A Story of Sheep and the Arizona Strip

Research should be fun and I can honestly say that I enjoy the challenge of hunting information on the sheep industry in Arizona. I have tried to concentrate lately on the Arizona Strip area as little is know. Sometimes I am lucky and I find a story. This is one of those stories. However, there are many unanswered questions in this story and more research will be needed to piece the full story together.  But for now, just a little sheep story and Moccasin, Arizona.

Moccasin, Arizona is a town on the Arizona Strip near Pipe Springs. William B. Maxwell saw that the land had possibilities  for livestock. Earlier he had found a spring that was clear with cool water. He saw a moccasin footprint left by an Native American and thus he called the area Moccasin Spring.  Maxwell made a claim in 1865. The claim included three springs, of which two were close together and the other spring was only a short distance away.  With available water Maxwell could easily raise livestock. What is unknown is how long he held this land until he sold it for 80 head of sheep to a Mr. Rhodes.

So, the questions that need to be answered – did Maxwell have sheep here before he traded the land for 80 head of sheep from Mr. Rhodes? What happened to the 80 sheep? Did Maxwell move someplace else and continue to raise the sheep?  Did Mr. Rhodes have more sheep and did he raise them on this piece of land? Questions, questions, questions!