Anderson Pass area homesteads

There were several federal homestead acts with the first being the Homestead Act of 1862. Claimants were allowed up to 160 acres. They were required to live on the land for five years prior to getting title, or a patent, to the land. The Homestead Act of 1906 allowed claims to be filed on Forest Service land that was suitable for agriculture. The Stock-Raising Homestead Act of 1916 allowed up to 640 acres (an entire Section), not on Forest Service land, to be filed on. The land had to be suitable for livestock grazing and forage crops. Farm lands and merchantable timber were not included. There was no residence requirement but other improvements such as stock tanks were required (Ness 1984).

It is unclear to me when non-Native people began settling in the Anderson Mesa region. General Land Office records indicate it was approximately 1880. Several years ago, I acquired a copy of “Notes on the land use history of Anderson Mesa and the Diablo Plains in the Forest Service era, 1906 to 1940” written in 1984 by D. J. Neff of the Arizona Game and Fish. Neff interviewed old-timers that knew or in some cases were related to homesteaders. He also conducted extensive research in the Coconino County Recorders office. He compiled information of roughly 65 homestead claims in the Anderson Mesa region.

The area at the eastern base of Anderson Mesa eventually had enough people to support two schools and the Coconino Sun newspaper had a regular column about the dances, picnics, crop conditions, and goings on about the folks that lived around Anderson Pass.

Neff mentions that most of the homesteaders had several occupations in order to make enough money to support themselves and a family if they had one. It might have been a combination of raising livestock (cattle, or in some cases, sheep and goats), raising forage for livestock, growing crops to use themselves or to sell, or working in nearby towns during the winter months as custodians, carpenters, bus drivers etc. Several of the homesteaders were moonshiners and some did quite well.

Dry conditions led to most of the homesteaders selling out to a handful of ranchers during the 1930s (Ness 1984). These ranchers apparently had the resources to construct the necessary stock tanks and, more importantly, the ditches that were developed to fill the stock tanks.

I’ve been going into this area for a couple of decades for work, to camp and hike, and to go birding. I’ve just recently started going to homestead sites and seeing what, if anything, remains to document the history of the people that decided to settle this remote area. In some cases, there are still standing structures and in others, surprisingly little, if anything.

Much of this area is Forest Service managed land. There are Forest roads throughout the area but be sure to have the latest copy of the Coconino National Forest Motor Vehicle Use Map to be sure you only drive on open roads. Hardcopy and digital maps area available. The eastern portion of the area is a checkerboard of private and State Trust Land sections. The State lands can be legally accessed by purchasing an annual permit. They’re $15.00 and can be purchased online and printed out. These State sections are also accessible to people with a hunting license that are actively hunting or scouting. The majority of the private land belongs to the Flying M Ranch or the Bar T Bar. Permits for access to both ranches can be accessed here: https://www.azgfd.com/landowner-compact/. The Raymond Wildlife Area is located south and southeast of Anderson Point. Visitors are required to sign in/out. Both ranches and the Raymond Wildlife Area have specific rules that must be followed.

This is a remote area and the roads, with the exception of the main access routes such as FR 125 and Buffalo Range Road, tend to be pretty rough and can become impassable when they’re wet.

Homestead location information came from Ness (1984) and General Land Office records.

Neff, D.J. 1984. Notes on the Land Use History of Anderson Mesa and the Canyon Diablo Plains in the Forest Service Era, 1906 to 1940. Arizona Game and Fish Department, Flagstaff, Arizona.