John and Mary Scales lost their two year old daughter Helen in 1887 to an unknown illness. John Scales was born in Ireland, immigrated to Maine and came to Owyhee County in 1868 following stops in California. In partnership with John Wagener he purchased an arrastra, which is a primitive mill for grinding and pulverizing gold and silver ore. He discovered that a considerable amount of valuable tailings were going to waste in the big DeLamar mill. He built some nice flumes and mills and ran a profitable operation there. He married Mary Crowell in Owyhee County in 1879. In addition to Helen, they also had two sons, Henry and Wilbert, who both served in World War I and lived long lives. John died in 1910 and is buried in the Wagontown Cemetery. Mary died in 1911 and is buried in the Hollywood CA cemetery. Son Henry was a student at Stanford in 1904 so maybe she followed him to California.
“Once again has death entered the garden of life
and selected the most precious flower as a prize,
leaving the fond parents bowed in grief
and their hearts bleeding for the loved one so suddenly taken away.”
