JOHN E. JONES. – The second to locate in the beautiful Indian valley was the gentleman of whom we write. He was born in South Wales in 1818, and crossed the Atlantic to America in 1850, removing to Salt Lake in the next year. Removing to Cache valley in 1859, he made some valuable improvements on his place; but, disagreeing with the Mormons, he removed to Soda Springs in 1863. The next year he removed to Deer Lodge valley, Montana, farming until a destructive invasion of grasshoppers. Meantime he has been making butter, which commanded a price of two dollars per pound, and selling hay at Butte at one hundred dollars per ton. After the grasshopper plague, he made a personal examination of California, Oregon and Washington Territory, finally, in 1871, selecting Indian valley, Oregon, as his home, locating near the present site of the town of Elgin. There he has since remained, farming and raising stock, and owning half a section of very rich land. He has brought up and educated a family of eight children, and has ten grandchildren.
Mr. Jones is a veteran of the Ute war of 1853; and in 1863 was in the Beaver Lake valley, where a companion was killed at his side by Indians.