Tag: Arizona Sheep Industry

Flag Wool and Fiber Festival

Just a reminder that this year’s Flag Wool and Fiber Festival will be Saturday and Sunday June 1st and 2nd at the Arizona Historical Society Pioneer Museum 2340 N. Fort Valley Rd., Flagstaff.

Hours for Saturday – 9 am to 5 pm and Sunday – 9 am to 3 pm.

If you have never been to the Festival, there is something for everyone. Check out their website: flagwool.com for information on vendors, demonstrations and lectures, livestock exhibits, workshops, shearing and food.

Hope to see you there. It is always a great time. I volunteer one of the two days, usually Sunday so I can shop on Saturday. So come by the information booth and say “hi” to the Arizona Sheep Historian.

Sheep at the festival 2023! Getting ready to be sheared!

The Rest of March 1924

To finish the March newspaper articles that may be considered of interest to those who once raised “woolies” I have condensed those articles here. 

There were two concerns in the state –  “Sore Lip” and Foot and Mouth Disease.  Sore lip is a disease that affected sheep, goats, and hogs and in the later part of March was a problem in southern Arizona among mainly goats.  Foot and Mouth disease had affected nine counties in California and Arizona Governor Hunt had proclaimed an absolute quarantine against any and all kinds of livestock and agricultural products from entering the State of Arizona.  The disease had also been declared a national emergency by the President of the United States. He had asked Congress for one million dollars to help fight the disease. This was not the first outbreak of the disease. The first occurred in 1870 when imported cattle from Scotland were found to have the disease. Other outbreaks occurred in 1880, 1884, 1902, 1908 and 1914.  Each epidemic seemed to been a little worse than the last, but 1914 was the worst year when 22 states and the District of Columbia were infected.

A formal designation was made for three Arizona forest areas, on which extensive studies were to be made by the Forest service to determine the “carrying capacity” of various types of grazing land for sheep and cattle. This was announced by T. T. Swift, district forester. The three studies areas were:

  1. A browse study was to be conducted on the Clark allotment in the Cook National Forest.
  2. The second area was to be on the Horrell allotment of the Tonto National Forest for determining the desert type grazing capacity.
  3. The final study, a production study was to be conducted on the Tom Cavness allotment on the Tonto Range on Lime Creek. This allotment was a mixed grass and browse run.

A fourth area would to be announced for the Coronado Forest. 

These experiments would be conducted over a period of years to determine how many cattle and sheep could graze on a given area. Each allotment had about 11,000 acres.

While the study was to be for grazing capacity of lands for both sheep and cattle, these were all cattle allotments. It will be of interest to this researcher if more information will be found on these studies, if only cattle, or if sheep were included. I will keep my readers posted if such information becomes available.

Wool and its stockpiles on the railroad station in Wickenburg by the sheep companies Babbitt and DeRyder were announced as wool was one of the major products shipped from this city to the east. It was important for the city for its economic well being but also to the sheep companies as two armed guards were reported to be on duty 24/7!

And finally who could not enjoy knowing that an army of 65,000 sheep were about to head north on the Heber-Reno trail within the next few days to enjoy their summer vacation in the cooler temperatures of the White Mountains!

That concludes the sheep news for March 1924. I will be working on April this week.

Navajo Rug

As I was reading the March 1924 newspapers, I found this article about a Navajo Rug. A few words in the article were changed to be less offensive.

What was interesting was that the rug contained 7, 384,000 stitches was on exhibition at Gallup, New Mexico. It has been brought in from the Navajo reservation from the Ganado country by Don Lorenzo Hubbell near whose trading store some of the finest weaves were produced by the deft hands of female Native Americans.

The rug was 10 feet 10 inches by 11 feet 11 inches in size and was called a beautiful creation of the weaver’s art. The wool to make this rug was shorn from the native sheep at Ganado, and was shipped to Boston, where it was spun especially for the work of the weaver whose name was Kine-Am-Ne. She was one of the best weavers of the entire tribe. The weave was the old-fashioned kind, “using native dyes making the rug a work of art in every particular”.

The color was blue with figures in white and red worked into the designs to represent the wind, rain and sunshine with the whirling log design in the center.

Kine-Am-Ne worked 14 months to produce this wonderful rug. Another rug made by her sold to D. C. Jackling, a well-known mining man of the 1920s, recently, for $500, valuation in 2024 at $9,073.86.

Furthur research did not find a picture of either rug. I wonder where either rug is today!

Nothing Exciting Happened Feb 1924

Since there was little happening during the month of February 1924 in the Arizona sheep industry, I have just compiled all of the information here. Ranges were still pretty good for the sheep even though no rain had fallen over the previous five weeks. The sheepmen were only beginning to be concerned about the lack of moisture and were hoping that there would be some soon. Shearing was progressing in the Salt River Valley and elsewhere. Wool was being ready for shipment eastward. In most cases it was being sent to the west coast to be shipped by water to the East Coast mills. Water shipment would save the sheep men money on transportation cost.

It was estimated that 278,659 head of sheep and goats (there was no breakdown of numbers between the two animals) would be grazing on the ten national forests in Arizona for the upcoming summer grazing period.  Some newspapers reported that only eight national forests would be used for grazing. At the winter business meeting for the Arizona Wool Growers’ Association, the sheep men would receive information on the new grazing fee schedule. For 1924, sheep would be assessed $0.25 per head for grazing on forest service land. More will be written about this as found in the newspapers or other sources of information.  

Sheepmen and outfits mentioned in the February newspaper included M. J. Riordan, Harlow Yaeger, Nolan Snodgrass, S. W. Jacques, D. H. Henderson, Larkin W. Carr, Governor Safford (he was in the sheep business and was expecting to add to his flock), E. H. Duffield Sheep Company, and Howard Sheep Company. Of these names Harlow Yaeger deserves further comment as his wife died leaving him with two small children, Mary 7 and Lonnie, 3 to raise. At the time of her death, she was in a sanitarium in California, distraught over the death of her oldest daughter. Mr. Yaeger had his sheep in Diablo Canyon area. I am still researching through various sources if Jacques was a relative of my husband’s family as I have a document showing that was a spelling of the family name in France.

Lastly, valuation of sheep was reported for Coconino County and Navajo County for 1923.  In Coconino County there were 240,173 sheep valued at $1,200,865.00, with 4,529 bucks valued at $68,040.  There was a decrease of 9,000 sheep but the valuation was up by $202,725.  Navajo County had 55,381 sheep valued at $275,905.00 and 509 bucks at $7,635.00.  No reports of decrease in sheep were given for Navajo County. Valuation of a ewe was $5 per head and $15 per buck for both counties.  

While news of the sheep industry was sparse in February we did learn some information that furthers our knowledge of what was happening in the industry. Research of newspapers for March are being completed and any information of importance of the sheep industry will be posted.

Finishing January 1924 News

Sheep men were concerned in January 1924 with varies problems such as rabies, freight rates and range land.

Several articles appeared in the January newspapers on the problem of rabies that, if not checked, could have dire consequences for the sheep men who were just lambing this month. It was reported that there were more coyotes than ever in Arizona with concentration of them in the central and southern parts. It was very concerning the high numbers of coyotes in the central area with this part of the sheep lambing grounds. It was believed that the disease had spread to domestic dogs when coyotes invaded ranch yards and bitten the dogs.  It was stressed to the sheepmen that all coyotes and stray dogs be killed to keep the disease from further spreading within the state. 

Reduction in freight rates for wool from Phoenix and Flagstaff were recommended to the interstate commerce commission through cooperation of the American Wool Growers’ Association membership at their annual meeting. Arizona’s freight rates were higher than other western states whether the wool was shipped to Pacific coast points or directly to Boston via railroad. For example San Francisco could ship to Boston from $1.35 to $1.70 per hundred pounds while Phoenix the charge was $3.00. A reduction in transportation cost meant a larger savings to the sheep men.

Along with the discussion of freight rates from Arizona was a discussion of having a warehouse to store the wool for when the market was more favorable. Dumping the wool on the market when prices were low was not a good economic decision but without a storage facility, little options did the wool growers have. Construction of a warehouse and a manufacturing facility in Los Angeles have been planned by the Pioneer Pacific Worsted Mills. Construction was to begin immediately. (As to this topic, a more thorough search needs to be made to find more details upon which finding them they will be reported in a future blog).

Flagstaff sheepmen who use the desert in and around the Salt River Valley were becoming concerned that the lands that they formerly grazed were becoming more scarce each year.  More and more of the land was being passed into private ownership taking these lands away from the wool raisers. As this land became more scarce, rental prices advanced to be out of the reach of many of the smaller sheep outfits. (Note: This was one of the reasons that the men who had raised sheep sold out and pursued other avenues of work.)

A few little tidbits found:

  • A brand was applied for by T. A. Nicholas of Florence during the month. I don’t remember seeing his name in later years newspapers.
  • A lawsuit had been filed by sheep and cattle men from Utah who were being charged 25 cents a head on all sheep and 50 cents a head for cattle for inspection for their animals to use the Northern Strip, i.e. the Arizona Strip. They believed that it was unconstitutional for one state to charge another state duties that were more than what the inspection cost would amount to. An update will follow as more papers are researched.
  • Sheep men or an outfit cited for various reasons included John Hennessy, A.A. Johns, and Grand Canyon Sheep Company
  • A film about the Salt River Valley featured sheep herds.

Stay tuned for February 1924.

Sheep and Cattle Industry Begin 1924 Strong

In an article of January 4, 1924, entitled “Cattle and Sheep Industry of Arizona Bring a Big Return to the Range Men” many statistics are given by Charles U. Pickrell.  Sticking with just sheep information for the most part presented in the article we are given these facts:

  1. One-fourth of sheep graze on ranges within the limits of Indian Reservations. (One-third for cattle)
  2. Ninety per cent of the land within the state is available for grazing but the article does say that this will change with the development of reclamation projects diverting the grazing land for other types of agriculture. No mention of housing developments was mentioned. Arizona did not have a large population due to the lack of air conditioning.
  3. Pickrell stated that there were 1,115,000 sheep, 100,000,000 cattle, 152,000 goats, 100,000 horses and 11,200 hogs.
  4. The article divided the state into three distinct regions: the plateau region, the mountain region and desert region. There is considerable difference in climate and forage conditions in each of these.
  5. Sheep graze in all three areas shifting between winter and summer range as the temperatures either become too cold or too hot and as the feed begins to dry up from the hot temperatures.  Both sheep men and cattle men agreed that sheep can use the plateau region to better advantage than cattle.
  6.  Many of the sheep men live in Coconino, Navajo, Apache and Yavapai Counties with the number of sheep and sheep outfits decreasing in the order named. Cochise and Pinal Counties are seeing an increase in sheep while a few are now in Pima County.
  7. In the region of the desert and lower hills in southern Yavapai, northern Yuma, Maricopa and Mohave Counties, sheep will be found in large numbers, 200,000 it is estimated this year, during the winter. They will lamb here and shearing takes place. If the feed on the desert is scarce, the alfalfa fields are used for lambing.
  8. Most of these 200,000 sheep will be trailed northward along the Heber-Reno; Mud Tanks-Government Gap, Beaver Head-Grief Hill and Bear Springs-Prescott-Tonto Mountain trails.
  9. Arizona has a favorable wool market (at least at the time of this 1924 article).  The annual wool clip is approximately 6,600,000 pounds which is all marketed in Boston.

The weather had contributed to good conditions at the beginning of the year as stated in last week’s blog. Reports of the number of lambs born had not yet been determined as the lambing season would have just begun. The shearing was beginning so no results as to the poundage that would be available to ship to Boston.  In other articles found for January 1924, other information about the health of both the cattle and sheep industry were given. In most, sheep were economically better off than cattle. Only time will tell if this hold for the rest of 1924. It must be remembered that a depression occurred after World War I affecting the livestock but it seems from reading these early newspapers that the sheep industry faired more favorable.

January 1924 Weather and Sheep

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.

The Lucky Sheep Man – H.T. Atkin

Just one of the many Utah men who herded their sheep on the Arizona Strip.

Henry T. Atkin began to herd his father’s sheep in 1892 as his father had quite the flock. In 1893 he rented those sheep, 1500, from his father grazing them on Cedar Mountain, Utah, in the summer but took them to the Arizona Strip in the winter. He said in his diary that the land was free, grass plentiful and sheep did very well. In 1894 the state took ownership of the land and he had to purchase land to graze the sheep. First, he bought 160 acres from Mr. Jackson for $300. Next, he bought 1000 acres of state land for $1.25 per acre.  He wrote in his diary, “In this way I continued to get more land and got a good start in sheep.”

Marrying in 1884, he took on many jobs but it seems he did the best when he had sheep. While his growing family lived in St. George between 1893 and 1908, he was seldom home as he wanted to be out with the sheep, “trying to get a start and build up a foundation for the sheep business.” After 16 years in the sheep business, he sold them in 1908.  Whom he sold them to is unknown.

Between 1908 and 1916, he was involved in many activities in Utah which are not germane to this story. What is, is in 1916, he returned to the sheep partnering with Edward H. Snow and A. B. Andrus. They purchased 1,500 ewes at $7.00 a head. He soon bought his partners out. The year 1917 was a boom year for sheep as wool was used by the U.S. military for making wool uniforms for the soldiers. Lamb was also sent for their food.  Between 1916 and 1922 Atkin ran the sheep year-round on the Arizona Strip. He bought or constructed reservoirs for year-round use allowing him to move his sheep to meet the seasonal changes. But once again, he sold the sheep, now having grown to a flock of 2,000, to his brother for $10 a head, making a profit as he had when he sold his sheep in 1908.

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!