Agriculture Magazine, Summer, 2022 - Page 15
Perry Backus Photo
Four generations of the Gates family have lived on farmland just west of the Lone Rock School. Three generations gathered at the family home earlier this week to share memories and talk about the importance of a conservation easement that will preserve the working farmland forever. Sam Gates was joined by his daughter, Elizabeth, and 4-month-old granddaughter, Evelyn.
Celebrating four generations: Gates family preserves family farm forever Perry Backus Ravalli Republic
This article orignally appeared in the Ravalli Republic on Feb 2, 2020. It would be hard to imagine that Sam Gates could be much happier as he sat at the head of the kitchen table in the home where his family has gathered for generations. Just before Christmas, Gates and his siblings signed off on a conservation easement that will keep the family farm intact forever. With his 4-month-old granddaughter in one arm and his daughter at his side, Gates shared the stories about this place his family has called home since 1955. Light spilled in from the large picture window that looked out on the 160 acres that has raised all sorts of critters and crops — not to mention a pair of young brothers who grew up in a time when you could count all the houses
between Lone Rock and Stevensville on the fingers of both hands. “My brother and I chased each other all over these 160 acres,” Gates said. “I think that’s why we were really good at track. … We were renegades, just running wherever we wanted up and down the creek. We had so much freedom.” As his daughter, Elizabeth, listened to the stories that she’s certainly heard before, Gates remembered a life well lived as part of a family where the value of work was learned early and making ends meet was sometimes a daily challenge. If there were hard times, that’s not what Gates seemed to remember. He’d rather talk about the good memories that included stopping at the Stevensville Creamery and eating handfuls of warm cheese curds. And there were all those the forts that he and his siblings built along Threemile Creek. He smiled as he talks about their visits to
his grandparents who lived nearby just off Ambrose Creek. “My dad always had horses here,” Gates said. “He loved horses. When people couldn’t pay their bills, all of a sudden we would have a new horse or two. There were always animals around here.” Gates and his siblings built the addition to the family home for their parents. A china cabinet that Gates made in high school still graces one wall in the dining room. “There are just so many memories wrapped up in this place,” he said. “All of these things that have tied us together as a family are right here in this place that we grew up.” The 160 acres of prime farmland that comprise the easement are located just west of the Lone Rock School. The family home is down at the end of the dirt track called Gates Lane that runs along the edge of the school’s base-
