Williamson, Arizona

Episode 92 / 31 October 2018 / 160 min / full

The Couple That Kills Together... Blames Each Other

"We're going to Williamson, Arizona; it is 20 minutes northwest of Prescott in Yavapai County." about 0:05:20

The case: Murder of Delbert Hoss (November and December 1994). Read the case file.

The figures, as told in 2018

Population

5,398

Median age

60.8

Median home value

$555,100

Two-bedroom rent

$1,240

Cost of living

163

Religious

26.2%

Property crime

▼ about half the average national rate

Violent crime

▼ about one third under the average

History, in brief

• There has been human habitation in the area since at least 900 AD. about 0:09:03
• The first settlers were Native Americans who migrated there to hunt deer and smaller game. about 0:09:11
• The area was a passageway for early settlers travelling to and from the pine forest to the south, and for people heading from the south to California during the gold rush. about 0:09:37
• Archaeological studies found seasonal Native American habitation, with people living there in summer and storing meat there over winter. about 0:10:57
• The discovery of gold in the 1840s and 1850s brought settlers into the area, along with copper mining in northern Arizona. about 0:12:04
• Native Americans in the area considered the miners an invasion of their hunting grounds, and there was fighting between them and settlers in the 1860s. about 0:12:41
• When the Civil War began, the federal government established Arizona as a territory and stationed troops there to protect the gold mines and settlers from Confederate bands and hostile tribes. about 0:14:50
• The army and settlers created a demand for beef and hay, and people in the area began bringing in livestock. about 0:15:22
• A cattleman named Stevens brought livestock into the Williamson Valley, which was good cattle country. about 0:17:12
• The valley was named after Lieutenant Robert Stockdon Williamson, who served as a government surveyor in Arizona in 1854. about 0:17:24
• Thomas Simmons, a civilian, ran a stage station in the 1860s, providing meals and horses and manning the post office. about 0:17:47
• The station was designated Wilson after the commissioner of the land, changed to Williamson Valley in 1873, then changed again to Simmons in 1881. about 0:17:59
• The stage station closed in the 1830s and the name went back to Williamson. about 0:18:23
• Williamson Valley Road was known as the Simmons Highway, and many maps still print it that way. about 0:18:30
• At the turn of the century residents kept gardens and canned what they grew in order to survive the winter. about 0:18:45
• The town sits at about 5,000 feet elevation, a mile-high town that is cold in winter. about 0:19:02
• The primary sources of income were the sale of cattle, hay and horses, including ranch horses and bucking horses for rodeos, plus meat cutting, carpentry, blacksmithing and dairy products. about 0:19:25
• Social life revolved around neighbours helping each other with cattle round-ups and putting up hay. about 0:19:52
• Ranches were two or three, sometimes five, miles apart, so people did not socialise much. about 0:20:15
• Residents held rodeos, hoedowns and square dances, and after rodeo the most popular recreation for men and boys was hunting. about 0:20:29
• Cougar hunting was popular and children could round up cougars for a bounty. about 0:21:16
• Crime was low in the early days, and cattle rustling was considered one of the most serious offences; stealing a horse was also treated severely. about 0:21:58
• Yavapai County was one of the four original Arizona counties created by the first territorial legislature. about 0:22:34
• Apache, Coconino, Maricopa and Navajo counties were carved out of the original Yavapai County. about 0:22:43

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