The Thompsons with William Munds
Neighbors were few and far between in those earliest days of settlement. The Munds homesteaded in Spring Creek and he moved his cattle to the mountain in the summer. This rare chance for these...
View ArticleErwin Schuerman's honey label
Bees to pollinate a fruit orchard are a necessity. As the orchards in the area grew larger, the orchardists began to bring in bee colonies to ensure enough bees to do the job. With the bee hives came...
View ArticleThe Purtymun family with grandpa Bear Howard
The Purtymuns moved into Oak Creek Canyon (today Junipine) in the early 1880s. Again they cleared the land. They built a large log house and an irrigation ditch and planted a fruit orchard. In the...
View ArticleIrrigation ditch work was everyday
The Schuerman and Dumas families were close neighbors and friends. Being next door neighbors, Dumas and the Schuermans worked together to build and maintain an irrigation system. Erwin (left), Henry...
View ArticleThe Jim Thompson cabin, early 1880s
In 1912, Jim took another homestead of about 56 acres adjoining his original. As his children matured he helped some of them homestead near him. His daughter, Clara, married before she proved up and...
View ArticleEdith Smith harnesses a farm goat
Children were involved in the work and responsibilities of area homesteads. The Abraham Lincoln Smith family arrived in Sedona in 1915 to put their children in school. Edith was a Smith granddaughter,...
View ArticleOak Creek first families and friends picnic at Banjo Bill Springs
Picnics on the Fourth of July have long been a tradition for residents of Oak Creek Canyon. Times like these were for the scattered residents to get together and swap stories and socialize. For young...
View ArticleThe Hart children haul wood
L.E. 'Dad' Hart and family arrived about 1909-10, and bought land and cattle. Although Dad's store would be the first to have electricity in town, that was almost 25 years into the future, so the Hart...
View ArticleHeinrich and Dorette Schuerman
The Schuermans came to Oak Creek in 1884 to take possession of a 160 acre farm deeded to them in payment of a $500 debt. These two 'city kids' built an irrigation ditch, planted an orchard and a...
View ArticleJerome miners provided a ready market for Oak Creek fruit and wine
The Schuerman ranch on Oak Creek was at the base of Courthouse Rock (now known as Cathedral Rock). The family grew apples, peaches, apricots, and quince to name a few. They produced Zinfandel wine made...
View ArticlePendley barn
The area's earliest settlers were subsistence farmers, meaning they grew what they needed for their own use. Frank Pendley arrived in 1907. He came to fish in Oak Creek and ended up returning to...
View ArticlePendley fruit crate label
Pendley built over a mile of irrigation ditch that included sections of pipe and flume, some of it piercing rock in which he blasted holes to accommodate the gradual angle needed for gravity flow of...
View ArticleFrank Thompson
Jim & Maggie's first child was a boy named John Franklin, born in 1882. Little Frank had the distinction of being the first white child born in Oak Creek Canyon. As an adult, Frank homesteaded on a...
View ArticleThe Abraham James family
The Abraham James family moved to lower Oak Creek (Page Springs) in 1878 and then to Sedona in 1879. Land was not being surveyed yet, so they could only claim 'squatters rights' on the creekside site...
View ArticleErwin Schuerman takes fruit to market, 1912
Hauling produce and wine to market was an arduous task for Oak Creek farmers and orchardists. There was no railroad and only primitive roads for decades. A wagon and team would make the trip, sometimes...
View ArticleHenry Elmer Cook farming
Cook's 1912 homestead extended from the base of Table Mountain and spread across 160 acres of Grasshopper Flat. His son, Jay, homesteaded another 160 acres nearby that later become the Sedona West...
View ArticleThe James' place along Oak Creek, about 1890
The Jameses built cabins, a corral and a ditch on their land (today's Copper Cliffs). Unfortunately, Abraham did not live to enjoy the property, dying in 1881. His widow, Margaret, and son, Bill, lived...
View ArticleBear Howard's cabin
After breaking out of a California jail for shooting a sheep-herder, Bear Howard came to Arizona territory - Oak Creek Canyon. He lived near his daughter and son-in-law, the Steven Purtymuns, for years...
View ArticleErwin and Fred Schuerman, ca. 1928
Erwin was the Schuerman's eldest child. He homesteaded in 1908 and died in 1929. His widow, Mabel, married Albert Purtymun and they stayed on the place until her son, Fred, reached the age of majority...
View ArticleJoseph Farley farming
Farley homesteaded on Oak Creek along Schnebly Hill Road in 1908. A man named Eiberger had camped there and planted a garden but moved on before it matured. Joe and his wife, Sarah Jane, used picks and...
View ArticleBear Howard made a living as a hunter
Howard gained a reputation as an accomplished bear hunter. He sold bear meat to Flagstaff butcher shops. He also was a trapper and raised horses and mules. The widow, Margaret James, married him...
View ArticleThe Jim and Maggie Thompson family
After settling in the canyon, Jim wrote to the Abraham James family, who he had met at the Colorado River. Knowing they had a 'marriage age' daughter, he invited them to leave Nevada and join him in...
View ArticleManuel Chavez was a scout for the Army
Manuel Chavez was entitled to a pension from the U.S. Government because of his service as a military scout. When the government didn't hold up their end of the arrangement, at age 70, Chavez rode...
View ArticleFirst families' children at school, approximately 1893
The first class of students at the first school in the area was representative of the few families living up and down the creek. It was not unlike a classroom today with its ethnic mix. Back row: Erwin...
View ArticleThe Jim Thompson cabin
In 1912, Jim took another homestead of about 56 acres adjoining his original. As his children matured, he helped some of them homestead near him. His daughter, Clara, married before she proved up and...
View ArticleApple cider party
Cider presses were common at Oak Creek orchards. Apples were the most popular fruit for juicing, but the Dumas family also pressed blackberries. If the juice was allowed to ferment in a crock or barrel...
View ArticleJess Purtymun in his cave kitchen
Early Oak Creek housing options were limited and primitive at best. A cave in the side of Oak Creek Canyon provided Jess, Steven and Martha's son, a place to live for awhile. Other families lived in...
View ArticleWalter Jordan takes his daughters for a ride on a tractor, about 1937
The Jordan brothers were open to a modern approach to farming. They got that from their dad, Will. Will's successful lawsuit against the smelter in Clarkdale for damaging his crops there helped buy the...
View ArticleThe Schuerman House at Red Rock before it burned
The Schuermans lived in a nice wood home that stood on their new property when they arrived. Unfortunately, it burned down in 1900 with all their possessions except a few pieces of old furniture and a...
View ArticleThe Jordan waterwheel, early 1930s
The Jordan brothers each built irrigation systems; George's included this large waterwheel. Walter researched the design and George patterned the wheel from a picture in a catalog. The overshot wheel,...
View ArticleFrank & Nancy Owenby
The Owenbys arrived from Texas in 1893 to homestead along the west side of Oak Creek, where the bridge crosses today. Their first filing was found to be in error so they had to re-file. They were the...
View ArticleOrchards grow to commercial sizes
The Jordan orchards would eventually boast over 1,500 fruit trees. During World War II, Walter had a contract with the government to ship apples to our troops. He made 8 trips to Phoenix to deliver the...
View ArticleThe Manual Chavez family
When Juan Nuanez's American citizenship was questioned, he sent for his father-in-law, Manual Chavez, to take the place Juan had been homesteading along Oak Creek. Chavez lost his rights to homestead...
View ArticleIra Smith picking fruit from his horse
This was not the common way to harvest fruit. More likely, Ira was in the neighborhood and took advantage of his elevated position from atop his horse. A canvas bag over their shoulders allowed workers...
View ArticleThe David Dumas farm
The Dumas family moved next door to the Schuermans in 1905. They grew peaches, apples, apricots, plums and blackberries in addition to large gardens. David and Margaret Dumas were known throughout the...
View ArticleRed Rock fruit display at the county fair, 1930
Fruit from the Schuerman place, among others, was selected by fair organizers to make up this incredible display at the Yavapai County Fair. Note the photos of Courthouse Rock (now referred to as...
View ArticleAmbrosio and Marcellina Armijo
Juan Armijo was a friend of the Chavez family who came to Oak Creek to homestead. He was appointed a Justice of the Peace at the Red Rock precinct and performed marriages, among other tasks. His son,...
View ArticleJordan carrot crop
Before their fruit trees produced, the Jordans grew carrots planted between the rows of immature fruit trees. Carrots were loaded on a Model A and 12 hours later the carrots would be in Phoenix where...
View ArticleWalter pruning in the orchard
Orcharding required work in the field year round. Pruning was one of Walter's specialties. When the pruning was done, there was spraying for pests, spreading fertilizer, monitoring the weather for...
View ArticleSmudge pots
Oak Creek orchardists used smudge pots to protect fruit from frost. The pots/heaters were brought to the field on a sled. At Walter Jordan's place, the sled was pulled by a caterpillar tractor. Once...
View ArticleMechanized apple sorting machine
The apple sorting machine in Walter's fruit packing shed was state of the art in 1948. It was not uncommon for it to run 8+ hours per day during harvest, stopping only for the packers to catch up when...
View ArticleFruit boxes stacked to the packing shed roof
The smooth concrete floor of Walter's new packing shed was popular with all the kids in town for roller skating. How disappointed they were when harvest time arrived and their skating rink was filled...
View ArticleWill Steele and Joe Farley try out a new piece of equipment
In 1924, Joe Farley learned his old homestead was for sale, so he and Sarah moved back with their daughter, Minnie, and her husband, Will C. Steele. They split the purchased property, with the creek as...
View ArticleThe Walter Jordan place
Many orchards are still visible in photos, especially aerial photos of Sedona, into the 1970s. But the influx of retirees in that decade brought a transition from an agriculture-based economy to one of...
View ArticleThe Schuerman Red Rock winery
Unfortunately, Heinrich (Henry) Schuerman found out that what the previous owners occupied wasn't exactly what they owned due to a bad survey. Henry ended up buying some land from the railroad to...
View ArticleThe Thompson family in front of house
The Thompson family consisted of seven sons and two daughters. All nine of the siblings lived to adulthood, which was unusual in those days. The youngest child was 6 years old when Jim died and Maggie...
View Article