Once when I was making a field trip in the Salmon River country over near the Montana line, I stopped at the ranch of my good friend Steve Mahaffey. He said, “The salmon are going up the Lemhi River that flows through my ranch and I want you to stay over night with us so the boys can show you how to spear a salmon.” So I did.
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| Salmon River, Lemhi County, Aug. 1942. Library of Congress |
That night, it was the dark of the moon which was right for spearing. Three of Steve’s hands took me to the nearby river where I put on my hip boots and we waded into the stream that was only about kneedeep, and very clear, except for occasional deeper holes near the bank. One of the men who knew the stream very well would caution me frequently to “watch out for that log or rock right ahead of you”. The salmon were in the deeper holes near the bank. My guide had a gas lantern with a shield that could be closed when we were just wading along. When they opened the shutter and flashed the light into the eyes of the salmon, it was blinded for a minute or so, long enough for two of the men to spear it. Each had a three-pronged spear and they would attack the salmon simultaneously--one spearing in the back just ahead of the tail and the other spearing just back of the head. They would force the salmon to the bed of the stream and by maintaining pressure on the spears, sliding it up the rather low bank onto the grass. The big red Columbia River salmon averaged from 30-40 inches long and weighed about a pound to the inch. After they had a 36 inch salmon for me and a couple for the ranch, they let me take a spear and try my luck. I didn’t do so good as the reflection of the water caused me to touch the fish at a wrong place and caused it to dart to safety. They took my fish from that cold stream--wrapped it in freshly cut alfalfa and it kept cool until I got back home the next day, when we had a real treat with that good meat.
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| Colville fisherman holding a spear in Kettle Falls, Washington, ca. 1930s. Library of Congress |
There were many deer on Steve Mahaffey’s big cattle and sheep ranch and sometimes when he came to Pocatello, he would bring us some venison or lamb chops or freshly butchered beef. He said I had saved him from losing his ranch during the bank holiday and serious depression by financing his business and paying his creditors who were threatening him. I didn’t take any undue risk as he had a splendid big ranch with fine livestock and he and Mrs. Mahaffey were experienced and entirely trustworthy people.
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| Mahaffey cattle |
Early Career Mentors
The president of my company was Edgar Largulier, the President of the Largulier and Co. Bank, a rather small, but an extremely conservative and sound bank that was started by his father when Soda Springs, Idaho area was being settled.
Edgar was very kind and considerate of me, a young man starting out in the livestock lending business. He and John Galbraith, the other member of my loan committee and former Assistant manager of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, gave me the kind of sound lending advice and coaching that represented many years of successful banking and financing experience. I am very grateful that I had enough common sense to carefully follow their advice. Also I had a very capable and loyal livestock inspector in Alfred McCoy who knew how to evaluate livestock, knew the danger signs when a rancher was trying to do something unsound or irregular, and would always provide me with accurate and complete reports. “Mac” was a tough old tobacco chewing pioneer character but he always kept us away from loan applications that were unsound operations.
My Uncle “Nick” Scott was another very capable inspector. Mary’s Uncle Arthur Smith was a very valuable man in handling the field work for our feed lot lamb and steer loans.
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| Kenneth and Mary with Kenneth's uncle, Charles Jared Scott |
Financial Decisions
When the Kraft Cheese Co. opened their first plant in southern Idaho, I financed the good dairy cows they were instrumental in having the agricultural agents bring in from good Utah herds. It was also a fine diversification for the potato farmers. At the suggestion of the Kraft people, I made dairy loans in the Swiss colony in southwestern Wyoming for the production of Swiss cheese.
A Job Change
In 1932, I began following closely news items about a new nationwide Farm Credit System the Roosevelt administration was developing to give badly needed credit to agriculture following the Bank Holiday and depression that had very seriously dried up credit for agriculture. It became increasingly apparent to me that the Livestock Credit Corporation would have a hard time trying to compete with the Production Credit Associations with their millions of government capital.
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| Kenneth LeRoy Scott, 1930s |
The Production Credit System
In 1934, while I was trying to find out if I could get some of the government capital to strengthen my company, I received a call from Charlie Stewart in Washington, D.C. who said he was an official of the newly organized Farm Credit Administration. He asked if Mary and I would meet him at the Hotel Utah in Salt Lake City at a stated time the following week. Mary and I met him at the appointed time and after a nice dinner and probably a couple of hours questioning me extensively, he said his experience was in financing large livestock outfits and he would like to have me become his assistant in organizing some statewide livestock financing associations in Texas and the other western states under the new Farm Credit Act He said that would mean considerable travel for a while then moving to Washington, D.C. as a credit officer to help supervise the New Production Credit System.
He asked if we could give him our decision in the morning when we had breakfast together. Mary and I had a big decision to make, but by the next morning we both decided our answer should be “Yes”.
That was a major turning point in our lives and moving clear across the country from where our families resided. I could keep my stock investment in the Livestock Credit Corporation, but I must completely sever my activities in respect to its affairs, and in fact, do what I could to help establish PCA’s with lots of capital and almost unlimited loans funds, some of which would compete with my former business.
Father Helps with Transition
Father became the manager of L.C.C. and it was gradually liquidated over a period of about 4 years. Dad kept our stock investment, and some he had acquired, safe and we ultimately received a full return of our investment.
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| Kenneth and his father, Elzumer Scott, early 1930s |
Preparation to Move to Washington, D.C.
I spent two weeks in Washington, D.C. becoming familiar with the policies of the Production Credit System and in receiving instructions from Charley Stewart about my responsibilities. I spent weekends with Uncle Zene and Aunt Myrtle Scott and in sight-seeing around our nation’s capital.
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| Aunt Myrtle and Uncle Zene Scott |
Drought in San Angelo, Texas
My first field assignment was to go to San Angelo, Texas in the far western part of that big state and evaluate the loans and policies of the Texas Livestock Credit Association. That had a large volume of loans to ranchers experiencing their third year of severe drought. The main feed for the sheep and cattle was ground cactus plants for sheep and the cactus plants with the thorns burned off by gasoline torch for the cattle. They were not trying to raise lambs and calves but only to save the strongest breeding stock.
I requested an opportunity to go out and see the range country and spent a week traveling in a car with a very experienced livestock man who told me about the various native browse and grass feeds. We saw many livestock outfits and talked with the owners and their hired hands. We stayed at ranches and ate some meals at the camp wagons. The area was very sparsely settled and extended down along the Rio Grande River.
The next two weeks I spent in the office reviewing the loan folders and deciding the extent to which I should recommend that they should set up valuation reserves against the loans. Tulley Gamer, the son of Vice President ______ Gamer, was the President of the Texas Production Credit Corporation, the state supervisory agency and I gave a copy of my report to him. This was the beginning of a friendship with Tulley that extended over a period of years and included visits in his home with his family.
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| Kenneth with a moustache and goatee, circa 1930s |
My next official visit was to the Spokane District, which included Washington, Oregon, Montana, and Idaho. In addition to reviewing large livestock loans, I helped organize a stateside livestock PCA in Idaho by persuading some of my friends who were successful livestock men to become members of its board of directors.
Move to Spokane
I was requested to make Spokane my headquarters for awhile and supervise the work of the Production Credit Corporation of Spokane and the similar Corporation at Berkeley, California that served California, Nevada, and Arizona. Mary and I stored our furniture in Pocatello and with the boys, moved to a furnished apartment in Spokane. Mary had two brothers and their families living in the area, Clair and Ralph--Ralph in Spokane and Clair not far away at Colfax. This “home” lasted about four months when I was asked to move to Washington, D.C. as a permanent headquarters and supervise the Spokane and Berkeley districts from there.
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| Mary Eliza Whittle, circa 1930s |
