| The Elam/Piper Century Farm |
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| Two women farm in the town with two names |
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Louise Piper and daughter in law Vicky
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By Madeline MacGregor, ODA Information Office
Plucky and resourceful Louise Piper-Johnson and equally plucky and resourceful daughter-in-law Vicky, are fourth and fifth generation century farm "girls" living out the hard work and dreams of their homesteading ancestors. Vicky and husband Rick Piper (Louise's son) manage some 500 acres of their historic Milton-Freewater property, growing mostly wheat.
Louise is a bright star is in her eighth decade, and if she is slowing down her activities any, the evidence is hard to find. She revels in keeping her lowland fruit orchards tidy, and a small herd of organic Angus beef in tip-top shape. Louise and second husband John Johnson, peaceably coexist with the family's antiques, photos, and letters-residing in the circa 1912 house built by John Henry Piper, grandfather to Louise's late first husband, Richard Piper.
Since both Louise and Vicky are in-laws to the farm's original inhabitants, they jokingly refer to themselves as "outlaws." The two women seem to enjoy the double entendre connecting them to Umatilla County's pioneers and vivid tales of Milton-Freewater's past.
The Elam/Piper farm once stretched all the way to what is presently Milton-Freewater's busy residential and rumbling-with-traffic commercial hub. The original horse and cow barns that housed the dray teams of John Henry's early harvests remain pristine on the Piper property, providing shelter for Louise's Angus calves.
Two names for a small town
In the 1870s, Andrew Martin (A.M.) Elam married the daughter of pioneer William S. Frazier, and developed a string of profitable farm and farm-related businesses within the Milton-Freewater community. Andrew Elam and Martha (Frazier) purchased a portion of the land the Pipers presently farm, and established the Peacock Flour Mills, a mortuary, and a hardware store. Diverse and capable A.M. was elected the first mayor of Milton-the little city at the bottom of a big hill had not yet added "Freewater" to its name.
How Milton won its hyphenated second name remains shrouded in folklore-and there are two conflicting explanations according to Vicky and Louise. In one version, the town's citizens were divided over liquor-laws, and those who favored the sale of alcohol started an adjoining township called Freewater. In the second version, the town hoped to entice new citizens to move in by offering free irrigation water to all settlers-and advertised the relocation benefit by combining the word "free water" with Milton.
Wheat and water, the vital elements
The Piper clan joined bloodlines and farms with their neighbors, the Elams, when A.M. and Martha's daughter, Rachael Laverna, married John Henry Piper. The couple raised seven children, of which two sons, George and Elwood, took up the mantle of farming wheat on the hills and fruit on the plat.
Harvesting wheat (without motor driven machinery) on those same hills was as difficult as one can imagine. Teams of 25 horses and mules pulled custom threshers to a specific location. The machines would cut the grain and separate it from the stalk and husk, and sack it on the spot-a very advanced method for its time. The Piper family personalized their early 1900s combine with the added convenience of a cook shack. Meals were prepared onsite for the harvest crew while the sacked wheat was loaded into wagons destined for Elam's Peacock Mills.
Mills in and around the region were vital to the success of dryland wheat farming. In the 1800s, wheat was ground using millstones; but in the1900s a new technology utilized a series of rollers to reduce the grain into flour particles. Particles of different sizes were then separated into various products by the use of machines called sifters and purifiers. Although this new technology was advantageous for grinding hard spring wheat, winter wheat was the mainstay of the region's farmers.
Dryland farming in the modern world, as in the 19th century, requires a region rich with winter-dominant rainfall. It also demands producers specialize in water-use efficiency, maintain an expertise in soil nutrition and fertilizers, know the optimum time to sow, practice routine weed control and insect pest and disease management, and experiment with crop rotation. The Pipers have not only mastered the limiting factors in the production of dryland wheat, they have also incorporated alternative practices such as no-till into the family's sustainable lifestyle. However, water and irrigation rights are of increasing concern, and have become the worry of many a dryland wheat family. New worries move in with new neighbors, and new crops on the lowlands vie for well water; apple orchards are not always instant best friends with vineyards. The question for the Pipers becomes "how can we all get what we need to remain viable?"
Coincidence completes the circle
When Louise's husband Richard Piper passed away in 2001, daughter Kris advised her mother to attend grief counseling. As members of the support group took turns introducing themselves around the circle, they mentioned the dates on which their spouses had died. Louise Piper was astonished to hear widower John Johnson say that his wife had died on exactly the same day as Richard. There was even more of a surprise in store when Johnson shared with the group that he too, owned a century farm. Apparently the coincidence was more than random happenstance; Louise marvels at her incredible good fortune in meeting and marrying a good farming man, not once in a lifetime, but twice. John's family farm borders both Washington and Oregon, but he and Louise have made the Elam/Piper farm their home.
Two women carry forward traditions bestowed
Louise Piper-Johnson is an active member of the Milton-Freewater Historical Society and serves as its president. As such, she finds herself participating in events held at the Frazier Farmstead Museum. Inside the reverently restored home of the town's original founder, she finds herself face-to-face with the legacy of William S. Frazier, friend and father-in-law of A.M. Elam. Vicky Piper as well, represents a long lineage of farming on both sides of her family. She continues to help her husband with all phases of the Elam/Piper farm operation, driving tractors as well as keeping alive the oral history of her family's farming roots. If years from now one were to enquire of Louise and Vicky, as some did of John Henry in his day "So how did you do," the two outlaws would no doubt reply that they had done very well, indeed.
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