WILLCOX Cowboy Hall of Fame inductees

H. Robin Riggs
1946 – 2013
2026 COWBOY HALL OF FAME INDUCTEE

Robin Riggs was a life-long rancher on the C Bar Ranch in the foothills of the Chiricahua Mountains. He was a great grandson of pioneer rancher Brannick Riggs. Robin was born in 1946 and grew up on the family ranch, attended the El Dorado school and graduated from Willcox High School.

To know Robin Riggs, you have to look back into his youth. During his growing up years Robin began to develop skills that they said drove his mother crazy.

Skills that carried over from the inquisitive three-year-old trying to start the road grader. (Now you know why mom panicked). To the young man that built his own first TV set and stereo system. Robin was forever taking electronic things apart just to see how they worked.

He was a fix-it-man. He could keep the old ranch equipment running and living 30 miles out of town that skill was very helpful to the outfit.

After high school graduation, Robin headed off to college starting at Cochise College, then to Eastern Arizona College in Safford and finally a stint at Arizona State University in the Phoenix Valley.

While at Cochise College he met Valerie Price, and eventually they were married. Valerie got a degree in nursing and took her first job at the Prescott hospital. So, Robin traveled to Prescott to see her. Then Valerie moved to a Phoenix hospital and Robin traveled to Phoenix to see her. Valerie then took a job at the Safford hospital and Robin's road trips were finally much shorter as Robin was now enrolled at EAC. Finally in December of 1966, they were married.

As a couple they moved to Mesa so Robin could attend ASU taking classes learning about the stock market and investments.

It was June of 1969, Robin was finished with school and his dad called and said he was ready to retire. Robin and Valerie moved to the ranch on the foothills of the Chiricahua Mountains. This was the original homestead site of his great grandfather Brannick Riggs.

Four months later, his dad passed away, and at age 23 Robin and Val were in charge and ranching became their life. Together they made sure everything was in top order. They continued the raising of Hereford cattle, but in later years changed over to Angus breeding.

Robin wanted a top-quality herd and was willing to travel all the way to Kansas for his herd bulls. Genetics were that important. He was big on range management. They say he could almost make water run uphill. He was not afraid of technology and when the first computers came out, he was first in line to buy one and program it himself.

Robin had a passion for flying and was an avid pilot. He had a pilot license at age 14 and a drivers license at age 16. When he couldn't fly anymore, because of his blood pressure, he built an ultra-light so he could still continue to soar across his ranch.

Robin and Val had three girls. The twins Tina and Tammy and a third daughter Wendy. Robin was a very shy man. He was always very reserved around strangers. Val said, "You couldn't get two words out of him in a crowd."

Robin was a member of the Willcox Elks Lodge, was on the board of directors for the Cochise-Graham Cattle Growers Association, a member of Arizona Cattle Growers and the NRA. Robin passed away in 2013.

Tonight, H. Robin Riggs becomes a member of the Willcox Cowboy Hall of Fame.

H. Robin Riggs