Historical info on slab by Maple Spring

[joebartels]

Curious if SuperstitionGuy or anybody else knows the history of the concrete slab near Maple Spring in Cedar Basin.

Looks like a rough ten foot sidewalk. Materials surely brought in by horse.

[SuperstitionGuy]

My understanding is that it was a cowboy line shack and a very small one at that. Much like the Tony cabin just outside the wilderness fence in haunted canyon. A place for a cowboy or two to spend the nights while working the cattle, repairing the fences etc. I first saw the slab in the early 70's and there was some debri around it such as old rotten two by fours, some corregated sheetmetal and broken stove parts. There are other locations in the Superstitions where there were other such structures but most of the material has rotted or rusted away. Near the Hoolie Bacon trail, south of Angel Basin, West Boulder Canyon, alongside of the road into the Tortilla Ranch, etc. You have to look very carefully now to find evidence of them because they didn't consist of very durable material in the first place. Look for terraced gardens as some of the cowboys had their wives with them and gardening was necessary for additional food in those early years. In fact there is a garden terrace area behind where the old hotel and livery stable was just down the road from where Apache Trail crosses Fish Creek Canyon. In the concrete foundation of Reavis Ranch (north end of the breezeway) there was a newborn baby girls footprint in the concrete. The cowboys wife had the baby at the ranch and named her after Alice the wife of Hoolie Bacon. Hoolie Bacon being the last owner of Reavis Ranch. Maybe that concrete footprint is still there.

[joebartels]

Thanks, great additional info too!