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Sierra Bonita
| Cattle Baron who dressed for dinner thought his guests should, too. (Photo courtesy/W. Lane Rogers) |
By W. Lane Rogers/for the Range News
A New Hampshire man, Henry Clay Hooker followed gold seekers to California and opened a hardware store at Placerville in 1853. Uninsured, all was lost to a disastrous fire in 1869.
To regain prosperity, Hooker employed an unconventional scheme. It occurred to him that miners at the Comstock might appreciate a break in their beans and bacon diet. He bought some 500 turkeys and, with a hired drover and two herding dogs, commenced a cross-country turkey drive. A tidy profit was pocketed when the birds commanded $5 apiece.
Fortuitously, Hooker secured a government contract to supply beef to army posts in Arizona Territory. Oddly enough, a stampede convinced him to tie his fate to the eastern skirt of Apacheria.
When driving a herd of cattle through the Galiuro Mountains, the animals stampeded. By the time Hooker and his cowboys caught up with them, they were grazing on lush grass near a broad valley with an abundant supply of water. Hooker was hooked.
Keenly aware of limitless potential, he began at once to put tracts together, some by purchase, some by homesteading-eventually controlling some 300,000 acres of prime rangeland. He called his ranch Sierra Bonita, Spanish for Beautiful Mountain. By 1872, Hooker was baron of a hacienda with all the accouterments available on the frontier, and was host over a sumptuous table. Located on a cienega between Willcox and old Fort Grant, the ranch became a lightening rod for important guests.
Hooker established cordial relations with the Apaches, and counted Cochise among his friends. Consequently, problems with Indians were few.
Dissatisfied with the quality of Arizona cattle, Hooker introduced Durham and Hereford breeds to the territory. He bred fine horses, for which he became well known throughout the Southwest, as well as Poland China hogs, poultry, and a kennel of greyhounds.
As early as 1874, the Tucson Citizen called the Sierra Bonita "an Arizona institution."
In 1898, Hooker built a mansion in Los Angeles to pacify his wife and daughter's desire for a milder climate. It was there in December 1907 that he died. The longtime rancher was 79.
To regain prosperity, Hooker employed an unconventional scheme. It occurred to him that miners at the Comstock might appreciate a break in their beans and bacon diet. He bought some 500 turkeys and, with a hired drover and two herding dogs, commenced a cross-country turkey drive. A tidy profit was pocketed when the birds commanded $5 apiece.
Fortuitously, Hooker secured a government contract to supply beef to army posts in Arizona Territory. Oddly enough, a stampede convinced him to tie his fate to the eastern skirt of Apacheria.
When driving a herd of cattle through the Galiuro Mountains, the animals stampeded. By the time Hooker and his cowboys caught up with them, they were grazing on lush grass near a broad valley with an abundant supply of water. Hooker was hooked.
Keenly aware of limitless potential, he began at once to put tracts together, some by purchase, some by homesteading-eventually controlling some 300,000 acres of prime rangeland. He called his ranch Sierra Bonita, Spanish for Beautiful Mountain. By 1872, Hooker was baron of a hacienda with all the accouterments available on the frontier, and was host over a sumptuous table. Located on a cienega between Willcox and old Fort Grant, the ranch became a lightening rod for important guests.
Hooker established cordial relations with the Apaches, and counted Cochise among his friends. Consequently, problems with Indians were few.
Dissatisfied with the quality of Arizona cattle, Hooker introduced Durham and Hereford breeds to the territory. He bred fine horses, for which he became well known throughout the Southwest, as well as Poland China hogs, poultry, and a kennel of greyhounds.
As early as 1874, the Tucson Citizen called the Sierra Bonita "an Arizona institution."
In 1898, Hooker built a mansion in Los Angeles to pacify his wife and daughter's desire for a milder climate. It was there in December 1907 that he died. The longtime rancher was 79.
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| Identity sought for female skull found near Benson | ADOT meeting |
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