By Judy Stoycheff
John Stemmer had, by 1875, established a way station on what would later be known as the General Crook Trail at a location just east of Dewey along Ash Creek. He maintained a fully supplied inn, stables and corrals built of stone, a bar, store and dining room
In December of 1882, John paid the sum of $8 for Homestead Application #197 for the 160 acres where his station was located, made easier by dint of his being a military veteran. Theoretically, he then had about 5 years to "prove it up" (i.e. make improvements) and live on the property except for no more than 6 months total. With those conditions he could receive the final deed.
However, on January 17, 1884 John wrote to the U. S. Land Office in Prescott that he "abandoned and relinquished to the United States all of my interests and rights…having sold all of my improvements." John had sold his station: out-buildings, corral, farm tools and implements, chickens, furniture, everything except the land, which he did not yet own. The station was purchased by A. J. Hudson for the price of $3000 according to the document filed at the Yavapai County Courthouse. However, in the 1940s, Sarah, daughter of the new owner, wrote in her memoirs that her father had paid $4500 for the buildings and goods. She also wrote that John Stemmer had paid her, a teenager at the time, $5 to sew the money into the lapels of his vest for safe transport. Thus John, Mary and 18-month-old Charles Stemmer left the station with only their personal belongings, blankets and a team and wagon.
The new owner, A. J. Hudson was born in Missouri in 1830; his wife in 1837. They had 13 children, 5 of whom died in childhood. Several of the children were born in Missouri; the others were born in various places in California and Arizona. At least 5 of the children accompanied their parents to the station, now known as Ash Creek Station, in 1884.
Twelve years passed since John Stemmer originally built the station, outbuildings and corral and apparently it had fallen into some disrepair. Sarah, again in her memoirs, mentioned that her dad built a large barn and great walled corrals – presumably an add-on or revision of what Stemmer had already in place. Her father also tunneled into a knoll in back of the kitchen and created a root cellar. The front of the cellar was walled with a 2-foot wall of rock. Remnants of the cellar can still be seen today.
Game was plentiful and they had their own heard of cattle. Sarah claims the inn was known for a hundred miles for the "good eats" it served. She described a typical breakfast as "beefsteak, fried quail and rabbit with plenty of biscuits, beans, coffee and potatoes." Travelers and soldiers to and from Fort Verde and points north on the Crook Trail would stop for a meal or an overnight stay. The new innkeepers did not ask their business; it "was not the healthy thing to do."
A. J. filed a claim for Homestead status in 1894 and continued to improve the property. In addition he built an arrastra on the other side of Ash Creek for his mining interests, ran cattle, operated a saw mill and spent time with his family on a ranch in Flagstaff!
Life continued for several years with many adventures, including all night dances and ice cream socials for the hardy folk at Ash Creek, Cienega, Cherry and other small communities. Prescott newspaper articles describe socials and other gatherings at "Hecla", the name by which the area was known when it had a post office in 1893-1894.
A. J.’s daughter Sarah, who had married a local rancher, George Miller, describes a cloudburst in August of 1898 that could be seen from their place 20 miles away. Her parents reported, "A wall of water fifteen feet high struck the station, rolling through the house and removing the furniture, some of which was never found." The out-buildings and most of the grounds were destroyed. Ironically, A. J.’s homestead papers were made official in October of that year! Sarah, George and A. J. had their final cattle roundup and sold them in the fall of 1899. They went to visit Sarah’s sister in California that December and did not return. A J. returned briefly in 1901 to sell the station property to John Crosby for $400.
Prescott Forest Reserve, predecessor of the Prescott National Forest, was established in 1898. At some point in time, it absorbed the area known as the Stone Corral. The inn is gone today as are the long-horn cattle, but the stone walls of the corral remain along with a tell-tale sign of the root cellar and, across the creek, the stones where A. J.’s mining arrastra was located. The old Cottonwoods are still watered by the seasonal Ash Creek.
If you go: From Dewey, go east on State Highway 169. On the left side of the highway between milepost 8 and 9 is a parking turnout for trail #64. Walk through the gate and follow the trail marked by cairns (rock piles). This trail will make a left turn from the main trail. Continue to follow the trail with the cairns to the grove of Cottonwood trees at Ash Creek and the Stone Corral. Tread lightly and respect the history.
Judy Stoycheff has been Steward of this site for seventeen years while researching its history.
Judy Stoycheff/Courtesy photo
This photo of the stone corral at Ash Creek, taken in 1993 by the author, shows how well the century-old rock wall has endured. It was used for stock during the 1870s and 1880s by the John Stemmer Station and continuing with A, J. Hudson’s Ash Creek Station until the end of the 1890s.
Sharlot Hall Museum Photograph Call Number:(Photo courtesy of author) Reuse only by permission.
Today, the trailhead for trail #64 is located along State Highway 169 between mile markers 8 and 9. Follow the cairns for the short walk to the ruins at the Stone Corral at Ash Creek.