by Larry H. Maxey, founder and superintendent, NAILE Fullblood Simmental Shows
Our Pioneers — Old Cattlemen of the Southern California Deserts
In the Our Pioneer series, cowboy life is a common thread, woven throughout many of the stories I have shared. It is the cowboy’s unrelenting determination to survive under the harshest of conditions that best exemplifies the cowboy spirit. Of course, this includes the cattle and other livestock entrusted to their care as well.
Old Time Cattlemen and Other Pioneers of the Anza-Borrego Area, a book written by Lester Reed, was first published in 1963. This work contains many accounts of the daily lives of cowboy and settler life in the deserts of Southern California from the mid1800s on. It is a highly recommended resource, providing details about the remarkable people of that era. The following is Reed’s dedication to his book.
Larry H. Maxey
“He was a man whose code of honor was founded mainly upon loyalty, truth, honesty, sober dependability, the keeping of faith, and the word of God. The nearest anyone could have come to knowing how many friends he had would have been to know how many people were acquainted with him. As a boy of 14 years, he came from Comanche County, Texas, to Southern California, in 1867, taking his turn, the same as the men, driving one of the ox teams in a covered wagon train, helping to drive a small herd of cattle. And taking his turn, standing guard at night. This wagon train crossed the Colorado River at Yuma, Arizona, and continued to follow the Butterfield Stage Route by way of Carrizo Creek and Vallecito. His name was Quitman Reed, and to him, my wonderful father, I dedicate this book.”
Reed easily qualifies as a pioneer. He was born October 29, 1890, in San Bernardino, and passed away at age 93 on January 29, 1984. He grew up in Reed Valley 15 miles south of Hemet. It was there that he learned the cattle business, doing all the jobs cowboys do. In the process, he became an expert in the art of breaking horses. In partnership with his three brothers, he formed a livestock firm, supplying bucking horses and calves to shows throughout the region.
During his exploits, he encountered many people with their own stories to tell. He listened deeply and became acutely interested in their accounts. Most were verbal, but several had the diaries created by the hardy people who trekked from points east and south to the harsh desert climate of Southern California, which they gladly shared with him. Reed’s book is a compilation of those accounts. In this piece, a description of the unimaginable conditions and daily obstacles those settlers faced in taming the unforgiving desert must be noted.
Admittedly, the Anza-Borrego Desert was an unknown area to me prior to reading Reed’s book. Located in the Colorado Desert of Southern California, today the area is the largest California State Park, comprising almost 600,000 acres. It is also the third largest state park in the US. Its name is derived from the 18th century Spanish explorer Juan Bautista de Anza, and borrego , Spanish for sheep. The sheep that de Anza observed were bighorn sheep, and they were in abundance at that time. However, many circumstances since have rendered them an endangered species. Yet, they still exist in this desert environment.
The park is part of the Mojave and Colorado Desert Biosphere Reserve. It is surrounded by the Vallecito Mountains to the south, and the high Santa Rosa Mountains to the north. Inhospitable is a huge understatement in describing the conditions and weather common to the area. Summer temperatures can exceed 120°F. Average annual rainfall is less than seven inches.
In my opening paragraph I used the phrase “unrelenting determination.” I can’t think of a more fitting description for the cowboys and settlers who migrated to the desert regions of Southern California and carved out a life in that unforgiving habitat. Throughout Reed’s stories, the quest to find water dominated the settler’s existence. It was a brutal struggle with sacrifices beyond our comprehension. Remarkably, they survived and called the Anza-Borrego home.
In the future, individual accounts of these pioneers will be covered here. This edition is intended to serve as background information and basis for future profiles of the hardy cadre of cowboys and settlers who staked their claims to desert land. Thanks to Lester Reed — his work is a reputable resource covering the lives of countless pioneers and their sacrifices. They struggled in the Southwestern deserts to survive and had the “unrelenting determination” to do so. .
Editor’s note: This is the forty-first in the series Our Pioneers.
Is there a Simmental pioneer who you would like to see profiled in this series? Reach out to Larry Maxey or the editor to submit your suggestions:
