John W. Gates

b. April 13, 1914 Canoga Park, California
d. July 5, 1983 Tucson, Arizona

 John grew up in California and from a young age worked as a cattleman on several area ranches. In 1944 he and Mazie settled in the San Rafael Valley, south of Patagonia and Sonoita. John managed the Vaca Ranch, a cow/calf operation, for seven years. He then moved to the Heady-Ashburn Ranch where he managed 400 head of registered Herford cattle and the Kihekah Ranch several miles away, also with registered Herefords. Each year John would purchase approximately 100 head of Corriente steers and graze them in the mountain areas of this ranch to sell each fall. Both ranches managed by John had an out-of-state owner.

 Cattlemen, ranch managers, and ranch hands in the area would ride their horses to each ranch to help each other during yearly roundups, and branding and vaccinating the calves. Later the cattle would be corralled and sprayed with insecticide against flies. The calves were usually sold later in the year, once they were weaned.

 The ranchers also helped each other fight fires caused by lightning strikes, using spray rigs with large tanks filled with water that had long attached hoses. Because of their remote location, the ranchers were often the first responders.

 In 1972, after years of managing the Heady-Ashburn and Kihekah ranches, John retired and he and Mazie moved to Sonoita, where they built an adobe home on 10 acres. John passed away in 1983 at the age of 69 from cancer of the bone marrow. The cancer was most likely caused by years of exposure to the insecticide he sprayed on his cattle. John and Mazie had two children, Robert L. and Peggy Ellen Gates Morrison, both of whom are buried at Black Oak with their parents in a family plot.

Written by Betty Barr with contributions from Jed Morrison, John's grandson.

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