A guided tour of the Sahuaro Ranch with me, Glendale, Arizona


Walk with me, and I'll give you a guided tour of the Sahuaro Ranch. We won't be going very far in space, but we'll need to time-travel back to 1899. Come on!

If you're heading to the historic buildings, I really can't blame you, but I'm going to start on the northwest corner of the ranch, where the Starbucks is now, at 67th Avenue and Peoria. And that's because the ranch was a square mile, or 640 acres. It went from 67th Avenue to 59th Avenue and from Peoria Avenue to Olive.

Of course, there was no 67th Avenue in 1899, but that would have been the western end of the "property line" of William Bartlett's ranch. And as we walk along, we'll have to visualize what the far corner of a ranch like that would have looked like. If you're picturing something that should be in a Norman Rockwell painting, you'll have to think again. There would have been no cornfields out here, or scenic barns. It would have just been open desert, with maybe a cow or two grazing.

At the Sahuaro Ranch in 1899, at the start of a rabbit hunt.

Look! There's a rabbit! And another one, and another one! Wow, they're all over the place! I just heard a shotgun, and I see the dogs now. Looks like there's a hunt going on. Let's go stand behind a tree, there are plenty planted as windbreaks.

The Sahuaro Ranch - 640 acres, one square mile.

OK, now we're at Starbucks. None for me, thank you. We're now at the far northwest corner of the ranch. If you look north, you'll see the trees lining the Arizona Canal. Since it's 1899, it's been there for fourteen years, so the trees have got some good growth on them. Mostly cottonwoods I'd say. Looking west are the White Tank Mountains, looking south are the Estrellas, and looking east are the McDowells. Yes, I can see Four Peaks from here. If you can't, you need spectacles!

OK, let's walk to the southeast corner of the ranch, where the sign for Glendale Community College is. Thank you for walking around the Sahuaro Ranch with me!
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