The town was wiped out in the late 1880's to 1890's due to Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever (tick fever), the
ricketelli disease caused by a tick bite. Ironically, in August, 2006, my only daughter was diagnosed with this
same disease and was hospitalized for a long time, but survived the illness due to medications. She lost 15
pounds which is alot of weight when you are only 6 years old. It was only in 1970s, a medicine was developed
to fight this disease and now the survival rate is 100% if diganosed early. There are long term effects, however,
we will remain optimistic and there are no noticeable signs at this point in time.
For ten years, work proceeded on the estate in a variety of areas to try and make it self-supporting and self
maintaining. A large cistern was put in on the high mountain side of the property during the hard drought to
maintain an irrigation system for the lower portion of the property which is all driven by downhill energy and is
only operational in the summer time. The cistern is supported by one of the best wells in our canyon.
Every thing on the property, I have designed or had custom built using Grade A steel to meet our every day needs.
Some of the items designed were: sled rack, bicycle rack, kettle holder for old antique kettle, arbor, foot bridges,
JR brand, rabbit cage and of course Stars. My Dad custom built the Star at the entrance with the R in the middle
located at the bottom of our hill, some garden carts and some crosses that are on display in my gardens. All of
the pieces have been powder coated due to the harsh weather conditions and in order to further preserve.
This summer, we finally finished the play ground area which took awhile just to every thing being custom and
strategically placed. The old playground equipment was removed. The tire swing, the balance beam and monkey
bars were all custom built. There is not a day that goes by that the kids are not playing on the hillside. It was
worth the investment and the kids still have the creativity of building mud and log forts which they do every summer.
The old barbed wire fence was completely removed from the property lines and has been replaced with a four
rail metal fence. It is much better and will keep trespassers from coming onto the property or lighting fireworks
in the summer or hunting. There is absolutely no hunting permitted on our property. The new fence will never have
to be replaced during my lifetime. There are cameras that record audio and video on the entire property, one of the
top security surveillance systems and someone on the estate at all times.
It has been a great journey to get to this point and all of the landscaping, new trees planted yearly, orchard and
Southern gardens to this point look amazing. The colorful flowers are a trademark along with the lavender, herbs,
red and purple creeper and different varieties of sedum. It is heaven on earth in the spring. The flowers and
ground look lovely year round and get alot of attention, sometimes by the deer. This year, the Velvet Queen
sunflowers were a big hit along the creek banks and in the garden. They had multiple blooms and the seeds
came from a plantation in Louisiana.
A special thanks to Travis, Mel, Randy, Devin, Mike and Scott for helping make a difference this year.
May God Always Bless You!
MISS JR
Stars & Bars History
Here is a picture of the Riekena children Jason, Jake, Jack & Julia. This picture was taken
on Side 3, the formal side of the plantation house that has outside access directly from the
Ball Room. The porch and walk way is rounded and there are New Orleans style planter
boxes under each window. This picture is old, but shows some detail. There are 12 8 foot
french designed doors to access the outside. Each bedroom suite has direct access to a
private balcony. The entire house was built for the next generation, door handles were
raised among other things including counters and toilets. There are 12 pocket doors custom
to the 1880s.