Established in 1922, the TriangleT Historic Ranch boasts a colorful and exciting past.
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Apache Chieftain, Cochise, and his band used the ranch as a winter camp for many generations. The ranch also holds a centuries-old sacred ceremonial location among the boulders, complete with petroglyphs and rock carvings.
Many diplomats and dignitaries including President John F. Kennedy, General John J. Pershing, and Dr. Leon T. Silver, a director of NASA (who had his Cal Tech geology students complete their thesis at the ranch each summer) were among the ranch's distinguished guests. A fairly well preserved brochure (c. 1930) found in one of the cabin walls in 1996 lists as references the home addresses of the Rockefellers, the Vanderbilt's, and other contemporary socialites.
Notable artists, musicians, and writers have been inspired while working at the ranch and have included their impressions of the area in their work. Paul Scott Mowrer, the first poet laureate of New Hampshire, wrote "Texas Canyon, Arizona - A Writer Fantasy" in his well-known "Book of Poems." Others include: Philip T. Drotning, prolific writer, humanitarian and historian, honored by 5 presidents for his contributions to society; Francis Lee Jacques - wildlife artist; Olive Ewing Clapper; Walter Collins O'Kane; Lillian Smith and Larry Lewis, to name a few.
In 1927, it came into the hands of Metta Tutt, the result of a daughter with TB requiring a warm, dry climate, and was named the Triangle T for "Tutt". Since then, the Triangle T has been the site of many historical events.
It was the center of intrigue during World War II. The subsequent rumors that high-ranking Japanese officials were detained at the ranch were recently confirmed by award-winning author Jane Eppinga, after years of exhaustive research and the lifting of the 50-year moratorium on classified information. Details of the incarceration of the world's "most wanted" war criminals are now available in the library at the Triangle T.During World War II, the Japanese Consul General to Hawaii, along with his entourage of 16 adults, 5 children including a Japanese spy were covertly moved from Pearl Harbor to the Triangle T, and interned there. 5 months later the Japanese prisoners were exchanged for American prisoners. A book written by the Japanese spy is also available.
The immediate area has served as the location for many motion pictures and television productions including the TV series, "Young Guns," and the movies, "Geronimo" and "Tombstone." Western films featuring John "Duke" Wayne "Duel in the Sun" with Gregory Peck, and the film "3:10 to Yuma," which starred Glenn Ford and Van Heflin, were filmed on location at the Triangle T, as were some of the original Lone Ranger movies. Many of the landmarks and locations are still visible and accessible, evoking a feeling of the Old West as portrayed in these western films. More recently, the ranch was the site of a television production by Kenny Rogers, "Psychic Kids" filmed by A&E TV, and filming of the final scenes of "To Kill a Memory" with Kix Brooks.
The bicentennial salute to the American Cowboy, "The Last Cattle Drive," originated at the ranch in October 1975 and ended 30 days and 350 miles later in Tucson with all proceeds going to the Muscular Dystrophy Association, Inc.
