Arizona weekly citizen., 1881-06-12
Hnnker,s Rarchn.

1 have seen nothing in Arizona
 which las excited more interest and
 given more real pleasure than my
 visit to Rockers Ranch. MT. Ii.
 C. Hooker, its proprietor and mana
 ger, is known all through lhiS Ter
 ritory as the cattle king Of Arizona.
 He IS an intelligent, cultivated and
 highly respected business man, who,
 afler extensive operations in cOmmer- cial life in California, came tO this
 country and turned his attention to
 raising cattle and horses. He came
 be- C and located his ranch with
 great foresight where there was scarcely a white man within hun
 dred miles, when 1t required great
 personal courage, not tO say hardi
 hood, to live here, when murderouS
 bands of Indians were ready to cut off any and all iulruders. The ranch embraces about four hundred square miles, is about twenty miles long and twenty miles wide, with half dozen never-failing springs or wells with a capacity of feeding and watering twenty thousand head Of stock. l rode for three days with him behind L magnificent team Of Hambletonians Ot his own raising, inspecting his dO-
 main. His western boundary is the Galjuro mountains. The eastern boundary is the PiualO rang ge. The valley is like a level plain, across which from his doors sill he can look for twelve miles and see Fort Grant, while in flat beautiful valley and among the foothills Ol either range thousands of cattle are feeding the year through on the most nutritious grasses. His adobe dwelling looks at distance like a small fOrtliicatiOn built on three sides of C. hollow sQuare. A morning walk around his buildings and COrrals prepares the appetite for breakfast. He has at present four thousand head of cattle and three hundred and fifty horses. Looking from his doorway at any hour of the day you can see his herds men on horseback passing to and fro with bands of horses and sleek. He has several magnificent stalliOns of Golddust, Messenger and Hamble- Jnnian stock, while his cattle have been graded up from Oregon cows until you see young short horns by the hundred No cattle ever die here by starvation or storms. A few inches of snow sometimes fall in winter 10 disappear within twenty four hours. The beef for quality is equal 10 anything which ever reaches the Burlington meat market. The cattle are never driven before the storms as ln Colorado and Wyoming, and never eXperience any thing like the Texas nOrthers. They are comparatively free from disease while the demand for beef here eX- oeeds the supply. The San Carlos reservation alone furnishes market for three and half million pounds of beef, while the beef supplies for the army m this territory must come from thIs region. California is also buying cattle here, The growing mining camps also increase the demand. Al an altitude of 1. 100 feet the climate is delightful and the grasses far supe ! .or 10 those of lower level. The prices range from three cents to three and three fourth cents per pound on lee Lo"f. and from si1 Co eie ht cents net weight. ln most places in Ari- ZGna, life, with its surroundings, is rude indeed. It was refreshing to be entertained for few days at thc mag nificent home of Mir. Hooker, where found all the ConvenlenCe5 and which grace the homes Of lhe wealthy in our large cities-car- pets, furniture. pictures, easy chairs, musical instruments, all on a grade of excellence which demonstrates the City per cent profit per annum, about which the cattle men of thls section talk unhesitatiugly. l presume that no man ID the territory enterlains as many guests as are sure 10 find royal welcome here, and there is scarcely a day that visitors are not thu: enter tained. It is the oasis oi Arizona, socially as we'll ss in pastoral sense.
 Roughs and tramps, on the P.inci- pie of natural selection, pass by and go tO their own place, while from all parts or the nation men of distinction in the various departments of life turn aside to rest awhile amid the in- yiting attractions of Rockers ranch.
 The fortune he has built mp has been freely spent in securing to his family all the advantages of real cul- ture, and the reputation MT. Hooker enjoys as cattle king of Arizona has a substantial basis. He can retire at any time on fortune earned by hon. est methods, and when he does happy is the man who shall be his successor at Rockers ranch.