by William Howard in 1977
Fifty-five acres ordering Oak Creek in the Red Rock Loop area comprise the remainder of the Fred Schuerman Ranch. There’s a house on that land that Fred was born in, and in which he and wife Geraldine live today. Three Schuerman children share the home–there’s John, the eldest; Charles, a high school student; and Patsy, their 13-year-old sister
Originally, the ranch was a 160-acre homestead. Oak Creek, then as now, provides irrigation water. “When I was a boy,” Fred recalled, “my hands fitted around a lot of hoe handles.” They still do. Ditches carrying water to the 35 acres under cultivation need constant watching, weeding, and repair.
Trees producing red and yellow Delicious apples share moisture with those producing peaches. Grapes were once a crop, but with closure of the Clarkdale smelters which processed copper ore from Jerome, demand dropped. Coke may have warmed the copper, but juice of the grape warmed many Italians employed at the smelters. Medicinal purposes, of course.
Much of Sedona lies in the past awaiting an abundant future. THOSE EARLY DAYS, a publication of Sedona Westerners, is available at The Worm Book Store, Sedona. It’s great reading and is crowded with anecdotal history that Fred’s relatives and their friends were a part of.
Stories of the early Then or the present Now leave a gap. The Fred Schuerman story fills a bit – 1927 to whatever the date of this paper is.
Fred’s boyhood pal was his cousin, Sherman Loy. Both lived on the “Loop” and attended a one-room schoolhouse there. “Attendance was pretty hard to get,” Fred remembered. “Oftentimes, a school teacher with kids of her own was hired so that enough students would be available to warrant holding school.”
Recreation wasn’t found on horses. Tractors were in. Dobbin was out. “We fished the creek, went swimmin’ and scouted around a lot,” Fred said. Trapping was an additional activity. “Coyotes, bobcats, and muskrats. Muskrats, especially. Their pelts brought us as high as one dollar apiece.”
A buck was a bunch in those depression years. “I don’t think we had it much worse then than now,” Fred said. “We used to barter a lot. We had chickens for eatin’ and eggs. Some livestock was raised for family use. Nowadays, chickens cost too much to feed, and eggs are cheaper in the carton. We didn’t have much money but we didn’t need much, like these days.”
There was one recreation that Fred and his cousin put a lot of effort into. They used to ride their bikes up the “Loop” to a paved 89-A. Oak Creek in Sedona and on up to Indian Gardens meant more miles. What made the trip worthwhile was the Indian Gardens Skating Rink. From 2:00 to 10:00 p.m. – double sessions – the boys skated along with their chums. There was the long ride back home. Once again off 89-A, it was dirt road, downhill, at night. But it was buffeted by a happy weariness born of a long day and evening filled with all those things important to kids.
Fred would like to see Courthouse Rock, near Red Rock Crossing, declared a national monument. It would please him if a recreational area were developed somewhere along the “Loop” area.
Part of Fred’s land is occupied by the 18-unit Schuerman Mobile Home Park. Upcoming is a subdivided 8.5 acres into approximately 1/3-acre lots.
Times have changed. But how about Fred? Sedonan Bob Adams, who lived on the Schuerman Ranch for 7 years, had this to say, “Guys like Fred are a vanishing breed of American. He’d help you any time, regardless of weather or circumstances, and wouldn’t take a nickle for it. He really does care about people.”
It can’t be helped that lot of people care about Fred.
