Ostriches in Arizona

At one time Arizona was an important producer of ostrich feathers, in the days when the well-dressed lady's hat was unadorned without them. This is a view of the biggest ostrich farm in America, in the heart of the Salt River valley.

ARIZONA history is as colorful as its sunsets. The worn shuttle, playing back and forth across the loom on which is being woven the Tapes-try of Time, uses many threads; some are short, tangled and knotted; others are long, straight and strong in which are seen gleaming, untarnishable gold strands; one is bright red, vividly portraying the blood price paid by our pioneers to the frenzy of the Apaches. Many, rich and beautiful, had their origin in foreign lands, one of which is much in evidence this year in the cele-bration of the coming of Fray Marcos de Niza, Spanish man of Peace, who stepped out over the rim of the world four hundred years ago and brought us Arizona.

Another thread, exotic and not so well known or portentous, was carried from far away Africa, trailing in its wake a pair of South African ostriches to be displayed at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia in 1876; and which, eventually, played a colorful part in the industrial history of our own Valley of the Sun.

That pair of birds was to have been returned to Africa; but, for some reason, remained in the United States. Carried about and exhibited they aroused much interest and speculation.

The impression that the arid south-western states, so like the African veldt, would be adapted to the development of the ostrich industry, gained momentum. The United States was using 62 per cent of all the feathers produced, and it seemed plausible that the venture might prove a financial success.

The first commercial importation of South African birds to California came in 1882. Six years later Arizona followed their lead when M. E. Clanton of

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Phoenix bought 13 birds, two parent birds and eleven chicks, from the Claws-ton Ostrich Company of Pasadena. Misfortune attended their arrival in Phoenix. Under the brass colored glare of a midsummer sun, they were carted to a ranch several miles out of Phoenix. The men in charge were going to take no chances about their escaping, so the An account of an interesting industry that flourished in Arizona years ago, and which vanished with a change of style in women's hats.

head of each bird was sheathed in a stocking and a tight canvas cover fastened over the wagon box. More dead than alive only the parent' birds and one chick lived to reach their destination.

Before the adult birds made a nest the mother was accidentally killed, which left only the old male and the lone female chick.

Ostriches are slow in maturing. It was not until three years later that Mr. Ostrich scooped a rude nest in the earth with his funny long toes, where his young mate laid a few precious eggs.

During the weeks of incubation Mr. Ostrich was most solicitous; every night he shoved his shy grey spouse off the nest to take his turn in sitting on the eggs when his conspicuous black and white plumage was hidden by the darkness. The warmth of his huge body helped speed the development of life within the shells. That accouchement was a momentous event and when one sprawly creature the size of a hen, broke through the prison walls and was given to a waiting world, the advent was widely acclaimed. The owner had been in a dither lest the ordeal prove a failure. The pity is that no candid camera was on hand to picture the miracle of what maternity had done for Mrs. Ostrich.

More than half the ostriches later raised in the United States were descendants of that pair of birds. Although California, Texas, Flordia and Arkansas were all engaged in ostrich raising, Arizona soon outranked them in number and quality of birds produced.

The care of ostriches was entirely experimental and expensive at best, which no doubt accounts for the frequent changes in ownership during those early years.

Josiah Harbert was the proud possessor of the original pair when the chick was hatched in '91, and within five years his flock numbered 123 birds. Mr. Harbert sold his flock to the Arizona Ostrich Company Inc., with W. S. Pickerell as manager. Under his supervision they made the largest increase up to that time. His three hundred birds were augmented by another three hundred from California and in 1903 he bought twenty-one pairs of breeding stock at the astounding cost of $16,800, reported in a bulletin prepared by Watson Pickerell for the United States Department of Agriculture in 1905. He also reported having sold $30,000 worth of young birds, the product of those original twenty-one pairs, in two years. There were six ostrich farms owned by incorporated companies; five out of Phoenix and one at Tempe. Many privately owned birds were scattered over the Valley and were almost as common as dairy cattle. On the tax reports they were listed as "live stock." An Ostrich Breeder's Association was formed. At that time ostrich raising equaled the cattle industry in the state and as a moneymaker they ranked second to no other class of livestock.

The feather producing venture had gone through its experimental stage and was getting its stride the future looked rosy. Big business was in the making. Uncle Sam offered a tremendous market at good prices for the raw feathers. Milady wore plumes on her hats; feather boas on her neck; feather trimming on her gowns and slippers; feathers on her fans; there were even feather robes to wrap the Baby Bunting in. Twenty-seven years ago there were 8000 ostriches in Arizona, and that year $350,000 worth of raw feathers were sold to New York marts. But that was not a drop in the bucket so far as supplying the nation's market was concerned. In 1911 Africa shipped $5,013,778.50 worth of raw feathers to this country.Small wonder that Arizona producers were encouraged to increase their out-put. Although the most carefully nurtured industry, many hailed it as the most profitable coming business in Arizona. Growers staged a feather exhibit in the old Trades Building in Phoenix which roused much enthusiasm. Some of the plumes displayed measured up to 27 inches in length and 17 inches in width. Prices range from $15.00 to $50.00 each. Fearing the formidable new rival in what had been her exclusive trade pro-ject, laws were finally passed in Africa which carried a stiff fine, and from one to two years imprisonment, for any one shipping birds or clutches of eggs to America. Thus, American ostrich growers were thrown on their own resources and made to produce their own breeding stock. They soon found that their alfalfa-fed birds grew larger and eventually produced finer plumage than those grown in their native habitat. Samples of feathers were exchanged with an ostrich expert at Rhodes Uni-versity in South Africa. He wrote ex-pressing amazement over the quality of American feathers. He said they were better than anything they could do. He added, "Your birds must have been rais-ed on alfalfa." Arizona developed larger birds-birds that would weigh over three hundred pounds; stood eight feet high and could easily stretch to ten or eleven feet. Their weight and height, coupled with the ability to kick front or sideways with the power of a battering ram, made them hazardous to handle. Keepers soon learned he was not to be trusted; even a pet might suddenly become vicious. Men learned to enter an ostrich enclosure armed with a long staff resembling a shepherd's crook. If the bird started to attack, his long neck was caught in the crook and pulled low. In that position he was helpless to strike with his powerful legs. They were not economical meat as only young birds were edible. An ostrich egg equalled 2½ to 3 dozen hen eggs. Owing to their size eggs were only mar-ketable for hatchings or exhibition pur-poses. The main objective, therefore, (Turn to Page 27)