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Saturday, April 30, 2011

Springtime on the Tonto


The morning we left Kohl's Ranch and the area where Zane Grey had built his ranch, the question became-- is there anywhere we can buy breakfast? That kind of country really isn't one that provides snacks or restaurants every so many miles although we had hard boiled eggs, bread, butter, cheese; so we would not have starved.

At Christopher Creek, we turned off the new four lane expressway (which will connect more of Phoenix to the casinos in Showlow and Pinetop) where we had been told we'd find a cafe. There it was, one of the delightful, old-fashioned structures, run by friendly people. If I never appreciated places like that years ago, I sure do now, as they are dwindling in numbers.

As we ate and drank our coffee, we debated what to do about going south. What we wanted was take a gravel road we saw on the map that led to Young, south of where we were, the site of one of the worst family feuds in the United States. We had been there before, but it'd been years, and the question always has to be, especially after winter has barely left the land, how good will that kind of road be.

Two turkey hunters were eating at the table across from us. They assured us the road was passable even if it often was a 10 mph road or less. *chuckle chuckle* The waitress didn't agree. She thought the snow had only left it two weeks earlier and expected it to need 4-wheel drive. Of course, we had that, and it had cost us a pretty penny to get it through California as well as carrying it well-loaded, which would be to its good if it was a really bad road.

We kind of went back and forth about whether it'd be worth it but neither of us wanted to go to Showlow as it had been a disappointment several years earlier with how little of its original spirit was there. So we took the gravel road with the added advantage of it leading to Haigler Creek, another one about the size of Tonto Creek.

Well the road was as rough as the two hunters had joked and the waitress had warned although it didn't require 4-wheel, there were many places it made the going easier. The difficulty was worth it to see Haigler Creek although next time we want to go, I think we would come the five miles up from Young and skip the rough part.


We had passed the lonely grave of the first person killed in the Tonto Basin War, a Navajo shepherd who had been part of a plan to bring sheep into the basin which had always been exclusively cattle country with an unwritten rule, no sheep south of the Rim. He was shot from ambush by the Grahams or so goes the legend.


The story of any feud like the one between the Tewksburys and Grahams is full of he said-he said. The gist though of what triggered the war was when the [Daggs] brought in the sheep and hired (or otherwise co-opted) the Tewksburys, who had been before that time small cattlemen, but more gunmen, to protect them. With the shooting of the shepherd, the feud was on between them and the Grahams.

The feud and the danger to the area, known ironically as Pleasant Valley, lasted about ten years with it being said 29 men died in the ensuing violence, most of the deaths occurring between 1886-87. All but one of the men in the two families was murdered which led to Zane Grey using it as a plot device in his book, To the Last Man. This kind of a war is not particularly heroic, with gunfights in streets, but more shots from ambush.

Grey was researching it not that many years from it happening and talked to those who still remembered a lot of it first hand. It wasn't easy back then, maybe not now either, to get people to talk about it. Revenge has a long reach. Most likely it's like the Tombstone, Arizona stories with it depending on which side you were on as to who you saw as the villains in the events. Besides Grey's fictionalized story, there are other books about it.


The land is still beautiful; but it has an edge to it, as far as I am concerned, even today. The community lies in a basin with high hills all around it. People who live there had better be pretty self-sufficient, or they won't last there as it's a long drive to anything else.

When we drove out the south side, heading generally southeasterly, we didn't expect it to be quite as rough a road as the one coming in. It was every bit and to add to it the road had a few miles of something I tend to equate mostly with Arizona backroads-- single lane in the steepest stretches, no way to see too far ahead, and guardrails? What are those? They just wreck the view, right? The drop off on a road like that always makes me tense (Oregon has some too but not sure anywhere near as many) as if your vehicle got over too far, it'd start to roll and be a long time before it quit-- probably longer before anybody found the rolled vehicle and your body. Not surprisingly, Farm Boss likes those kind of roads and hence I have been on more than a few of them in my lifetime...


It had gorgeous views though, and a lot of wildflowers. It was worth the longer and rougher drive but not sure I'll be wanting to do it again anytime soon.


The photos are from Tonto Creek, Haigler Creek, looking down on Young, and the other direction toward the Salt River country. It's a tough land, one that doesn't suffer fools gladly-- even today. It requires tough people to live there. Traveling through, people should use good judgment, carry water, as there is a consequence for the alternative.

11 comments:

Diane Widler Wenzel said...

"Fisherman" says he prefers cliff hanger roads to driving downtown Portland during rush hour or in the evening for that matter. Ihave also been on many of these back roads too. Great photos.

karmanot said...

And the wildflowers! Perfect time of year.

Paul said...

Lovely vistas Rain !!

mandt said...

Truly enjoying your travel-log. It brings back such wonderful memories of youthful days in the Desert. Do you remember when Santa Fe only had a two lane road for access?

Rain Trueax said...

Much to my regret I didn't get to Santa Fe until much later. I was in the corner of New Mexico to see Mesa Verde many times and years ago. I lived in Tucson and was in this part of Arizona in 1965-66. Then many many times again through the years but it was only a little over ten years ago that I got to the heart of New Mexico and it's still hard for me to get back there as it seems every time we are down here, we have a lot of work to do and then have to get back to the farm without the time to explore the areas I liked so much around Chaco Canyon, Taos, Abiquiu, and the Gila Wilderness area. So much to see and savor in that state and so little time to get there..

OldLady Of The Hills said...

It sounds so dangerous---Not sure I would ever do that excursion...I enjoyed your pictures very very much and your descriptions of this rather STILL primative place...! You and Farm Boss are very brace people, my dear!

OldLady Of The Hills said...

"BRAVE"...not brace...lol! But I guess you need ro beace yourselves for a trip like this...!

Taradharma said...

what an adventure! Good on both of yas. Who tends the farm with you away?

You've piqued my interest in that Zane Grey book - thanks!

Rain Trueax said...

Different people have done it different times. We have a very nice guy from the area this time but it's the first time for him and I hope it's going well. He knows cattle though. The last guy who did it felt it was a lot more than he wanted to take on again. It's not easy to find someone and more of a problem in some seasons than others. Hopefully it's going well :) Our son and daughter-in-law look in on the cats, but cats being cats, they do fine with nobody there most of the time. I would like to take them but this time when we got ready to go, Blackie hid under the bed to keep from being taken. Fortunately for him we had already decided tearing the house apart here for the carpeting being installed would have made it miserable once they got here also. Tough though as I miss them very much.

Rain said...

Incidentally I have some fantastic photos of wildflowers from the high country but will post something about down here first. I was thrilled at how many were up there since I missed the low desert wildflower season.

Fran aka Redondowriter said...

Very interesting story and beautiful photos, Rain. Are you still traveling right now?