In Summer 1952, Morris Justesen and his family arrived in Central Florida, one of 12 Nevada cattle families asked to sell everything and move to Deseret Ranch. It was June, the average high was about 96 degrees, and the humidity ranged from muggy to miserable, most often settling in at oppressive.

“Air conditioning was not common then,” long-time-ranch-employee-and-resident Debbie Justesen said. “It was hot, humid, and sticky. There were bugs and snakes. My father-in-law looked at his wife and said, ‘I have moved you to hell.’ ”

That sentiment, however, did not last long.