Back Road Adventure

BACK ROAD ADVENTURE Discover the Blood-soaked History of the Pleasant Valley War on the Road to Young

The back road that winds through the rugged Sierra Anchas climbs from the lush desert east of Roosevelt Lake to forests thick with sycamore, oak, and pine trees before dropping into the rich pastures of Pleasant Valley and the tranquil community of Young. Today Pleasant Valley is an appropriate name for a place where roughly 700 people, most of them ranchers and retirees, seem to live in relative harmony, but just over 100 years ago Pleasant Valley was a sort of oxymoron. It was a nice setting in which to get yourself killed.Separated from any major population center by the precipitous cliffs and canyons of the Sierra Anchas on the south, the nearly impenetrable Mazatal Mountains on the west, Apache country on the east, and the high country of the Mogollon Rim on the north, the valley became a haven not only for honest ranchers but for horse thieves and cattle rustlers as well. Before the age of automobiles and the construction of decent roads, Pleasant Valley was an isolated enclave where differences of opinion were often settled violently.

A sign along the road provides a pregnant clue to the area's past: Pleasant Valley — First Settlers Arrived Here in the Early 1870s. This Was the Scene of the Pleasant Valley War Created by the Bitter GrahamTewksbury Feud 1887-1892.

Zane Grey wrote a fictionalized account of the feud in his book To The Last Man. Former Arizona Highways Editor Don Dedera wrote a nonfiction account of it in A Little War ofOur Own, published in 1987, and a detailed feature story in the magazine's August, 1984 issue. Historian Marshall Trimble, who interviewed the son of one of the lawmen involved in the prolonged battle, included an account in his book Arizona Adventure.

The principals in this feud were John Tewksbury, his four sons, and brothers Tom and John Graham. In 1879 the Tewksburys started ranching on Canyon Creek in Pleasant Valley. Three years later, the Grahams also started ranching in the area. It would take someone with the wisdom of Solomon to sort out precisely who did what to whom, but the simple version is this: Tom Graham's men were stealing cows. One of the Tewksbury boys had been working for Graham, and when he told his brothers about the rustling activities he had seen, they urged him to quit. That created hard feelings between the Grahams and Tewksburys, a situation that was exacerbated when another rancher, Jim Stinson, accused the Tewksburys of stealing his cows.

In the course of the five-year feud, some 30 people — members of both families and their respective supporters — were killed, and not a single person was convicted of any crime. Never before had the theft of cows produced such vicious and prolonged bloodshed. Because of the area's isolated location, its vast hidden canyons and caves, the few lawmen sent over from the county seat at Prescott accomplished nothing.

In 1892 the last shot was fired in the bloody range war. Ed Tewksbury ambushed and killed Tom Graham near Tempe. After a lengthy trial, he was released on a technicality and became one of the few participants in the saga to die peacefully at home.

Fortunately today there isn't much to worry about in the area unless a rattlesnake happens to crawl into your sleeping bag. The journey from the Globe-Miami area to Pleasant Valley and Young is now one of the state's more enjoyable excursions, meandering through a natural paradise of sparkling desert and towering cliffs, a good place place for hiking, camping, bird-watching, or loafing. Most of the route is within the Tonto National Forest. To begin this trip, drive 112 miles north of Tucson or 85 miles east of Phoenix to the central Arizona copper-mining town of Miami. At Miami leave State Route 60 and head north on State 88 toward Roosevelt Lake. You'll get your first view

of the huge lake as you come over a hill 12 miles north of the junction of 60 and 88. State Route 288, the road to Young, begins as a paved highway 15 miles from the junction in Miami. The road will remain paved for the 11.1 miles, wandering through a desert that in late spring is bright with blossoming paloverde trees and saguaro cacti. Cross the Salt River near Klondyke Butte 5.6 miles beyond the start of State 288 and begin climbing the narrow winding road until the pavement ends. The unpaved portion of the road, which begins in the vicinity of Willow Springs, can be handled with an ordinary car, Though in places the hardpacked ground is rippled like a scrub board. At Parker Creek, 26.5 miles from the beginning of State 288, the vegetation changes abruptly to a thick forest of gray-flecked sycamore trees and huge oaks in a carpet of graceful ferns. The remainder of the route offers spectacular views of rocky pinnacles, ponderosa pines, and other conifers, but the hairpin curves along the road make it dangerous to spend much time gawking at the scenery. Stop at one of the many pull-outs and get out to enjoy the fragrant surroundings. A couple of miles beyond Parker Creek, you can camp or picnic in the pines at 5,400 feet at Rose Creek Campground or the Workman Creek Recreation Area. There are numerous dirt roads that take off from State 288, but visitors should exercise caution as many are steep and not entirely predictable.

One of these roads, 9.5 miles north of Workman Creek, leads to a place called Malicious Gap, a low spot between Bear Head and Copper mountains. The Forest Service didn't know how the place acquired its name, but Frances Conway, whose husband owns a ranch near the gap, said it got its name by mistake. "My husband's out rounding up cattle or he'd tell you himself," she said, "but what he (ABOVE, LEFT) McFadden Lookout in the Sierra Anchas affords an excellent view of Four Peaks.

(ABOVE) The town of Young sits in Pleasant Valley, a bucolic spot that belies its history as the site of some of the bloodiest fighting in the Graham-Tewksbury range war.

always told me was that some old fellow came through there and stopped for a drink of water, and he said, 'Oh, this is delicious water!' How delicious became malicious is something you can think about during the 12.5 miles that separate the mali-cious Gap turn-off from a rustic watering hole called the Antler Cafe in Young, where you'll suddenly encounter a paved road again. If you have time, ask at the local Forest Service office for a map of nearby feud battle sites and wander through the old cemetery, where you'll see some familiar names. The road remains paved for seven miles through Young. If you continue north, it's anoth-er 23 miles of dirt before the pavement resumes at State Route 260 on the Mogollon Rim. Payson, the nearest large town, is 33 miles to the west on State 260.

TIPS FOR TRAVELERS

Back road travel can be hazardous if you are not prepared for the unexpected. Whether traveling in the desert or in the high country, be aware of weather and road conditions and make sure you and your vehicle are in top shape and you have plenty of water. Don't travel alone, and let someone at home know where you're going and when you plan to return. Odometer readings in story may vary by vehicle.