The Forrest Johnson’s had taken over the old abandoned cabin on Day Wash, south of where the former sheep ranches of John West-(1884) & a Mr. Longmore (1887) once were, with the Frank Day & Mose Emmett ranches below. The Newman Brother’s-(sheepmen) and Barr Turley owned portions of these earlier homesteads at one time. Harry Newman still owns his portion in 2008 and the Alma Bigler Family owns the Sundown Girl’s Ranch they once operated (1954-1962) which was first owned and operated by Barr Turley. The remains of the Johnson cabin are still there [a pile of logs], just north of Highway #260, half way between Overgaard and Clay Springs. One of the area’s busy Holiday Sawmill’s once operated out of Day Wash, south of Hwy #260, directly across from where the Johnson’s cabin stood. Leonard Kizzar, who once attended that school, says that the school house was located west of the cabin across Day Wash and north of the sawmill, near where FS #332 goes to the north off of Hwy. #260. The small cattle tank in this area may have been created by what was once the foundation of the school. That is the general area Leonard indicated for the old Holiday Sawmill School House. This is where Joyce and Junior Williams & Dotty Brimhall began their tour- at the Forest Johnson’s cabin on Day Wash. Junior: “Just south of the old cabin used to be a cement tank with a windmill which Barr & Fred Turley had built to capture water. A pipe was run along the bottom of Day Wash and then the water was released to flow by gravity down to the Sundown Girl’s Swimming pool. It didn’t work. When the water reached the pool, it was merely a trickle. “The Johnson’s used to farm the land north of the cabin. It was planted into corn and when harvest time came around Forest Johnson needed help. The Williams boys were often there at harvest time. The older boy Tex Johnson (who later bought the bunk house and the cabin for his folks) and the whole family were very fond of the radio show “Days of Your Life.” Before any work could proceed they had to cuss and discuss the show and its characters. What would happen to Helen Trent next? The cabin was built by Zeke B. Decker in either 1908 or 1912. It had a huge fireplace in the main down stairs area. The kitchen was attached to the south of the cabin with a shed roof. There was also stairs and a little attic area. One of the Johnson boys came to school one day with a knot on his head. He had been running away from his dad and forgot to duck at the attic entrance. The Johnsons had moved there from Peoria, Arizona. They were very poor. When Mrs. Johnson’s dad died, his coffin was a blanket wrapped around him. An older daughter, Mildred married Lloyd Parker. According to their daughter, Joanne, Lloyd and Mildred created “the last homestead in the area” over on Willow Wash at the junction of Hwy #260 and the F.S. Rd ( ) which turns to the south just before Willow Wash. Their barn was on the hill to the west of the house. These buildings could be seen from Willow Wash School.” Clay Springs Pioneers and their Descendants (Page 327) “Levi was looking west of the Mortensen Ranch, near where the town of Pinedale would establish, where he had worked earlier. He found out that one of the sons of an earlier Pinedale settler-Lars Petersen, had homesteaded in a small valley just east of Rattlesnake Mountain. He became acquainted with the young settler with the distinguished Danish name of Thorvald Abraham Petersen. His distinguished name was shortened to “Tall” Petersen for all of his family and friends. Tall & Levi discussed the possibility of Levi home-teading near Tal’s location, which was at the south eastern end of the Clay Springs valley.” # D. p.45, Laurena Brewer: “He was made welcome and stayed for a while at Thorvald Petersen’s place. Thorvald or “Tall”, as he was better known, was a single man who had taken out his homestead and was living on it in a dugout he had made in the side of the ravine that ran through his ranch. His dugout was located at the base of a small knoll just east of what is called Rattlesnake Hill where he had taken up his new 160 acre homestead. The hill at that time was, as the name implies, heavily infested with rattlesnakes. He had laid his dugout up with logs on the sides and end and roofed it with logs covered with dirt making it very comfortable for bachelor’s quarters. No Indian, nor Hash-knife Gang or anyone else ran him off, as others had been. He sat in the entrance of his little dugout with a shotgun over his knees. Grandpa Levi pitched his tent on the Forest Service property on the east side of Thorvald’s property. Besides the temporary housing on the Forest Service land Levi had also built a small one room cabin on his new homestead south of Thorvald’s.” Even though Levi had a ‘regular homestead’ S. of Thorvald’s, he, at this time, concentrated his efforts on the area east of Tall’s, probably because it was located on the main route of travel & he, in connection with his freighting, was establishing a store there. Herbert A Hancock continues: “As Levi’s little home progressed he could see a growing need for a larger building to accommodate the need for social, religious and various community activities. So the building plans were changed to include a good sized community hall along the north side of Levi’s home. In the coming years it would serve as a church meeting house, a social dance hall for the entire area, and a school building for the growing population. The weekly dances, held in the social hall, became a big time attraction for folks up to thirty miles in every direction. My dad, Ben McNeil, met my mother, Ethel Hancock, whom he later married at these dances. Ben and Jim McNeil would ride their horses over along with others & ride back after the dance, making it an all night ritual. The music for this popular social function, a player piano, was hauled by Levi Hancock and his family all the way from the Gila valley. Perhaps one of their best investments, as it also served the church and the school for their music activities. [Laurena Brewer: People took turns pumping it.] When the Clay Springs Branch was organized in 1916, Orpha Staniford played this same piano for church services. [The piano is now at Don Jackson’s –Orpha & Don’s] Herbert A Hancock continues: “During these same years, a similar kind of growth was taking place on the northwest side of the valley, with approximately the same number of people. Of course, a school was also required and built in that area. Both of these schools, the Walker or Cross I L school in the north west and the Woodrow school, held in the Levi Hancock building in the south east, would function until the small community was combined and consolidated into a central area and officially named the Town of Clay Springs, Arizona. My father, Levi Joseph Hancock attended school at the Woodrow School, which met in the Levi McCleve Hancock Hall and Roy Lewis, who later would become my step father, after my father died in 1936, attended the Walker school.” Clay Springs Pioneers and their Descendants Page 343 “In the Meantime ‘Tall’ Petersen had married ‘Dora’ Hancock- # D “Tall” Petersen married Dora, Levi’s oldest daughter on October 13, 1913. When their first child was to be born, Dora went to Taylor to be with her mother and Grandmother Margaret Hancock, who delivered Woodrow, then she came right back to the ranch. This was the first newborn baby in the settlement…& the reason the 2nd school district in the area held in the Levi Hancock building was called the ‘Woodrow School district.” Clay Springs Pioneers and their Descendants Page 344