Almost 200 years ago when Sapphire Lake County was founded, a young settler called Annika Jakobi and her horse Devonia, stumbled upon the great river valley. She decided to keep it a secret and did so for almost 17 years! Finally in 1818 she told the Sapphire Lake council of her brilliant discovery... The council followed her lead to the valley, but when they arrived they did not see the fresh grass or the dewy leaves of the huge forests. They didn't see the lakes, or creeks or streams. All they saw was opportunity for construction, granite mining, oil drilling, and gold panning. They wanted to cut down the trees and dam the rivers. Annika was furious with the council's decision to develop the river valley and went against them in a attempt to protect the wonders of Evergreen.

Though women had barely any rights to speak of in those days, Annika fought with all her strength to preserve the valley. She risked her home, her family, and even, at one point, her life. After a four month battle with the council, Annika won. The council granted her permission to move into the Evergreen River Valley and so she did. Annika's love of horses led her to the dream of creating Evergreen Stables. In 1820, her dream became a reality and she and a crew of six men and five women, built the main stable, the dirt arena, and the head house.

Annika lived there alone for two years with her slowly aging horse, Devonia, and several other younger horses that children would occasionally come and ride. The next year she met a man by the name of Riley White and they wed within a month of their meeting. Slowly the little settlement grew. More and more people came each week, and soon a small housing facility was built for stable hands and a few people who were keeping their own horses at Evergreen. Small stores started to appear around the stables and a jumping arena was constructed. On any given day you could find adult and child alike galloping through the greenery and natural beauty of the river valley...

Soon enough, Annika gave birth to twin boys, Kale and Jody. A few years later came a baby girl, Grace.

In 1827 the stables burned down leaving burned trees, grass and bush everywhere. The next day, the turn out for the clean up was huge. Over six hundred people came to help clean up from the disaster.

Over the next twenty years, Sapphire Lake County grew forming new towns and villages. The Evergreen River Valley bloomed bright and beautiful every year. It was tossed and beat by hurricanes, electric storms and gales but no act of violence of any sort could collapse nature's heaven on earth.

By now Annika and Riley's children were ready to move away. Jody became the head of council in a mountain village 700 miles north of The Evergreen River Valley called Copper Peak. Kale became the father of six children in the capital of Sapphire Lake County, Ruby River. Grace gave women in Sapphire Lake County the right to vote and speak their mind.

The death of Riley brought the children back to Evergreen Stables to comfort their mother and bond closer than ever before. They finally rebuilt the stable in 1850, which had never been fully repaired after the hurricane, but this time they added on to it to make it three times it original size as people from all over the county where now moving into the settlement in the valley. Evergreen grew, but only to Annika's liking. She had no desire to stretch too far as she might destroy the native animals' homes and the pure beauty of it all.

In 1861, at the age of sixty one, Annika passed on. One morning she felt very tired and so she took a stroll down to the river. She sat by a small boulder and leaned on it. Noon came quickly and she lay against the boulder feeling the warm sun on her face. Listening to the gurgling of the creek, and the chirping of the birds, she closed her eyes just listening. One of her good friends, Shalice, a stable hand came to Annika's door the next day to find her gone. She knew that Annkia liked to walk along by the river so she hopped on her horse and trotted down to the bank. She found Annika leaning against the boulder. Shalice went round to look at Annika's face and beyond the wrinkles and laugh lines, she saw the biggest, happiest smile she had ever seen Anni smile in her entire life.

Evergreen Stables still exists today in the Evergreen River Valley of Sapphire Lake County. The river is now named after the original owner and founder: the Annika River. It remains just as beautiful as it did the day Annika Jakobi discovered it.

"It was with amazing grace and a careful hand that the God created this beautiful, brilliant heaven on earth" - Annika Jakobi, 1857