Author: arizonasheephistory

It came to my attention a few years ago that the sheep industry in Arizona was disappearing. I love history, traveling to new places and research. These have been combined in researching this history. I am an independent researcher and speaker and also part of AZ Speaks with the Arizona Humanities. I hold a BA in Anthropology, a MA and Ph.D. in geography. My masters was in land use geography and the Ph.D. was more in historical geography. I love to travel and have visited all seven continents and more than 50 countries. I am a member of the Women Writing the West.

The Weekly Arizonian 1859

The earliest Arizonan newspaper with any information on the sheep industry comes from The Weekly Arizonian, Tucson. It is also the earliest newspaper for Arizona or the earliest digitized! The year – 1859.  There was only a hand full of entries reporting sheep happenings. 

One sheep man is named, Elias C. Brevoort, Esq.  He had purchased “the well-known Reventone Ranch on the Santa Cruz River.” He planned to build a large dwelling house with large corrals, outbuildings and a store. The newspaper said, “This is undoubtedly the best stock raising ranch in the territory.” It went on to state that he planned on stocking the ranch with one thousand head of cattle, besides sheep and hogs. We can surmise one piece of information from this little article and that is the Reventone Ranch had been a ranch for some years.  Previously it had livestock from the statement – “the best stock raising ranch in the territory.” What we don’t know is who were the previous owners, how large the ranch was/is, and what livestock they raised.

Brevoort’s name appears in an article stating he came commanding a detachment of soldiers at Ft. Buchanan in 1856.  I have not proved or disproved that this is the same man but seems likely given the name. If he had been the officer who brought troops to Ft. Buchanan that maybe how he secured the contract to supply meat to the military men stationed there as this article was found three months later: “Good Beef – The officers and soldiers at Fort Buchanan have ere this been treated to some eatable beef. Last week Mr. Geo. D. Mercer who has charge of the “Reventone ranche”, drove to the fort a lot of fine, fat young beeves, the first supplied under Mr. Brevoort’s contract – The digestive organs of the troops were no doubt somewhat astonished at first!” 

We also can locate him in the area in the 1860 federal census showing he lived along the “lower Santa Cruz, Arizona and New Mexico Territory.”

His name only appears in two more newspapers stating that the federal government was annexing his property for his misdeeds during the Civil War. These two articles appeared in 1870 and then there is no other information found so far in later newspapers. I am researching more on the Reventone Ranch from an early travel account in 1864 but have not received the book yet. More details will be forthcoming if there is anything of interest to report.

Another entry stated that in a battle between bands of Navajos and Apache, the Navajos lost four thousand sheep. That would have been a lot of sheep at this time.

My last blog stated that the Weekly Arizona Miner, Prescott reported in 1868 that Arizona was the second wettest state besides Oregon in the West. We were not a state in 1868 but a territory, and in 1859 Arizona and New Mexico were one territory but I digress. Ten years prior, in 1859, there was a little different feeling about the rainfall for Arizona. I quote the article from The Weekly Arizonian, Tucson, in its entirety. “Arizona is a fine country for stock-raising, where ever permanent water can be secured – were it not for Indian depredations and Mexican thieving, the raising of cattle, sheep, and mules, would be a lucrative business, and when those evils are abated the immense pastures of this Territory will be covered with stock for the streams that do not furnish sufficient water for irrigating purposes will water thousands of cattle, and the hills which cannot be cultivated bear grass in abundance.” 

A noted difference between the two newspapers was that while both newspapers agreed that the Native American people were a problem, The Weekly Arizonian, Tucson, also cited the Mexicans as a problem. Was the Mexican problem resolved in that 10 years? Or weren’t they a problem in the Prescott area?

The last article about sheep for 1859 stated that 46,000 had passed near Tucson as they were being moved from Texas to California.  That was a huge flock of sheep! So little information for someone who wants to know more. The researcher in me wants to know:  who owned them, were they owned by one person, two or more; how many men were needed to move that many sheep, how long had it taken them to get from where ever in Texas to Tucson, where was this location in Texas, where were they going in California, had there been problems with the Apache as they crossed, and more questions continually pop into my head. But sadly, there was no other mention of these sheep in the other editions of that year’s newspapers.

And that is the sheep happenings for the year 1859.

Arizona – Good Stock Country

One of the earliest newspapers in Arizona, The Weekly Arizona Miner, Prescott, had an interesting article claiming Arizona as good stock country.  Here is the article in its entirety.

“It may not be generally known that Arizona is one of the best grazing countries in the world, but it is a fact. Over a year ago, Mr. Herbert Bowers called our attention to a matter that should be made known. He said, that for a sheep county, this Territory was superior to any section of the continent, from the fact, that in the whole Territory, there is not to be found a “burr” of any description, consequently, the wool which can be produced here would surpass that of all other countries. Then, again, our climate, (or rather climates,) is so mild, that shearing could be done at almost any season of the year, without fear of (as is the case in other countries) whole flocks being chilled to death by cold blasts. Nothing but fear of Indian depredations has kept people from bringing flocks of sheep here, and we would be departing from the truth were we to say that no such fear need deter people from doing so any longer, although, were sheep and other stock brought here and properly guarded, they would be as safe here as in California. So long as depredatory bands of hostile savages roam over the Territory, so long will our people suffer loss of property by them, and we are not idiots enough to expect perfect immunity from these raiders until enough population comes to, and settle in, the Territory to overcome and quiet the scamps. The military serve a very good purpose, but they are too few in numbers to hunt down and capture all the two-legged coyotes in the Territory. When the railroad is built, when our mines become developed, and protection for life and property is guaranteed, people who now look upon Arizona as a hot, dry, useless country, will see their mistake. In fact, no country in the world possesses more advantages than does Arizona, and instead of it being a “dry” country, it is, next to Oregon, the wettest country on the Pacific Coast.”

The article was from August 15, 1868! I left the article as written by the newspaper and its opinion on the Native American problem as they saw them at the time. As to whether Arizona was the second wettest “country” after in the 1860s still needs to be researched.

As I am presently researching the Weekly Arizonian, Tubac, in 1859, I hope to find some story or stories about the sheep industry which would be the earliest in the territory. So stay tuned.

Loving Research

Many of the viewers to this webpage have contacted me about a variety of topics from help with finding a shearer, to having information about your family or knowledge of those in the sheep industry in Arizona.  Thank you for reaching out to me. I would love to contact each of you for more details.  With that said –

To the woman researching Col. Thomas Thorp – I have seen information about him in early newspapers of northern Arizona but none of the editions said he was in the sheep business. I will remember his name as I continue to research the early newspapers. As for him leaving his wife alone with a child and the family flock of sheep, she would not have been the only woman in Arizona left with sheep while her husband was gone for any of a variety of reasons. One woman’s husband died leaving her with very young children, a child on the way, and a flock of sheep to tend. I am researching that family as I comb the early newspapers of western Arizona. I hope to add to what they know about their family but have only found one short sentence about her which stated the death of her husband. The family was unsure as to that date and now we have confirmation to that fact. It leaves open questions as to where he was buried, if she took his body back to their remote ranch, and the obvious question, the sheep. How long did she have the sheep, did she have help besides her children, etc., because we know she remarries and the couple went into cattle.  There is a short article in one of the newspapers about herders working for a person with her last name. I cannot confirm if it was her but the time period does fit.  But research does take time and I am sure more will be discovered somewhere in the newspapers of that part of the state! I also know of at least one other woman left alone with the family sheep while the husband was gone. 

That answers at least a part of the inquiries I have had the past two weeks here. Some of the inquiries I have answered via email to that individual. Please don’t hesitate to reach out with questions. You further my research along as I now have more names to keep in mind as I scourer the papers.

Keep those inquiries coming and your comments!  I try to answer each one in a timely manner.

Just a few sheep on the trail in Arizona spring 2020.

Tidbits of Sheep Business last half 1885.

Several short tidbits of information about the sheep industry to finish off the year 1885.

The St. Johns Herald, St. Johns, Arizona, June 1885, had this information on Don Antonio Gonzales who was introduced in an earlier blog. Briefly, he had fallen heir to wool and mutton earlier in the year of 1885 that had been valued at least $50,000.  The newspaper stated that, “The friends of Don Antonio Gonzales have forwarded to Governor (Frederick Augustus) Tritle a petition signed by most of the citizens of St. Johns, asking that he be appointed a member of the Board of Wagon Road Commissioners of Apache County, to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Ebin Stanley. Mr. Gonzales is a man so well known throughout the county that the simple fact of his appointment will be sufficient guarantee that the interests of the people will be conscientiously looked after. We hope the Governor will make the desired appointment. Many advertisements in various editions of the newspaper showed that Don Antonio Gonzales had a store in St. Johns.”

Another piece of information found in the June 25th edition of the newspaper was the ad from Holbrook for the sale of Merino bucks. Jewett & Munson had a store in Holbrook and had shipped from California 400 Spanish and French Merino Bucks that were advertised to be “heavy shearers and are used to being herded on the range; are suited to Arizona ranges and climate. Will be sold cheap in lots to suit.”  This is not the first time that an ad for Merino sheep has been found in the northern Arizona newspapers.

Prior to the sheepmen organizing into the Arizona Sheep Breeders and Wool Growers Association in 1886, a least one county, Apache County, had their first preliminary organization meeting in September 1885.  At that meeting they resolved to hold a convention for permanent organization and the election of officers that November.  And our dear sheepman, Antonio Gonzales, was made the temporary secretary of the organization. The St. Johns Herald’s newspapers from the end of October to the end of November have been destroyed or at least not digitized. It has been impossible to follow up on whether the organization did meet the first day of November and there are no other newspapers that have discussed this organization.  It could be that with the state Arizona Sheep Breeders and Wool Growers Association founding in 1886 took the forefront of the mutual interest for the sheepmen across the state and county organizations went by the wayside. It would be a year before the state organization would be organized. It can only be speculated that there was no interest by the sheepmen in the county to form a local organization or the state organization took precedent. Once again, no other record has been found of the county’s association. Further research may uncover what happened to the Apache County Sheepmen’s Organization.

Another little tidbit of information about the county was found in the column “Local News” about Robert and James Scott. These two men are well known in the sheep business and from the little snippet we learn that they were pioneer sheep raisers in the county and owned large ranch interests near Show Low.  They were in St. Johns on business. The “Local News” column has many little one-line pieces of information that mentions who was in town and usually lists their occupation but not always. 

The last piece of information for closing 1885 is the death of one of Antonio Gonzales sheepherders, Jose Lusers.  At the initial writing of the death in mid-August, no suspect was given, just a very detailed accounting tracing the bullet through the sheepherder’s body; way too much gory detail for me! The rest of the year’s newspapers that can researched did not have other information on Lusers’ death. It may be found on who was the killer when other northern Arizona newspapers are researched for 1885 and the beginning of 1886. Unfortunately,  we don’t find any St. Johns Herald again until April 1886.

We can now close the year 1885 from information taken from the St. Johns Herald. So, until next time, happy trails!

Thude/Sanudo Family

Saturday, March 5th, Gunnar Thude along with his daughter, Elma Sanudo, were inducted into the Arizona Farming and Ranching Hall of Fame (AZFARE.org). It was a great evening, and it was amazing that so many of the members of the two families were able to attend, even two from Denmark and Gunnar’s hometown. A few pictures from the event.

There were nine inductees that night. Congratulations to all of them!
Susan Ellegaard, Betty Thude and Steffen Ellegard. The Ellegaard’s came from Gunnar’s hometown, Vilslev, Denmark, to share in the honor.
Frances Thude Rice.
Gerald Hancock and his brother, Gunnar Hancock; Elma Thude Sanudo’s children.
Tony and Tony Lucas, nephew and uncle. Tony on the right was a herder for Gunnar Thude. The other Tony is a livestock inspector here in Arizona.
Gunnar Thude and Elma Thude Sanudo – the family today. The woman sitting between the two women holding the plaques is Barbara Etchamendy. Her husband, JB, was also in the sheep business. More on him in another story.
Congratulations Elma Thude Sanudo and Gunnar Thude!
The video shown March 5th. It is three minutes long. Please watch as it has pictures of Gunnar and Elma and information about them.

I was honored to be able to help these two families get nominated and inducted into the Arizona Farming and Ranching Hall of Fame. If you want to read more on this family, please see an earlier blog.

Early 1885 St. Johns

My last post was about the Amos family coming to Arizona sometime in the mid 1880s. So far in researching the early newspapers the family name has not reappeared. Newspapers aren’t always available, but the search is still on for the Amos family.

In looking in the St. Johns Herald, a few other facts have been found about sheep raising in the first few months of 1885. The newspaper stated that the wool supply was to be unusually large for the spring. The lambing season was about over but had been most successful. The wool raisers would be starting to shear soon. No other details were given in the April 30th newspaper. There was a notice that A. A. Ward had 450 sheep of his sheep stolen and had recovered only 320. Details were not given on who had stolen the sheep and how Ward retrieved the majority of them.

Another interesting piece of information concerned Don Antonio Gonzales, townsman of St. Johns, who had been “entirely happy in the increase of fully one hundred percent of his fluffy family this season.” He was the heir of not less than $50,000 all in wool and mutton. It is my belief from reading the full article that the mutton referred to was actually live animals as it mentioned he had been to see his lambs. The newspaper reported that he was now requiring everyone to address him as Mr. Gonzales! That $50,000 in today’s money would be $1,437,123.71! This researcher will keep an eye out for Mr. Gonzales and see how he does with all that wool and mutton. One other item caught my attention. There was an advertisement for goods that Antonio Gonzales sold. Mr. Gonzales now had another occupation!

And that is just a few tidbits of the sheep industry around St. Johns in 1885.

Amos Family Continued

In an earlier post I shared some information on W. N. Amos and George Amos, sheep raisers of Northern Arizona in the late 1890s. Since then, more information has either been given to me or I have found in a variety of sources. The Amos Family, Milton and his wife Allie, came to Arizona from Oregon. Milton was born in either Kentucky or Tennessee,1827. His wife, born Alphidus Fanny, was born in Missouri, 1842. I find references for both in the U.S. Census data. At the time the family moved to Arizona, Milton was in his late 50s and Allie was in her 40s assuming an arrival date in Arizona in the mid 1880s. When the family arrived from Oregon, their children William (Will), Josephine, George, Abraham Lincoln (Abe), Charles D (Dick), Della and Len may have accompanied them. What information that we do have comes again from the 1880 and 1890 census. The first three children were born in Missouri, Abe and Dick were born in California. The last two children were born in Oregon. The family obviously did some moving around before finally settling in Arizona. Using just the date of birth of the children, the family did not remain in California very long as Dick was born there in 1876, five years after George’s birth in Missouri, and Della was born in Oregon in 1879. Why the moves has not been determined either. Looking at the location of births in California and then researching local newspapers may help shed light on what was happening with the family or economically that may have had them moving from Missouri to California, then Oregon. According to one source, all but one child came with them to Arizona. Josie, who had married in 1884 also died that same year and she may have died in childbirth, however that is speculation on the part of this author. More research will need to be done to prove that statement. 

As to the actual date of arrival of the family into Arizona there is also debate. In Gene Luptak’s book From Top of the Pines Life in Pinetop and the White Mountains he states that Abe’s parents arrived in Arizona with three brothers-Len, Will and C.D. (Dick). He further states that it was the late 1880s or early 1890s. The St. Johns Herald, his brother Will was in the area at least as early as 1884 because he is mentioned in the February 12, 1885, newspaper being delinquent in paying his poll tax. Will would have been 21 years of age in 1884 and thus of the age to be able to vote. Again, speculation on the part of this author, but was his delinquency in not paying because he had returned to Oregon in 1884 upon the death of his sister and to help his parents and his other siblings move to Arizona?  Was he the first to scout out the area in Arizona that they would settle in? Some more research will be needed to answer the question. The father Milton was listed in the 1880 census as being a farmer so Will may have been looking for good farmland. Again, all of this is speculation.

While I do not like that an exact date can not be determined for the family’s arrival into Arizona, we do have other information we can use to tell their story. More searching in the newspapers in St. Johns and surrounding communities will need to be undertaken to write a more accurate accounting of the family, however and that will take some time. Old newspapers are hard to read even when they have been digitized. But we will leave it here for today with that according to the family Milton died in April of 1887 shortly after their arrival.

Milton Amos, courtesy of Lonnie Amos West

 

    

Happy Ewe Year

The month of December wasn’t a good month for me with working on the Arizona Farming and Ranching Hall Of Fame Volume 3 book. But I am glad it is almost completed and about to go to printing stage. The book has many sheep families included-Basilio Aja, Antonio and Marianne Manterola, the Perry family, Frank Auza, Joseph, Pierre and Albert Pouquettes, Gunnar Thude and Elma Sanudo, and the Babbitts.

Many of these families have been honored here and as more information comes to light about each of them it also will be added. The Perry family and Babbitts have not had their stories told and that will be in the next couple of weeks. I am working on getting the Amos family story put together which is long over due. Once their story is added, I will do Babbitts and the Perry family. Then back to the old stories as I find them in the newspapers across the state.

So until early next week enjoy the video from my trip in October to Cedar City’s Livestock Festival. it may not be Arizona but who cares, they’re sheep!

Wool and Sheep Industry Navajo County

The June 19, 1897 issue of The Argus, Holbrook stated that one of their permanent sources of wealth was the sheep and wool industry.  It went on to state that everyone showed an interest in being owners of sheep. Quoting, the newspaper stated, “It has been found to be a safe investment and exceedingly profitable. It beats stock speculations, gift-edge securities, money lending, bond purchasing or any other branch of business venture.” The newspaper further stated that a person could purchase sheep with a small investment and if was careful in their attention to the sheep business especially in husbandry they would reap benefits to the tune of being “comparatively  well-to-do and enjoying a liberal yearly income.”

The newspaper continued, “Nature has lavishly fitted this section for the successful operation of this industry. The vast regions covered with nutritive grasses added to the varied altitudes in different localities, so that the flocks can be moved slowly from one place to another and obviate the extremes of the climate of one altitude, renders it a veritable paradise to the sheepman.”  Sheep found shelter into the deep canyons and lower valleys of the county during the winter extremes. In summer when the heat began to be felt in these deep canyons and the lower valleys, the sheep could be moved to the slopes of the mountains where they would have “cool nights, the pure mountain water and the abundance of rich grass.”

With following the sheep industry over the last few years and what was reported in the newspaper, it can best be described in what Carmen Auza called “The yearly Cycle in Sheep Ranching.” There are two differences from this chart to that as reported in the 1897 newspaper, and they are, the sheep were not moved long distances between summer and winter grazing land as they are today and mostly by truck,  and lambing took place prior to shearing, not afterwards as in 1897.

The shearing season brings men work as the woolies all needed sheared. Shearing camps would be a frenzy of activity as fences were built, the shearing shed assembled and the sheep were brought in to be sheared. It was reported that over 100,000 were ranging in the county in 1897. More men could find jobs in the hauling of the wool clip to Holbrook for shipping. These activities took place from late March into May. Wool bags weighing upwards of 400 pounds were loaded on trains heading east. The Eastern wool buyers had already purchased the clip at the shearing camps. It was reported that in 1897, over a million pounds of wool was shipped from Holbrook. There was also additional wool that was on consignment from Winslow.

The newspaper went on, “During the last four years, while wool was on the free list, the sheep and wool industry languished. The Australian and European wool poured in and flooded our markets making the wool industry in the far West unprofitable through the lack of the cheap transportation by water which Europe and Australia enjoyed. Since the change of administration, with a reasonable prospect for the tariff upon wool to  restored, the price of wool has been more than doubled, and the price of sheep has jumped from $1.25 per head to $2.75 and $3.00 per head. It is estimated that the wool sales in Navajo county last spring were $60,000 more than the year preceding, and the mutton sales will exceed last year by another $60,000. These excesses can be reckoned as clear profit to the sheep and wool growers of Navajo county, in addition to the increased value of their herds, due to the rise in the price of sheep. The sheepmen are jubilant and feel that the next four years to come will continue to be a season of golden harvests.”

During the 1897 season lambing season was in May. Most sheep owners had reported a 100 per cent increase in their herds so they were quite happy with their herds. Once lambing is over the flocks are slowly moved to their summer grazing areas in the cool pines of the mountains.  

The newspaper reported that the sheep had no diseases. Sheep were dipped because of scab and sheep with scab were not allowed to be used for sacrifice as described in Leviticus 22:22. The disease may not have hit the area during this time but was definitely a problem in the west during the early 1900s. Dipping stations were established along the trails for the eradication of the disease in a flock and its spreading.

The  newspaper also reported that there was greater profitability for the sheep owners if a scouring plant could be built in the area. Clean wool would ship at a lower cost than the unscoured and save the sheep owners money in freight cost. As the newspaper stated, “Dirt is cheap to pack up and ship to Boston at about three cents per pound. In the second place the wool would sell for vastly enhanced prices, enhancing the profits of wool-raising in addition to fostering a home enterprise giving employment to the laboring element in our midst. Then on the heels of this should follow a woolen mill. Few places on the face of the earth offer such unusual facilities for the profitable operation of a woolen mill. In numberless places along the Little Colorado, and on Silver Creek, and Show Low plenty of waterpower can be obtained at very little expense, and the raw material right at their door. These enterprises should be investigated and pushed to completion at once by our citizens. They are paying propositions and confer incalculable benefits upon this section.”  The newspaper had high ambitions for the sheep industry in their county.

And that is a look at the sheep industry in 1897 as reported by The Argus, Holbrook and me, the jolly sheep lady.