132015
Cline Family History, Part 2/3
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Part OfCline Family History Oral HistoryIntervieweeSteve ClineInterviewerJoyce McBrideSubjectOral historiesArizona HistoryArizona History 19th centuryArizona History 20th CenturyGila County (Ariz.)BiographyCattle--West (U.S.)--HistoryRanching History of Gila CountyRanch managers--ArizonaU.S. Forest ServiceSalt River Watershed (Ariz.)Tonto Basin (Ariz.)Rodeos--1910-1940Rodeo RidersRodeos--Arizona--Payson--HistoryGeorge Cline (1886-1976)DescriptionPart 2: Generations of George Cline and Benjamin Baker Cline. Steve talks about his famous grandfather George Cline, a champion team roper and steer tier, who won the calf roping in Madison Square Gardens while on the rodeo circuit. Because his father had saved him from being murdered by the Territorial Deputy, but had lost every thing he owned in his own defense, George started out on his own with nothing. But, so he honed his expertise by roping and leading out cattle from ranches being shut down by the U.S. Forest Service. He got his first ranch by purchasing such a ranch where the owner underestimated how many head of cattle he owned. George gathered enough extra cattle to sell to pay off the ranch. He bought several more ranches, including the Bar 11, the TV Ranch, Joe Cline's H Ranch, the J Slash X on Picture Mountain, then the Cross 7 and the V.I.V. Steve's father, Benjamin Baker Cline met Dorothy Euline Herman, the daughter of Daley Herman, while attending Mesa High School. Steve, their only child, was born in 1936. He remembers the day he went to school and everyone gathered around the radio to listen to President Roosevelt declare war on the Japanese, the result of the attack on Pearl Harbor. He recalled the scrap metal campaign that followed and fell through. Steve had many relatives who went to war, but his father, being an only son, was exempted to take care of the 800 head of cattle on their ranch. With the cowboys now gone, the ranchers couldn't properly care for their herds and so by the end of the war the range was filled with wild cattle. When the cowboys returned they were equally wild and mostly stayed drunk and dangerous, but eventually they either healed or drifted off to other occupations. Benjamin Baker Cline had bought the Tin Cup Ranch from Fred Packard and later in 1949 this ranch, the Slash X, from George Martin. Ironically, Martin had purchased it from the widow of Charles Edwards, the Territorial Marshall who had been ambushed in order to protect George Cline, allegedly by, but not proven, Benjamin Baker's grandfather, John Leroy Cline. Like his father, Steve attended Mesa High School and met his bride-to-be, Arlene Starks there. They were married and Arlene fit right into ranching. During the summers when ranching slowed, Steve supplemented their income by fire jumping from an old helicopter for the Forest Service. He also did assessment work for the White Mountain Drilling, pulling in $50 per day, which paid for their first child's birth. Grandfather George Cline was a pretty good judge of minerals, and so prospecting was a part of the cowboy's work. Steve tells of the Fluorspar that was mined and milled in the Tonto Basin, it's uses in making hand grenades and how they worked, and in Naval guns during WWII.Audio Length00:26:44Date Original2011-08-19Date Range1910s (1910-1919)1920s (1920-1929)1930s (1930-1939)1940s (1940-1949)1950s (1950-1959)TypeSound- NonmusicalOriginal FormatOral historiesLanguageEnglishContributing InstitutionArizona Heritage Research FoundationCollectionOral Histories of Gila County RanchersRights StatementThe opinions expressed in this interview are those of the interviewee only. They do no represent the views of the Arizona Heritage Research Foundation, the Gila Co. Historical Museum or the Arizona State Library. Please contact the Arizona Heritage Research Foundation with questions about the use and reproduction of this resource.
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Cline Family History, Part 2/3, [Cline Family History Part 2.mp3]. Arizona Memory Project, accessed 12/09/2024, https://azmemory.azlibrary.gov/nodes/view/132015
