Wayne Thornberg
Litchfield Park - Maricopa County
Inducted in 2011
Wayne Wright Thornburg's deep connection to ranching was evident from his early years. Born at Rancho Los Alamitos on June 16, 1891, he was raised in a family with a strong ranching tradition. His formative years were spent living and working on ranches, instilling in him a profound understanding and love for agriculture.
Wayne's family was among the early European settlers in California. His mother's family came around "the Horn" by ship during the Gold Rush of 1840. In the 1870s, his father arrived via wagon train. Young Wayne attended what is now the California Institute of Technology for seven years while working on his uncle's cattle ranch in Central California. Following school, he worked for George Wingfield's cattle and sheep ranches in Nevada and later on the Owens River-Los Angeles aqueduct, where he became the head zanjero of water distribution in 1916. He left that position to enlist in the Army and battle in World War I.
In 1919, with the war over, Second Lieutenant Wayne Thornburg returned home to begin life as a civilian. He soon managed three Yavapai County ranches: the Diamond Two, Three Links, and Clear Creek Cattle Company. His concern for agriculture in the state led him to serve two terms in the Arizona Legislature as a Senator from Yavapai County.
During his time in office, he was a leader in creating the State Highway Department and the State Industrial Commission. His role as chairman of the Senate Livestock Committee allowed him to advocate for policies that would benefit the state's agricultural sector, further cementing his legacy as a leader in Arizona's agricultural development.
With interests spread around the state, in 1927, Wayne and his wife Mary packed up and moved to the Valley to be more centrally located. Wayne bought ten acres of land in the middle of a cotton field on what is now North Central Avenue in Phoenix. The property was rural at the time, about six miles from town. Here, he built his home and made his base of operation. Always the visionary, Wayne didn't look at the pit where the mud had been dug to make the adobe bricks to build the house as just a pit. He saw it as a swimming pool where his family and friends could splash, swim, and cool off on weekends. He didn't know the swimming pool as just a swimming pool but as a water source to irrigate his citrus grove during the week. While Wayne's dedication to improving agriculture in the state was unwavering, his personal life was not without its challenges. The long hours and commitment to his work took a toll on his marriage, leading to a difficult period. However, Wayne's resilience and determination to overcome personal hardships are a testament to his character and strength of spirit.
Wayne's life changed for the better when he met and married Barbara Bixby Frye. Barbara had two boys and two girls, and Wayne embraced them as his own, demonstrating his deep commitment to family and his capacity for love and care. This aspect of Wayne's life brings a sense of warmth and love to his story.
According to Thornburg descendant John Burross, the citrus trees on Wayne's property were protected by sour orange and ash trees along North Central Avenue. "You'd have the Ash trees that arched over, and then you had the olive trees, then the citrus groves." he said. "The border citrus were all sour orange to keep people from stealing the crop. You put the sour orange in, and that stopped everybody because everything tastes bad." Boys will be boys, and stepson Bob Frye wasn't above having a little fun with passing tourists. "We'd get out there, and people would be driving by from the East and all that, and they'd see those oranges and say, 'Oh, can we have an orange?' 'Oh, yeah, yeah. Gladly. Take a lot of them. You know, they'd peel it and ahhhh. It was the same way with olives. We used to get the biggest kick out of them. Being ornery," he chuckled.
As Wayne's expertise grew, his reputation grew from the local to the national level. In the 1930s, he was appointed to the five-member Executive Committee of the U.S. Regional Agricultural Credit Corporation. The select committee was empowered to draw money directly from the U.S. Treasury for use in agriculture. He was named chair of the National Public Lands Committee, created under the Taylor Grazing Act. In addition, he was one of five men in a group who made recommendations for changes to the controlled land grazing regulation.
Wayne ran cattle in the West Valley at 107th Avenue, Indian School Road, Sarival, and Olive Roads. It was his involvement with cattle that led to his interest in grapes. The converted manure-enriched soil made the perfect environment to plant his vineyards. He was the second grower in Arizona to plant Cardinal grapes. When it became evident that he needed to find a new variety that would mature slightly faster to give him an edge in getting to market earlier, he developed the Robin grape and named it after his granddaughter. Because of patent protection, Thornburg was the only grower in America authorized to grow the new variety.
"My stepdad had developed an exotic grape, a black grape with the same cross as the Cardinal, except it followed the Ribier side, and the Cardinal followed the Tokay side. They were an identical cross," Bob said. "They went out almost simultaneously because everybody was growing seeded grapes here. I doubt you can get a Cardinal grape now because nobody knows what they are." Consumers were looking for seedless grapes. Thomburg not only sold his grapes to U.S. markets but also to markets in Asia and South America. They were packed in boxes partially filled with sawdust to protect the grapes in transit. "There aren't any grapes in Phoenix anymore," said Bob. "They all went out because it got too costly." The industry has moved to the West Coast. "California still grows many grapes, but they're bringing in so many from Chile and Mexico. Probably 50 percent of the stuff comes from out of the country now. All cheap labor."
Wayne was once part of an experiment that has become a piece of Arizona's lesser-known history. He and a partner were the largest growers of sugar beets for seeds in the United States and possibly the world. Bob said, "They tried sugar beets for sugar twice. Floyd Smith got Spreckles to build a plant over in Chandler. They grew sugar beets here for probably five years. They all had to quit because they couldn't get enough sugar (from the beets), and they closed it all down," he recalls.
Agribusiness, livestock issues, water issues, and issues concerning the grape industry led to Wayne's involvement with numerous organizations and associations. He served as director and president of the Maricopa County Municipal Water Conservation District I during the 1950s and 1960s. He was president of the Arizona Cattle Growers Association (1939), the first president of the Arizona Livestock Production Credit Association, president of the California Cattlemen's Association, a member of the Executive Committee of the American National Livestock Association, and the first president of the Arizona Grape Growers Association. The ranch was sold in 1960, and Thornburg retired, but not before propagating a new black early grape called the Exotic on his Sarival Ranch.
Wayne Thornburg passed away at the age of 89 in 1980.
Affiliations
U.S. Regional Agricultural Credit Corporation - Executive Committee
National Public Lands Committee - Chairman
Maricopa County Municipal Water Conservation District 1 - Director and President
Arizona State Legislature - Yavapai County, 1927-1929
Arizona Cattle Growers Association - President, 1939
Arizona Livestock Production Credit Association - First President
California Cattlemen's Association - President
American National Livestock Association - Executive Committee
Arizona Grape Growers Association - First President
North Phoenix Congregational Church- Founders
Pacific School of Religion, Berkley - Trustee
Beardsley-Waddell Water District - Director
Awards
Agriculturist of the Month- Valley of the Sun Kiwanis, 1955
75th Anniversary Medallion of Merit - University of Arizona, 1961
