I realize that it has been sometime since my last post. I have spent my time doing research since then, but it was for other irons in the fire that I am working on regarding the Arizona sheep industry. But more on that in the coming weeks.
With the current cloudy weather and rain yesterday and hopefully the rains will continue for a few more days, I researched the weather conditions for one hundred years ago this month. My main interest, of course, was it favorable to the sheep industry. Surprisingly it was.
The first week of the year, the weather had been ideal for Arizona. The weather conditions seen in December continued into January. There was heavy precipitation in the form of rain and snow falling on the northern summer ranges. Flagstaff saw the heaviest with 3.27 inches. Pinedale and Fort Apache also reported heavy precipitation. The snow was followed by rain resulting in large runoff. The rivers brought water to the southern section. Stock water reservoirs were replenished. The rains brought improved desert pastures for sheep. This is somewhat of an unusual event for this time of year. Many sheep camps were in the process of lambing under the mild weather conditions. In another article I will discuss the hopes for a 100 per cent lambing season.
On January 11th, Fletcher Bly, returning to Williams from the Phoenix area, reported that his sheep were doing well and winter feed was still good in the Salt River Valley.
By today’s date, January 22nd, range conditions were still good across the state. While it was reported that there was a slight decline in conditions of the stock (no mention was given as to what this condition was), it was mild in comparison to most years at this time. Lambing was continuing across the winter ranges in Arizona.
To close out the month of January 1924, more snow and rain had fallen in the high country. It was reported that the foothill and desert sheep pasture ranges were sufficient to keep the animals in good condition, however, more rain would be needed to assure good ranges up to the time the sheep would be moved to summer pastures in the north. Because of the condition of the sheep during the last year, the wool crop was reported to be heavy and of superior quality.
And we will continue other bits of sheep history …… as rabies was issue for both cattle and sheep.
ArizonaSheepHistory.wordpress.com 