Busy in Benson

Location, Benson, AZ

Plans for today are on hold as it is rainy and windy. We were going to go to the Dragoon Mountains and visit Cochise’ stronghold. Maybe tomorrow.

Yesterday, we packed a picnic lunch and Mike and Candi picked us up for a trip south to Rattlesnake Ranch and the old town of Gleason. We drove south of Benson on Hwy 90 to Sierra Vista then to Tombstone where we drove a dirt road for 11 miles to the entrance to Rattlesnake Ranch.

This is a really unique place with collections of old artifacts grouped by kind and type. An old trailer holds all the rattlesnake items for sale. Rattlers are caught by the owner and the skins are processed into consumer items. Things like belt buckles, cell phone cases, belts, purses, hat bands, ear rings, etc. Payment is left in a box along with a description of the item bought. All on the honor system.

From Rattlesnake Ranch we drove to the old town site of Gleason where we discovered the recently restored jail was now opened as a museum. It is only open on the first Saturday of each month. Our lucky day!

After a short tour and conversation with a local we had a tailgate lunch.

Candi, Clyda, and Mike.

Later, we explored the old school house and nearby old buildings. All of these are on private property but you can drive by.

Old mine cable used as rebar.

We then drove towards Interstate 10 but first stopped at a wild life viewing area where hundreds of sandhill cranes were resting next to a small slough. We had earlier seen a large flight of sandhill cranes flying overhead while at Rattlesnake Ranch. The birds migrate each day to southern feeding grounds and then return back to the sanctuary. It is estimated that 26,000 cranes spend the winter here.

We visited the old town of Cochise as well as a small RV park on Triangle T Road near Texas Canyon summit on I-10. At night we can see traffic coming down I-10 from Texas Canyon in what the locals call “The Snake” named for the S-turn the highway makes on its way to Benson.

Last night we attended a steak and salmon dinner at the clubhouse and then were treated to an evening of stories and music by Ralph Grasso who played guitar for many of Hollywoods movies and musicians. Ralph is famous for creating the music for the Pink Panther, Peter Gunn, and many more. Look him up on the internet. If you are interested.