WILLCOX Cowboy Hall of Fame inductees
Don Lackner (140)
1958-
2025 COWBOY HALL OF FAME INDUCTEE
Don Lackner was born in Safford, AZ in 1958, and as a new born was taken to the Four Mile Ranch in Klondyke, AZ. Now, sixty-seven years later you can still find him in Klondyke. Don has a twin brother, plus two other brothers and two sisters. Don started school in the two-room school house in Klondyke and then, finished his schooling in Willcox when his dad moved the family to town.
Don really loved this mountain cowboy stuff. He hitched a ride in the Klondyke mail truck to get back to the ranch on the weekends. Then he would find a ride back to Willcox on Sunday so he could get to school on Monday. All this was before he was 12 years old. Things got better when he got a pickup of his own and didn’t have to hitch hike anymore.
Don pointed out when it was roundup time he only went to school Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. At age 17, Don went to work for Jimmy Fred DuBois taking care of his cattle. When he was 21-years-old he took a job as a ranch hand on the Eureka Springs Ranch, which lies between Bonita and Klondyke. The Eurekas were looking for cowboys that knew the country. He got $25 dollars a day plus grub. This was a ranch full of wild cattle to catch and it was a young man’s dream. In two years, he became the manager and he managed the Eurekas for twenty years.
While Don was managing the Eureka Springs Ranch, he, his dad, and brothers formed a partnership to purchase the Grant Creek Forest allotment on the south side of the Graham Mountains. This partnership bought several other allotments and ranches.
It is about now in the story of Don Lackner that you need to know there was a gal that came into his life. Her name was Kim Schlittenhardt. Kim was originally from Texas, but had moved to Pima, AZ and became good friends with Lori Lackner, Don’s first cousin. Kim made many trips to the ranch to ride horses with Lori. Then one weekend Don and Kim met and his life has never been the same since. They were married in August of 1980. They have one son, Mike, and two grandsons, Ace and Kannon. They all come to the ranch every weekend to help and they are the cowboys on Don’s round-up crew.
We all know that many ranchers need a side hustle to make things work. It could be a hunting guide business, or a wife that is a school teacher. For Don, it was when he became a correctional officer for the Fort Grant Prison. Now let us think about this for a minute.
Don was a new recruit at the Correctional Officer Training Academy at the age 42. He and all the other 24-year-old cadets went through physical fitness training, firearms qualifications and self-defense training. It was time for Don to “Cowboy Up” to get through all the pushups, pull ups and mile runs. Needless to say, Don graduated and was now an officer.
Don said, “It was only 40 hours a week so I had plenty of time to take care of my ranch.” He got involved with the hound program first and later operated the prison’s cattle program. I did see some pictures of Don and his crew branding calves. Everything looked pretty normal except that his entire crew was wearing orange jumpsuits.
When others talk about Don Lackner they use words like integrity, honesty, and work ethic. He cares deeply about the cattle industry and that he has compassion for the animals, always wanting to make sure they are taken care of.
Don said the best part of ranching is in the fall when you are weaning calves, driving the cattle to winter pasture on the mountain, and then enjoying the wildlife as you were headed back to the house. Don reminisced about missing the long drives working with a good crew. You knew where everyone was even if you couldn’t see them. Again, this is rough mountain country where you rode two horses a day. One in the morning and one in the afternoon.
Don said he has visited the Willcox Cowboy Hall of Fame many times. The pictures bring back memories and happiness. For him, “it is a great honor to be inducted into the Cowboy Hall of Fame and to carry on a legacy that Willcox was built on. And it is so good they are not forgotten.”
Today, Don is serving as President of the Cochise-Graham Cattle Growers Association and you can still find Don and Kim ranching down in Klondyke, AZ. And tonight, please welcome Mr. Don Lackner to the Willcox Cowboy Hall of Fame.
Don Lackner.