Henry Hooker is best known as a major cattleman in Southeast Arizona during the Earp-Cow-boy times. But before that, he tried a different venture.
In 1865, while living in northern California, Hooker needed money to rebuild a hardware business. So he purchased a flock of 500 turkeys and drove them—yes, like cattle—from Hangtown (now Placerville) to Carson City, NV. The enterprise made

True West March/April 2025
In This Issue:
Western Books & Movies
More In This Issue
- Truth Be Known
- What Has Taught Me: Deb Goodrich
- Earp, Cowboy Songs & Prairie Hygiene
- Trails of the Old West
- The Frontier Characters of South Dakota
- The Bowie Knife
- The Kindled Flame 1835
- King of the Scatterguns
- Selling the Mythic West and the Real West
- A Gut Punch Turns into a Miracle Reprieve
- The Beginnings of the Bird Cage
- Frontier Colossus