The Wear Family
W.D. Wear Jr.
Willcox- Cochise County
Inducted in 2024
W.D. Wear
William Green Wear and his wife Sarah left the Big Bend country of Texas in 1901, driving a herd of cattle toward Arizona Territory, arriving around 1902. They established a cattle ranch in the Sunset area on the eastern slope of the Galiuro Mountains. William kept a diary that the family later published into a book called “The Life and Times of William Green Wear, American Cowboy 1856 – 1927.”
William and Sarah’s son William Dudley “Dud” Wear Sr., his wife Bessie, and their infant son William Jr. arrived in Arizona in 1913. Times were tough during the 1920s. William and Sarah stayed at the Wear Ranch. Dud and his family lived on and managed the Eureka Ranch in Aravaipa Canyon, which the Kennedy Brothers owned. When the Boice Brothers purchased Eureka, the Wear family moved to the O Bar O, where Dud was the manager for many years. The Kennedy Brothers gave Dud the choice of a foal when he left the ranch. He picked a stud colt he named Tony. Dud saddle broke him and trained him for roping. He began breeding him in 1930. Dud’s son William Jr., known as Dee, always considered the ranches his dad managed as home, even though the family always maintained the Wear Ranch in the Galiuros. The Wear Ranch became home to Dee when he married Margaret “Peggy” Warren. Her mother was Maria “Mila” Allaire.
In 1883, Thomas Allaire traveled from Virginia with his son Gifford to check out land in Arizona Territory. Thomas established his ranch southeast of Willcox, 17 miles from what would be later known as the Kansas Settlement. He sent for his wife and daughters, one of whom was Mila, in 1884. Thomas also established a store in Klondyke and purchased the Four Mile Ranch from John Greenwood. Mila married Robert Warren. After several years of their many adventures, she brought her children back to the Allaire Ranch where she had grown up.
When they married, the Wear Ranch became home to Dee and Peggy until 1949, when Mila transferred the Allaire Ranch to them. The couple had two children, the late Robert “Bob” and Betty Jo. Peggy and the children moved to Willcox for the children to attend school. She drove the school bus until Bob reached 8th grade. They spent their weekends, holidays, and summers working cattle and horses at the ranch and doing all the chores a ranch mandates.
Dud and Dee raised, trained, raced, showed, and sold Quarter Horses for several years. In 1940, Dud sent Dee and Ernest Browning to Fort Worth for a meeting founding the American Quarter Horse Association. The Wears were charter members of the AQHA as well as stockholders. Dee was named as one of the vice presidents of the Association. The Wear horses became known all over the southwest for their confirmation, speed, and cow sense. The stud horse Tony was an all-around horse used for both breeding and ranch work; he was a Wear family favorite. His ad for breeding purposes notes that he has proven to be one of the strongest Steeldust stallions in the West. Tony’s son, Tony Jr., was also used for breeding, ranch work, and team roping. Betty Jo notes that Tony Jr. loved showing off and was a well-behaved stud horse. She rode him in her Queen contests and parades. Idaleen, sired by Tony and foaled in 1939, was unbeaten for several years at 300 yards. Betty Jo remembers traveling with her dad, mom, and brother in the one-seat-bobtail truck they used to deliver horses to their new owners.
Betty Jo “Honey” Wear Nicholson
Betty Jo Wear was born in Tucson, and her parents brought her to their Flying X Ranch in the Sunset Loop, southwest of Fort Grant. Her brother Bob called her Honey; many know her by that name today. She was the first female president of the Arizona Junior Cattle Growers at age fifteen. Betty Jo graduated from Willcox High School as the first Rex Allen Day Queen. She attended Arizona State University before transferring to the University of Arizona, where she was U of A Rodeo Queen and Miss Cochise County. Betty Jo married Paul Nicholson and became the parents of three daughters, Shannon, Laurie Dee, and Paula Jo. The girls enjoyed spending time at the Wear Ranch during their growing-up years. Betty Jo continued her education, earning a Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree from the U of A. She worked as a teacher, a counselor, and later administrator. She taught counseling at the U of A during the summer. Betty Jo and Paul bought a ranch in Wyoming. After Paul passed away from a fatal heart attack at the age of 58, Betty Jo moved back to Willcox, where her dad was still operating the Sunset Loop and Allaire Ranches.
Betty Jo has stayed active in agricultural organizations and her community. She is a lifetime member of Rex Allen Days and held many board positions. Willcox honored her as a “Favorite Daughter” in 2007. Betty Jo is notable for her work in preserving Western heritage and history. As a twenty-year National Cattlemen’s Beef Association member, she served on the Federal Lands Policy Committee. Her current brands are the Spear H and the Corporal Stripe. Betty Jo owns the Allaire Ranch at Kansas Settlement. It is currently leased to her daughter and son-in-law, Shannon and Paul Bales.
Mike Wear
When Michael Dudley Wear was three years old, his dad, Bob Wear, was killed in an accident working for the local electric co-op. His widow Marie and three sons, Sloan, Ross, and Mike, moved to Las Cruces. Dee continued to help support and educate his grandsons. Mike graduated from New Mexico State University with a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture. He moved back to Arizona after graduation. Mike worked part-time for his grandfather, was a day worker for other ranchers, and worked one day a week at the Willcox Livestock Auction. When he worked for his grandfather, part of his compensation was the odd-colored calves. One memory Mike has is that generations of Wear men were whittlers. However, Betty Jo was the first Wear woman to learn to whittle when she was just a little girl. In addition, the Wears left their marks on the barn door at the Wear Ranch, along with carvings on their rifle stocks. Mike continued to help his grandfather on the Flying X, and when Dee Wear passed away in 2000 at 87, Mike assumed management of the ranch.
From 1986 to 1992, Mike worked for the Livestock Sanitary Board at many locations around the state. In 1986, he married Leona and she brought her young son Bleu into the family. The couple became parents to William Dudley III and Michael Robert. Mike became a Graham County Deputy Sheriff in 1992 and retired in 2012. He was named Graham County Deputy of the Year twice and served on the Graham County Public Safety Retirement Board of Directors.
Mike has remained steadily active in industry politics. A former president of the Cochise-Graham Cattle Growers, board member of Arizona Cattle Grower’s Association, Mike was Chairman of the Brand, Health, and Theft Committee. The ACGA president appointed Mike to establish the Arizona Brands Task Force, chartered to address enforcement issues and correct a growing problem with duplicate brands. Mike’s brands are the MY and the Y drag V. Mike owns a ranch in the Chiricahuas, and his son Dee is on a ranch leased by his mother in New Mexico.
Affiliations
Betty Jo Wear
Arizona Cattle Growers
Cochise Graham Cattle Grower’s
National Cattlemen’s Beef Association
Arizona State Cowbelles - Past-President
Willcox Cowbelles - Past-President
ASC Cattle Woman of the Year 2017
American National CattleWomen
Michael Wear
Graham County Deputy Sheriff - Retired
Deputy of the Year 1996 & 2011
Arizona Cattle Growers – Board 2008-2012
Executive Board 2018-2021
Cochise Graham Cattle Growers -Past Pres.
Bonita School Board President 1999-2001
Sierra County NM Cattle Grower- Board of Directors