By Judy Stoycheff

(The author originally wrote this article in the late 1990s as a part of an archaeological report of an excavation done by the Yavapai Chapter of the Arizona Archeological Society in the previous two years. This is part one of a three-part series of Days Past articles on the history of Sandretto Hills.)

The 160 acres about which this history is written is the SW 1/4 of Section 10 Township 14, Range 2 West, located in Yavapai County, Arizona, five miles north of down town Prescott. This is how it was designated in the County Recorders office when it was purchased or otherwise changed hands. For current residents of this area, it is where Fry's grocery store and other retail outlet stores currently sit in Sandretto Hills near Watson and Willow Lakes.

The first legal owner of the property was John F. Simmons, who came to Arizona from Kansas in 1864 with his parents, John W and Mary, and his younger brother, Thomas. John settled on acreage in what was known as Pleasant Valley, along Willow Creek. His parents and Tom also settled in the area, eventually purchasing land in what became known as Miller Valley. The Simmons -were contemporaries of the legendary Miller brothers, Sam and Jake, and Tom certainly had adventures with them, primarily in fighting hostile Indians. John W. and Mary settled about 5 miles from town, but Mary saw fit to visit the stores and other sights of civilization only once in her 18 years of living in Miller Valley! All of the Simmons became life long ranchers and farmers and made important contributions to the fledgling community of Prescott. 

John F's application for his Certificate of Purchase stated that he had settled the land later known as the Sandretto property in December 1864, built a home in December of 1865 and occupied it for a "season", and then built another house in the summer of 1866. This was recorded in the General Land office on April 28, 1873 and in the Yavapai County Book of Deeds in 1897. The total purchase price was $200.00 or $1.25 per acre. In 1878, he settled on the adjoining 160 acres in Section 15 with the intent of homesteading. As required by the Homestead Act, he built another house on this property and apparently lived there the remainder of his life. In his affidavit, affirmed by three acquaintances, he cultivated between fifteen and twenty acres, raising corn, hay and vegetables such as beans and onions. He also had about thirty-five horses and sixty head of cattle on these two properties as well as on neighboring land that he leased. 

John F. married Sarah Margaret Akhard, a local girl, in 1877. They had a daughter Ann (birth date unknown), and then in 1882, Sarah was pregnant with twins. During this time, Sarah asked that they move back to the house in Section 10 as she considered this to be "the better house". Sarah died in December of 1882 and the twin girls (Phoebe and Maggie) a few weeks later in Jan 1883. 

Following this, John F. (and presumably Ann), moved back into the house in Section 15. Ann ultimately married (Mr. Charles Evans) and moved to Kirkland Valley. John F. did not many again, but played an active roll in the community. He died in 1908 due to gangrene, caused by frostbite of a foot suffered in the previous winter. He, as well as many members of his family, is buried in the Simmons cemetery in Prescott, although most of their gravestones are absent or difficult to read. This final resting place is within the boundary of the Pioneer Cemetery on land donated by the Simmons family. Most likely John W. and Mary are both laid to rest there as well. Prior to his death, John F. had transferred or sold portions of his property in Sections 10 and 15 for back taxes, to familiar Prescott property owners such as A.J. Head, John C. Stull, John Harlan, Eldrige Wanless, and Thomas Brock. 

Sarah Brock conveyed Section 10 to Dominick Sandretto with a mortgage in favor of M. Synkoop for $2000 on March 1, 1915. The Sandretto family knows nothing about the previous owners' use of the land from the time of John F. Simmons until the purchase. 

Dominick Sandretto was born in Sparone, Italy in 1876 and came to the United States when he was 21 years old. He tried mining at Poland Junction and bar tending in some of the many saloons in the Prescott area before becoming a dairyman and rancher. According to his descendants, he was not successful at mining because his English was poor and his health was not up to the rigors of mining in Arizona. Ultimately, he learned to speak, read, and write English and became a U.S. citizen, although his wife did not. Italian was the first language in the home and the children did not learn English until they began school. Dominick married Catherine Sandretti, a woman from a neighboring village in Italy. Apparently, he knew of Catherine but had never met her. 

They had five children; a son died at Mercy Hospital in his teen years of pneumonia, and a 9-month-old daughter died of cholera. Doctors McNally and Looney attended them. Three daughters survived the perils of childhood in rural Arizona. 

(To be continued on April 23, 2006.) 


Sharlot Hall Museum Photograph Call Number:(Section map 276) Reuse only by permission.
This 1876 map shows two houses on the Sandretto property located on the north bank of Willow Creek. The annual flooding of Willow Creek provided fine soil for agriculture.