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Charlie J. is a native Arizonan born in Florence Arizona on February 6th 1977. After graduating from high school he just drifted into the Cowboy Life. He worked for The Bar Flying Z in Springerville and The Willow Spring Ranch in Oracle Arizona, before signing on with The Rancho El Oso in the high desert country of Central Arizona. Most of the ranches I have visited were Cattle operations established in the early 1900s. Some started out as registered mining claims later being sold and combined with leased land to become cattle ranches. The El Oso is no exception with 15 sections totaling 9600 acres. It is a Cattle Ranch raising stock known as “Black Baldys” with about 150 head ranged.
Charlie is like most Workin Cowboys I have met, in that, the things they do connected to their job is also what they consider enjoyment in their off time. When I asked Charlie what he did for fun, he tipped his hat back, smiled and said “Ropin.” Next to his family his Quarter Horse “Cash” is his favorite companion. The old Ranch Dog “Striker” would take issue with the “Favorite Companion Business,” as he pesters Charlie for attention. As I drove away I was tickled that I had made another friend with an “Authentic Workin Cowboy”
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My trip to the Rancho El Oso was uneventful until I got there and found out Charlie had moved on. An Old Fella at the Ranch chuckled and said “Cowboys are always goin somewhere”. He told me Charlie had teamed up with one of my other Cowboys, Ty S. from the Hozoni, who had also moved on. After much searching, I found them both at the Eagle Rock Ranch in the foothills of the Bradshaw Mountains. Charlie had gone back to Florence, to get recharged. His buddy Ty had called and asked him for help, rounding up a bunch of “Wild Cows” that had been neglected for some time. They told me the Ranch was 32 sections of really rough country. The Photo Shoot at the holding corrals got complicated, when the boys tried to separate an exceptionally Nasty Bull from his Heifers. That Bull wanted to hurt someone, real bad. The Heifers were no walk in the park either. Charlie said, “They had been ranged long enough with no Cowboy contact that it made them almost as hard to get along with as a Vindictive Wife”. When we finished, I packed up, purchased their Hats, and told them both to please “Stay Safe”
