The Hassayamapa Nature Preserve - WIckenburg, AZ - A Colorful History

The Colorful History of the Hassayampa Preserve

On the preserve grounds you will encounter a former ranch house and stagecoach stop and a family grave site with a tragic story to tell. The Hassayampa River Preserve and headquarters was once a part of the Frederick Brill Ranch, now listed on Arizona’s State Register of Historic Places. The adobe core of the Visitor Center was built in the 1960’s. Brill raised cattle and operated a stagecoach way station, raised fruit from extensive orchards, and raised carp in the spring-fed pond.

In 1913, the ranch became one of Arizona’s first guest ranches. Travelers stop into the Visitor’s Center with tales to tell. One talked of playing poker in the center’s kitchen with ranch hands from the guest ranch and being allowed to ride palomino horses along the clear, cool river. Another told stories of a trailer park that used be on the property and of people water-skiing on the pond in the 1960’s.

In the mid-1800’s the area around Wickenburg was considered untamed with raids by bandits and Apaches quite common. One unsolved murder remains attached to the preserve property. In 1886, the Martin family, after threats and unfair business practices of a competitor in the mercantile business, packed up their belongings and left their home to resettle in the Phoenix area. The family was ambushed just south of Wickenburg. The entire family was murdered and their bodies burned. Ranch hands from the Brill Ranch went to investigate. The owner of the ranch asked that the family’s remains be brought to the property for a proper burial. The burial site of the Martin family remains on the preserve property today. Look for it on the right as you drive down the entrance road.