Welcome to the Platt Ranch!

The Platt Ranch Heritage Blog

While talking to several people at Mitch and Mary Platt's 80th birthday celebration over the past weekend, I was telling them about my recent foray into publishing a blog for the choir that I sing with in Provo, Utah.  My mind immediately formed a decision to create a blog about the Earl Platt Cattle Ranch in Northeastern Arizona.

So this is the beginning post for that blog.  As many of my family members know, I have taken on the role as a family historian about the lives of some of the most influential people in our family.  Many have led incredible lives with some pretty amazing accomplishments.  It is time now to open their lives and histories up to more than just a few in the family.  I hope to introduce more people to the history of a cattle ranch that was started from one cow wandering the ditches of St. Johns, Arizona, and ended up as one of the largest privately-owned cattle ranches in the State of Arizona.

I will be making blog posts at least once per week, or more if  time permits, that will cover the history of the ranch, as well as some of my own memoirs of working on the ranch throughout my life.  I hope that others will join in and make comments and posts of their own memories of the ranch and their own roles as cowboys on the ranch or associates of the family and/or workers on the ranch.

I am hoping, as well, that there may be photos that I do not have access to that show more of the ranch that I can post on the blog.  Please feel free to email those to me, along with the descriptions of the photos and who is in each photo (if anyone).  

The ranch was started by my Great Grandfather, Henry John Platt.  When he was much older, he passed on the ranch to his three sons, Clair, Harvey, and Earl (my grandfather).  Some of these ranches are still owned by family members of the original three brothers, though the one owned by my grandfather, Earl, has since been sold.

My grandfather, Earl, took his land and increased the size by quite a bit, adding more land when he earned money from the many eminent domain cases he tried as an attorney.  When he passed away, the ranch was passed down to my dad, Mitch Platt.  Mitch ran the ranch for several years before selling it in several different pieces to various land-holders and ranchers.

The ranch is an incredible legacy built by some hard-working men who wanted to build this legacy.  Though the ranch, as I knew it, is no longer a part of our land holdings, it will forever be a part of our hearts and our heritage.  It is a place where many family members learned the value of hard work and incredible work ethic.  

Come join me in this blog through the history of the ranch and the interesting experiences of working on such a large operation, filled with many colorful characters and great stories.

Brad Platt