December 3, 2007 © Thomas J. Kollenborn. All Rights Reserved.
A clap of
thunder, a flash of lightning and the threat of rain made the old Reavis
Ranch house a haven to weary hikers, horsemen and cattlemen who rode or
walked the trails of the eastern portion of the Superstition Wilderness
Area for almost three decades. This old skeleton of a ranch house
survived almost thirty years alone in the heart of the Superstition
Wilderness Area with little or no maintenance. Many friends of the old
Reavis Ranch house tried desperately to help the old ranch house limp
into the Twenty-first Century.
The Friends of the Reavis Ranch cleaned,
cleared, hauled trash off and repaired the old ranch house for more
than a decade. Their effort was a labor of love, nothing more. We all
understood the character and spirit of this old house after spending a
few days in it. The roar of the fire place, the clanging of the tin
roof, the wind blowing through the breeze way and the attic, the
squeaking of a door hinge were sounds all of us were familiar with. The
beauty and solitude of this valley has made it a popular destination for
hikers and horseman.
Since 1956, I have traveled to and from
the Reavis Ranch on foot, horseback and by vehicle on many different
occasions. I can recall the old road and how rough it was between Castle
Dome Corral, up through Windy Gap and on to Plow Saddle. I can remember
the friendly smile of Alice Stone and the strong hand shake of Floyd
“Stoney” Stone when welcomed to their mountain ranch. I can recall the
closing of the road and Mary Leonard’s article in the Arizona Republic
about the old ranch in 1967. Only those who have spent a weekend or a
month at the old ranch in Reavis Valley know what we have lost. The
Reavis Valley is a pristine ecological niche of the Upper Sonoran Desert
with the old ranch serving as a window for human kind.
The Reavis Ranch house burned down
sometime around Thanksgiving 1991. The old ranch house has been gone for
more than sixteen years. The old house was constructed about 1937. The
ranch was patented by the Clemans Cattle Company in 1919. William J.
Clemans purchased the ranch from John J. Fraser in 1909. Fraser had
acquired the ranch shortly after the death of the old hermit “Elisha”
Marcus Reavis in 1896.
Clemans and his two sons, Earl and Mark
Twain ran the ranch from 1910-1946. Billy Martin Sr. served as foreman
of the Clemans Cattle Company from 1915-1946. Prior to Martin, William
“Billy” Knight served as foreman from 1891-1915. Still to this day there
are old catch pens deep in the forest made entirely of wood, not one
nail or a piece of wire was used in their construction. The range was so
brushy the Clemans’ cowboys had to trap a lot of their cattle.
The Reavis Ranch road was started in
1910 by a group of Mesa promoters who wanted to sell lots in the pines
south of the Reavis Ranch. They never completed the road. Bacon and
Upton purchased the ranch from the Clemans Cattle Company around 1946.
The road was completed by Bacon and Upton in 1948. Floyd Stone, Bacon’s
son-in-law, and Kenneth Lockwood purchased the ranch in 1955 from John
A. Bacon and Upton. Stone and Lockwood sold the ranch to the United
States Department of Agriculture in 1966 for $80,000 and twenty acres of
patented land near the Apache Trail.
Shortly after the government purchased
the Reavis Ranch they closed the access corridor. The reason for the
closure of the road was the extreme maintenance cost and the danger to
vehicular travel. After the road was closed in 1967 only hikers and
horseman were able to access the Reavis Valley and the ranch.
When news of the Reavis Ranch fire
spread among those who had visited the old ranch over the years a sort
of sadness prevailed. I suppose many of the wilderness purists believed
the fire was a blessing to the wilderness concept. Many hikers and
backpackers were disappointed to find their severe weather haven
destroyed by fire. Now outfitters and packers will have to carry more
gear and take more animals to provide adequate service to their
customers.
Many will just miss the old ranch house
because of the nostalgia associated with it. I must admit I really
enjoyed being a part of this history. The destruction of the old Reavis
Ranch house ended an era in the history of the Superstition Wilderness
Area. Settlers and cattlemen have lived in the valley since 1874.
The Reavis Valley had served as the
first Camp Geronimo for the Boy Scouts in 1920, before the Spade Ranch
north of Payson became their permanent home. Arizona’s Governor Campbell
rode horseback to the Reavis Ranch in 1920s to visit with the Boy
Scouts at Camp Geronimo (Reavis Ranch) and tell them stories around a
campfire. Even post cards told the story of the idyllic Reavis Valley.
I visited the Reavis Valley in 1994, not
for the last time, but to see the old ranch house once more. The walls
were still standing and the chimney towered above the old house like a
monument to the past.
I returned to the site of the old Reavis
Ranch in October of 2000. None of the walls of the old ranch were
standing. All that remained was the concrete slab the old ranch house
was constructed on. I was amazed how obliterated the site was. All human
history had just about been removed and the valley had been almost
returned to its pure state.
Like all
man-made things, the Reavis Ranch was just a temporary fixture on the
landscape destined to be destroyed someday. Those who knew the old house
undoubtedly had a better understanding of man’s mark on the wilderness
and the value of this place.
