b'THE OLD STORYTELLERCattle and Sheep Dont MixPART 1 By Hank Sheffer, The Old StorytellerT he Arizona Territory holdsmarriage, John Jr., Edwin, James, Frank, and Elvira,major reasons that many Texans moved into Arizona many cards of distinctionrelocated to Pleasant Valley, on the east side of CherryTerritory. They didnt need or want the wooly problem when discussing the topicCreek. About that same time the Graham brothers,again. Ironically, sheep had been introduced to the area of western expansion. Arizona,Tom and John, settled on the west side of Cherry Creekby Coronado during his early exploration in 1540, more it could be said, was the brassroughly ten miles to the north. They were later joined bythan three hundred years before. Like it or not the sheep ring on a carousel of diversiedtheir half brother, Bill.were here rst.climates and cultures. She offered cool mountains with lush timber, rivers, streams for livestock elds, openIronically, the Grahams and the Tewksburys rode forIn the 1600s, the Navajo had run ocks of sheep, as did range for grazing, and arid desert plains, all open andthe Stinson outt for their rst three years of tenurethe Anglos by the 1870s. Extended droughts throughout free to anyone who wished to homestead. There wasin the valley. Both factions began stealing cattle fromthe west had caused herders to migrate to Arizona. They gold, silver, and copper that could make a man richJames Stinson to bolster their own herds. Manpowerbrought their sheep to the territory from California and overnight; all he had to do was strike a claim and ndwas needed to run the ever-growing Stinson herd, butNew Mexico. it. There was land to be had if for no other reason thanwith the newcomers stealing cattle as fast as he was nding a new and unspoiled place to farm and start abuilding the herd it didnt take long for Stinson to sayAnother contributing factor, which stimulated the new life away from the turmoil and strife left behind byenough is enough. growth of the sheep business, was the railroad system. the Civil War. Whatever the reason for seeking a betterSheep were big business. In 1881, a cattleman by name way of life, Arizona seemed to hold all the aces. In 1882 and 1883, Stinson brought charges of cattleof D.A. Stanford foreclosed on a ranch near Tucson. The rustling against Bill and Tom Graham. In 1884, heranch had been owned by Tully, Ochoa, and DeLong, The declining cattle business in Texas stimulatedagain accused the Grahams of rustling. That same year,and showed ocks numbering over 13,000 head of sheep. tremendous growth in the northern sections of theStinson charged the three Tewksburys, Edwin, James,Stanford soon realized the potential of the big bucks Arizona Territory during the 1880s. Some ten yearsand John, along with George Blaine, Bill Richards, andthat could be made. He told his foreman, John Cady earlier, a lush green valley in the Sierra Anchas hadW.H. Bishop, with the theft of been discovered, but due to its inaccessibility, it wasa hundred head of cattle. The not greatly populated. The valley, supplied with wateraction taken by the court, in mainly by Cherry Creek and Tonto Creek, became aevery instance, was to acquit all haven for settlers. It also became a haven for rustlersof the accusednobody went to jailand other unsavory hombres. This area was known asStinson wound up the only loser.Pleasant Valley.There was no love lost among this bunch James Stinson was one of the rst cattleman to settleanywhere. The Grahams were ardently in Pleasant Valley. He arrived in the area in 1880.prejudiced toward the three That same year also saw the insurgence of many moreoldest Tewksbury boys. They stockmen into Arizona. John Dunning Tewksbury wasmade no secret about how one of them.they felt toward the Shoshone half-breeds. To add insult to Bostonian raised Tewksbury wandered into Arizonainjury, it was rumored that the around 1877. Before leaving Oregon, J.D. wasGraham boys had been chasing prosperously breeding and racing ne horses. He was aafter John Jr.s pretty wife. There wealthy, solid citizen who got an itchy foot that neededwas only one thing that these scratching. Like so many others, he cashed out intwo soon to be warring factions Oregon, packed up his family, and began seeking thehad in common. their seemingly elusive something that would satisfy his itch. J.D. movedinherent hatred for sheep. around for about twenty years. After his Shoshone wife died, he drifted into Prescott. It is believed that J.D. gotThe Arizona cattlemens stew-pot his rst glimpse of the lush Pleasant Valley from atop thewas warming up, but it wouldnt Mogollon Rim while following a herd of stolen stock. be long before the ingredient of sheep would be added to On November 6, 1879, Tewksbury married anthe stew, bringing that pot Englishwoman and cattle owner, Lydia Ann Criggerto a boil. The introduction Shultes in Tempe, Arizona. A short time later, he andof sheep and fences to Texas Lydia, along with his ve children from the priorgrazing land were the two By purchasing one million alternating sections of land from the railroad, the Aztec Land and Cattle Company Ltd. effectively tied up more than two million acres for their own use. This huge tract of land extended essentially from Mormon Lake to east of Holbrook, and from the Little Colorado River south to the Mogollon Rim. 8 May 2019'