People

: Leroy A. "Lee" Toothaker; He was born on a farm in Iowa. His parents were Benjamin Wesley Toothaker and Florence (Reysden) Toothaker. The family bred mules and raised corn and oats. Lee did not attend high school, but when the family moved to Missouri, he attended the Normal College in Kirksville, Missouri, where he obtained his education degree and became a teacher. He taught in Nebraska and Montana before moving in 1911 to Palisade, Colorado with his wife, Ruby Simpson, who was also a teacher. Lee’s parents had moved previously to Palisade. In Palisade, he raised peach trees on 70 acres, but found his soil was too high in saline for such plants when the trees died. He raised alfalfa and cattle instead.

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