Mills, Quaggas and Ox Wagons: Sonnie Cloete Remembers the Early Uasin Gishu

By Sonnie Cloete, written on 30 October 1982. Originally in Afrikaans; translated into English (with the help of Google Translate) and shared by William Kiptoo in The Wonders of Sergoit Hills Facebook group. The full text is given below with only light correction of the machine translation.

First shared in The Wonders of Sergoit Hills Facebook group on 19 September 2023.

Here is Sonnie Cloete's account of the early years on the Uasin Gishu.

The first mill on the Plateau belonged to Eddie and John de Waal and was powered by a water wheel. But around 1911, a small mill was erected in Eldoret, driven by a prairie windmill. The windmill consisted of four zinc plates mounted along their length on a shaft. At one end of the shaft was fixed a wheel. The whole thing was then mounted on poles and the lower half closed off, so that the wind only caught the upper plate to turn it. It worked!

In 1921 the Blue Rock mill was erected in Eldoret. Later it was taken over and improved by A.C. Wright, who in turn renamed it Eldoret Flour Mills. In this mill, millstones were used, which resulted in very good flour being produced. One of the very stones was still working in 1964 on one of the farmers' farms. The farmers were only too happy to find a market for their wheat, and long lines of wagons always waited in front of the mill to be unloaded so that the farmer could receive his money in hand.

So, around 1909, Eddie de Waal had a thresher (dorsie) that was turned by hand, not an easy "jobbie"! He then connected it to his water wheel, and it worked so well that Mr van Aardt in 1911 could load his Merryweather wagon full of sheaves to have the wheat ground at this mill. With the advent of the beautiful old big Ransomes threshing machines, with their heavy old steam engines, threshing first really became a pleasure. Transporting the steam engines was not the easiest, and large quantities of "kuni" (firewood) had to be on hand to keep the steam pressure right. And we are not even talking about all the fun the children had dragging the straw away.

Because of the problem of rust in the wheat, initially only maize was planted. It was made into porridge, to be eaten with salted beef or dried beef. Vegetables were only available in the rainy season. The price of flour was also good, about 30 rupees per bag. Later it dropped to 3/50.

One of the biggest obstacles to farming was wild game. Wild, and again wild. No wonder the first election on the Plateau was known as the Kwagga Election. (The quagga was an extinct zebra of southern Africa that had brown and white stripes; it was hunted until extinct. In Uasin Gishu, the campaign at the time was to allow farmers a licence to kill en masse all animals that were destroying crops.)

Tommy O'Shea, who stood against Col. Griffiths, promised that if he was elected he would have the worst of the quaggas shot. Naturally, he then topped the poll, and was then also obliged to launch a campaign against the thousands of quaggas. The reward was 3/50 or 4/- and two .303 cartridges per skin. Many of the quaggas were exterminated, and others found their way down to the Maasai reserve. After that, the farmers could start threshing on a small scale.

Then again there was another problem: the price of wheat was only 11/- per bag, which made it impossible for the farmers to make a profit from sowing wheat. With the use of fertilisers, yields improved a lot. Oom Elbert Steyn was one of the first farmers to use fertiliser. However, it took a long time before superphosphate was widely used. On the one hand the costs were of course a problem, but in addition many of the farmers at first feared that it would burn the wheat.

Around 1902, one James Smith started building a mill in Nairobi and completed it in April 1909. This was the beginning of UNGA. Smith's mill could produce two bags of 280 lb of meal per hour. Later, around 1924, the Plateau Maize Growers Association was formed; it later amalgamated with other institutions to give birth to the KFA.

Cattle farming, which had started very well, was brought to an abrupt end when alien breeds were introduced and East Coast fever broke out and slaughtered entire herds. Of one herd of approximately 600 Afrikander cattle, only two remained! The very first cattle and sheep dip on the Plateau, and most likely in the whole of British East Africa, as Kenya was known at the time, was built by Mr C.J. Cloete. The dip powder, consisting of arsenic, was imported by Coopers Nephew and Sons. Since it was so toxic, the dip could not be made stronger than the prescribed strength, with the result that the ticks very soon became hardened against it.

Around 1920, Anaak Cloete set off for Uganda with a chest full of rupees to buy cattle. In those years, paper money was still regarded with suspicion in Uganda. At Mbarara, Masaka and Ankole he bought 120 cattle. He stayed away for six months and walked over a thousand miles. At Jinja the cattle had to be taken one by one across the lake on two canoes tied together with a kind of platform on top. The cattle were of two different breeds. The one kind was a kind of dun beast that was not too bad. The other kind, however, had long horns. They were useless, because as soon as one began to work them, their horns began to grow until the poor ox could no longer hold up its own head. The writer himself once owned such an ox, with horns of a seven foot span. This longhorn breed still occurs in Uganda and is known as the Ankole cattle.

Early in 1920 Miss Murray started a cheese factory in Eldoret, more or less where the creamery (KCC) later stood, but because of transport problems and a shortage of milk she had to close it. Tick fever was identified as early as 1910 by Dr Theiler in one of the reserves. It was, however, in a very mild form, and most of the native cattle were seasoned against it. Every Friday there were cattle fairs in Eldoret, where all the farmers gathered to buy cattle, mostly seasoned oxen. One day one of the farmers bought 96 large Nandi oxen at 13/- each. One of the most colourful old characters was Oom Rooi Piet Kruger, who never bought anything but black oxen. After the sale, most farmers usually headed to the Central Lounge for a Prairie Oyster or something stronger.

Around 1920 the first self binders were imported, McCormicks and Ransomes. Then came the old Sunshine threshing machines, the first of which were bought by Oom Tom Davies and Uncle Elbert Steyn. After the steam tractors, which did not last long, the old Holt two ton and the McCormick 15-30 appeared on the scene. O'Shea also imported large numbers of the old iron wheeled Fordsons. Yes, and then there were the old German Lanz tractors, each with its own bellows and a bucket for coals in front of the crank. The coals were to heat the crude oil it ran on so that the thing could "start." It ran like puff, puff, puff, or, if it was not heated enough, puff, puff, puff and then silence.

Pigs were also a small source of income. However, the market was limited, and Uplands was the only factory. At the beginning, pigs were driven by wagon to Londiani to be put on the train to the factory. Since the trip to Londiani could last anywhere from three days to three weeks, you can be sure that the wagon did not exactly smell of eau de Cologne. The author also once sold two month old piglets for 2/50 a piglet. Unfortunately, the buyer could not pay, and decided to leave this life without paying for the piglets!

Land was cheap but money scarce. A farm of 900 acres was once exchanged for a wagon and a cross eyed mare.

Everyone probably still remembers the old Martini-Henry rifle. Some of the first ones in use made such a big ball of smoke that a buck at 200 yards had a chance to jump away before the bullet could hit it.

Dietz lamps and homemade candles, oh where are those days! Transport was at first all by oxen or Scotch cart, or, as the Indians said, by gari. At the outspan places, games were played, and jukskei was played. The Pioneer Stables, where the Pioneer Hotel later stood, carried the mail to Eldoret by spider (a light cart). Later it became the Pioneer Garage and Stables, and you could still hire horses there.

Many horses were imported from South Africa and elsewhere, but horse sickness and lymphangitis killed them off. "Lymph," as it was known, caused huge sores on the horse. The sores sometimes covered the whole horse and were incurable. At first the vets thought it was caused by a virus that came from the soil, but one of the vets later agreed with the author that the hairy legged ticks actually caused the problem. Somali ponies were then bought, as they were somewhat resistant to the disease. Horses were also imported from German East Africa; these were horses left over after the war. On the Plateau, old Steam Roller was probably the most famous horse. He got his name because he had the habit of pushing any horse off the road, whether it was coming towards him or trying to walk beside him. Old Steam Roller was a tame animal and belonged to Schalk Cloete.

Everything written here is just from memory or from a few notes made here and there. I also believe that the foregoing will evoke many nostalgic memories. Limited space does not allow more to be said, but I think I should at least also mention the old zinc building where Mrs Milne ran the post office for so many years. Later it served as the Farmers Mart. Yes, and what about the other zinc building just next door? It was partitioned in the middle with zinc sheets. On one side was the Standard Bank, with J.C. Shaw as manager, and on the other side was Daddy's Bar, with Old Boss Eddy as the manager. Old Barker took the first "overdraft" to have a quick drink at the opening of the bank.

Let me close with:

Moja, mbili, tatu,
Nyang'au anakula viatu,
Viatu vinaruka,
Nyang'au anapasuka.

Kwaheri.

Sonnie Cloete (30 October 1982)