By Rick Bosshardt
Much of the Southwest’s history revolves around old civilizations. They include the ancient Anasazi, who built cave dwellings that are still in evidence today, and Native American tribes who dominated the landscape from the 17th century and on. Much more recently, settlers from the eastern lands of America moved west, with the inevitable clashes and atrocities that unfortunately marked the battles for land.
We are truly blessed here in Arizona with some very interesting and spectacular historical sites, with scenery that often appears on calendars and posters of the southwest. Many of these sites are quite difficult to get to, and are fortunately protected by being on Indian Reservations, BLM land, and US Forest Service land.
One of the jewels dating back thousands of years is Eagle Creek, now called the Double Circle Ranch. The home of several ancient populations, it lay dormant for hundreds of years until the 17th century, when the San Carlos/White Mountain Apache Tribe settled in this beautiful valley with its flowing creek.
Geronimo was documented to have visited in the late 19th century and was part of some clashes at the site. A famous outlaw was hunted down and killed in a shootout with lawmen as well, and he is buried in the small cemetery that is still situated next to Eagle Creek.
At the turn of the century, the site was developed as the Double Circle Ranch, growing at one point to a size of 1,400 acres, with upwards of 50,000 head of cattle on site. It was the largest employer in the State at the time, other than the Copper Mines, and was the center of activity for ranching.
In the mid 1930’s, the ranch started fading into history. A series of owners came and went. One of them was based in Las Vegas and had a vision of creating a Dude Ranch experience, akin to the modern-day movie “City Slickers!” Fortunately enough for us today, they built a nice gravel airstrip out of the dirt road that was part of the ranch in order to fly potential customers in and out.
In the 1950’s a large Lodge was built for local meetings, events, and dances, as well as a bunk house for the local cowboys.
Despite all these attempts, the site eventually was abandoned, and began to fall into disrepair. In 1989 the US Forest Service (USFS) acquired the ranch, and despite their best efforts to keep it from deteriorating further, the funding was just not available.
During this time the Double Circle airstrip, which was depicted on Aeronautical charts, was closed due to lack of funding by the USFS, and it was eventually taken off the charts.
Step in the Arizona Pilots Association (APA), who recognized the incredible beauty and historical significance of the ranch, as well as an incredibly unique and exciting place to fly into and to camp at. They could see that the USFS needed help, and a decision was taken to provide that help through the volunteer efforts of local pilots as well as other concerned local residents, and the ranchers that still work the area.
A close cooperation and working relationship was developed between the APA and the USFS, and over the last many years, a growing number of pilots have visited the site and become part of the support network to help the USFS maintain and even improve the site, all within the US Historical Site guidelines!
Many projects have been undertaken, focusing on the lodge and the bunk house, which are the two buildings at the ranch that are still in decent shape. Dirt and debris were cleaned out, and over the years many projects have been completed. The logs making up the walls have been sealed against weathering, repairs made to the roof, patches to the large 10 foot stone fireplace have been made to keep out the rain, and a new front door was built out of rough lumber, replacing the one that was gone. Through a donation of a huge slab (10 feet by 30” by 4” thick!) of gorgeous Juniper from the USFS, the kitchen bar surface was upgraded, polished, and installed.
Several years ago, the APA and the USFS worked together during a perfect weekend fly-in, with over 10 planes and 25 people (pilots, guests, and local ranchers), to replace the old porch that had disappeared over time. Supplies, which were donated by the APA, were hauled in by truck by a member, and the District Archaeologist from the Apache Sitgreaves National Forest, Clifton District, Eric Bredemann, supervised and made sure that the design and construction stayed true to the building style and history.
Everyone brought potluck food for a grand feast on Saturday night, and the large fireplace was stoked up and lent a festive atmosphere to the gathering!
Most recently, with close working support between the AZ Pilots Association, the RAF, and the USFS, a new double vault toilet was installed at the strip, bringing the facilities up the modern standards.
We have many such airstrips in Arizona that are now on the USFS land, and by forging these strong relationships between the APA pilot community and the USFS, we have ensured that we can both help them maintain and keep these strips open, as well as enjoy them as pilots in a responsible manner. Many of these strips are in extremely interesting locations, such as abandoned Gold Mines on the north rim of the Grand Canyon, and the APA will continue to work to reopen other closed strips over time.
Come to Arizona during our best flying season (September through May) and enjoy these strips with us!