Not many people live long enough to celebrate their 90th birthday, but Chuck Jones is an exception. He was born on Oct. 12, 1917, and grew up on a sheep ranch in Jerome, Idaho. He has also lived in New York, Texas, California and Germany. But ever since he settled here in 1963, his heart belongs to the little mile-high valley of Fish Spring Flat. Even 44 years later, it's still a very rural area with coyotes, rabbits, wild horses and occasional bears that run freely across the sagebrush-covered desert.
Chuck is the last remaining Fish Springs homesteader. It was late October when he and his wife and seven dogs moved to Fish Springs and set up a little trailer to stay in. That very first morning they woke up to two feet of snow. There were no telephones in the early 1960s so they had to rely on ham radios and CBs in their trucks. Luckily, Chuck had a big DD18 International CAT, which he used to cut a road through Juniper Canyon so they could get to town via the Dangberg Ranch.
Back in the early '60s, to qualify for quarter of a section of the free land, which is 160 acres, certain mandatory improvements were required. You had to build a home which met the building codes, show the availability of water for irrigation and plant an eighth of the land in crops. Each succeeding year you had to develop another eighth of the land.
Chuck built a beautiful 4,000 square-foot adobe home that has a very unique 50-foot long wooden beam in the living room and green glass windows from Harvey Gross' casino. He also built a drill rig so he could drill his own ag well that was 600 feet deep and had 8-inch casing inside, then planted oats. Such a talented and ambitious man!
Chuck and his neighbor Bill Shipley bought the old Monarch Mine located on the eastern edge of Fish Spring Flat. When their partnership dissolved, Shipley kept the Monarch and Jones kept some other claims to the north. Regarding the future of Fish Springs, Jones said that we need to keep large lots in Fish Springs.
"Until we get a sewer district and a water district, Fish Springs has to keep 5-acre minimum lots or we will run out of good water. We certainly don't want the septic systems contaminating our wells. Our wells keep having to be dug deeper," he said.
As the last remaining homesteader in Fish Springs, Chuck Jones exemplifies the courage it takes to overcome the many hardships of life and the strong spirit of pioneer independence that made this country so great. On Saturday, Oct. 13, there will be a 90th birthday party celebration for him at the Fish Springs Fire Station from 1-4 p.m. Friends of Chuck's are invited to attend.
-- Linda Monohan may be reached at 782-5802.
