Congressman
Jim Kolbe jumped energetically out of the white District Five
van after Sean Sullivan, his driver and a former legislative intern,
turned into the Best Western Hotel's parking lot just off of Ocotillo
Avenue and Interstate 10 in Benson. It was still early and there
was a last remnant of freshness in the air.
Bernadette Polley, Kolbe's Sierra Vista office director and I (the Spring 2001 press intern), had only waited a few minutes, just enough time to exchange pleasantries and briefly go over the day's designated plans. Kolbe yawned briefly and mentioned he hadn't slept well the night before. He brushed his gray strands over his sun-exposed scalp and tucked his shirt self-consciously into his waistband. He had just come from his first engagement of the day: a barbeque at Colossal Cave.
The day's further itinerary included a first stop and short visit to Benson's recently built Senior Center. A half hour later I could begin the oral history interview, which I had planned to tape while enroute to Bisbee, the second city and stop of the day. There a group of citizens wanted to show Kolbe the European-style hostel they are developing as an income generator and other building improvements made to the YMCA building near the famous Copper Queen Hotel. Another constituent wanted to discuss a way to export used computer equipment to Mexican neighbors just across the border.
The newly-elected Bisbee mayor wanted to fill Kolbe in on a planned bond election for a much needed sewer and drainage upgrades, because of fears the town's infrastructure might not holdup to severe monsoon rainfalls another season. A short look at the Gadston Hotel's Jugendstil grace in Douglas and then off it was to the final destination, which would be the most pleasant of the day: Douglas' kickoff centennial celebration with its illustrious citizens at an art center. By then it would be nearly 7 p.m. and the congressman was the guest speaker.
Rep. Kolbe was greeted like royalty at each of these separate events and he listened and talked and shook hands with dozens of people interested in bending his ear. This was an ordinary day for Kolbe, who has represented Southern Arizona's Fifth District for 17 years in Washington, D.C. after spending six years in Arizona's legislature from 1976 to 1982. "I lost my first election race for Congress and then won in 1984," he explained.
Born in 1942, Kolbe moved to the Rail X Ranch between Sonoita and Patagonia after a brief stint on the north shore of Chicago, Illinois. He said his earliest memory is of a previous family visit at the 7 Guest Ranch outside of Willcox:
"I can remember as a little four-year-old kid, I was, too, young to ride. They wouldn't let me ride, but I could watch the horses being saddled up and my little brother going out and getting a horseback ride. And we used to stand around a campfire at night and there were all kinds of fun things that we used to do. That would be my very first memory," Kolbe vividly recalled.
He grew up on a guest ranch and said he learned his workaholic traits early on from his father, who expected work to become his children's middle names.
"I didn't know anything but working as a kid. And in fact, I have often thought in reflection, that is really the reason my parents bought that ranch, [it] is (sic) for the children. My father, because he had grown up with no father and the only model he had for a parent, was a parent that worked. And that all the kids worked so he assumed. I believe today, that was his model. He thought what he was supposed to do was to provide for his children and he could not bare the thought of raising them in Chicago, on the North Shore of Chicago, where they were going to go to swim camp or tennis camp and be in this tiny, ritzy school on the North Shore. He wanted them where they were working. Well, he did it in spades, I will tell you," Kolbe chuckled.
"He got a ranch that 40 kids, much less four could have taken care of. And so we always worked, every day, because the cows had to be milked every day. The cattle had to be fed every day. The round up had to be done every day and then the guest ranch in the winter had to be done every day and in the summertime you were plowing and you were irrigating and there was no day off for that kind of work," he aid in one breathless burst.
Their working ranch meant herding up to 450 breeding cows, steers, and calves, growing alfalfa and other feed for them, and curing enough meat for the many guests, who often returned every year to the Casa Rosada. Now, the house is painted white and owned by a German count.
Kolbe said he imagined his brothers and sister may still resent the fact that he was able to go to Washington, D.C. at 15 as a U.S. Senate page for Barry Goldwater for three years, while attending high school as a way to escape the pressures of hard, physical work. But there were other reasons, besides an early love of politics, which led him to try and find a way to leave the homestead. It was also no coincidence that every one of the Kolbe children went to college out of state.
 Kolbe on the Nimitz. All pictures on these pages courtesy of Rep. Jim Kolbe. |
Kolbe had long taken off his light green jacket and left his brightly-patterned tie off until the last, more formal event of the day in Douglas. He frantically looked after everyone like a concerned den master. Did everyone have something to drink? Was there enough gasoline in the tank? What time was the next appointment and what did Bernadette know that she could fill him in on before the appointed time?
He jokingly complained that Bernadette never gave him a moment to himself when he was in Cochise County, the largest area he governs as part of his district, though not as populous as most of the Tucson area he governs. He yawns several more times in between the several meetings, in which he attentively listens to constituents and asks questions about their newest plans.
His voice starts to crack after the Douglas engagement. It's obvious that his usually high energy level is tapering off for the day. He has patiently answered dozens of questions about his family, his upbringing, his Vietnam and political experiences.
His memory is outstanding and the detail with which he conjures up rural Arizona will stir a Westerner's heart. It was different in those days and he knows better than many how changes occurred. For nearly 43 years he has witnessed the changes, voted for changes.
But he said the Arizona outdoors is still a place he loves. He said he is most proud of his work to preserve the natural open spaces of the Cienega north of his former homestead and Saguaro National Park.
Readers interested in more details about Congressman Jim Kolbe's service to Arizona and what other influences shapes his character can link to the full-length interview below.