Craig, George Finis

George Finis Craig, born near Vinita in Craig County, Oklahoma, built an honorable career as a rancher, ditch tender, and merchant in California. He grew up on his father Granville C. Craig stock farm before briefly working in a Vinita grocery store and later migrating to Kingsburg, California, in 1905. In Kingsburg, he successfully improved a thirty acre fruit ranch for six years before operating a ranch in Alpaugh and managing the Riverdale Meat Market. He subsequently served for four years as a ditch tender for the Burrel and Riverdale Ditch Company and clerked at Hamilton general merchandise store in Riverdale.

On February 1, 1919, he relocated to Lanare to establish a successful general merchandise business in a new building constructed by Joe Prandini. Beyond his commercial pursuits, he improved and sold a forty acre alfalfa ranch near Lanare and became highly prominent in the Riverdale Lodge of the Odd Fellows, twice holding the office of Noble Grand. He shared his community involvement with his second wife, Minnie Grantham, as both were prominent members of the Rebekah Lodge at Riverdale. Mr. Craig, who also had a daughter named Anna Jewell from his first marriage to the late Anna Jones, established a lasting reputation for square dealing throughout the region.