Phyllis Rust: Canadian in Maricopa meets Wild West character

Phyllis Rust was born in Nova Scotia, Canada, and moved to Maricopa in 1953 with her husband, Bart, and their two young children, unaware of how it would change her life.

Her first encounter with Maricopa was a severe case of cultural shock at the Maricopa Mercantile when Bart introduced her to ‘a crusty old lady,’ and left them to shop for groceries. She doesn’t remember what she talked about with this “Wild West character,” but does admit to being a little amazed. The lady carried a humongous black purse with a snap on top. During their conversation, she opened the purse to reveal, not only her cigarettes, but also a pint bottle of whiskey and a pistol!

The Rusts lived about a mile south of Maricopa and six miles west on Farrell Road (later home of Bob Ralston). Bart built a huge redwood fence around the property to keep the rattlesnakes out of the yard and away from their young children. That summer he found 59 rattlesnakes inside the fenced area.

Bart and Phyllis became actively involved in community projects and activities right away. Phyllis not only donated her time and efforts helping with the library but also kept a scrapbook of its history. She thought it was important to preserve memories of the past. She also wrote articles about Maricopa and its citizens for the Casa Grande Dispatch.

Neither Bart nor Phyllis was afraid to assume responsibility as leaders in the community. Bart was elected president of the Maricopa Chapter of the Farm Bureau in 1957. In that same year Phyllis served as its secretary/treasurer. In 1958 Bart was installed in the Maricopa Rotary Club as its president. Dave Kimball was vice-president; Bud Wills was the secretary, and George Pickering, the treasurer.

In an interview with Phyllis in later years, she talked about the first annual Stagecoach Days in 1959. She said it was a howling success in spite of one of the worst windstorms in years. A crowd of more than 1,000 attended the full day of activities, and they netted nearly $3,000. 

The money was used to reduce the debt on the town’s swimming pool and Recreation Park that cost the Maricopa Rotary Club nearly $45,000. “During the summer months, while the men worked in the fields or in their businesses, the women gathered each afternoon with their children to enjoy the pool and each other’s company,” she recalls.

Another recollection was a freak windstorm on Aug. 23, 1958. Phyllis said witnesses likened it to a “baby tornado” as it ripped through the Bart Rust Ranch in Hidden Valley. Four cabins in the ranch’s cotton camp were disintegrated. Part of the roof and the entire back porch were blown off the Rust’s home. The roof was ripped off the home of a ranch employee, too, but no one was hurt. She said, “One of the freakish results of the big wind was discovered when the wreckage of the cabins was probed. Where one cabin had been, a heavy deep-freeze was found not to have been moved an inch, although the flooring upon which it had stood had been sucked out from beneath it by the gale. The cabin walls and roof had been turned into matchsticks.” A small foreign-made car, parked at the Rust home, was swept out of the carport and moved fifty feet, but not damaged. Rust’s small plane was not even scratched, and neither was the hangar.
 
In another episode in 1958, Bart and his family narrowly escaped injury and possible death when his Mercedes Benz was brushed from the highway by a flash flood that swept down Vekol Wash. Bart assisted his wife, his 12-year-old son and his young baby daughter from the car and waded with them back to the highway and safety.

Phyllis talks about the farming days of Maricopa, “A variety of crops were grown in Maricopa, including nearly 3,000 acres of peas, potatoes, watermelons, cantaloupes and lettuce. Garden peas were grown on a large scale in Maricopa in 1957.”

Phyllis said the best thing about living in Maricopa was the people, and that the best time of her life was when they did live in Maricopa. The worst time of her life was losing Bart on June 6, 1994, in Prescott, Arizona.

Time passes…and gradually we lose so many stories and memories of Maricopa’s families. Phyllis is no longer with us today, but we have some of the above memories because she took the time to share them. 

The Maricopa Historical Society invites all Maricopa’s citizens to write their stories and memories for preservation. Stories and memories may include other topics, too, such as surviving the wars, the depression, etc. The Society video-tapes oral history interviews, too, which is part of the Oral History Project.

If you are interested in sharing your memories and stories, please contact Pat Brock at 480-821-0604 or by email at [email protected].

Photo courtesy of Maricopa Historical Society