Triangle L Ranch

Triangle L Ranch, one of the first dude ranches in southern Arizona, began in the 1890s as a working cattle ranch frequented by Buffalo Bill.

The 49-acre property near the Catalina Mountains is now operated by Sharon Holnback as a bed-and-breakfast, farmers’ market, art gallery and concert venue, but once had its share of horse opera drama.

William Trowbridge bought the ranch in 1924, and built what is now the Trowbridge Suite as a small adobe home and Western getaway.

Dave Squires, a volunteer disc jockey for KXCI Mystery Juke Box and a current ranch resident, has read Trowbridge’s letters and entertains locals and guests with excerpts from the writings.

“It’s neat to meet all the different people,” he says.

Triangle L was homesteaded in the 1890s by William Ladd, a cattle and sheep rancher. The bunkhouse, constructed in the 1890s, was the first dwelling on the ranch, which became a popular dude ranch in the 1920s. The old workshop is now a gift shop.

Triangle L continued on as a working cattle ranch into the 1960s. The ranch foreman still does a lot of fence repairing to establish good neighborly relations, although today it’s done to keep cattle out of the replanted area instead of protecting the herds, Holnback explains.

In 1978, Tom and Margot Beeston took on the restoration of the buildings and grounds of the Triangle L Ranch. They continued the tradition of the bed and breakfast and lived at the ranch for more than 20 years.

“They are not saving a lot of historical buildings and Oracle has such a rich history so my visitors and people moving to the community want to explore what Oracle has to offer,” Holnback says.

“The historical society is helping and I like being able to have people be aware of this place and the beauty of the desert. This place speaks for itself,” says Holnback, who laments the Dollar Store and other such “attractions” in Oracle.

Located at 4,500 feet, Triangle L still has water pumped by a windmill to water troughs and features the original whitewashed adobe buildings with red tin roofs in the shade of giant oaks.

The stacked wood corral fences harbor resident chickens, a burro and a goose similar to ranching and homesteading of the 1880s.

Javelinas, great horned owls, bobcats, coyotes, scrub jays, cardinals, finches, hawks, roadrunners, ravens, chipmunks, rabbits and others frequent the ranch in southeastern Pinal County.

Nearby Oracle is named for a ship used by Albert Weldon to travel from New Brunswick, Canada to the west coast. In 1878, Weldon, Jimmy Lee of Ireland and Alex McKay of Scotland began prospecting for gold and silver on the north side of the Santa Catalina Mountains. Their first mine was named “The Oracle.”

- Candace Hughes. Photo courtesy of the author.