David and Billy had nearly $20,000 to spend and they were ready to go all in.
“Babbitt Ranches is legendary in Arizona ranching history,” said Historian Janice Bryson, who nominated the pioneering land company. “Their story follows our state’s history from Territorial days to the present. They have been leaders and innovators in conservation on their ranches.”
“This acknowledgement of leadership and commitment to the agriculture industry is so very meaningful to the Babbitt family, the Babbitt Ranches board of directors, owners and employees,” said Babbitt Ranches President and General Manager Billy Cordasco. “There have been many herculean efforts by visionaries and determined individuals who persevered through difficult conditions, market swings, disappointments and hard work to keep the business going through now six generations. In all these years, the support and participation from the broader community has always been key to Babbitts’ longevity and success.”
“If you look back historically through Coconino Sun clippings and NAU’s Cline Library, you’ll find that the Babbitts were always very ecologically responsible, especially when it came to wildlife populations. And that continued through the more than 100 years of their presence,” said retired Arizona Game and Fish Department Region 2 Supervisor Tom Britt, who worked with both John Babbitt and then Billy Cordasco. “In terms of the amount of country that they had an impact on, the Babbitts were and still are extremely responsible for taking care of the land. I remember John Babbitt said he always managed for drought. I was impressed by that.”
“Babbitt Ranches is an Arizona icon,” said Steve Brophy of the Aztec Land and Cattle Company, in support of the nomination. “Over the generations since its founding, its standing and achievements in the cattle industry, the horse business, in land management and conservation, in the examples of the Western way of life set by its leadership and cowboys, are second to no other ranching outfit in the state, nor for that matter, the West.”
The Babbitt story began in Arizona in 1886 when five brothers from Cincinnati, Ohio, took the daring action to risk everything and move across the country to become cattle ranchers. After hearing stories of wide-open spaces, adventure and opportunity out West, two of the brothers, David and Billy, were sent to scout potential locations. When they stepped off the train in Flagstaff on the chilly morning of April 7, they nearly turned around because the little town had recently burned to the ground.
“That’s when they noticed a sign with the name ‘Brannen’ on it. The young men had letters of introduction with them, written on their behalf to the town doctor,” said Cordasco, a fourth generation Arizona Babbitt. Reading from a passage in Dean Smith’s 1964 book, “Babbitt History,” Cordasco continued: “’If Doc Brannen had not been in his tent office behind the temporary headquarters of the Brannen Mercantile Company on that morning, there very probably would have been no Babbitt saga to tell.’”
“David and Billy had nearly $20,000 to spend and they were ready to go all in. That must have impressed the doctor, who then introduced them to ranchers in the area,” said Cordasco. “Turns out there had just been a large herd of cattle brought in from Kansas just east of Flagstaff, a place known as Canyon Diablo.”
For $17,640, they bought 860 head of cattle, which they mortgaged to purchase land near Lake Mary. They settled amidst ponderosa pines and clear mountain springs and branded the cattle with the CO Bar brand – a sentimental reminder of their hometown, Cincinnati, Ohio.
Equipped with business experience from running the family grocery store in Ohio and financial backing from Gerhard Verkamp, the wealthy father of three daughters who married three of the brothers, the enterprising young men began a business model of forming partnerships with other cattle ranches, starting with the A-1 Cattle Company north of the San Francisco Peaks and the Hashknife outfit to the southeast.
“They would partner with these other ranches all the way to New Mexico. Whatever happened, the Babbitts could always be counted on to support and even buy out the partner,” said Cordasco. “Through this process of acquiring ranches, the Babbitts ended up with millions of acres from Laguna Beach, California, to Dodge City, Kansas, from Mile City, Montana, to the Arizona/New Mexico state line. “The number of cattle was just staggering.”
Meanwhile, the Babbitts were helping to grow the town of Flagstaff, enhancing the education and arts communities, and being involved in politics and a great number of businesses. One observer stated, “Whether a man needed a house, paint, automobile, perfume, a post-hole digger, crushed ice or a Christian burial, the Babbitts stood by ready to help,” according to Smith’s book.
“Through the years, the Babbitts diversified their holdings to include a network of trading posts on the Hopi and Navajo reservations. They also owned a bank, ice plant, livery stable, slaughterhouse, opera house and even a mortuary,” said State Historian Marshall Trimble. “During these years, Flagstaff became the cultural and mercantile center of Northern Arizona. Today, the CO Bar Ranch is still one of the state’s largest cow ranches. I can’t think of another ranch or farm more deserving.”
“Babbitt Ranches is well known for producing honorable, hardworking cowboys and horses,” said Judy Prosser of the Bar T Bar Ranch. “They take pride in exemplifying their core values, or ‘Cowboy Essence,’ a code of conduct outlined in The Constitution of Babbitt Ranches. They have definitely stood the test of time in the harsh environment of the Colorado Plateau in Northern Arizona.”
“We are so deeply honored to be acknowledged in this way,” said Cordasco. “With the Babbitt family, owners, ranch families and the hundreds and hundreds, perhaps thousands and thousands, of people associated with Babbitts through the years, our success has always been and always will be in the strength of our relationships.”
“Babbitt Ranches has compassion for cattle, people, ranching heritage and open spaces,” said Jim O’Haco of the O’Haco Cattle Company. “To this day, they practice conservation, research projects, renewable energy and provide recreational access for the public and community outreach.”
Looking to the next 136 years, Cordasco says decisions made today are on behalf of generations to come. “And that is our motivation as we create a forged ethic in meaningful new business, environmental and community opportunities.” QCBN
By Bonnie Stevens, QCBN
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