Zemira took seriously the responsibility which was placed upon his willing and capable shoulders. He recorded, November 13, “Having been appointed to take charge of cotton farm, I, in company with Bp. Hogan started for that place. Took dinner at the camp.”
Zemira apparently camped at the cotton farm part of the time while working there, as he mentions returning to camp, or eating at camp, or staying there, which would have been much more practical for him than traveling each day to and from Leeds. On our modern highway Leeds is 10 miles from Washington. (He probably traveled by horseback much of the time.) The cotton farm was on the south side of the river, which meant he would have to cross the river some place when going to town and back.
He mentioned they had 58 acres under cultivation, and also they were trading for more cotton land. Since the land was virgin land, unbroken, unworked, it necessitated the making of roads, of hauling rock and timber for the roads and the dams. Then there was the work of grubbing brush from the new land and making ditches so it could be watered.
They started working in earnest, though his time, of necessity, was divided between doing tasks at the farm, of building a home for himself and family to live in at the farm, and attending meetings. Getting the water down the ditch was a priority, but it was a challenge, taking several days because the land was so dry, and there were “gopher holes innumerable.” And as for building his house, it would have been a big job to dig the cellar, then he had to make roads to go find and haul rock for it, etc. It’s more than probable that he had help with all of the various tasks, but he doesn’t say so. At least he had help with building the house, for he mentions that his friend, “Bro. H. P. Iverson, began laying up cellar wall.”
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