Video by Vondalynn Dias for the Historical League
Wink Crigler grew up on and continues to operate the X Diamond Ranch near Greer. She founded and is the curator for the ranch’s Little House Museum, which displays artifacts from the Old West. Wink was recognized as Arizona’s top ranch manager in 2011 and was named as an Arizona Culturekeeper by the Arizona Historical Foundation in 2012. She is highly respected for her contributions to conservation planning, resource and livestock management, and community service.
She graduated from Arizona State University and taught school, first in Maricopa and then in Round Valley, for 24 years. She also has written and published two cowboy lore books, Beans and Things and Fadin’ Footprints.
Wink has a strong interest in conservation initiatives. The University of Arizona College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Cooperative Extension selected her to help monitor range health in the state. She works with the National Riparian Grazing Management Team to keep extensive vegetation growing near the Little Colorado River. She also is a leader of the Mexican Wolf/Livestock Coexistence Council.
This rancher finds time to support community causes. Each spring, she supports the Wounded Warriors fishing program. She is the organizer of the Cowboy Golf on the Ranch, which helps raise funds for the Round Valley Medical Program.
In 2012, she received the Ranching Heritage Alliance Award for Outstanding Stewardship from the Society for Ranch Management/U.S. Forest Service. During the Arizona Centennial, she was featured in 100 Years, 100 Ranchers, a photography book by Scott Baxter.