Arizona’s most valuable animal was not cattle. For about twenty years it was ostriches. From the 1890s into the 1910s the Salt River Valley ran on feathers. Women’s hats demanded them, the birds grew them fast, and ranchers who had laughed at the idea started buying breeding pairs. The tax rolls tell it best. In 1911 Maricopa County assessed its ostriches at $232,000. All the county’s cattle came in at $242,000. All the horses, $248,000. The birds were nearly even with cattle. Chandler’s front page in February 1914 read OVER 6,000 OSTRICHES IN SALT RIVER VALLEY. A.J. Chandler kept a herd behind the San Marcos. Neighbors came to look through the fence. They were told to leave the dogs at home. Then fashion moved on. By 1916 feathers were out. The war finished off whatever was left of the market. Ranchers were stuck with thousands of birds nobody wanted. Some were reportedly turned into fertilizer. Some were just turned loose into the desert. Chandler still throws an Ostrich Festiv...