Benson, AZ 11/16

A view of the Escapees park we stayed at while in Benson. Escapees is a club made up of RV people, we joined Escapees about a year ago, a good move on our part. This Co-op park is managed and owned by the Escapee members that are lease holders in the park. It ranks high on our list with great amenities, activities and fun friendly people. We hope to return.    

Our site had a cement pad for parking the RV and a casita (Spanish for small dwelling). 

We enjoyed having the patio to use. The lots in the park are all different, most have casitas decorated beautifully with nice landscaping. It was fun walking around just looking at all the creative things people did with their lots.

This is what you do if you have a snake at your site. 

I wondered who volunteered to take care of the "deposits".

A visit to Tombstone...a short drive from Benson. 

The Earp brothers and Doc Holiday before the daily reenactment of the 

Gunfight at the OK Corral.

Perhaps the most famous shootout in the history of the Wild West. The gunfight was the end result of a feud between a band of outlaw cowboys and the Earps. The Earps had been the target of repeated death threats because of their interference in the cowboy’s illegal activities. On an October afternoon in 1881 things came to a head and the gunfight went down in history. When the the smoke cleared, three of the outlaws were killed. Doc Holiday, Virgil and Morgan Earp (the marshall) were wounded, Wyatt was unharmed.

The ghost town of Fairbank. 

Fairbank was occupied from 1881-1973. It was founded during the Tombtone silver rush.Fairbank became a railroad hub and served as Tombstone’s train depot. 

Over the years, the town had a hotel, saloons, post office, school, businesses and a stagecoach stop. The train depot closed in 1966 at that point most the jobs in town also dried up. 

We were amazed to learn the Mercantile continued as a store, post office and gas station until 1972. When it finally closed…so did Fairbank.

Post office at Fairbank.

The Boquillas Ranch

The Boquillas Ranch was a large cattle ranch near Fairbank that dates back well over 100 years. Now abandoned, the land was acquired in 1986 by the BLM (Bureau of Land Management). It’s now part of a large conservation area with wetlands and the San Pedro river running through it. 

The 2 mile hike down an old dirt 2-track road revealed the old ranch. The dirt track is closed to motorized traffic but open to hikers and bikers. We were blown away when we reached the ranch, remains of what was once a large ranch stood quiet, in a tall grassy field, subcoming to age. The old weathered barn is much larger than we expected and more beautiful. The ranch house is boarded up. It was so peaceful here. How nice to explore with no vandelisim or grafetti in sight. It’s a ways off the beaten path and not much publized. A volunteer at the little schoolhouse museum told us about it when we asked about hiking. 

Feeding area in the barn.

Old gas pump at the ranch. 

Another photo of the barn.  

I love old buildings and the weathered wood. 

I hope preservation of this ranch takes place, it’s so historic and beautiful.  

About a 40 minute drive from Benson is Tucson and the Saguaro National Park. The park consists of thousands of acres...full of saguaros and hiking trails. We love hiking in the desert and among the majestic saguaros. 

Before leaving Benson we visited Bisbee an old mining town...tune in for next blog on Bisbee.