Henry Clay Hooker
Henry Clay Hooker pitched his worn tent next to the cooling waters of Plunge
Creek to wait the arrival of his friends. As he waited, he used this time to
reflect on the past and dream of the future. Certainly, he had adventures, but
nothing as dangerous as what was waiting for him and his friends from Arizona.
Henry Hooker was a Yankee down-on-his-luck in California.
He had been a store keeper in Placerville, California (formerly Hangtown) when a
fire all but wiped out the town, including his clothing store.
He was a man with considerable enterprise. He bought 500
turkeys at $1.50 a bird, and with the help of several dogs and a hired man, set
out over the Sierras for the Nevada mining camp of Virginia City. Not far from
his goal he came to a steep precipice and the birds stampeded, not down the
cliff but into the air. Hooker was sure he had lost his fortune, but in the
valley below, at the bottom of a cliff, his flock was waiting. He drove the
birds to Carson City, Nevada, and there got $5.00 each for them. This was the
capital with which he founded his Arizona fortune in cattle. Hooker saw an
opportunity in supplying beef to the army posts and Indian agencies in Arizona.
From 1867 to 1870 he had beef contracts with Uncle Sam in eastern Arizona.
In late 1871, Hooker married his long time sweetheart,
Susie. Together, they started a lifelong series of adventures that included
starting a family, a ranch that was to become world renown, and she worked by
his side fending off outlaws, renegade Indians, and rustlers from south of the
border.
In 1872, Hooker set up a homestead in Sulphur Spring Valley in southeastern
Arizona, where he built his Sierra Bonita Ranch. He was in a region of
government land and eventually controlled a range of over 800 square miles, the
largest ranch in Arizona. It was well watered and at an altitude of 4,000 feet.
Besides the owner's home, there were half-dozen outlying ranches, each with
buildings and corral. To the north of him was a ranch owned by his biggest
competitor, Texas John Slaughter. The two men were in constant competition for
lucrative army contracts.
One day, near the Cochise Stronghold, many Indians closed in on the cattleman's
buckboard and he decided to head into Cochise's camp in order to show he felt no
fear. There he was given hospitality, and Cochise assured him that his
Chiricahuas had many chances to kill Hooker but had left him unharmed because he
brought cattle into the country. Naturally, Cochise did not want to have this
operation cease. Later on, as a token of friendship, Cochise gave Hooker a red
blanket which the ranchman cherished all his life.
When Hooker first started, he had to sell any kind of stock he could get, but he
decided to work for an improved animal, and settled upon Herefords as a breed.
He bought expensive bulls and blooded cows. Soon his ranges were roamed by herds
90 per cent white-faced. Hooker saw the value in improving the quality and
reducing the size of his herds. At the Sierra Bonita, nothing was left to
chance. There was even a dairy herd to supply the ranch with butter and milk. A
garden produced all kinds of vegetables. Poultry houses were installed. With 500
brood mares and six purebred stallions, the Sierra Bonita produced magnificent
horses, famous for speed, beauty and temperament.
In the 1880's Henry Hooker's huge ranch in the Sulphur Spring Valley was raising
prize horses and cattle. Naturally, this wealth was attractive to bandits
who lived in and operated out of the nearest town, Tombstone. Hooker became one
of the first lawmen in Tombstone, developing a reputation for harsh and
immediate justice. Due to the diligence of Hooker and his wife, Susie, his ranch
was seldom a target of local bandits.
He became a lifelong friend of Wyatt Earp, a later lawman
in Tombstone. Earp and his brothers would frequently visit the Henry and Susie
at the Sierra Bonita, often staying for days at a time. After the infamous
shootout on Allen Street, near the O.K. corral, the ranch became a good place to
rest while trying to elude Johnny Behan and the Cowboys.
On March 27, 1882, Wyatt and his band of invincibles sought
rest and refreshments at Henry Hooker's ranch. They were well treated by the
sympathetic rancher and headed off in the evening to camp on a bluff not far
from the ranch where they could watch for Johnny Behan and his posse.
The next day, March 28, 1882, Behan's posse arrives at
Hooker's, and while they get refreshments in turn, they are not provided with
information as to the whereabouts of the Earp posse and Hooker is less than
complimentary to the composition of Behan's posse. One member of the posse takes
offense and there is an altercation nearly leading to a shooting. For revenge,
Hooker later tells the posse where to find Wyatt since he knows Wyatt is looking
for a fight. From their camp, Wyatt's posse watches Behan's posse move off in a
different direction. After the “reckoning” Wyatt, with Doc Holiday and the
rest of his immortals return to Hooker's ranch for a relaxing couple of days
Henry Hooker and Wyatt Earp, along with John Clum, Mayor of
Tombstone and Publisher of The Epitaph, developed an unofficial partnership. All
three men eventually became businessmen in Southern California with an eye
toward real estate speculation.
Earp, having been raised in Redlands on a farm overlooking
Plunge Creek, owned by Nicholas Earp, often brought Hooker and Clum to the area.
Hooker and Earp frequently prospected in Plunge Creek but no major find was ever
discovered.
Redlands
also was home to the Clanton family and the Earps knew them before they were in
Tombstone. After the infamous vendetta, what was left of the Clanton and McLaury
families returned to Redlands while factions of the Earp family moved to Colton,
with Virgil Earp becoming the town’s first constable. Plunge Creek was, at
that time, referred to as The Bad Lands, and bodies identified as friends of
either the Clantons, McLaurys, or the Earps were often found floating in the
waters.