Ramson B. Moore

Rans' history after he left California and resettled in Tonto Basin, AZ.

One document is the confirmation of Rans to the 16th Territorial Legislature. The picture of Ransom Barber Moore is from 1890 at the State Capitol Building, just after his election to the Legislature.

Ransom had a history of settling and homesteading on Government land and then applying for Patents after the required time was surpassed. He did this on 100 acres in El Monte, California, where he was an original wagon train pioneer in the 1850's. The census of 1860 shows that he had 116 horses, 5 Asses or Mules, 7 dairy cows, 9 cattle, 2 swine, 400 bushels of corn, 200lbs of butter, and 40 tons of hay, for a total value of about $3200. He did this again when he founded the town of San Gorgonio (now Banning), CA, in the 1860's and received three land patents for more than 700 acres. The Fort Reno Ranch was purchased by Rans Moore in 1884 or 1885 from a Colonel Ridley.

There are four pictures included that my Grandfather, Jack Moore took of Camp Reno in 1961. The walls were still standing then. Rans moved from Banning CA (a town he started in the 1860's), into Camp Reno in 1894/95. He made his headquarters there until the year of his death, 1904. The family has literally dozens of pieces of correspondence to and from Rans during these years. The post office changed names several times during that period. Letters over the years are posted from Reno, Tonto and Cline. I have included JPEG's of a few of the envelopes.

Sept 21,1897                      

 Feb 22,1899

My Grandfather told me that he visited Camp Reno when he was a teen in the 1920's. There were still timbers and roofing covering the buildings, although they were dilapidated at the time. There is a well-documented court case involving a metal box full of money that Ransom had buried on the grounds before he died. My grandfather told me he had seen the hole where his uncle Will had purportedly dug it up shortly after Rans' death. My cousin Carol Peters of Phoenix told me that it was estimated to have contained about $700,000 in today's dollars. There was a big scandal and a court proceeding initiated by two of the daughters of Ransom, contending that the money was supposed to have been divided amongst them all. It was never proven for sure that Will had actually taken the money, but he somehow had enough afterwards to purchase several ranches (See the testimony of his sisters for more details on following e-mail). At the Punkin Center Library is a book called the History of Fort (Camp?) Reno. The author shows a map of the grounds as they were when he visited in the 1960's. He indicates in a drawing, a hole in the ground in front of the Officers/Enlisted quarters, but thinks it was made some time during the early 60's. That is the hole where the money was buried and dug up, circa 1904/05.

Ransom was always on school boards and was also a court justice in the towns he settled . This was no different in Reno/Tonto. Included is a document dated Oct 6, 1889 from the Globe County Superintendent of Schools, F.W. Westmeyer, asking Rans what was being done about starting school in his district. CLICK ON  THE PICTURE TO ENLARGE.

Form the office of Probate Judge Globe, Az 

Rans' son, Tom Moore, was a ranch foreman in the area in the early 1880's. At the time of his murder in 1884, Fort Reno (as it was known by the locals), had apparently been partially rebuilt after its destruction when the Army pulled out in the 1870's. The Reno road was the only route through the Tonto Basin and the old Fort Reno was a place to stop and rest along the way. Tom's brother Will inherited the Ranch when Ransom passed away. He stated these facts to my grandfather, Jack Moore, when they visited the site in the 1920's (See the Ambush of Tom Moore and Letter from Oct 25, 1884 from US Jackson written on Merchant stationery from Prescott).CLICK ON  THE PICTURE TO ENLARGE.

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Will Moore went on to make somewhat of a local reputation for himself as a sheriff deputy in Maricopa County. He was more commonly known as Billy and is mentioned for his criminal-chasing exploits in the book, Arizona, the last frontier, by Joseph Miller, © Hastings House Publishers, Inc. 1956 (see included JPEG of letter mentioning some of his activities from Sep 2, 1886, on stationery from a local merchant in Tonto). CLICK ON  THE PICTURE TO ENLARGE.

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Testimony of Martha Isabelle Moore and Mary Marcella Moore over the estate of Ransom B. Moore (sometime before 1910)

The said Ransom B. Moore purchased in Gila County what was known as the Fort Reno Ranch from Col. Ridley many years ago, approximately in 1885, and a conveyance was made to him, but later for some reason the title passed from Ridley to the above W.W. Moore, one of the sons, and W.W. Moore kept title to said ranch until approximately 2 years ago when it was thought he conveyed the said ranch to Glen L. Moore, a son of W.W. Moore - for what consideration is not known. It is thought and understood that this ranch was valued and is valued at around $50,000.00 at least.

It is known that both directly and indirectly that Ransom B. Moore was the possessor of a large amount of cash. This money was not kept in a bank, but was kept hidden at different places at the Reno Ranch during the lifetime of said Ransom B. Moore. His son W.W. Moore was more or less close to the father and was with him at the ranch more or less during the last years of his life, and brought him from the ranch to Phoenix some 2 or 3 months prior to his death. It is thought that it can be positively proven that the said Ransom B. Moore had many thousands of dollars hidden, part of which was in what is known as an old sugar box or an old red and brown tin box about 12 or 14 inches long and about 8 or 10 inches wide and about 10 inches deep (Currently in possession of Gene S. Moore of Tombstone, AZ, as of December 2003).

Prior to the death of Ransom B. Moore, the above named W.W. Moore was, or had been, a Deputy Sheriff in Maricopa County under D.L. Murray. It is known that about the only property owned by W.W. Moore was a small house in Phoenix, situated at 524 N. Fifth St. up to the time of his death. The house in Mesa was sometime thereafter sold. The value of the Mesa lot would probably not exceed $2000.00. Some very few years after the death of Ransom B. Moore, W.W. Moore bought the following named ranches:

The Round Valley Ranch, situated in either Gila County or Maricopa County, Arizona.

The Sunflower Ranch, situated probably in Gila County or partially in Maricopa County, and,

The Brown Ranch not far from the other ranches named. The Reno Ranch is over the mountain from the above named ranches purchased by W.W. Moore, as aforesaid. It is understood that the ranches purchased, as above, cost a considerable sum of money, and that they were paid for in cash. As to how much these ranches cost, we have to ascertain. It is not known how much live stock, if any, was purchased with these ranches, but this information ought to be obtainable from the records of Gila County. The information also as to who sold these ranches to W.W. Moore can probably be obtained from the County Recorder's records in Gila County.

The said Ransom B. Moore during his life time exercised dominion and lived at the old Reno Ranch, during all of which he paid the taxes on said ranch and maintained his home up there up to the time of his death.

Many years ago, Mary and Isabelle Moore, above named, were guests at the ranch of their father and while there saw the old tin box in which their father kept part of his money, and which box was then full of money, and they knew that he had some money hidden elsewhere. They saw him remove from the box money with which to pay taxes to the Boardman.

Some years ago, W.W. Moore sold to one or more persons all of the above named ranches except the Reno Ranch, and it was understood that he was to sell the Reno Ranch but did not sell it because of a flaw in the title; in fact, some of the heirs, including Mary and Isabelle Moore, and W.O. Moore would not sign up or release the ranch.

W.W. Moore acted as administrator of the estates of Ransom B. Moore in Gila County, and was appointed in the latter part of 1904 or early part of 1905. The inventory and appraisement showed about 130 head of cattle and 2 or 3 saddle horses. These cattle were sold for something like $1100.00, and W.W. Moore was paid some two or three hundred dollars for taking care of the cattle, medical bills and funeral expenses and other bills were paid, leaving for distribution to each of the heirs the sum of approximately $131.00. Distribution was made of this estate, and Money orders for $131.00 together with the receipts were forwarded to Mary and Isabelle at San Bernardino, California. They kept the money orders for about a year, finally cashed them; neither signed or returned the receipts to the Clerk of the court of... [The rest of the statement is missing].

The first Governor of the state of Arizona was George W.P. Hunt. He was a personal friend of Ransom Barber Moore, who was the owner of the Fort Reno Ranch, in Tonto Basin, for about 10 years. Mr. Hunt made a name for himself in Arizona politics and succeeded Rans' seat in the 16th Arizona Territorial Legislature of 1891. During one of Hunt's terms as governor, he used to get his hair cut frequently at the government building's barber shop in Phoenix, by one of Ransom's grandsons, Thomas C. Moore. Hunt told the following story about the Ambush of Tom Moore, one of Ransom's three sons, to the young T.C. Moore:

One of Ransom Moore's sons, Tom, was a foreman on a large cattle ranch in the Tonto Basin in Arizona territory in 1884. He apparently had evidence on a big cattle rustling gang there, including a man by the name of Hyde, three Cline brothers and one of the Clanton boys, Billy. (This was not the same Billy Clanton that was killed in Tombstone three years earlier).

One evening Tom was in the bar at old Fort Reno, which was a stopping place for travelers going through. While he was there the Cline Brothers and Hyde, who had been drinking, came in. Hyde started trouble with Tom. The bartender asked Tom to leave to avoid trouble, which he did. Hyde followed him outside, thinking him a coward. He took out his gun and started shooting at Tom's feet. Tom pulled his six shooter off his saddle and shot Hyde right between the eyes.

Tom was going right into Globe to give himself up, but the Cline boys talked him into going to their house to spend the night and they would go with him the next day. After Tom had gone to bed, the Cline boys rode ahead and laid an ambush. When Tom rode by they shot him in the back seven times (Tom C. witnessed the bullet-riddled saddle at the Reno Ranch many years after the incident). The rustling gangs were so powerful then that people were afraid to do anything about the murder. Arizona Territory was quite rough in those days.

A bullet-riddled saddle was purportedly among the items in Governor Hunt's Estate at the time of his death.

T.C. Moore was the son of John S. Moore, Ransom's eldest son.

Birth Date: November 1, 1859
Died: December 24, 1934
Birth State: Missouri
Family: One child
Spouse: Duett Ellison
Party: Democrat

Periods in Office: From: October, 1911To: October, 1919 From: October, 1923To: October, 1929 From: October, 1931 To: October, 1933 George Wylie Paul Hunt, Arizona's first governor, was born on November 1, 1859, in Huntsville, Missouri. His education was limited to eight years in both public and private schools. Hunt moved to Arizona in search of gold, but instead entered politics. Working at the Old Dominion Commercial Company in 1890, he later became secretary and president of the company. In 1904 he was elected the first mayor of Globe, Arizona. Hunt served in the Arizona Territorial Legislature in 1892 and 1894, and in the Arizona Territorial Council in 1896, 1898, 1904, 1906, and 1908, serving as president in 1905 and 1909. He also was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1900, and presided over the 1910 Arizona Constitutional Convention that led to statehood. Hunt became Arizona's first governor on October 24, 1911, was reelected in 1914, 1917, 1921, 1924, 1927, and again in 1930. During his seven terms in office, a pension plan passed for teachers with 25 years of service, the State Bureau of Mines was started, and the legislature passed a prohibition statute. The state law library and the Bureau of Statistics were created, and programs to pave and expand the highway systems with convict labor were initiated. Because of his advanced age and charges of political patronage in the newly established highway patrol, Hunt retired from public life, leaving office on January 2, 1933. He died on December 24, 1934, and is buried at the Papago Park Cemetery, Phoenix, Arizona.

Sources:

Sobel, Robert, and John Raimo, eds. Biographical Directory of the Governors of the United States, 1789-1978, Vol. 1, Westport, Conn.; Meckler Books, 1978. 4 vols.

Submitted by:  Mike Roser - Great Great Grandson of Ramson B. Moore, I want to take this time to thank Mike for Submitting, and sharing his family information and pictures to our site. Sandra Beagles

Fort Reno walls, click to in large for viewing.

Reno sign  

  taking in 1961, nothing remains of the Fort today.