CREEK PHOTOGRAPHER, JOE PLEDGER

 During Christmas, 2009 the Ranch rented the stables of Ft. Concho from the City.

They invited both the former captives and their friends to see where they were held. As you look at the pictures, look in the backgrounds. This is where Texas CPS and CASA held 465 children and another 170 adults in captivity for almost two weeks before they agreed to move them to a gym in San Angelo.

The building has no running water, little lighting beyond some extension cords, no heat, no air, no bathrooms, no toilets, no showers. It IS a stable.

It took only a few days before chicken pox ran rampant throughout the stable and dozens of children went to the hospital with dyhydration from throwing up and diarrhea.

Not until the mothers snuck cell phone pictures of the conditions inside Ft. Concho to the newspapers would CPS agree to seek a place slightly better to hold the captives, and then, only after the confiscation all cell phones in a strip search of every single captive, including newborn babies.

FINNEY FARMS HOME DAIRY, HILDALE, UTAH

Those lucky enough to have visited the twin towns of Colorado City and Hildale have probably taken away one of its treasures, the cheeses of the Finney Farms Home Dairy.

It is run by Winford Barlow and a nicer man to meet would be a task if you were not already surrounded in a sea of people who are warm and friendly, once they determine you are not out to destroy them and their family.  

If you get the opportunity, stop by. The first thing you'll receive is a handshake, the next is some of the best cheeses West of Wisconsin.

Finney Farm Home Dairy

"Made in the true artisan style, our cheeses are hand crafted in small batches with the milk from a single day’s milking from a small herd of registered Brown Swiss cows. Absent the luxury of mountain pasture, the cows are fed a diet of rich alfalfa hay and a ration of grains and minerals, free of animal byproducts. Our milk is also rBST free, and with no antibiotics. As the milk’s properties change with the seasons, the cheese changes as well, giving each batch its own unique qualities."

Any questions or comments please e-mail us at

finney@finneyfarm.com

Coming soon: Details and photos of our small farm. you can see our old farm website at www.winford.barlow.net   check it out!

SAFE FROM CPS AND CASA

In and around the Creek

Photo credit to Stephanie Sinclair of the New York Times Magazine.

Girls from the Creek attending the stealing of the U.E.P. Trust by Denise Lindberg.

A picture of Cammy Bateman taken by his Uncle, Joe Pledger

Craig Jeffs by Joe Pledger.

Shopping in the Creek.

Grandmother Vera Black.

Willie Jessop & Son.

Little Ms. Pledger by her father

"Tiny Dancer", Joe Pledger

Warren Steed Jeffs

"Winter Fun"