By John Beydler
In December 1902, Jerico merchant J. B. Carrico Jr., looking ahead to the Christmas season, went on a turkey buying spree and then attracted widespread attention by herding more than 700 of them the 38 miles to Nevada.
The Jerico Optic, in a story, attached to the back of the above photograph, said Mr. Carrico, “the wide-awake merchant,” had announced on Saturday “he would pay 6 1/2 cents in trade or 5 1/2 in cash for turkeys delivered Monday.”
By sunrise Monday, “wagon loads of turkeys began to arrive and kept ‘a cummin’ all day and up into the night and the next day till 10 o’clock. the Optic said.
“The sight was simply grand,” the Optic said of the scene when Mr. Carrico started the turkeys on their 38-mile journey to Nevada. “The street in front of the Optic office was jammed with bronze, white and black turkeys. Over 700 were started and were driven out to the timber near Mr. Miskimen’s, where they roosted.
“A watch stayed with them and the next morning 300 more were added and started on their journey. It was a sight long to be remembered.”
The Springfield News-Leader, in a story datelined Dec, 18, 1902, in Nevada, completes the tale: “Two men from Jerico springs, 38 miles from here, arrived today driving a flock of 750 turkeys, sold to a Kansas City firm. They were led by seven geese it required two days to make the trip.”
Originally posted June 27, 2019; Updated April 16, 2020
Copyright John Beydler 2020 All rights reserved
Jerico Springs on parade 