Cordes was on the trail that thousands of sheep passed through each year heading either to the northern ponderosa pine forests and the grasses, that in the early part of the 1900s was as tall as the sheep were or it was the place the sheep would pass through as they were trailed south to the winter grazing areas in the Salt River Valley. Fred J. Cordes remembers helping his dad shearing the sheep when he was in his teens. (Story comes from Volume I of Arizona National Livestock Show Ranch Histories, pg. 30). Sheep were also dipped here. I heard the other day from a woman that sheep would rest here before trekking either north or south. Herders would stock up on supplies from the store run by Fred’s dad. The store still exists but is more a museum than anything. It is seldom open these days. The sheep still pass through the area when they are trailed north, but not southward, as they are hauled in trucks to the winter grazing areas.
Just another little tidbit about sheep in Arizona.
ArizonaSheepHistory.wordpress.com 