4 - The life of Henry Jensen

               My great-great-Grandfather, Henry Jensen, was born October 21, 1886 to Anders and Bollette Sorensen Jensen on the North Island of New Zealand, and left school in the lower grades to help his parents with farm chores. He was an expert shooter and at age 17 won a live pigeon shoot at Hutt, then at 18 won again when the nation’s largest shoot was held with nine shooters from Australia among the 69 gunners competing. He won many trophies, several guns, and a lot of cash. He also won horse racing contests that were held every day except Sunday, at one meet winning 9 of the 13 events and receiving a saddle, bridle, and cash, and at another meet a tin replica of the Victorian Cross.

               Henry Jensen married Carolina Ada Fryer from the South Island of New Zealand on April 7, 1913, and several years later, while plowing his fields in New Zealand, decided they should go to America. He sold his farm interest to a brother, sold all his property except a dog, sent a small draft to Portland, and a larger to Pocatello. The ship reached Portland ahead of the draft, leaving the Jensens stranded with two children, but a ticket agent kindly loaned them enough to reach Pocatello. They arrived at Coulam, near Preston, on June 14^th, 1919, where they were greeted by Jensen’s brother-in-law and sister, Edgar and Alma Mason. Jensen bought 600 acres for a cattle ranch east of Clifton and Oxford and there built a house. He payed $100 a head of cattle, but a severe winter in March froze all the cattle to death.

               To earn more money, Henry worked six weeks at a ditch digging job for 10 cents a foot of three feet deep and two feet wide ditches, digging on average 100 feet a day, which gave him fair funds with which to move on. He had never worked for anyone else before and wanted to get another farm. With a short-term loan from a bank and a lot of financial support from his family in New Zealand, Henry was soon able to buy land along the Hi-line Road in near Pocatello, Idaho along with two old horses to pull a wagon. That winter, he fertilized the land, and next spring launched into the business of truck gardening.

               One time Jensen noted, “We planted every kind of vegetable that would grow in this part of the country, and when J.J. Facer saw the New Zealand planting method I was using, offered use of a potato planter.” The big garden flourished. The Jensens hired no help and Mrs. Jensen did everything but drill beets – she irrigated, drove four horses, and proved to be a good working partner. Henry piled vegetables on a rig and made daily trips to Pocatello through four to five inches of dust on Pole Line road to peddle his produce. He and his wife worked 16 hours a day.

               When the Hi-line canal was dug, giving Jensen 95 acres under water, he bought 640 acres for $4 an acre above the present interstate highway, and 20 acres at $10 an acre. His family cut poles and before long had 1,700 acres fenced. He dug pipelines to convey the water to troughs for cattle and in the first year sold $10,000 worth of steers. His operations were slowed by a call from the LDS church to serve a mission in New Zealand, during which his wife operated the farm. When he returned, he pursued a greater water supply and at 450 feet struck a strong water supply that pumped 300 inches for 12 hours; Later they payed $65,000 for a sprinkler system.

               Henry found his American adventure a financial success in development of large land holdings, and he long practiced a “pay as you go” policy, saying he bought 14 cars and two new trucks, but never rode in one not paid for. He followed this policy in purchases of food, clothing, and furniture. The Jensens owned a 12-apartment building at Las Vegas, which they later sold all of except one apartment for themselves where they have spent 28 winters throughout their lives. Henry was a strong believer in having a good wife, saying, “There never was a man who amounted to much without a good woman behind him.” The Jensens were members of the LDS church for which Henry served as Sunday school superintendent three years, served 17 years as a counselor to three bishops, served as a high priest, and served on two missions. Henry Jensen lived to be 100 years old.