Ruth Pearce came to Meeker in 1948 to teach school. She married Hal “Tom” Pearce two years later, and the couple had three children together and the family raised cattle on the Pearce Ranch beginning in 1961. They had one of the longest operating grazing permits on the White River Forest, running cattle on East Miller Creek for 58 years.MEEKER I “There are two lasting bequests we can give our children, one is roots,…