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Aztec Land and Cattle Company, Limited ("Aztec") is a land company with a historic presence in
Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...
. It was formed in 1884 and incorporated in early 1885 as a
cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus ''Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult ma ...
ranch A ranch (from es, rancho/Mexican Spanish) is an area of land, including various structures, given primarily to ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle and sheep. It is a subtype of a farm. These terms are most ofte ...
ing operation that purchased 1,000,000 acres in northern Arizona from the
Atlantic & Pacific Railroad The Atlantic and Pacific Railroad was a U.S. railroad that owned or operated two disjointed segments, one connecting St. Louis, Missouri with Tulsa, Oklahoma, and the other connecting Albuquerque, New Mexico with Needles, California, Needles in ...
. It then imported approximately 32,000 head of cattle from Texas and commenced ranching operations in Arizona. Because Aztec's
brand A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's good or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create ...
was the Hashknife, a saddler's knife used on early day ranches, the company was known more famously as The Hashknife Outfit. The company has been in continuous existence since 1884.


History


Foundation

Aztec was incorporated in New York, New York in 1885 by a group of investors led by Edward Kinsley, a wool merchant and member of the State Board of Railroad Commissioners of Massachusetts, and Henry Warren, a former lieutenant in the
Union army During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union of the collective states. It proved essential to th ...
with some, albeit limited, ranching experience. The investors were hoping to take advantage of the recent drop in cattle prices. In the early 1880s,
drought A drought is defined as drier than normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D.  Jiang, A.  Khan, W.  Pokam Mba, D.  Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, an ...
had become a serious problem to ranchers in
Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...
. To recoup their investment, many of these ranchers left their cattle herds intact during the dry times with the intention of selling off the cattle when the market was better, which resulted in
overgrazing Overgrazing occurs when plants are exposed to intensive grazing for extended periods of time, or without sufficient recovery periods. It can be caused by either livestock in poorly managed agricultural applications, game reserves, or nature res ...
. By 1885, the beef industry had collapsed because thousands of cattle in west Texas, held off the market for better prices, were either dead or starving on barren plains. Separately, the Atlantic & Pacific Railroad was having financial difficulties and sold 1,000,000 acres of Arizona grassland to Aztec at $0.50 per acre. Aztec then entered a joint venture with the Continental Cattle Company of Texas and began exporting droughted-out cattle from Continental's Texas range to Arizona via
rail Rail or rails may refer to: Rail transport *Rail transport and related matters *Rail (rail transport) or railway lines, the running surface of a railway Arts and media Film * ''Rails'' (film), a 1929 Italian film by Mario Camerini * ''Rail'' ( ...
and traditional cattle drives. The original Aztec headquarters was located across the Little Colorado River from Saint Joseph, Arizona (now Joseph City), but was moved to
Holbrook Holbrook may refer to: Places England *Holbrook, Derbyshire, a village * Holbrook, Somerset, a hamlet in Charlton Musgrove * Holbrook, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, a former mining village in Mosborough ward, now known as Halfway *Holbrook, Suffolk, ...
, Arizona shortly afterward. In addition to the cattle, Aztec acquired one of Continental's brands, the Hashknife, because the cattle it imported from Texas were already branded with it. In these new and unsettled Western ranches, it was especially important for cattle to be branded to prove ownership and minimize theft, which was common and at times rampant. The Hashknife brand was registered in Arizona, as it was in Texas, and placed, after 1895, on the left rib of cattle and left shoulder of horses. For both cattle and horses, the blade faced up. Some of the original Hashknife cowboys also came west to work the new ranch in Arizona, among them, according to Aztec's records, a cowboy known only as "Baconrind Bill".


Sheep Wars and future leaders

Several of Aztec's early employees were Texas cowboys whose abilities made them legends among their fellow ranchers during their years in Arizona. Some were involved in Arizona's
Pleasant Valley War The Pleasant Valley War, sometimes called the Tonto Basin Feud, or Tonto Basin War, or Tewksbury-Graham Feud, was a range war fought in Pleasant Valley, Arizona in the years 1882–1892. The conflict involved two feuding families, the Grahams an ...
in the late 1880s and early 1890s, a decade-long feud between cattlemen and sheep herders over rangeland and resources that took place, in part, on Aztec land. A few were killed in that war, but a number went on to become local, state, and national leaders of some repute. Among these, E J Simpson, one of the Aztec's earliest ranch superintendents and member of the Arizona Territory Legislature had a son in this time frame, William Hood Simpson, who became the commander of the 9th Army in
Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...
during the worst fighting of
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
. Another former employee, and son of an Aztec stockholder, Henry M. Atkinson, later founded Georgia Power in Atlanta in 1902, which is now a subsidiary of the
Southern Company Southern Company is an American gas and electric utility holding company based in the southern United States. It is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, with executive offices also located in Birmingham, Alabama. The company is the second largest ...
, an electrical utility in the southeast U.S.Corporate records – 100th Anniversary of Georgia Power, a Southern Company


Present


Change of strategy

Aztec continued ranching until about 1905, when after years of drought, harsh winters and low cattle prices, the company sold its cattle. Robert H. Carlock, a long-time principal in Aztec and author of Aztec's most comprehensive history, summarized both Aztec's initial business strategy and the cause of its troubles: After selling its cattle, Aztec embarked on a program of leasing its grazing land to local cattle ranchers—a program that continues to this day. Many of the company's current grazing lessees are direct descendants of its original lessees. As of 2017, Aztec and its affiliates own approximately 240,000 acres in
Navajo County Navajo County is in the northern part of the U.S. state of Arizona. As of the 2020 census, its population was 106,717. The county seat is Holbrook. Navajo County comprises the Show Low, Arizona Micropolitan Statistical Area. Navajo County c ...
, Arizona and 320,000 acres of
mineral rights Mineral rights are property rights to exploit an area for the minerals it harbors. Mineral rights can be separate from property ownership (see Split estate). Mineral rights can refer to sedentary minerals that do not move below the Earth's surfac ...
(some without surface ownership) in Navajo and Coconino Counties. It is the second largest private landowner in Arizona and holds one of the few remaining large-scale tracts of rural private land available for development in the state. As Robert H. Carlock observed, "Aztec's land has changed little in the past century. When traveling between
Winslow Winslow may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Winslow, Buckinghamshire, England, a market town and civil parish * Winslow Rural District, Buckinghamshire, a rural district from 1894 to 1974 United States and Canada * Rural Municipality of Winslo ...
and Flagstaff on
I-40 Interstate 40 (I-40) is a major east–west Interstate Highway running through the south-central portion of the United States. At a length of , it is the third-longest Interstate Highway in the country, after I-90 and I-80. From west to ea ...
, if one looks south some forty or fifty miles, the thin blue line of the ogollonRim, still the southern boundary of Aztec's vast acreage, can be seen." Aztec, with a partner, also owns the Apache Railway, a Class III
short-line railroad :''Short Line is also one of the four railroads in the American version of the popular board game Monopoly, named after the Shore Fast Line, an interurban streetcar line.'' A shortline railroad is a small or mid-sized railroad company that oper ...
running for 55 miles off the BNSF Railway's transcontinental mainline near Holbrook, Arizona. The Apache Railway serves much of Aztec's land, providing access to both national and international markets, and has operated continuously since its incorporation in 1917.


In popular culture

*'' The Hash Knife Outfit'' is the title of a Zane Grey western novel published in 1933.


See also

*
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Arizona The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the second-largest religious denomination in Arizona, behind the Roman Catholic Church. In 2019, the church reported 436,521 members in Arizona, about 6% of the state's population. According to th ...
* Canyon Diablo Shootout * Empire Ranch


References


Further reading

*


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Aztec Land and Cattle Company (1884-1902) 1884 establishments in Arizona Territory American frontier Arizona folklore Cattle companies of the United States Crime in Arizona Territory History of Arizona Sheep Wars Cowboys