County and his father served a term as county judge. In the fall of 1880 they moved to a farm near Lyle. The house was located opposite from but back and out of the melancholy sight of Memaloose Island, around which the dashing current of the mighty river "sounds the Indian death wail forever." His father's health and memory failed, leaving him to support the family by work on the farm and on the railroad under construction across the river. He attended the revival meeting; he became a home missionary and a preacher; Wallulah was burned; and Genevra Whitcomb was lowered into the frozen earth at Lyle.
In 1886 he moved to Hood River where his largest congregation was located, but continued to be the pastor of several small congregations on both sides of the river. At Hood River an average of eighty-five or a hundred a Sunday came to hear him preach, as is remembered by Mrs. Coon, his old teacher, who regularly attended:
Mr. Balch never read his sermons, neither did he make any attempt at fine speaking. His language was plain, simple and easily understood. His voice seldom rose above a conversational tone, but he always had a message to deliver and he made it clear and convincing. His sincere earnestness won the confidence of the audience and made him many friends.
His mother and her family lived with him at Hood River. After getting well settled in his work there he found time once more for writing, and he was no longer deterred by the belief that it was wicked for ministers to write stories. By the summer of 1887 he had written Genevieve: A Tale of Oregon.
It was later to be extensively revised and changed, but in the meantime, after having it copied, he laid
