THE FINLEY RANCHES

THE FINLEY RANCHES Story By Ed Ellinger

Unless you take the time to get off on some of our back roads in Arizona, you're apt to miss a lot. Take the Finley family for example. Unless you follow Quarter Horse racing or are in the market for a white-faced Hereford, you doubtless have never heard of them. Yet they perform a necessary and inter-esting function in the economy of our country.

The Finley Ranch operation is strictly a family affair consisting of Mr. and Mrs. Jim Finley plus their two married sons, Tom and Jack.

The upper ranch, located in the Petrified Forest area of Northern Arizona, is under the supervision of Jim Finley. Tom and Jack keep close watch over the three ranches located in the valley consisting of 3500 irrigated acres. The ranches are in the vicinity of Gilbert, Chandler and Coolidge. An air strip at each ranch provides easy and speedy access for the flying Finleys.

The Finley family has a history deeply tap-rooted in Arizona annals. Jim's mother arrived in the Arizona Territory in 1875. The trip from Texas was a long one, but she stoically weathered the jarring discomfort of their ox cart driven by her mother. Her dad brought up the rear on horseback, riding herd on a straggly band of longhorns headed for the tall virgin grasses of the Southwest. They settled in the Willcox area and Jim remembers his mother telling of the first railroad train laboriously chugging its way into town. She also witnessed the wild celebration when Geronimo was finally captured. Her time-worn side saddle is on display with other relics of the past at the museum of the University of Arizona at Tucson.

Margaret Finley, Jim's wife, is no Johnny-come-lately either. Her dad came to Arizona in 1880, a construction engineer on the new railroad from Lordsburg, New Mexico, to Nogales, Arizona. Her mother, born in Missouri, came to the Arizona Territory at about the same time.

A bird's-eye look at the widespread Finley Ranches as of 1962 reveals a carefully developed plan of operating efficiency. In brief they raise commercial cattle on the summer range in Northern Arizona; then ship them into the valley where they are fattened on the rich grasses grown in fertile irrigated pastures. They also have a strong affinity for well-bred horses stemming from the early days where good "usin" horses were a necessity. In recent years the emphasis has shifted to the showring and racetrack. The Finleys are walking off with more than their share of blue ribbons and purses.

The upper ranch, with headquarters 17 miles east of Holbrook, is a large "spread" by any standards. It covers three townships. A township consists of 36 square miles. So just multiply by three and you will quickly conclude that the word "spread" is synonymous with "big."

However, "pickings" are on the sparse side in this vast range country. So the Finleys embarked on an ambitious irrigation project. Water was available at the shallow depth of 140 feet. They drilled 12 wells, each capable of producing 1500 gallons of water per minute. They built a cement water ditch running one and one-half miles through 400 acres of rich soil. Plans are underway to irrigate a total of 1000 acres which will double the number of cattle to 2000 which can be maintained on a self-sustaining basis. The balance, varying in number, will be shipped to winter pasture in the valley.

Jim Finley has experimented widely with various types of grasses best suited for their climate and soil conditions. The Department of Agriculture has cooperated in helpful fashion. Results indicate that alfalfa, alta fesque, brome fescue, wheat grass and orchard grass all do extremely well. The cattle couldn't look better, fairly bulging at the seams with added poundage.

The activities at the valley ranches are buzzing at high pitch most all year 'round. Farming 3500 irrigated acres requires 30 regularly employed hands plus from 30 to 50 on a seasonal basis. They are set up to raise leguminous feed for their own cattle in addition to surplus feed consumed by "bought" cattle in their feedlot operation. Commercial crops of cotton and sorghum are planted when the price outlook is satisfactory. Pasture and feed are provided for a fine band of brood mares whose get are trained for halter classes and racing.

A partial list of the most frequently rotated crops in addition to cotton include: hegari sorghum, milo maize, alfalfa, oats and barley. Constant experimentation is conducted in all crops to improve growing time and yield per acre. If you have an eye for horseflesh, you will be well rewarded by a visit to headquarters at Gilbert. The barns are modest, but they shelter as fine a group of Quarter Horses and Thoroughbreds you will find in Arizona. The Finley Ranches are listed in second place nationally for 1959 as breeders of the most Quarter Horse race winners. You can be sure it wasn't just an accident, but the result of years of long term planning. Occasionally the services of outside studs are employed, but their brood mares have been home-bred by careful selection. The Finley interest in horses goes back to the early days when "Steeldust" Quarter Horse types dominated the ranch scene. In time, faster and more finely Thoroughbreds were crossed with the heavier Quarter Horse types. The Finleys entered three horses in the 1959 Phoenix Futurity run at Turf Paradise. All three were sired by Thoroughbreds out of home-bred Finley mares. Space precludes a long discussion of the Finley turf and showring successes. Suffice to say they are way up there near the top. Their interest in horses goes far back to the family's early days in Arizona. It carries down through Tom and Jack, a hard-to-beat roping team in their University of Arizona days. Tom originated the Intercollegiate Rodeo in 1936 and won the All-Around Individual Cowboy Championship in 1937. When Rukin Jelks and Melville Haskell organized the old Maltacqua track at Tucson in 1941, the Finley boys saddled plenty of winners.

Their latest major acquisition is a Thoroughbred stud named California Kid, a half brother to Swaps, a famous Kentucky Derby winner. They "showered down" a pretty penny for him, but expect to more than get it back many times by breeding him to their own Quarter Horse mares. California Kid's services will also be available to outside Quarter Horse and Thoroughbred mares. The results will be watched carefully by breeders all over the country.

The banner of the Finley Ranches flies high, wide and handsome over the Arizona scene. More important it is a glowing success; a direct result of family cooperation tion dedicated to a common end. Jim Finley says he owed money on every ranch he ever bought, but when he got ready to sell, there was no sign of a mortgage. Margaret "never had a dress that cattle didn't pay for." It is reassuring to note that the old-fashioned ingredients of hard work and intelligent planning still pay off.

The Finleys are busy, hard working, well-adjusted people. They enjoy meeting the challenge of each new problem and find great satisfaction in its solution.

The writer mentioned to Jim Finley that he felt pretty much like a newcomer to Arizona compared to the Finley background. His answer was rather typical of the Arizona attitude-"It doesn't make any difference where you came from, it's how you act when you get here that counts."