The ranch has had remarkably few owners: in 1897, a year after Ft. Bowie closed, the ranch was homesteaded by Anna and Joel Lawhon. Part of the Fort property was included in the original 160 acres of the HYL Ranch.
The ranch grew considerably in size over time. A public offering of land in 1911 reported that all land around Fort Bowie was for cattle grazing and the average price for an acre of land was $1.77. The HYL ranch headquarters was fed by water from Goodwin Spring, which still has inscriptions in the rock wall of travelers in the 1880’s. It is said that the Apache chief Cochise camped regularly at this spring.
Through the 1900’s, the ranch grew considerably in size. Anna Lawhon ran the ranch after her husband died in 1947 along with her daughter, Josie, and later with Josie’s husband Sam Moseley. Josie and Sam sold HYL Ranch in 1978.1
1Information sourced from https://www.rexallenmuseum.org/CHF_020.php?inductee=CHF/CHF_065