Jim-Sam Haught

I suppose Jim Sam's size made him easy to remember. He was six feet five inches tall and when astride a small horse he could literally drag his feet. Jim Sam was a joker. Everything was a joke to him and he did a lot of laughing. He lived on Spring Creek and had a small herd of cattle. He did a little farming and mined some gold in the immediate area of his ranch. He stole a few cattle for food and said," The most helpless idiot I know is a guy that eats his own beef."

Bill Cohea was raising hogs on a ranch near Jim Sam. Once Jim Sam just loaded a wagon with Bill's hogs and drove them to Globe where he sold them. Of course Cohea challenged him so Jim Sam just gave him the money he had collected for the hogs. He said, "Well, Bill, I was just helping you harvest!" It was all a big joke to Jim Sam.

Once D.C. Sparks was riding with Jim Sam and D C was wearing a new Stetson hat for which he had paid more than a month's wages. D C"s hat blew off and Jim Sam whipped out his pistol and shot the hat full of holes. He said, "Damn, D C, I'm sorry. I thought it was a coyote."

I saw Jim Sam just a few years before he died and he was bent almost double and could hardly walk but he was interested in what I had done in my profession. He almost wore me out with questions about my work, family and other things and he seemed reluctant to let me go. I always thought Jim Sam was "big" in more than his physical size. He raised a nice family and provided much entertainment for those around him.