Williams (YAN 6)
310.8 acre parcel southeast of Williams, Arizona
The Williams Parcel (Map) totals approximately 318.80 acres and is located about 7.5 miles southeast of Williams Arizona in Coconino County. The parcel is surrounded by the Kaibab National Forest and just southeast of the Dog Town Lake Recreational Area. Access from Williams to the property is along Perkinsville Road and Forest Road #140. Williams is known as the Gateway to the Grand Canyon.
For 103 years this spectacular property was owned by the legendary Pouquette Sheep Herding Family of Northern Arizona, owner/operators of the Pouquette Sheep Company. One can’t talk about this property without knowing something about the family that were the stewards of this land for so many generations. The Pouquette family were pioneers in northern Arizona and early sheep ranchers. A branch of the family acquired this land in 1919, which they called “The Homestead.” Two 160-acre, more or less homesteads were combined in the early 1900’s to form this parcel.
This Pouquette family started with wagons and herding sheep across a vast territory before trains or trucks. They fought with cattle ranchers during the range wars and survived through World War 1, droughts, the Great Depression, and World War 2. The Homestead Ranch supplied lamb meat and wool to feed and clothe soldiers during World War 2. In more recent history, current generations successfully fought a major legal battle over water to keep Homestead Ranch from being carved up by a local municipality.
The Pouquette family held onto the ranch for over 100 years, and their descendants take pride in how they and their ancestors were good stewards of the land. Much of the land looks the same way it did over 100 years ago, as evidenced by surveys done by the General Land Office in the late 1800s. Treed areas are still treed, and the open meadows are still open. Giant Ponderosa Pine Trees cover much of the land. The family reports wildlife on the land includes elk, deer, antelope, black bear, and mountain lions.
The Town of Williams Arizona owns a small parcel of land within this Williams Parcel, which they purchased from the Pouquette Family Trust. The City maintains a well site on the parcel and has the necessary rights of entry/maintenance. Electricity was brought to the well site by the Town.
As part of the sale of the well site to the Town of Williams, the Pouquette family negotiated the right to obtain water service from the well for up to 32 homes that can be built on the property. The landowner would have to build the water treatment and delivery systems to supply the homes. The Pouquette family also negotiated the right for the property to obtain electricity from the city’s power lines. Although this parcel is surrounded by the National Forest with no other private development in sight, it has the water and electricity rights necessary to develop a significant residential community inside the National Forest.
Watch an Interview with Melanie Daugherty to learn about the history of the Williams parcel.
History of the Pouquette Family is available on the Town of Williams website.
https://arizonasheephistory.com/2020/03/06/joseph-pouquette-family/
https://www.williamsnews.com/news/2019/oct/01/hanging-thread-manterola-auza-and-pouquette-famili/
The Pouquette descendants had to make the difficult decision to sell the land and listed the property on the open market with an international real estate brokerage firm. Once it was priced reasonably, there were other interested parties in the land who were planning to develop the property commercially. However, the idea that this property might become part of the Kaibab National Forest through a Federal Land Exchange was a deciding factor for the family to sell the land to the Yavapai-Apache Nation in 2022. The family does not want to see this beautiful parcel of land developed. Likewise, development would create numerous management challenges for the Kaibab National Forest.
The Nation recognized the importance of the property and made a significant financial investment to return this beautiful parcel to the American people through the Nation’s land exchange. As part of the National Forest, it will be available for public recreation, including hunting within Arizona Game Management Unit 8.
Note: The County Assessor may show a different acreage, however the acreage used in this discussion is taken from the Forest Service data.