the 2010 PDF

August 2010
BABBITT TIMES REVIEW
The Constitution of Babbitt
Ranches highlights the characteristics and values by which the
organization operates. Articles of
the Constitution can be found
correlating with the news stories
in the Babbitt Times Review.
C LEARNING—UNDERSTANDING w JOINING—SHARING w BECOMING A PART c
Jim Babbitt,
WW II Veteran,
Businessman
Jim Babbitt’s life reads like a
history book of the expanding
West and its connection to a more
innocent and patriotic America.
From his youth growing up in
a frontier town as part of the
Babbitt dynasty, his love of
the ranches, his leadership in
the Babbitt Brothers Trading
Company and his career as an auto
dealer, Jim will tell you he’s had a
wonderful life.
But he won’t tell you much. And
he’s certainly not likely to open
the chapter about his three years
as a World War II fighter pilot,
his 60 combat missions and
how he escorted General George
Patton by air across Europe and
Babbitt Ranches Cultivates Generations
through the Sustainability Sciences Program
into Germany, from the Normandy
Invasion to the end of the war.
Babbitt was born in 1924. He
grew up in a modest house on Elm
Street and attended St. Antony’s
Nativity grade school. It was a time
when Flagstaff winters were harsh,
groceries were delivered on Babbitt
wagons pulled by a team of horses,
and hobos were invited into your
home for a hot meal.
“We lived three blocks from the
railroad tracks. There were a lot
Jim Babbitt continued on page 11
Babbitt Ranches Prepares for
Tomorrow’s Agriculture and Land Use
Babbitt Ranches has evolved
from the business of raising
cattle to the business of managing agriculture and land use, and
understanding and participating
with the environment, ecologi-
cal processes and community in
the regional context. In its document Tomorrow’s Agriculture and
Land Use, Babbitt Ranches identifies the structure for managing
its business into the future.
Fundamentals include
ownership
assessment;
land
use and stewardship; agriculture and
business diversity;
industry
employment;
infrastructure; and, policy.
With ownership assessment, Babbitt
Ranches identifies
the owners and why
Tomorrow
continued on page 11
Now guided by fourth and fifth
generations of the original five
Babbitt brothers of Cincinnati,
Babbitt Ranches and its actions
are governed by a structure that
honors the past and charts the future of land use and stewardship.
Believing that one of the greatest
gifts we can give our children is
a framework for pioneering decisions, Babbitt Ranches has outlined that framework in Generations, Sustainability Sciences
Program, with the Constitution
of Babbitt Ranches as the overarching philosophy.
Generations starts with community and relationships. Understanding that Babbitt Ranches’
actions have an impact on a large
and diverse community of land
owners, resource managers and
organizations who have a responsibility and obligation to the broad
regional perspective, the ranches
have operated under a long-standing tradition of respect, holding
relationships with its communities
in the highest regard.
As stated in Article IX of The
Constitution of Babbitt Ranches,
Community is listed among its
Priceless Values. It is in this context that relationships are formed
and quality regional planning can
begin.
Thus, Babbitt Ranches is entering into a Statement of Awareness
with its community members,
vowing to operate with the utmost consideration for each other
when making decisions and tak-
ing action. Babbitt Ranches acknowledges that it is a separate
entity, yet connected. As such, it
strives to keep other communities
informed while remaining aware
of each others’ goals and objec“Science is fluid. With research
tives in the business of working
together and independently as ef- comes additional learning, unfective land stewards today, while derstanding and discovery along
setting the standard for future with adjusted approaches,” said
Babbitt Ranches President Bill
generations.
Cordasco. “Instinct, a
Generations also recfeel for nature, and exognizes the diversity
perience come into play
of a multi-generational
Article
IX
with land management
community and the imdecisions. There has to
Priceless
portance of integrating
be an openness for this
Values
differing values, needs
kind of flexibility.”
and approaches.
Section 1.
Using analytical, interIt is a program that de- Organization
pretive
and explanatory
fines sustainability as
Babbitt Ranches,
approaches,
Generaliving off interest, not founded in 1886, is rich
tions
designs
cross-disprincipal. It acknowl- in history and strengththrough relationciplinary programs that
edges that growth oc- ened
ships. For as many as
curs within some limits six generations, owners, occur independently,
yet are connected. It
employees and their
and is ultimately limited
calls for the developfamilies
have
shared
a
by the carrying capacdeep commitment to the ment and sharing of
ity of the environment health of the land and the
information and disand a regard for future
organization.
seminating that inforimpacts.
mation to land owners
Generations also is
and resource managers
about land ethic develto support regional planning.
opment. This is more than a way
“We are moving away from
of thinking, it is a guide that is
short-termed advocacy to a londiscussed and embodied in Babger-termed understanding of our
bitt Ranches’ communications,
impacts on future generations,”
and acted upon as an integral
said Cordasco.
part of decision making.
Generations is a decision-making
Generations blends natural and
framework with the goal of ensursocial sciences with experience
ing future generations the same
for a comprehensive approach,
opportunities that exist today.
recognizing these essential parts
and allowing for a sense of art.
BABBITT TIMES REVIEW
page 2
Yellow Rose
In loving memory, the Babbitt Ranches community celebrates lives lived well.
The single yellow rose is a long-standing Babbitt Ranches tradition. Its gentle beauty reminds us of the love we have for
family and friends. Its soft hue symbolizes the hope and joy that come with tomorrow’s sunrise. Its loveliness lives on in
our hearts and reminds us of those who have graced our lives and remain in our thoughts and prayers.
August 2010
Bill Howell
Dave McNelly
Dale Shewalter
Burt Thumper Babbitt
Stories from the Bunkhouse
Cowboy Essence
BABBITT
RANCH
PRAYER
We thank you Lord, for this
place in which we live; for the
love and friendships that unite
us and for the peace accorded
to us this day: for the hope
with which we expect tomorrow - for the health, food and
the bright skies that make our
lives happy - for our friends
everywhere.
Let peace abound in our
families. Purge out of our
hearts the hidden grudge.
Give us the grace and strength
to practice self-control. Give
us the will to accept and to forgive each other. Give us brave,
joyous and peaceful minds.
Bless us in all our honest and
sincere endeavors.
If it may be, give us the courage to face that which is to
come - that we may be brave
in risk, constant in difficulty temperate in anger - and in all
changes of fortune; loyal, true
and loving one another.
this essence of character through left before the end of the “spring
We were in Amarillo, Texas. The his experiences and through his works.”
I was flanking calves that day:
rodeo event was starting in about lifetime.
grab
the tail–down to the ground–
It
was
in
large
part
be20 minutes. We beoff
with
the rope–stretch the little
cause
of
this
visit
with
gan finding a seat and
guy
out
.
I was feeling pretty good
Bill
that
the
section
looking forward to the
Article III on Cowboy Essence about our tempo and the calves
action. I saw to my left
Cowboy
and Character Quali- were coming in on a steady pace.
Bill Howell was comties was developed
I let go of the freshly branded
Essence
ing toward me. I exand
integrated
into
the
calf
and jumped up waiting for the
Cowboy Essence is
pected we would visit
Constitution of Babbitt next calf when Bill Howell came
peace of mind that is
about how nice the
a direct result of selfRanches.
over waving the de-horners in his
arena was or about the satisfaction in knowing
I remember reading hand and with a serious tone beyou did your best to
rodeo horses or maybe
many years ago not to gan demanding, “Get those calves
about the weather but I become the best you are
John Babbitt called Bill Howell “the essence
confuse what a person to the ground faster,” and asking of the CO Bar.”
capable of becoming.
was surprised when he
if he needed to show me.
–inspired by John Wooden wears or a person’s
sat in the empty chair
skills for who they are,
Oh boy, I was caught off guard, choice – give in to the squeeze
next to me and leaned
or rather, with their and did not know what to say. I and feel sorry for myself or punch
in close. In a very quiet
Cowboy Essence.
remember feeling confused. “He through the squeeze by digging
voice, Bill began telling
–– Bill Cordasco must be talking about someone deeper. Digging deeper was my
me about the two most influential
else,” I thought. I was flanking the choice. The next calf might as
men in his life.
calves as well as I could, I con- well have bounced right out of the
Criticism:
First, Bill began telling me about
sidered. Then I began to feel the pen as hard as I flanked it down. I
his grandfather, Nat Warren, A Squeeze and a Choice squeeze that comes with criticism. had hoped Bill saw the additional
“hard, honest working man” as
In 1987, a set of spring calves I knew Bill expected us to work effort but was not sure. He said
he put it. He was very deliberate was being branded on the CO hard and to do our best. I had nothing more to me that day and I
in his recollection as he visited Bar. It was late June, the work on every intention of performing my did feel some uncertainty over the
about his grandfather’s qualities the Cataract was completed, and best. So what was the beef? The criticism.
and the enjoyable memories of only a short week of work was next calf was on his way. I had a
Criticism continued on page 9
being with him.
A few minutes later he moved on
to describe his significant respect
Dale Shewalter may have left his footsteps all Staff Officer John Nelson of his longtime friend.
across Arizona, but his heart was always with a “I went scouting with him along the Mexican borfor John Babbitt and to share a
special piece of country north of the San Francisco der in the mid ‘80s. He’d walk all these different
few stories about what he had
Peaks on Babbitt Ranches.
back roads and mountains whether it was summer
learned from John’s example. He
commented on several of John’s
Known as the Father of the Arizona Trail, this or winter. People like UPS drivers remember seepersistent trailblazer set out to create an 800-mile ing Dale in some of the most remote areas. It was
character qualities which he most
pathway from Mexico to Utah in the 1970s that pretty remarkable.”
admired and believed defined a
would celebrate the diversity of Arizona. With just Shewalter’s favorite stretch was the passage
person.
50 miles left to complete, Shewalter lost his battle through Babbitt Ranches. When the Arizona Trail
Bill finished the visit by telling me
with cancer Jan. 10 at the age of 59.
Association created its stewardship program,
that John Babbitt and Nat Warren
Shewalter adopted this portion.
“He
was
an
avid
outdoors
person,
so
much
so
I
set a high standard for what matdon’t
know
how
many
times
he
hiked
that
trail,”
“I know from what he said, he had the highest
tered most in his own life and that
said retired Coconino National Forest Recreation
Shewalter continued on page 9
he hoped he would also develop
Shewalter Leaves Legacy of Arizona Trail
August 2010
BABBITT TIMES REVIEW
page 3
Western Sheriff’s Heroes are Cowboys
If it’s true that we are shaped
by our environment, Sheriff Joe
Richards’ life is a reflection of
the tough, yet beautiful, West.
Braced against the fierce cold
of a high desert winter storm,
this western sheriff can chase
psychotic murderers across Arizona’s rugged terrain, enjoy the
companionship of the roughest
cowboys, participate in sacred
Native American ceremonies,
shed a tear for victims and find
genuine joy in a jar of Mrs.
Blair’s homemade jelly.
As a skilled observer, Richards’
pale blue eyes can turn to ice
when he catches a man lying and
then soften to appreciate the perfect shade of fuchsia in a summer
sunset.
After more than four decades
in law enforcement, Sheriff Joe
now captures landscapes instead
of bad guys, pouring the scenic
magnificence of the Southwest
onto canvas. His oil paintings are
sold to friends and acquaintances
across northern Arizona.
Destined for resiliency, Richards was born during the Great
Depression in Lubbock, Texas.
His mother was raised with four
siblings in a covered wagon; his
father provided for the family by
working on projects and blazing
trails with the Civilian Conservation Corp.
928.774.6199
P. O. Box 520
Flagstaff, AZ 86002
www.babbittranches.com
While other boys found heroes on
the pages of comic books, young
Joe peered through the dust, mesmerized by the mystique of cowboys and the western lifestyle.
With the start of World War II,
the family landed in Bellemont,
where Richards’ father became
one of the first guards at Camp
Navajo. Young Joe’s cowboy
uncles lived in nearby Seligman.
He watched them ride the range,
build fences and doctor cattle.
As a teenager, they taught him
to keep away the flies by smoking
Camel cigarettes, a habit he quit
in 1965.
As much as he admired the rugged world of his uncles, he grew
up with a deep respect for native people and their culture. He
learned to speak a little Navajo,
which later helped him become a
trusted member of their community.
He began to know the cowboy
families of Babbitt Ranches in the
early ‘50s. His grandfather, Bill
Covey, built fence for John Babbitt and one of the original ranch
foremen, Frank Banks.
He describes Mr. Babbitt as a
true environmentalist. “He loved
the land, valued it. He felt his
mission was to preserve and protect the land. He understood the
importance of planning for the
future.”
The respect was mutual. In a
book about the Babbitt family, Mr.
Babbitt wrote, “To Joe Richards,
who has been not only a great
sheriff, but a true gentleman.”
Richards remembers Frank
Banks as an innovator and engineer of the ranches’ extensive
water system. “He had a well
drilled on top of Cedar Mesa that
produced a wonderful supply of
water for the CO Bar Ranch and
piped 60 miles of waterline to the
eastern part of the ranch.”
Richards’ admiration for the there was nothing more to do,
work of cowboys continued to the Babbitts would provide for
grow. “Mike Linton would travel their top cowboys with grocer50,000 miles a year driving the ies, housing, and schools for the
Babbitt water truck making sure children.”
there was adequate water for the
Richards got a kick out of cowcattle.”
boys like Mike McFarland. “‘NevAnd Richards remembers Bill er walk when you can ride,’ he’d
Howell as a talented cowboy say. And that meant even if it was
who left his mark on the ranches across the street or across the
by improving the Hereford herd. room!”
“Not only did he know cows, he
Another cowboy he admires is
knew men. He knew how to man- cowboy artist Bill Owen. “I wish
age the cows and the
I had his talent for demen with good skills
picting cowboys and
and good practices.
Article III animals in motion.”
He was never harsh.
On rare days off, RichCowboy
He had cow savvy. He
ards would volunteer
Essence
knew how to protect
his time as a workSection 10.
the herd despite severe
ing cowboy with local
Conditioning ranchers and cowboys,
winters and times of
drought, and he could All aspects of our lives mostly at the Blair’s
must be developed:
ride anything with four
Bar Hart Ranch. “A
mental; spiritual; and,
legs.”
cowgirl cook was a rare
physical. Rest, exercise
Together and apart, and diet must be con- benefit to an outfit,” he
Babbitt Ranches and sidered and moderation remembers. “Sue Yaemust be practiced,
gar would get up at 4
Sheriff Joe watched
a.m., have hot coffee
over northern Ariand a hot meal ready,
zona. The Babbitts
and the cowboys were
tended cattle and looked after the
land; the sheriff and his deputies very grateful. They would stack
watched out for the community. their plates in the sink on their
On a rare day the job required way out.”
sending cowboys home after a
On the Navajo Reservation, Richrowdy night in town. Other times ards felt as comfortable as one of
called for a word of comfort to their own, attending weddings,
families when lightning claimed funerals, ceremonies and listening
young men on horseback.
to the drums beat out a rhythm
Richards cherished gatherings from a distant meadow.
with the Coconino Cattle Grow“It has been an honor to be a part
ers and dinners of Rocky Moun- of the West, to know the people,
tain oysters at Mormon Lake. He the ranch managers, many of the
recalls the way cowboys kept their cowboys and value that friendship
toothpicks in their hat bands, how and association personally and
the unforgiving conditions of life professionally for more than 50
on the range were remembered years.”
in dark stains on their brims, and
Richards
attended
Emerhow Babbitts had the finest hors- son School and Flagstaff High
es with “hoofs like flint.”
School, and earned his bachelor’s
“Babbitt Ranches didn’t abandon and master’s degrees in police
their cowboys,” he says. “At the administration at Northern Ariend of the gathering season when zona University. He is a graduate
of the prestigious FBI National
Academy and the National Sheriffs’ Institute at the University
of Southern California, and has
served 14 years on the Peace
Officers Standards of Training
commission.
Throughout his 44-year career
in law enforcement, he’s received
a number of honors and awards
including those from the U.S. Secret Service, the U.S. Marshal,
the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Arizona Department
of Public Safety and the Arizona
Criminal Justice Commission.
Richards retired in 2004. He
lives in Flagstaff with his wife,
Marilyn. At 74, he remains loyal
to his faith, his workout routine,
his art and his family including
four “beautiful daughters and a
passel of grandkids.”
A sheriff as tough as the West,
Joe Richards’ heroes will always
be cowboys.
“Cowboys are men of honor.
They are everything I thought
they were when I was a little
boy. They love the quiet, the
solitude, the smell of hay and
horses. They possess that independent spirit—despite the hardships and the remoteness—to be
successful in the lifestyle of a
cowboy.”
page 4
BABBITT TIMES REVIEW
August 2010
NAU Students ask: Where’s the Beef?
Northern Arizona University
finance students have been researching the Flagstaff area beef
market. They wanted to find out
who is selling locally-grown,
grass-fed beef. They also wanted
to know what kind of consumer
demand there is for this product.
Associate professor of finance
in the NAU W. Franke School of
Business Dr. Lisa Majure teaches
a capstone course in which finance students are assigned case
studies, usually from a text book.
However, this year, Majure offered up a live case to those who
wanted to tackle it.
“It’s really nice to be able to work
with a real-life situation, but coming up with the data is the hard
part. You don’t have a text book
to give it to you,” she said.
A total of eight students took on
case studies of Babbitt Ranches.
One group did a customer survey
to find out what factors influence
purchasing decisions. Another
group conducted a competitive
analysis of the sale of beef locally. A third group focused on the
feasibility of purchasing and operating a self-contained USDAinspected mobile slaughter unit.
“It was an opportunity that the Flagstaff area is called “natucouldn’t be missed,” said student ral beef” from California. Student
Rachel Swinkey. “I elected to re- data revealed it’s not local and it’s
search consumer behavior. It was not completely grass-fed. In the
great to get out in the Flagstaff last stage of the process the cattle
community. We definitely identi- are sent to feed lots to be fattened
fied a market segment. If people up.
are offered the choice and locally
Chris D’Souza’s group modified
grown beef is available, they will a case study done by the Univerelect to choose the organic beef. sity of Nevada at Reno to fit the
We also found a higher price needs of Babbitt Ranches and rethreshold. They were
search the profitability
tolerant of paying more
of a mobile slaughter
for the locally-grown
Article VI unit.
product than the im“We found the breakSustainable
ported beef.”
even
point to be about
Community
Kathy Taylor conduct45 cows a month, with
Principles
ed a competitive analya profit at 75 to 100
sis. “The demand is
Section 8.
cows a month. It was
better than what’s beBabbitt Ranches is a
challenging because we
community that:
ing offered,” she said.
weren’t sure if the loMakes the best use
Students learned that
cal butcher shop could
of local efforts and
the only true organic
handle that quantity and
resources, and nurtures
beef product sold in the
it is questionable what
solutions at the local
Flagstaff area comes
level.
the demand for locallyfrom a very small farm
grown beef is,” he
in Wickenburg and
said.
is being sold at New
D’Souza’s group also suggested
Frontiers. “They were only able Babbitt Ranches could sell the
to provide 40 pounds a week and mobile unit services by taking it
it would be gone in the first day,” to other Arizona ranches, cutting
said Majure.
transportation costs for ranchers.
Another product being sold in
“Students will always jump at
real-world experience,” said Majure. “They enjoyed working with
Babbitt Ranches and have a better appreciation for decisions that
are made with some uncertainty.”
“Babbitt Ranches was really
appreciative of what we found,”
said Taylor. “It was a great opportunity to work with such a
well-known company with an
awesome family history.”
Majure said it was a natural
fit for the college of business to
be studying Babbitt Ranches.
“We’ve had a long-standing
relationship. Babbitt Ranches is part of the culture of the
college.”
Babbitt Brothers’ downtown butcher and meat shop supplied Flagstaff families with fresh cuts of
beef from the late 1800s through the 1950s.
This Tiger Cat forestry mulcher, also known as a tree grinder, is an important tool for restoring
grasslands. Pictured here are Rob Colombini, Mariah Centone, John Goodwin and Bill Cordasco
on the CO Bar Ranch.
More Grasses for the Masses
CO Bar Grassland Restoration Project
Benefits Wildlife
What used to be an extensive the open spaces to forage and
grassland is now 25,000 acres watch for predators.
closer to its historic condition.
Retired Arizona Game and Fish
Since 2004, Babbitt Ranches Department wildlife biologist John
has been working to restore the Goodwin has been with the projopen prairie that has been taken ect since it started. “This is one
of those things that you
over by pinyon and
can see the changes
juniper trees north
and improvements over
of the San Francisco
Article
IV
time. It certainly is a
Peaks on the CO Bar
feeling of satisfaction to
Ranch. This summer
Cowboy
see this completed.”
the work is nearly
Essence
The project began
done.
Character
with
hand crews and
Together with the AriQualities
chainsaws,
and finished
zona Game and Fish
Section
5.
with
a
more
efficient
Department, the Natugrinder
that
shreds
the
Resourcefulness
ral Resource Conserencroaching
trees
and
vation Service, the U.S. Using our wits, proper
judgment and common turns them into mulch.
Fish and Wildlife Ser- sense
to solve problems. “Despite more than 15
vice and the Arizona
years of drought, the
Department of Agriculpronghorn herd in the
ture, Babbitt Ranches
area
is
doing
fairly well because
has put more than a million dolof
grassland
restoration
efforts,”
lars into this massive project.
said Goodwin. “Babbitt Ranches
Reestablishing the grasslands
has been in the livestock business
requires removing the younger
for a long time. It’s part of their
pinyon and juniper trees that have
constitution to sustain the ecologibeen soaking up a lot of the mois- cal health of the land now and into
ture and crowding out the native the future.”
grasses and forbs. While returnGoodwin retired in 2009 and
ing health and function to the
has been volunteering his time
land, the project provides habitat
and expertise on wildlife habitat
for animals such as pronghorn,
improvement projects.
deer and prairie dogs that need
August 2010
BABBITT TIMES REVIEW
page 5
Landsward Moves Onward Training Future Scientists
and Solving Complex Problems
“The Landsward
Institute is an
important bridge
between sustainable
research and land
stewardship.
By placing NAU
students alongside
the region’s leading
environmental
researchers and
educators, the institute
and Babbitt Ranches
are preparing a new
generation of scholars
who are guided by the
concept of sustainability.”
–– NAU President
John Haeger
Whether firing new energy into
The institute, located on the NAU
wind power, navigating a course campus, is designed to promote
for cultural interpretation, or real-world training for students,
helping to make watershed proj- secure funding for research projects flow, the Landsward Institute ects and obtain internship opis the force behind tomorrow’s portunities for those who will be
scientists, engineers and green charged with solving the future’s
complex environmental
designers. Northern
challenges.
Arizona
University
President John Haeger
“By placing NAU stuArticle VII dents alongside the recalls the institute “an
important bridge begion’s leading environHuman
tween sustainable remental researchers and
Dimension
search and land steweducators, the institute
and
ardship.”
and Babbitt Ranches
Science
are preparing a new
In December, the EcoThat
land
is
a
generation of scholars
logical Monitoring &
community is the
who are guided by the
Assessment Program,
basic concept of
concept of sustainabildeveloped and guided
ecology, but that
ity,” said Dr. Haeger.
by Babbitt Ranches,
land is to be loved
and respected is an
changed its name
Among its many projextension of ethics.
to Landsward Instiects, Landsward is
–Aldo Leopold
tute. “The name more
the home of the Ariclearly captures our
zona Wind Working
stewardship emphasis
Group, which serves
and more effectively aligns us as an information resource for
with NAU’s vision of advancing stakeholders in Arizona’s wind
research and creating viable sus- development. It also houses the
tainable communities, a priority Sustainable Energy Technology
for the mountain campus,” said
Landsward Executive Director
On the San Juan
Karan English.
Center and the Wind for Schools
Program.
“We will be providing technical
support for small wind and anemometer installations at K-12
schools, and the implementation
of wind-related curricula,” said
English.
Through the program, Orme
School students are gathering
wind data from their 30-foot-tall
anemometer tower. Landsward
also is connecting students with
their environment through an
assessment of the botanical resources in the surrounding natural area of Ash Creek. The institute also provides the
now required Native American
cultural interpretation skills for
Grand Canyon river guides. In
the unique outdoor classroom of
the San Juan River, Landsward
offers a 10-day course to introduce Native American students to
the basics of river running, while
building skills to share their heritage and history with visitors.
In addition, Landsward has
been instrumental in initiating the
HavasuCreek Watershed Scoping
Project leading to the development of a strategic action plan to
decrease the impacts of flooding
for the canyon community.
“The institute and its partners
have steered research and internship opportunities in a direction
that start to answer questions
relevant to today’s issues. Renewable energy, sustainable design,
climate change and jobs related
to the environment are a common
theme,” said English. “Meantime,
we are continuing our role of finding dollars to conduct research
projects and making that information available to land owners and
managers.”
The Landsward Institute generated more than $450,000 in fiscal year 2010 focused on finding
new and creative ways to solve
the region’s top environmental
problems while instilling future
generations with the knowledge
and on-the-ground training they’ll
need to make a difference in natural
resource conservation.
River, tomorrow’s river
guides are learning
about Native American
cultures.
Landsward student researchers work
with Slide Rock State Park to promote
the survival of heirloom apple trees.
Marie Snyder strives to make a grand impact
by spreading native seeds at the South Rim
of the Grand Canyon.
Working alongside scientists, engineers and green designers, NAU students are receiving hands-on experience
with wind power and other renewable energy sources.
page 6
BABBITT TIMES REVIEW
Betty Rodgers Blends Cooking with Cowboy
Camp for Deliciously Rewarding Life
Betty Rodgers, shown here with Babbitt Ranches cowboys, came to northern Arizona from Fort
Stockton, Texas, where her husband worked as a cowboy on the Burns and Lindsay Ranch. In the
early ‘70s, they lived near the Grand Canyon when Murray Rodgers worked for the Globe Ranch.
Betty Rodgers cooked almost ev- with baking biscuits at 3 a.m. After
erything from scratch and when breakfast she started on her dinshe cooked for others, she treated ner for the day, a day that would
them like family. She could make not end until after 7 p.m.
good coffee over a small fire and
“There was always a new dessert
beat egg whites into tantalizingly and sometimes cinnamon rolls,”
creamy pies and custards. She said daughter-in-law Lori Rodwas known for her creativity, but gers. “In those days she would
what she didn’t whip up was a rec- sometimes have to cut the meat
ipe for years as a Babbitt Ranches she was going to use from a hangcamp cook. That concoction came ing quarter.”
from ranch manager
Betty had acquired her
Bill Howell.
meat-cutting skills beAfter her husband,
Article III fore coming to Babbitt
Ranches while working
Murray, died in 1985,
Cowboy
in the IGA Market meat
a cowboy at the Well
Essence
department in Pryor,
Camp on the Cataract
Section 12.
Okla. She knew all the
Ranch for two years,
Ranch Spirit cuts and how best to
Betty faced one of the
toughest times of her A genuine consideration prepare them.
for others fosters an
Keeping cowboys well
life. As she tried to
eagerness to sacrifice
fed
often required meat,
imagine how to go on personal interests and
a
fresh
pot of beans,
without him, Howell glory for the betterment
potatoes,
a vegetable,
asked her to consider of others. It is not about
sometimes
macaroni
I but We.
cooking. Suddenly a
and cheese, fresh bread
new family emerged,
and dessert. Some days
one with sometimes as
she would take a lunch
many as 19 hungry cowboys.
out, carefully packing the chuck
At Spider Web and Redlands wagon and bringing it to wherever
camps, Betty adapted her recipes the cowboys were working.
to feed a stable full of ranch hands
“Betty always said the cowboys
and sometimes the Babbitt Ranch- were like family and she cooked
es office crew. All of this she ac- for them that way, always with a
complished out of a small kitchen, smile even when she was tired.
sometimes in a one-room shack, She loved the cowboy life.”
or from a Dutch oven outside.
Betty’s chicken fried steak was
Her days as camp cook started
Rodgers continued on page 11
August 2010
Cowboy Shares Life with Babbitt Ranches
Dick Tillman has a corral full of there were fires to keep you warm.
cowboy wisdom.
“I didn’t like to be around people.
His story began May 11, 1928. Cows and horses couldn’t talk
Tillman was born in Kendrick back. They’d hook you or run over
Park. He remembers growing up you, but they wouldn’t talk back!”
in a wetter Arizona. Everybody
Working on a ranch meant breakhad a horse, there were more an- ing horses. A lot of them came
telope then and there was much to from the Navajo Reservation where
learn from Native Americans.
there were too many for the land.
“The Indians didn’t need a leveler, Shoeing horses was an important
they did it all by eye. They could and time-consuming task. “The
level a water trough and you could cinders ate up their feet. We’d shoe
check it afterward. It was as level the whole remuda, which could be
20 to 120 horses.”
as it could be.”
Besides the cinders, quicksand
Tillman’s history with the Babbitts began when he joined the CO along the Colorado River and fog
Bar in 1941 as a ranch hand and were hazards for horses and cows
soon started working for Frank on the range. “One or two of those
Banks. “Frank could pick out the horses would start out in that rivcows and their calves. If they got er and the horses would feel that
separated, he could bring them boggin’ down. They’d slow down,
back together. It takes a genius to start struggling, back up and walk
out. They knew how to get out, but
be able to do that.”
the rider better be getA lot of the other ranch
tin’ off!”
hands came from Texas
Tillman built a number
and New Mexico, but
Article III
of
water tanks and once
Tillman learned early
Cowboy
in a while helped with
on that you don’t ask too
Essence
calving.
many questions. “They
Section 5.
could be wanted some
He met his wife, BonLoyalty
place and it wasn’t your
nie Evans, in Flagstaff.
business.”
Be devoted to yourself She was 17 years old
and to all those who
and working in a diner
Because of the language
depend on you. Keep
next to the Greyhound
barrier, Tillman didn’t
your self-respect.
Bus station. He was
have a lot of conversation
21. After knowing each
with the native workers.
other for six weeks,
He recalls one particular
Navajo ranch hand, Calvin Little- they got married. They had five
sing. “We were on the Arizona Strip children, all girls, Rene, Darla,
and had gotten a bunch of horses to Shile, Debbie and Vaughn.
Spider Web. We were sitting on the
The hazards of raising girls infence lookin’ at ‘em and he looked cluded warning them about rattleat me and said, ‘Aw, them pretty snakes and mountain lions. “You
good looking horses aren’t they, had to watch for buffalo on the
Dick?’ I worked with him for five Hart. They weren’t supposed to be
years. I didn’t know he could speak roaming free and you’d better have
English!”
a good enough horse to get away.
The cowboy life was a good fit for They will charge and run into you.
Tillman. The day started before If they throw their head up and tail
the sun came up and often ended up over their back, you’d better
after the sun went down. Every- leave pretty quick.”
body ate well, as there was always
Tillman raised his family at Spiplenty of beans and beef. And as der Web Camp. Banks would
long as there was wood to chop, leave “green” horses there and
Dick Tillman waves to the crowd while being
honored at the 2009 Colt Sale.
Tillman’s daughter, Rene, recalls
how her dad would work them.
“Mama wanted a watermelon.
Daddy got on a green horse to go
to Grey Mountain six miles away
to get her one. It took half a day to
get that watermelon.”
Much of the time, Tillman and his
family were at the ranch by themselves. Frank and Helen Banks
would live there in the winter, but
move to Cedar Ranch in the summertime. During the school year,
the girls took buses to Flagstaff.
During the summer, they’d play
with Native American children
who didn’t speak their language.
Tillman learned how to spot a
good cow by size and shape. He
became such a valuable part of
Babbitt Ranches that John Babbitt
took him to Montana to find good
cattle and raise them there.
“Mr. Babbitt was a real good,
honest man. It didn’t matter who
you was or how you was dressed,
he treated everybody the same,”
said Tillman. “I’d always heard
that a person only has one or
two friends that stay friends for a
lifetime. I always considered Mr.
Babbitt a friend.
Tillman worked on Babbitt
Ranches for 42 years all together.
He left briefly to join the army during the Vietnam War. He retired in
the late ‘80s. Today this 82-yearold cowboy lives in St. Johns, tells
cowboy stories and makes his own
divinity.
August 2010
BABBITT TIMES REVIEW
Western Livestock Tour
Leads to Babbitt Ranches
Western Livestock Journal’s a section about Babbitt Ranches:
annual Big Ranch Tour landed
Day 5, the dusty trail
some 125 cattle industry folks on
Led to Babbitts’ plot
Babbitt Ranches.
The cowboys branded
The 50-year tradition combines
And
the spectators took their
education with tourism. This, the
photo shot.
Arizona Big Ranch Grand CanThere was a picnic
yon Tour, showcased some of the
Out on the rocks
state’s top livestock operations
along with the area’s world-class
The truck pulled up
scenery.
And grub was in a box.
Memorable moments for Journal
The horses were gathered
Publisher Pete Crow included
And put in the pen
cattle branding on the CO Bar
They
were roped and
and a lunch box on the lava rocks.
separated
The unusually warm, dry spring
Ready for Saturday’s work
reminded visitors they were in the
to begin.
Southwest.
The
group also visited
“We were coming
the Bar T Bar, Freeoff a dry winter and it
man and the V Bar V
was hotter than we exArticle III ranches, along with
pected. It may surprise
Orme School.
you, but we bring rain
Cowboy
wherever we go,” said
“We explore different
Essence
Crow.
operations
where those
Section 3.
in the business can pick
True to his claims,
Friendship
up ideas and travel
northern Arizona reMutual esteem,
ceived a heavy drench- respect and devotion are with longtime friends,”
said Crow. “In some
ing following the Big
the ingredients of an
enduring friendship. Like respects we’re almost
Ranch Tour.
Writer Zeke Frost marriage, it must not be a travel club.”
taken for granted but
This year’s tour landcaptured the journey in requires a joint effort.
ed in northwestern
his poem Dusty Trails
Colorado.
in the Journal’s June 1,
2009 edition, including
During the 1969 Western Livestock Tour, Mr. and Mrs. John Babbitt visited with Western
Livestock Journal publisher Nelson Crow who started the journal in 1922. Today his grandson,
Pete Crow, is the publisher.
page 7
Flagstaff Offers a Journey
through the Early Years
It takes a village to tell the story
of a village, or so it seems with
the massive effort to collect, identify and compile historic pictures
of Flagstaff from the late 1800s
and early 1900s.
“I was hoping to gather in one
place images of the early days so
others would know what this little
town was in the beginning,” said
James E. Babbitt, Flagstaff coauthor with John DeGraff III.
Flagstaff, published by Arcadia
Publishing, is such a collection.
The book acts as both a family
photo album and an historical
record capturing the people, architecture, landscape, native cultures and entrepreneurial spirit
of the time.
“Most residents of Arizona and
Flagstaff are relative newcomers,”
said Babbitt. “The timber industry was a huge part of Flagstaff
and today there’s hardly a trace
left of it here anymore. I want to
show people the three industries
that built our town: the railroad,
the timber industry and ranching.”
Featuring canyons and craters,
ranchers and bankers, science and
education, winters and celebrations, Flagstaff showcases more
than 180 vintage images from the
authors’ private archives, as well
as from the Arizona Historical
Society, Babbitt Brothers Trading
Company, the Northern Arizona
Pioneers Historical Society and
Northern Arizona University.
“I’m very nostalgic about Flagstaff,” said Babbitt. “There was a
time when you knew everybody in
town, you got around easily, and
there was very little crime. I think
I was born about 100 years too
late. I would have liked to have
lived in the past when things were
new and raw, and there was lots James E. Babbitt gathered images of Flagstaff’s early days so others would know what
of opportunity.”
the town was like.
Flagstaff documents
character of Flagstaff
the important activiand the forces that
ties and discoveries
Article IX shaped the community.
of the time, from the
When you absorb all
Priceless
establishment of the
that comes through in
Museum of Northern
Values
these images, you can’t
Arizona to engineering
Section 4.
help feeling a sense of
railroad bridges across
pride and connectedCommunity
steep canyons to the
ness to the past.”
Babbitt Ranches is
discovery of Pluto from
part of a large and
Flagstaff is part of
Mars Hill.
diverse community of
The Images of America
Woven into the 126 land owners, communi- series that celebrates
ties and organizations
pages are threads of who
have a responsibil- the history of neighborgeologic significance ity and obligation to the hoods, towns and cities
such as the last ice broad regional perspec- across the country. It
age that carved the tive. It is in this context is available for $21.99
of community that
inner basin of the San relationships are formed at Babbitt’s BackcounFrancisco Peaks and
and quality regional
try Outfitters, 928planning can begin.
historic moments such
774-4775.
as President Theodore Roosevelt’s
1903 South Rim
speech when he
spoke of the need
to protect the
Grand Canyon.
“It’s something
every Flagstaff
resident should
have
in
his
personal library,”
said Lowell Obseratory
Outreach Manager
Kevin Schindler. Flagstaff celebrated Babbitts’ Sausage Queens during an early Fourth
“It captures the of July celebration.
page 8
BABBITT TIMES REVIEW
Babbitts Trusts a Wolf with their Cattle, No Bull!
He’s marketed more than $200
million worth of cattle for ranchers all across the West and, as
long as he’s working with operations like Babbitt Ranches,
Willard Wolf has no intention of
stopping.
Wolf, currently the western representative for Crossroads Cattle
Company in Austin, Texas, may
well be the most knowledgeable
Hereford broker in the country.
There’s probably nobody who
knows as many purebred breeders, feedlots, ranchers and auctioneers in the industry.
He admits Babbitt Ranches
cattle are easy to sell because of
genetics, quality, consistency, the
health program and management
of the ranch, and getting the top
market price is fairly easy.
“We have a network of prospective buyers nationwide that we
deal with,” he said. “You have to
know the corn market, food costs,
the cost of production and get all
the terms of the sale before you
consider an asking price. We try
to get the top of the market for
Babbitt Ranches cattle each and
every year.”
Wolf graduated from Oklahoma
Wolf says 2009 was a tremendous year for Babbitt State University with a degree
Ranches for numbers and in animal science. Soon he was
weight. “This is the best tasked with setting up the western
year they’ve ever had. Of a division of the Oklahoma Comtotal 1,400 Babbitt steers, mission Company and learning all
the average weight was aspects of the livestock industry.
884 pounds. That’s about
From there he went to work for
a 50-pound increase over the U.S. Department of Agriculthe past three years.”
ture reporting market news about
Wolf is used to seeing sheep, hogs and cattle. Two years
the Babbitt cattle get bet- later, he was exporting livestock to
ter each year. In the last foreign countries such as Hondu15 years he says Bab- ras and Mexico for a Richmond,
bitt Ranches cattle, 90 Va., firm.
percent Hereford and 10
It was at a national exposition
percent black baldie, have in Mexico City where the Ameriincreased in weight about can Hereford Association spotted
140 pounds per head. And Wolf and made him an irresistible
that means profit.
offer.
“The Babbitt Ranches
Through the years, Wolf has
community has been working owned and operated his own
hard at it. The environment also ranches. Today he runs up to 200
has an effect. You can
head of cattle in the
have the best genetics
state of Washington.
in the world, but if you
At age 69, Wolf has
Article IV
don’t have moisture,
narrowed his focus to
the weights will be
Cowboy
the western states and
lighter. We are gong
Essence
is picky about who he
into drier situations,
does business with.
Character
but even in drier years,
“I couldn’t overemQualities
Babbitt Ranches cattle
phasize
what it’s like
Section 2.
still do a little better
working
with Babbitt
Sincerity
than most.”
Ranches. These are
The genuine
Wolf has been around
very honest people
earnestness that
cattle his whole life,
who stand by what they
binds friendship.
and for many of those
say and just want to do
years he’s been working
it right.”
with Babbitt Ranches,
Wolf recalls how his
consulting on where to buy bulls
grandfather
did business on a
and shipping 3,200 to 3,500
Babbitt Ranches heifers and handshake. “Five years after he
died, people were still bringing
steers a year.
truckloads of horses and cattle to
Born and raised on a commerhis ranch to make good on their
cial ranch in Oklahoma, Wolf redebts. Like my grandfather, the
calls working with his grandfather
people of Babbitt Ranches unfrom the age of 5. “He marketed
derstand that 90 percent of the
and handled a lot of cattle. He’d
business is based on the integrity
take me with him when he’d go to
and honesty of who you’re dealing
sales. When I got to be about 11,
with on both sides.”
sugar diabetes took one of his feet
so I began driving the trucks.”
August 2010
Improved Visibility Along Highway 180
Helps Wildlife and Motorists
Elk and pronghorn will be able meadows is where the majority
to move through their habitat of wildlife hang out.”
more easily and motorists will
The Arizona Department of
be less likely to be surprised by Transportation strives to mainanimals jumping out of the forest tain safety for motorists by reand onto the highway following moving trees that might impair
a 200-acre tree removal project visibility within 50 feet of the
on the CO Bar Ranch.
highway. “With funding limitaThis spring, nearly 85 volun- tions and tough economic times,
teers from the Arizona Elks we are extremely restricted in
Society teamed up with the
what we can get accomplished
Coconino Rural Enwith the state budvironmental Corps,
get,” said ADOT
Arizona Game and
Article III Flagstaff Area EnviFish
Department,
ronmental CoordinaArizona Department
Cowboy
tor Chuck Howe. “A
of
Transportation,
Essence
large volunteer effort
Forest Service and
Section 1.
certainly helps acBabbitt Ranches to
Industriousness
complish these projopen up the corriects.”
There
is
no
substitute
dor alongside Highfor work. Worthwhile
Researchers say the
way 180 near Slate
results come from
Mountain.
area
around Kendrick
hard work and
and Slate mountains
careful planning.
Small junipers and
was once a grassland
ponderosa
pines
were cut by the
complex with open
CREC crew. In late
meadows connected
May, representatives from the by woodland corridors. HowevArizona Elks Society braved a er, during the last century with
weekend of fierce winds to lop the exclusion of fire, small trees
branches from downed trees to have invaded the open spaces
increase visibility through the critical for large game, as well
area.
as grassland birds.
“It’s a good project for a
whole lot of reasons,” said
biological consultant Jim de
Vos. “With money for habitat projects getting tighter and
tighter, the partnering aspect is
the most important outcome.”
After cutting off branches, vol“The end product is remarkunteers
scattered the woody
able. You can’t tell there were
material
to speed the natural
ever trees there,” said Arizona
decaying
processes
that put nuGame and Fish Department
trients
back
into
the
soil.
wildlife manager Mike White.
“It’s great to have land owners
“This effort will restore connectivity for pronghorn habi- who are willing to participate in
tat. Plus, elk and other wildlife projects that benefit wildlife and
species benefit from expanded public safety,” said White.
meadows, too. The edge of
BABBITT TIMES REVIEW
August 2010
Ferrets in Hiding
They’ve disappeared from the
grasslands before and now it appears they’ve done it again. Arizona Game and Fish Department
biologists have been spotlighting
for some 70 black-footed ferrets
released since 2007 on the Espee
Ranch, but this spring they’ve not
been able to find them.
The black and white masked
mammal, highly dependent on
prairie dogs, was once thought to
be extinct. But in 1981 a Wyoming rancher’s dog found one.
Wildlife biologists were able to
find about 150 others living in a
prairie dog colony on the ranch.
Of those 150, only 18 survived
and were placed in a captive
Wildlife managers have been rebreeding facility.
introducing the endangered ferret on
“We don’t know why
healthy grasslands with
we’re not seeing them
high concentrations of
on the Espee Ranch,”
Article V
prairie dog colonies since
said Arizona Game
the 1990s. The nocturnal
and Fish Department A Land Ethic
ferret lives with and preys
Section 5.
wildlife biologist Jenupon prairie dogs.
A thing is right when
nifer Cordova. “They
The
Espee
Ranch,
could have been stay- it tends to preserve the
integrity, stability and
northwest of Valle, is the
ing in the burrows beauty of the biotic comonly release site on prilonger because of the munity. It is wrong when
vate land. Cordova says
it tends otherwise.
cold, windy spring.
the search will resume in
Plague also could be
September.
to blame.”
Ferret photos by Jennifer Cordova
The black-footed ferret is thought to be North America’s most endangered mammal.
page 9
Shewalter continued from page 2
regard for the history of the ranch. It was a significant part of the Arizona Trail because people
would be able to see Babbitt Ranches and underArticle IV
stand what ranching is all about,” said Nelson.
Besides this ambitious project that took decades
Cowboy
of
determination, Shewalter is also remembered
Essence
as a teacher whose lessons took students beyond
Character
geography and math.
Qualities
“The number of people his life touched is truly
amazing,” said Nelson. “He taught his students
Section 1.
about the world and responsibility.”
Ambition
Friends plan to continue the pace set by
The desire to achieve
Shewalter and see the completion of the trail
noble goals.
in time for Arizona’s centennial celebration
in 2012.
Criticism continued from page 2
When I went to bed that night
I thought about the potential
reasons Bill felt he needed to
visit with me so strongly. Was I
slacking? Goofing off? I did not
think so, but what? Before going to sleep I thought, “Well, I
hope I gave everything I had.”
The next day came soon enough
and we were again branding
calves. I was a “brander” this
day. I trotted from the branding fire to the calf and back to
the branding fire like a zipping
bee. There was going to be no
reason for any criticism about
my effort today! When all of a
sudden Bill comes over to me
calling my name. I went flush.
“Come here!”
With the de-horners in one
hand pointing and his other
hand firmly on my back he
said, “Do you see that bull calf
right there?”
“Yes,” I said.
“You see his straight back and
his legs?”
“Yes.”
“We should keep him as a bull
for the ranch,” Bill said.
He walked away motioning for
a different set of branding irons
and that was it.
Huh? In less than 24 hours I
go from not flanking calves fast
enough, to the next day, with all of
the other cowboys around, Bill’s
hand on my back, quietly instructing and teaching me about bull
calves.
Over the years I have become
very appreciative of this lesson.
There have been times where I
have been in the squeeze and indeed had more to give than I was
giving or thought I could give. Bill
knew that day that though I did
not think I had more to give, I did!
Also that you have a choice of deciding to dig for that extra effort
or not to, and that by giving that
extra, most of the time opportunities—like learning which bull calf
to keep—will present themselves.
This has been a really special lesson to me.
–– Bill Cordasco
Oh Boy! Did You See
What He Just Did?
In the early 2000s we were
branding some spring calves. It
was a really nice day and the crew
was working well together. There
wasn’t much chatter, with everyone well focused on the job. I was
castrating that day. Not much else
going on except for the well hone
routine of the spring wagon.
When, over on the other side
of the branding pen, a ruckus
broke out. A big soggy calf had
slinked and kicked his way free
from the flankers. With that little
calf’s tail almost straight up and
his ears pinned back, he darted
like a bullet toward the open end
of the pen.
Bill Howell was dragging calves
that day on the side where the calf
got free. From the back of the pen
and in the middle of the bunched
cows Bill turned his horse and
in a single motion the cows split
apart and Bill breezed past the
branding crew in full pursuit. It
was so natural looking I think the
wind was jealous. Two turns of
the loop and that little calf swung
around in a dead stop. “Wow!” I
thought. This was like a highlight
film you want to watch over and
over.
The little calf grudgingly was
towed back to the flankers and
I turned back around from the
action seeing the faces of the
crew – mostly big eyes and a few
dropped jaws – all I could think
was “Oh Boy! Did you see what
he just did?”
–– Bill Cordasco
BABBITT TIMES REVIEW
Geology Rocks Babbitt Ranches
With the tenacity of a bulldog, the
patience of a wildlife photographer
and the keen sense of a homicide
detective, Ben Donegan’s dogged
ing deep today in the hunt for hydrocarbons may be 10,000 feet or
more into the ancient Precambrian
Formations. So hidden are these
resources, only one well has been
drilled to the Precambrian in the
two million-acre area north of Williams. Donegan was born in Amarillo,
Texas, during the Great Depression. His lifelong interest in geology began to form in high school
ability to sniff out prospective oil when he found some fossils. “A
and gas sites makes him one of the Texas Tech professor took the time
most respected exploration geolo- to explain paleontology to me and
gists in the western frontier.
invited me to go on field trips.”
Whether pouring over volumes
Earning a rock-solid education
of scientific information
from Texas Technologior studying the ground
cal College, University
itself, Donegan is said
Texas and Stanford
Article III of
to know every stitch of
University,
Donegan
Cowboy
land when examining an
began laying the founarea of interest. Where
Essence
dation for a career that
others have plugged
would span more than
Section 11.
their wells and moved
60 years.
Skill
on, Donegan takes a
He started out as an
Be prepared with
closer look. And when
oil exploration geoloknowledge and the
he identifies a promis- ability to properly and gist in West Texas afing area he motivates quickly execute the fun- ter serving in the U.S.
select oil companies to damentals. Cover every Navy in 1945 and ‘46.
little detail.
join him in carrying the
With his brother Bob,
project to the next level.
he expanded into minRight now he’s lookeral exploration in 1952
ing at Babbitt Ranches’ Espee and with Union Uranium Company
CO Bar ranches. Utilizing geo- at Albuquerque where they later
chemical and geophysical remote organized Coral Oil and Gas and
sensors, Donegan and the oil Eldorado Oil companies. Operating
companies are seeking evidence of as an independent exploration genear-surface hydrocarbon micro- ologist, principally in the Rocky
seepage and sedimentary basins.
Mountain states, he has been
Oil-rich Precambrian source working with Babbitt Ranches for
rocks are present in the eastern nearly two decades.
Grand Canyon. With a reputation
After a fall that broke his back,
for following every reference, clue Donegan spends less time in the
or lead, Donegan is convinced field these days and more time in
those rich source rocks also lie his office working with his extenbeneath the high desert of the sive collection of geological data.
Coconino Plateau. “We wouldn’t “I’ve lost some altitude, but not
be spending our time there if we any attitude.”
didn’t think it was promising.”
His biggest success? He says he’s
Donegan will tell you a deep well still looking for it.
used to be 5,000 feet, but shallow
oil is now harder to find. So go-
August 2010
Colt Sale Auctioneer Knows Pedigrees and Babbitt Ranches
Ron Berndt knows horses. He
He says he was ready to sell riding all day.”
has a particular fondness for the when his two children had grown
Always a fan of good usable
Driftwood bloodline and the peo- and were no longer interested in horses, at age 73 he keeps four
ple of Babbitt Ranches. And that raising horses.
mares with colts. “I’m raising
makes him the perfect fit as Bab“The people I wanted to hire all saddle horses for my son-in-law
bitt Ranches Annual Colt Sale had their own businesses. There and grandson.”
auctioneer.
are a lot of folks who want to play
He plans to be back at Spider
This summer marks the fifth year cowboy, but working the ranch is Web next July.
for this particular duty at Spi- more than putting on spurs and
der Web Camp. With
Berndt’s help, Babbitt
Ranches enjoyed anArticle III
other successful event
Cowboy
July 10 and sold 40
colts and geldings.
Essence
“It was a lively, fun
Section 2.
crowd and the colts
Enthusiasm
sold for more than last
Enjoyment for what
year, averaging about you are doing motivates
$2,000 each,” he said. those with whom you
come into contact.
Retired in Goodnight,
Longtime Colt Sale participant Ron Berndt connects with the crowd at the
Texas, this longtime
annual event.
horseman has raised
and bred horses for three deabbitt anch orse ale
cades. He continues his role as
Now I don’t know if yer familiar with a Hashknife horse?
auctioneer for his favorite ranchThey come from a pretty big outfit up north.
es. He says the Babbitt Colt Sale
Bob, Cookie, and myself decided to head up country one day.
We climbed in the car and we were on our way.
is special.
After two ’er three hours, we turned left on a dirt road,
“It’s down-to-earth and unique.
we were getting excited, but it hardly showed.
Those cowboys know all about
The gauge read 60, when we crossed them railroad tracks;
We was headed to a horse sale with the sun at our backs.
those horses and the customers
A steady hand on the wheel, kept our tires ’tween the ruts,
do, too. Harvey Howell has known
now some of you folks may consider us half nuts.
those horses for 40 years!”
Since 4 a.m. it has been nothing but a rush,
but to go see quality critters, it’s well worth the fuss.
Through the past two decades,
We showed up early, so we went to the corrals to have us a peek.
Berndt has been in big demand
That’s when I saw a buckskin filly that made my knees go weak.
to work horse sales because of
She was built, just a pretty little thing.
There was no tellin’ how much she would bring.
his knowledge in pedigrees. He’s
“With the head of Princess, and rear of a washer woman,” as Bob would say.
been auctioning at horse events
Yes siree, we saw some fine lookin’ horses that day.
from Montana to Pennsylvania.
The sale started up and folks began to buy.
I’ll tell ya this and it’s no lie.
Through this work and through
A
lady
from
England was sittin’ on top of a rail.
his western art business, which
Quite aways to travel to attend a ranch horse sale.
included handling Bill Owen’s art“Goin’ once, goin’ twice… sold!” to Mr. so and so.
It didn’t take long for each of them li’l ones to go.
work, Berndt became acquainted
It was all ’bout over, time for us to head back from where we came;
with Babbitt Ranches.
Then the sky clouded up and down came the rain.
“Babbitt Ranches has some neat
People scattered like chickens in a chicken house, goin’ left and right.
It was funny how a bit of water can get people all uptight.
people: the cowboys, the manageThe cowboys had to finish in the barn, there was a few more horses to sale.
ment, everybody there.”
The rain got worse, then it started to hail.
He sold his own 40-horse HudThe storm was loud, but the auctioneer got the job done.
As for horses, we didn’t buy us a one.
son, Colo., outfit in the early ‘90s.
Empty handed we headed home, but it was fun to watch and see,
“A lady drove up with a horse
the kind of stock they raise out in Hashknife country.
trailer and bought them all in an
–– Amanda L. Stucky, July 2001
afternoon.”
Photo by Darren Choate
page 10
B
R
H
S
BABBITT TIMES REVIEW
August 2010
Tomorrow continued from page 1
they are in business.
This involves policies
and expectations, and
succession planning.
Land use and stewardArticle I
ship involves short and
Philosophy
long-term strategies and
responsibilities regard- and Multiple
ing real estate sales, re- Bottom Line
source use and conserSection 1.
vation science.
Agriculture and busi- Through our efforts of
learning and underness diversity understanding, we are better
scores the commitment able to join, share and
and routine of day-to- be a part of the Babbitt
day business while em- Ranches’ organizational,
phasizing the need for ecological, economical
and community
exploring other land uses
decisions.
such as gravel extraction, gas and oil leases
or the development of
alternative sources of
energy.
Industry employment
explores the challenges
of attracting skilled
employees who seek
the ranching lifestyle
and share a passion for
working on the land.
Infrastructure involves
wells, pipelines, dirt
tanks, fences and roads.
It includes assessing
their condition and having a plan for re-development.
Agriculture policy development requires the
complex integration of
local, state and national mandates, missions
and plans that influence
Babbitt Ranches.
Rodgers continued from page 6
always popular. When the meat
was done she added a little flour
to the drippings and made gravy.
Some of the men became so
spoiled they couldn’t eat potatoes, not even French fries,
without Betty’s gravy. And her
reward was their many thanks.
“For her, that was enough.
Some of the cowboys are still in
contact with her,” said Lori.
Betty is retired now and living
in Elk City, Okla., but her cowboy life legacy continues on. Her
grandchildren and great grandchildren live at the ranch while
her recipes are still working and
pleasing cowboys.
Documented in the CO Bar
Ranch Cookbook, Betty’s meatloaf and biscuit recipes remain
camp favorites.
2 cans stewed tomatoes
1 tsp garlic salt
1 cup ketchup
Mix well and cook at 375˚
Babbitt Ranch Biscuits
2 cups sifted flour
½ tsp salt
2 Tbsp baking powder
(Sift together)
/ cup Crisco – cut into flour
mixture
1 3
CO Bar Ranch Meat Loaf
1 cup milk
3 or 4 lbs ground beef
4 eggs
½ tsp seasoned salt
2 tsp pepper
40 crackers (crushed)
1 chopped onion
Stir together; knead a little on
floured board. Roll out and cut.
Makes 10 to 11 biscuits. Cook
at 450˚
(130 calories each made
with non-fat milk)
Jim Babbitt continued from page 1
of hobos on the train and people
During the war, Jim saw the deused to say our house had a mark struction and impact the war had
on it because they would stop in for on life in other countries. In his
a free meal. We weren’t worried P-47 single engine plane, Babbitt
about strangers. Nobody thought moved across Europe as Patton’s
any differently of anyone and every- 3rd Army moved. He wore a headbody was your friend.”
set and throat microphone to comThe town was small then, maybe municate with troops on the ground
5,000 people. As an eighth grader close to the front lines.
in 1938, Babbitt had all girls for
“It was scary flying and firing
classmates. “I made jokes about be- with anti-aircraft fire bursting all
ing the smartest boy in the class.”
around, shaking the planes while
In those days, the centerpiece of you are strafing or dive-bombing
downtown was the Babbitt Broth- the enemy.”
ers Trading Company Thriftway
Once he had a dead-stick landing
Department Store. “We don’t have on his way back to the allied air
a place like that today where you’ve strip. This means the engine quits
got
everything—groand the plane has to
ceries, shoes, ammunimake a forced landing.
tion—and a drugstore
He calls General Patacross the street.”
Article IV ton a great leader. “He
Jim’s father, Ray Babreally led the troops
Cowboy
bitt, was involved in the
across Europe and
Essence
mercantile branch of
moved so fast, he outran
Character
the family company. Jim
his supply line and had
was a clerk in the groQualities
to wait for them to catch
cery store as a teenager.
Section 7.
up because he had run
Later he spent his weeks
out of gas.”
Fight
traveling from Babbitt
When the atomic bomb
The determined effort
trading post to trading
was
dropped in Japan,
to
do
the
very
best
post all over northern
we can do.
Jim
was
on a 30-day
Arizona getting orders
leave.
He
was outside
for supplies.
the Monte Vista Hotel
Travel weary, Jim was
on San Francisco Street
ready for a new job when
in Flagstaff when he got the news.
his uncle, E.D. Babbitt, who owned
“We had never even heard of the
Babbitt Motor Company, asked if
atomic bomb.”
he’d want to get into the automoThe war in Europe was over and
bile business. His response was a
he
was discharged before the age
resounding “Yes!”
of
21.
Jim had horses as a boy, was inBack at the ranch, Jim recalls how
terested in the branding and sale of
Babbitt Ranches horses and cattle, Frank Banks hand-picked and
and had great admiration for the raised the horses. “We needed
ranch leaders. “Frank Banks, ranch good, strong horses. Frank selecforeman, was the most knowledge- tively purchased the kind of studs
able rancher in the West. John Bab- that he wanted to make up the
bitt, president of Babbitt Ranches, herd.”
This set up the opportunity for
commanded the greatest respect of
any individual I can recall.”
Babbitt Ranches and future ranch
Jim remembers when he heard managers to produce tremendous
the news of John’s brother’s death. colts in the years to come. When
“James E. Babbitt was a very popu- the horses eventually were certified
lar state senator. He died from a by the American Quarter Horse Asbad cold while on a hunting expe- sociation, the reputation of Babbitt
dition. This was in 1944. I was in Ranches’ quality colts spread. ToGermany.”
day they are purchased by people
page 11
Jim Babbitt, shown here with a pronghorn
collaring crew, loves being involved with the
ranches.
from all over the country.
Jim bought the Babbitt Motor
Company in 1965, after E.D. Babbitt died. It was later renamed Jim
Babbitt Ford. He continues to operate the business with co-owner
Alan Chan.
In the ‘90s, he and his wife, Marge,
used to visit “the girls.” These were
six buffalo that Babbitt Ranches
brought to Spider Web Camp.
“It seemed like a wonderful thing
to have a herd of buffalo, but you
couldn’t control them. They jumped
over fences, crossed Highway 89
and wandered around on the San
Francisco Peaks.”
As a member of the Babbitt Ranches’ Board of Directors for many decades, Jim has witnessed the ranches grow from a cattle operation to
what it has become today.
“We were raising cattle and shipping them off. It’s a totally different
operation today, managing cattle,
land and the natural resources, and
public recreation. There was no
such thing back then.”
Through it all, Jim has a great deal
of pride in the Babbitt legacy. “I am
very humbled that there were some
really bright, brilliant, wonderful
men in the family and the older generation that started it all. They were
tremendous, respectful people who
were extremely generous within the
communities they served. And I’ve
had an exceptionally good life. I’ve
been so fortunate to have so many
wonderful family and friends.
Jim and Marge live in Sun City and
spend their summers in Flagstaff.
BABBITT TIMES REVIEW
page 12
Badly Scattered Cattle
Babbitt Ranches Battles
Extreme Drought and Record Snow
With much of northern Arizona experiencing one of its top five driest
years of all time, Babbitt Ranches’
cattle were sent to greener pastures
from Holbrook to Texas in 2009.
With a series of March windstorms whipping the moisture out
of the land in spring, higher than
normal temperatures creating a
record growing season, and half
the normal precipitation during
the summer, ranch managers were The cattle have since returned to
faced with less than desirable range Babbitt Ranches.
conditions.
The unusually wet December
National Weather Service meteo- 2009 and January 2010 resulted in
rologist Brian Klimowski says the more challenges for the ranch. By
late February, Flagstaff
Flagstaff-area monsoon
had beaten most U.S.
season yielded only
cities
with its amount
three inches of rain, less
Article VI
of snowfall for the year,
than half of the normal
Sustainable almost 10 feet thus far.
seven inches. “The year
Community This was already three
was shaping up to be
feet more than the area
the driest on record, folPrinciples
averages in an entire
lowing nearly 15 years
Section 2.
winter.
of drought; however,
Babbitt Ranches is
The National Weather
an unusually wet Dea community that:
Service noted another
cember caused by an
Appreciates that
El Niño weather pattern growth occurs within record: 78 consecutive
days with six inches
bumped Flagstaff to its
some limits and is
of snow on the ground
ultimately limited by
fourth driest year on reduring the 2009-2010
the carrying capacity
cord.”
winter.
of the environment.
As Winslow and Bel“With the early snow,
lemont marked their
cowboys worked hard
second driest year ever,
to break trail to get feed
Babbitt Ranches experienced chalto the cattle,” said Cordasco. “It
lenges keeping the grass green, the
was clear the country was going
water tanks full and the cows fed.
to have a fair year on grass growth
Normally, the steers would have but snow pack didn’t melt in a way
spent the year on the Espee Ranch, to run water into dirt tanks leaving
but by fall, conditions made it nec- many dry.”
essary to move a thousand of them
Following a very wet winter, Klito rangeland near Lubbock, Texas. mowski says spring 2010 was dry
Also, cattle that were too light again. “In February, March and
to sell in the fall went to the Ford April we were well below normal
County Feeders feed yard in Dodge with less than half the usual preCity, Kan. The Certified Hereford cipitation.”
Beef Program proved to be a sucAs Babbitt Ranches looks to forecess as the cattle sold in April for casters for clues about the coming
nearly $1 a pound.
seasons, Klimowski is projecting
Meanwhile, the decision was made normal precipitation for summer
to take some 500 head to an irri- 2010.
gated pasture south of Holbrook.
August 2010
Northern Arizona Weather Forecast
With the drenching effects of last winter’s El Niño ebbing, the National Weather Service predicts
a near-normal monsoon season for northern Arizona, expecting some seven inches of precipitation
for the Flagstaff area. Meteorologists are calling for a normal fall, seeing no major climate signals in
the forecast.
However, they say La Niña conditions could result in a cooler and drier winter.
@
I
Holistic Management
Promotes Connection with Land and People
Like Babbitt Ranches, Holistic
Management International believes
the way to rangeland health and
productivity is through relationships with both biotic and human
communities.
The Albuquerque-based nonprofit enterprise has been helping
thousands of families around the
world restore degraded agricultural and range lands using a management framework that addresses
ecological, economical and social
concerns.
“Businesses usually zero in on
specific parts of an operation, but
don’t take into account the whole
of the land, the family and the community around them,” said HMI
Senior Director of Programs and
Grants Jutta von Gontard. “Effective Holistic Management practitioners observe what is going on
on the land. They make decisions
based on knowledge, but also are
tuned in to what’s happening on the
ground.”
In the early 1990s, Babbitt Ranches was experiencing a shift in how
it articulated its way of doing business, involving a conservation ethic
for learning, understanding and
participating with ecological processes.
Animal impact is a method for
adaptive management first developed more than 30 years ago
by HMI founder Allan Savory to
stimulate grasses. Along with environmental activist Dan Dagget,
Babbitt Ranches tested the planned
grazing model on a five-acre cell
near Wupatki National Monument.
Range conservation consultant
Norm Lowe monitored the graz-
ing trial for 14 years to determine you’re keeping the lawn tight.”
if high intensity stocking for a short
Meanwhile, the adjacent Wupatki
amount of time would improve the land was getting ever more rest.
land.
Lowe’s 14-year studies showed
“One hundred seventy three cows the spacing going from 4.0 inches
were brought in for 48 hours in apart to 10.4 inches, or a decreased
the spring of 1993. They grazed density of 760 percent because the
the grasses to the ground. After grass was dying.
the monsoon rains, the
“While HMI provides
grasses had grown in
a total framework for
pretty well,” said Lowe.
effective
land-based
Article V
“Then we hit it again
decision making, an
with 400 cows for 20 A Land Ethic important piece of what
hours in the fall. They
we do continues to be
Section 2.
grazed it down and by
planned grazing,” said
A land ethic changes
the next spring the land
HMI CEO Peter Holter.
the role of Homo
was really dense and
“Our concern primarily
sapiens from
green. We treated it
conqueror of the
is the health of the soil.
land-community to
again in 1995 with 175
If we improve the biodiplain member and
cows for 28 hours, then
versity of soil, richer soil
citizen of it. It implies
again in 1997 with 860
improves water retenrespect for his fellow
cows for four hours, and
tion, it can reverse demembers, and also
then a final time in 1999
respect for the
sertification to a certain
community as such.
with 1,077 cows for four
extent and it sequesters
hours.”
carbon. We really are
talking about building
Lowe’s study emphasized the animal effect of cycling an asset.”
minerals to produce fertilizer. “The
Babbitt Ranches President Bill
key indicator for success was how Cordasco says Holistic Managefar apart the perennial grasses ment broadened the agricultural
were spaced. In the test cell area, community’s way of thinking. “It
grasses went from 5.4 inches apart moved the community beyond simto 3.8 inches, effectively increasing ply grazing cattle or land managedensity by 55 percent. The same ment to a more regional perspecthing happens when you mow a tive based on values.”
lawn. By stimulating the grasses,