Pouquette Family
Joseph & Marguerite Pouquette Family
Williams - Coconino County
Inducted in 2020
Not many Arizona families can boast that four generations of them were in the sheep business! Pierre, Sr., his brother Simon; Pierre’s sons Joseph, Leon, and his daughter, Charlotte; Joseph’s two sons, Pierre and Albert; and Albert’s sons collectively ran sheep in Arizona beginning in 1890/7 before the family sold the sheep business in 1984. Cattle were run from the early 1940s to 1992.
Pierre Pouquette, Sr., arrived in the United States in 1881, settled in Ventura, California and began running sheep. Pierre married Marie Manaut in San Francisco. Three children were born to the couple in California: Catherine, born in 1886, Joseph, 1888, and Charlotte, 1890. Another son, Leon, was born to them in France when they returned after Charlotte’s birth. Pierre, Sr. returned to the United States in 1900, but without his family, settling in the Ash Fork area. He would remain three years in the United States before he would return to France.
Simon, Pierre’s brother, came to Arizona sometime in the 1890s and made the first purchase of the Red Hill Ranch. He would run sheep on it until 1903 when he sold the ranch to Charlie Burton with 8,000 head of sheep. He also returned to France returning in 1908 with his niece, Charlotte, as his wife. Historical documentation is missing as to when Simon began to run sheep again and clues come from the Arizona Wool Growers’ Association where his sporadic membership is listed for several years. He simply may not always have been a member of the association. Charlotte and Simon had six children: Pete, Alma, Robert, Frank, Catherine and Aimee. Upon Simon's death in 1927, John Simpson who had married Aimee ran the sheep for Charlotte.
Joseph, Pierre’s son, returned to the United States also settling in Arizona in 1903 at the age of 15. Joseph worked with many sheep outfits until he could afford to purchase his own sheep and began his outfit. Marguerite Bordenave became Joseph’s wife in 1915 in California. Their oldest child, Pierre, was born in 1917 in San Francisco. Two more children, Marie (1919) and Albert (1925), would be born to the couple in Arizona. Joseph served as an interpreter in the US Army during WWI in France. Upon his discharge at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, he returned first to California and then moved the family to the Williams area in 1917 where he returned to the sheep business running 3,000 sheep under the name of Pouquette Sheep Company.
Joseph, his uncle and herders trailed the sheep between Wickenburg and Williams each spring while the family traveled by train; car travel would come later. The mother would be responsible for moving all the household goods that would be needed for the summer and then return everything again in the fall. This would include their chickens, clothes, dishes, bedding and anything else that would be needed.
Joseph ran sheep with John Aleman under Pouquette-Aleman Sheep Company for several years in the 1930s. In 1945, Joseph and his sister, Charlotte, were able to re-buy the Red Hill Ranch running sheep under the Red Hill Sheep Company. Trailing 4,000 sheep from Utah with his uncle, Leon, and a herder, they crossed the Colorado River making over 40 trips as a ferry could only carry one hundred sheep at a time. With a flip of a coin, the Red Hill Ranch was divided between Charlotte and Joseph. Joseph’s family sold their portion in 1996 after 51 years.
Joseph’s two sons joined him in the business; Pierre in 1935 upon his high school graduation and Albert, upon returning from his service in WWII. Sheep were trailed during most of the time Pierre worked with his dad, but either first by train, then truck by the time Albert started to help. Upon his death in 1968, a year after receiving the distinguished honor by the Arizona Wool Growers’ Association of being the oldest sheep rancher and one of his original members, his children inherited the Red Hill Sheep Company and Marie sold her third to her brothers.
Pierre married his high school sweetheart, Mary Kerkes, on October 6, 1940. Mary Kerkes was born March 12, 1917 in Constellation (also known as Golden State), Arizona. The couple had four children, three daughters, Melanie, Annette and Denise, and one son, Thomas Pierre, who died at age two from influenza. Mary was active in Girl Scouts and her church. Their parents made sacrifices for their children especially when it was time to move between Wickenburg and Williams, winter and summer grazing. School attendance was one of the biggest challenges as the girls would start school in Williams for the first six weeks and then after the move to Wickenburg would continue there for the rest of the school year. It was during the children’s high school years, that the mother would move before the beginning of the fall school year so the children could attend one school. Their father would follow later in the fall when he shipped sheep down to the Boswell Family Farm for the winter.
During the summer months many sheep owners were active in sports in Williams. Pierre and Albert played on the softball team, Williams Merchants and Pierre, in the winter, the Wickenburg Merchants. Pierre was selected as a member of the Arizona All-Star team in 1938 and won the Most Valuable Player in 1949.
Albert, Sr. was born on March 8, 1925 in Arizona. He joined the sheep business after serving as a Seaman 1st Class working as an airplane mechanic in WWII and fought in the Pacific Theater in seven major battles. In 1947 Albert, Sr. married Edith Bess. They had four children, Albert Joseph, Jr., Jerry Luther (deceased), Diana and Chedelle. Williams was considered their summer home when the sheep needed to be moved from their desert winter grazing area. Moving at least 80 times with two moves a year, Edith as well as Mary did a lot of packing and unpacking while their husbands either trailed the sheep with the herders or shipped via rail or truck twice a year. Winter grazing was either in Marinette, Mohave or Parker/Blythe area. When the youngest, Chedelle, was ready to start high school, Williams became their permanent home. Albert, Sr., and Edith were active in the community serving in the church; Edith was a Sunday school teacher for 60 years.
Our great grandfather, Pierre; Pierre’s sons Joseph and Leon and Pierre’s daughter, Charlotte; Joseph’s sons Pierre and Albert, Sr. were wool raisers for more than 84 years collectively. As has been shown, the family of Joseph Pouquette with his two sons, Pierre and Albert, had been very involved in the sheep industry in Arizona. All were members of the Arizona Wool Growers Association except our great-grandfather starting in the early 1900s. They provided lamb meat for the soldiers and wool for their uniforms during WWII. Joseph and his son, Albert, Sr. fought in WWI and WWII, respectfully. The men and their wives were active in their communities: church, sports, Girl Scouts and made donations to 4H.
