Gerald Flake

Inducted in 2015

Mar 2

Snowflake - Navajo County

Inducted in 2015

Brigham Young called Gerald Flake to help settle northern Arizona and first settled on the Little Colorado River, near where Joseph City is today. Deeming the place inhospitable to farming and ranching, Flake moved on, going as far as Ramah, New Mexico, as he looked for a place to colonize. While exploring, he came upon the Silver Creek Valley in Arizona, White Mountain, owned by James Stinson. He called the Rio de la Plata and thought it had potential. Gerald negotiated with James Stinson, who had settled the valley, had about 300 acres planted, and was running a few cattle. Stinson agreed to sell the ranch and the water rights for $12,000. Gerald’s grandgrandson said, "My grandfather said there was no way he could afford to pay that for the ranch, so he returned to the settlement on the Little Colorado River. Just before he got to his family, his baby died. His wife was in a terrible condition and unhappy with things as they were. My grandfather told my grandmother, Lucy Hannah White, about this beautiful place he had seen with a clear running stream. She told him immediately to return, make a deal, and do whatever it took to get the land." Gerald went back and met with Stinson and worked out an arrangement by which he would pay $11,000 for the crops and ranch. They agreed the purchase price would be paid in "Utah grade cattle." Flake moved his family to the Silver Creek Valley on July 21, 1878. Ironically, those cattle were part of starting the Pleasant Valley War. Stinson took the cattle to the Pleasant Valley area, where he began ranching.

Gerald was on his way to Utah to get cattle to pay Stinson when he met Erastus Snow, now an apostle of the Mormon Church, on the road. Flake was asked if his new community had a name. When he said "no," Snow suggested it be named after the two of them—Snow Flake. Later, the name was combined into one word—Snowflake.

The Flake family history has had some interesting twists and turns. Gerald's great-uncle Charles was a deputy sheriff. One day, he received a telegram saying that an outlaw named Mason had just robbed a bank and was thought to be in Snowflake. Charles took his brother, James Madison Flake, with him when he went to arrest Mason. They found him in a boarding house next to the church in Snowflake. 'When they tried to arrest him, Mason pulled his gun with his left hand, shot my grandfather through the ear, and blinded him in one eye. Then he shot Charles and killed him. My grandfather pulled his gun and shot Mason, killing him."

Gerald grew up working on the family ranch. He was active in FFA and was a high school athlete. After high school, he attended Arizona State College (now ASU), where he met his wife, Arlene LeSueur. They were married in July 1951.

In 1964, Gerald took over his farm and made numerous improvements to the land, including adding an underground pipe to about 100 acres under irrigation. In addition to working his own cattle operation, he worked at the paper mill in Snowflake and with the Department of Agriculture, where he was with the Farmers Home Administration for ten years. "I was a county supervisor or for Farmers Home Administration. I worked in Douglas and Phoenix, and the last few years, I was in Snowflake before I resigned (in 1970)," Gerald said. He intended to operate his cattle and alfalfa operation full-time, but with eight kids, he worked for the Caldwell family, operating one of their pig farms. When the kids were grown, he could return to his first love - ranching.

Gerald switched his herd from Herford cattle to Red Angus around 1995. He and his wife, Arlen, have been involved with the Arizona Farm Bureau. She has worked with the Farm Education Program and has served as county women's chairman, board member, and secretary/ treasurer. The couple has made several trips to Washington, D. C., where they talked with government representatives about agricultural concerns.

In his 70s, Gerald continues to adopt new techniques to improve his land. He has partnered with a windmill power-generating company to harness the insistent wind on the Little Colorado River Plateau to create electricity. He continues his agricultural legacy and passes his knowledge on to his grandchildren.