Arizona's Most Historic Place?

Rancho de la Osa’s 300-year history boasts of Papagos, Pancho Villa and John Wayne.

- Jana Bommersbach

John Wayne had a favorite room. Margaret Mitchell and Zane Grey came to rejuvenate.

President Lyndon Johnson loved the stables.

The Marshall Plan was drafted here. Pancho Villa attacked the place. And that’s just the last 100 years—more than 300 years takes us back to the beginning for Rancho de la Osa, located near the Arizona-Mexico border.

So when Russell True says, “This might be the most historic place in Arizona,” he isn’t just bragging about the dude ranch he now owns. “We bought it to save it.”

True knows guest ranches. He’s lived on the White Stallion Ranch near Tucson for all but five of his 56 years and now operates it with his wife, Laurie. He’s even written a book about dude ranches. When Rancho de la Osa looked like its illustrious history was ending, he couldn’t turn away.