We drove down to Sonoita yesterday, to take a look at the guest house at Babacomari Ranch, as we are considering renting it for a week up to a month. The elevation is close to 5000’, so summer high temperatures average 12-20 degrees lower than Tucson’s. As we drove through the gate and then 5.5 miles to their ranch headquarters, we enjoyed the scenery of grassland framed by mountains, grazing antelope and cattle, and a deer in grass so tall, we could only see his ears.
Babacomari Ranch has an interesting history. “Franciscan Friar Marcos de Niza was the first European to set foot in what is now Arizona. He is credited as the first to take possession of the Babacomari Ranch for the King of Spain in 1539, 80 years before the pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock. One hundred and fifty years later, the Jesuits arrived, led by Father Kino, bringing missionaries, crops and cattle to the Babacomari.
By 1706, the area was flourishing, but the Jesuits were ordered by the Catholic Church in Rome to give up their posts. They left the area in 1773. The Apaches broke up the few remaining settlements in the area, forcing European families to withdraw to safer territory. Eventually, the Spanish military managed to establish presidios and the Spanish Crown encouraged settlement in the form of land grands offered to officers and soldiers. When Mexico won its independence from Spain in 1822, acquisition of land grants grew at an accelerated pace. In 1829, Francisco Elias Gonzales de Zava, a captain in the Spanish Army purchased about 130,000 acres from the Mexican government in what was known as the Grant of San Ignacio del Babacomari. During the next 18 yeas, the Elias family built the original fortified headquarters and grazed thousands of cattle and horses on the lush grasslands. Within two decades, two Elias bothers were murdered by raiding Apaches and the family abandoned their hacienda.
Dr. E.B. Perrin, a former civil war surgeon turned land baron, and his brother Robert of San Francisco, acquired the rights to the original Babacomari land grant from the Elias family in 1877. Those rights had been nullified by various US Authorities, and the brothers spent the next 25 years in a legal battle to establish the validity of the title under US laws. The patent for the property, was issued in 1902.
In 1935, Frank Brophy acquired the Babacomari Ranch, becoming the third owner of the property since the King of Spain 400 years earlier. Frank’s father had emigrated from Ireland to Arizona in the 1880’s. The family partnership, comprised solely of direct descendants of Frank Brophy, now numbering 65, has committed to preserving the ranch, which includes spectacular native grasslands, rare cinema wetlands, and several miles of the cottonwood lined Babacomari Creek.”
By 1706, the area was flourishing, but the Jesuits were ordered by the Catholic Church in Rome to give up their posts. They left the area in 1773. The Apaches broke up the few remaining settlements in the area, forcing European families to withdraw to safer territory. Eventually, the Spanish military managed to establish presidios and the Spanish Crown encouraged settlement in the form of land grands offered to officers and soldiers. When Mexico won its independence from Spain in 1822, acquisition of land grants grew at an accelerated pace. In 1829, Francisco Elias Gonzales de Zava, a captain in the Spanish Army purchased about 130,000 acres from the Mexican government in what was known as the Grant of San Ignacio del Babacomari. During the next 18 yeas, the Elias family built the original fortified headquarters and grazed thousands of cattle and horses on the lush grasslands. Within two decades, two Elias bothers were murdered by raiding Apaches and the family abandoned their hacienda.
Dr. E.B. Perrin, a former civil war surgeon turned land baron, and his brother Robert of San Francisco, acquired the rights to the original Babacomari land grant from the Elias family in 1877. Those rights had been nullified by various US Authorities, and the brothers spent the next 25 years in a legal battle to establish the validity of the title under US laws. The patent for the property, was issued in 1902.
In 1935, Frank Brophy acquired the Babacomari Ranch, becoming the third owner of the property since the King of Spain 400 years earlier. Frank’s father had emigrated from Ireland to Arizona in the 1880’s. The family partnership, comprised solely of direct descendants of Frank Brophy, now numbering 65, has committed to preserving the ranch, which includes spectacular native grasslands, rare cinema wetlands, and several miles of the cottonwood lined Babacomari Creek.”
