March 23, 2009 © Thomas J. Kollenborn. All Rights Reserved.
My life is filled with many
memorable experiences, and my first visit to the old Reavis Ranch in the
1950s I can easily reminisce. Alice and Floyd Stone operated the Reavis
at that time, and Floyd Stone was John A. Bacon’s son-inlaw.
Floyd “Stoney” Stone was ramrod on the
Tortilla and Reavis allotments. Stoney’s handshake and smile were
genuine and made you feel welcome after a long drive over a terrorizing
road up the mountain from the Apache Trail. Stoney had given me
permission to drive up to the Reavis Ranch.
I wanted to visit Circlestone and hear
more stories about this unusual archaeological site above the Reavis
Ranch. Circlestone had captured my imagination since old “Red” Cowan had
taken me there several years prior.
While at the Reavis Ranch, I was able to
observe and study the Western beauty and decor of the ranch house. The
kitchen had a long wooden table with benches on both sides. All meals
were served on this table. The copper-paneled ceiling of the kitchen
appeared out of place for such an isolated ranch house.
Alice Stone kept the copper polished and
clean. There were three windows in the kitchen and a large wood burning
stove for cooking. The front room or living room dominated the decor of
the ranch house setting. At the west end of the room was a large
fireplace. The hearth was framed with peeled pine logs that had several
cattle brands burned into them for decor. Western style wooden
furniture filled the room. The floor was covered with large Navajo rugs,
while the ceiling displayed open round timbers. Scenes of cowboys and
cattle adorned the walls on framed canvases. The light filtered through
the paintings adding life to them. Here and there a Native American
artifact was displayed. I will never forget the subtle beauty of the
ranch house’s interior. It was such it made you feel at home
immediately. The interior had the aura of a rustic old museum.
The exterior of the house exhibited
carefully laid sandstone rocks. On the west end of the building was a
room separated from the remainder of the house by a large breezeway
running north and south. The east side of the ranch house displayed a
large screened porch with flagstone columns. There were two bedrooms on
the south side of the house. On the other side of the breezeway there
was a bathroom and a storage area.
Using a ladder, you could climb into the
attic where numerous things were stored and where occasionally a tired
cowboy would throw his bed down.
The Stones sold the Reavis Ranch to the
Department of Agriculture in 1967 for $80,000 and 20 acres of patented
land at the old IV Ranch near the Apache Trail.
Native Americans were the first humans
to occupy the Reavis Valley. They may have settled here some 5,000 to
10,000 years ago. These early residents settled here for the same reason
Elisha Marcus Reavis did in 1874, and that was water. This high
mountain valley has the only permanent stream flowing year around in
this entire region. Native Americans, farmers and cattlemen all
cherished and coveted this beautiful valley and its abundance of water
in a desert environment. Numerous archaeological sites, including
Circlestone, dot the towering knolls that surround Reavis Valley.
Elisha Reavis died in April of 1896,
some four miles south of the Reavis Valley. Shortly after his death,
John J. Fraser, better known as Jack Fraser, a local cattleman, took
over the Reavis Valley and its water rights. Fraser, like Reavis, was
just a squatter on this land. Fraser never acquired title because at the
time he was not a citizen of the United States. Fraser operated the
ranch from 1896-1909.
Fraser sold his interest in the ranch to
William J. Clemans in January of 1909. Clemans patented 140 acres of
the Reavis Valley on January 16, 1919. He and his sons operated the
ranch until 1946, when it was sold to Bacon and Upton. John A. Bacon ran
the ranch from 1946 until 1953. Bacon’s son-in-law Floyd “Stoney” Stone
took over operation in 1954.
During the period 1909-1954 many
improvements were made at the Reavis Ranch. A road was put in from the
Apache Trail to the ranch in 1946. Almost two miles of irrigation canals
were dug for irrigating the 600 apple tree orchard and 60 acres of hay.
A large pond was created near the ranch house to irrigate the ranch
lands. There was even a small sawmill constructed to make lumber.
A Mormon company known as Pineair Summer
Resort Company tried to market small lots in the valley 1909-1919. The
construction of a railroad to Prescott from Phoenix ended the dream of
this ill-fated company. They were able to start a road to the Reavis
Valley, but never finished the project.
The valley became part of the Tonto
Forest Reserve in 1909, and served as the site of the first Camp
Geronimo for the Roosevelt Boy Scout Council in June of 1922. Swimming
merit badges were awarded because of the small lake in the valley.
Governor Campbell rode into valley as a guest of the Roosevelt Boy Scout
Council.
Finally, in 1946, the long promised road
was completed into the valley, but was closed in 1968, surviving only
twenty- two years. The old ranch survived another twenty-three years
through famine, fire and vandalism, however the old homestead could not
survive the pressures of the Nineties.
It was around Thanksgiving of 1991, a
fire erupted in the old ranch house and it was burned to the ground. The
fire on the mountain crushed the dreams of many who had envisioned the
old ranch being a way station for those who needed a protected rest stop
in the wilderness. All that remains today is the concrete slab where
the ranch house once stood.
The old ranch will no longer be a haven
for wayward campers, hikers, or horseman. It will no longer protect the
weary traveler from a thundering rainstorm, a raging blizzard or the
freezing cold.