Old Camp Rucker Ranch

Camp Rucker served as a ranching headquarters for more than 80 years. Its first owner, Michael Gray, a Justice of the Peace in Tombstone, Arizona, moved there in 1883 under the privileges of a squatters claim. Strongly committed to controlling Indian depredations and cattle rustling, he and his family established Old Camp Rucker Ranch across about 22,000 acres. In 1896, Theodore Hampe, a German artist, and his wife Mathilde bought the ranch. Mathilde recalled arriving by the old road near the Bakery and suddenly seeing a large adobe house, originally the Commissary, surrounded by flowers, shrubs, trees, and a vegetable garden. The Hampes raised goats and cows, created illustrations and watercolors of life in Rucker Canyon, and painted the ceiling of the small adobe house there. Charles and Mary Rak purchased the ranch in 1919. Charlie Rak was a cattle rancher, and Mary, who came from San Francisco and was new to ranching, adapted quickly and later wrote books about her experiences there, including A Cowman’s Wife in 1934 and Mountain Cattle in 1936. The Raks branded their cattle O C R for Old Camp Rucker. In 1943 they sold the ranch to Mrs. Ella Dana of New York, who used it as a restful retreat before transferring it to the Forest Service in 1970.

Arizona · United States