The Barnyard
The barnyard was the center of activity as Sahuaro Ranch. Horses and mules were stabled, trained, and shoed here. Cattle were brought to the corrals for branding, treatment and shipment. Farm implements and wagons were stored and repaired here.
The oldest structures in the barnyard - all built under William Bartlett's ownership - are the horse stable, blacksmith shop, tack house and some of the corrals. Well into the 1920s, horses and mules provided most of the hauling and transport power used on the ranch.
After the Smith family acquired the ranch in 1927, they expanded its livestock holdings to include dairy cows, beef cattle, and eventually thoroughbred horses. The Smiths built the dairy barn, cow pens, and milk house, and they converted the stable into a granary. Later they installed a scale to weigh cattle, and erected a large shed to store hay cut from the ranch's alfalfa fields.
Other changes were made to support the transition from horse-drawn to mechanized equipment. The blacksmith shop was expanded to accommodate modern machine tools, a fuel storage shed was built, and later a vehicle maintenance shed (complete with grease pit) was added.
Buildings and Structures
[List follows - not transcribed, photographed]
[Photo captions follow]
[Top left] The L-shaped stable on the left is long gone, but this 1899 photograph shows the various uses of the Barnyard: a place to keep animals, grain and animal feed, and farm equipment. (Photo courtesy of the Arizona Historical Foundation, W.N. Campbell Photograph Album, DW-84-27).
[Left center] Here is a view of the east end of the Barnyard in the mid-1980s. The Implement Maintenance Shed is visible on the left. Behind it, the Original Corrals & Tack House can be seen. The Vehicle Maintenance Shed is on the right side of the photograph. A windstorm destroyed the Implement Maintenance Shed in 1996. (Photo courtesy of the Glendale, Arizona Historical Society).
Courtesy hmdb.org
