Combing through my piles of sheep stories I came across a document “Early History of Livestock in Arizona.” Who wrote it, when and why is unknown. I will try to check on the source of the document and update this blog when I can authenticate its source. But it does give us some interesting tidbits about both sheep and cattle in a period starting in 1825 and to my best guess, the early 1920s based on the date 1917 used in the history. While I don’t generally write about cattle, I do need to include this little piece of information about a treaty between the citizens of Tucson and the Apaches where the Tucsonans gave the Indigenous people 100 head of cattle. Now, if this was to keep peace between the Apaches and the citizens of Tucson, I wonder if it was successful as there were reports of the Apaches during the time of the Civil War when no military was here to guard against attacks by the Indigenous people killing many settlers and stealing their livestock. This will have to be investigated further. While the history only states that cattle were given for appeasement, it is a well-known fact that sheep did not fair well in the southern portion of the state as they too were stolen for food.
Many of the stories from this report about the sheep have already been written about either in my book, Where Have All the Sheep Gone? Sheep Herders and Ranchers of Arizona – A Disappearing Industry or in earlier blogs so I will just include those facts that continue the history of Arizona’s sheep.
The commissioner of Indian Affairs reports that in 1917, there were 800,000 sheep and goats found in Navajo County. Their herds had increased even with the Army taken many of the sheep in 1859 – 1863 when the Navajo were forcibly removed from their land and taken to Bosque Redondo, New Mexico. We do know that some of the churro sheep were hidden back in canyons with some of the Navajos and it is assumed that these helped repopulate the reservation. It is these churro sheep that are the original and priced among the Navajo for their meat and wool.
Names of sheep ranchers named in the early history include the Brown Brothers, Baker and Campbell, the Mormons (none given by family name), Charlie Goddard, and Campbell and Francis. Baker and Campbell and Francis have been written about in my book, so I won’t elaborate on them. Several Mormon names are also discussed in my book as they had a wool mill at Tuba City for a short time; competition with California would force the closure of the mill. I will need to find my information on Charlie Goddard, as he is no stranger to me.
The history concludes with the statement that cattle reductions occurred in the period from 1893 to 1900 due to a severe drought by more than half. The price per head of cattle dropped to $10. What happened in the cattle business most likely occurred to some extent in the sheep business, but it has been proven in research that many sheep ranchers were able to hold on better than cattle men. It has also been stated that after this period many cattle men went into the sheep business! The history concludes that at the present time, the ranges have too many livestock and they are undesirable animals. This would have been about 1920s when the forest reserve managers began a reduction program which I have written on earlier and will add more to in the next several weeks.
Once again, I believe that the history had to be written shortly after 1917 as that is the latest date given in the report.

Sheep on the range in northern Arizona.

Johnny Auza, born in November 1941, passed away this past week, April 24.  He would have been 78 years old this November.  The following are just a few things I learned about Johnny as I interviewed him for his father and mother to be inducted into the Arizona Ranching and Farming Hall of Fame March 2019.

Johnny was born the fifth of eight children to Frank and Elsie Barrerras Auza.  Johnny was a native Arizona, of Basque descent as his father, Frank, had been born in the Basque area of Spain.  Johnny worked in the sheep business from an early age with his father, and then as a partner with his brothers, Frank, Pete, in the Auza Brothers Sheep Company.   Counting the time he worked for his father and then partnered with his brothers he spent 50 years in the sheep business in Arizona.  Summer jobs included delivery boy for the Babbitts and deliverer of Budweiser.  His father believed that if a son had no summer job, they would be put as camp tender or some other job working with the sheep.  Johnny told me it was always best to find a summer job and not work the sheep.  Later Johnny would be a heavy equipment operator.

Johnny was a great athlete at Flagstaff High School, graduation in 1960.  While a student at the school, he played football, participated in track and field and was a wrestler.  He received six varsity letters during those years at the high school.

I am still in the process of transcribing the interview I had with Johnny and will add more stories as have time.

 

In perusing early 1901 – 1903 Williams News through the Arizona Memory Project (azmemory.azlibrary.gov/digital) I found a few tidbits about the sheepmen in the area, weather, and what was happening with the forest. Weather is important to know about as it gives some perspective on grazing conditions as we will see. And the forest, well, that is where the sheep grazed.

One thing that appeared odd was the newspaper had the habit of calling the sheepmen “jolly”.  For July 27, 1901, C.C. Hutchinson was described as the “jolly sheepman”. Another edition, August 3, 1901, reported that “H. J. Gray, the jolly sheepman, and estimable wife, were town visitors Thursday evening. Harry went up agin’ that measly goat in the K. of P. second degree, yet he went in prepared for anything and everything.” In the same newspaper, Gus Reamer is described as “the jolly sheepman”. But, the next couple of statements we are told of Reamer’s bad luck of striking his head after falling from his wagon. It all ended well though as Reamer had friends that went to his sheep camp and brought him into town where many friends would look after him. Continuing my browsing of the newspapers a new description is giving to a sheepman: J.H. Sterling was described as “the popular sheep man”. I wonder why these descriptions for the sheep men. I never saw a cattle rancher described as “jolly” or “popular”.

It was interesting the comments about the amount of rainfall received. Unfortunately, there are more questions than answers to these rain reports. Since the newspapers I am reading are found online at Arizona Memory Project I have questioned several of these newspaper accounts. Each page for each edition that has been scanned are not given dates making it hard to determine the validity of the pages being for that date. Case in point it seems strange that there would be two sections with the caption “Local” and two places where the newspaper talks about the amount of rainfall. It was reported the rainfall for the summer of 1901, August 3, appeared to be very good. “It has rained heavy rains over northern Arizona every day for the past two weeks. An immense quantity of water has fallen. All dams and reservoirs are full and overflowing. The ranges are assured for a year at least.” In another section of that same newspaper (if one can trust that it is the same day) it stated that the “Rain God” was very good to all of Arizona for the past two weeks. Checking national weather statistics for rainfall total for the summer of 1901 can resolve part of the issue.

Monsoon rains may have been particularly good that year. It seems likely that both mentions could conceivably be the same newspaper as each does give a little different perspective on where the rain occurred. But then there is this turn of events. While looking at the July 6, 1901 newspaper, the third page ran this story, “About four inches of snow fell on last Saturday and Sunday. Present indications predict a very favorable season for stockmen.” Ok, snowfall in July? Future searching of the newspaper page containing that story shows a date of February 2, 1903! So, it is likely that the August 3, 1901 newspaper has another newspaper that was scanned with it.

The last story I want to present also may not be from July 27, 1901 newspaper. The newspaper reported that Forest Ranger Ben H. Crowe and Forest Superintendent H. F. Breen was prosecuting Andrew Alasor, a sheepherder, for a fire he caused near Maine. Judge Ranney hearing the case agreed and bound Alasor over to the grand jury with a $500 bond. The newspaper account described fire damage in the past sixty days amounted “to more than all the damage from sheep and cattle since the day of Adam.” The paper further stated that although the decision on the poor man was tough, the Superintendent needs to set an example to protect the forest reserve and enforce the laws of the forest. I doubt that this could be a story from July 27, 1901 when a week later the newspaper reported the heavy rains that have been falling over the state for the past two weeks. If the forests were wet, I would think that the fire damage would not have been so great that it amounted to the description of the “most damage since the time of Adam”!

While these newspapers add to the overall history of the sheep industry in the state even with the uncertainty of the newspaper date, names of sheepmen and herders are gathered. These sheepmen’s names can then be compared to the Arizona Wool Growers Association early records to see if the sheepmen were members. Other information than can be gathered through their records of these men.
And there you have it; a few more tidbits of Arizona sheep history.

Do you like sheep cheese?  Have you tried it?  How about lamb?  Well, if any of these products interest you then you need to check out the Rovey Dairy in Glendale, Arizona.  Paul Rovey has been in the sheep business for about 10 years and the sheep dairy for about five years.  He told me that he literally fell into the sheep dairy business.  His love of lamb and sheep dairy just fell into place with his cow dairy.  There is much to write about his dairy and over the next several weeks, I will do so.  But for now, just enjoy the pictures of his farm.  And, don’t forget to check out his supply of sheep cheeses (there are 8 varieties) and if you are in the mood for lamb for Easter, Rovey can supply you with that also.  He is located at 7711 W. Northern Ave, Glendale.  The store is open on Fridays and in the mornings on Saturday.  And remember, buying locally for those of you in Arizona helps out our economy.

I have written before that George Washington raised sheep on his Mt. Vernon estate as did Thomas Jefferson at Monticello. Jefferson kept two sheep at the White House.  Unfortunately one of the sheep killed the other, attacked a man and killed a young boy crossing the unfenced lawn in front of the White House.  Jefferson removed the sheep back to his estate and not until the ram killed other highly prized sheep, did Jefferson have it killed.  Now that is a little different information about Jefferson and sheep on the White House lawn that I posted earlier because that is what happens with research – new information is being discovered when you research something else.

What I have just learned is that both men were inaugurated in suits made of American wool! James Madison, the fourth president of the United States went one step further. Not only was he inaugurated in an American wool jacket, but it was woven from the wool of his own sheep raised at his plantation home of Montpelier.

For the last 31 years, there has been a Fall Fiber Festival and Montpelier Sheep Dog Trials at Montpelier. This year’s event will be held Oct. 5-6, 2019.  It does not appear that any descendants of Madison’s sheep are still on the grounds.

This is one of the sheep ranching families still in the business in Arizona.  The family started back in the early 1900s when Jose Antonio, called Tony,  arrived in the United States.  He first herded sheep in Texas but moved to Arizona.  He worked for different sheep ranchers before he partnered with three other men to form the Ohaco Sheep Company before he ventured off on his own in 1945.  His wife, Marianne, took over the operation of the Manterola Sheep Company when Tony passed away in 1956.

Reuben Dial, Tom Hudspeth, Street Hudspeth and Gene Dial  Photograph Sept 1927  Obtained from Williams Public Library Collection WPL_Vol 3 Family Histories Dial-Vincent Retrieved July 4, 2018.

Over the last several weeks I have been reading the Arizona National Pioneer Ranch Histories. There are over 20 and I am on Vol 8 so it will take some time to read. As I am reading I am compiling any mentions of sheep or stories of those listed in the volumes that may have been in the sheep business even if it was short lived. Through the names I have collected and the corresponding stories, many of the stories have been retold here. (See earlier blogs). Some of the names are familiar sheep ranchers and others are not. From here, I then, look through the Arizona Wool Growers Association member lists for years that are stated in the ranch histories to determine if they were members. Not always were sheep ranchers part of the AWGA even though there were benefits to joining if for the moral support and to have the organization fight for the sheep and their rights and by extension those who owned them and to continue this way of life for the sheep ranchers. Reading these pioneer ranch histories, scouring the newspapers for the any mention of sheep and their owners and the best part, meeting with those who partook in the industry that are still living today, I have tried to preserve the Arizona sheep industry. I still have many more ranch histories to read, newspapers to read, and family histories to record. Its like following the trail of the sheep moving between their summer and winter grazing lands; a monumental task to keep it all together; an adventure of happy trailing. So, join me as another sheep pioneer comes to life: Peter G. Pfluger.

While the story is about Pfluger, his story cannot be told without including T. J. Hudspeth (See picture above of Hudspeth).  Researching the Arizona Wool Growers Association files, there is a T.J. Hodspeth which is most likely the same man, just misspelled by those compiling the list of the AWGA files for the Cline Library Special Collections at Northern Arizona University. From these files, we have found that Hudspeth moved to the Buckeye area in 1929. He was a breeder of pure blood Rambouillet sheep in the area of Ash Fork. But, I digress….

Peter was the youngest of twelve children born in 1901 in Pflugerville, Texas. Sheep, cattle and raising cotton were all raised on the Pfluger homestead. Peter helped run the ranch until 1927 when he moved west where an older brother had migrated earlier and was working for the T. J. Hudspeth Sheep Company. The boys had learned about sheep from their own family ranch and thus could delve right into a sheep outfit. In the winter, Hudspeth had his sheep grazing on the alfalfa, cotton stalks and when necessary boughten feed in the Liberty area. After spring rains, the desert would offer plenty of selections for them to eat, such as Indian wheat, filaree, as they were trailed to Congress Junction and onto Peach Springs, Fort Rock, and Crozier, their summer headquarters. This was a designated sheep driveway. The sheep would be trailed back to the Liberty area where lambing would take place.

About the time the outfit obtained a forest service grazing permit at Big Lake at an unspecified date according the pioneer ranch history about Peter, sheep were no longer trailed along the driveway to Peach Springs. The railroad would haul them from Congress Junction to Holbrook and then they trailed them for about three weeks to the Big Lake grazing permit. The trail took them from Holbrook, then Snowflake and onto Greer. It was near Greer where they were counted to ensure the grazing permit was honored which only allowed for a specific number of sheep. At the end of the summer, the sheep would be trailed back to Holbrook and loaded on train cars for the trip down to the Litchfield Park railroad siding. After unloading, the sheep would be trailed a short distance to a pre-arranged rancher’s field of alfalfa and lambing would soon be in full swing.

The last thing known about Pete and sheep is “Pete was associated with Hudspeth, and followed this life for sixteen years using his own brand” (Arizona National Pioneer Ranch Histories, Vol. VI).

 

A Nebraskan by birth, Levi H. Reed was born in 1902 to Adelbert and Dora Reed. His parents ran a diary and farm, delivering milk, eggs and other farm products to the nearby town of Alliance. After a friend of his dad had migrated to the Salt River Valley, Adelbert came in 1908 presumably to visit but, he bought a farm on what is now 35th Ave and McDowell Road. Returning to Nebraska, Adelbert sold his land holdings and moved his family with eight Percheron horses to Arizona in 1910.

Levi went to school, graduating from high school and attended Phoenix Junior College for one year before enrolling for part of two terms at Iowa State, but he was unable to finish his education as he was needed by his father to run the farm. During the 1920s, he farmed both his father’s land and acreage he bought. He farmed mostly alfalfa which he used to feed old ewes he bought from Fred Porter, a sheep rancher, and other sheep ranchers. He lambed these ewes and sold some of the ewes with the lambs in Kansas City. The sheep he kept he grazed on George Stermer’s ranch near Heber on the Sitgreaves National Forest.

Levi married Ruth Bowman and throughout the 1930s continued feeding both sheep and cattle which he added to his operation. The couple may have continued in the sheep business through the 1940s and till late 1950s as Levi wrote, “we traded some of our deeded land for the Marshal Lake Ranch near Flagstaff, on Lake Mary, with the M.O. Best estate which was running sheep. We operated it as a sheep ranch for two years, then converted it to cattle” (Arizona National Livestock Show Ranch Histories, Vol. V, pg. 20).

Freed (Fred?) Porter is listed in the Arizona Wool Growers Association (AWGA) and it could be the same Porter as the list of files for the AWGA that are found at the Cline Library Special Collection, Northern Arizona University, has many errors and thus the name could just be spelled incorrectly. This Porter is listed as a member from 1938 to 1969 and does fit part of the time period even though Reed got sheep from a Fred Porter in the 1920s. Not all years that men had sheep were they members of the AWGA and this may be the case here. Another entry lists Porter and Gibson Livestock Company as a member for 1945.

Reviewing the AWGA files, M.O. Best Company was listed as a member from 1954 to 1956. Reed is not listed as a member of the association during any time period. No record has been found that George Stermer was a member either. However, the AWGA has a listing for Swift and Stermer belonging to the association in 1962. No verification can be made at this time that this is the same Stermer, however, it is most likely the same person. More research will be needed to verify these men or companies as members of the wool growers and the years of belonging. Stay tuned for updated information.

All pictures are from the Library of Congress Prospect Park Photos.  When the sheep were moved from Central Park, their new home for a period of time was here.