Roy & Peggy Boss
Peggy & Roy Boss
Douglas - Cochise County
Inducted in 2020
The Boss Ranch is located in the Pedregosa Mountains, 25 miles from the border with Mexico and 25 miles from the border with New Mexico. Roy was born January 14, 1911 in El Paso Texas. He was about three weeks old when he left El Paso on the Southwestern train headed for Arizona. Roy and his big sister Louella and his mom rode it to the Chiricahua Station where Roy’s dad picked them up and took them to the Boss Ranch in a horse drawn wagon. The Boss Ranch was homesteaded by Roy’s parents in 1910.
The ranch house was a two-room house at the bottom of a narrow canyon. The ranch house was a cozy two-room house at the bottom of a narrow canyon. Roy lived on the ranch and in the same house all of his life except when he was in high school and when he was in the army during World War II.
When he was little he rode with his Dad. When the day was done his Dad would tell Roy, “Go ahead and turn your horse out.” Roy would ask, “What are you going to do with your horse?” “Well I’m going to keep him up,” his Dad would say. “Then I want to keep my horse up also.” If his Dad was going to ride some more then Roy was going with him.
Roy’s mother thought it would be a good idea for him to attend school. So mother and the kids moved to Douglas in the winter so he could begin his formal education. He graduated from Douglas High School in 1931. Summer came and the moved back to the ranch. There wasn’t always enough to do on the Dad’s ranch to keep all of the boys busy, so they worked for the neighbors when they needed help. Roy rode the ranches of Cochise County for over 80 years. When World War II broke out he enlisted in the Army. For three plus years his unit served on the European Front, in North Africa, France and Germany. After WWII Roy returned back home to the Boss ranch, put on his hat and boots and became a cowboy again. Back in the saddle, it wasn’t long before Roy took over the ranching operation from his parents.
Roy was an exceptional roper it didn’t matter if he was doctoring cattle for Screwworms on the range or roping in a rodeo. Roy could hold his own. The local rodeos were a part of his fondest memories. Those who saw him rope said, “He could have won a lot of money roping. He just didn’t go that much.”
Roy loved being outdoors. Ranching in those days meant lots of time in the saddle. So in 1945 he bought his first Quarter Horse stallion and started breeding horses. At one time, he kept a herd of 20 – 30 brood mares. They were all top of the line Quarter Horse stock. He spent the last 60 years of his life raising American Quarter horses. In 2000 the American Quarter Horse Association honored him for 50 years of breeding Quarter Horses.
In 1955, Roy and Peggy Noland started dating on a regular basis. Peggy was a local girl and a registered nurse at the Phelps Dodge Hospital in Douglas. They married in the First Baptist Church in Douglas the next year. R.O. moved to their home in Douglas, where they lived until their deaths. Roy and Peggy purchased the ranch from the older Bosses in 1957.
Roy and Peggy were married nearly 50 years. Peggy said, “He dated all of my sisters, but I was the one that got him.” They have one daughter Sandra, and two sons Richard and Robert. Peggy described Roy as soft-spoken, kind and gentle and that he had a way with horses. Roy passed away on November 21, 2005 and is buried in Douglas.
Boss Ranch is still a cow-calf operation. The sire bulls are now Angus and Brangus. The Quarter Horse breeding operation is still active with one stallion and ten mares. Bob now manages the day-to-day operation of running the ranch with the help of his son Garret and friends.
Affiliations
Douglas, Arizona Elks Lodge-lifetime member
Arizona Cattle Growers’ Association
Cochise Graham Cattle Growers Association
American Quarter Horse Journal
Awards
Pioneer Stockman by Arizona National Livestock Show -1985
Member of the Living Stockman Hall of Fame-1985
Best ranch raise yearling consigned to the Arizona Ranch Remuda Sale in Prescott
