Snooks Bottom, Fruita, Colorado 1900 1051 Kingsview Road Fruita Mesa Colorado 81521 USA Snooks Bottom was named for the Snook family, who homesteaded there. William Tunis and Clara P. Snook established the homestead sometime around 1900, after returning to Mesa County from the Olathe area in 1896 and living in Fruita “on the Brink place” for four years (according to their daughter Della (Snook) Mack, who recalled being about 10 when the homestead was established). With other families settling the area, they constructed a dam and reservoir, utilized Colorado River water for drinking, and dug irrigation ditches using teams of horses and scrapers. The family lived in a three-room shotgun cabin for many years until a better house could be built. William farmed the land and also rounded up, broke, and sold wild horses. He would be gone from the homestead for days at a time. The children had to row a boat, provided by the county, to get across the river to go to the Dobie School (which was about three miles away). Ida Mae (Snook) Waggoner, reading a historical letter from her aunt Della (Snook) Mack, recalled that Ute people would often camp on the homestead. The family left Snooks Bottom when the reservoir burst around 1910, leaving residents (including the Kilby, Tomlinson, Hargreaves, and Young families) with no way to water their crops. William bought the livery stable in Fruita, which he ran for a time before Guy took over. Much of the information about the Snook family and Snooks Bottom comes from Della (Snook) Mack, who was a family historian and wrote letters that were read by her niece, Ida Mae (Snook) Waggoner, during an interview with the Mesa County Oral History Project. yes yes