b'THE OLD STORYTELLERWhite Bird and His Memories of the Tonto RimBy Hank Sheffer, The Old StorytellerL ast month I was privileged toBabe was making a name for himself as a famous hunter share a little bit about my dearwhen Zane Grey arrived in 1921and apparently took departed friend Bill Haugh, ora liking to the family. Hunting, fishing, and anything as many knew him, White Bird. Weoutdoors was right up Greys alley and Babe soon became both loved talking about Arizonaa personal friend to the western adventure novel writer. history. Me from a learners point ofIronically, Babe had gotten his nickname for no more view and him from a sharing point of view. The Haughts havesophisticated a reason than being the baby of the family.been around for a very long time in the Tonto Rim region.It was Zane Grey who later tagged him with Haught,Our conversations prompted me to talk my wife into helpingThe Bear Hunter. me take on the task of writing another book. This one was to be about the Pioneer Haught family and their escapadesEven after Babe died in 1929, a second story was added toExample of a "Dogtrot" cabin.in the Tonto Rim Country. We were going to title the bookthe cabin. A fireplace was added at one end to block the "Patriarchs of the Tonto Rim." Unfortunately, I suppose, ascold winter winds and add warmth. It was just about aMEMORIES OF TEXAS FLATtime would have it, that was thirty years ago and there werehalf mile from Zane Grey\'s cabin. As it stands, none of theNovember 10, 1982, by White Birdso many Haughts and so much information already availableold homestead exists today, nor does the apple orchard orWhile growing up in Texas Flat there were lots of funny to compile that we never finished that book. garden areas the Haughts worked so diligently to build andthings that happened. For instance, while I was downtown maintain. And to add insult to injury, Zane Greys famousone day, I guess I was around 10 or 11 years old, l was Long before my grandad arrived in Arizona the Haughtcabin was completely destroyed in 1990 during the Dudevisiting Mr. Cooper our town barber. At that time his family had made its presence known. S.A. Haught, Sr. wasFire on the Rim. The family homestead has gone the way ofbarber shop was on the east front porch of the Winchester. one of the very first of the Haughts to settle in the Tontohousing progress. On the other hand, there is good news asHe always cut my hair free of charge if I\'d sing him a song Rim Country. He and his wife Isabella homesteaded onan exact replica of the cabin was constructed in Payson andand this particular day we had just walked out on the front Rye Creek. He became Arizona\'s first cattle king with tenis now the home of an area museum where you can wanderporch and here came Pat Weitz in his ol\' Model A Ford. He thousand head of longhorns. His rangeland extended fromthrough the adventures of this wonderful Arizona historyalways parked right on the east end of the barbershop. He Rye Creek, south of Payson, all the way to Sunflower. for yourself. and Mr. Cooper were talking about Bill Wade, who built the original Ox Bow Inn. They were talking about where Bill\'s grandfather, Anderson Lee "Babe" Haught, came toThat Babe Haughts adventures and other exploits werehe got the money to build it and so forth.I always listened, Arizona in the spring of 1898 in search of a new homestead.inspiration fodder to Zane Grey for his novels goes withoutbecause when those two got together they really made you His wife Ella and young son Edd had remained in Dallas,saying. These are the titles he wrote in or about Arizonalaugh. Pat said, You know after he built the dern hotel Texas until he could establish a new home for the family.western adventures: Arizona Ames, Arizona Clan, Call ofhe had the gall to call it The Modern Hotel. Mr. Cooper He arrived in Safford by railroad. From there he rodethe Canyon, Code of the West, The Drift Fence, The Hashspoke up and said, Yes and the only thing modern about horseback until just before sundown when he stopped toKnife Outfit, The Man of the Forest, Nevada, Shadow of theit was the sticks that held the winders up. You still had to camp for the night.It had been an arduous journey but heTrail, Tales of Lonely Trails, Tappan\'s Burro, 30,000 on thego out back to an old W.P.A. toilet. All my life l have never knew this country was to his liking. From under the ledgeHoof, Sunset Pass, To the Last Man, and Under the Tontoforgotten that conversation between those two wonderful where he camped, he could look out and see almost all ofRim. There is a wealth of interesting Tonto Rim history toold men.the Upper Tonto Basin and off in the distance he could seebe seen and shared in the Payson area, but be forewarned, the Four Peaks. There were miles and miles of virgin yellowyou sure \'nough can\'t see it all in one day. Here\'s another story - first hand. Like the saying goes boys pines, oaks, and maples. The cattle feed in the meadowswill be boys and what hellions they were.was so high you could hardly get a horse through it. TontoBill spoke to me about his times as a boy growing up in Creek was off to the east about a mile twisting its wayPayson. He wrote dozens of short stories and anecdotesThere was an ol fellow who lived out on the control road, through the pines. He knew this was where he was to makewhich literally became chronicles of people, places, andjust a little way from the road going to Pine. About once his stake! happenings with his rich descriptive writing style. He spokeevery two or three weeks he\'d drive his team and wagon at length about his adventures at Texas Flat and later hisinto town for supplies. He would always tie his team and Grandmother had a very difficult trip when Babe sent forrecollections at his oak tree and the beauty of the area aswagon to a big cottonwood tree right on the west side of the her. But she persevered and eventually added six morebest he could remember them. old Pioneer Bar. lt was a long building with a bar at the west children to the ever-growing ranch. The family continuedend and a dining room on the other, there were about three to grow and prosper. There was the apple orchard thatWhile my wife and I neverrooms inside the dining room to be rented. So, we knew they had planted that need tending, along with all thefinished the Patriarch,what his habits were. When he went to the bar he drank a other things that necessarily filled up the itinerary ofproject we did go to Paysonwhile, then he would eat and go to bed in one of the rooms. surviving under the Tonto Rim. Finally, it was decidedto see if we could findHe\'d always put a nose-bag on his horses and feed them that the family needed to build a large "Dogtrot" cabin. the homes and peoplebefore he went in.mentioned in the stories. We were able to photographWell, that night the bigger boys took his wagon apart and just about every locationpulled it up - a piece at a time - on top of the post office without difficulty. We werebuilding, which was right next door. They put it back astounded at how muchtogether right on top. The next morning ol\' Bob came from so long past we couldout of the bar and every kid in town was there to see the actually see. I cannot tell youfun, trying not to laugh. Dern I almost died. Boy with how happy I am that we dida hangover like he had, just the thought of what kind because so much/most of itof drunk he thought he must have been on was enough no longer exists. to laugh you crazy. The expression on his face when he couldn\'t find his wagon was bad enough. Let alone what he That all said, I am going tosaw when he looked all around for it. Then all of a sudden place some of Billie White Bird\'s (as I used to call him)he looked up and there was his wagon on top of the post writings in this story. After all, these are his stories andoffice. Of course, the boys took it down and put it back no one could tell them better. He always titled the storiestogether for him. There was lots of fun in Payson in those "Memories of Texas Flat" or "Memories of the Tonto days. I call it good ol clean fun. No one was hurt and heck, Rim" when he wrote for the many news publications,it didn`t even make Bob mad; he got as much fun out of it Zane Grey and wife Dolly; Grey\'s cabin northeast of Payson. including mine. as the boys did.10 August 2019'