Gist and Gardner Families Photographs

The Gardner family was among the first to settle in Prescott, Arizona, where they operated successful mercantile and ranching businesses. Gail Irwin Gardner was born to James Isom Gardner (1857-1935) and Rebecca E. (Bell) Gardner (1856-1957) in Arizona on December 25, 1892. He had one sister, James Maryfrank (Gardner) Sisson (1892-1973). James I. Gardner had come to Prescott from Missouri in 1879 and opened his first mercantile store on October 1, 1883. When this building became too small, he commissioned a new structure on the northeast corner of Cortez and Willis Streets in 1891. The shop sold a wide variety of goods, including produce, dry goods, household goods, ranching and farming supplies, and clothing in addition to offering a mail-order service.

Gail Gardner was educated at Phillips Exeter Academy and Dartmouth University in New Hampshire, graduating in 1915. After serving in the U.S. Army Signal Corps during World War I, he returned to Prescott and worked as a cowboy in Skull Valley with his friend, Bob Heckle, until injury forced his retirement. He went on to purchase a cattle ranch in Skull Valley, which he owned and operated until 1960. Gardner was also a poet, writing the well-known The Sierry Petes (also called Tyin' Knots in the Devil's Tail) in 1917. A book of his poetry, Orejana Bull, was published in 1935. Gardner died in Prescott in the same house he was born in on November 23, 1988.

Gail Gardner married Delia Henrietta Gist (1900-1990) in Skull Valley, Arizona on September 22, 1924. The couple had two children, James Gail (1930-) and Cynthia Jean (1934-). James Gardner graduated from Dartmouth College in 1952 and returned to Arizona, where he worked for the Valley National Bank. He began his career as the Assistant Manager of the Prescott Branch and worked in Gila Bend before becoming Manager of the Tempe branch in the 1960s. Cynthia Gardner married Sam Steiger (1929-2012) in 1954. Steiger attended Cornell University and served in the Korean War before beginning his career as a rancher and horse breeder. During the majority of his career, however, he was involved in politics. Steiger served in the Arizona State Senate (1960-1964) and worked as a war correspondent for two newspapers during the Vietnam War before being elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1967. He served in the House until 1977 and went on to work as a special assistant to Arizona Governor Evan Mecham from 1987 to 1988.