History and Heritage of Heber, Arizona

In 1882, John Bushman of St. Joseph (now Joseph City) recorded that he had come across.

“ … a nice little valley half a mile wide and one mile long with two dry cottonwood creeks coming into it. Went around the valley, soft, sandy,
loamy soil. Came three miles up the west fork and found living water.
Good land all the way up this canyon. About forty rods wide on the
average. I made a location here by writing on a newspaper and fastening
it to a tree.”

One month later, on December 6th, 1882, Bushman returned with six of his brethren: W.C. Allen, J.H. Richards, J.C. Hansen, H. Tanner and John E. Shelley. These pioneers had relocated to the area from Utah, under the direction of the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints, having been given the mission of finding appropriate places to settle for their own families and others to develop and begin communities. Seeing the rich soil, abundant wildlife and ampleponderosa for construction, they agreed with Bushman’s descriptions and settled the area now known as Heber as a summerresidence. By April of the following year, a community, albeit a fledgling one, was being
built.

Because there was no school in the area, families would relocate to St. Joseph during the late fall and winter, returning to themountain in time for spring planting. A school was started in 1897, although the town did not have an official school district until 1921.  The smallcommunity thrived in the temperate weather, enjoying the bounties of the soil that could be hauled to Albuquerque (the largest town, and three days away by wagon) for sale or barter for finished items like cloth and supplies that were not able to be produced locally. Heber J. Grant, a highly-placed official within the Church, came to see how the little seed-community was doing. He praised the efforts of those who had begun and continued the settlement, and not long after, James Shelley and others of the founders met with the residents and determined to name the town Heber in honor of one of the men most instrumental in assigning the mission that resulted in its founding.

Heber-Overgaard, the Community

The Rodeo – Chedeski fire of 2002 that caused so much devastation to many local towns caused a bit of damage here, but also served to strengthen our community. The people of Heber -
Overgaard not only rebuilt, but have expanded; not only recovered, but are thriving. People who before were only dimly aware of our community suddenly sat up and took notice. Some of them recognized in the townspeople qualities they could admire, and wished to encourage their own children and have since made this area a permanent home.  Local country rock music group made big, Mogollon, wrote a song about the Rodeo – Chedeski fire which is performed against the back drop of the charred forest at Bison Ranch benefiting the victims of the fire. Click here to watch

Today these two little towns nestle together happily, and most residents would be hard-pressed to tell you just where one ends and the other begins. Like its founders, the people of this community know the value of working together, and the importance of close-knit friendships to make hard times better and good times more rewarding.