Slaughter Ranch Museum

The Slaughter Ranch Museum is located in Southern Arizona right along the border with Mexico. The following two paragraphs contain a little history about the Slaughter Ranch and the information was gleaned from the Slaughter Ranch Museum Website which you can view By Clicking Here

90 pesos is all it cost Ignacio Perez to buy 73,240 acres through an original Mexican land grant in 1822. But he couldn’t hold it long. Within 8 years, Apaches had run him off the land. But change affected them too. The Mormon Batallion rolled through in 1846. And the Gold Rush of 1849 turned Southeastern Arizona into a major thoroughfare for prospectors on their way to California.

It was 35 years later that Texas John Slaughter bought 65,000 acres of the original Perez grant. The Gadsen Purchase had re-drawn the lines. Two-thirds of the property was then in Mexico. Slaughter bought and leased more land on this side of the border and reached 100,000 acres of ranch land, which his in-laws lived on and managed while Slaughter served as sheriff. The 1887 earthquake destroyed the original buildings. Slaughter re-built in 1893 and lived on Slaughter Ranch after his retirement.

This map presents the perspective as to where the Slaughter Ranch is located in Arizona. It is along the very southern border and in its earlier days much of the ranch acreage was located in Mexico. It is situated about 16 miles east of the town of Douglas and about 10 miles of that 16 are dirt and gravel. Fortunately the border patrol maintains the dirt portion of the road and it had recently been graded so the road was in decent condition.

This is the main house and contains a lot of period artifacts and fascinating information. We are not trying to duplicate the museum rather provide you with a little glimpse of this fascinating place. There is a great deal of information that you can find about the Slaughter Ranch Museum on the Internet.

I placed my hat on the window sill inside the house to give you a view of the actual thickness of the walls. The day was pleasantly warm but the interior of the house was very cool. The thick adobe walls have a great insulating effect.

This is the fireplace in the main room. Though this is a desert environment it can get cold in winter and I am sure the fireplace was well used and much appreciated.

This fascinating piano type of instrument was in the main living area. There were several bedrooms, a kitchen, a bath room and the one great room where this was situated. The signs in the home stated that none of these artifacts, with a few exceptions, were from the original home or family, rather they were period replacements of what was most likely in the home.

Here is a view looking behind the house. There are several outbuildings.

This 1915 Model T was in one of the rock out buildings. It must have been quite a ride across the desert in the old dirt roads back in the day when this was used. Not a lot of air conditioning other than the wind and don't even think about gps navigation or lane departure assistance.

This building was identified as the "Grainery". In the early days of the ranch the Slaughter Ranch acted as a store for the surrounding ranches. Supplies would be brought in and kept here for dispersal as needed.

On the grounds is a large pond. It contained a number of water fowl and provided a nice contrast from the surrounding mesquite desert environment. There is a couple, that are caretakers of the place and live in a home on the property, and the lady indicated that the water coming out of the well and the tap in their house was about 72 degrees all the time.

This smaller building functions as the office for present day operations. There is a $5.00 entrance fee per person and this is where you go to pay the fee. I asked the lady, when we were paying, how far is it to Mexico and she said about 100 yards, Pretty close.

Also they have a no pet policy. They have their own dogs that wander around but visitors are required to keep their dogs in their vehicle while visiting. I asked her the reason and she said they have had a lot of problems with people bringing dogs. There was one person who brought a "Service Dog" and when she let it out of the car it immediately attacked one of their dogs and injured it fairly severely. Some service dog that was, hence no pets allowed.

This is a view of the surrounding area from along the road not far from the ranch. It gives you a little perspective on the apparent desolation of the location. I asked the fellow who is one of the caretakers "How many acres did it take for a cow to forage for food in this country?" He stated one to five acres and in explanation said the original cattle were small longhorns bred for this environment. He said they were a lot like goats and could eat anything even the mesquite and scrub brush that are prevalent in this environment.

At one point I said to the fellow that it must be really quiet and peaceful out here so far from nowhere. He said it really was not. When you look at this map it gives you an idea why and he explained. Highway 2 in Mexico on this map runs from the Pacific Coast in Tijuana all the way across Mexico to Brownsville at the southern tip of Texas. There is almost no speed limit on the highway and at night the big trucks running the roads will turn on their jake brakes coming down the small hills and it sounds like they are coming down the driveway into the ranch. So much for peace and quiet.

When walking around part of the pond we found this Great Horned Owl up in one of the trees. The lady stated there were a pair that generally raised chicks but they had not seen the other half of the pair yet this year.

Hope you have enjoyed this post and got at least a little perspective on the Slaughter Ranch Museum. It is a fascinating place well worth the visit albeit a tad out of the way.

Be sure and let us know if you have any questions or comments.
All the best - George and Deanna