Jack Gowell headed west in 1944 for a healthy climate where he could realize his dream of becoming a cowboy. He sold the family’s 10-acre farm in New Jersey, packed up his wife and son and set out for Arizona. After two years in Phoenix, he purchased the Canille Store from Chiquite Moson. Then the fun began. Chiquite Moson, owner of the Diamond C Ranch in Lyle Canyon on the west side of the Huachuca Mountains, and her ex-husband, Bennett, were flamboyant characters. Chiquite had a dubious reputation and was not above rustling her neighbors’ cattle.

Johnnie (left) and Jack Gowell owned the Canille (now known as Canelo) Store in the 1940s. They sold gas, staples, beer and wine. Their market became a watering hole for the locals. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

Bennett, a stepson of Col. Green of the San Rafael Ranch, resembled John Barrymore in his huge cowboy hat. Gowell’s son, Bill, was fascinated when Moson drove up in his Mercury coupe with bullet holes in the trunk and back door.

Gowell’s wife decided to shed her hated name, Gertrude, and dubbed herself Johnnie. Jack and Johnnie’s Canille Store soon became the local meeting place. Patrons would start arriving by late afternoon, some waiting for the mail to arrive, others for the school bus, still others just sitting around enjoying a cold one.

A single hand-cranked gas pump provided Chevron at 21 cents a gallon. The phone was also cranked by hand. Neighbors could eavesdrop on conversations over the open party line. Merchandise consisted of canned goods, staples, beer and wine. A Kohler plant provided electricity for lights, but not enough for the refrigeration needed to carry produce. Gowell purchased 300 pounds of ice in Nogales every week. That precious commodity was reserved for the cold brews that fueled many an afternoon’s conversations.

Mail carrier

The mail carrier was a woman named Virginia, known to the local kids as “Cat Woman.” Canelo was the end of her run, so she usually joined in the afternoon fun. The Cat Woman smoked heavily. Her clothes and the inside of the mail truck were covered with cat hair. Cigarette butts littered the floorboards.

A good idea

One Saturday a crowd was sitting around drinking when someone suggested an impromptu barbecue. Chiquite, absent at the time, had four white ducks that swam in a nearby man-made pond. Someone handed Chuck Fish a double-barreled shotgun and two shells. Fish, a government trapper, drove a 4-wheel drive weapons carrier where he kept his trapping supplies. The truck, and Fish, always smelled like dead skunks.

Accompanied by young Bill Gowell, the intoxicated trapper headed to the pond and set up on the embankment. Fish told Bill to look sharp �“ he planned to aim at the first two and hit the second pair with the other shell. When he pulled the trigger both barrels fired at once. The resulting recoil slammed the gun into his face, breaking his nose and knocking him 15 feet down the embankment.

Miraculously, Fish had nailed all four ducks with one blast. Ramrod, Lonnie Cleghorn, invited the crowd of about 20 people to picnic at the nearby Canelo Hills Ranch, where the ducks went into the pressure cooker providing a memorable main course.

To be continued �-