Part 1: Transitioning and the Early Years
By Beth Roberson and Dottie Feucht
Some people uproot
and move on because
they have to; others
appear to find the
challenge of exploring
and working in a land
new to them somewhat
irresistible. For Albert
and Elizabeth (Betty)
Bevis, successful
general field crop
farmers and cattle
ranchers in Patterson, California, it appears to be the latter which
motivated them to sell out, leaving their secure lives in the fertile
San Joaquin Valley. They brought their two sons with them to
begin their agricultural journey in Central America. Their lifepaths
forever altered; the Bevis family at Big Falls left a strong
and positive impact on the country and the people of British
Honduras. The Bevis saga still kindles many fond and positive
memories of British Honduras' first agricultural giant, Big Falls
Ranch Limited.
What opened the Bevis' eyes to
British Honduras? Remember, this
was a decade prior to the National
Geographic's initial January 1972
article about Belize titled Belize, the
Awakening Land, in which Albert
and Chuck were called "Prophets of
Plenty", with an accompanying photo
of them in one of their mature rice
fields at Big Falls Ranch.
Travel back a few more decades:
the riverside property known as
Big Falls was owned by brothers
Alvin and Patrick Burns (related to
the Cayo Burns families). The only
access was by boat, and remained so until the
mid-1960's when the Bevises remedied that. The
Burns brothers ran beef cattle on the property
with Jamaican John Shaw (father of David and
Pat Shaw) as their manager. In the mid-1950's,
the Burns brothers sold Big Falls to some Texans. At about the
same time, Machete Nile Ltd (M.N.L.) purchased Banana Bank,
further up the Belize River. Chuck Bevis, son of Albert and Betty,
learned about these Belizean ranches through their veterinarian
in California, who was a shareholder in M.N.L. Chuck was offered
and accepted a job at Banana Bank's cattle operation in 1962. That
was the critical event that triggered the still ongoing chronicles
of the Bevis family in Belize. Chuck astutely assessed British
Honduras' vast agricultural potential and expressed that to his
father. Albert Bevis traveled to British Honduras in August 1962
and concurred with son Chuck's appraisal. A dialogue toward the
purchase of the Big Falls property ensued, and the Bevis family
began their transition from established certified seed growers/
general field crop farmers/cattle ranchers in California, to
tropical agricultural pioneers. With no tropical experience under
their belts, they liquidated their U.S. farm and began the process
for the bold forward-looking leap to British Honduras.
With a 1960 population
of approximately
100,000, Belize's
national anthem
accurately declared
Belize as "a tranquil
haven of democracy".
The Land of the
Free was written/
music composed in
1963 and adopted as
national anthem upon
independence in 1981. It was, and still is, as its author Governor
General Coleville Young described. Although there were rules
and regulations and protocols to learn, still - the Bevises had to
first make the journey and get there. Some immigrants adapted
fairly quickly to the colonial ambience; others did not. The Bevis
family promptly adapted well, with smooth interactions between
themselves and the people and governments of the day. The
senior Bevis and son Chuck essentially moved down in early 1963.
The family finalized and punctuated their international transition
with a road trip in their 1964 Ford pick-up truck, from California
to British Honduras, bringing younger son Jim, who had stayed
behind attending school in California. At last, Jim would see Big
Falls Ranch.
The Bevis' style was to be as well-prepared as possible "for
eventualities"; thus they contacted the Mexican Consular office
in Los Angeles, and asked Consul William Harrison Furlong for
advice regarding travel by road from Monterrey, N.L. to Mexico
D.F. (Mexico City). Many of his cautions regarding their proposed
trek might have also been applied to the general undertaking of
relocating to Belize in 1963. Below is an extract from Furlong's
written advice to Albert and Betty:
"There is no question that the severity of the trip which should
be undertaken only by those of venturesome inclination,
willing to forego the smoothness of pavement, the comforts
of the metropolitan hotel, to accept the radical changes in the
preparation of food and in general ready to take things as they
come, however, it may be made with reasonably good chances
of going through without mishap, provided the car, preferably
the small type with maximum clearance, is in top mechanical
condition and judgement is exercised by the driver."
Albert, Betty and Jim enjoyed their Mexican travels immensely
and would have liked to linger longer, but as Betty wrote, they
felt compelled to "push on to B. H.". Betty kept a trip journal,
beginning as they left California, on through Arizona, and New
Mexico, entering Juarez, Mexico, then doubling back to El Paso
as they had learned it was not advisable to bring Chuck's hunting
rifle with them. Finally they departed the U.S. again at 2:30 PM
of 22nd December 1963, arriving at Chetumal, Q. R. at 6 PM on
28th December, where they overnighted at the still operational
Hotel Los Cocos. Departing Chetumal at 7:10 AM, they crossed
into Belize by 8:30 AM on the 29th, and proceeded to the Fort
George Hotel where they met son Chuck (about whom Betty
entered: [Chuck] "still has beard". Monday 30th December, saw
the Bevis men off to customs to check on imported tractors, seeds
and equipment. Finally, after city business and holiday visiting,
young Jim Bevis at last got his feet on the ground at Big Falls on
2nd January, 1964.
Of the 11,113 Big Falls Ranch acres which the family purchased in
1963, only about 1,000 acres along the Belize River were cleared
and in pasture. A 1963 farm inventory noted 366 head of cattle,
48 horses, and 111 sheep. No crops had been grown on the farm; cattle ranching was the main activity and income for the previous
owners. The Bevises imported Jamaica Black bulls by plane from
Jamaica. Later they purchased some Sugarland Brahman cattle
from Central Farm which further upgraded the herd. By the
1980's Big Falls had a herd of about 1,800 head, running a cow
calf operation using mainly Brahman cows crossed with Jamaica
Black bulls. This yielded a bovine similar to today's Brangus. The
cattle industry afforded a great lifestyle, but not a great income,
so Albert focused on
finding additional crops
which would enable the
farm to prosper.
They planted trials
of various crops to
determine which would
give a profitable stability,
importing seeds from
the U.S. (California and
Gainesville, Fl.) and
Central America. They
planted forage sorghum,
RK beans, black eyes and lima beans. The row crops for the most
part did well in the dry season. However, Albert wanted to find a
crop he could plant semiannually, with 2 harvests per year.
How did they begin rice farming? Albert noted that although
'rice and beans' was a staple food in Belize, most of the rice
eaten was an imported "#3 broken brewer's rice". Never having
grown rice, he visited rice farms in Sacramento, California and
in El Salvador, as well as in southern Belize. The Salvadoran
farms were all dry season rice with single-cropping, as their land
was not flat. The Big Falls land, dark alluvial clay soil capable
of holding moisture, was fairly flat. That meant that they could
create leveled-out contoured fields, enabling a flooded paddy
system, seeding by plane, and harvesting 2 crops a year. This was
cutting edge technology in British Honduras.
This writer gleaned
(from the meticulous
Bevis archives), that
Betty was a strong
independent Christian
soul, who joyfully
thrived in any location
where life placed her.
She and Albert resided
on Eve Street in Belize
City. Albert managed
the business side of the farm and liaised with the GOB which was situated in Belize
City, the country's capital at that time. (Construction of Belmopan
began in 1966, with GOB offices relocating there around 1970.)
Son Chuck (Charles) and wife Carol, a former Papal Volunteer
who had been a teacher at St. Catherine's Academy in Belize
City, spent their weekdays on the farm, as Chuck was the farm
manager. On weekends the couples switched places. Both Chuck
and Albert were pilots and flew their private plane back and forth.
Chuck and Carol had met in Belize, and married in October 1964
in her home town of St. Louis, Missouri. The wedding featured
"two traditional 3-tiered wedding cakes, and a wedding cake
baked in British Honduras by Mrs. Leopold Balderamos (sister of
George Price and mother of Dolores Balderamos) and brought to
St. Louis by the bridegroom."
Betty and Carol successfully dealt with general living and
homemaking challenges. After the farm's initial start-up, the
company generators provided them with reliable power, and they
learned how to deal with rain water. There were no city water
systems anywhere in British Honduras; everyone relied on either
catchment of rain water or river water. Several U.S. newspapers
wrote articles quoting Betty as saying "well, you can always boil
water…". Both husbands were fortunate as their wives enjoyed
the challenges of learning about local foods and new techniques.
Betty commented to one journalist that in Belize, when you
saw something
in a store that
you wanted, it
was best to get
it then - not to
wait as it likely
would be soon
gone. That was
quite common
during the 1960's
and 1970's, and
curiously, seems to have returned to Belize again due to COVID's effects on imports.
After a couple years of arduous transportation logistics - traveling either by private plane, with their own company plane and
company airstrip, or via combination river and road transport to
Belize City, by 1965 Big Falls was ready to build the 10 miles of road necessary to connect the ranch with the Western Highway
(George Price Hwy). This involved crossing miles of swampland
and building bridges, including one crossing Cox Creek, which is still in use today, 56 years later. Once the road was opened, Big
Falls was able to bring in large equipment by road and also had
the option to ship rice and freight out by road (rather than solely
by river barge). Bus transportation from San Ignacio was also
enabled for their expanding workforce, who bunked on the farm
during the week.
In part 2 (next issue, #45) we will delve more into the
expansion of Big Falls' rice growing and processing,
with details of the contoured fields, pumping stations,
canals, irrigation and drainage systems. Big Falls
became one of the biggest agricultural employers in
country in the 60's and 70's. Parts 2 and 3 will have
more information on their equipment; they even tested
new equipment prototypes for Caterpillar.
Photo Details:
1. D-8 H Caterpillar with a Rome KG land clearing blade
2. Unseeded flooded rice paddies in the foreground; Hancock earth
moving scrapers doing road construction on the main road through
the paddies in the central portion of the photo, while in the sky, the
Ag Cat can be seen passing overhead on its way to seed a different
field. Circa 1965-66
3. Big Falls' John Deere rice combine harvesting rice in the early years
4. Albert, better known as Al, and Betty circa 1965
5. Credit: National Geographic
6. Al and Chuck by the John Deere combine, circa 1966
7. Chuck inspecting newly imported Jamaica Black bulls, Harmony
Hall Charlie and Glen, February 1965.
8. Chuck, E.T. York and Eric King in a forage sorghum field, June 1966
9. Betty on one of their several D-8H Caterpillars with the Rome KG
land clearing blades. Big Falls owned 4 or 5 of these machines which
they used to clear thousands of acres.
10. The Big Falls company plane, Hotel Bravo Foxtrot, a Cessna 206.
Note the B Falling F brand on its tail.
11. Chuck, Carol, Mark, Betty, Al and Karen Bevis, posed in front of
one of the D-8H Caterpillars, January 1969. Photo taken by Charles
Miller.
12. 40 - 20 Root Rake, matched to D-6B Cat used for rotten stump
removal from fields, February 1967.
13. Jim and Chuck checking out the new road, cut out to Milepost 31
on the 'Cayo Rd.' (future Western Highway). They're riding local
'bamboo' horses.
14. Taking British Honduras Ministry of Agriculture VIPS on a rice
harvesting tour of one of the early years, on the John Deere
combine.
15. Big Falls' Ag Cat seeding plane with pilot Antonio Raballo.
Editor's note: We thank the Bevis family
for sharing their extensive family archives, which,
in addition to many photographs, include journal
entries, letters and many newspaper and magazine
articles. Special recognition goes to Carol Bevis,
Chuck's wife who organized much of the records and
to the late Betty Bevis who was quite the writer. Jim
and Marguerite Bevis and family own and operate
Mountain Equestrian Trails (MET) in western Belize.
From Belize Ag Report
AmbergrisCaye.com 
