WILLCOX Cowboy Hall of Fame inductees

Joe Cannon (124)
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2019 COWBOY HALL OF FAME

Joe Cannon may be a bit too old to shoe his horses these days, but that doesn’t prevent him saddling up and riding the ranch.

“I’m not tired yet; I think I’ll stay around a while longer. Everything seems to be going pretty good,” he said.

Cannon was inducted to the Willcox Cowboy Hall of Fame last Thursday, along with posthumous inductee Jim Tout.

“If you ever crossed paths with my grandfather, you were truly blessed,” said Tout’s grandson, Chance Fraze.

Cannon began cowboying at age 13 for the McMillian Ranch in Silver City, N.M., helping run 1,600 head of mother cows. From there he went to the Diamond A’, and to the Little Boquillas on the San Pedro River — that’s where he met Daisy Mae Keith; and, at age 17, Joe and Daisy Mae began their 62 years together.

In 1970, Joe and Daisy Mae bought the K7 Ranch in Clifton, and that became the new home for his cowherd. The ranch features just one road into the house and one road out, is steep, with catclaw 20-feet high, and it has five miles of the Gila River running through it.

When ranching failed to bring in enough revenue, he went to work for the nearby copper mine; but it was ranching that was his true love.

“Being a cowboy is all I ever wanted to do, and I treat people how I want to be treated,” he said. “This Cowboy Hall of Fame means quite a bit. I guess they will remember me when I’m gone.”