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.