Chuck Lakin

Inducted in 2008

Mar 1

Avondale - Maricopa County

Inducted in 2008

Chuck Lakin wasn’t born in Arizona but said, “So what? I’ve lived in Arizona longer than 99.6% of the natives–which should count for something.”

Chuck was born into a family with agricultural roots. It’s been a part of his life almost from the day he came kicking and screaming into the world in the small town of Fort Scott, Kansas, some nine decades ago. His father, Lloyd Case Lakin, was the co-owner of the Lakin-McKey Overall Company. In addition to supplying the local farmers with bib overalls, the senior Lakin also owned a dairy farm. His business interests were not enough to keep him in Kansas once he decided that a drier climate would be healthier for his children prone to respiratory problems.

Lloyd had associates in Arizona, and he liked the area, so he sold his business interests in Kansas in 1921. He and Ethel packed up their family, climbed aboard the Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad, and headed West.

Lloyd’s first endeavor on arriving in the Valley was the wholesale grocery business. He became a major Arizona Wholesale Grocery Company shareholder, owning the Pay N’ Take It stores. He also purchased 920 acres of land in what is now Avondale to obtain a duck-hunting slough. Over time, with hard work, this land of salt cedars and alkaline soil would become the productive farm of the Lakin Cattle and Milling Company.

In the late 1930s, Lloyd Lakin bought two more ranches, one in the Kingman area and one northwest of Prescott. The Prescott ranch would play a big part in Chuck’s life as he grew up. The years passed, and Chuck went to Emerson Elementary School and Phoenix Union High School. His next stop was the New Mexico Military Institute before returning to Arizona to attend the University of Arizona’s College of Agriculture. Chuck was just six credits short of graduating when he enlisted in 1943.

“When I went to the University of Arizona, they had a ROTC cavalry unit, so I was hoping to get into the horse cavalry unit in the Army.” But by the time he joined, the horse cavalry was pretty obsolete. He was sent to Fort Riley, Kansas, for training, where he received his 2nd Lieutenant commission. He was then sent off to the China, Burma, and India Theater to become the regimental Mule Pack Officer for the 475 Infantry with 500 mules in the command. (He was also an Assistant Communications Officer). He and his unit took up where Merrill’s Marauders left off, re-opening the famous Burma Road across “The Hum” to Kunming, China. His stint earned him a Purple Heart and the Presidential Unit Citation.

When the fighting was over in Burma, Chuck spent a little over a year with the Chinese Training Command. It was a challenging time, but Chuck and his colleagues found ways of entertaining themselves. “There were a bunch of us in our outfit who had some rodeo experience, so we built a roping arena and had a rodeo in 1945. That was probably the first rodeo ever held in China.”

In 1946, he was discharged from the Army and planned on finishing his education when he returned to Arizona. But life happened, and he married his college sweetheart, Maxine Cortelyou. They raised four daughters while he and his dad continued cattle ranching in Yavapai and Maricopa Counties, bred Quarter horses and farmed. In 1965, the Prescott ranch was sold, but the farming continued in Avondale. He never felt the necessity of going back for those six credits.

Chuck recounted, “Sixty years later, Dean Sander of the Ag College at the University of Arizona happened to get a copy of a book that I had authored and decided anyone who could write that book ought to have additional credits added to his transcript. I finished college in 1946 and graduated in 2006.” The book is titled It Didn’t Seem Funny at the Time. It is a compilation of the humorous events that had happened throughout his life. “I never cared much about serious things. I always wanted to write about funny things.” Chuck had been jotting down notes and stories about experiences over the years. Unbeknownst to him, his daughters got a hold of his papers and compiled them into a book as a surprise for Chuck and Maxine’s 50th wedding anniversary. The book has never been sold, only produced for family and friends.

Chuck has ranched, raised cattle (including Long Horns), bred Quarter Horses and Mules, and participated in numerous agricultural organizations, locally and nationally. But he is most proud of pioneering a new concept in horse feed. “At the time, we had 800 acres of Coastal Bermuda grass and other tall-growing varieties. We were baling it and grinding it into cattle feed. He read about somebody in Georgia pelletizing Coastal Bermuda grass, feeding it to cattle and getting tremendous gains…. gains equal to what you would expect from a finishing feed, which would be high grain, corn and such.” Chuck discovered that horses also like the pelletized feed. After doing some controlled experiments by feeding two horses with pellets and two with Bermuda hay, the study showed the horses fed pellets gained better and had slicker coats. More studies were done. Soon after, they switched to a mixture of Alfalfa and Bermuda hay. Other special ingredients, such as vitamins and minerals, are included and available in different pellet formulas. His pellets were the best in nutrition and purity. The Lakin Pellets became a huge success and were known all over Arizona and other states and countries. The Lakin Milling Company was sold in 2018. The family was very sad when that day happened, and Chuck knew the farm sale was inevitable. But he could still see those green fields against the Estrella mountains when he passed in 2013.

When asked if there was anything he would still like to do that he hadn’t done, Chuck laughed and said, “I’d like to get the World Champion calf roping (title), which I most likely will never do!”