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Pioneers of Tonto Basin A book called The History of Tonto, A Bicentennial project by The Punkin Center Homemakers, and Dedicated during the preparation of this book one of the oldest and best known Pioneers passed away. This was George T.Cline. who died June 19,1976. born in Tonto on Apr 30,1886, and Ranched his entire life. it has a lot of detailed informatation on the lives of Pioneers and Ranchers of Tonto Basin: For more information on the book call 928- 479-2795 MT Wed thru Sat 9 am - 2 pm. or Email me at New - Email : azst@usgennet.org The names and only a fraction of the history of Tonto are listed below, ANDERSON KENNETH- ARMER JOHN ASKINS PHIL-1882-listed on the list for 1882 Great Register-Gila County ARNOLD F.B.-1882-listed on the list for 1882 Great Register-Gila County BAKER HENRY- BACON PETE- BACON EARL. E-1874, came to Tonto Basin area, with his father Pete , and mother, and three brothers, Arnold, William, and Fred. They brought cattle and horses with them and branded the Bar Pigpen. When they started to burn brands they cancelled out the Bar Pigpen and registered the Two Bar on both sides of the animal. Earl helped his father, Pete, pack supplies into Young during the Pleasant Valley War. They were warned not to pack guns and ammunition. One moonlight night their pack trian was stopped by one of the sides and searched. If they had been carrying guns they certainly would have been killed. BACON ARNOLD-miner BACON FRED- miner BASSETT JOE-was born in Mayer in 1911, and spent his childhood in Mayer, Payson and Phoenix areas coming to Gisela in 1934. He was by this already a well known professional cowboy. During his rodeo career he won the all around championship title at every major rodeo in Arizona. The highlight of his career came when he won the world Championship Team Roper title at Madison Square Garden in New York in 1942.He was in the top ten in the Rodeo Cowboy Association team roping standings from 1945 until 1952.During this time he also owned and operated his ranch in Gisela, later owning and operating the H4 ranch in Tonto Basin until 1947. then he sold out and bought the 5 slash ranch north of Globe, which he owned and operated raising cattle and quarter horses, until 1960,at which time he sold out and bought the HZ ranch and Bar 11 ranches at Pinto Creek, near Roosevelt. he operated these ranches until 1972,whenhe sold out and concentrated on his talents on racing and raising quarter horses. he had five children, all children and spouses live in Arizona with a total of fifteen grandchildren. Since his death in 1973.and the Bassett tradition if raising quarter horses is carried on my his son John. BENNETT F.-1882-listed on the list for 1882 Great Register-Gila County BLAKE ANDREW "ANDY"-listed on the list for 1882 Great Register-Gila County BLAKE WILLIAM GARFIELD-b: Oct 4,1880, in Tonto Basin," Garfield" was two when his parents died in 1887.He went to live in Greenback Valley with his uncle Ed and aunt Alice Conway. He helped Ed with the cattle and farm, and attended school in Greenback. As a young man he worked as a cowboy on the C/Y Ranch, and most ranches around Tonto Basin, Gisela and Payson area. In 1913 Garfield married Lillie Emily Toby in Globe. BROWN JIM BRUNSON JAMES-was born in 1819 in Alabama and married Haerriet Matilda Greer, born in 1826 in Mississippi . They were married somewhere in the deep south and began raising a family before the Civil War . After the end of the war they joined the western migration that peopled the west with families from the confederacy. Jim and his family moved from Texas into the Arizona Territory in the 1880's , settling in Tonto Basin on a homestead of 160 acres near the mouth of Slate Creek. The homestead, known as the Shadeland Ranch and later as the H4 Ranch, was carved out of the wilderness by Jim and his four sons. Jim and Harriet divided the Shadeland Ranch between their sons and moved to Wheatfield's where they lived on a ranch eight miles north of Globe on Pinal Creek. Jim farmed 160 acres, known as the" Old Man Hicks Place" until shortly before his death on Aug 5,1904. Harriet survived her husband, living south of the old County Hospital in a little house until her death on Jan 31, 1913 . They are both buried in the Old Globe Cemetery .Jim and Harriet had nine children, five of whom settled and lived in Tonto Basin. BRUNSON JOHN WESTLY -lived in Tonto Basin for many years. He suffered a stroke and in failing health, he returned to Texas to live with his older sisters, He died and is buried in near Kerrville, Texas. BRUNSON GEORGE WASHINGTON-was born in Burnett County Texas, in 1868.He married Jennie Henderson. He homesteaded the " George Brunson Place ", near the box of the Tonto on the west side of the creek in 1905.George is buried in the Old Globe Cemetery. BRUNSON WILLIAM M.-bought his brothers' interests in the Shadeland Ranch and then sold it to interests in Globe in 1897. BRUNSON BILL- married Elizabeth O'Dell who died in 1915.They had no children, Bill owned and operated the only Hotel in Payson for many years until his death at the age of 90 years on Mar 31,1945. He is buried, along with his parents, in the Old Globe Cemetery. BRUNSON JAMES NATHAN-was born in Louisiana on July 8,1855. He married Susan Emily Byas in Kerrville, Texas. (Susan was born in Texas on Jan. 22,1858,the great granddaughter of Alamo hero, Andrew Jackson Kent). Their five children were all born in Texas. but moved with them to Arizona. They arrived for a short visit in Tonto Basin and then went on to Douglas County, Oregon, but returning to Tonto where James Nathan Filed a claim for homestead of a 150 acres on June 17,1919, claiming the east bank of the Tonto Creek opposite the Packard store and south if the road to Greenback. On July 3,1923, Jim and Susan divided the homestead between their sons , keeping a small portion for themselves. BIXBY FRED-BUREAU JOHN-was born in France and came to live with his Uncle in Tempe in the early 1900's.While he was in Tempe he met some of the Packard boy's from Tonto, and they told him about Greenback Valley. John came to live in Greenback and worked and trapped for awhile. when Florence Packard started the Packard store. now Punkin Center, Florence and John went into the bee business. and lived for many years up Sycamore Creek . John never married and died on Tonto about 1963. BOUQUET CHARLES-1882-listed on the list for 1882 Great Register-Gila County CARPENTER JAMES "JIM"- married Callie Reed in Sept 7,1873,at Modesto, California .They moved to Uvalde ,Texas and bought a ranch. a daughter was born to them on May 20, 1880. Jim named her Jimmie. They sold their ranch in later years, because of Jims and Callies health . They traveled in California. That didn't suite them so they came to Phoenix, Arizona. Jim started looking for a ranch and found what he wanted in Tonto Basin. He went back to Phoenix bought a wagon, and some work horses, loaded their belongings, which had been shipped from Texas. Jimmie was 16 years old when they got to Tonto. It was the year 1896, The first year Jim and family got to Tonto he put up stacks of filaree hay for the milk cows and horses. He built two log houses with a breezeway. Jim started buying cattle, branding Railroad on the left side: a straight line from shoulder down ribs to flanks. CONWAY EDWARD CHARLES-was born in Maine in 1848 and was the son of Edward and Elizabeth Conway, the former miller in Milltown, Maine, until his death in 1882,when he was 92 years old. His wife survived him only a few years, dying in 1887. To them born were three children. William Irl , Edward Franklin, and David. CONWAY EDWARD FRANKLIN- was born in Greenback Valley on Sept. 5,1888, and ranch there all his life, He was the son of Edward Charlies Conway. who had drifted west from his native Maine and reached Prescott in 1874. The senior Conway had worked his way west as a logger but got a job in the famed Sliver King Mine when he reached Prescott. Then he moved to the Sierra Acha country where Greenback Valley is today. Edward Franklin's mother was Alice Harer, daughter of (David Harer, a Californian, who had received an enthusiastic description from his returning Indian fighter friend, General Hancock, of the "most beautiful valley in all the country) . Ed shipped his cattle by truck in his later days, but in the early days his cattle were driven out through the Tonto Basin and over the Mazatzals through Reno Pass, and then to the Salt River Valley. Ten cowboys would drive the 1,000-head herds. These were community drives and would take 10 to 12 days. In 1916,Ed married Lula Jean Grantham, They had three children : two sons ,Edward Charles ( "E.C."), and Clarence Woodrow, and a daughter Opal. CLANTON, J-1882-listed on the list for 1882 Great Register-Gila County
CHRISTIAN CHRISTOPHER CLINE Six generations of Clines have called Tonto Basin their home. It all began when Christian Christopher Cline born in Greene County Pennsylvania in 1810, left his home in Philadelphia and married Margaret Mabbitt in Union County, Indiana, on June 26, 1834. Their first son, John Leroy, was born the following year but died as a baby in 1835. In 1836 their second son, Alexis Dumont, was born, and their next three children, Adalade, Ellen Jennie "Jane", and James T., were born in Mercer County, Illinois in 1840, 1843, and 1845. Shortly after the birth of James, Christian and Margaret started west for California. Another son, William Floyd "Tobe", was born on the way in St. Joseph, Missouri, in 1847, and another daughter, Mary E., was born when they reached Oregon in 1850. The Clines then headed for the Feather River country of California, reaching it in 1851. They panned for gold, and had some success, but put most of their money back into their mining operation. Their claims were finally destroyed by floods in late 1851, and they gave up their mining venture. In 1852, Christian and his family moved to Santa Clara California, where their last four children were born. These were Thomas Jefferson "Tom" born in 1852, Franklin, born in 1854, John Leroy, born in 1855, and Josephine Victoria in 1859. In about 1860, Christian Cline again decided to move his family. This time he headed for Sonora, Mexico. On his way he passed through what is now the city of Los Angeles and proceeded on to the Colorado River, camping where Yuma is today. They ferried their belongings across the Colorado on a raft and then proceeded up the Gila River to San Carlos where they stayed about a year. When they started out again, they crossed into Mexico at El Paso and proceeded on to Hermosillo, Guaymas, the Yaqui River, Rio Mio, and on to the Gulf of Mexico. The Cline family remained in this portion of Mexico for several years before retracing their steps to San Carlos. Again they stayed at San Carlos for awhile, and it was about this time the Cline family brought 400 head of cattle to Tonto. However, drought and Indians caused them to lose this herd, so they returned to San Diego via the Yuma route and then traveled on through Tiajuana to Campo. In Campo, Christian and his sons began buying cattle, finally acquiring about 1,600 head. they got this herd together, they once again started for the Arizona Territory. This time they followed a route through El Centro and crossed the Colorado River at Yuma. They then followed the Gila River for quite a distance before bearing north to what is now Buckeye. Leaving Buckeye, they drove their cattle through Phoenix about where the fairgrounds are today. They then proceeded up the old Reno Wagon Road, arriving in Tonto in 1876. This began the Clines’ cattle business that has lasted for six generations. In 1878 Christian Cline ran as a Democrat and was elected Justice of the Peace in Sunflower. He was one of only two Justices of the Peace in the county. In 1881 he was elected Justice of the Peace at Fort Reno. Christian and Margaret maintained their ranch on Tonto with their family until 1892. They then moved to Phoenix and bought 200 acres on Buckeye Road. In 1898 they were both injured in a buggy accident in Reno Pass, enroute to Tonto, and died later. Christian and Margaret Cline are buried in the old cemetery at about 46th street and Van Buren in Phoenix. Of the eleven children born to Christian and Margaret Cline only members of the John L. Cline family remain on Tonto today. Alexis died in Phoenix in 1906 and Adalade died in Alemeda, California, in 1850 at the age of 10. Ellen Jennie married John Hart, later Wilson, and died in Galveston, Texas in 1908. James was killed in a horse accident in 1883, and is buried in the same cemetery as his parents at 46th Street and Van Buren. William Floyd "Tobe" Cline married Sarah Armer. Tobe died in 1931 and is buried in Globe. He is survived by two children, Lois Edwards Alexander, Mesa, and Harold Denton Edwards, Bend, Oregon. Mary Cline married John McCain and had one daughter, Edith McGowne. Mary died in 1925 and is buried in Julian, California. Thomas Jefferson "Tom" married Leah Garner in 1879. They had eight children; Christopher "Chris", Dollie Cline Harer, Martha Cline Harer, Fredrick Thomas, Charlie, Edith and Reda (twins), and Jess. Tom Cline died in Phoenix March 17, 1929. Franklin Cline married Eliza Tonge in 1872. Their children were Ella Shell, Anne Niedefer, Walter (first child born to the Cline family in Tonto), Bertha and Hosea (twins), and Frank. Franklin was killed by a streetcar in Los Angeles ~in 1907 and is buried at the Odd Fellows cemetery in Los Angeles. John married Martha Crabtree in 1883 in Tonto. He died in Globe in 1950 and is buried at the Cline Cemetery in Tonto. Josephine Victoria "Dora" Cline married William Fredricks in 1876. They had four children, Josephine, Irene, Con, and John. Josephine died in Camp Verde in 1937.
THOMAS JEFFERSON CLINE " Tom "- was born in Santa Clara, California, December 25,1852. He was the son of Christian and Margaret Cline. As a child he traveled with his family through southern California, Mexico, and ~Arizona searching for a suitable place to settle and raise their families. They finally settled in Tonto Basin where today you will find the sixth generation of Clines running cattle on range that was wild and open when the Cline family first arrived. Tom married Annie Leah Garner, a member of the Hook family, in 1879. Leah was born in Yuma in 1863 as the Cline Cabin still remains as a reminder of earlier days Leah and the girls moved to Phoenix where the family eventually retired. Tom died in Phoenix, March 17, 1929 and Leah died June 5, 1957. They are both buried in Double Butte Cemetery in Tempe, Arizona. Their nine children and families are: Christopher Howard Cline was born in Tonto, February 16, 1881. He died in Phoenix, March 9, 1956. Chris married Eva Yeck Downs. He had two stepchildren, Homer "Dick" Downs and Ruth Downs Colcord Huffman. Dollie Rebecca Cline was born in Tonto, March 15, 1883. She died in Phoenix. Dollie married Regnold Harer. They had four children; Roy, Alta, Ruth and Leona. Martha Bell Cline Harer was born in Tonto, August 23, 1885. She died November 12, 1951. Martha married Jay Harer. They had four children; Mamie, Lloyd, Ralph and Leo. John Fredrick "Fred" Cline was born in Tonto, March 11, 1888. He died in Phoenix. Fred never married. Thomas Watson "Tommy" Cline was born in Tonto, ~April 1,1891. He died in Phoenix, September 19, 1958. Tommy married Bessie Romo. They had five daughters; Jay Virginia, Grace May, Reda Lee, Edith, and Vivian. Charles Elmer Cline was born in Tonto, August 18, 1893. He died in Phoenix. He never married. Edith Pearl Cline Olinger was born in Tonto, July 7, 1 95. She died in California. She married Ernest Olinger. They had one daughter. Reda Cline was born in Tonto, July 7,1895. (Edith and Reda were twins.) She died in Phoenix about 1902. Jessie Frank Cline was born at Roosevelt, May 28,1902. He died in Phoenix, May 9,1973.
Franklyn Pierce Cline was born on a farm in Santa Clara County, California, July 16, 1854. He was the ninth child born to Christian and Margaret Mabbitt Cline. Frank was the first son to get married. He married Eliza Tonga in San Bernadino County in 1872. In 1876, Christian Cline sold all his San Diego County holdings. Together with his sons Leck, James, Tobe, holdings. Together with his sons Leck, James, Tobe, Tom, Frank, and John, they drove their herd of cattle and horses into Tonto. As soon as the Indians were cleaned out of Tonto Basin, the whole family moved down along the river. Frank had a ranch house located in what is now the bottom of Roosevelt Lake. Frank and Eliza had eight children, two of which were born before they came to Tonto. They were: Annie was born in Mohave County, Arizona, in 1873. Annie married Thompson Neidiffer in 1891. She died in Holtville, California in 1954 at the age of 81. Ella was born in San Diego County in 1874. Ella married Dave Goodwin and later married Joe Schell. Walter was the first child to be born in Tonto on May21,1879. Stella was born in Tonto in 1881, and died in 1884. Henry was born on Tonto in 1882. He lived most of his life around Holtville and El Centro, California. He died in El Centro in 1964 at the age of 82. Hosea was born in 1885 at Tonto. He had several ranches in Arizona. He ranched in the New River area about 1918 to 1927. In latter years he had a ranch on Burro Creek in Yavapai County. He passed away in 1950 at the age of 65. Bertha was born in Tonto in 1885. (Bertha and Hosea were twins). She married Joe Ricketts in 1901. She spent her later years in El Centro and passed away in 1975 at the age of 90. Ed was born in Tonto in 1889. He was the last child and died in 1893 at the age of four. Frank and Eliza farmed and ranched in Tonto until 1893. Christian Cline had moved to Phoenix and lived on a farm on Buckeye Road. Frank moved his family to a 160 acre farm adjoining his father’s. Around 1895 to 1897 Frank and Eliza moved to Congress Junction and had a dairy. They sold milk to the miners at the Congress Mine. Frank and Eliza were divorced in Phoenix in 1901. Frank was hit and killed by a streetcar in Los Angeles in 1907 and is buried there. Eliza later married and moved to the Holtville area. Eliza died in Holtville in 1936. Frank Cline raised three sons to manhood. They were Walter, Henry, and Hosea. The only one to have children bearing the Cline name in the Frank Cline branch of the family was Walter. Walter went to school in Tonto Basin until 1893. About 1900 Walter worked as a cowboy on the Club Ranch in Bloody Basin. In 1904 he was hired by Lon Harmon to go to the Walnut Creek area in Yavapai County to gather cattle. Walter married Clara Ainsworth in Prescott in 1905. He worked for Lon Harmon for many years, running the big and famous Yolo Ranch at Camp Wood. He later ranched on the Santa Maria River and then moved to the desert near Beardsley, north of Phoenix. Only one child was born to Walter and Clara. This was Claude Walter Cline, born in Prescott September 8, 1908. Claude is the only one bearing the Cline name in his generation. He has three children: Barry was born in 1938. He is married and has one son, Kevin. Stephen was born in 1939. He is married and has one son, Matthew. Carole was born in 1950. Claude still lives in Prescott and owns two theaters and a drive-in. John L. Cline was born June 11, 1855, in Santa Clara, California. He spent his early years with his family finding the ideal place to live. In 1876 they landed at what is now Punkin Center and John chose an area about a mile south of Reno Creek. He then sold his ranch to the Clanton family for $250.00 and bought the Bouquet Ranch. He married Martha Benton Crabtree February 15, 1882, at the Bouquet Ranch. Jim Harer married them. About fifty people attended their wedding. All five of their children were born while they lived at the Bouquet Ranch. They were George Turnbull, Lena Pearl, Joseph Henry, James Christopher and Oscar Benton. John also loved horses and raised many fine race horses. Many races were run and lots of money changed hands. After about twenty years, John moved down the river about two miles and built a big house but had lived there only a short time when Martha died, leaving a family aging from seven to fifteen years. John never remarried. He raised the children by himself. The land was open range and grazing was good. The cattle had to be driven to Holbrook for shipping. On one such trip there was a boy about nine years old who had drifted in. The cowboys gave him money and treats and called him Dusty Bill. John told him about his children and asked him to come live with them, never dreaming that he would ever see the boy again. One day about three weeks later a ragged little boy dressed in a man’s coat, almost dragging the ground, and sleeves rolled up, came walking in. He said his name was Will Alguaire an orphan. He lived with the family until he was twenty-one. He then admitted he was Melvin H. Crawford and had run away from his home in Colorado after his mother and sister died. For many years he worked for a major movie company in China. He has not been heard of for about twenty years. By this time the Indians had been assigned to the reservations. The scouts would take them from San Carlos to Payson during the e summerto gather acorns and pinyons. Because Tonto was on the route, they would make camp at the Cline Ranch and they would bed them down at night in a big log corral, about a hundred yards from the ranch house. John made many friends among the Indians and several times they warned him when outlaws were about to rob him. He and son Joe and family lived on the ranch, farming and raising cattle until the home burned in about 1920. Joe acquired land just east of the ranch, where they lived until the drouth in 1925. Joe sold out to Ed Conway. John then went to live with his son Oscar and family at the 0-C Ranch on the west side of Tonto Creek. Several years later he built a little house south of Oscar’s and lived in it until he was 95. He was living with his son Jim and wife at the time of his death in 1950. John loved to attend the Pioneer’s Reunion in Phoenix and swap tales with the old-timers. The last one he attended was in 1948 at the age of ninety-three. John’s boys have all owned ranches in Tonto. At the present time, one grandson, one granddaughter, and many great grandchildren live in the area.
George Turnbull Cline was born April 30,1886, at the Bouquet Ranch on Tonto. He was the eldest son of John L. and Martha Cline. He passed away at his TV Ranch June 19,1976. He owned the land on which he was born in the valley between the Sierra Ancha and the Mazatzal Mountains. Well known in Payson, George for many years was a champion rodeo winner at the World’s Oldest Continuous Rodeo. When "The August Doin’s" were held in the middle of the dusty main street with the arena fenced by cars lining the sides of the road, George was always there. His special skill was in roping. He was an annual winner at the Prescott Frontier Days Rodeo. A contestant in other shows, one of his early trophies was a gold medal which attested: "World’s Championship Bull Tying--Arizona State Fair 1919--George Cline and John Armer." The event is now called team tying. In 1923 he journeyed to New York where he won first money in calf roping in Yankee Stadium (before Madison Square Garden was constructed). He also was the first man to rope an animal in the newly built Madison Square Garden. He went on to win prizes in Denver and in Cheyenne where he placed first in calf roping, team tying, and wild cow milking. The following morning, stumbling in his boots, he recalled he had stuffed his prize money in the toe of his boot. He said, "The first rodeo I ever did see was in Pleasant Valley. I was just a young feller then, tryin’ to get a ranching start. When the other boys went a-rodeoin’, I stayed home and gathered mavericks and made more money than they did." George bred and raised horses, racing several quarterhorses to championships. Among them was Buster, classified Triple A, and raised by Chester Cooper. Prissy and Prissy May were also winners on Arizona and New Mexico race tracks. But George’s favorite riding animal for ranch work was Maude, a strong, intelligent mule which "knowed savvy as a cutting horse" and had more stamina and cow sense, and operated better in a corral than some cowboys. Although he was a champion rodeo contestant and horse raiser, George’s main interest was in ranching and raising Hereford cattle. He operated several outfits in Gila County and gave credit to many persons for helping him. His first brand was the lK which he bought from Frank Holder of Payson for $300. Later he owned one of Arizona’s oldest recorded brands, the C/A. He also purchased the Tin Cup and the Butcher Hook. He said he bought the T Turkey Track from Guy Solomon and Old Man Bill Wootan, with money borrowed from John Latimer. He acquired the Bar K from Ed Fuel, the Bar 11 from the Valley Bank of Globe, and the VIV from Joe Bassett which he later traded to T.L. Meredith. At the time of his death, he owned the TV Ranch, the Bouquet, and the J/X outfits. A partner in his life was his wife of 65 years, Roxie, whom he called "Blossom." They were married in 1911. At the time his bride-to-be, Roxie Ann Libby Solomon lived on Webber Creek at the Herron Ranch (now the Boy Scout Camp Geronimo). The couple rode horseback to Payson where their marriage was performed by Justice of the Peace George A. Randall and duly witnessed by Clerk J.W. Wentworth and William H. Hilligass. They traveled on horses 60 miles to lower Tonto Basin to the ranch of George’s father, John. George related, "Next morning we moved by wagon to the head of Roosevelt Lake where the plum trees were. I had built a two-room frame house with $200.00 I borrowed from T.T. Frazier, Roosevelt store owner. There was a well, but no pulley." The couple had two children: A son "Doc" (Benjamin Baker) and a daughter June (now Mrs. Raymond Winters). Doc received his nickname from the doctor who delivered him, Dr. B.B. Moore, who later became Governor of Arizona. Doc married Dorothy Herman, and they had one son, John Stephen Cline, who ranches in Tonto Basin. John Stephen married Arlene Starks of Mesa on March 25, 1954. Steve and Arlene have two sons, John Christen and Stephen Mark. The oldest, John Christen, was married to Jeannie Marie Morris of Payson, on January 31, 1976. Doc was killed during spring roundup on April 14, 1958. He was dragged to his death by a runaway horse. June was married to Leonard Mitchell and had one daughter, Roxie Lynn. Roxie Lynn Mitchell married Raymond Holt on December 10, 1960. They have three children; daughters Joy Lynn and Robin Gay, and son Cutter Turnbull Holt. The Holts are living in Payson. June later married Russell Wayne Ewing of Coleman, Texas. They had two sons, George Allen and Bill Jack Ewing. George Allen married Linda Gail Murphy of Inspiration, Arizona, on June 9, 1963. They have three daughters, George was known for his integrity. During "the bad years when the banks went under," a Globe banker stated that George Cline was the only man in Gila County to pay the bank his debt in full, one hundred cents on the dollar. George said he gathered wild cattle to settle this debt. Quick to turn a phrase or use a colorful word, his witicisms were often repeated. Going out on the range he said he was going to "interview my cows." Talking about his wife, he said, "First time I met Roxie she was a-packin’ water from Tonto Creek in a five-pound lard bucket. I got down off my old pony and toted it for her. It wasn’t love at first sight, it just sorta developed into self defense." Physically strong from roping "ore janas" and flanking yearlings, George had muscles as tough as a mesquite tree root, but he was of gentle nature. Growing up in an earlier era when men settled disputes with violence, he said he was never in a fight. He always explained, "Oh, I had to back up a time or two--sometimes as far as the Four Peaks." George Cline had a name for being generous. Many persons were recipients of his helping hand. These people relate how they ate his beef and beans and slept in his housing; how he loaned them money, went their note at the bank, let them use his equipment, gave them advice and encouragement, and shared with them his knowledge and experience. His own personal life was controlled a great deal by Tonto Creek, that unpredictable stream that dictated the economy, the social aspect, the physical danger of the community. A trickle of water which could become "plumb bone dry" in midsummer and with a flood runoff could swell to a raging, treacherous torrent isolating "the Cline Outfit" on the other side of the creek. He knew the river ninety years ago in his mother’s arms, later bringing his bride home across it by horse, and many times fording it horseback when it was a mile wide and a-rising. Now he has crossed Tonto Creek for the last time. With his passing goes a part of the Old West and his way of living. But George Cline leaves a legacy with his life and his deeds, a heritage to remember and to honor. Roxie Cline, as a woman of early Tonto Basin, has earned a special place of honor in the development of the Tonto area and for her contribution to the betterment of life--whether it be her roundup jerky gravy, her singing "The Gol Darned Wheel" that reached the Four Peaks, her sharing of your anguish, her laughter that lightened your heart, or her inestimable generosity that flowed wider than the waters of Tonto Creek in a springtime flood. She is the epitome of all the womenfolk in the land of Punkin Center who gave more than was asked to advance, maintain, and improve life in this country. Roxie Ann Libby Solomon was born in Edwards County, Texas, May 25, 1893. She was the sixth and last child of David and Dee Solomon. The older siblings were Minda (Parker/Skinner), Lila (Weathersby/Wootan), Margaret (Journigan/Miller), Lee Solomon, and Guy Solomon. In Texas her father, like the others of the time and period, had "itchy" feet who saw the pasture down the road as greener. With his family, he "scratched" his itchy feet by pointing them west. The family landed in New Mexico where they resided until David Solomon’s feet itched westward again, and they settled in Arizona some time before 1900. In Tonto Basin, Roxie attended the Cline School and was graduated from the eight grade. She says she walked or rode a burro from their home at the Latimer Place (where years later Preston Dooley developed Lake Roosevelt Acres). About a weedy, rocky depression on the property, she says, "This is where Pa dug a well." The Solomon frame house was under the merciful shade of the biggest cottonwood tree. Roxie relates, "It was just one thing after another. We moved to Payson where Ma ran a boarding house. I waited table. Then we went to Webber creek to the Herron Ranch which is now the Boy Scout Camp Geronimo. George rode up there to get me when we got married. He borrowed Guy’s horse for me to ride to Payson." In Payson she was wedded to George Turnbull Cline in August, 1911. She was wedded in a divided skirt and hardly took it off as she became her husband’s partner-rancher, making her way as a working cowpuncher. She says, "For the first six years, until Doc was born, I rode the range every day with George. Women wore dresses then, but I wore men’s britches and rode astride. We’d rope mavericks and tie them up all night. Next day those wild cattle would be docile-like and led easy, and we’d bring ‘em in. We only had three horses; Old Blue, Indian, and Brownie. When we came in from riding, there’d be supper to get. I didn’t do much housekeeping -- wasn’t much house -- only two rooms." George and Roxie Cline had two children: son Doc, born in 1916; daughter June, born in 1922. Roxie minimizes her part in establishing the Cline cattle holdings. But it is minimal only in her own self-effacing evaluation. In reality she was as great a force in building and maintaining the Cline ranches as was her man. About her man, she says, "I have no complaint. George gave me the best he had. In my day the men on Tonto were good to their woman, but Ora Martin told me that some of the old It is said that an army travels on its stomach. It certainly is true that a cow outfit couldn’t move one hoofbeat on a gaunt stomach, even though the filler might be only routinized beef jerky and frijole beans. Roxie has spent 65 years on Tonto and she asserts, "Most of it over a cookstove." She explains, "At first, it was Edith Cline and I who did the cooking for the men when they were working, up and gone long before daybreak. We had no four-wheeled vehicle to get to the roundup corral or the rough country, so we had the grub ready when the boys came in. Many times it was long past dark, and we kept the food warm and waiting. The young folks today really don’t know what long hard days of work are in comparison with some of the old times. It was up to us women to get the water--and the wood and chop it." She utilized much of her time over the washboard. She recalls her first washing machine. "George went to town and he saw it, a washer with a suction thing. He brought it home to me. As I said, George always gave me the best he could." "One of the hardest part was getting groceries. Most of ours came by stage to the Packard Store which was across the creek. We had always to figure about getting across the creek. Often the water was too high. We had to lay in food for a long spell sometimes. Many and many times I’ve swum Tonto Creek horseback." "One time I ran out of sugar. I saddled up my little mare, P B, and rode quite a far piece to my mother’s and borrowed a bucketful. Coming home I stopped to open a gate. That mare reared up and spilled all my sugar. Now, that was tragedy." "In time of accident or sickness, we had to depend on ourselves. When Kenneth Anderson was just a boy, he found some caps he thought were lipsticks. Doc was just a little fellow and he hit one with a hammer. The "lipstick" was a dynamite cap. Whew! I was panic stricken. No doctor. No medicine. No transportation. No knowledge. Jane Conway and I picked hundreds of Levi threads out of Doc’s skin. Nothing else. He healed." "One time George went to Spring Creek to help Will Cline. Will had the smallpox. George took it. I was pregnant. One morning I got up and I was sick--so sick. Didn’t know what was wrong. Mother came over. We didn’t know much then. Mother sent for Grandma Martin. Grandma Martin said, ‘This woman’s lost her baby’. George hitched up the wagon and we started for Payson. I got sicker all the time. We got to Rye, and it was almost dark. A rancher there was afraid and wouldn’t let us stay all night. We drove on the Marshall Brown’s place and it was very dark. George told Marshall, ‘Roxie’s got the smallpox’. Marshall said, ‘I don’t give a damn, bring that little girl in here, in this house."’ "Next day we got to Payson to Doctor Risser. I lost the baby. We stayed at Missus Hilligass’ house. She was the best women ever lived. She never charged nobody for staying there. Her house was always full. It wasn’t a hotel. She had generosity and kindness; when was neighbor to neighbor." "We had our good times. Folks got together for picnics, were schoolhouse dances. And matched horse races. Once I rode H. Cooper’s mare, Lady C, in a race against Eva Schell in Payson. She beat me, but we believed something was wrong because H. Cooper had the fastest, the best horses in the country. In Roosevelt his racers couldn’t be beat. And Lady C was a runner! We rematched and I beat her." "Years later when I was a grandmother, we had a race and I was winning on one of George’s horses. When I reached the finish line, I waved my hand to George to show victory. When I raised my hand, that pony stopped as if by signal, and my opponent jumped ahead of me to win. George really had a good laugh at me. He said, ‘If you hadn’t been playing to the grandstand, you wouldn’t have lost’. For years we had that as a joke." Roxie did a great deal of riding, on the range, in matched races, and from direst necessity. When she was a great grandmother, she went on a shopping trip to Globe. While she was gone, it rained and Tonto Creek came up and up. When she returned to Punkin Center, there was no crossing the river. She waited and waited. Days went by, and the creek couldn’t be forded. She was extremely worried about George as he was alone at the ranch on the other side of the creek. Finally she went down to the raging creek, looked at it and said, "Bring me a horse." She plunged into the last flowing waters of Tonto Creek and reached the opposite bank and rode home to the TV Ranch. That night she cooked biscuits for George. The time came when the age of horses saw a usurper, and so George Cline purchased his first automobile in 1922. Roxie tells, "We went to Safford to a rodeo. Dick Wootan there said he had this Hupmobile he wanted to sell. We bought it. On Tonto the car provided passenger transportation and freight service -- when it worked --which wasn’t always. Most times it snorted and kicked and sputtered and smoked --and died--and we’d start all over again to get it to running. If it did get going, we’d load up the empty milk cans and head for the creek for water, never stopped to strain out the minnows, or tadpoles, or moss, just cussed that old Hup and hoped it wouldn’t give out on us before we got home." "We hauled every drop of water we drank, or cooked with, or washed with at the little green house--and so we really conserved water. Our first house at the plum thicket at the head of Roosevelt had a well but it had no pulley. Drawing every bucket up by hand made us save on water there too." Lack of water must have been one of the most traumatic experiences that Roxie Cline endured as she is known as "the cleaningest women west, south, east, and north of Tonto Creek." Daughter June says, "I’ve given up trying to please Mama with housecleaning. I clean the house and do a good job, and Mama comes along and cleans after me. She wears out everything washing it. She’ll clean from the corrals to the stock tank and on up to the porch. She washes the tile till the enamel comes off and she’s scrubbed the copper-bottomed cook pans until they’re nearly scrubbed through with a hole. First thing we do is clean house-each morning, and next morning, she wants to get up and start all over again." With her "spotless" reputation, Roxie has other characteristics that brand her. When anyone comes to her house, she greets the guest’s "hello" with "have you eaten?" When the guest leaves, Roxie gives "something" --ajar of homemade apricot preserves, or wild grape jelly, or chow-chow pickles -- the guest won’t leave empty-handed. A niece from Phoenix came to visit and brought her own lunch, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich because she "didn’t want to put Aunt Roxie out." The niece nearly got herself put out. She learned quickly the Tonto Basin Roxie Cline style of welcome. The niece also brought her own sheets "because Aunt Roxie didn’t have the laundry facilities." The niece stayed all night but took her own sheets back to Phoenix still clean and unfolded. Another niece and a friend went to a Wickenburg rodeo where George was competing. They dragged into the Clines’ motel room to bed down with their own thin little blankets. Roxie was appalled at their bedroll. She shared covers, and in addition, fed the girls at the cafe, and paid their way into the rodeo. Roxie knows more about giving than she does about receiving. Roxie is noted for her superiority in making jerky gravy -- and this in a country of supreme jerky gravy makers. Her recipe instructs: ". . . brown, brown the flour in the grease till it damn near burns, and then stir like hell . She has spirit and spark and is admirably "gutsy," but there is no malice in her makeup. She is not jealous nor envious nor a gossip carrier. She is the first to be tolerant and push a person up instead of down. Weighing far less than a hundred pounds and not even five feet tall, her littleness is only in stature and not in outlook or achievement. Never underestimate the power of this woman. Her work and play, tears and laughter, hopes and dreams, body and mind went side by side with her man into contributing to Tonto Basin. (By Marguerite Noble) Joseph Henry Cline was born on the Bouquet Ranch in Tonto Basin on October 3, 1890. the second son of John Leroy and Martha Crabtree Cline. Joe grew up on the Cline Ranch, working with his father and three brothers, and going to the Cline School. Joe married Edith Rosella Thompson about 1911. Edith was born in Platora, Colorado, January 13, 1892, and soon moved to Globe with her parents, James Robert and Grace Elizabeth Hadley Thompson. Her father came to Arizona to work on the engineering of the Fish Creek Hill section of the Apache Trail. When his assignment was finished, he bought the Three Bar Ranch and moved his family to Tonto Basin before Edith was old enough to begin school. Edith attended and graduated from Cline School and then went to Phoenix to Lamson Business College. Shortly after Joe and Edith married they moved to Los Angeles where Joe worked with Edith’s uncle, Jay Loucks, driving wagons for a lumber yard. When their only daughter, Marjorie Garnet, was only a few months old they moved back to Tonto Basin, and eleven months after Marjorie’s birth, their only son, John Henry, was born in Payson. They all lived at the Cline Ranch in John L. Cline’s home, remembered as the showplace of Tonto Basin until it burned (circa August, 1918). Lost in the fire,
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