Faraway Ranch, Willcox, Cochise County, AZ

See also HALS AZ-10 for additional documentation.
Significance: The Faraway Ranch occupies 320 acres within Chiricahua National Monument in Southeastern Arizona. Of greatest importance among the ranch buildings are the Erickson-Riggs Ranch House and the Stafford-Riggs Cabin. There are eight other buildings and structures on the property that were part of the ranch operation. The ranch was originally homesteaded by Neil and Emma Erickson. Neil Erickson, a self-taught carpenter and builder, erected the ranch house in three major stages. The resulting house was unusual in its mixture of vernacular adobe brick construction and wood framing techniques and decorative details imported from the eastern United States. In 1923 to 1924 the ranch was the center of efforts by Ed and Lillian Riggs, son in law and daughter of the Ericksons, to have the nearby "Wonderland of Rocks," proclaimed Chiricahua National Monument. The ranch also became the headquarters after 1917 for one of the leading guest ranches in the southeastern Arizona region. Operated by the Riggs until Ed Riggs death in 1950 and by Lillian Riggs alone until the early 1970's, the guest ranch hosted countless excursions by "dudes" into the Monument and on cattle round-ups on the range. Jay Hugh Stafford, one of the first settlers in the region, built the Stafford-Riggs Cabin beginning in 1880. Stafford established a large fruit orchard west of his cabin and built one of the early irrigation systems in the area. The cabin is one of the oldest surviving log cabins in southeastern Arizona. The Faraway Ranch property was acquired by the National Park Service in 1972 and 1978. Restoration of the ranch buildings is planned following completion of a historic structures report.
Survey number: HABS AZ-139