HOW THE B-13 RANCH CAME TO BE
Written by Hester Elizabeth Brimhall



A Clan So Large That Only The Wide Open Spaces Is Adequate To Accommodate Everyone! They Needed A Ranch For Their Reunions!

When Logan Brimhall, his wife Mary and a dozen children found no more appropriate locations for their large family reunions, they solved the problem in an unusual way.

To obtain the necessary elbow room the family purchased a 72-acre spread in 1959 on the Mogollon Rim in the Arizona White Mountains and formed a legal corporation with each child contributing towards the purchase and in like manner, with each child and their posterity sharing in the benefits of the B-13 Ranch. As of this writing, 2005, the descendents of Logan and Mary Brimhall exceed 700 individuals.

Legally, the family organization is know as the Brimhallıs-13, Inc., named after the father and his 13 children, one of whom, Hulda Lou, was deceased at the time of the purchase. The 12 other children are all married boasting of many children, grandchildren and now great grand children.

The B-13 Ranch is located at Pinedale, Arizona, 15 miles north west of Showlow at an 7,000 foot level. It is a haven for any of the clan who might suffer temporary economic reverses and who might just need a rest. It is also the site for an unusual family reunion held every second weekend (first weekend as of 2005 forward) of August. A standing committee is organized for the reunions under the direction of the B-13 the Presidency.

Each year an assigned family arranges a different plan of reunion activities. The following is a typical program of our family reunion. All families participate in a parade replete with floats unwatched by any onlooker, since everyone is in the parade. A twenty piece band marches and plays and is made up of the musical students of the family. There is even a drum majorette. Since there are now over 700 descendants of Logan and Mary, this is quite an affair. Next about fifteen cattle, ranging from calves to a bull, are volunteered for the B-13 Rodeo. The riders range from bull-riding fathers to children as soon as they are big enough to climb on the back of a calve. Even a few sheep are ridden by some of the braver boys? Evening brings programs, songfests, talent shows and lively dancing with everyone participating. The programs take place in the large family center built by the willing hands of the family. To close the evening, all gather around a huge campfire where the smell of roasting marshmallows is unmistakable and tall tales are told about the area and about each other. Whoops of laughter ring through the pine covered mountains and valleys! The evening always ends with a formal prayer of gratitude to our Heavenly Father for the blessings of family, life and liberty in this great land of the United State of American. The following morning Sunday services are held in the family center or the Ampli Theater next to the family center, followed by the family business meeting.

R. D. Owens homesteaded the Ranch in the late 1800s. It was purchased by the B-13 Family Organization from the Cheney Family in 1959 through great sacrifice made by all of the B-13 families. Our family Patriarch, Logan Brimhall and his brothers herded cattle here as boys in the early 1900s and was one of their favorite places. The B-13 Family now owns the original deed signed by President Theodore Roosevelt.

The reunions have been a great blessing to all of the family as we have come to know and love one another so much over these many years. Even though we are scattered throughout the United States and the World, there is only one place on this earth to be on the first weekend of August, and that is at the B-13 Family Reunion on the B-13 Ranch!