ZANE GREY

Zane Grey The Man Whose Books Made The West Famous Lived Here

Zane Grey loved the West, especially Arizona. He made his first brief visit on his honeymoon in 1905, when he and his bride "Dolly" visited the Grand Canyon.

Zane Grey was christened Pearl Zane Gray. He was an outdoorsman from his earliest days, a great athlete, fisherman, and hunter. He won a scholarship for his baseball ability which paid his way through dental school at the University of Pennsylvania. He was a reluctant scholar and a very reluctant dentist. He had a half-hearted practice in New York City from which he eked a meager living, attempting to write on the side. Most of his early writing was disastrous, and a less stubborn man would have abandoned hope after the years of discouragement and rejections.

Zane, in trying to prove his writing ability, went through his wife's inheritance and many family loans from his brothers before he finally enjoyed his first meager success. His wife "Dolly" was his most ardent fan and without her help, love, and without her constant and unfailing encouragement, he would never have reached his ultimate success.

Zane made his second visit to Arizona in 1907 and went on a wild, fantastic, six month trip with the colorful character "Buffalo Jones." They roped mountain lions in the Grand Canyon, hunted, explored Indian ruins, crossed the raging Colorado River rapids, herded wild horses, camped and fished. Zane was enthralled with the West, he took scrupulous notes, asked about every plant, interviewed countless Westerners, and listened to the wild tales told round the camp fire.

From this mad Arizona adventure, Zane wrote numerous books. "The Last of the Plainsmen" was the first, for which he failed to find a publisher and suffered his deepest dispair when the publisher of Harpers, Ripley Hitchcock told Zane "I do not see anything in this to convince me you can write either narrative or fiction." Zane made him eat his words when he wrote "Heritage of the Desert," and what some people believe to be his greatest novel "Riders of the Purple Sage."

For both of these early novels he drew from his experiences in Arizona to portray the raw and rugged life in the West, and popularize the "Western" as we know it today.

His books sold like wildfire, he became immensely successful, famous and wealthy.

In the early 1900's, he acquired a portion of the old Haught Ranch just below the Tonto Rim in what is now Gila County. He had a lodge built there. The timber was milled in Winslow and carried by team and wagon to the "Rim" area where it was hauled by mules from the rim to the remote location of the lodge. Grey loved his Arizona home and spent considerable time there. Eventually, he built several out-buildings to accommodate his guests. Then, in the 1930's he left Arizona for the last time. The Zane Grey Lodge, neglected and unoccupied, fell prey to vandals and was defaced. This, in conjunction with the eroding effects of time, reduced the lodge to shambles.

In the mid 1950's, Mr. Bill Goettl, prominent Phoenix businessman and sportsman, began negotiating to acquire the Zane Grey property. It was his desire to restore and preserve this historical site. Negotiations were finally completed in 1963 with the Zane Grey estate.

Mr. Goettl himself set forth on the tremendous job of restoring Zane Grey's wilderness home "under the Tonto Rim" in Arizona. He spent his weekends with carpenters, using saw and hammer, restoring the old lodge exactly as it was when originally built. Many curious visitors to the area did not recognize the businessman in work clothes with spade, shovel, hammer or saw in hand on the roof, in the attic, or on the ladder, enthusiastically seeing that every detail was restored. Both United States Department of Agriculture and the Department of Interior personnel have proclaimed the Zane Grey Lodge as one of our nation's most authentic and outstanding private restoration projects of record.

Zane Grey was one of the most popular authors of this century and is known as "The man whose books made the West famous."

Arizona is very proud of the fact that he lived and wrote here, and that it had a part in his first succesful inspiration as a writer.

Zane Grey country today... “under the Tonto Rim.”