WILLCOX Cowboy Hall of Fame inductees

H.C. (JAY) DOBSON (107)
2011 COWBOY HALL OF FAME INDUCTEE

H.C. Dobson (Jay) has been in the ranching business since he was 21 years old and for the past 31 years the Three Links Ranch was home to the Dobson Cattle Company. Jay started ranching on the Fort Rock ranch near Seligman, just before marrying Carolyn; he was 21 and she was 17. They moved back and forth to Sasabe, Arizona to the Buenos Aries ranch and then back to Fort Rock again. Along the way the Dobson family purchased the 96 and 3C ranches between Florence and Tucson. During the summer, Jay was also keeping an eye on the sheep and cattle businesses in Springerville, AZ. Eventually the Fort Rock and Buenos Aries ranches were sold. In 1980, the Three Links Ranch west of Willcox was bought, and the Dobson Cattle Company has been there ever since. The 96 and 3C were sold off in the early '80's; Jay then purchased the Three Links Farm on the San Pedro River and the White House Ranch north of Benson. The Three Links Farm was sold in 2000, and the White House Ranch was sold a few years later.

Today, Jay and Carolyn are running cattle on the Three Links and have enjoyed the place for 31 years watching their family grow into the next generation of ranchers. Jay and Carolyn have three girls, Laurie, Ginger and Corinne. All the girls married and had kids who grew up "on the ranch". Laurie and Billy Resor have sons Tanner and Cody. Ginger has Casey and Preston and Corinne has Chelsey, Dylan and Jaycee. Jay has two grandsons Will and Rio.

Jay has always been a quiet man, but he's been known to always want a calf or a rain anytime of the year.