short reading: pioneer ranch life in orange county

Question 1

when the clarks dug their well, did they freely share their well water?

Answer 1

yes and no, some people came with barrels on wagons to cart the water away, but it costed nearly its weight in gold so it could not be distributed except in emergencies.

Question 2

what sort of disaster did the first county orchard owners face? how did they - as a community - respond/adapt?

Answer 2

• water shortage = solved by digging wells
• northern crops were first planted (apples, cherries, etc.) = did not produce well
• water loss due to seepage = typhoid developed because people tried to drink contaminated water
• preparing for irrigation took over a week; water needed to reach basins
• towns water worked and had a central tank that distributed outwards

Question 3

to what was the author referring as “one of the great events of our life, for so much depended on it?”

Answer 3

an irrigation [of the orchard] meant the expenditure of a good many dollars, not counting the labor of a man and team in preparing for it