In the late 1800s Finley (Fin) Barkley, a railroad man from Tehama, CA, came to southwest Arizona to homestead. He claimed 160 acres in a spot on the Colorado River, about 20 miles northeast of Yuma, AZ. Consequently, when the Laguna Dam was built in 1903-1907 and Mittry Lake was formed, the homesteads that were flooded, including Fin’s, were moved to Southern Yuma County, in the Yuma Valley.
In 1918, Fin’s nephew, Les Barkley moved from Red Bluff, California, being a Merchant Marine, to the prosperous farming valley of Yuma, Arizona. There, he joined his uncle Hugh Barkley who had was homesteading in the area since 1912. For years, the two farmed in the Yuma Valley, producing cotton and alfalfa[…] read more
Jim Barkley carried on the family farming operation after returning from the Navy in WWII, until his death in 1979.