The Pete Kitchen Ranch was established on Potrero Creek near Nogales,
Arizona Territory, about 1862, reputedly the first permanent American
ranch in Arizona. The site, which had good access to water, had been
inhabited in prehistory and had been visited by Juan Bautista de Anza
in October 1774, who called it Las Lagunas, a name also used by
Kitchen. By the 1870s, the ranch was producing substantial crops and
livestock that yielded an income of $10,000 a year. "Pete Kitchen
hams" were a major portion of the business. In 1883, Kitchen sold the
ranch for a substantial amount of money after the arrival of the
railroad cut into his market. He continued to maintain mining and
cattle interests and retired to Tucson, losing his money to gambling
and loans to friends. Kitchen died on August 5, 1895 at age 77.The
main ranch house is an L-shaped stone structure with log lintels and a
flat roof. The roof is surrounded by a 4-foot (1.2 m) parapet that
functioned as a shelter for sentries watching for Apache raiding
parties. There were two main rooms and a kitchen downstairs. A variety
of additions were made, and several smaller structures once existed on
the site. Dugout caves sheltered some workers. The site covers 5 acres
(2.0 ha). During the time that the ranch was a frontier museum,
several structures were reconstructed.The Pete Kitchen Ranch was
placed on the National Register of Historic Places on February 10,
1975. The ranch building survives as part of a restaurant in
Nogales.The actor Cameron Mitchell portrayed Pete Kitchen in the 1960
episode, "Pete Kitchen's Wedding Night" on the syndicated television
anthology series, Death Valley Days, hosted by Stanley Andrews. In the
story line, Kitchen battles Apache Indians even on his wedding day and
night. Barbara Luna played his bride, Dona Rosa. Pete Kitchen Ranch Biography, NetWorth, Height, Age, Weight, Family, Married, Son, Daughter