Henry Clay Hooker. I think he looks very much like Gene Hackman.
Hooker was born in 1827 and came to Arizona in 1866. A former
California merchant, Hooker earned the money to begin his enterprises by
buying 500 turkeys at $1.50 each and herding them overland to the Nevada
gold fields where he sold them at $5.00 each to the hungry miners.
After establishing his ranch in 1872, Hooker introduced Shorthorns, Durhams,
and Herefords into the local cattle industry, and bred race horses for their
stamina and beauty. Hooker's lifestyle included indoor plumbing as well as a
personal hot spring in the Galiuro Mountains.
At the time of his death in 1907, Hooker owned his original 160 acre
homestead and controlled six neighboring ranches. An estimated 20,000 head
of beef cattle, along with all grades of horses, a dairy herd, a hog herd, a
flock of poultry, and ponds stocked with carp graced his ranch, the Sierra
Bonita, show-place of the territory.
