Dan and Jim Reidy in Front of House
In 1912, nine-year-old Jim Reidy moved with his parents from New York City to southern Arizona after doctors advised his Irish immigrant mother to relocate to the desert climate to improve her chances of surviving tuberculosis.
In 1924, Catherine Chapman moved to Tucson from southern Illinois by train due to health issues. She met Jim Reidy at church in Tucson, and they married in 1927. Catherine, an outdoor enthusiast, became interested in acquiring land through the Homestead Act.
Catherine and Jim Reidy established a homestead in the Tortolita Mountain foothills, living in a small adobe house on 40 acres near the intersection of La Cholla and Moore Road. Their land later became part of the La Cholla Airpark, Rancho Vistoso, and Stone Canyon Golf Course. They accessed the homestead via a trail from Oracle Road at Steam Pump Ranch or from the Casa Grande Highway (now I-10) using Camino de Mañana to Moore Road.
Catherine had a keen interest in the desert’s birds and wildlife. She learned to tan and cure rattlesnake skins from a fellow homesteader, using them to craft wallets, belts, hat bands, and vests. She also developed a formula to bleach vertebrae bones for jewelry. Snake heads were packaged in pickle jars and sent to a zoological supply house, meat to a Florida packaging company, and gallbladders to a Chinese pharmaceutical firm in San Francisco. The fat was turned into snake oil, popular among trainmen for easing stiff necks. Rare rattlesnakes were donated to Chicago’s Museum of Natural History, where they are still displayed.
Rattlesnake Queen, Catherine Reidy
The Reidy family lived on their homestead from 1929 to 1934 before moving to town when their sons, Jim and Dan, reached school age.
Catherine’s rattlesnake business thrived, earning her the title “The Rattlesnake Queen of Arizona” after a Movie Tone News reel showcased her work worldwide. Tourists flocked to meet her and view the live rattlesnake pit in her backyard, making her a major Tucson attraction. The business eventually closed due to her declining health.
The couple had three more children—Pat, Cathy, and Roxy.
After 52 years of marriage, Jim passed away in 1979, and Catherine followed in 2000.
Photo and story provided by daughter Roxy Johnson, Feb. 2008
Listen to a February 2022 Interview with Roxy: Oral Video History Series: The History of Reidy Family as Told by Roxy Reidy-Johnson
Rough Transcript:
Questions for Roxy Johnson were provided in advance along with her answers in February 2022. The video conversation is a result of these questions and answers. Devon Sloan is the interviewer (off camera).
Q1: You are a native Tucsonan. Tell us about your parents and how they came to be here.
A1: Yes, I was born here at St. Mary’s Hospital. I am the youngest of five children all born here. In 1923, my mom came to Tucson on a train for her sinuses. The doctor in the mid-west suggested the dry climate. My dad’s family came to Tucson in 1912. My grandmother had TB (consumption). She lived in a TB sanatorium off of N. 1st Ave. She died in 1919.
Mom and Dad were both Catholic and met at All Saints Catholic Church next to the old library downtown. They both went to the young adults’ club at the church.
Q2: Talk about your childhood growing up in Oro Valley.
A2: My parents did homestead north of Moore Rd. and west of La Cholla. My oldest brother was 6 years old went the family moved to “town”.
Q3: Your father was an accountant and also homesteaded in the Oro Valley area. How did those two occupations mix?
A3: Dad drove into town (Tucson) every day. The roads were dirt. It was very hard on the cars. My brothers tell me Dad got a new car every year. Dad really beat them up.
Q4: Explain the concepts of homesteading and “proving up”.
A4: The way my folks talked about it, one of the requirements was that they had to live on the homestead for at least five years and do so much in improvements of the land. They finally moved into town (1933) when it was time for my older brothers to go to school. The driver of the school bus was not reliable.
According to the internet: Some Required Duties for Homesteaders to Obtain Patent (Title), and Changes to Requirements: The settler must cultivate and reside on the land for three years. The settler must build a habitable house and reside on homestead for no less than three months.
Q5: I understand your father had something to do with La Cholla Boulevard.
A5: The director of transportation for Pima County told the homesteaders that if they would get the vegetation in the road path south of Moore Rd. eliminated, he’d send the graders out to clear the roadway. It was cleared from Moore Rd. to Magee Rd. I never heard how long this took. It was later cleared north of Moore Rd.
Q6: Your mom had an unusual occupation. Tell us about that.
A6: Mom used to love to go out and roam the dessert. She collected all kinds of wildlife but in particular she collected and killed rattlesnakes. One of her fellow homesteaders taught her how to cook the vertebrae to bleach it. She then used the vertebrae to make jewelry as in necklaces. She would take the skins to the veterans at the VA Hospital on S. 6th Ave. The veterans would make clothes out of the skins – skirts, jackets, boots, pants, etc.
Q7: How were you and your siblings involved in our community?
A7: None of us siblings were involved in the OV community. We grew up near Grant Rd and Dodge and then later near Grant and Campbell Ave. (1945) We went to the public schools in that area and STs. Peter and Paul Elementary School on Campbell Ave. None of us lived in or near Oro Valley until we were grown. Dick and I moved to OV when I was teaching for the Marana School district.
Q8: Your husband was on the Oro Valley Town Council, was Vice-Mayor, and Interim Mayor. How did his involvement in the Town affect your involvement?
A8: I didn’t get involved until the OV Historical Society was just beginning. Dick told me that Dick Eggerding was involved in starting the group. Dick Johnson and Mr. Eggerding were very good friends. I was teaching full time at Marana High and later at Mt. View H.S. and didn’t have the time for anything else.
Q9: How and why did you get involved with the Oro Valley Historical Society?
A9: I heard Dick talking about the Proctors (the current owners in 2003) wanting to sell the SPR and use the land to build a shopping center. Dick and I both knew that the property was HISTORY and didn’t want it bladed.
Q10: What is your vision for the Oro Valley Historical Society?
A10: I’d like the home for the OVHS to be somewhere on the SPR. You don’t get history built into something like the Ranch very often. We need someone in Parks and Rec and on the Council to believe in THE HISTORY and keep the HISTORY so people for generations can learn about the past and have a vision for what our HISTORY can tell us about the future.