By Linda Ludington

(This is the first part of a two-part article) 

"The wagons rumbled and rattled and squeaked; the hoofs of horses and mules clopped endlessly upon the hard surface of the rocky, winding road. On every hand were mountains, canyons, vast abysses that seemed unreachable by the foot of man. It was wild, vast, fearsome." Thus did Clarence Kelland describe the newly-declared Arizona Territory. But in spite of the challenges, hearty pioneers poured through the inhospitable terrain to Prescott, lured by a keen sense of adventure, unbounded enthusiasm, and endless energy.

There was Joseph C. Crane, owner of the "Diane," Whiskey Row's opulent saloon and gambling hall. The English-born Crane was a man of impeccable dress, polished manners, and business integrity. He partnered with Michael Goldwater, W.C. Bashford, George Curtis, and Charles Drake in the Arizona Development Company, formed in 1879. A colorful figure since arriving in Yavapai County around 1869, Crane played a prominent role in Kelland's novel of early Prescott, Sugarfoot, which was serialized in the Saturday Evening Post and later made into a movie. 

There was Joseph Crane's daughter Hattie. This pioneer woman, who spent her childhood in Camp Lincoln shortly after that frontier fort had been established, graduated from Prescott's St. Joseph Academy in 1890. She taught at the primitive schools of Ash Fork and Big Chino before marrying Albert Stringfield in 1893. A ranch wife, mother of seven children, cattlewoman, charter member of Yavapai Cowbelles, and a member of the county, state, and national Cattlegrowers associations, this remarkable lady characterized the frontier spirit. 

There was Robert Stringfield. In 1875, he and wife Nancy Adeline (Pemberton) brought their children to Arizona overland from Arkansas. Oxen teams pulled their wagons across arid trails. Initially the family settled near the base of Thumb Butte. Several years later they established a homestead in Mint Wash near the old Simmons stage station. This site was located near the present intersection of Outer Loop and Williamson Valley roads. Robert was killed in 1891, when he was thrown from a runaway horse-drawn wagon at the corner of Prescott's Montezuma and Gurley streets. Adeline continued to live on the homestead. 

There was Albert Stringfield, Robert's son. After his final year of education, at the Big Chino School, he married his teacher, Hattie Crane. They ranched at Rock Butte northwest of present Drake. In 1906, Albert and Hattie moved to Mint Wash where his father had homesteaded. Albert's brand was the L bar L. The couple had seven children, including son Lon. 

There was William R. Rhodes. In 1876, this enterprising lad of sixteen drove a band of sheep from his home near Porterville, California, to the timberline above Flagstaff. He decided to stay in the new Territory. Soon Billy Rhodes was a meat cutter in Prescott's "Tragic Butcher Shop." After his marriage in 1880, he ranched above Flagstaff for a few years, and later moved to the Del Rio Springs area. In his fields he harvested hay to feed the Fred Harvey Company mules at the Grand Canyon. For many years he was in charge of all rolling stock on the narrow gauge railroad for the United Verde Mine. 

There was Louisa Mefford. At the age of five, in 1865, she migrated overland in a covered wagon from Missouri to California. Fourteen years later she arrived in Prescott and soon married Billy Rhodes. Louisa's 1934 obituary states that, "She was a pioneer woman who knew what it was to have household food supplies from Prescott over abominable trails to the base of the San Francisco mountains near Flagstaff, to fear Indian attacks, and for each family to be almost absolutely self-sufficient." Billy and Louisa's daughter Garnet married Lon Stringfield. 

Ralph Stringfield of the Stringfield Ranch can claim, with justifiable pride, all of these hearty pioneers as ancestors. Ralph's roots are sunk deep in the rugged, boulder-strewn mesas and steep arroyos near Granite Mountain. For all of his eighty years, Ralph has ranched in the valley east of that mountain, a valley in which three generations of Stringfields ranched before him. His daughter, Irene, is the fifth generation of Stringfield cattle ranchers in what is now called Williamson Valley. 

Ralph and his parents, Lon and Garnet, lived near his Stringfield grandparents on the L bar L until Ralph was six. He remembers helping Albert brand his Hereford cattle. He fondly recalls his first horse, "Molly." But his most vivid memories are of his dad's abilities with wild cattle. Lon was what ranch folk respectfully call an "old time cowboy." His son remembers Lon trailing or leading wild cattle into the corral. These were stock that had roamed freely on the open range, unbranded and unearmarked. They had escaped several years of roundups. Most were steers - long-horned and aggressive, 1500 pounds of spite and cunning. Lon was a skilled roper and dally man. The object was to rope the animal and neck it to a stout tree overnight. After the irate beast had thrashed, pawed, and twisted for hours to free itself, it would have become just docile enough to trail or to lead to the corral. Lon could lead five wild cattle into the ranch at a time. This was a dangerous but exhilarating job, and Lon was one of the best at it. 

The Stringfields usually butchered the wild cattle, selling the meat to Jerome for the miners. When the open range was fenced, and cattle were no longer sold by the head, the last of the wild stock was caught. As Gail Gardner wrote, "Wild cattle were hard on horses, hard on men, and hard on themselves, and there was no money in them; so, like the buffalo, they had to go." 

(Linda Ludington is a volunteer with the annual Cowboy Poets Gathering at the Sharlot Hall Museum.) 



Sharlot Hall Museum Photograph Call Number: (Stringfield collection). Reuse only by permission.