whole United States in fertility. There was a Professor Forbes, who sent me a letter telling me that if we have as many acres of this soil type as I reported on my information sheets, we could furnish half the entire country in vegetables they would need annually, by growing crops in this climate year round, with irrigation.

“I wrote him back and told him about the Yuma Siphon Project, which brings water underneath the Colorado River, across to the Yuma side in order for our lands to be irrigated. That’s when I explained that most of our property lies in an area higher than the available irrigation water and would be hard to irrigate without pumps. But I knew we could still raise multiple crops per year on our lower lands, and still make a good return.

“When I wrote him back, he told me that I’d need to know what crops to plant, where, and when to plant them and I’d need a market that was guaranteed. He asked me in his letter if I would be willing to come to Tucson and learn all about it. He said he could help me get a State Grant and even a Grant through the US Department of Agriculture, if we could prove we had the funds to operate. I have been sitting on this for a year now because we didn’t have the funds for seed, labor, or the machinery we’d need. When I told Les about it, he wanted in and told us he’d buy the seed for all our lands for his part.

“Les and I want to form a business corporation with each of us owning equal shares. He suggested we give you a chance to go in with us at twenty percent, with he and I going in at forty percent each. We’d sure like to have you with us on this. I know as well as anyone in this state how hard times are right now, but like Professor Forbes told me the day I left Tucson – Lucia, people will always have to eat.”

Tom was quiet the whole time Lucia and I talked, looking from one of us to the other as we explained what she went to school for and what she had plans for. Then, after Lucia stopped talking, he still didn’t speak for a long time.

Finally, he leaned forward in his chair, looking around at me, Lucia and Juan Carlos before he spoke in his slow, easy way of talking, “I’ve read about this being done over in California – across the river, in the valley. I’ve always wondered if it would work here. We raise potatoes and melons here now, I don’t see why your plan won’t work in an even bigger way than you’ve laid out, Lucia...

“I’ve been stingy with my money all my life. Never had a lot, but it don’t take a lot for me to get by. I raise my own food and make my own repairs ... I reckon I could see a way clear to buy some of the equipment we’d need. Then I’d be willing to put my name on a note to buy the rest, if you two did. I know farm machinery prices have taken a hard hit like everything else in this depression. If we take our time on buying some of the bigger pieces of equipment, I’m sure we could get our hands on some used tractors and planters and have them brought in here cheap ... I reckon you can count me in. I’ll put up my twenty percent on the equipment – against Les’ forty percent he puts in on the seed – for twenty percent of the profits, if and when we make any.”

I reached across the table to shake with him, “Thanks, Partner. With the three of us putting time, money and labor into this, we’ll be able to show that we have funds to operate on. We can then get those grants Lucia told us about and we’ll have her know-how to show us how to make it work.”

Lucia jumped up from her chair and ran around to where we were. I stood and Tom did too as she hugged each of us around our necks. Juan Carlos was grinning when he came around the table. I haven’t even seen the place I just bought, and here I am, making plans to work my butt off, and try to make it pay me back for what I paid for it.

Tom had rode into Yuma yesterday on his wagon pulled by team of horses, to attend the auction, and stock up on groceries and supplies. Lucia and I went with him over to the mercantile and she helped me put in an order for some canned goods, flour, corn meal, lard, salt, sugar and spices and whatever else she could think of that I may need when I get out to the ranch. Juan Carlos went to the stockyards to saddle the six horses I’d bought, and bring them back.

While he was gone, Tom drove the wagon over to the hotel so I could load my new clothes, my guns and my suitcase, with my grubstake inside. When we returned, the man and his wife at the store had all our goods boxed up. Tom put his on his monthly bill, and I paid for mine.

When we left Yuma, I knew I looked like a greenhorn sitting on a saddle horse for the first time. They had their laughs as I tried to mount up, but after I had my legs astraddle that horse, I felt like I was in control ... then those cross-bred Paso Fino horses started patting the ground like they were running. They have the fastest feet I had ever seen on a horse but they were even smoother to ride than the trains I rode for five and a half days coming from New York.

Lucia was riding one of spirited black horses beside me. Juan Carlos was on the wagon seat beside Tom as they followed along behind us – the other four horses were tied behind the wagon.