CHIRICAHUA A Pioneer Log Cabin in Bonita Canyon The History of the Stafford Cabin

I. STAFFORD CABIN AND THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

The National Park Service began to add the historic Stafford homestead into Chiricahua National Monument on December 20, 1967, when the 80-acre Silver Spur Guest Ranch was purchased from Silver Spur Ranch, Inc. Next, the Park Service bought the Stark parcel of 26.04 acres, on December 19, 1968. A day later, on December 20, Lillian Erickson Riggs sold 47.9 acres of the Stafford homestead, including the Stafford cabin and remains of the orchard. Mrs. Riggs sold the remaining 6.06 acres to the National Park Service on October 8, 1974.⁸⁴

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⁸⁴Ibid.

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In late 1974 or early 1975 Lillian Erickson Riggs entered a rest home in Willcox, leaving management of Faraway Ranch to her longtime foreman and companion, Andy Anderson. By this time the era of the guest ranch at Bonita Canyon was over. Mrs. Riggs died on April 26, 1977 at the age of 89.

After Mrs. Riggs's death the National Park Service began dealing with the heirs of the Ericksons towards the purchase of Faraway Ranch. The Erickson heirs preferred that the ranch be preserved and supported the park purchase, although Ben Erickson and Hildegarde Erickson Hutchison died before the transaction could be completed. Congress authorized the park expansion by public law 95-625 on November 10, 1978; the federal government purchased the property on July 27, 1979, and later purchased the historic furnishings and family papers. One of the last notes in the Faraway Ranch Papers concerned the Stafford cabin's closure:

Andy: 1. Remove personal objects from Stafford cabin. 2. Have power company remove wire and meterloop and meter from Stafford cabin. 3. Remove butane gas tank if owned by gas company -- if Lillian owned, leave in place. 4. Cleanup of burned down house . . . . -- Ray⁸⁵

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⁸⁵Ray B. Ringenbach was the Superintendent at Chiricahua National Monument at the time the note was written in late 1968 or early 1969. Note in Faraway Ranch Papers, Series 11, Box 37.

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Figure 24 — Stafford Cabin, circa 1950s. (WACC)

Figure 25 — Stafford Cabin, circa 1950s. (WACC)

Figure 26 — Stafford Cabin, foreground, circa 1950s. (CHIR 7242)

Figure 27 — Water source map, shows boundaries and subdivisions of Stafford homestead, 1960. (CHIR)

Figure 28 — Sketch of Faraway Ranch made for a Christmas card used by Lillian Erickson Riggs between 1963 and 1966. The Stafford cabin is pictured in the foreground. (CHIR)

Figure 29 — The physical history of the Stafford Cabin, 1880-1960. (Livingston 1991)