The Ghosts of Packard Place
Late one evening in September 2004, the old Packard cabin, located along the Verde Canyon Railroad route, mysteriously burned to the ground. Left behind were a smoldering pile of rocky rubble, burnt tin, and a long list of memories from the many years it was a Sycamore Canyon outpost for cowboys, hermits and hippies.
The Packards homesteaded the Verde Canyon site between 1890 and1895. They irrigated 35 acres to raise crops and developed a trail to Jerome where 15,000 people were eager for fresh produce. Unfortunately, Mr. Packard had a tendency to spend the money as fast as he collected it, leaving Mrs. Packard to tend to the ranch. Legend has it that Mrs. Packard headed to Prescott, forged his name on a quit-claim deed and sold the ranch for $1,800. She purchased two horses and a rifle and headed off for parts unknown.
In 1950, Phelps Dodge purchased the Packard property and has leased it to the Perkins family ever since. The Perkins family still owns the area known as “Perkinsville,” which they purchased in 1899, located approximately 11 ½ miles up river from the Packard cabin. Over the years, the Packard cabin has been occupied by various travelers passing through the canyon, and neighboring cowboys from the Alvarez Ranch and the Perkins Ranch used the Packard property for round-ups and branding.
Perhaps the most notorious occupants of the Packard Cabin were “Dick and Jerry,” two “hermits” who took up residence in the mid-1950s and lived there through the 1960s.
“I call them hermits because they wanted to be by themselves,” recalls current Verde Canyon Railroad car attendant and historian, Fermin Estrada, who spent time in the area at his family’s neighboring property, the Alvarez Ranch.
Despite their gruff, unwashed appearance Fermin remembers the “hermits” as being quite cordial,
“They were very hospitable,” said Estrada. “They invited us in for coffee, even though we had weapons on us because we had been out hunting. They always brought ginger snaps out to my father-in-law’s truck as he passed by to give to the Alvarez kids.”
The neighbors often came to each other’s assistance, with supplies and hard work. Dick and Jerry had a friend named “Red” who occasionally visited from California to help them work their “gold mines,” possibly their only means of support.
After Dick and Jerry, in the late 1960s, a series of hobos and hippies occupied the cabin throughout the 1970s. None kept livestock, but there were many dogs, including a couple of dingoes. Some of the residents wore jeans so filthy it is said they could “stand up by themselves,” while others preferred to not wear clothing at all! Even deep in the Verde Canyon, it was controversial.
In recent years, the ranch property was still being used by the Perkins family for cattle round-up, and one family member resided in the cabin up until about four years ago. Many of the ranch buildings still stand, including a barn added in the 1970s.
The remote location of the ranch was a challenge for the Clarkdale Fire Department so they were unable to reach the cabin before it was completely destroyed. Sadly, the Packard cabin is gone, and with it, a bit of important Arizona history.
May it live on in the memories of those people who spent time there, and in the colorful tales we pass on to the passengers of the Verde Canyon Railroad.
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