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A history of Holbrook and the Little Country (1540-1962)

Item Type text; Thesis-Reproduction (electronic)

Authors Wayte, Harold Columbus, 1926-

Publisher The University of .

Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, . Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author.

Download date 10/10/2021 18:31:37

Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/551586 A HISTORY OF HOLBROOK AND

THE LITTLE COLORADO COUNTRY

. (1540-1962)

A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of the Department of History in Partial Fulfillment'of the Requirements for the Degree of M aster of Arts

b y

Harold C. Wayte, Jr.

In the Graduate College UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA 1962 STATEMENT BY AUTHOR

This thesis has been submitted in partial fulfillment of require­ ments for an advanced degree at The University of Arizona and is deposited in The University Library to be made available to borrowers under rules of the Library.

Brief quotations from this thesis are allowable without special permission, provided that accurate acknowledgment of is made. Requests for permission for extended quotation from or reproduction of this manuscript in whole or in part may be granted by the head of the major department or the Dean of the Graduate College when in their judgment the proposed use of the m aterial is in the interests of scholarship. In all other instances, however, permission must be obtained from the author.

SIGNED:

APPROVAL BY THESIS DIRECTOR

This thesis has been approved on the date shown below:

Date TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE p r e f a c e . : . ' . ' . 1

I. ' TIERRA INCOGNITA . . . . 5

H. THE COMING OF THE ANGLO- . . . 20

H I. THE FOUNDING OF MORMON SETTLEMENTS ALONG THE LITTLE COLORADO ..... 44

IV. THE FOUNDING OF HOLBROOK 71

V. EARLY HOLBROOK (1881-1901) ...... 106

VI. THE SHERIFFS .' . . . . .: .: . .' . ." . ." . .' . . . 153

VII. HOLBROOK'S COLORFUL CHARACTERS (1881- 1 9 0 1 )...... 192

VHI . COMING OF AGE (1902-1942) ...... 240

EPILOGUE: HOLBROOK (1942-1962) ...... 297

APPENDIX . . . . .' . .; .’ .‘ ." .' .' . . .!.: . .i .: ." . . ." . 309

BIBLIOGRAPHY 337 PREFACE

Holbrook, one of the first permanent established in northern

Arizona, is one of the last major towns in the state to have a written history. With the exception of Tombstone, probably no in the

state had such a colorful history; the Hashknife Outfit, which served as a haven for many outlaws from and New , was chiefly

responsible for that heritage.

Early Holbrook witnessed many a bloody encounter between warring

groups of stockmen and between true "bad men" and "the law."

In addition to this description, which would fit any number of small western towns, Holbrook has a heritage few other towns can equal.

Berado Frayre, a merchant of Mexican descent, established a settlement at Horsehead Crossing near the later site of Holbrook in about 1872, shortly before migrated to the . However, it was not until the coming of the railroad in 1881 that the present town was founded. The Mormons influenced Holbrook although they did not

settle it as they did most towns of Northeastern Arizona.

A typical cattle town in many ways, Holbrook, nevertheless, was

different from some western settlements because of the influence of the Mormons and the coming of the railroad.

1 2

Both "good men" and "bad men" left their mark on Holbrook. The first sheriff of was Commodore Perry Owens, a colorful character who carried twin six guns and had long flowing yellow hair.

The Commodore, a dead shot, participated in one of the most daring gunfights in Arizona history. A later sheriff, Frank J. Wattron, gained world-wide notoriety when he issued an invitation to a legal .

W attron1 s weird sense of humor caused President McKinley to summon his cabinet and censure the Territory of Arizona. A Holbrook bandit who was no ordinary bandit wrote poetry, making fun of the posses who chased him all over .

Modern day Holbrook is situated on U.. S. Highway 66, on 77 and 260, and on the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad.

The town is centrally located in Navajo County on the Little Colorado

River and is about two hundred and fifty miles west of Albuquerque, New

Mexico, and six hundred and thirty miles east of ,

California.

The railroad spurred Holbrook's growth. It is the shipping center for a vast area which supports thousands of cattle and sheep and a booming lumbering industry.

As the county seat, Holbrook is the trading center for Navajo

County residents. And it is the gateway to the Painted , the

Petrified Forest, and the Navajo and Indian country--all national tourist attractions. 3

Much of the history of a state is composed of the settlement of the towns and villages of that state. It is, therefore, my opinion that any comprehensive would be incomplete without a history of the largest town in the northeastern part of the state. I have included much m aterial on the little valley, because I believe that it is impossible to lim it a study to a town without bringing in facts concerning the area in which it is located.

Every attempt has been made by this w riter to use the historical method in developing a chronological History of Holbrook and the

Little Colorado Country. To make it .easier for future researchers who might use the m aterial in this thesis, I have listed the location of newspapers, manuscripts, letters, and so on.

Since history can be said to be a past reflection of people, places and incidents, I believe it is necessary that the reader have an under­ standing of the broad scope of Arizona History. Therefore, it is the w riter's purpose in the first several chapters of this thesis to give to the reader some background knowledge on Arizona History with particular emphasis on the area of northeastern Arizona.

The three major ethnic groups that settled northeastern Arizona were the Indians, the Spanish, and the Anglo-Americans. Of the Anglo-

Americans, the Mormons were the most important colonizers. Although the Indians were the first settlers in this area, and the Spanish made a number of expeditions into the area in search of wealth or for 4 missionary activity, it remained for the Anglo-Americans to explore the immediate vicinity of Holbrook and for the Mormons to establish

settlements in the Little Colorado Country. Thus, even though the

Spanish conquistadores and m issionaries made a number of journeys

through northeastern Arizona passing to other locations, the Little .

Colorado Country was not thoroughly explored or settled by the white

man until the beginning of the American migration westward to Califor­

nia. This thesis will begin, then, with the Indians, the first people to

occupy the area of northeastern Arizona. C H A P T E R I

TIERRA INCOGNITA

The first residents of the area around present-day Holbrook were the Anasazai, * a group of Indians who lived iniisolated mesas in northern Arizona. Because of their prim arily peaceful nature and willingness to trade with the Spanish, the descendants of the Anasazai had a positive influence upon the Spanish exploration of the Holbrook region. This lack of a barrier enabled Spanish missionaries to enter the region and may have led to a more extensive exploration by the

Spanish of this part of Arizona. The Indians, because of their trade, would also later have a cultural effect upon early Holbrook.

The Anasazai built substantial towns surrounded by a simple net­ work of . These town builders in the northeastern part of 1

1 The name Anasazai is thought to have come from a Navajo word which means "the old people. " The word is commonly used to designate the ancient Pueblo people, especially those in northeastern Arizona. Archaeologists sometimes call these early Pueblo dwellers "Basket m akers;" but there is much evidence to indicate that pottery making is almost as old an art as is basket weaving.

^The village of Oraibi is still inhabited and is considered the oldest continuous inhabited town.in the . Pottery types from holes in the ground have revealed an unbroken sequence of ceram ic development dating from about 1150 A. D. to.the present time. Lyndon L. Hargrave, "Oraibi, A Brief History of the Oldest Inhabited Town in the United States, " Museum Notes , Museum of Northern Arizona (Flagstaff, 1932), IV, 7, 1. 5 6 o Arizona had been mostly , a branch of the Shoshonean language group of North American Indians. Apparently the victims of a great drought, they left their towns in the arid plains in order to build on mesas and higher ground, where springs supplied them with water.

Thus, although the Indians were the first people to live in northeastern

Arizona, the Spanish became the first Europeans not only to enter this section but also to enter the southwestern part of the United States.

The Spanish first became interested in northeastern Arizona because / of the story of the Seven Cities of Cibola. It is, therefore, important to devote some space to the early Spanish expeditions into Arizona to show why the Spanish came to be in the area near Holbrook.

. Most historians agree that the first white man to enter Arizona was Fray , who, in 1539, was searching for these

Seven Cities of Cibola. The first stories of these golden cities^ had 3

3 Other Indians in this part of Arizona are the and . They closely resem ble each other in appearance and both speak the Athopascan language. They were undoubtedly at one time a single people. It is not known when or why the split occurred, but a Navajo word Apachu which means enemy or robber, suggest that the separation was not on a friendly basis. Rufus Ray Wyllys, Arizona: The History of a Frontier State (Phoenix, 1950), p. 11.

^The cities were supposed to be solid with even the streets paved with gold. After a short time the Indians learned that the quickest way to get rid of the Spanish was to tell them that the gold they were look­ ing for was further on. Thus, as Cabeza de Vaca traveled westward, the stories grew bigger and bigger. The Indians soon began to take great delight in telling the biggest stories about riches that they could think of. 7 been told by Alvar Nunez, called Cabeza de Vaca, the high constable in the ill-fated expedition of Don Panfilo Narvaez, who with Andres

Dor antes, Alonso del Maldonado, and a Negro slave,

Estevanico (or Estaban), were the only known survivors of Narvaez's expedition to the Gulf Coast in 1528. After years of captivity by native tribes along the Texas Gulf Coast, they walked back to Mexico in a journey that lasted about a year, and arrived in San Miguel de Culiacan in April 1536. Recent investigations show that Cabeza de Vaca may have entered southeastern Arizona. ^ The importance of the expedition is that the stories of the Seven Cities were first heard in Mexico and motivated the expeditions of Fray Marcos and Coronado.

Fray Marcos de Niza^ left San Miguel de Culiacan March 7, 1539,

*7 accompanied by another friar named Onorato, the Negro, Estevanico,

and a group of Culiacan natives. It was an ill-fated journey for

Estevanico for Indians killed the Negro slave when he was sent ahead to

. It is believed Fray Marcos entered Arizona in the approximate position of Lochiel in April 1539. Many historians believed he followed

C / / w Cleve Hollenbeck, Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca . . . (Glendale, 1940), pp. 222-225.

Marcos, was an Italian who had come to the New World in 1531. He journeyed with Pizarro to Peru in 1532, served in Nicaragua and had come north to Ivfexico with . De Niza was Provincial of the in Mexico from 1540-43. He died in in 1558.

Onorato later fell ill and was left behind. 8 the San Pedro River to the Gila Valley, across into what is now Graham

County. They theorized further that he passed through the White

Mountain area into County, where he crossed the Little Colorado at a place slightly below St. Johns, and up the to the Zuni

Pueblos. Most authorities believe the Zuni , just across the

Arizona line in eastern , were the Seven Cities of Cibola.

Today historians believe Fray Marcos scarcely penetrated the border

. ■ - 9 of Arizona if, indeed, he got that far.

In late May, he climbed a hill which he says brought him in sight of C ib o la.

This place is situated on the brow of a circular hill, arising out of a plain. It creates the im pression of being a real city, the best, in fact, I have seen in these parts. The houses are built

O St. Johns is located approximately sixty-five miles xvsoutheast of Holbrook and is the county seat of Apache County.

^Bandelier, Bancroft, Baldwin, Oblasser, and Winship believe that Niza reached the Zuni Pueblos in New Mexico. . Sauer contends that Niza barely entered Arizona in his northward march. Hallenbeck believes that Niza did not reach Arizona at all. See Adolphe F. Bandelier, The Gilded Man (, 1893), pp. 125-162; Frederick Webb Hodge, History of Hawikuh, New Mexico, One of the So-Called Cities of Cibola (Los Angeles, 1937), pp. 6-24; George Parker Winship, The Coronado Expedition, 1540-1542, Extract from the Fourteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology (, 1896), pp. 353-362; Percy M. Baldwin, Discovery of the Seven Cities of Cibola, By the Father, Fray Marcos de Niza, Historical Society of New Mexico, I, November 1926 (Albuquerque, 1926), pp. 14-31; Bancroft, pp. 28-35; Carl Sauer, The Road to Cibola, Ibero-Americana: 3 (Berkeley, , 1932), pp. 24-30; and Cleve Hallenbeck, The Journey of Fray Marcos de Niza (Dallas, Texas, 1949), pp. 68-69. 9

■ exactly as the Indians had told me. They are built entirely of stone, in stories with flat roofs. So it appeared to me when I looked at the city from a hill, which I had climbed. The popula­ tion is greater than that of Mexico City . . . . "When I told the headmen who had come with me how favorably I was im pressed with Cibola, they told me that it was but the sm allest of the Seven Cities, and that Totonteac, with:its countless buildings and inhabitants, was by far larger and better than all the seven com­ b in e d .

With visions of rich treasures, the good padre returned to Mexico

City with a glowing report. Most historians agree that much of his account was hearsay and greatly exaggerated, but that Fray Marcos appears to have been an honest, brave and zealous priest. : Antonio de Mendoza, the first of Mexico, saw an opportunity to add to the dominions under his sovereignty a territory as rich as that of the

Incas in Peru or that of the in Mexico. Therefore, he quickly named Francisco de Coronado to lead an expedition north in _

February 1540.

Coronado is thought to have entered Arizona in the same general area, and to have followed the same route as that of Marcos de Niza.

Coronado journeyed up the San Pedro River, north to a place below

l^Bonaventure Oblasser, trans. , Marcos de Niza Personal Account (Topowa, Arizona, 1939), p. 29.

HCoronado was born in Salamanca, ,in 1510. He was of noble birth and had come to with Mendoza in 1535. He had already attained some prominence as a soldier and statesman. 10

12 Benson, thence on to Chichiticale (“red house") near Eagle Pass, the passage between the Finale no and the . He then traveled northeast across the Gila and Salt to the vicinity of Fort Apache where he crossed the . As Coronado neared the Seven Cities, he sent Cardenas a day ahead with fifteen mounted men to explore the route to be taken;* 1 After emerging from the forest, the expedition traveled for two days northeastward across the rolling

/ open country. Arriving at a stream eight leagues from Cibola, Cardenas called the river the Rio Bermejo (Red R iver)^ because its water was muddy and red. Most authorities believe Coronado crossed the little

Colorado (called by Coronado the "Rio del lino" or Flax River after the wild plant) near its junction with the Zuni. River. This is north of the site of present day St. Johns. From this point Coronado proceeded to the Zuhi pueblos.

12 Herbert Bolton, Coronado, Knight of Pueblos and Plains (Albu­ querque, 1949), p. 113. Some historians, including Bancroft, believed Chichiticale to be the Casa Grande Ruins and that Coronado followed the Santa Cruz River north (rather than the San Pedro), Bancroft, p. 42. I O - « Bolton believes this river to be the Little Colorado. Herbert Eugene Bolton, Coronado on the Turquois Trail (Albuquerque, 1949), p . 113.

*^F. S. Dellenbaugh believed that Coronado was much further east and that "neither the Moquis towns nor Zuni were seen in 1540-42. " Fredericks. Dellenbaugh, "The True Route of Coronado's M arch," Bulletin of American Geographical Society (New York, 1897),* p. 418. 11

From Zuni, Coronado sent two expeditions into northeastern ......

Arizona. The first, under Don Pedro de Tovar, explored the .province

of Tusayan ("Hopi land"), a distance of twenty-five leagues from :

Cibola. 15 The expedition left July 15, 1540, led by Zuni guides who

evidently took him over the route taken by the Hopis who periodically

came to the Zuni dry salt lake beds to lay in a supply of salt. Bolton .

says: "The old trail led northwest past well-known water holes, skirt­

ing the now famous stone trees of the Petrified Forest, through country

today included in the Navajo Reservation. This route lies west of the

present '.highway to Hopi land .through Gallup, but converges with it

16 near the ruins of the first town visited by T o v ar." ...... ■

Castaneda, a member of Coronado's expedition/ said, "The Pueblos

are built in terraces, and there are war-like people among the inhabi­

tants. The province is governed like Cibola, by an assembly of the

oldest men. They have their chosen and captains. Here

information was obtained of a large river. "^T

^George P. Hammond and Agapito Rey, Narratives of the Corona­ do Expedition 1540-1542 (Albuquerque, 1940), p. 135.

l°Bolton, op. cit. , p. 135.

^George P. Hammond and Agapito Rey, Narratives of the . Coronado Expedition 1540-1542 (Albuquerque, 1940), pp. 214-215,. 12

Coronado was greatly interested in Tovar's report, for he thought the river might be the same stream sighted by other Spanish explorers.

A year later both Melchior Diaz and Alarcon discovered it. Therefore, / y / Coronado organized another expedition under Don Garcia Lopez de Car­ denas to investigate this great river. Cardenas was ordered to take the same route which Tovar had followed and to return within eighty days.

Following Tovar's trail to Tusayan, Cardenas was well received by the natives and he was furnished guides for his trip to the Great River.

Castaneda reports:

They set out from there ^TusayanJ laden with provisions, because they had to travel over some uninhabited land before coming to settlements, which the Indians said were more than twenty days away. Accordingly when they had marched for twenty days they came to gorges l:of the river, from the edge of which it looked as if the opposite side must have been more than three or four leagues away by air. 18

Cardenas had reached the Grand . The evidence indicates that the expedition was in the vicinity of Grand View. Castaneda stated that the country was high, dry, open to the north, and was covered with low \ and twisted . From Grand View one is able to see north as far as

Vermillion Cliffs.and Lee's Ferry which is about fifty miles distant. / / - \ Cardenas returned to Cibola closely following his original route.

18Ibid. , p. 142. 13

Coronado and his" men were the first Europeans to see the Painted

Desert immediately north of Holbrook and the first to reach the Hopi / villages in the area the Spanish called Tusayan. Although Coronado did not reach the immediate vicinity of'Holbrook, his expedition was probably the first to see the .

■After going east as far as in search of gold, Coronado led his men back to Mexico; the next Spanish visitors into northeastern

Arizona came from New Mexico as probably did all white visitors before 1687.

In 1583 Antonio de E spejoled an expedition into Arizona from the east in search of rich mines. From Zuni, the expedition traveled northwestward to the Moqui ^HopiJ villages seeking a fabulous "lake of gold" which was supposed to lie in .that direction. After a four-day journey Espejo and his companions reached the village of Awatobi where they traded with the Indians. In Aprij, 1583 after leaving five of his men to carry the Indian goods back to Zum, Espejo and four others with Moqui guides traveled due west. Diego Perez de Luxan, a member of the expedition, said on May 1, 1583, "We reached a fine, beautiful,

^ A n to n io de Espejo was born in Cordova, Spain, and was a resident of Mexico City. He was a wealthy haciendado and mine owner. 14

and selected river, almost as large as the Del Norte Rio Grande ,

containing many groves of poplars and willows. This river flowed from the south toward the north. This river must have been the

little Colorado, the only large river in this part of Arizona flowing from south to north. The expedition also crossed the Verde and found

rich mines in vicinity north of Prescott. ^ Espejo said of

the mines, "I found them, and with my own hands I extracted ore from

them, said by those who know to be rich and to contain much silver.

The region where these mines are is for the most part mountainous, as

is also the road leading to them ." Espejo returned to Zum and then to

New Spain where many were to hear his reports of country through

which he had passed and of the rich mines he had found. The discovery

of these mines near Prescott caused new Spanish expeditions to be sent

through northeastern Arizona.

The royal contract to operate the mines was won by Juan de Onate

whose father had substituted for Coronado as governor of -

New Galicia and had become rich in the silver mines. Onate

^G eorge Peter Hammond and Agapito Rey, Expedition into New Mexico Made by , 1582-1583 (Los Angeles, 1929), pp. 104-105.

2*Wyllys, p. 35. See also Bancroft, p. 88 and Hammond and Rey, . Expedition into New Mexico Made by Antonio de Espejo, p. 108. 15 established a permanent headquarters at San Juan, about forty miles northwest of modern Santa Fe in of 1585. Onate made a real

contribution to the establishment of permanent settlem ents-in New

M ex ico . -

In November 1598, Onate sent Captain Marcos Farfan with eight men into Hopi land to find Espejo's mines. : Evidence indicates that

Farfan crossed the Upper north of Prescott and reached

the general vicinity of Espejo's mines. Farfan and his men staked out

over sixty claims and returned to San Juan with rich ore samples con­

taining silver. Although oSate was intensely interested in Farfan's

report, he was unable to journey west until nearly six years later when he left his new capital town on the Rio Grande, San Gabriel. Onate

followed the established route by way of Zum. to the Hopi Pueblos. The

narrative of Onate's expedition relates: "They set out from Moqui and at

ten leagues towards the west, they arrived at the Colorado River. They

called it thus because the water is nearly red; the river runs from south­

east to northwest afterwards turning to the West. From the little

Colorado, Onate traveled west to the Upper . They then

^H erbert Eugene Bolton, ed. , Spanish Explorations in the South - west, 1542-1706 (New York, 1916),p. 269. This is the first time that the name Colorado had been attached to this stream (1604), later called the little Colorado. The name was subsequently transferred to the larger river of the same name. See also Bancroft, pp. 154-155. 16 journeyed down the Santa M aria River to Bill Williams Fork and west­ ward to the Colorado River. After reaching the Gulf of California,

Onate returned to New Mexico reaching San Gabriel, April 25, ,1605.

During the difficult journey it had been necessary for the expedition to

eat their horses. ^ Thus, Onate had covered more

than had any white man before him ,. and his explorations undoubtedly

made the region better known to Europeans.

Although the Indians were the first settlers of the Holbrook area,

the coming of the Spanish in search of the Seven Cities of Cibola created

an interest among Europeans in northeastern Arizona. Fray Marcos

and Coronado had passed approximately forty miles to the southeast of

Holbrook while Tovar, Cardenas, Espejo, Farfan, and Onate had

journeyed through the Hopi villages to the North. It was to remain for

the Anglo-Americans to be the first to explore the immediate area of

Holbrook. ,

Spanish,missionaries also failed to Christianize the Indians. The.

Pueblo uprising of 1680, in which all Europeans were expelled from

Arizona and New Mexico, ended this m issionary attempt and no further

efforts were made until the middle of the eighteenth century. In 1743 a

Jesuit missionary, Ignacio Keller of Suamca, attempted to penetrate the

OO Bancroft, p. 156. 17 country north of the Gila. He was attacked by Apaches, who took most of his horses and supplies and killed one soldier. Keller was, therefore, forced to return to the . Padre Jacobo Sedlmayr of

Tubutama in 1744 set out to visit the Moguls (Hopis). He reached the : ,

Gila near Casa Grande but the Indians would not guide him northward, so he went down the Gila exploring the big bend for the first tim e, and then crossed over about forty leagues to the Colorado. Sedlmayr went up the river to the junction of the Bill W illiams Fork. Because : the

Indians apparently would not serve as guides, the padre was forced to return without reaching the Hopi villages.

The Spanish made one more attempt to open a route to the Hopi country through Arizona, when in 1774 Captain made an exploring trip by way of the Gila to California. It was desired that in his second expedition, the land between the Gila and the Hopis be explored. According to Bolton, "The country and its people were wrapped in mystery and were the objects of much curiosity and theorizing.

^ F o r additional information on Jacobo Sedlmayr, see Peter Masten Dunne, trahs. , Jacob Sedlmayr, Missionary, Frontiersm an, , in Arizona and , 1744-1751 (Tucson, 1955).

^Bolton, ed. , Spanish Explorations in the Southwest, p. 260. 18

Francisco Garces left Anza at the junction of the Gila and Colorado and continued up the Colorado with a few Indian servants to the Mojave region. Garces' diary of.June 28 relates:

I arrived at the Rio Jaquesila, and called it the Rio de San Pedro. It was running water enough, but very dirty and red, that could not be drunk; but in the pools of the border of the river there was good water. This river runs to the westnorthwest, and unites with the Rio Colorado a little before ".this passes through the Puerto de Bucareli. The bed of this river, as far as the confluence, is a trough of solid rock, very profound and wide about a stone's throw, and on that account impassable even on foot; wherefore with much travail did I enter into said bed of the river, following down a trough not so profound in the direction eastnortheast. ^ ■ y _ - Garces then journeyed east to the Hopi villages, arriving in July 1774, y Made to feel unwelcome by the Hopis, Garces soon returned to the

Mojave villages. During this return journey, C arets, on July 18, referred to the Valle del Lino (Wild Flax Valley). This may well have been the Little Colorado River valley although it is difficult to prove from Garces' calculations. In September he journeyed down the Colorado to San Xavier del Bac near Tucson. The importance of Padre Garces' expedition was that he opened a northern route across Arizona from

^E lliott Coues, trans. , On the Trail of a Spanish Pioneer: The Diary and Itinerary of Francisco Garcds 1775-1776, II (New York, 1900), pp. 345-355. Rio Jaquesila or Rio de San Pedro must be the Little Colorado, as the river is the only large branch of the Colorado in northern Arizona. Padre Carets probably struck the river in the vicinity of the mouth of Moencopie Wash, which joins the Little Colorado from the Northeast. See also Frederick S. Dellenbaugh, Romance of the Colorado River (New York, 1906), p. 93. 19

New Mexico to the Colorado River. This route helped later expeditions to reach the Holbrook area.

Such explorations as G arces1 came to a halt with the Mexican wars for independence (1810-1821). Only Tucson and Tubac remained as outposts :against the Indians. Further explorations and settlements would await the return of peace. In 1824 the new Republic of Mexico created the northern region of New Mexico which included Arizona.

The capital of the area was in Santa; Fe and the Mexicans showed even less interest in northeastern Arizona than had the Spanish. Most of the area was still a tierra incognito, or unknown land.

By this time, however, a new breed of men was coming into this land of mystery. The mountain men and fur trappers were assaulting the Mexican boundaries, wandering down the river valleys and over the mountain trails. This was the beginning of the American migration westward to California which was to result in the exploration and settlement of northeastern Arizona. C H A P T E R II

THE COMING OF THE ANGLO-AMERICANS

From 1824-1832 hundreds of trappers worked along the stream s of

Arizona. The records of these expeditions are meager because many of the trappers were unable to read and write and there were no news­ papers to report their expeditions. But the chief reason for the paucity of records is that their trips into Mexican territory were secret and illegal. Only Mexicans were supposed to be able to trap on these stream s. There is little doubt that a large number of beaver skins were taken on the Gila, Verde, Sal^ and Colorado Rivers by these trappers. The most famous were: Miguel Rubidoux, Sylvester and

James Pattie, , , "Peg-leg" Smith, "Old

Bill" W illiams, David E. Jackson, Milton Sublette, ,

Pauline Weaver, William Sherley, and Ceran St. Vrain.

The accounts of most of these early trappers are either hopelessly tangled and confused or so fragm entary and laconic as to be of little value. "The exact dates; itineraries, incidents, and other vital details of their several expeditions are either unknown, disappointingly vague,

20 21 or as crisscrossed and interwoven with each other as deer trails in a 1 mountain meadow. n:

There is little evidence to show that any of these men trapped or 2 camped along the Little Colorado where Holbrook is now situated; but these trappers and mountain men seemed to have covered most of the river valleys of the state in search of beaver and other furs.

The war between the United States and Mexico brought more Anglo-

Americans to Arizona, and some members of a later settled in northeastern Arizona. Two expeditions crossed the Arizona region. One, with three hundred , under General Stephen

Kearney m arched from the Rio Grande Valley in New Mexico along the

Gila .River in Arizona to California; and the other, the famous Mormon

Battalion under the command of Lieutenant Colonel P. St. George Cooke, by way of the San Pedro, Tucson, and the Gila and on to the Colorado.

^Robert Glass Cleland, This Reckless Breed of Men (New York, 1950), pp. 159-160.

2There is, however, some evidence to indicate that trappers were in the Holbrook area. Chevelon's Fork, a stream which flows into the Little Colorado, approximately twenty-four miles west of Holbrook, was named by trappers. See Footnote No. 5. 22

Some of the Mormons who later settled in northeastern Arizona were 3 members of this battalion.

The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, signed in 1848, ended the Mexican W ar and fixed the southern boundary of Arizona at the Gila

River. The area called Arizona was considered a part of the Territory of New Mexico which was created by an act of Congress on September 9>

1850. The seat of the territorial government was located in Santa Fe,

During this period in American History, the driving spirit of Manifest

Destiny resulted in rapid and extensive western land acquisition by the

United States government.

The United States government, wishing to obtain more knowledge about its newly acquired territory of New Mexico, sent, in 1852,

Captain Lorenzo Sitgreaves ^ of the United States Topographical *4

^Battalion members who settled in northeastern Arizona were: W esley Adair (Co. C) and W illiam A. Follert (Co. E) in Showlow; James S. Brown (Co. D) and John Steele (Co. D) in Moencopie; John Hunt (who accompanied his father. Captain Jefferson Hunt), M arshall Hunt (Co. A) and Samuel H. Rogers (Co. B) in Snowflake; Hyrum Judd (Co. E),. W illiam C. McClellan (Co. E), Sanford Porter and Lot Smith (Co. E) in Sunset; W illiam B. Maxwell (Co. D) in Springervilie; and David Pulsipher (Co. C) in Concho. James H. McClintock, Mormon Settlement in Arizona (Phoenix, 1921), pp. 36-37. 4 Lorenzo Sitgreaves was born in . He became a cadet at West Point in July 1827 and was commissioned brevet, Second Lieutenant, Artillery, in July 1832. He was promoted to Captain for gallantry and m eritorious conduct in the Mexican War at the Battle of Buena Vista. Sitgreaves died May 14, 1888. F. B. Heitman, ed. , Historical Register, , September 29, 1789-Septem- ber 29, 1889 (Washington, D. C ., 1890), p. 592. 23

Engineers on a reconnaissance across northern Arizona.. Sitgreaves

'was aaaisted by lieutenant J, G. Parke, topographical engineer; \

R. H. Kern, topographer; Dr, S. W. Woodhouse, surgeon and naturaUsti and Antoine Leroux, guide. The expedition consisted o£ about twenty people including packers and servants* pack mules for the transporta­ tion of previsions and supplies, and an escort of thirty men of the Second Artillery under the command of Major H. L. Hendrick.

After organizing the party in Santa Fe, Sitgreaves had orders to follow the Zuhi River through to the Gulf. The expedition left Zuni on

September 4, 1851* and traveled down the Zuni River to within ten miles of its mouth. Sitgreaves left the river, crossed a ridge, and struck the little Colorado, down which they traveled until they reached

Chevelon’s Pork. Sitgreaves says, "The river [little Coloradojhere receives a tributary known among trappers as Cheveloa's Pork, from one of that name who died upon its banks from eating some poisonous

root,"5. : .. ' r v - ■. •' The expedition continued down the little Colorado until it was opposite tiie northern end of the Saa Francisco Peaks. Here it left the

^Captain Lorenzo Sitgreaves, Report of an Expedition down the Zuni and Colorado Rivers, Senate Executive Document No. 59* Second SSeiflto of th irty Second Congress (Washington, D. :C., 1853), p. 7. Chevelon’s Pork is apprcMmately twenty-four miles west of Holbrook. The stream joins the little Colorado at Hardy.

% .V 24 river and traveled southwest around the base of the mountains to

Leroux . ^ From the spring, the expedition passed around the southern end of Bill Williams:: Mountain, continued northwest to the head of Yampai (Yuma) Creek and then headed westward to the Colorado, which the expedition followed to . This is thought to have been much the same route that Garces had used in 1776.

The Sitgreaves Expedition was of great importance, not only because it was the first American mapping of the region, but because it showed the practicability of a route through: Arizona along the thirty- fifth parallel for the building of wagon roads and railroads. Apparently, however, the Sitgreaves Expedition was not the first one to travel through the Holbrook area.; In his narrative, Captain Sitgreaves refers to the prior passage of a little known m ilitary expedition: "Fragments of pack-saddles and broken boxes gave evidence of a form er encampment of white men {near ZuniJ, probably the party of Lieutenant Thom

(Thornjf who escorted M r.. Collier to California in 1849.

/ . .. °Leroux Spring, named by Captain Sitgreaves for Antoine Leroux^ is about seven miles from Flagstaff. Leroux had also been a guide for the Mormon Battalion.

?Sitgreaves, p. 6. Herman Thorn was born in New York. He enlisted in the Army, was made a second lieutenant on October 15, 1846, and was promoted for gallantry and m eritorious conduct in the Mexican War for bravery at the battles of Churubusco and Molino de Rey. Heitman, p. 41. Cave J. Gouts, in his diary, states that Captain Thorn had thirty men of the 1st Dragoons, that Col. Collier was a tax 25

Two peaks in central Arizona now bear the names of Sitgreaves and Hendrick who were thus honored by lieutenant Whipple. About this time (1852) Fort Defiance, the first m ilitary post founded in what is now Arizona, was established by the Army in northeastern Arizona in an attempt to control the Navajos. Fort Defiance was located about ten miles west of the present boundary of New Mexico and Arizona and about sixty miles north of the Zuni villages. Its name comes from the fact that it was established in defiance of the Navajos.

A year later, on July 10, 1853, a volunteer survey across 8 northern Arizona was made by Aubrey, who started

collector, and that Capt. Thorn came down the Gila to Gouts' camp at the juncture of the Gila and Colorado Rivers. Lt. Whipple was also present at this camp. Gouts describes Capt. Thorn's death by drown­ ing in an attempt to ferry supplies across the Colorado River. Cave J. Gouts, MS, Arizona Pioneers' Historical Society, pp. 131-132. O °Francis Xavier Aubrey was born in western Quebec, Canada, on December 4, 1824. He came to Independence, M issouri, as a young man and by 1847 had commenced freighting across the plains to Santa Fe. He made a reputation for quick trips between Independence and Santa Fe. Because of the speed with which he traveled between the two places, he was called the "Skimmer of the Plains. " Aubrey was killed in a barroom in Albuquerque on August 20, 1854, by Mayor Richard Hanson Weightman, the form er publisher of an Albuquerque newspaper. A town, no longer existing, at the juncture of the Colorado River and Bill Williams Fork was named for him, as well as and Cliffs in northern Mohave County and and Aubrey Peak in the southern part of the county. 26 east from Tejon. Pass, California, with a party of about eighteen. The

Colorado River was crossed on July 23, 1853, probably about twenty miles above the mouth of the . Leaving the

Colorado on July 30, the party traveled in an easterly direction north

of the Bill W illiams River.

The expedition crossed the and

and traveled along the northern slope of the White Mountains, crossing

the Little Colorado southeast of Holbrook on , and arrived

at Zuni on September 10, 1853. James H. McClintock says that the

Atlantic and Pacific Railroad was built through Arizona on much of

the line indicated by Aubrey. ^

In March 1853, the Thirty-Second Congress appropriated $150,000

to be used by the Secretary of W ar "to make such explorations and

surveys as he may deem advisable to ascertain the most practicable

and economical route for a railroad from the M ississippi River to the

Pacific Ocean.11 Addifional’appropriations totaling $190,000 were

later added to the original sum. At that time, the Secretary of War

was , later President of the Confederate States: of *

^Arizona, The Youngest State (, 1916), I, 119.

I®John C. Rives, ed., The Congressional Globe (Washington, 1853), p. 798. 27

America. Davis selected Lieutenant A. W. Whipple** of the Corps of

Topographical Engineers as leader of the party to explore all land lying approximately along the thirty-fifth parallel. The personnel of the party included Lieutenant J. C. Ives, topographical engineer and head of the working survey s ection, and Jules Mar con, geologist. The report of the expedition included not only the topography of the country explored, but its habits and customs, , flora and fauna, and climatology. The records of the railroad work also included specifica­ tions of distance and contours of the land.'

Whipple's expedition left Albuquerque on November 8, 1853, and traveled westward to Zuni. * On November 23, the expedition left Zuni, but on November 28 some Indian guides met the party and suggested a better route to the Little Colorado. ^ Turning back, the group camped

^A m iel Weeks Whipple was a native of M assachusetts. He became a West Point Cadet on July 1, 1837, and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the A rtillery on July 1, 1841. Lt. Whipple first came to Arizona in 1850 in charge of a large corps of engineers, surveyors and assistants as a part of the Boundary Survey Commission. The job of the Commission was not only to make notes on the northern part of and Sonora, but also to determine the adaptability of the southern part of the to a railroad route. Whipple received promotions for gallantry and m eritorious service in the Civil War in the battles of Manassas, Fredericksburg, and Chancellorsville, where he was mortally wounded. He was promoted to major general before he died on May 7, 1863. Heitman, p. 688. See also Thomas Edwin Farish, History of Arizona, (Phoenix, 1915), I, 183-184.

^Joseph Fish, "History of Arizona, " MS, A. P. H. S ., p. 221. 28 13 at Jacob's Well on November 29 and the next day passed Navajo Springs.

Continuing west, the party crossed the wide valley of the Rio Puerco of the West. ^ In what Whipple called Lathodendron^ Park, he dis­ covered the Petrified Forest "where trees had been converted into jasper.11 Following Uthodendron Creek south into its wide sandy bed, Whipple says:

This was the most fatiguing part of the journey. Some distance below there were indications of a more favorable crossing. Shouldn't be required to bridge the creek there are plenty of sand­ stone slabs, quarried as it were, and fit for use. Following the right bank for half a m ile, we emerged from the sandstone canon, and found ourselves upon the edge of an immense vail ey-that of *

l^Navajo Springs is "a number of small springs, about three miles southeast of Navajo station on the Santa Fe Railroad in Apache County, Arizona. Here on Tuesday, December 29, 1863, the newly appointed federal officials raised the flag and formally inaugurated the Territory. It was the first point where the members of the party were sure they were in the limits of Arizona, and their commis­ sions required them to take the oath of office within the new territory within the calendar year of 1863." Will C. Barnes, Arizona Place Names, University of Arizona Bulletin No. 2 (Tucson, 1935), p. 297.

^A t this crossing of the , Whipple crossed his profile for the proposed railroad and the future Santa Fe Railroad near the present station of Navajo.

^G reek word for "stone. "

^G rant Foreman, ed. , "The Itinerary of Lt. A. W. Whipple during His Explorations for a Railway Route from Fort Smith.to Los Angeles in the Years 1853 and 1854," A Pathfinder in the Southwest (Norman, 1941), p. 153. 29 17 . • the Colorado Chiquito extending toward the south and southwest apparently twenty or thirty m iles. The soil appeared of dark loam, . covered with grass. A few miles below was seen a line of Alamos indicating the juncture of a stream from the northeast, which we supposed to be Rio Puerco of the West. Doubtless this should have been from the place where we crossed it, although Save dr a a guide says that it passed through a canon . . . . We turned west­ ward, and eight miles beyond the crossing of Lithodendron Creek, finding numerous langunas of fresh water and good grama, we encamped. With water for irrigation, such as . . . artesian wells might afford, the soil would yield abundantly. This valley is at the same altitude as that of Rio Grande at Albuquerque. Hence there is probably less rain here than at Zuni, and crops would require artificial watering. The advantages of this country for , however, cannot well be surpassed. With two hundred mules, besides beef-cattle and sheep, we are able to camp where we please, without fear of the want of grass . . . An improved breed of sheep would produce wool of more value, that there scarcely need be a lim it to the number that may graze upon this region. Nature has furnished grass, sufficient water, and a most favorable to this purpose. ^

The above is the first description that is found of the little

Colorado Valley near Holbrook. Whipple must have passed very close to the present site of Holbrook, and, according to his account, could be considered the first white man to travel along the north bank of the 17

17 ‘Whipple must have been mistaken here, as the lithodendron Creek runs into the Rio Puerco, not the little Colorado. The Rio Puerco then flows southwest into the little Colorado. Whipple also states that a stream came in "from the northeast, which we supposed to be the Rio Puerco of the W est." The author was unable to find any such stream on the map. If a party were traveling down the little Colorado, the Rio Puerco would flow into it from the northeast, but this could not have been the case, as the lithodendron Creek flows into the Rio Puerco much further north. See map of area in Appendix G.

^Forem an, pp. 154-155. 30 river. Previously, Sitgreaves and Aubrey had followed the south bank of the Little Colorado in the vicinity of Holbrook.

On December 5, Whipple's party reached the bed of a river just west of Holbrook which they named Leroux Fork after Antonie Leroux, the guide for the Sitgreaves and Whipple Expeditions. After following the

Little Colorado for about forty m iles, Whipple, struck west towards the

San Francisco Peaks , and passed south of them. Continuing west, the expedition passed north of Bill W illiams Mountain, across the Verde^ to the source of Bill W illiams' Fork, and then down the stream to its juncture with the Colorado. They traveled up the Colorado through the

Mojave Valley, and crossed the river at about latitude 34°50' north.

The expedition then journeyed through the valley of the Mohave River and through Cajon Pass to Los Angeles where the survey was terminated on March 25, 1854.

The next American expedition through northern Arizona was a very important one, as it laid out a wagon road which was followed by 19 later pioneers traveling west. Naval Lieutenant Edward F. Beale, 7 who was no longer a sailor and bore a California title of "General,"

^ was born in Washington, D. C ., on February 4, 1822. He fought in the Mexican War as a Lieutenant in the Navy and took the first California gold east. After the Mexican W ar, B e a le resigned from the Navy and began a series of exploring expedi­ tions in the Southwest. In 1852 he was appointed Superintendent of Indian Affairs, a position in which he served until 1857. He became a 31

accepted a commission in 1857 to survey the Hew Mexico territory

along the thirty-fifth parallel. Beale was ordered to open a wagon

road from Fort Defiance to the eastern frontier of California. This

expedition was unique in that Beale used camels. The expedition left

San Antonio, Texas, on June 25, 1857, and reached the Rio Puerco on

September 2, entering its broad valley the next day. Beale wrote,

"As we opened the valley, we could see at a considerable distance its

point of junction the Rio Puerco with that of the little Colorado. "20

On September 4 the expedition reached the Little Colorado. Beale

described the area as follows:

Our road was made this morning down the banks of the Pecos j^Rio Puerco] • • Finding the road bad, from the soft character of the soil, we crossed the river for better travelling; but soon after recrossed it where a point of sandstone rock comes down to the banks, and quite near the juncture of the two rivers. The Pecos 0^° Puerco) where we crossed it contained six inches of water in depth, and about twenty feet in width. Turning the angle of the point of rocks, we came in sight of the cotton-wood trees of the Rio Colorado [Little Colorado], at a distance of three or four hundred yards or so from bank to bank; but the water not wider than as many feet, and not over a foot in depth. The valley of this river is three miles across, and grass plentiful in the bottoms,

brigadier general by appointment of the Governor of California and later served as m inister to Austria-Hungary during the administration of President Grant. Beale died April 22, 1893. Stephen Bonsai, Edward Fitzgerald Beale: A Pioneer in the Path of Empire (New York, 1912), p. 1. See also Lewis B. Lesley, ed. , Uncle Sam's Camels: The Journal of May Humphreys Story, Supplemented by The Report of . Edward Fitzgerald Beale (1857-1858) (Cambridge, 1929), pp. 6-7.

Lesley, p. 193. 32

as well as on the hills, which are quite low. There is an abundance of large cotton-wood trees in the bottom, which resembles very nearly the bottom of the Rio Grande . . . . The mountain peak to the south--I have called Mount Whipple, in honor of the distinguished officer who bears that name .... traveled for some distance down the river bottom to a point of rocks which came out from the bluffs toward it, and turning this, we came to and crossed Leroux's Fork, which comes in from the northward; the country in that direction looking clean and open . . . ascending a long slope, [we] came suddenly to its termination, from which we enjoyed a magnificient view. The whole river {[Little Colorado] for miles, was spread out before us; and far in the distance, over the green tops of the cottonwood trees, mountain, rising apparently out of a vast plain, stood as a landmark which was to be our guide for many days. ^1

. From Beale’s description of his crossing of the Rio Puerco just above its juncture with the Little Colorado, there can be little doubt that this fording was later called "Horsehead Crossing. "

Continuing down the river to Cottonwood Creek near present

Winslow, Beale crossed the Little Colorado at Sunset Crossing. ^ He then struck west to the and beyond, more or less following Whipple's route. He arrived at Leroux Springs, near Flagstaff, 21

21Ibid. , pp. 194-196.

^H orsehead Crossing received its name from the fact that during high water all that could be seen of a horse crossing the river was his head. Interviews with Lloyd C. Henning and Selso Montano, Holbrook, July, 1959. Barnes says, "None of the old tim ers know the reason for this name;" Barnes, Arizona Place Names, p. 211,

^Sunset Crossing is approximately six miles east of Winslow on the Little Colorado. An Arizona Historical M arker is placed on the south side of U. S. Highway 66 about six miles east of Winslow. The m arker gives the following information: " Sunset Crossing was the best 33 on September 12 and reached the Colorado River on October 17. Beale did a great deal of, work on the wagon road.and made .a number of changes on the route traveled by Sitgfeaves and Whipple. He then worked back by the same route to prove the worth of his wagon road. ,

Leaving the Colorado, June. 29,. 1859, he reached Albuquerque one month later. Beale made this return journey at about the rate of speed of the average emigrant train, allowing his horses and mules to subsist solely upon the grass of the country. The route chosen by Beale closely approximates U. S. 66--today the main east-west highway through northern Arizona. • . :

crossing of the Little Colorado during much of the year. A rocky ledge crossed the stream from bank to bank, permitting wagons and stock to cross without the danger of quicksand very prevalent along.the Little Colorado. This crossing was used by Beale's Camel Expedition in 1858, becoming a regular stop on the m ilitary road he surveyed and built from Fort Defiance to . It appeared on army maps and subsequently was mentioned by other expeditions, including the W heeler party in 1870. It was used by Arizona's first territorial officials arriving from Santa Fein 1863. - . When the Mormons began their migrations out of in the mid- 70's, they used Sunset Crossing en route from the Colorado crossing at Lee's Ferry to the new settlements along the Little Colorado, , and Central Arizona. A small settlement of Sunset was established about three miles downstream;‘from the crossing in 1876. Sunset Crossing was used interchangeably with Horsehead Crossing near Holbrook by travelers on the road from Santa Fe to the Verde settlements and Prescott . . . . Until the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad was built in 1882, this crossing was universally used for east-west transportation through northern Arizona. " 34

: Thus, although the trappers and mountain men were the first

Anglo-Americans to wander, along the stream s and plains of northeastern

Arizona, it took the expeditions of Sitgreaves, Aubrey, Whipple and

Beale to explore and lay out a route across northern Arizona that would later be used by pioneers, the railroad, and the automobile. The water and greenery of the Little Colorado seemed to be a natural place for ,

settlement, arid it was only a m atter of time before a permanent settle­ ment was to be founded in the area near Holbrook.

; With the coming of the Civil War in 1861, there was an increased interest among the people of what is now Arizona for the creation of a

separate territory. As early as 1859, Congress was petitioned by

the people of the southern part of the Territory of New Mexico, which included Tucson and the settlements of the M esilla.Valley (Rio Grande),

to form a new territory to be called, "Arizona.11 Congress, however,

- . failed to show any interest in this proposal. By an act of the Ninth

New Mexico Legislature on February 1, I860, the county of Arizona

was created from the land acquired by the , with the

county seat at Tubac. In 1862 the next legislature added the eastern

part of Arizona County to Dona Ana County and changed the county,

seat to Tucson. A constitutional convention had been held in Tucson in

April I860 in which.a defacto administration had been organized. The

new Territory of Arizona included all of the 35

south of latitude 33°40' and was composed of four counties. The conven­ tion elected: a governor and the governor appointed a full slate of i

officers. In I860 Senator Green of introduced an unsuccessful bill to provide a temporary government in "the Territory of Arizuma

[si

act. With the signing of the bill by President Lincoln on ,

the Territory of Arizona-was created. ^

The capitol of the Territory of Arizona w as.first located, by a

proclamation of the Arizona territorial governor, at Ft. Whipple;

twenty-two miles north of Prescott. Ft. Whipple.had been erected by

order of General Carleton for the protection of m iners working the

placer of . The civil officers appointed to conduct the

affairs of the new territory began their duties at Navajo Springs, forty

miles west of Zuni, on December 29, 1863.

Eveh before the establishment of a territorial government,. the

discovery of mines had;played a very important part in the settlement

of northern Arizona. As early as 1838 or 1839, Joseph Walker and

^President Jefferson Davis of the Confederate States of America had signed a bill on , 1862, organizing the Territory of Arizona adjacent to Texas, as a part of the Confederacy.

^Joseph Rutherford Walker was a native of . He.came west in 1833 as a member of the Bonneville trapping party, traveling to California by the Yellowstone route. Walker also guided an emigrant party to California by the southern route in 1843, and in 1845 served 36

Jack Ralston, trappers, found gold diggings on the Little Colorado

? A River. However, they did not realize it was gold until after their return to San Francisco. In 1861 Walker, desiring to explore northern

Arizona for the gold, organized a party of eighteen men. Their objec­ tive was the country around Prescott and the Little Colorado. They traveled up the Little Colorado but no gold was found. The next year they organized again in Colorado. In.the spring of 1862, the W alker

Party left Colorado and returned to Arizona, sending out prospecting groups along the headwaters of the . The party discovered gold on the Hassayampa River and;, on May 10, 1863, the Pioneer

Mining District was established. This seems to have been the earliest discovery of gold in County (then the "m other1* of Apache and

Navajo Counties) by Anglo-Americans. ' ^

One of the first placer mines in Arizona had been discovered by 27 , the old guide and frontiersman, about'1861. A map of the Arizona Territory made in 1894 shows the LaPaz route *

as a guide for the Fremont Expedition through Walker Pass, which was named for him. There are unconfirmed stories that Walker planned to capture Ft. Whipple soon after its establishment as a post, and that he had secured the promise of help from many Southerners in Arizona to put Arizona in the Confederate Camp.

Z^Fish, "History of A rizona/' p. 336.

^Farish, I, 297. , . 37

28 passing through Horsehead Grossing to Prescott and LaPaz;. this indicatesr-that travel.to the LaPas; mines from the east passed through the future site of Holbrook. : .

• In this.period,, equally as famous as the Walker prospecting

expedition was the Weaver party (also called Peeples Party). The

expedition had been organized by Abraham H. Peeples and entered,

Arizona from California.in May 1863. Peeples had written to Pauline

Weaver asking him to serve.as guide,, and Weaver met the party in

Yuma. . The party, led by W eaver, journeyed.up the Colorado River

to LaPaz, where the Mexicans had been placer for some time.

The party traveled east following Bill Williams Fork until they reached

the mountains. . The group camped nearby and panned out some gold on

what was named Weaver Creek, Besides Weaver and Peeples, the

other members of the party were W eaver's two partners, Joseph Green

and Mathew W ebber, (for whom the town, was named),

a Negro called Ben, a young Mexican named Berado F reyes^ (the

Map of Arizona Territory (sketch map copy of a map drawn in 1894 by A. S. Reynolds), A. P. H. S ..

^A . F. Banta says that Rich Hill was. discovered by the Party. - "On this trip Swilling had a Chihuahua Mexican whom he thought much of, named Berado Frayes (freye^J, who was a pretty good hunter. _ Jack told Berado to try his luck at hunting, as the camp was in need of fresh meat. The Mexican shouldered his rifle and struck out in quest of game, and in his tramp in search of something to kill, found himself late in the afternoon on the further side of the 'flat 38 first settler at Horsehead Crossing), and apparently three other

Americans. 30 -• '* - --

Two days later the party discovered chunks and nuggets of gold on top of a hill in a sloping basin. In one day three of the party dug

rock hill" and not caring to retrace his steps around the base of the hill. Rain had fallen two or three days previously, and some of the depressions or holes in the rocks contained rainwater. After his laborious climb to the summit of the flat top rock, Berado was hot and thirsty and seeing the water, he lay down to take a drink of it. While drinking the rainwater, he saw in the bottom a big chunk of yellow something, but had no notion that it was gold, as it was so large being about the size of his open hand. However, being curious to know what the heavy, yellow thing really was, he carried it into camp and gave it to Jack Swilling, his partner. Swilling at once pronounced it gold and asked the Mexican where he found it . . . . So that night it was agreed that the surface of the rock should be equally divided into squares, one square to each one of the party . . . . The Mexican fBerado} drew a number from the pot and from his square cleaned up several thousand dollars in gold nuggets . . . . -The above is the true story of the dis­ covery of Rich Hill, and all other stories to the contrary are merely so much rot." A. F. Banta, "Rich Hill Discovery," The Arizona Republican, December 11, 1899. The Arizona Miner says that Berado "took from Antelope or Rich Hill $24,000 for his share of the profits of eight days' work where six were partners. He left for Sonora for the purpose of bringing in supplies to his old partners and others fast coming in to the new El Dorado, and succeeding in outfitting a large pack train and safely bringing it as far as Tucson where it was taken from him by Apaches. The Arizona Miner, February 1, 1878, , Prescott.

• Fish says that four Mexicans had joined the party at Yuma. He says that in the evening the Mexicans came in with their stock and "taking Mr. Peeples aside, exhibited a large quantity of gold nuggets which they had picked up on top of the mountain. These men could have kept the secret themselves but they gathered a large amount of gold and then rode safely into M exico." Fish also states that Berado Freyes was one of these Mexicans. Fish, "History of Arizona, " p. 339. See also McClintock. Arizona, the Youngest State, p. 110. 39 out $1, 800 in nuggets with their hunting knives. Peeples went for

31 supplies to Maricopa Wells and returned with Jack Swilling and a number of others. In about a month, all of the surface gold was found

and the party scattered, with the, exception of some of the members who

remained to work the gravel bars of Weaver Creek. Fish says: "It is estimated that, during the first month, a quarter of a million dollars in gold was gathered. The mountain was named Rich Hill and has

o 2 yielded many thousand of dollars since that tim e.11

Thus, Berado Freyes, who had been a member of the Peeples

Party that had made the Rich Hill discovery near Prescott, would, in

a short time, establish a settlement at.Horsehead Crossing, later to become Holbrook.

On December 23, 1863, Fort Whipple was established at Postle1 s

ranch in , about twenty-four m iles northeast of Prescott. ^ 31*33

31 John W. Swilling was born in in 1831. He came to Arizona in 1862 with Hunter*s Texas Troops. . Swilling ,,is known to history as the virtual founder of Phoenix, as he organized the Swilling Company in 1867 and took out the first canal from the Salt R iver.11 He also served as Phoenix's first postmaster. Frank C. Lockwood, Pioneer Days in Arizona from the Spanish Occupation to Statehood (New York, 1932), p. 144. See also the John W. Swilling Papers, MS, A .P.H .S..

■^Fish, "History of Arizona, " p. 339. 33 War Department, Surgeon-General1 s Office, A Report on the Hygiene of the United States Army, with Descriptions of M ilitary Posts, Circular No. 8, May 1, 1875, p. 554. 40

The post was named for Brigadier General Whipple, and was established by Major W illis, First California Infantry. . General James H. Carleton had ordered the post established for the protection of the prospectors and m iners who had recently come into that region in search of gold

(the Walker and Weaver Parties). On May 18, 1864, Fort Whipple was moved to Granite Greek, one mile east of the little town which was soon to be called Prescott.

On May 30, 1864, a public meeting was held in a little settlement near Fort Whipple. At the public meeting held on ,

Richard C. McCormick, Secretary of the Arizona Territory, suggested the town be named Prescott, in honor of the w riter and historian,

William H. Prescott.

The civil officers appointed to conduct the affairs of the new

Territory of Arizona began their duties at Navajo Springs, forty miles west of Zuni, on December 29, 1863, amidst general rejoicing, the firing of guns and addresses. The government only remained at the

Springs a few months before it was moved westward to Prescott by

Governor John N. Goodwin in June 1864.

The first territorial legislature met in Prescott on July 18, 1864,

and a delegate to Congress and members of the Territorial Legislature

were chosen. Charles D. Poston, sometimes called "The Father of

A rizona," because he had spent a great deal of time in Washington 41 lobbying for the creation of a territory separate from New Mexico, was chosen to represent the Territory in Washington.

The legislature also created four new counties, one of which was

Yavapai, called the 11 Mother of the Counties" because so many counties were later created from its territory. The Holbrook area was originally part of Yavapai County, with its county seat at Prescott. The Tenth

Legislative Assembly, meeting at Prescott in January 1879, created

Apache County. Solomon Barth and A. F. Banta were both active in securing the passage of the legislative act. The county seat of Apache

County was first established at Snowflake, then Springerville, and finally at St. Johns. In 1895, Navajo County was created and Holbrook became the county seat of the newly-formed county.

Meanwhile, a party of settlers from , known as "The Boston

P arty," made one of the earliest attempts to establish an organized settlement in the Little Colorado River Valley in 1876. The colonists went to the fertile area with high hopes. The region was on the line of a projected railway following Whipple's survey. It had not previously been settled because the Apaches had been driven onto reservations only two years before.

Apparently, the colony's prom oters had obtained information on the desirability of the area from Whipple's government report. 42 prospectors who had traveled the area and Arizona newspapers

(probably The Arizona M iner),

The Boston Daily Globe quoted Whipple's report that there "were extensive forests abounding with game, wide grass valleys affording pasturage to innumerable herds of deer, crystal brooks alive with trout, their fertile banks well cultivated and now lined with ash and tim b e r .... This section cannot be surpassed. With two hundred mules, besides beef cattle and sheep, we:were able to camp where we pleased without fear for the want of grass. Nature has furnished 34 grass, sufficient water and a climate most favorable to this purpose."

It was with downcast hearts, then, that the Boston settlers viewed the Little Colorado River. The best part already had been taken over by the Mormons. The colonists, whose exact number apparently is

unrecorded, agreed that the original plan must be. revised. An explor­ ing party then selected a new town site in the Leroux Valley mentioned

by Lieutenant Whipple. Located at the foot of the southwest side of the

San Francisco Mountains, the valley was about three miles long and two

miles wide. It was surrounded by low covered with what

Captain Richard Roberts called an excellent growth of tim ber.

•^October 18, 1875, quoted in Madison Loring, MS, A .P.H .S.. 43

In a letter to the Boston Globe , Captain Roberts described the

long and tedious journey to the Little Colorado. Inhabitants along the

route told him that the previous winter had been the coldest and the ■ - ■ ■ • . : spring the latest for twenty years. The grass was dead and riverbeds

dry since snows had not melted to fill the stream s. "The valley of

the Little Colorado,11 the captain wrote the newspaper, "we found to be much below our expectations as an agricultural country, the best

part having been taken by the Mormons.

With the failure of the Boston Party to settle .in the Little

Colorado River Valley, the Mormons would be the first people to

establish permanent settlements in the Holbrook area in the middle '

and late 1870's. .

35fbid. , July 8, 1876. Barnes says that Flagstaff received its name from one of the members of the Boston Party stripping a small pine tree and raising a flag upon it. He continues: "around this extemporized flagpole, the party celebrated on July 4, 1876. Thus the name Flagstaff was attached to the spring and retained on the establish­ ment of a construction camp of the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad, 1882. " Barnes, Arizona Place Names, pp. 163-164. C H A P T E R HI

THE FOUNDING OF MORMON SETTLEMENTS ALONG THE

LITTLE COLORADO RIVER

The first attempt by the Mormons to settle along the Little Colorado

River began in the winter of 1872-73, when ^ and L. W.

Roundy, with a party of twelve men, journeyed from southern Utah to the headwaters of the Verde River and the San Francisco Peaks.

Jacob Hamblin was born in Salem, , on April 2, 1819. He became a Mormon as a young man, and underwent the terrible hard­ ships of his people. He arrived in on September 1, 1850. The Indians trusted Jacob Hamblin. He never betrayed that trust, and by winning their respect and confidence he did m ore, perhaps, than any other man to allow the to enter the West. Hamblin died August 31, 1886, in Pleasanton,New Mexico. On December 15, 1876, honored him with the title of "Apostle to the Lam anites.11 The Indians were thought to be Lamanites or descendants of the Lost Tribes of Israel. There also sprang up the supposition that the Hopi Indian tongue contained a number of words common to the Welsh language. It was to investigate this supposition that Jacob Hamblin led an expedition into Arizona to visit the Hopi in the fall of 1858. He crossed the Colorado River at the Cross­ ing of the Fathers in southern Utah. Hamblin led additional expeditions to the Hopi in 1859 and I860. For a number of years before 1872, Hamblin led parties into northern Arizona by different routes. See Paul Bailey, Jacob Hamblin, Buckskin Apostle, (Los Angeles, 1948).

44 45

The purpose of this expedition was to found new settlem ents, ^ andi to look for a suitable wagon road from Utah to the Little Colorado River by way of Lee’s Ferry. The trip was difficult because of snow, and was considered a failure as nothing very satisfactory in the way of sites was found. . , , . .

In the spring of 1873, one hundred wagons under Horton D. Haight

crossed the Colorado at Lee's .Ferry. This expedition was sent out by the Mormon church authorities in Utah to establish settlements

on the Little Colorado River. The expedition reached the Little

Colorado on May 22, 1873. A report of the expedition said that there was not any green grass, that water was infrequent, and that, even

along the Little Colorado, it was necessary to dig wells in the dry

channel. As the road was blocked by drifts of sand, a camp was

established twenty-four miles below Black Falls, and an exploring

party under Haight was sent up river. After traveling one hundred

^The first Mormon settlement in Arizona was established in 1864 at Beaver on the . It is now called Littlefield. Other settlements were established on the Virgin and Muddy Rivers but were lost to Arizona when Pah Ute County became part of in 1866.

^Lee's Ferry is on the Colorado River at the mouth of the . It was established in 1872 by John D. Lee, who was hiding to escape arrest for his part in the Mountain Meadows M assacre in 1857. Lee was later caught by the U. S. Government, tried, and executed on March 23, 1877. Jacob Hamblin first crossed the river at this point in October, 1869. Barnes, Arizona Place Names, p. 243. 46 thirty-six miles upstream to the approximate vicinity of St. -Joseph the party returned eight days later, reporting that the country was 4 barren, with narrow river bottoms composed of alkaline soil.

The party had been unable to find a suitable spot along the river in which to settle. •; This discouraging report, coupled with the fear of

unfriendly Indians, led the .expedition to return to Navajo Springs.

A dispatch was sent to President Brigham Young, reporting the con­

ditions along the Little Colorado, and suggesting that the settlem ent

plan be abandoned. Henry Holmes kept a journal of the trip in which

he described the Little Colorado Country as:

Barren and forbiding, although doubtless the Lord had a purpose in view when He made it so. Few of the creeks ran half a mile from fcheir heads. The country is rent with deep chasms, made still deeper by vast torrents that pour down them during times of heavy rains . . . However, I do not know whether it makes any difference whether the country is barren or fruitful, if the Lord has a work to do in it. ^

About this time a m issionary post was established at Moenkopi^

where an earlier expedition under Jacob Hamblin and Andrew S. Gibbons

^McClintock, Mormon Settlement in Arizona, p. 135.

5Fish, “History of Arizona, " p. 559.

&The name, Moenkopi, is supposed to mean “the place of running water. “ Fish says that he believes John L. Blythe and family were the first family there in 1871, but that the hostilities of the Indians caused them to leave. Fish, p. 559. A permanent settlement was established on December 4, 1875, by James S. Brown. - 47. had proposed a missionary settlement. While returning to the Colorado, the Haight party found twenty- m issionaries under Henry Day at

Moenkopi. John L. Blythe, a member of Haight’s expedition, remained at Moenkopi to engage in m issionary work. In 1874, President Young ordered a new expedition southward under John L. Blythe., The : expedition failed, however, because of reports of a Navajo uprising.

After this the post at Moenkopi was occupied only at intervals, depend­ ing upon the peacefulness of the Indians.

: The authorities in Utah remained undaunted in their determination to extend settlement southward to the valley of the Little Colorado. A scouting expedition under James S. Brown left Salt Lake City on

October 30, 1875. The party made their headquarters at Moenkopi, where a stone house .was built for winter, quarters. Brown and two

others then traveled up the Little Colorado a great distance, ’’finding

a fine, open country, with water plentiful and with grass abundant, with good farming land and timber available. The party returned by the Beale Road westward to a point southwest of the San Francisco

Mountains, where they followed the Little Colorado back to Moenkopi.

^McClintock, Mormon Settlement in Arizona, p. 137. 48

With Brown's favorable report, the church authorities in Salt

Lake City took quick action. Four companies, which included fifty men and their fam ilies, were organized and led by Lot Smith, Jessie O.

Ballenger, George Lake, and William C. Allen. The expedition left

Salt Lake City on February 3, 1876. As there was no formal gather­ ing of the companies, each member traveled southward as best he could to report to his leader on the Little Colorado. The assembling point was Kanab, Utah. From Kanab, groups of about ten families traveled together. On March 23, 1876, the lead teams reached Sunset Crossing on the Little Colorado. The Mormons used the Old Beale Road from the vicinity of the San Francisco Mountains to the Little Colorado

R iv e r.® ,

On the following day, the companies led by Allen, Smith and Lake traveled about twenty miles upriver to a point about five miles above the present site of Joseph City. Here, James S. Brown, an Indian missionary who rather assumed the right to.dictate to the newcomers, advised them against going any further upriver. Lot Smith wanted to continue because President Young had instructed them to go to the headwaters of "Flax R iver." But after a lengthy consultation, the Q company decided to stop. 7 8

8John Bushman, diary, MS, A .P.H .S. , p. 20.

^Fish, "History of Arizona, " pp. 561-562. 49

Exploring parties then fanned out to find suitable sites for settle­ ments. The Allen company.first remained at the spot where the council had heard Brown but moved within a short time to about one mile east 10 of the site of Joseph City, or St. Joseph, as it was first called.

George Lake's party located on the opposite side of the river about two miles southwest of Allen. The settlement, named Obed or Lake's

Camp, was short-lived. It was near marshy land and the resulting disease and sickness prompted the abandonment of the camp in 1877.

The Lake party migrated to the three other colonies. Lot Smith's group returned downriver and founded a settlem ent at Sunset, * * about three miles below and northwest of Sunset Crossing. The fourth party. *11

St. Joseph was named for the Prophet in February 1878. It was formerly called Allen or Allen's Camp. The Post Office was established on October 30, 1879, with Joseph H. Richards as Postm aster. The name of the town was again changed in 1900 to Joseph City because of the confusion on the railroad line with St. Joseph, M issouri. Joseph City is the only remaining town of the four original settlements on the Little Colorado below Holbrook. For additional information on the founding of the Mormon settlem ents, see Howard E. Daniels, "Mormon Colonization in Northern Arizona'/ (M aster's Thesis, University of Arizona, I960). 11 A tem porary m ilitary camp was established at Sunset in 1858, and the camp was used until the coming of the railroad in 1882. It is thought that Camp Sunset was first used by Beale's Camel expedition in 1858, traveling from Fort Defiance to Mohave. The Camp was later used by military. Mormon settlers and trappers. Ray Brandes, "A Guide to the History of the U. S. Army Installations in Arizona, 1849- 1886, " MS, A .P. H. S .. See also A Historical and Biographical Record of the Territory of Arizona (Chicago, 1896), p. .203. 50 led by Jessie O. Ballenger, settled four miles southwest of Sunset

Crossing near the present site of Winslow. The town's name,

Ballenger, was changed to Brigham City in September 1878.

The settlers now united in the sowing and planting of seeds brought from Utah, as well as the building of irrigation dams. Fish says it 12 was problematical then whether the dams could be made permanent.

The settlers of Allen and Obed worked together to construct one .

A ditch of six m iles was needed, to carry the, water of the river to Obed, ■ ' v . ■ while a three mile ditch was necessary jor water to reach Allen. The settlers of Sunset, who built a dam just below the junction of C13ar

Creek with the Little Colorado, also needed three miles of ditch.

Ballenger commenced a dam opposite their camp; but, when this proved unsuccessful, the dam was moved one half mile farther up the river.

Because of the delay, Ballenger did not succeed in getting water to raise a crop that year. The dams washed out after each heavy flood and the erecting of dams became a very hard, hectic, discouraging and time-consuming effort. Saint Joseph (Allen) built a new dam on the little Colorado every year from 1876 to 1891. The first joint dam of

Allen's Camp and Obed cost five thousand dollars. McClintock says that nine hundred sixty days' work was put in on the dam, and five *

*2Fish, "History of Arizona," p. 562. 51

13 hundred more days on the Allen ditch. The dam raised the water about twelve feet but washed out at the first flood. The dam built in 1891 proved sufficiently stable to withstand the impact of heavy floods and remained in use for many years. John Bushman states in his diary that

As the Little Colorado had a quicksand bottom, they could keep their dams. This river drains a large country, and in August and September, when the fall rains come, the river would raise very high and seep the dams away. This discouraged many and they drew out of the company and went away; some to Utah and some to . Only for the United Order, it is doubtful if any would have stayed along this river. ^

Fish also rem arks that "during the summer Q.876) many of the new comers returned to Utah, some to bring their families to their new homes, and others to stay, having abandoned the 0JLttle

Colorado}. After a lapse of five years', scarcely one-tenth of those

Soon after the founding of the four settlem ents, the United Order was established. This was a communal system whereby work was to

l-^Mc Clintock, Mormon Settlement in Arizona, pp. 141-142.

^Bushman, p. 22. . - -

^Fish, "History of Arizona," p. 563.

^D uring this period of church development, there was a tendency to favor the establishment of a communal system in each village founded by the Saints. The United Order had been founded in Utah, but it did not have any direct connection with the Church Organization. Many 52 be done according to the ability of the individual. Crops (and the results of all industry) were gathered at a common location for common benefit.

Early in" 1876, a settler wrote from Allen*s Camp, "It is all United

Order here and no beating around the bush, for it is the intention to

go into it to the full meaning of the term. John L. Blythe, on

April 11, 1876, wrote "The companies are going into the United Order to the whole extent, giving in everything they possess, their labor,

time and talent. The communal system was formally adopted at

Allen's Camp on April 28, 1877, when articles were agreed upon for

a branch of the United Order. John Bushman says that a "Committee

appraised all the teams and wagons, cattle and horses, provisions and

tools of all kinds, and everything that was brought to them; and each

one was given credit for what he turned in; and each one :: received

credit for the work he did; and they were charged with all they drew

out of the company for their support. In 1878 Samuel G. Ladd

wrote from St. Joseph that the United Order worked harmoniously and

p ro s p e ro u s ly . 20 . . . . *1820

other early pioneer groups, including the Puritans in , had attempted communal associations.

17Me Clintock,, Mormon Settlement in Arizona, p. 144.

18Ibid. , p. 144.

^Bushman, p. 21. 20 Me Clintock^- Mormon Settlement in Arizona, pp. 144-145. 53

However, in 1883 the United Order was, dissolved for a Steward­ ship Plan. Each family received its part of the divided land, a portion of grain, and a settlement of what each man had originally put into . In January• 1887, the Stewardship Plan was abolished and cooperative stores were instituted. James W arren LeSueur says that there were neither poor nor rich under the United Order, that all were equal. He also states that the surplus over the original cost invested by the Saints in Brigham City was about eight thousand dollars, which went to the church after the,people had drawn out their capital. "This money was used by the church to settle^the Saints in other parts of

Arizona ('including the Gila Valley].

A picture of the early life and settlement.of Allen's Camp is related by David Edward Adams. He says that there were fifty or sixty men. : "I was cook, all eat at one table made out of -two cottonwood logs flattened on one side laid on tress els. All eat and worked as one family. I built the first house, Alfred Cluff next, John Me Laws next and only ones close together." He continues that the women present were "Mesdames Adams, Cluff, McLaws, Nelson, Shelley and Bucklol. 22 Other parts of fam ilies were left to await preparations. " . 2122

21 James W arren LeSueur, "United Order in A rizona," MS, A .P.H .S. , pp. 6-7.

22David Edward Adams, "Reminiscences," MS, A .P.H .S., 1935. 54

The first plowing in Allen's Camp was begun on March 25, 1876, by John Bushman and Nathan Cheney, and on April 3, Bushman sowed the first wheat. In early August, twenty-three men, including Allen, journeyed back to Utah whence a few men returned with their fam ilies.

Allen returned with a number of families by way of the eastern section of the old Spanish Trail, via the San Juan region, hoping that the new route would do away with the problem of crossing the Colorado River.

However, the new route through New Mexico proved too long and the experiment was considered unsuccessful. •

On August 19, 1876, teams were sent from all the settlements to Lee's Ferry to obtain a saw m ill that had been sent by the church in Utah. They returned with the saw m ill on September 27, and a site was chosen for it in the Mogollon Mountains about fifty miles west of

S u n se t. •'

Because of the failure of the dam s, the colonists had very little ; and, during the fall and winter, teams were sent into Utah to obtain flour to sustain the settlements and to get seed for planting grain the next season. Fish describes conditions as follows: "Sunset succeeded in raising about seventy-five bushels of wheat and some corn.

Z^McClintock, Mormon Settlement in Arizona, p. 140 55

At the other places scarcely anything was raised; a. little corn and some melons being about all . . . . ; The water at the lower settlements at 24 some seasons of the year was very bad and unfit for use."

In the fall of 1876, the settlements began the construction of permanent houses and forts for protection against unfriendly Indians.

The outside walls of the fort at Obed were all constructed of rock. In the other three settlements forts were of the stockade type, constructed of cottonwood logs from the river bottom plastered in between with mud. The stockade fort at Allen's Camp was, planned to be one hundred fifty-two feet wide and three hundred feet long, but only part of it was finished. About twenty houses were built inside the fort. The communi­ ties ate in common dining halls with a kitchen and bakery attached, except at Allen' s Camp where there was a commissary. ^5 Schools were established, and the United Order assigned each man the work for which he was best adapted. Each settlement had carpenters, bricklayers, m illers, lumbermen, farm ers, dairymen, teachers, tanners, shoemakers, etc. . :

^Fish, p. 563.

^LeSueur, p. 4. 56

The main structure at Sunset was a stockade, twelve rods square, built mainly of drift cottonwood logs. Inside the fort were rock-built houses, a community dining hall, and a well. ’ The fort at Ballenger was two hundred feet square with rocky walls seven feet high. Thirty six houses were built inside the structure, each one fifteen by thirteen feet. To the north was a dining hall with two rows of tables which 2 6 seated more than one hundred fifty people. Adjoining the dining ' room was a kitchen on which a bakehouse had been added. There were, in addition, twelve other houses, a cellar, and a storehouse. The main industry at Ballenger was the farming of two hundred seventy-four acres of land, more than half of it planted in wheat. The settlement of Obed built a strong fort twelve rods square. The walls in certain places were ten feet high. The fort also contained bastions and port­ holes for defense.

In 1877, men and teams were sent to Lee's Ferry for a flour m ill which the church authorities had furnished for the benefit of the

Little Colorado Mission. A suitable building was erected for the m ill at a dam near Ballenger, and the mill was completed and commenced grinding grain on May 23, 1878.

Z^McClintock, Mormon Settlement in Arizona, p. 146. 57

A w riter in the Salt Lake City Deseret News,, in a letter from

Sunset Crossing, describes the little Colorado Settlements as follows:

When I arrived at Elder Lot Smith's Camp, a little over one year ago £187631 found his people living in their wagons under a bower close on the margin of the Little Colorado River. This was not a suitable place for a permanent settlement, so we moved to the place where our fort now stands. We have built quite a number of houses besides a large hall over fifty feet in length and about six­ teen feet wide. We have a blacksmith shop, corrals, stock yard, and many other good and substantial improvements. Our land was all covered with a thick growth of rabbit and grease brush, and large, dry cottonwood logs that had fallen to the ground, intermixed with large quantities of drift wood from the river. We have cleared many acres of land and sown and planted wheat, corn, squash, melons, sugar cane, and a large variety of vegetables, all of which have done well, considering the chance they have had. We think we shall have about 600 bushels of wheat, and about the same amount of corn. We have some of the largest squash I ever saw. Our melons are excellent; our cane is getting ripe, and we shall soon commence making m olasses. Our wheat is all in the stack, and we are cutting and hauling our corn into the yard. Brother Ballenger's fort is a little more than one mile west of ours. They have had good grops of wheat, corn, and other varieties of vege­ tables. Brothers Jacks on and Blinkey have been to the timber country, and made a cmolasses mill. Brother Jackson and Barns have put the m ill together, and it is now running night and day, grinding cane for Brother

a good shoemaker. Brother Ballenger needs a good blacksmith. Any and all other good faithful saints that are willing to live in the United Order. Those who do not want to live in that order had better not come out here. 27

Fish says that the crops raised in 1877 were much better than those raised the previous year. Enough was raised to sustain the colonies partly because many of the settlers had become discouraged and had left the Little Colorado M ission. ^

There are several other good descriptions of the Mormon settle­ ments in 1877. Richard J. Hinton says:

The Mormon settlements on both sides of the Colorado-Chiquito a r e fivein number, aggregating at present about 400 people; the highest of which settlements appears to be Allen's Camp, thirty miles above Sunset Crossing. At Horse-Head Crossing, still further up, is another settlement, where there are two stores, 30 but it does not appear to be Mormon. The Allen settlement receives frequent addition; they have raised this ' season 0877J forty acres of corn and over a thousand of wheat; they also have a patch of sugar cane, and evidently don't intend to throw money away buying sugar from the Sandwich Islands, or elsewhere, that they can raise at home. Frank Gray and others of these men recently went to Salt Lake City, and there obtained a threshing machine and a cane mill. The other settlements, or camps, are currently mentioned as Ballenger's, Smith's, and Lake's. ^

^T he Deseret News, Salt Lake City, quoted by The Weekly Arizona Miner , Prescott, Arizona, November 9, 1877, Sharlott Hall Museum, Prescott. ...

Z^Fish, p. 563.

^T he number of Mormon settlements should be four. There were five settlements in all, including Horsehead Crossing.

30The stores were owned by Jerry P. Hayward and Berado Freyes.

31 The Hand-book to Arizona (San Francisco, 1878), p. 296. 59

Another description of the settlements is furnished by Jerry P. Hayward who wrote a letter from Horsehead Crossing dated August 14, 1877;, to the editor of The Arizona Miner in Prescott. He relates:

The crops in this section are flourishing. Ballinger's camp, on . the south side of the .river, has 200 acres of grain and vegetables. Smith's camp, on the north side of the river, has 150 acres of corn, vegetables and sugar cane; and Allen's camp; about 30 miles above Sunset Crossing, has about the same, and all expecting good crops. About three miles opposite Allen's Camp is Lake's Obed , he also has about 200 acres planted. The next place on dit is Horsehead Crossing, above Allen's camp . . . ^

In December, 1877, J. H. Lee writes of Ballenger's camp and Lot

Smith as follows: .

They (the MormonsJ appear to be well contented, and very , industrious, all at work like so many beavers, and will compare favorably with the average American farm er in intelligence. They all live together in a fort, built in the form of a hollow square in houses built around on the inside of the fort. The walls of the fort serving for the outside walls of the Uxouses. They were somewhat crowded, owing to Mr., Lake's camp, which was situated about 20 miles above, moving down on account of sickness . . . . They have about 200 acres, in cultivation; have a splendid dam across the river, and are building a fine flouring mill. They have a saw m ill 5 miles north of Pine Springs, in the Mogollon range of mountains, about 50 miles from their camp, and ten stacks of wheat awaiting the arrival of their threshing machine, which is on the way out from Utah . . . . On the whole they appear to be a happy and contented people . . . . . While here near Sunset Cross­ ing , Lot Smith .visited our camp, whom, I forgot to say, has a camp on the north side of the river from Ballengers. I afterwards called on him at his house, but did not get much acquainted with him, as he was busily engaged in a trade with a lot of Moqui Indians.

^^The Arizona Miner, Prescott, August.24, 1877, Sharlott Hall Museum, Prescott. 60

I should judge by his outward appearance, that he is a great joker, and full of fun . . . 33

Another Little Colorado River town, Woodruff, sprang from non-Mormon beginnings. Luther Martin, who was not a Mormon, settled the land about twenty-five miles upstream from St. Joseph and about twelve miles upriver from Holbrook in 1870. He later sold his claim to the church. Four Allen's Camp members scouted the Woodruff vicinity in December 1876. They were Joseph H. Richards, Lewis P. Car don,

James Thurman and Peter O. Peterson. In March, 1877, Ammon M.

Tenney led several families into the region which was known for about

a year as Tenney's camp. In early 1878 the town became Woodruff, named for the President of the Mormons, Wilford Woodruff. McClintock

says that the suggestion for the name came from John W. Young, * 3435 a

son of Brigham Young. A square fort of rock and adobe served as the first settlement. The settlers ate in a common dining room, typical

of the United Order to which Woodruff belonged for a short time. The

The Weekly Arizona Miner, Prescott, December 21, 1877, Sharlott Hall Museum , Prescott. - 34 Barnes, Arizona Place Names, p. 493.

■^McClintock, p. 162. McClintock also gives John W. Young the credit for naming Holbrook. Young had directed the occupation of LeRoux Spring near Flagstaff by Mormons in 1877, led a^arty of settlers into northern Arizona in January 1878, founded a woolen factory at City in 1879, and became a grading contractor for the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad in 1880. 61 history of Woodruff, as with the other Little Colorado settlem ents, is one of continual breaking and rebuilding of dams.

According to a census announced on January 1, 1878, the population of the Mormon settlements in the Little Colorado Country

36 stood as follows:

S u n se t 136 Ballenger 277 Allen1 s Camp 76 W o o d ru ff 50 Moenkopi ' . 26 A to ta l of 565

The next Mormon group staked its hopes in Taylor, founded along

United Order lines, five miles west of Allen's Camp. The settlers built a dam and a dining hall and organized under John Kartchner as 37 a ward. However, they lost courage after the dam washed out a fifth time and m igrated south to Stinson's Ranch38 in July, 1878. The *37

38 Cited in McClintock, p. 147. 37 The present Taylor is a settlement on Silver Creek one mile south of Snowflake named for John Taylor, President of the Mormon Church. Barnes says that the present Taylor was a well-known stopping place on the early stage line from Holbrook to Fort Apache. Barnes, Arizona Place Names, p. 438.

^Stinson's Ranch was located on Silver Creek about thirty-five milSs north of Ft. Apache. Barnes, Arizona Place Names,, p. 424. See also Chapter IV,pp. 72-73. 62

Mormons bought Stinson's Ranch and here Apostle organ-

39 ized the town of Snowflake. It bears the names of Apostle Snow 7 and

William Flake.

On January 26, 1878, John W. Young, the first counsellor to

President Brigham Young, came to Sunset to establish the Little Colorado

40 Stake; The following officers were chosen: Lot Smith, president;

Jacob Hamblin and Lorenzo M. Hatch, counsellors. Bishops were chosen for each settlement. Levi M. Savage was bishop at Sunset;

George Lake, bishop at Brigham City; and John Bushman, presiding elder at St. Joseph. Also at the conference John W. Young re-named

Ballenger's Camp, Brigham City; and Allen's Camp, St. Joseph, in honor of the Prophet Joseph Smith.

On August 22, 1878, a disastrous flood swept down the Little

Colorado, destroying much of the grain at the lower settlements and much grain already harvested, was swept away. A correspondent of the Deseret News wrote from Sunset:

Erastus Snow first came to Arizona in 1876. He made numerous trips after this, especially to the Little Colorado Settlements. He later suggested the name for Fredonia, Arizona's northernmost settlement, three miles south of the Utah border on .

^ A stake is a Mormon territorial division.

Bushman, p. 24. 63

That for a week the rain had been pouring down alm ost incessantly, that the whole bottom was covered with water, that some of the farm s were submerged and grain in shacks was flooded, that the grain of Woodruff was entirely destroyed, the grist m ill of Brigham City inundated and the grain stacks there were deep in water, with the inhabitants raising boats and rafts to get around their f a r m s . 42

Fish says that 1879 was a prosperous year for Sunset and St. Joseph.

"They raised good crops and Sunset very generously aided the settlers who came in and located further up . . . Sunset was undoubtedly the nucleus and support of the other settlements. They received much aid from it. However, each year the crops diminished, and land that had produced well could not, in several years, sustain crops. The

settlers thought that the soil was becoming useless because of salt in the water of the Little Colorado and in the soil itself.

Some of the hardships of the early settlers are disclosed in a

diary kept by John Me Laws, Jr. . He told of freighting flour in the

early days from Albuquerque to Allen City and selling it for forty

dollars per hundred pounds. He also remembered going to the stores with his pocket filled with gold and not being able to buy flour because

of its scarcity.

4^Mc Clintock, pp. 143-144.

4^Fish, "History of A rizona,11 p. 564.

44_A.rizona Republic, Phoenix, March 10, 1935. Also, letter from Emma Hunsaker, daughter of John W. Me Laws, Holbrook, to this w riter, dated July 25, 1959. Me Laws was born in Salt Lake City, 64

As an indication of the importance of the towns in the Little

Colorado Country, the United States Post Office Department established the following post offices:'^'

Post Office Establishment date First Postmaster

S u n se t July 5, 1876 Alfred M. Derrick Joseph City August 25, 1876 John Me Laws S t. Jo h n s April 5, 1880 Sextus E. Johnson W o o d ru ff May 14, 1880 James Deans Brigham City May 17, 1880 Stephen F. Wilson

Poor crops plagued the Mormon settlements along the Little Color­

ado in 1880. Bishop George Lake led an exodus from Brigham City to

September 14, 1852, and lived there with his family until he was sixteen. In 1875 he helped construct the St. George Temple at St. George, Utah, for the Mormon Church. John W. McLaws, one of the first white settlers in northeastern Arizona, was sent to Arizona in 1876 by Presi­ dent Brigham Youhg. McLaws became one of the leading figures in the colonization of the Little Colorado Country. He built the first house in Winslow, the first house in Holbrook, and had the contract to build the first bridge to cross the Little Colorado River, constructed the first saw m ill in Arizona at , built the first hotel in Winslow, built the first grist m ill at Sunset, built the first wool carding mill in the state, and constructed the first irrigation dam on the Little Color­ ado River. McLaws, a carpenter, made practically every casket for those people who died in Joseph City from 1876 until his retirem ent. He was the first postm aster at Allen’s Camp in 1876 and when the name was changed to St. Joseph, McLaws was again appointed postm aster, a job he held until 1880.

Letter from the National Archives and Record Service, Washington, 25, D. C. to this w riter dated September 2, 1959. 65 the Gila Valley after a complete crop failure. By 1881, Brigham was nearly abandoned. The Mormon Church reclaimed the site and sold it. Later it became headquarters for John W. Young, contractor for the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad. When the railroad was completed

Brigham City was deserted. The town of Winslow grew up on the rail- 46 road about one mile from the old location of Brigham City. Many of the remaining settlers in the Sunset area moved upriver to other

settlements in eastern Arizona during 1881. The following description

of the Mormon settlements along the Little Colorado River Valley

appeared in a History of Arizona Territory, published in 1884:

The valley of the Colorado- Chi quite contains fine farm ing land, and considerable water for irrigation. It is dry every summer thirty miles below Sunset Crossing, but Chevelons Fork, which falls into it a few miles below, has never run dry within the memory of the whites. The Colorado-Chiquito is here two to four feet deep and about eighteen feet wide. The Mormon settle­ ments are on both sides of the Colorado-Chiquito were five^? in number, aggregating about 400 people. These settlements have

^T he importance of Sunset Crossing ended in November of 1881, when the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad reached the site of Winslow. J. H. Breed,who had a trading post and store at Sunset Crossing,moved to Winslow and built the first store. The first settler was F. G. Demerest, a hotel man, who pitched a tent on the site late in 1880. There is some doubt as to whether the town was named after a prospector, Tom Winslow, or for General Edward Winslow, President of the St. Louis and San Francisco Railroad, who was associated with the new Atlantic and Pacific Railroad. The post office was established at Winslow on January 10, 1882,with U. L. Taylor serving as the first postmaster. Barnes, Arizona Place Names, p. 491. 4

4 'Only four of the villages were Mormon; Horsehead Crossing was n o t. 66

been abandoned, or nearly so, during the last few years on account of alkali in the soil . . .^8

Sunset was completely abandoned by 1885, and of the four settlem ents,

Obed (Lake's Camp), Brigham City (Ballanger's Camp), Sunset, and

Joseph City (St. Joseph, Allen's Camp), only Joseph City has remained p e rm a n e n t.

Two other settlements that later became important Mormon communities in northeastern Arizona are Showlow and St. Johns. The first settlers of Showlow in 1872 appear to have been Corydon E. Cooley and Marion Clark. They later decided that there was room for only one of them, so they decided to play a game of Seven-up to decide who would move to a new location. There are many versions of the card game but the one most accepted seems to be that of Will C. Barnes.

Barnes says that Cooley told him the following story: "When the last hand was dealt, Cooley needed but one point to win. Clark ran his cards over and said, 'If you can show low you win. ' Cooley threw down his hand and said, 'Show low it is .' It has been called Showlow ever since. " 7 In 1881, Cooley sold half interest in his place to Henry

Hunirig , of New Mexico. The ranch was expanded, a saw m ill was *4

/^W . W. Elliot, ed. , History of Arizona Territory (San Francisco, 1884), p. 211. •

49Barnes, Arizona Place Names, p. 402. See also Edward Van Metre, "The Early History of Show Low, Arizona," MS, A .P.H .S. . 67 built, and a store was established. About 1896, the two partners fell

out, and the ranch was sold to W. J. Flake of the Mormon Church.

The St. John's Herald describes the founding of St. Johns as follows: "Jose Seavedra and father, first settlers, arrived here in

December, 1872, in a two-wheeled oxcart. They built first bridge

across Little Colorado to cross a band of sheep. Road to Fort Apache from Zuni crossed here and they made good money allowing freighters

to use the bridge . . . . Seavedra filed on a homestead and took out a

ditch in 1875. "50

: The future site of St. Johns had been visited as early as 1864 by S o lo m o n B a rth , ^ a J e w is h t r a d e r , w ho s o ld to th e In d ia n s a s f a r 5*

5°St. Johns Herald, March 25, 1926.

^^Solomon Barth was born in Prussia on May 13, 1842. He came to America at the age of thirteen with an uncle. Barth migrated to Utah in 1855 with an emigrant train, and, in 1856 journeyed to San Bernardino, California, In the winter of 1860-61, Barth made a round trip from San Bernardino to Tucson, driving a freight train. For a number of years he followed the various gold diggings (La Paz, W eaverville, Granite Creek, etc.). In 1864, he and Benjamin Block obtained a sub­ contract to carry the mail weekly from Prescott to Albuquerque via Zuni. Barth settled near Cubero, New Mexico, in 1867,- where he engaged in freighting and merchandising. In 1870, he was a post trader at Fort Apache (then known as Camp Ord) the year it was established. After settling in St. Johns in 1873, he campaigned for the creation of a new county with St. Johns the county seat. Apache County was created in 1879 by the tenth Territorial Legislature largely through Barth*s influence, and although the act fixed the county seat at Snowflake, Barth succeeded at the first election in removing the county seat to St. Johns. Barth was a member of both the Eleventh and the Nineteenth Territorial Legislatures. Barth continued in the mercantile and hotel business until v 68 east as Zuni and packed salt from the Zum salt lake to the Prescott mining camps. St. Johns was then called El Vadito ("The Little

Crossing"). Frank Walker settled near the present site of St. Johns in 1870. By 1872 the Mexican settlers in the vicinity had established an agricultural community. In 1873, in a poker game, Solomon Barth won enough cattle and land from the Mexicans in the. area to allow him to settle down with his brothers Nathan and M orris. Soon after this, the

CO name of the settlement .was changed to St. Johns. 3 . In 1875, Sol Barth sold out his interests to Ammon M. Tenney, a Mormon Agent, who settled on a ranch about thirty-five miles north of St. Johns. Wilford

Woodruff, president of the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-Day

Saints, on March 29, 1880, chose a location for a Mormon settlement about one and one-half miles below the present site of St. Johns, but on September 19, 1880, Erastus Snow suggested that the Mormon settlement be moved to higher ground next to the Mexican town. The

his death. When he died in St. Johns on November 30, 1928, at the age of eighty-six, he was the oldest white man in point of years of residence within the state of Arizona. See McClintock, pp. 177-178. See also. , Phoenix, December 22, 1928, and George H. Kelley, ed. , "Pioneers Pass Away," Arizona Historical Review, I (Phoenix, 1929), pp. 5-6.

^B arnes gayS that St. Johns was named by the Mexican settlers for San Juan's Day, June 24. Barnes, Arizona Place Names, p. 374. McClintock says that St. Johns was named by Barth after Senora M aria San Juan Baca de Padilla, the first female resident of the settlement. McClintock. Mormon Settlement in Arizona, p. 178. 69 new location was named Salem, and arrangements were made for a post office. However, due to hostility toward the Mormon settlement, the post office never opened. Sextus E. Johnson was appointed the first postmaster of St. Johns on April 5, 1880. St. Johns became the county seat of Apache County in 1879, and although it was changed to

Springerville in 1880, the county seat returned to St. Johns in 1882.

A correspondent of the St. Louis Globe-Democrat who was travel­ ing from Holbrook to Fort Apache early in 1890 gives the following description of the Mormon communities:

It is astonishing how these Mormon people, fleeing from contact with the Gentiles, erect comfortable homes for themselves and turn W estern into garden spots. I found in every settlement through which I passed fine reservoirs and complete systems of irrigating ditches. Orchards and shade trees had been planted, hundreds of acres of land brought under cultivation, and fine vege­ table gardens laid out. The dwellings and outhouses were neat looking and comfortable and supplied with all the requisites of well-regulated farm s. I could not help noticing the marked differ­ ence in the appearance of the cattle and horses of the Mormons from those I had been accustomed to see elsewhere in the Southwest. They were fat and sleek-looking, showing that they had good care. At every farm house there was an abundance of milk, butter, chickens and eggs, things almost unknown to the average Arizona rancher. In stopping one night at a settlement some four miles from Holbrook, I was surprised to find pianos and organs in most of the houses, and was equally surprised at the hospitable manner in which I was treated . . . No liquor is sold in any of the Mormon towns and there has never been a m urder committed in any of the settlements along the road. < All of the freighting to and from Ft. Apache is carried on by Mormons; the superiority of their teams and their own steady habits having enabled them to fill government contracts so satisfactorily that they have completely supplanted Mexican and Gentile freighters. 53

^Prescott Weekly Courier, February 21, 1890. 70

Of the four original settlements downriver from Horsehead Crossing, only Joseph City, the oldest permanent non-Indian town in Navajo

County, remained. Before 1925 the people of Joseph City had financed, and wholly or partly constructed, a total of fourteen dams on the Little

Colorado River. Commenting on the numerous attempts of the settlers of Joseph City to put dams in the sandy bed of the Little Colorado

River, Andrew Jensen, Mormon Church Historian, called the settle­ ment "the leading community in pain, determination and unflinching courage in dealing with the elements around them. The other members;: of the original settlements had moved upstream or into the foothills of the White Mountains. Nevertheless, even the Mormon pioneers ivho left had, by their industry, frugality, hardiness and

courage, made significant contributions to the future settlement of

Holbrook and the Little Colorado River- Valley. 54

54Federal W riters1 Project, Arizona, A State Guide (New York, 1940), p. 314. C H A P T E R IV

THE FOUNDING OF HOLBROOK

Although the Mormons had established four settlements down­ river, the earliest settlement in the immediate vicinity of Holbrook appears to have been Camp Supply, established by Kit Carson in 1863 on the Little Colorado River, about one mile east of the present town of Holbrook. ^ Little is known of Camp Supply except that it was a temporary site, probably under canvas, to serve in the Army's cam­ paign against the Navajos and as a relay station for food and m aterials on their way to other Army posts, especially Fort Canby. * 2 Barnes

There was another Camp Supply on the upper end of the White River in Cbchise County established on April 29, 1878. Its name was later changed to Camp Powers and then to Camp Rucker. The follow­ ing authorities give this location for Holbrook: McClintock, Arizona, p. 157; Holbrook Argus, February 20, 1896; Francis Cummins Lock- wood, Pioneer Days in Arizona from the Spanish Occupation to State­ hood, pp. 97-98; Ray Brandes, "A Guide to the History of the U. S. Army Installations in Arizona 1849-1886," Arizona and the W est (Tucson, 1959), p. 53; , Vanished Arizona (Phila­ delphia, 1908), p. 126; Barnes, Arizona Place Names, p. 433; and Byrd S. Granger, comp, and ed. , Will C. Barnes' Arizona Place Names (Tucson, I960), p. 240.

2Fort Canby was established in July 1863, about twenty-eight miles southwest of Fort Defiance in Apache County. The site had been sel­ ected by Kit Carson to serve as a base for operations against the Navajos. It was abandoned in 1864 after the suppression of the Navajos.

71 72 says that one of Kit Carson's Men, "Jack Conley 'American Jack,' once told me he was in charge of this camp (Supplyjfor some time.

Other early settlements in the area were established by Luther

Martin, James Stinson and his partner Evans and Asa W alker. Martin settled in 1870 in the little valley just below Woodruff^ but he soon abandoned his place and went to St. Johns.^ St. Johns, founded by

1872, ^ appears to have been the oldest permanent settlement in the

Little Colorado River Valley. Stinson and Evans^ founded a settle­ ment in 1873 on Silver Creek about 1 thirty-five m iles north of *4

Barnes, Arizona Place Names, p. "433. Jack Conley was among the first settlers of St. Johns. He served in the regular Army for thirteen years and was honorably discharged. He also fought in the Confederate Army, participated in many Indian skirm ishes, freighted in Wickenburg, and was chief of scouts under Lieutenant Gatewood.

4Farish, VI, 280.

^See Chapter HI, pp. 67-69.

^Stinson was born in and came to Arizona in 1863. Daniel H. Ming was born in in 1845. He migrated to Arizona in 1869 and herded cattle from New Mexico to the Little Colorado River. Ming served as a government scout and in 1875 helped settle the various bands of Apaches on the San Carlos Reservation. While liv­ ing at Fort Thomas, he became interested in cattle raising. Ming represented Graham County twice in the Arizona Territorial Legisla­ ture. Evans seems to have made some money by furnishing the government beef for the Army. 73 n Ft. Apache. Dan Ming, who also had a part in the enterprise, and

Evans did not rem ain long at Stinson’s but sold out, leaving Stinson the sole owner of the ranch. Martha Summerhayes says that in

1875 "we crossed Silver Creek without difficulty and arrived at

Stinson's Ranch after 25 m iles, mostly malapais J^sicJ. . In 1878

Stinson sold out to W. J. Flake, whereby the Mormon town of Snow­ flake was founded. <

In 1874 Asa C. W alker came from and located on the Little

Colorado River near its junction with the Puerco River. Barnes says that W alker's was a between Stinson's and Holbrook. He quotes Hinton that W alker "ran cattle there for many years. Raised a large family and moved up to the White Mountains about 1882.

In Vanished Arizona, M rs. Summerhayes in April 1875 writes:

"Thirty miles the next day over a good road brought us to W alker's

ranch on the site of Old Camp Supply. This ranch was habitable in a way, and the owner said we might use the bedrooms; but the wild-cats

^Fish, "History of Arizona, " p. 538. The site for Fort Apache was chosen by Major John Green close to the junction of the two branches of the White River. The camp was occupied in May 1870, and named Camp Brd in honor of the departmental commander. The name was later changed, in succession, to Camp Mogollon, Camp Thomas, and Camp Apache. On April 5, 1879, the camp was named Fort Apache.

^Summerhayes, p. 125. Malpais is country underlain by dark lava, especially basalt.

^Barnes. Arizona Place Names, p. 474. 74 about the place were so numerous and so troublesome at night, that we could not sleep."*®

The history of the area that eventually became Holbrook begins with the settlement of Horsehead Grossing. .MeClintock says, "The settlement, since the first coming of English-speaking folk, had been known as Horsehead Crossing.11 ^ Barnes says that Horsehead Cross­ ing was M2.miles above [up river] the present town of Holbrook, just below [down river j the junction of Little Colorado and Rio PuSrco.

All travel south to St. Johns, Concho; Fort Apache, Showlow and 12 Snowflake in early days crossed the Puerco here." Horsehead

Crossing was located on the north side of the Little Colorado River, just below the point where the Rio Puerco (Spanish-dirty) joined it from the east. The first reference to Horsehead Crossing was made 13 in 1870 by Albert F. Banta, who was serving as a guide, scout and dispatch carrier under General George Stonem an^ and was to. search *

^Summerhayes, pp. 126-127. .

^M cClintock, - Mormon Settlement in Arizona,, p. 163.

■^Barnes, Arizona Place Names, p. 211. See also map in Appendix G.

^For. a biographical sketch of Albert F. Banta, see Chapter V, Footnote No. 66, pp. 147-148.

^G eorge Stoneman graduated from W est Point in 1846, and came to or was sent to Arizona in the same year with the Mormon Battalion. He attained the rank of Major General of Volunteers during the Civil 75 for a wagon road from Camp Mogollon^ to Horsehead Crossing. Banta relates, "The next day I made the Little Colorado at Horse Head

Crossing which is about a mile above [up river] the town of Holbrook in Navajo County. At this time - May 1870 - there was not a settlement or a single soul to be met with from the time I left Zuni until I reached

Bob Postle’s ranch in Chino Valley - twenty five miles east of

Prescott. As most traffic was east and west, Horsehead Crossing

17 was originally the crossing of the Puerco only. However, with the establishment of Camp Mogollon, travel then went south as well, and it is possible that the crossing of the Little Colorado was also called

Horsehead Crossing. Banta speaks of Horsehead Grossing on the

Little Colorado River. ^ An Arizona Historical Marker at Sunset

G rossing^ says that Sunset Crossing and Horsehead Crossing were

War. Stoneman was assigned to the command of the m ilitary department of Arizona in 1870. He died September 5, 1894. Heitman, p. 620. See also Parish, VIII, 97. The m ilitary department of Arizona was created April 15, 1870, when the two districts of Arizona were united into the department. Parish, VIII, 93.

1 c ■^An early name for Ft. Apache, See Footnote No. 7. 16 Frank D. Reeve, ed., "Albert Franklin Banta: Arizona Pioneer. " New Mexico Historical Review (Albuquerque, July 1952), Ip. 220.

^Interview with Selso Montano, July 1959, Holbrook. See also Footnote No. 12.

^Reeve, p. 220.

^See Chapter II, Footnote No. 23, p. 32-33. 76 used inter change ably with each other, but this w riter is of the opinion the two crossings were used in conjunction with each other. The main route appears to have been through the Mormon settlements on the north side of the Little Colorado River between the two crossings. A map published in 1879 shows "Horsehead Crossing on the Puerco 20 River. " Another map published the same year has the Crossing of the Little Colorado River labeled "Brudos R. C r.11 (Berados River 21 C ro s s in g ).

It can be seen from the following accounts that just who settled at Horsehead Crossing and when is a m atter of conjecture. The Holbrook

Argus of 1897 reports that "in 1874 one Berradoy John W alker and

George Bryant located at Horse Head Crossing.1,22 Richard Van

Valkenburg says that "the first settler of the Holbrook vicinity was

Juan Padilla who in the 1870's located just east of the famous Horse­ head C rossing--Padilla put up a saloon putting one Verando whom he *2

^M ap of Arizona Territory (prepared by authority of O. B. Willcox, Commanding Department) under the direction of First Lieuten­ ant Fred A. Smith, Adjutant, Twelfth Infantry, Engineer Office, D. A., 1879).

2^Special M ilitary Map, United States Army, Territories of New Mexico and Arizona (prepared in the office of the Chief of Engineers, U .S.A ., 1879).

22Holbrook Argus, June 19, 1897. See Footnote No. 23. 77

n o had brought from Fort Apache in Charge.,|£"3 Parish writes: • "About this time £l870j a man by the name of Berrando made a location where the town of Holbrook now stands. He built a little house and kept a kind of trading post. McClintock says: "For years before the 25 railroad came,' a roadside station was kept by a Mexican, Berardo. "

The Federal W riters Project states that "Holbrook’s first settler was

said to have been Juan Padilla who came with an ox team in 1879. He

26 set up a saloon and put Berado, a Spaniard, in charge. " Barnes

says Horsehead Crossing "started as early as 1870 as a trading post

for settlers and Indians. Owned by a Mexican named Frayde or simply 27 Berado. " Granger writes "Juan Padilla had built the first house

immediate east of Horsehead Crossing . . . in 1871, but after a short

time put Berado Frayde in charge of his saloon. "2® It is possible that

Berado Frayre was put in charge of a store and saloon by Juan Padilla

but it does not seem likely, as Berado was a man of considerable

22 Richard F. Van Valkenburg, "Dinebikeyah," MS, A .P.H .S.. This w riter has been unable to uncover any information about John Walker, George Bryant and Juan Padilla. .

"22 *24 *28Fa r is h , V, 280.

2^McClintock, Mormon Settlement in Arizona, p. 163.

2^Federal W riters Project, p. 313.

2^Barnes, Arizona Place Names, p. 211.

28 Granger, p. 240 78 means, having been a member of the Peeple's Party that discovered

R ich H ill. 29 30

There is no doubt that Berado Frayre was one of the earliest, if not the first settler at Horsehead Crossing. His name was spelled

30 differently by almost every traveler who wrote about him. Berado probably located at Horsehead Crossing in 1876. Martha Summerhayes made no mention of a settlement at Horsehead Crossing when she traveled ^through there in 1875. ^ John McLaws, Jr, says that he first arrived a.t Horsehead Crossing in 1876 and that there was only 32 one adobe hut. Another repJbrt states that the Mormons in the spring of 1876 paid as much as fifteen dollars for a sack of flour at a store at Horsehead Crossing operated by a Mexican, and that, .alii small

29See Chapter II, Footnote No. 29, pp. 37-38. 30 The most common spelling seems to have been Berado Freyes. However, the U. S. Census report for 1880 lists his name as Berado Frayre. Other writers have listed his first name as Barrardo, Berrado, Berrardo, Berardo, Bernardo, Verando, Brudo and his last name as Frayde, Freyde, Frayres, and Frayes. In this thesis the official census spelling, Berado Frayre, will be used.

2^Summerhayes, pp. 126-127.

^John McLaws, Jr., diary, reported in letter from Emma Hunsaker, daughter of John W. McLaws, Jr. , Holbrook, to this w riter, dated July 25, 1959. 79 articles, regardless of real value, cost fifty cents each. Barnes quotes Hinton as saying: "There were two store here ^Horsehead

Crossing^, neither owned by Mormons {1.87'j. Berado Frayde was the merchant and storekeeper in 1876. McClintock says that E. C.

Bunch came to Arizona with a group from in 1876. Bunch says that "Berado loaned the colonists some cows whose milk was 35 most welcome." There are numerous sources that prove Berado had a well-established business by 1877. Hinton in his appendix to

The Hand-book to Arizona lists under merchants in Allen, Yavapai

County, Berardo Ereyde-M erchant and hotel keeper and J. P. Heyward-

General merchant. Jerry P.: Hayward"^ wrote a letter from Horse- head Crossing to The A rizona M iner, P rescott, in Iwhich he rem arks 333435

33 Adele W estover and J. M orris Richards, A Brief History of Joseph City (Winslow, 1951), p. 9.

3 4 . - Barnes, Arizona Place Names, p. 211. The author was unable to locate- in Hinton the statement that "Berado Frayde was the merchant and storekeeper in 1876." Hinton says, "At Horse-Head Crossing, still further up, is another settlement, where there are two stores, but it does not appear to be M ormon." Hinton, p. 296. 35 / McClintock, Mormon Settlement in Arizona, p. 163.

^pp. LVI-LiVII. Hinton was in Arizona in 1877, gathering the data for his book. Hinton misspells Heyward; it should be Hayward.

^ Jerry P. Hayward must have remained at Horsehead Crossing only a short time since there is no further reference to him other than in 1877. 80 that: "the people at this place [ilorsehead Crossing] are not practical farm ers, but theoretically speaking, can tell a head of cabbage from an onion or potato. This is ithe business part of the Colorado Chiquito, there being two stores, one of which Mr. Berardo Frayres is proprietor Q O and your humble servant is master of the other.11 J. H. Lee, a wool grower, on December 14, 1877, wrote a letter to The Arizona Miner in which he says: "The following day I went up the river 28 miles to

Randalville [Horsehead Crossing] to get some supplies. There I met

Senor Barrardo Frayes, who keeps store at that place. He is, I think, a gentleman and I would cordially recommend him to alllwho have

occasion to go to that part of the country, to give him a call. The

January 30, 1878 edition of the Arizona Enterprise states that "Senor

Bernardo Freyes arrived here (Prescott/ yesterday from his home on the Little Colorado. He reports eight.inches of snow in his section;

still cattle, sheep, and stock of all kinds were fat." The Arizona

Miner on April 26, 1878, reports "Don Berardo Freyes, our old

friend who lives on the .Little Colorado, is one of Arizona's m ost liberal

hearted men and stands square on the 'goose' or any other bird or

animal question." Charles B. Rush wrote a letter to the editor of *

^August 24, 1877.

"^December 21, 1877. 81

The Arizona Enterprise in the fall of 1878 in -which he says, "We passed on up the river pLittle Colorado] through other settlem ents, by.' B lanchard's^ and Berardo's, both of whom do the best to accommo­ date the traveling public, across the river and out to Stinson's on 41 Silver Creek." The Arizona Miner on August 1, 1879 reports:

Berardo Freyes from the Little Colorado, arrived this morning leaving his train with some 40,000 pounds of salt encamped at the Cienega . . . He was with the party that discovered the gold on Rich Hill near W eaver in 1863. He informs us that his party of eight, picked up over 100 pounds of gold the first day they worked on Rich Hill. Why can't we have another discovery like that?

The Arizona Miner of September 5, 1879, states that "Berardo Freyes came in today from the Country, leaving his train, which is loaded with grain, etc. , for N. & G. Ellis, at Wickenburg working along in the direction of Prescott. " A. F. Banta writesr; that:

He has been intimately acquainted with Don Berado for more than thirty-six years, and knew him to be an honorable man, a good citizen and a generous-hearted friend. He has his weak- nesses-and who has not? Berado's weakness" was pin-pool, which he called "Washington" and hot toddies. Besides his mercantile

^B lanchard's was located at Sunset Crossing, eight miles east of present day Winslow. It was a stage station on the star mail route from Prescott to Santa Fe. Blanchard was a member of the firm of Breed and Blanchard which had a store at Sunset Crossing from 1878 to 1883. He and a man named Joe B arrett were discovered dead in the store in December 1881. A posse followed the trail of the killers and captured two m enl: Joe W aters (known as "Thick Lipped Joe"), and William Campbell. Barnes, Arizona Place Names, p. 53.

4 1 The Arizona Enterprise, September 8, 1879. 82

business Berardo owned a trail of bull teams and did considerable freighting that paid well in those early days. ^

Berado had a reputation of never sending an American away "from the threshold of his hospitable mansion hungry with his knowledge or consent. In fact Berado and his wife were so well noted for their hospitality, that someone put up a sign on the front of Berado*s eating house that said: "If you have the money, you can eat. " Either

Berado or his wife then wrote underneath: "No got a money, eat 44 anyway." Joseph Fish visited Berado’s in 1879. He writes: "The next morning we passed the Berardo place, now Holbrook. A Mexican by the name of Berardo lived here at that time and kept a few goods for sale, which he sold at an enormous price. I remember sending for some nutmegs, I got three very small ones for 25 cents.1,45 A map of the A rizona T errito ry ,** 4644 compiled and drawn by Paul Riecker in

4^The Arizona Republic, December 11, 1899. See biographical sketch of Banta in Chapter V, Footnote No. 66* pp. 147-148.

4^The Arizona M iner, February 1, 1878.

44McClintock, Mormon Settlement in Arizona, p. 163. The Federal W riters Project book on Arizona gives the version as "No money, No Eat" and "No Money Eat Anyhow," p. 313. . Evans Coleman relates the version as "Restravmt.'r Come eat. Gotta the money pay, No gotta the money eat anyhow. " Evans Coleman, MS, A. P. H. S ..

46Fish, "Autobiography," MS, A .P.H .S., p. 157.

46Map of Arizona Territory prepared by authority of O. B. Willcox, Commanding Department, 1879. 83

1879 shows Berado's Store at Horsehead Crossing and a United States

Army map of the Territories of New Mexico and Arizona in 1879,^ ' shows Brudos River Crossing below the juncture of the Little Colorado and the Puerco Rivers. An official map of the Territory of Arizona 48 49 by E. A. Eckhoff in 1880 shows Berado's Post Office at Horse- head Crossing.

Berado's was evidently a station on the stage and mail route from

Prescott to Ft. Wingate, Albuquerque, and Santa Fe in New Mexico.

The route from Fort Mohave, on the Colorado River, to Albuquerque via Fort Whipple, had been authorized by a post route bill, passed by

Congress on June 27, 1864. ^ Wallace Crawford says that the original mail route passed through Zuni and later Long Lake, three miles

An Special M ilitary Map, United States Army, Territories of New Mexico and Arizona (prepared in the Office of the Chief of Engineers, USA, 1879).

Official Map of the Territory of Arizona (compiled from Surveys, Reconnaissances and other sources by E. A. Eckhoff and Paul Riecker, Civil Engineers, 1880). .

^T he United States Department of Commerce has no record of a post office ever having been established at Berados or Horsehead Cross­ ing. Letter from Meyer H. Fishbein, archivist in charge, Business Economics Branch, General Services Administration, National Archives and Records Service, Washington, D. C. to this w riter, dated July 14, 1959.

^o th er routes established were between the to Prescott and from LaPaz to Prescott. 84 northeast of Showlow. ^ * Apparently after the establishment of settle­ ments along the Little Colorado the mail route was moved northward to serve these settlements. Elliott says that na weekly stage line ran from Prescott via the Chiquito Colorado and Camp Wingate to Santa 52 Fe in New Mexico.11 Richard F. Van Valkenburg writes: "Bill :

Heywood operated a Government Post here jilorsehead CrossingJ C O serving the Star Mail Route between Fort Wingate and Fort W hipple.11

Will C. Barnes says that there was an early day stage station at

Horsehead Crossing on the line of the overland mail route from Santa

Fe, New Mexiccyto Prescott, Arizona. Barnes describes the station as follows: "A general store, the inevitable frontier saloon, the stage station, corrals, etc., together with half a dozen rough adobe dwellings scattered around in a grove of grand old cottonwood trees, was the extent of the station. Off to one side were three or four

Navajo Indian hogaris used by the Indians when they came in from their *52

5 ^Interview with Wallace Crawford, city m agistrate, Holbrook, Ju ly 1959. 52 Elliott, p. 316.

^3Van Valkenburg, "MS, A .P.H .S.. This writer was unable to find any other reference to Bill Heywood. It is possible .that Van Valkenburg was referring to Jerry Haywar d (Hinton was Heywar d) who had a store at Horsehead Crossing in 1878. 85 nearby reservation to trade with the storekeeper (BeradoJ and sell

,,54 their wool and blankets.

Will C. Barnes tells what the editor of Arizona Highways calls a true story of an incident at Horsehead Crossing involving Berado

Frayre. Jack Conley* , a stage driver known as "American Jack,11

gave Barnes a rough outline of the story Berado told on a Christmas day sometime in the seventies when the stage stopped at Berado1 s p la c e .

One of the passengers asked Berado why he called a blue-eyed,

golden-haired young girl who waited tables "Cris-m us. " The station keeper said that about eight years before on Christmas day, 55 a buckboard was found standing beside the road about four miles west

at Leroux Wash. The bodies of a man and woman, almost naked, lay

near a cold camp fire. Two horses had been killed and the camp

looted. What the m urderers could not carry off, they tossed in the

camp fire. Even the buckboard had been partially burned. The driver

of the east-bound stage who happened on the tragic scene said he

^W ill C. Barnes, "Foundling in the W ilderness," Arizona Highways (February, 1936), pp. 14 and 21.

^B erado did not locate at Horsehead Crossing until about 1876 and he left in 1882 so the time must have been much less than eight years. The little girl in the story does not appear in the 1880 Census of Berado1 s fam ily. 86 spotted a piece of heavy canvas a short distance from the camp. Lift­ ing one corner, he found a little girl sound asleep, evidently worn out from crying and hunger.

"Just why she had been spared,11 Berado said, "we have never been able to discover. She was possibly a little over three years old and could tell us nothing of what had happened or who the people were whose dead bodies lay in the lonely roadside camp. "

The driver took the child to Berado. She soon forgot the ordeal, possibly because she had slept through it and never knew just what h a p p en e d .

The m ystery of the couple's identity was heightened a few days later •.when two hard-looking men rode into the station. They were well-mounted and led a heavily-loaded pack mule. Berado said he learned only that the men came from over Prescott way and were going to New Mexico. That night the men picked a fight with the barkeep after "tanking up pretty plenty. " The bartender, "ordinarily peaceable enough, " killed both men and him self suffered a wound in the left

shoulder. Berado said that they found in the outlaws' pack "all the

evidence we needed to prove they were the identical chaps who had killed the man and woman on the Leroux Wash. " But here again, there was no identification of the men or the dead couple.

Berado said the sheriff had no better luck in discovering the

men's identity. He kept the horses and other things for a year before 87 selling them and turning the sale proceeds and outlaws' money over to

Berado who had become the girl's legal guardian and foster father.

Berado went on to say:

"I put the money in the bank at Albuquerque in her name and some day, mebbeso, it will come in handy to buy her a wedding outfit. You will see the graves of the two men over there in the sage flat yonder. We planted them there after the shooting. Nope, we never yet have told the little girl about what happened to the folks she was with. Mebbeso never will. Anyhow, not till she's grown up an' old enough to understand what it all means to her. You can see the grave about half a mile west of the wash goin' up the slope. Mean to put a regular stone m arker over it one of these days when some stone-cutter chap comes along."

According to the editor of Arizona Highways, when the article was published in 1936, all that remained of the incident was a lone headstone on the west side of Leroux Wash, a few miles west of

H o lb ro o k .

Little else besides accounts such as the above and information gained from various newspapers during this period is known of Berado

Frayre. Berado was born in Old Mexico in about 1825. He was the

°Barnes, "Foundling in the W ilderness," Arizona Highways, pp. 14 and 21, February 1936. This writer has been unable to confirm Barnes' story. According to Barnes the grave where the young couple was buried was near the old Holbrook-Winslow wagon road on the west side of Leroux Wash. Barnes says that Charlie Bante stated that he was with the party which found the burned camp and that he also helped to bury the bodies. Barnes further relates that a few years later a plain slab of red sandstone from a nearby cliff was set up over the grave as a m arker, but that nothing was carved on it. The baby was taken to the Santa-Fe-Prescott stage station at Horsehead Grossing where it was turned over to Berado's wife. See Biographical Sketch of Banta in Chapter V, Footnote No. 66, pp. 147-148. 88 son of a Spanish father and a Mexican mother. 57 It is known that

Berado was a member of the People's Party that discovered gold on

Rich Hill in 1863.and that from this discovery accumulated some wealth. The Arizona Miner of February 1, 1878, also says that'M r.

Freyes [sic Jwas one of the first settlers in central Arizona and

"assisted in the town of Prescott." Apparently he left

Arizona some time in the 1860's and settled in New Mexico where he m arried and raised a family. His wife's name was Juliana and she was born in New Mexico in about 1846. His children, all born in New

Mexico, were: Frederico, about 1870; Amelia, about 1872; and

Alfides, an adopted son, about 1867. Berado left New Mexico and located at Horsehead Crossing in about 1876. It is known from various reports that Berado was a successful, hospitable merchant who was well thought of by his associates and friends. He owned a train of bull teams and did a large amount of freighting.

In 1882, Berado closed up business and moved to Albuquerque,

New Mexico. He left Horsehead Crossing apparently for itwo

^7Letter'from to Lloyd C. Henning, August 8, 1952.

58The United States Census for Apache County in 1880 lists Berado Frayre, age 55, occupation, storekeeper; wife, Juliana, age 34; son, Frederico, age 10, at school; daughter, Amelia, age 8, at school; adopted son, Alfides, age 13, at home. Letter from Howard G. Brunsman, Chief, Population Division, Bureau of the Census, U. S. Department of Commerce, Washington, D. G., to this w riter dated, August 5, 1959. 89 reasons: he had just lost his wife and family to Henry Huning, and the old stage station and post office was abandoned and moved two miles

59 Henry Huning, who later m arried Berado's wife and adopted his children, first entered Arizona in 1864 as a member of the firm of JL. (Lewis) and H. Huning, merchants, from Los Lunas, New Mexico, to bring settlers in Arizona provisions. During the 1870's and 80's the firm traded in Arizona and held several government contracts, including one in 1878, to bring supplies to Camp Apache. Henry Huning moved to Showldwv about 1881 and bought a half interest in C. E. Cooley's ranch. About 1888 Henry Huning bought out C. E. Cooley's interest in the ranch. Judge Sloan describes Huning and his ranch as follows: "Huning was a wealthy cattle man, a native of Germany. He lived, as I imagine, after the fashion of one of the German barons be­ fore the war. He had built a long, low rambling house and filled it with every comfort one could think of finding oh a cow ranch. He had a well-stocked wine cellar and a cold- storage plant, and kept the best Chinese cook I ever knew. Huning was an intelligent man and had a very fine lib nary, made up largely of German classics. At first after he located at Showlow, he maintained open house for the benefit of the Army officers and their families who had occasion frequently to pass from his door on their way to and from Fort Apache. He kept this up until he became offended at the casual way in which his hospitality was received, some of the wives of the officers being so inconsiderate of the feelings of this old gentleman as to order him about as though he were the keeper of a roadside hotel. After that he fenced off his place so that it could be approached only with special leave, and there­ after it was closed to all Army people." Richard E. Sloan, Memories of an Arizona Judge (, California, 1932), p. 176. In 1888 Huning was charged with perjury. In homesteading a place at Showlow he was charged with having, in 1883, staked out a previous homestead in New Mexico. Huning swore that he had never taken prior benefit of the Homestead Law. C. E. Cooley, one of the witnesses of the case, swore that it was Huning's handwriting on the original applica­ tion for the New Mexico property. Huning proved that he had not been in New Mexico in 1883 and therefore could not have signed the applica­ tion. The jury acquitted Huning and he was even congratulated by the prosecuting attorney. Henry Huning sold out soon after 1901 to W. J. Flake of the Mormon Church and moved to Santa- .Barbara, California, where he died. Henry Huning was also the long-time chair­ man of the Apache County . 90 east to the new settlement of Holbrook. There are several versions of how Berado lost his wife. Parish says, "Later Henry Hxrning succeeded in getting Berrando’s wife and it was reported that he also succeeded in getting a large share of Berrando's property." Barnes w rites, "About 1882 his wife [Berado's] eloped with a local stockman.

His old store and dwelling house stood there in 1882 upon the author's first visit. The Federal W riters Project states that Berado's wife "was later kidnapped by Henry Huning's partner, who, on Huning's instructions, got Berado drunk on his own whisky and then carried the senora to Huning's home at Show Low. On his next sober day

Berado started in pursuit, a hopeless one, he soon discovered, because of Huning's power and influence. Soon thereafter Berado abandoned his home and store and left the country.

Henry Huning, however, was a wealthy cattleman, who had an excellent reputation as a fair man. The Prescott Courier of July 7,

1891, says that many people have known Huning since 1863 and "have never known him to commit a mean act. " The evidence seems to indicate that Juliana Frayre left Berado and went to Huning of her own

^Parish, VI, p. 280.

^B arnes, Arizona Place Names, p. 211.

^Federal W riters Project, pp. 313-314. Huning's partner was C. E. Cooley. This writer has been unable to confirm this version. 91 free will, taking with her some or all of Berado's children. Jessie

James Benton visited Huning*s Showlow Ranch in 1884 and refers to

Huning*s Mexican wife. The St. Johns Herald of September 9» 1890, defers to the M isses Amelia and Juanita Huning, daughters of Henry

Huning, and the St. Johns Herald of November 9» 1893, states that

Henry Huning1 s son, Fred, ^4 will enter the medical school in Los 65 Angeles to become a doctor. Thus two of Berado's children, Amelia

and Frederico, are mentioned. What happened to Alfides and whether

Juanita was Barnes* golden-haired "Foundling in the W ilderness,"

this writer has been unable to determine. The best probable source

of information, the United States Census for 1890, was destroyed

many years ago by fire. This w riter has, also, been unable to learn

what happened to Berado Frayre after he left Horsehead Crossing.

There is no record of Berado filing a will in the probate and district

courts in Albuquerque.

63jessie James Benton, Cow by the Tail (Boston, 1943), p. 151.

k^Fred later graduated from medical school, spent a year internship at Bellevue Hospital in , and in 1896 com­ menced his practice as a doctor in Los Angeles. See the St. John s Herald, June 25, 1896.

65The Argus of December 24, 1898, announces that Miss Amelia Huning m arried George A. Conklin at Trinidad, Colorado, on December 20, 1898. 92

Another early resident of Horsehead Crossing was Henry H.

Scorse. H. H. Scorse, as he was called, located at Horsehead

Crossing in 1878. Born in Somersetshire,England, he emigrated to the United States in 1869. The next year he went to , but after eight years he left with a friend for the mining in Tombstone.

Walking from Utah, they made their winter camp at Horsehead

Crossing because of the hostility of Northern Arizona Indians. "They were dependent upon their hunting skill for game, other supplies being scarce. In 1879 Scorse worked for six months on the Star

Mail Line between Brigham City and Horsehead Crossing. Scorse Ln put up a tent and called it the Pioneer Saloon, Barnes says

Scorse*s saloon was located ''across the street from where Pedro

Montano had his store, Montano's store was on the north side and

Scorse1 s teiit on the south side of the main street. "68 Later, in 1882,

Scorse managed a store at Roger's Ranch in the vicinity of the present

A^Portrait and Biographical Record of Arizona (Chicago, 1901), p, 646.

^Interview with Clarence Lee, son of Holbrook pioneer Bill Lee, Holbrook, July 1959, and interview with Earnest Hulet, post­ m aster of Holbrook, July 1959. Hulet also says his father, John R. Hulet, a Mormon who came to northeastern Arizona in 1879 and ran a freighting outfit from Albuquerque to Woodruff and Snowflake, knew H. H. Scorse. See also Will C. Barnes' letter to Fred Schuster, dated February 4, 1934, Will C. Barnes Collection, Box 4, A .P.H .S..

Letter from Will C. Barnes to Fred Schuster, dated February 4, 1934. 93 town of W illiams for about a year before returning to Horsehead Cross­ ing. With the exception of that one year, the Scorse family had been in business at Horsehead Crossing and Holbrook since 1879.

Identifying Scorse as the pioneer merchant of the railroad line

from Albuquerque to Needles, California, one source says "In 1883,

during the Apache outbreak, and at other tim es, he experienced much

anxiety and discom fort, and while outlaws were so plentiful on .this

frontier he had about as much trouble with them, as within eighteen

years they stole nearly eight hundred head of horses from his ranch.

Scorse m arried Julia Garcia in Holbrook on July 29, 1891, and they

had six children: Ellen, Julia, Henry H ., J r., , James and

Lizzie. , _ , . ,

By 1900 Scorse owned a ranch twenty-two miles north of Holbrook

with more than ten thousand head of cattle, horses, and sheep. When

Holbrook was laid out in 1882, Scorse became the owner of a large

amount of town property. Scorse, one of the first settlers in Holbrook,

has been credited with probably constructing more buildings and

accomplishing more "in its [Holbrook's]advancement than any other

citizen.;"^ Scorse was among the first to try to dam the Little

^ p o rtrait and Biographical Record of Arizona, p. 646.

70lbid. , p. 649. 94

Colorado for irrigation purposes but a flood soon swept the dam away.

Certainly Scorse was one of the most able of Holbrook*s early settlers.

Meanwhile, the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad Company, which was to have such a profound effect on Holbrook, was organized in 1866.

The Atlantic land Pacific with General John C. Fremont at its head,

received a charter from the government to build a railroad from

Springfield, M issouri, to the , through Albuquerque,

and along the thirty-fifth parallel to the Pacific Coast. For years it

seemed that the company did little more than run a number of surveys

westerly from New Mexico. By January 31, 1880, a railroad had built only 34.4 miles of track in fourteen years. ^ ^ However, the

company had a complete survey from Vinita, , to San

Francisco and it not only still held the route along the thirty-fifth

parallel but also the right to connect with the Southern Pacific at the

eastern boundary of California on the Colorado River, near the juncture

of Arizona, Nevada and California. This route would pass through

Amarillo, , Albuquerque, Flagstaff and reach the

Pacific Ocean a little north of Santa Barbara, California. By 1880,

the St. Louis and San Francisco Railroad Company, also building towards

Ma-rpbpn. Santa Fe: The Railroad that Built an Empire (New York, 1945), p. 168. 95

San Francisco, had laid track as far west as Wichita, Kansas. The

St. Louis and San Francisco Company also owned seven-eighths of the..,Atlantic and Pacific Railroad Company stock. Thus, in 1880, there was a reorganization, and the St. Louis and San Francisco

Company and the Santa Fe Railroad Company took over joint ownership 72 of the Atlantic and Pacific Company. First a short connection was built in Kansas between Sedgwick on the St. Louis and San Francisco and Holstead on the Santa Fe. Then by means of running rights over the Santa Fe track, the St. Louis and San Francisco Company finally

* \ had a through line from St. Louis to Isleta (located on the Rio Grande twelve miles south of Albuquerque).

The Atlantic and Pacific then started to build west from Isleta in March of 1880. Henry R. Holbrook, Chief Engineer of the Atlantic and Pacific, for whom the town of Holbrook was named, started the extension to the Colorado River, by wagoning gangs and supplies to

Querino Canyon, .180 miles west of Albuquerque. Holbrook then laid two and a half miles of track in the Canyon to prevent any rival rail­ road from using this passage. Work now proceeded rapidly and by

?^The Santa Fe in May, 1890, bought out Louis and San Francisco Company and the Santa Fe directors notified their stock­ holders, that they wished to do away with the system of "complications, em barrassm ents, and restrictions, that had resulted from the joint ownership of the Atlantic and Pacific by the Santa Fe and the Saint Louis and San Francisco Companies.11 M arshall, p. 242. 96

February 13, 1881, track .was laid to Fort Wingate, 128 miles west

of. Albuquerque. Adele We stover and J. M orris Richards write "The

first section camp was set up one mile from St. Joseph on February 4,

1881, and within the next few days the grade was laid past the settle- - 73 ment, with some men of the colony working to complete it." Reports

by Henry R. Holbrook show that on July 16, 1881, the track had been

laid to a point thirty-seven miles east of Holbrook, and on September 24,

1881, the end of the track was at Holbrook. ^

A temporary station had been established by the railroad about

two miles east of Horsehead Crossing, and was named Holbrook by a

grading contractor, John W. Young,75 in honor of Henry Randolph 76 Holbrook, the Chief Engineer of that division of the Atlantic and

73Westover and Richards, p. 19.

7^Letter from D. J. Bradley, Chief Clerk, Valuation Department in Chicago, to G. L. Moore, Chief Clerk to Superintendent at Winslow, dated October 26, 1950. John M arshall says that "By September 24th, the line reached Holbrook . . . and went West about two miles a day. " M arshall, p. 168. It is possible that the track was actually laid into Holbrook a few days before September 24, 1881.

7^Van Valkenburg, MS, and MeClintock, Mormon Settlements in Arizona, p. 163. 7

7^Mc Clintock, mistakenly says F. A. Holbrook. Me Clintock, Mormon Settlement in Arizona, p. 163.. See also M arshall, p. 168; Barnes,. Arizona Place Names, p. 208; Van Valkenburg, MS, Joseph Fish, "Autobiography," p. ,180 and Granger, p. 24 0 .

■ 97

Pacific Railroad Company. According to an early pioneer, the town of

Holbrook apparently had been chosen by the railroad to serve as the 77 railhead for all supplies traveling south to Fort. Apache. Apparently

78 John W. Young named the new site before the track reached Holbrook, but since the date and occasion of nancing are unknown, September 24,

1881,must be considered as the date for the founding of Holbrook.

Henry Randolph Holbrook, the son of Nathan K. and Jane (Porter)

Holbrook, was born on November 22, 1838, at Columbia, .

According to the Columbia church records, his sister Mary Jane and he were baptized at the Lebanon Creek Church on July 10, 1840.79

Henry Randolph was educated in the Columbia public schools and left home at the age of seventeen.

Interview with Earnest Hulet, postm aster at Holbrook, July 1959* Hulet also says that the first railroad survey went through Woodruff and then down river in an attempt to serve Fort Apache before the Southern Pacific, did* The Southern Pacific Railroad reached Tucson on March 17, 1880, ,

78 Barnes gives the date of naming as 1880. Barnes, Arizona Place Names , p. 208. Fish, in his "Autobiography,11 refers to Holbrook on June 27, 1881. Fish, "Autobiography," p. 179. The earliest newspaper reference to Holbrook appeared in the Albuquerque Journal of May 13, 1881. The March 25 edition of The "Weekly Arizona Miner, Prescott, states that the railroad grading was complete and ties were laid to Horsehead Crossing. .Holbrook was. apparently named soon after this. -

"^Letter from Frances Davenport,. Head of History and Genealogy Section, Connecticut State library, Hartford, Connecticut, to this w riter, dated July 23, 1959. 98

"Holbrook started his career with.General Palm er on the Union .

Pacific surveys in 1862." From February, 1865 to September,

1866, Holbrook held the position of assistant engineer in charge of construction on the M issouri Pacific Railroad. In October 1866, he joined the Engineering Corps of the Eastern Division of the Union

Pacific Railroad. Holbrook, as assistant engineer under W illiam

H. Greenwood, in April 1867, left to make a survey of the line to

Denver, Colorado. After the line between Fort Hays and Elsworth was located and the prelim inary surveys to were continued, the Union Pacific Railroad wanted to make a survey to ,

California. Five survey parties were sent out, two along the .thirty- second parallel and three along the thirty-fifth parallel. From

August 1868 to September 1869, he was in charge of locating the St.

Louis and San Francisco Railroad from Jerom e, M issouri,to Spring- field, M issouri, a distance of one hundred m iles. IThe next year he had charge of the construction of seventy miles of track on the Kansas

Branch of the Union Pacific Railroad, from Kit Carson, Colorado, westward. Holbrook became Chief Engineer of the Denver and Boulder

Valley Railroad during its construction in 1870-71, and in July 1871 went to Mexico where he conducted railroad surveys for the Denver

^M arshall, p. 116. 99 and Rio Grande Railroad. During the years 1874 and 1875; Holbrook served as Chief Engineer for the construction of the Pueblo and Salt

Lake Railroad, from Las Animas, Colorado,to Pueblo, Colorado.

From March 1878 to July 1880, he was Resident Engineer on the

Atchison, Topeka and'Santa Fe Railroad. : i

John M arshall writes .that when the Santa: Fe started battling in southeastern Colorado in 1878, Kingman, Morley and Holbrook, the locating engineers for W illiam Bar stow Strong, the general

81 manager, were all xinder forty. M arshall also states that Holbrook, 82 "worked with Morley and Kingman for years.11 It was during this period, from July 1880 to January 1882 (when Henry Randolph Holbrook was Chief Engineer of the Atlantic and Pacific section of the Santa Fe line) that Holbrook, Arizona, was founded. Holbrook returned to

Mexico in 1882 where he spent the next two years making examinations for proposed railroads. From April 1887 until he retired in 1890,

Holbrook was Chief Engineer of the Pueblo and Salt Lake Railroad.

Upon retirem ent he made his home in,Pueblo, Colorado, where he

engaged in irrigation and real estate projects. M arshall says that "he built the famous twenty-five m ile Holbrook irrigation ditch in Pueblo, "83 8182

81Ib id . , p . 115.

82Ib id . , p . 116.

8 atbi"d» 100 and Barnes says, "he was the builder of the Rocky Ford Colorado

84 Irrigation system ." 85 Holbrook died in Pueblo in 1909 at the age of sixty nine.

Augustine W. -Wright, who wrote a memoir to.Holbrook, says that

"Mr. Holbrook will always be remembered 'for the best portion of a good man's: life: his little* nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and of love.Henry Randolph Holbrook will also be

remembered as the man for whom Holbrook, Arizona, was named.

The first location of Holbrook, then, was the. site about two miles east of Horsehead Crossing, which was four miles east of the

present town site. John Young established a store at his head-

but the Mormons were interested in buying out Young and

establishing a cooperative store at Holbrook. Fish says on June 27,

1882, "a meeting was held at Snowflake for the.purpose of organizing

a cooperative store at Holbrook for the two stakes, that is the Eastern

^B arnes, Arizona Place Names, p. 208. QC Letter from Charles .L. Thomson, Manager of the Pueblo Chamber of Commerce, to this w riter, dated July 30, 1959.

^^Transactions of American Society of Civil Engineers (New York, September 1911), LXXIII, 506.

^M cClintock says, "the location of Holbrook applied to a loca­ tion two miles east of the present town site. " Young there had a store at his headquarters. McClintock, Mormon Settlement in Arizona, p. 163. 101

Arizona Stake and the Little Colorado Stake."88 This parent store was to furnish the other stores and settlements in both stakes. Jessie

N. Smith, David K. Udall, and Joseph Fish were appointed as a

committee to draft a constitution and bylaws for the company. A board

of eleven directors was elected which included the president of each

of the two stakes and the nine bishops in the area. The board organized by electing Jessie N. Smith, president, and superintendent, Lot Smith,

vice president, and Joseph Fish, treasurer and secretary. Fish .

writes: "Considerable means was subscribed but most of it was

coming from John W. Young, to the men who subscribed and was not

available at this time as Brother Young was not in a position to meet

his obligations."8^

Fish, manager of the Arizona Cooperative M ercantile Institution

store, said the Mormons paid John W. . Young $500 for clear title to

lots at Holbrook and $250 for store buildings of fram e and canvas.

Included in the $500 price was an agreement to have the Superintendent

of the Railroad put in a side track to a corner of the lot. When the

store opened its doors for business about November 1, Fish said there

was about $10,000 worth of goods on the shelves. The closest freight

88pish, "Autobiography," p. 179.

89ibid. I

102

depot at that time was Billings, about 24 miles above Holbrook. Al­

though the track was laid as far as Holbrook or a little beyond, only

construction trains ran below Billings. At first the Billings agent

refused to send the freight on, Fish said, "but after a present of $10

and a promise that I would not hold the company responsible for any 90 shortage that there might be, he.sent the freight on.11 Sometimes

when Fish made out bills the store was so cold "the ink would freeze

on my pen so I had to stick it in the fire occasionally to thaw it out 91 out _ ■ - ’ , *

. The ACMt was.left alone in the desert, January, 28, 1882, when

the railroad moved its telegraph office to the Berado place about two

miles away. Fish said he tried to find a new site for the store at the

depot or near it. After failure to rent or buy a location, the church

decided to move the ; store to Woodruff. By that time the railroad

had removed the ACME side track.

On,February 16, the books were taken to Woodruff, a store

building 34 x 24 feet was started in Woodruff, and the old wooden

store at Holbrook was pulled down and moved up to Woodruff. The

^Ibid., p. 180.

9*Ibid. , p. 181.

■ 103

ACMI did not return to Holbrook until 1888, but it had been the-first, business, other than John B. Young's small store, to locate in

Holbrook, although the site of the town was changed.

Although there are no descriptions of the entrance of the rail­ road into Holbrook on September 24, 1881, there are several accounts of the coming of the railroad by John McLaws, who was living in

Joseph City. John McLaws wrote the following entries in his diary:

^October 23, 188lJ "Went to Holbrook to see the cars, had the pleasure of seeing the first passenger tfain that has come over the road. The track was laid 1/2 mile on the west side of Berado's; they were laying track at the rate of two miles per day . . .

(^November sj The A. & P. Railroad arrived at the switch one mile

south of St. Joseph . • « ^November 6 J^The following day went down to the track and watched them till noon and then rode with them to the boarding train at Berado's— 12 miles and back again.

Although Horsehead Crossing served as a temporary site for the

depot at Holbrook (after having moved about two miles west from the

Young property) the permanent railroad station was ibuilt in 1882

92John McLaws, diary, Holbrook. Emma Hunsaker, daughter of John McLaws, writes that her father "worked on the railroad with his team and- scraper, boarding himself and horses for $3. 00 a day. " Letter from Emma Huns ake r to this w riter, dated July 25, 1959. 104 about two miles west of Horsehead Crossing. The town site was then moved to. surround the new railroad station. The new and present town site plat of Holbrook was located by Santago Baca, Pedro 93 Montano, and F. W. Smith on an even numbered section along the railroad. The Holbrook plat was filed on February 5, 1883, in the

Office of the Apache County Recorder in the St. Johns Courthouse. ^

In March 1884 Francis M. Zuck and his son purchased the interests of Baca and Montano. . The first postm aster of Holbrook was James

H. Wilson, appoirted September 18, 1882. ^

Berado Frayre undoubtedly had the greatest influence upon the earliest settlement at Holbrook, which occurred at Horsehead Crossing.

However, September 24, 1881, the day the railroad reached Holbrook, must be considered as the city's founding date. The townsite was

93 Van Valkenburg, MS, see also The Argus, June 19» 1897. Pedro Montano had moved into the area near Horsehead Crossing in 1881. Van Valkenburg, MS. Fish said that Pedro Montano and Superintendent F. W. Smith owned all the land at Horsehead Crossing. F. W. Smith was General Superintendent for the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad. The Weekly Arizona Miner (Prescott) of September 24, 1881, says that Pedro Montano owned sheep. The October 5 issue of the Miner states that "Santiago Baca and Ernest Meyer will *ihu a few days open a branch house in Brigham City. They will carry a stock of liquors and general merchan­ dise. " The Holbrook Times of May 17, 1884, refers to "Bedro Montano, one of the earliest settlers, and among the most prominent men in town. "

94]3ook 2 of Plats, p. 7. 95better from Meyer H. Fishbein, Archivist in Charge, Business Economics Branch, General Services Administration, to the author, dated July 14, 1959. For additional postm asters, see Appendix D. 105 moved twice before a permanent depot and town site was established in 1882 at the present location of Holbrook. Because F. M. Zuck owned much of the townsite for so many years, he has often been 96 called the "father of Holbrook.11 However, it would seem that the real "father of Holbrook" was Berado Frayre, merchant and hotel owner, and Arizona pioneer. With the founding of Holbrook the town began an era in which it . soon earned the reputation as being one of the toughest and roughest little cow towns in the W est.

^ Portrait and Biographical Record, p. 662, and the A rg u s , June 19, 1897. C H A P T E R V

EARLY HOLBROOK (1881-1901)

With the coming of the railroad in 1881 and the establishment of a permanent townsite in 1882, Holbrook quickly became an important shipping and distributing point for the south and west. Wool, as well as cattle, soon became an im portant commodity shipped out of the area. * The Weekly Arizona Miner on November 16, 1881, reported

Many of the earliest residents of the Holbrook area were inter­ ested in sheep raising. J, H. Lee wrote from the American Ranch on December 14, 1877, to the Arizona Miner in Prescott in which he stated some of the problems of wool growing. Lee writes: ''In con­ versation with Senor {BeradoJ Frayes (at Horsehead Crossing) I learned that it will be to the interest of every wool grower in this part of the country to shear on the Little Colorado, and send their wool East, instead of via San Francisco. I am satisfied that today, wool is worth just as much on the river, as it is in San Francisco. Parties in Albuquerque are willing to take all the wool in the country, and pay cash for it. If they prefer to ship, they can get advances at one per cent, while here we pay two. Shearing can be done there for about one half what it costsahere. Socks, twine and grub cheaper. I have been engaged in wool growing for four years, am $1, 600 out of pocket, and I believe that it is about the experience of all engaged in it, on this side. That side of the mountains is the only suitable place that I have seen in Arizona, to raise sheep; almost all are getting over there . . . . There are several parties in now trying to buy, so I think the day is not far distant when a sheep owner may become a respectable man, and say truthfully, that he has rights that other men are bound to respect, and not be held out at arms length, surveyed, and smelled of, when he asks a favor as I heard a sheep owner remark today. " The Arizona Miner (Prescott), December 21, 1877.

106 107 that E. P. Head and Co. rdiad recently shipped 300, 000 pounds of wool in nineteen cars of the Atlantic Pacific Railroad. It was the largest single wool shipment ever made by an Arizona firm , the newspaper said. Other accounts in this newspaper show that wool was an impor­ tant commodity in the Holbrook area. Wool would continue to be important; but by the turn of the century, it was apparent that Holbrook would no longer be the center of a great cattle industry. Even so,

Holbrook, in the early part of the twentieth century, would rem ain an important shipping and distributing center for the surrounding area.

Little is known about the town for the first two years of its 2 - growth, but during this period settlers arrived and a number of business firms were established. Holbrook in the early 1880's was little more than a station on the railroad.

The only reference that this w riter was able to uncover during this two-year period was related by Albert E. Potter. He writes: "I first landed in Holbrook, Arizona, on December 6, 1883. The main event of the day, however, was not my arrival, but the hearing before Judge Zuck of Dick‘G reer, Joe Woods and Nigger Jeff who had been arrested by Sheriff Tom Perez for shooting a sheepherder up on the Little Colorado River . . . The proceedings terminated when Commo­ dore Owens, Charlie Chambers and the rest of the bunch appeared on behalf of the defendant and convinced the court that the boys should be allowed to give bonds .... In the spring the boys went to court for trial at St. Johns. Dick hit the sheepherder twice, but as neither of the wounds proved fatal the lawyers fixed up some kind of a compromise which ended the case and made everybody happy. " Letter from Albert . F. Potter to Will C. Barnes, dated May 20, 1932, A .P.H .S.. Potter first came to Holbrook from California on December 6, 1883. He went into ranching with an uncle, W illiam Curtis, and later on was a partner 108

In March 1884, Francis M. Zuck, the owner of Holbrook House hotel, and his son purchased the interests of Santago Baca and Pedro

Montano in the original townsite.

The Holbrook Times, the town's first newspaper, provides a description of the local firm s which, by May 1884, ranged from a

Chinese laundry to livery stable and billiard hall to dry goods. The

of Joe Woods, who became sheriff of Navajo County after Apache County was divided in 1895. Potter later served as Inspector for the Territor­ ial Livestock Sanitary Board and as Treasurer of Apache County. For a time he was also engaged in the sheep business. In 1899, Potter met Gifford Pinchot and accompanied him on a survey of Arizona sheep ranges (sheepmen thought their sheep were threatened with exclusion from the Forest Reserves by Secretary of Interior Hitchcock). In 1901 Potter joined the Bureau of Forestry in the Department of Agriculture, On October 27, he was appointed as an expert in the bureau. He was promoted to Forest Inspector, July 1, 1904, Inspector of Grazing, July 1, 1906; assistant Forester, May 1, 1907, and associate Forester, January 13, 1910. Potter resigned on April 15, 1920. Letter from Albert F. Potter to Will C. Barnes, dated May 22, 1932.

^Francis M. Zuck came to Arizona on the first scheduled passen­ ger train traveling from Albuquerque to Winslow. He was born in Greenburg, Pennsylvania, July 21, 1838. In 1850 he moved with his parents to Marion County, Iowa. At the age of twenty, Zuck went to Wayne County, , and worked in merchandising. At the start of the Civil W ar, he enlisted with the Third Iowa Volunteer Infantry and battled bushwackers in northern M issouri. He later served with the Army of the Tennessee, commanded by General U. S. Grant. He fought in a number of battles, including Donelson and Shiloh. Zuck received an honorable discharge on November 20, 1863, and returned to Iowa. On January 21, 1864, Zuck m arried.M iss Jennie Brobst, of Knoxville, Iowa. The Zucks had four children: Frank A. , Harry Z. , Myrtle ;J. , and Grace Mary. For the next nineteen years, Francis Zuck was a traveling salesman. Upon first coming to Arizona with his family in 1882, he lived at Carrizo for five months. In the fall of 1882, he and 109 successor to the Weekly Flag, published at Flagstaff, the Times began publication May 17, 1884, with Henry Reed as editor. Proprie­ tors and firms having advertisements in the paper's first issue are

Vinal and Porter, Mineral Surveyors and Civil Engineers; M orris

Barth and Company, Dry Goods and Clothing; F. M. Zuck, Holbrook

House - hotel; Field and Harvey, grocery; Hough and McDonald, livery, feed and sale - stable; J. D. Houck, White House Billiard Hall;

Perkins and Spiers Cottage, Billiard Saloon; Charles Lindenberger, bakery; Sing Lee, Chinese laundry; Ringle and Sanford, Billiard

Parlor; Mrs. A. M. Boyer, Apache House-hotel; Mrs. B. F. Frank and Company, millinery and dress making; Boyer and Trimble,

his family moved to Holbrook. For many years Zuck was the proprie­ tor of the Holbrook House and, after it was destroyed in the fire of 1888, he built another hotel of stone and managed it for another ten years. Zuck also served for many years as a justice of the peace in Holbrook. He long fought for the separation of Navajo and Apache Counties and helped get a bill through the legislature in 1895 dividing the counties. He eventually became the first probate judge for Navajo County. In 1900 Judge Zuck was elected county treasurer on the Republican ticket. For many years he was one of the leaders of the Republican Party of Navajo County. He was a charter member of the Masonic Lodge in Holbrook, a past m aster and represented Holbrook in the grand lodge of Arizona, where he served as senior grand warden. The Portrait and Biographical Record of Arizona says, "The m ere laying out of Holbrook is one of his least claims to be called its founder, for no one has more earnestly labored, in every possible manner for its advancement. " p. 662. no carpenters and builders; Breed Brothers and Company, cheap cash store; and W illiam W ilson, blacksmith ajid wheelwright.

Editor Reed writes: _

Holbrook has a future that is unmistakably bright. It is a radiat­ ing centre for stockmen, ranchmen and miners. Its climate is all that can be hoped for, the winds are heavy at times in the valley, but infrequent. At present our town is well supplied with enter­ prising men; reference to our columns will show their occupation. The firm of Barth & Co., pioneers in the Commerce of New Mexico and Arizona, carry a tremendous stock of general m er­ c h a n d ise . Breed Bros. & Co. are active men and understand the wants of the community. There [sic] stock is now kept in elegant order, with constant new supplies. The firm of Field and Harvey aim to keep daily supplies in groceries of. the freshest and the newest at prices which all could afford; specialties in fresh California fruits, oranges, lemons, e tc • # Torisorial establishment which is well spoken oft by its patrons, is located on Central Avenue at west end. Ti16 announcement of drugs and chemicals, a perfect pharmaceuti­ cal establishment, is deferred til the next issue; the stock having been delayed somewhere on the route. ... • Now with the establishment of a boot and shoe speciality and cobblers stall, the town will be perfect. ^

One of the. leading Holbrook firm s of today, the A. and B. Schuster ...... Mercantile Co. also had its start in May 1884. The Holbrook Tribune-

News states that "There were scarcely a.dozen structures in the *5

^Holbrook Times, May 17, 1884.

5Adolf and Ben Schuster, twins, were born in W estphalia, Ger­ many, on February 24, 1862. Adolf emigrated to the United States in 1878, settling first in Santa Fe, New Mexico. In 1880 Adolf migrated to El Paso and from there to Mexico where he spent four years working as a clerk in Chihuahua. Ben came to the United States in 1883, spent I l l

'business district' of Holbrook when the two brothers purchased a little frame shack and entered the mercantile business under the £ firm name of A. and B. Schuster Company. " Adolf Schuster arrived in Holbrook early in 1884 from Santa Fe on the railroad, looking for

a favorable location for the establishment of a mercantile store.

Two months later, his twin brother, Ben, came from Bernalillo, New

Mexico, to join him. The brothers bought out Pedro Montano and

a short time in New Mexico and joined his brother in Mexico. In 1884 the brothers returned to Santa Fe, and from there traveled to Holbrook. In the summer of 1890, Adolf returned to Germany and m arried Hedwig Bucholy. The couple had four I children. Ben later m arried Mollie Baca, the daughter of a Mexican freighter. In 1891, A. and B. Schuster Company opened a branch store in St. Johns and in 1896 opened a second branch at White river. The Holbrook newspapers in January show that the company had four stores: Holbrook, St. Johns, White river and Concho. Ben ran for County Supervisor on the Repub­ lican ticket in 1894, but was defeated by. L. J. Brown. Ben moved to St. Johns in the spring of 1900 to run the company's store. He was elected Apache County Treasurer the same year and held the job for three term s. Another brother. Max, came to Holbrook in 1900 to take care of the dry goods department. Ben died in December 19 H while Adolf died in Los Angeles in November 1934. Letter from Will C. Barnes to Fred Schuster, dated February 4, 1934, and the Holbrook Tribune-News, September 7, 1934. For additional informa­ tion on the Schusters, see Chapter VII, pp. 192-200.

^Holbrook Tribune-News, September 7, 1934. The Tribune-News states that other firms in the business district were the Perkins and Taylor Saloon, The Bucket of Blood Saloon, the Adamson and Burbage Store, Dave Harvey's Store and the Nathan Barth Store. 112 opened up a miscellaneous store in a little frame building on the main street. They lived in its rear room, fn the late eighties, the

Schusters obtained a contract from the Federal government for the transportation of supplies from Holbrook to Fort Apache. Employment

ADOLF SCHUSTER

BEN SCHUSTER

The Schuster Brothers Half A Century (1884-1934) Holbrook Tribune-News 113

A. and B. Schuster, 1884 and 1934 1881 Half A Century (1884-1934) Holbrook Tribune-News

L was furnished to many men who were sometimes paid as much as five dollars a hundred pounds for the transporting of goods when the roads became nearly impossible to travel due to rain and snow.

Another of the earliest stores in Holbrook was that of Adamson and Burbage. When the Schusters first arrived in Holbrook, "they 114 found Adam son and Burbage7 * in the old stone store by the railroad

8 switch in the last part of town."

In 1884 Holbrook had a population of about two hundred and

served as a distribution point of the m ail for about a dozen towns.

7 W. H. Burbage was born in New York City on November 12, 1854. His parents died when he was seven, and Burbage received most of his early education in a Catholic school in Ohio. He also spent two years studying law at Hiram College. In 1878 he migrated west where he spent some time prospecting in Kansas. Later that same year Burbage went to work for the Colorado Trading Company in Trinidad, Colorado. In 1882 he moved to New Mexico where he was employed by a m ercantile company that had branches in Santa Fe and Albuquerque. In November 1883 Burbage went to Holbrook where he formed a partnership with J. Q. Adamson and Milton Chenowith, The partners opened a general m ercantile store under the name of Adamson and Burbage and for five years did "a large and profitable business.11 They, sold out in 1888 to the ACM! and moved to Los Angeles where they started a wholesale meat business. During his free time Burbage continued his study of law. In April 1893, he was admitted to the California bar. He returned the same year to Arizona and opened a law office in Winslow. Burbage, in 1894, was elected D istrict Attorney of Apache County. . After the split in counties, he was elected to the same position in Navajo County in 1898 and 1900. In 1896 Burbage was a delegate to the National Democratic Convention at St. Louis and from 1896 to 1900 represented Arizona on the National Democratic Committee. He was also a member of the Knights of Columbus and Exalted Ruler of the Winslow Lodge of Elks. Burbage, in addition, was a partner in the firm of Kinder and Burbage, a sheep and wool concern. In 1900 W. H. Burbage and F. W. Nelson organized the Navajo County Bank. Mr. Burbage was chosen president. In the fall of 1909 the Navajo County Bank of Winslow and the Apache County Bank of St. Johns merged into the Navajo-Apache Bank and Trust Com­ pany with the main bank at Winslow and branches in St. Johns and Holbrook. Mr. Burbage was the president for many years. Jo Connors, ed. , Who's Who in Arizona (Tucson*: 1913), I, 241-242.

8The Argus, June 19, 1897. 115

It supplied Fort Apache, one of the largest garrisons in Arizona. ,

W. W. Elliott wrote that the business district included "a jewelry-

store, one gunsmith shop, two stores of general merchandise, one

grocery and drug store, two hotels, a blacksmith shop, one meat 9 market, one livery stable and three saloons."

For recreation the citizens of Holbrook, in 1884, turned to horse

racing. The newspaper had reported that superintendent F. M. Smith

wired the railroad agent at Ashfork, "I have reduced rate to Holbrook

(spring) races to three cents per m ile, round trip; good from April 2nd

to April 8th. All horses entered for races carried free at owner's

r i s k . " 10

About this time Fred Harvey opened one of his first restaurants

along the Santa Fe line in Holbrook. James M arshall writes:

Harvey's flair for showmanship cropped out when a temporary eating establishment was opened in Holbrook, Arizona .... The restaurant actually consisted of five old boxcars, sunbaked, and with peeling paint. People got off the train and shuddered- outside. But inside they oh'd and ah*d. The cars were crisp and clean, painted in gaudy Indian colors. The tables were set, as in the Astor, with the customary spotless Irish linen, English silver, crystal and imported crockery. There were great pitchers of ice water and bouquets of fresh flowers from California.

9w. W. Elliott, ed. , History of Arizona Territory (San Francisco, 1884), p . 218.

^A rizona Weekly Journal (Prescott), , 1884. 116

It was good psychology. Every traveler who stopped to eat went on to advertise: "Well, at Holbrook there are those five dingy old boxcars-but inside.11 **

By February of 1886 the business district of Holbrook had changed very little. There were still two hotels, the Holbrook Hotel run by

Francis M. Zuck and the Apache House run.by M rs. A. M* Boyer; the m ercantile business, was carried on by Adams on and Burbage,

A. and B. Schuster, and Nathan.Barth and Company. There were three saloons: the Cottage, run by Perkins and Taylor; the Pioneer, by Alex Petchner; and the San Julian, by Louis Peterson. Dr. Thomas

Robinson (who was postm aster) was also proprietor of a drug store in which was located the United States Post Office, a bakery with a lunch stand, and a livery and feed stable run by Brown and Kinder.

According to the Critic, the leading firm s in Holbrook during this period were Adamson and Burbage, A. and B. Schuster, Zuck's

Holbrook Hotel and By Terrill's saloon. Terrill, besides "doing a thriving 'business in purveying out goods to the thirsty Holbrookites,

. . . is also a prosperous ranchman, being the fortunate possessor of a 160 acre farm near town which is well stocked with horses and c a ttle ." 12 *1

11M arshall,p. 109. Soon after this restaurant was moved to Winslow where one of the Fred Harvey Hotels was established.

1 ^Apache County Critic, August 13, 1887. 117

The Masonic hall, twenty-five by forty-five feet in size, was completed in the spring of 1887. The Critic reports it "is a monument to the enterprise and energy of the ’brethren' and an honor to the town and fraternity. Chalcedony Lodge^ No. 6, chartered at Holbrook in November 1887, was the first lodge to be chartered by the. Grand

Lodge of Arizona.

In 1888 the ACMI incorporated under the laws of A rizona^ and moved their store and merchandise from Woodruff back to Holbrook.

. ' The Company purchased the building, which is now the grocery depart­ ment of A. and B. Schuster and Company in August 1888 from David

H. Harvey. The ACMI also bought the stock of goods which be longs d; to 13

13March 31, 1887.

l^There were five other previously chartered lodges in Arizona: at Prescott, Phoenix, Globe, Tucson and Tombstone, but they .had all been organized under the auspices of other Grand Lodges. The hall was initially on the second story of the Aztec Land and Cattle Company Headquarters Building in Holbrook. See picture on p. 136. It was later moved to the Brunswick Hotel. Interview with Lloyd C. Henning, August I960. Charter members of the Lodge were: W. P. Vandevert, T. S. Bunch, W. H. Burbage, Glenn Reynolds, Wm. Adams, Jr., C. F, Putnam, G. E .. Kentner, Hugh Lynch, F. M. Zuck. Holbrook News, August 11, 1916.

The original incorporators were Jesse N. Smith, J. H. Richards, John R. Hulet, James Fish, John Oakley, John W. Freeman, John Bushman, Samuel H. Rogers and Lorenzo Brown. 118

Adamson and Burbage (in the Harvey building). The manager was

John R. Hulet, who had been appointed in 1885, while the store was still in Woodruff.

A disastrous fire swept " • Holbrook on June 26, 1888, destroying nearly every business house in town. A letter from Holbrook to The

Apache Review in St. Johns describes the fire as follows:

This afternoon at about 3 o'clock a fire broke out in a wool ware­ house in the western portion of town, next to Zuck's hotel. The fire is supposed to have been of spontaneous origin, there being a large amount of oily wobl in the building that was directly exposed to the rays of the sun by means of a large window. All efforts to check the fire were unsuccessful and in a very few minutes the entire town was in flames. The railroad depot was destroyed with all its contents and surrounding buildings belonging to the company.'. The other losses were as follows: F. M. Zuck, hotel; Schuster Bros. , general merchandise; Dr. Robins on, drug store; F. X. Schreiner, bakery; Rhefeld, barber shop and shoe- store; Adamson and Burbage, general merchandise; Boyer hotel; Dunton and Vorhees, saloon; Laforce and little, saloon; H. H. Scorse's Saloon; M. Kechum house, saloon; and other buildings comprising the entire business portion of town, making a total loss of about $700, 000 with only a very nominal . ^

Joseph Fish writes that the fire destroyed all the business part

of Holbrook. He says that.

It burned all the stores, depot, section houses, and some fifteen railroad cars, many of them were loaded with supplies for Fort Apache. It was estimated that the loss was over $100,000. Some of our people [Mormons from W oodruffJwere down there at the time and assisted in saving what property they could. Some were

16The Apache Review, June 27, 1888. According to one story, the fire only stopped burning after it reached the "Red light D istrict." Interview with Lloyd C. Henning, Holbrook, July 1961. 119 accused of keeping some of the goods that they recovered. There was perhaps some truth in this charge; James D. Smithson, Jr. was arrested for taking things but was finally released by proving that his wife took them and did not know what to do with them. This little incident gave our people at Woodruff a rather bad name for awhile at Holbrook. The Snowflake ward donated some $50 to help the sufferers which was mostly subscribed by the Relief Society. The origin of the fire was never exactly accounted for, but it started in a house where wool was stored and some thought it was spontaneous combustion, the wind being high, it soon spread to the other parts of the town. 17

(Courtesy of Lloyd C. Henning, Holbrook)

l^Fish, "Autobiography," p. 256. 120

However, The Argus reported "the business men, not disheartened by this severe blow set to work again with renewed energy, and from the

ruins of the old emerged better and more commodious structures than those destroyed."18

H o i T o o k A */ i .

Early Holbrook (about 1890) (Courtesy of Lloyd C. Henning, Holbrook)

18The Argus (Holbrook), June 19, 1897. After the fire started, Adolf Schuster attempted to remove some of the stock. During the excitement he rescued one of a pair of fancy dress boots, but left the other behind. This boot is on display in the A. and B. Schuster 121

. James A. W illiamson, land commissioner for the Atlantic and

Pacific Railroad, had a scheme for making more money for the rail­ road as a result of the fire. Williamson proposed moving the railroad depot a half mile to an odd numbered section (Holbrook was laid out on an even numbered section). He said that this "would either inflict much inconvenience on the townsmen or, more likely, force them to purchase lots at the company's new site. jt was fortunate for

Holbrook and the good reputation of the Atlantic and Pacific that his

scheme did not appeal to the operating department of the railroad.

Despite this incident, W illiamson "handled town development wisely

and obtained a reasonable profit for the company.

Company today. It is not only a valued curio but an example of the workmanship of early boot m akers. The St. Johns Herald of July 4, 1888, reported that F. M. Zuck, the owner of the townsite of Holbrook, "offers lots at very low prices. Those having money should invest and while making a good investment will at the same time assist the people of Holbrook to rebuild their town. " Although the citizens of Holbrook were apparently very optimistic, the Albuquerque Citizen reported in 1903 that "the fire was a blow from which Holbrook never fully recovered. Part of the town was rebuilt, but not half of what burned. Where there were ten saloons before the fire, there is one now, and the same ratio may be applied to the amount of money and people to be found there then and now. " Quoted by the Holbrook Argus, May 16, 1903.

^Greever, p. 50.

20Ib id . 122

The listing below shows the major business district of Holbrook in 1888 after it was rebuilt following the fire. All of the buildings were of adobe and rock construction, except the livery stable which was w ooden.

m u 0 § 0 ti u i l o b ti u "o 0 & •H u M to to s £ 1 1 0 0 4->

A. < G ^ • CP hP a

The Sam Kee Restaurant was only seven feet wide. Sam Kee had form erly cooked for both Henry Huning and the Hashknife Outfit.

In the Scorse store there was a famous collection of Indian

pottery. Holbrook had become the center of an industry in the search 21 for and discovery of pottery in the Little Colorado valley.

Judge Sloan writes: "At one time exploration was open to any­ one who might choose to dig in those ancient ruins, no m atter how crudely and uns cientifically he might go about it . . . . Men were employed, mostly Mexicans, and trained for the work. Owing to the 123

Lloyd Henning, ^ for many years an outstanding citizen of Holbrook, and considered by most long-time residents, as the town historian,

fact that in most instances there is little on the surface to show the sites of ancient pueblos in the valley except low mounds overgrown with brush, a certain amount of exploration work was necessary in order to locate them, and still more in order to discover the ancient refuse heaps and burial places where alone pottery might be found. In remov­ ing pottery from the soil at a depth of from one to four feet, great care and considerable skill is necessary to prevent damage. Even when the work is done by experienced diggers, I have known of wonderful speci­ mens being broken into fragments through carelessness or accident. During my frequent visits to Holbrook and other places where explorations were being carried on, I became greatly interested in noting the differences in color and decoration of the pottery peculiar to certain localities. In one part of the valley the black-on-gray and in another the black-on-red would predominate. In certain mounds there would be found a certain proportion of glazed pottery, in other localities little or none. In every instance variations in artistic excell­ ence, in workmanship, decoration, and design occurred, due unques­ tionably to individual differences in talent and skill on the part of these ancient potters. During the period of unrestrained exploration, a number of exceedingly large and valuable collections were made in and about Holbrook by local men. Frank W atron (Sheriff) .... an d H . H . Scorse, a local merchant, made notable collections. These are now in the Field Museum of Chicago, in the Museum of the University of Pennsylvania, and in the National Museum in Washington. It is a m atter of deep regret to every citizen of Arizona that at least one of these m ajor collections could not have been retained and given a permanent home in one of our local museums or educational institutions, " Memories of an Arizona Judge, pp. 190-191. The Scorse collection was sold by heirs to Oscar Lawler, an attorney, from Los Angeles. Harold S. Gladwin bought the collection and brought it back to Globe. It became part of the Gila Pueblo collec­ tion in Globe, and is now in the University of Arizona Museum. The Argus states that F.: J. W attron had a large and rare collection of Indian relics and that he displayed it in his drug store. "The collection con­ tains many rare specimens of pottery, some of which cannot be duplicated. V The Argus, December 24, 1898.

^Lloyd Henning was born in Plano, , on November 15, 1885. He was the son of Albert Ernest and Katherine (Chamberlain) I 124

now owns the land and old buildings from the Scorse store to the

Bucket of Blood Saloon.' His office is in the old Pioneer Saloon building.

The Bucket of Blood Saloon was widely known by old pioneers as

a famous landmark in Holbrook. Albert F. Potter left many of his

speeches and articles assembled in a folder called "Them Were the

Days. " Included in this folder was an account of how the Bucket of

Blood got its name. Potter writes:

Henning. He first entered the public schools of Holbrook in 1892. In 1904, Henning served as the nation's youngest newspaper editor, editing the St. Johns Snips and Herald. He went to Phoenix to cover the state legislature for the Gazette but "decided the mud was too deep in the city streets." From 1904-1909, Henning was editor of the Winslow Mail. He returned to Holbrook in 1909 as assistant cashier of a branch of the Navajo County Bank. He remained in the banking business for many years both as an executive and as a director. Henning m arried Esther Hess on August 15, 1911. The couple had two children, Billie (Mrs. Ross M. Sutherland) and Robert Arthur. Henning was made director of the 1st National Bank in 1922 and president in 1931. He established the Henning Insurance Agency, and owned and managed the Navajo-Apache Telephone System since 1931. Mr. Henning held many public offices. He was elected state senator from Navajo County for four term s (1941-1949), the first resident of Holbrook to serve in that office. Henning also served as Mayor of Holbrook, Clerk of the Superior Court of Navajo County, and as a member of the Supervisors. Henning is a Thirty-Second Degree Mason and a past Grand M aster of the Holbrook Lodge. In 1928 he served as Grand M aster of Arizona. From 1927-28, Henning served as District Governor of Rotary and in June, 1927, attended the Rotary International Convention in Ostend, Belgium, He is also a member of the Elks Club. Mr. Henning has also been a long-time historian of Arizona history, and is considered by the residents of Holbrook as the forem ost authority on early Holbrook. Interview with Lloyd C. Henning in Holbrook in'. July I960. See also The Arizona Republic (Phoenix), August 3, 1952,and Jo Connors, ed., Who's Who in Arizona, I, 244. This w riter is indebted to Mr. Henning for hi a assistance in the gathering of m aterial on early Holbrook. 125

The roundup on the little Colorado River range had just been completed and the herd was being held at aljake; about twelve miles east of Holbrook, ready for cutting out the cattle which would be taken to the stockyards for shipment, or to their home ranges. As the saddle horses were being brought in about sunrise in the morning, two riders were seen coming across the country from towards Holbrook. At first it was thought they were Indians, because one of them had a cloth wrapped around his head in Indian fashion. As they drew nearer, it was seen that the man with his head bandaged was seriously wounded and almost exhausted from the loss of blood. When they got closer to the wagon, the other man greeted us by shouting: "Here we com e! All shot to p i e c e s ." We then recognized them as Joe Crawford, a who had worked for the Aztec Land and Cattle Company, known as the Hash Knife outfit, and George Bell, a gambler. Crawford was so weak that he had to be lifted from the horse he was riding. We laid him on the horse w rangler's bed and, with a handful of flour from the cook's bread pan, I plastered the wound on his head and stopped the bleeding. Examination showed also that a bullet had passed through the cuff of his shirt and coat sleeve and just grazed the side of his body. Scars of other old wounds showed that this was not Crawford's first fight. Then, as Captain of the roundup, it was my place to take charge of the affair. Bell told a story about their having been in a card game with Ramon Lopez and another Mexican, when a controversy arose about a deal in the cards and Lopez struck Crawford over the head with a six-shooter. That started the real trouble. Craw­ ford drew his gun and killed Lopez. Then the shooting became general and Crawford killed the other Mexican, who fell beside his partner. The bartender in.the saloon reported it as having been a right lively battle. Crawford and Bell were furnished horses by friends and made a getaway. Bell said that the Mexicans were organizing a posse to pursue them and he feared that if captured their fate would be lynching. He appealed for protection from such • an ending. I told him that our outfit was for the law and that we could protect them from injury by any mob, but if an officer came after them, they must surrender and go with him. Bell said that was all right for them; so I told him to take care of Crawford while we worked the herd. No one else appeared upon the scene until about the, middle of the day when Tom South, another cowboy who had worked for the Hash Knife outfit, arrived from town. He said that no inquest had been held on the bodies of the Mexicans, that the Justice of the Peace 126

was out of town, and that the Deputy Sheriff would not start after Crawford and Bell without warrants for their arrest. It looked like possibly it was thought that was to give them a chance to get out of the country. Come time for supper. Crawford had recovered enough to get up and walk around and was able to eat with us. He then announced that he felt able to ride and that they would be on their way while the going was good. As no action had been taken by the officers in town, I saw no reason to detain thepa,, so I wished them a pleasant journey. About eleven o'clock that night we heard the rattle of a buckboard coming across the prairie and when it got near camp the driver shouted: "Potter, Potter !" I answered, "Hello, who is it?" The reply was: "The Deputy Sheriff; I came after Crawford and Bell. " I told him to come on up to camp, that the fellows he was looking for had left just after supper. In apparent anger he blamed me for not having Held them there for him. My defense was that as he had not come sooner I had concluded they were not wanted. He then returned to town and, so far as I know, no effort was made afterwards to capture Crawford and Bell. The general belief is that Joe Crawford was in fact Grat Dalton, a member of the notorious of outlaws, and that he was killed in an attempted at Coffeyville, Kansas. ^ It is said that where the two Mexicans fell, when killed, there was a spot on the floor which looked like a bucket of blood had been spilled there. For this reason the saloon was afterwards named the "Bucket of Blood.

The United States Census Report of 1890 lists Holbrook's popula­ tion as 206. 25 Arizona: Its Commercial, Industrial and Transportation

The Coffeyville, Kansas, bank holdup by was in 1892 so if Joe Crawford was Grat Dalton, he must have worked for the Hash Knife outfit between 1885 and 1892. For additional information on Albert F.Fbfcter, see Footnote No. 2.

24paul H. Roberts, MS, A .P. H.S. . The Bucket of Blood Saloon was formerly called the "Cottage." The Argus, May 8, 1897. The saloon was renamed soon after the 1888 fire.

Letter from Howard G. Brunsman, Chief, Population Division, Bureau of the Census, Department of Commerce, to this w riter, dated July 18, 1958. See Appendix E for additional census figures. 127

Interests, published in 1891, gives the following information about

Holbrook: "Population, 300. Industries: freighting, and stock raising. It contains 1 school house, .1 church,' hotel, 7 business houses and Masonic Lodge. It is "'the shipping point for St. Johns and all settlements in Southern Apache County. It is the center of a fertile farming and extensive grazing region. The book lists the figures for all goods shipped to and from Holbrook in 1885, 1888, and

1889. During this period the total goods shipped from Holbrook increased from 1,408 tons to 3,445 tons while the total goods shipped 27 to Holbrook decreased from 7,405 tons to 2, 893 tons.

H. C. Stinson and W. N. Carter in a book published in the same year write that Holbrook is the shipping point for St. Johns and that 28 "a very considerable export trade -is done in grain, wool, and hides."

Another important business in early Holbrook was the manufacture and

sale of Navajo blankets^ and rugs, prim arily for eastern m arkets. 2627

26William E. Guild (Washington, D. C .), p. 80.

27See Appendix A for shipping figures.

2®H. C. Stinson and W. N. Carter, comps. , Arizona (n. pub. , 1891), p. 144.

^O riginally the Navajos used only wool from their own sheep and native dyes in the manufacture of their blankets. Later, however, they often made "Bayeta" blankets, so called because the Navajos used a cloth, usually red, and made in England for the trade with Spain called "Bayeta. " The cloth was bought from Mexican traders in New Mexico, 128

C. O. Anderson describes Holbrook in the 1890,s as "An interesting

town." He wrote that "there was more genuine sociability in it than

any western town we [his wife and he] had ever been in.

A Historical and Biographical Record of the Territory of Arizona,

published in 1896, says that Holbrook1 s "population is about 500. It

has several good hotels and a number of prosperous business houses.

Large number of cattle and sheep are annually shipped from this point.

Immense quantities of supplies are freighted from Holbrook by wagon

to Fort Apache and Pleasant Valley in Gila County. A fine agricultural • / N ■ country surrounds Holbrook- - one of the best sections , in fact, in the

Territory. A weekly paper is issued here. East of Holbrook is the

famous Petrified Forest.

The Argus reports on April 23, 1896, that the "farm ers along

the Little Colorado River are converting their ranches into alfalfa

fields as rapidly as possible, the acreage being almost doubled this year.

who then unraveled it into its original threads, to be rewoven into blankets whenever they desired a red color. Judge Sloan writes "Old Bayetas, when I first came to Arizona, were in great demand and brought a high price. Like all the old -Navajo blankets they were so well made that many could be found in Spanish homes in New Mexico in excellent condition after more than a century of use. " Sloan, Memories of An Arizona Judge, pp. 188-189.

■^C. O. Anderson, "Reminiscences of C. O. Anderson," MS, A .P.H .S., p. 21. 31 (Chicago, 1896), pp. 369-370. 129

Within another year enough hay will be raised in Navajo County to supply the home demand, which will be a big item to the stockmen and farm ers. As in previous years, hundreds of tons of hay have been shipped in at advanced prices. A number of irrigating projects are afoot, which, when completed, will add much to the wealth-producing resources of the county.11

There were shipped from Holbrook in 1896, over six hundred car loads of cattle, which averaged about thirty-three head to each car, valued at fifteen dollars per head, total value, $297,000. Also shipped were eighty-five car loads of sheep, which averaged about two hundred sixty-five head to each car, valued at three dollars per head, total value, $67,575; and eighty car loads of wool, which averaged

14, 000 pounds each, total, 1, 120,000 pounds, value ten cents per pound, total value, $11,200. Thus, the total exports during this one- year period amounted to over seven hundred sixty-five car loads, valued at $484,575. Imported during this same period were over forty

car loads of flour.and over fifty car loads of merchandise that included 32 coal, oil, beer, and so forth.

Holbrook in June 1897 had four general merchandise stores.

They were A. and B. Schuster, A. C. M .I., W etzler, and Bill

^T he Argus, June 19, 1897. 130

W ooster. Also, in town was a livery and feed stable run by Hamilton and-Egger, ^3 a blacksmith shop run by W illiam Arm bruster^^ and a meat market owned by W. H. Clark. There were three restaurants in town; namely, Loui Ghuey, Loui Kee, and H. S. Stevens; one hotel - "The Holbrook"; a drug store run by F. JV W attron, ^ an d tw o

^^John Hamilton was born on May 1, 1862, in Canada. J. T. Egger was born in Texas and came to Arizona in 1886. He was first engaged in cattle raising but in 1896, he sold his cattle and formed a partnership with John Hamilton. The firm also did a large wholesale and business selling hay, grain, coal, etc.. The Holbrook Argus refers to them as the "hustling liverymen of Holbrook. " Holbrook Argus, March 13, 1897.

"^William Arm bruster had served five years in Company One of the Sixth Cavalry. He worked at Ft. Apache prior to coming to Hol­ brook. Armbruster was a stepfather of Anna Belle Scorse. The Argus calls him "a fine worker, and, a good natured, whole-souled fellow, a model citizen, frugal, tem perate and economical, and [[a man whoj has accumulated considerable property." The Argus, June 19, 1897. For a copy of the biographich sketches in the Argus, see Appendix H.

O C W. H. Clark was born in Cheshire, Berkshire County, Massa­ chusetts. He was a member of Troop K of the U. S. Fourth Cavalry. In 1888 he came to Holbrook and engaged in the m ercantile business. About 1890, Clark bought out C. F. Perkins, W. H. Clark was also the agent for the Holbrook and Ft. Apache, St. Johns, and Springer- ville Stage Lines. He later managed a hotel where the Fred Schuster home was afterwards located.

^^Loui Ghuey, "a progressive Chinaman," owned the only brick business in Holbrook and also operated a photography gallery. The Argus, June 19, 1897.

37]Tor a biographical sketch of F. J. W attron, see Chapter VI. 131

saloons,.the "Cottage" and the "Pioneer." C. O. Anderson, the only- attorney, was also editor and owner of the Argus. Holbrook had three

38 telegraph offices, the W estern Union with J. E. DeRosear as

operator, the Postal.iTelegraph Company with W. B. Woods as manager,

and the U. S. Military Line with J. H. Young as operator. The city had a well-furnished grade school house in the southwest corner of

town in which religious serves were also held, a::Sunday School and a

Masonic Lodge. C. O. Anderson writes that "the population is intelligent and progressive, and the best of feeling generally exists

between all.

Four stage lines served Holbrook. The Holbrook and Fort Apache

stage left daily; the St. Johns and Springerville stage also left daily,

except Sunday; the Holbrook and Pleasant Valley stage, operated on

Mondays and Thursdays; and a m ail route to Kearns Canyon left on

Tuesdays and Fridays. Holbrook was the center for freight teams

arriving from and leaving for other settlements in the area, such ; 38

38 JV E. DeRosear was born in Iowa i n 1861. He was a telegraph operator when he first came to Holbrook. Later he was appointed station agent for the W estern Union. He owned the Holbrook Argus for a short time, selling out to C. O. Anderson. His wife was born in and became the W estern Union operator. DeRosear was "a thorough railroad m an," and was "one", of the trusted and most popular employees along the line." The Argus, June 19, 1897.

•^9The Argus, June 19, 1897. See Appendix H. 132 as Woodruff, Concho, St. Johns, Springerville, Snowflake, Taylor,

Shumway, Pine dale, Showlow, Adair, linden,. Pinetop, Fort Apache,

Kearns Canyon, St. Joseph, Heber and Pleasant Valley. Holbrook was the distributing point for all m ail to these as well as additional

settlements in the area. '

As a shipping center, Holbrook continued to grow in importance.

The Argus, on February 26, 1898, states that:

During the year 1897 there were received at the Holbrook depot 156 carloads of merchandise of which there were 12 carloads of potatoes, 3 of wagons, 2 of sheep dip, 11 of coal, 4 of salt, 6 of coal oil, 7 of lumber, 12 of beer, 11 of sugar, 3 of thoroughbred cattle, 2 of horses, 3 of soap, 6 of canned goods, 7 of grain, 5 of chopped feed, 3 of bran, 47 of flour, 1 of nails, etc.. No absolutely correct statement can be made of that received in broken lots. It is safe to estimate it at one-half the amount in carload lots, mak­ ing a total amount of 232 carloads of merchandise received for the year. There were shipped from Holbrook during the same period 620 of cattle and sheep and wool, making a grand total of 852 carloads of freight received at and shipped from this point for the y e a r 1897.

Cattle played a m ajor role in the business picture of the Holbrook

area at this time. The creation of the Aztec Land and Cattle Company

in 1884. did much to strengthen Holbrook* s claim as a cattle shipping

center during the next fifteen years. The company was organized to

utilize the right-of-way land along : the railroad for grazing and was

formed shortly after the creation of the Kinsley T rust,40 by the Atchison

40];n 1884 the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad being in financial difficulty borrowed $2, 774, 513. 64 to pay the interest on mortgage bonds and other debts from its two parent railroads and the /.banking 133 and others interested in the Atlantic and Pacific. The Aztec company- bought one million acres at a price of fifty cents per acre^^ but

William S. Greever says that "its contract actually covered 1,059,560 acres with no extra charge for additional land. The land included most of the area on the south side of the track between Holbrook and

F la g s ta ff.

In 1885, because of the fever tick, a quarantine was placed on all

Texas cattle. As a result, forty thousand head of cattle were diverted from Texas into northern Arizona. These first cattle were driven from the Texas range into New Mexico and then shipped and unloaded

: ■ . . . .: • ...' ■■ firm of J. and W. Seligman and Company. The only readily available asset of the Atlantic and Pacific was its land grant which the railroad valued at fifty cents an acre. It, therefore, turned over 5,424, 800 acres to Edward W. Kinsley as trustee. Kinsley was instructed to sell the land within five years and remove the railroad's debt. Kinsley, after selling a comparatively sm all amount of land, in 1890 ended the trusteeship when it became necessary to make /.further land adjustments for financial reasons.

The apparent reason for such a low land price was that the two parent railroads and the Seligmans forced the Atlantic and Pacific to raise money to pay back its loan from them. See Footnote No. 40.

^A rid Domain, The Santa Fe Railway and Its W estern Land Grant (Stanford, 1954), p. 46. 134 at Hardy Station, eleven miles east of Winslow in the spring or

44 summer of 1885.

Cattle train after cattle train arrived in Holbrook and Winslow, and before the first winter snow longhorns grazed from (Flagstaff to the New Mexico line. The owner of the cattle, the Aztec.Company, was known originally as the Continental Cattle Company. One of the largest cattle companies in the Southwest, it was established in Texas in the late 1870's.This company was more often called the Hashknife because the shape of its brand resembled the knife used by a

Interview with Clarence Lee, son of Bill Lee, long-time , Holbrook resident, in July 1959.

^A lbert F.Potter in a letter to Will C. Barnes says that Aztec first came to the Holbrook area in the spring of 1885. Paul H. Roberts, MS, A. P .’H .S.. Joe McKinney, in a letter to Will C. Barnes, says that the first cattle reached Holbrook in July 1885. Letter from Joe McKinney to Will C. Barnes, dated March 18, 1935. Barnes Collection, A. P.H .S. .

^T he Hashknife was originally known as the Continental Cattle Company. It was -first established in. the late 1870's on the Pecos River by John Hughes and John Simps on. Hughes and Simpson bought out the M illett outfit on the Brazos River in Baylor County and: .moved most of the cattle to the Pecos River. The hashknife brand was appar­ ently originated by the Millet Brothers and was sold along with the ranch and cattle. After the Aztec moved to northern Arizona, Buck Lancaster was "Wagon Boss"; Jim Simpson, General Manager; Irby, Assistant Manager; Kinsley, bookkeeper; and Charley House was the first "Wagon Boss" on the west end of the ranch. Letter from Joe McKinney to Will C. Barnes, dated March 18, 1935. The Aztec Land and Cattle Cbmpany had been organized as a corporation in 1884. The capital stock of the Aztec was $963, 100. It was owned as follows: "Atchinson,$215,000; certain members of Atchinson Board of D irectors, $200, 000; J. and 135

cook. In Arizona the Hashknife set up its ranch headquarters on the

Little Colorado River across from Joseph City.

Trespassing stockmen and rustlers made life difficult for the

Hashknife Outfit. . Many of the trespassers previously had used the

range and they resented the Hashknife's purchase of the odd-numbered

sections within what they considered their traditional range. Dane

Coolidge describes the coming of the Hashknife as follows: "It was a

Texas invasion, and those first cowboys turned the country into a

rustler's paradise. If ever a range was ruled by rustlers it was the

land on both sides of the Santa Fe Railroad where the Aztec Land and

Cattle Company owned every alternate township. In fourteen years there was not a single conviction for cattle stealing, and the cow

thieves were shipping them out by the trainload. But this was in the • 46 north and the rustlers were Texans."

W. Seligman and Company, $241,000; some people connected with the Seligman firm , $4, 000; and others (in large part Texas ranchers), $502,400." Greever, p. 46. The first General Manager of the Aztec was Captain Henry W arren. He had received his title as a Captaihiof the Minute Men, the first Texas Rangers. "Captain W arren was a Southern gentleman of the old school, with a long goatee and white moustache. He was also a wonder­ ful cowman, having charge of the great trail herds that were driven north each year to Montana, where the company had another big ranch." Dane Coolidge,. Fighting Men of the W est (New York, 1932), p. 121.

^D ane Coolidge, Arizona Cowboys (New York, 1938), pp. 15-16. e. c di o n sour te san Thite tmbe e) did eed) blew (tum istle h T n ssia u R the , e rc u o s one to g in rd cco A eed. w o exit n norher Arzona utl t te ate a i r New m fro in e cam cattle the r fte a until a n o riz A rn e rth o n in ist x e not NM s. a ex T and exico M he resul o te skie s h i r ton o umbl ­ le b m tu of n ctio u d tro in the as w ashknife H the of lt u s e r er th o n A 47 ntr e t Cl ence Le, lro, uy 1959 July olbrook, H ee, L e c n re la C ith w iew terv In A ztec L and and C attle H e a d q u a rte rs (1887) (1887) rs rte a u q d a e H attle C and and L ztec A Coures f od . nig Holbrook) H enning, H C. loyd L of sy rte u o (C 47 136 137

The effect of the Hashknife Outfit on Holbrook can be easily seen by the following description: "The Hashknife cowboys would gallop through Holbrook with blazing guns, yelling: 'Hide out, kids, the cow­ boys are in town,1 shoot out the lights at dances, and otherwise- justify wildest western traditions. Several Hashknife men were known to be AQ killers. " Holbrook had now become a tough little cow town. In the

1880's and 1890's with the influx of settlers, Holbrook was also the

center of many difficulties between whites and Navajos over mutual

cattle stealing and land and water rights.

The Hashknife operation was described in the Apache County

Critic of August 13, 1887, as "successful" and one of "the most

extensive in Arizona. " The paper said its ranch and range land extended

sixty by forty miles up and down the little Colorado River. There

were, of course, other cattlemen in the Holbrook area but the Hash­

knife Outfit comprised the backbone of the cattle industry.

The Holbrook Argus of December 12, 1895, stated that "Holbrook

still maintains its old time prestige of being the greatest shipping point

for livestock and wool along the line of the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad

between Albuquerque and . The shipment of cattle alone

“^Federal W riters Project, p. 313. 138 runs up to 20,000 head, and sheep, 18,000. As for wool, more than

60 cars were loaded at our depot."

During 1897 a total of 620 carloads of cattle and sheep and wool were shipped from Holbrook. In June 1899 the Holbrook shipment totaled 8,000 head of cattle, 40,000 head of sheep and 265,000 pounds of wool. . A total of 13, 000 head of cattle left Holbrook by rail in the summer of 1899. ^

By 1899, however, the cattle business .in northern Arizona was definitely on the decline. Barnes states:

We had heavy losses in our section this last year from drought. Along the Santa Fe Pacific the loss has been fully 50 per cent. The Aztec Company expected to gather between 35,000 and 40, 000 head and they cleared up about 16, 000 head. The big outfits are all pulling out of our part of the territory and they are going for good . . . . Northern Arizona will be turned over to the sheepmen and when they get through it will be good for nothing for a few years. The only solution to the problem is to have the lands leased by the government, then the sheepmen and cattlemen can take what they need and live in peace, each on his own ground. If some plan is not adopted, the country there will become a desert a g a in . 50

Although Holbrook continued to be an im portant shipping and

distributing center for the surrounding area, it became clear by 1900

that the town would no longer be the center of a great cattle industry.

^Ibid. , November 11, 1899.

5?Penver Stockman, as quoted by T h e A r g u s , December 16, 1899. 139

Despite one optimistic report that "last spring over 10, 000 head of cattle were and 50,000 head of sheep and several hundred thousand pounds of wool were also C 1 shipped ," an article in The Argus of January 13, 1900, had reported that "the Aztec expect to clear up all their cattle here next year. It is rumored that they will put in sheep in place of cattle in the future.11

Barnes writes:

In the summer of 1895 good cows brought only five dollars each at Holbrook, They were almost a drug on the market. Everybody had cows to sell--nobody wanted to buy them. Such was the cattle business--up and down. Dry seasons versus wet seasons. Good markets and no m arkets. Years with fine grass on the prairies everywhere; followed by a drought that left them as bare of grass as a board. Ranges that ordinarily would have been full stocked with one cow to every hundred acres were carrying twenty to the same area. And yet nobody seemed to sense the disaster that was imminent; to realize the obvious end of such a draft on nature's resources. We thought the range was everlasting, that there was enough to its possibilities. We were all living in a fool's paradise. Nor have the cattlemen using these open ranges profited by our experiences, taken heed of nature's warning signs. ^

The end of an era came to Holbrook in 1901 when the Aztec Land and Cattle Company went out of business. It was evident that the

^P o rtrait and Biographical Record of Arizona (Chicago, 1901), p . 1011.

•^ B a r n e s, "Sheep Troubles," MS, A .P.H .S. , pp. 357-358. 140

Hashknife had been declining over the last several years and was by

1901 on its last leg s.53 Frank Wallace,54 55 who had replaced Burt

Moss man5 5 in 1900 as superintendent of the company, sold the remnant of the Hashknife to Babbitt and Stiles.

When Holbrook became a 11 rough-tough" cow town, badmen flocked to it and crimes increased. It called for the town's first jail. The

Apache County Board of Supervisors on January 12, 1886, dutifully appropriated $400 for the building which apparently left much to be desired. Dane Coolidge writes that "the Holbrook jail was a single­ cell stone Ibuilding with a door made by welding huge wagon tires 56 together, set off on the edge of town. " In at least one instance, a

53The "Navajo County History" says that the Hashknife Outfit had been "long roped to death." Lena Randall, et al, , The Daughters of the Utah Pioneers Organization, "Navajo County H istory," MS, H o lb ro o k .

5^Frank Wallace was born near Greenville, Texas,on August 27, I860. He was the son of a rancher and cattleman. As a boy he helped drive cattle over the QiiMiolm Trail into Kansas. Wallace came to Arizona in 1890, as manager of the W alters Cattle Company. In 1896 he became range boss for the Hashknife and in 1900 he succeeded Burt Moss man as manager., Wallace included his son in the partnership and it operated under the name of W allace, Bly and Wallace. In 1918 the firm purchased the O. W. Ranch in Pleasant Valley from H. J. Ramer. They sold the Adam ana Ranch to George Henessey, W allace's son-inilaw, in 1920. Wallace sold his O. W. Ranch in 1924 to C. B. Bronson and retired in Holbrook. Wallace died in Phoenix, July 30, 1946.

55Burt Moss man had first come to Holbrook in 1898 to replace T.T. Jones as superintendent of the Aztec. For a biography of Mossman, see Chapter VII. 5^Coolidge, Fighting Men of the W est, p. 124. 141 prisoner held on charges of housebreaking, sawed his way free with a rough-edged case knife. In the fall of 1896, the county voted a

$15, 000 bond issue to erect a courthouse and jail at Holbrook. They 57 were completed in 1898. F. A. Zuck and S. C. Zuck deeded the land for the court house.

Meanwhile, Holbrook continued to seek answers to its irrigation and flood control problems. An 1886 attempt to build a combination dam-bridge on the Little Colorado River failed. Frank Reed, editor of the Apache County Critic, wrote in an editorial, June 18, 1887, that "Mr. .Scorse advised that the great dam on the Little Colorado, from which so much irrigating is expected, will be completed in about five w eeks.11 Reed predicted that if irrigation proved successful in a few years, "Holbrook would be the center of a beautiful valley celebrated for its fruit and its climate. "

On March 31, 1887, Editor Reed also wrote an editorial criticiz- " 5£ ing the Holbrook Town and Lot Company, a real estate promotion firm .

He said that the company had

done great harm and greatly retarded its growth and progress to their own detriment, by advancing the price of their property beyond the reasonable view of buyers. But ithe old is gone; the new has

Minutes of the Board of Supervisors, Navajo County, April 5, 1898.

^T he Holbrook Town and Lot Company was a company formed to promote real estate sales. On July 31, 1885, the Apache County Board 142

come, and with it a determined disposition to make every effort and to lose no opportunity to advance the growth and improvement of the town and country. F. M. Zuck, secretary.of the Irrigation company, is also agent of the Town company, and publishes to the world that the company's property will be sold at reasonable prices, and lots will be given away on certain conditions to all who become actual settlers and who will improve the property.

In his last editorial on August 13, 1887, Reed wrote:

An irrigating enterprise just being completed by H. H. Scorse will prove an im portant factor in the future prosperity of Holbrook. A substantial dam has been constructed across the Little Colorado, at a point two and a half miles above Holbrook, from which canals are in process of construction, which will irrigate a tract of fertile bottom lands four miles wide and stretching a distance of ten and a half miles up and down the river. The climatic influences and character of the soil in this section are fully equal to those of the Rio Grande valley, and the reduction of this fine tract of land, immediately surrounding Holbrook, to cultivation will be an important element in the future prosperity of that thriving town. Especially is this true on account of the liberal policy of the Aztec Land and Cattle Company, who contemplate cutting up into small farm s its fertile valley lands and offering liberal inducements to the home seeker and hardy tiller of the soil to locate here, and by his labor add to the productiveness and prosperity of the valley. It will not be long before Albuquerque may buy her potatoes and vegetables, as well as a large proportion of her hay and grain from the farm ers of Holbrook, instead of being dependent upon the uncertain transportation of those commodities from Colorado and K a n sa s. The business community share in the thrift of their surroundings, . and inspired by confidence in the bright future of the valley, are building substantial improvements and planning for the future with a view to the prosperity and stable finances of their growing little c ity .

of Supervisors placed a tax assessm ent on each lot held by the company of $12. Pedro Montano was then the agent. Minutes of the Board of Supervisors, Book I, July 31, 1885-April 5, 1888. 143

F. M. Zuck, who is proprietor of the best hotel in the city, is now in Chicago completing arrangements with a syndicate of capitalists for the prosecution of a gigantic irrigating scheme which will bring under tillage thousands of acres in the valley of the Little Colorado. His success will mean a sure boom of large dimensions for Holbrook.

In 1895 a bridge with a rock and cement foundation spanned the

Little Colorado River at Holbrook on the route to Showlow. The continuing interest of Holbrook citizens in erecting dams on the river was reflected by The Argus. It reported that

Near Holbrook are two splendid reservoir sites which, by a small expenditure of capital would store water for an immense scope of country, and reclaim thousands of acres of the best farming land in the world. The sites have been surveyed and cost estimated by one of the most competent engineers in America, and his report shows the first, or lower reservoir, will store enough water to irrigate about 20,000 acres. The cost of construction would not exceed $30,000, as immense deposits of white sand and sandstone are close at hand. The upper reservoir would be for impounding purposes only, as its waters would find an exit through the lower one. This can be built by simply darning a narrow canon which thereby would fill a large basin above it, impounding enough water to irrigate 95,000 acres. The cost of constructing will be about $83,000.

In the summer of 1899, work was begun on a flood control pro­ ject for the Little Colorado River. The Argus reports that "the work

of strengthening the river bank south of town is progressing satisfac­ torily. The work done is of a permanent character and will in future

59 June 19, 1897. 144 withstand the ravages of the elements. A new channel will be cut across the point south of town around which the river curves, giving the stream a straight channel and diverting it away from town e n tire ly .

With the closing down of the Hashknife, Holbrook's businessmen, led by F. M. Zuck, sought new sources c£- revenue. Perhaps the most ambitious of their schemes was the Holbrook Development and

Improvement Company, organized in September 1901. The firm proposed to finance the drilling of artesian wells for irrigation. At the first meeting on September 2, F. M. Jackson was elected secretary.

Zuck announced that 1, 250 shares of stock at $1 each had been subscribed. Permanent officers and members of the Board of Directors then elected were A. Schuster, president; F. J. Wattron, treasurer;

H. H. Scorse, vice president; F. M. Zuck, secretary; and William

Arm bruster, member of the Board of Directors. On September. 3 the company signed a contract with the Drilling Company to drill and also made arrangements to purchase pipe and other m aterial. Treasurer

. - ■ :■ 6l W attron reported that $1,000 of the capital stock .had been sold.

^August 12, 1899.

^The Argus, September 7, 1901. Although it was doubtful that this rather dubious scheme for drilling artesian wells would succeed, the businessmen of Holbrook continued to try to find new sources of revenue for the town, as well as to aid in its steady growth.

As Holbrook grew as a business center, it also acquired new stature as a county seat. Navajo County was created from Apache

County in March 1895 on the last day of the Legislative session. W ill

C. Barnes, considered by many as the "Father of Navajo County," w r ite s :

Frank T. Aspinwall was councilman and myself and George Crosby of St. Johns the Assemblyme-n. Crosby of course was against me hard. And nearly had me beaten until the last Ihour of the very last day of the session when I managed by a parlia­ mentary move to brake [sic] his grip on the m ajority of the m e m b e r s . Many in Holbrook wanted to call it Colorado County but I was determined it should have an Indian name and stuck to Navajo spelled with a "J" at that for I despised the idea then prevalent of using the letter "H" for the Spanish J. ^2

The first Navajo County officials0 were: Sheriff and Assessor -

C. P. Owens; Treasurer - E. A. Sawyer; Recorder and Clerk of the

Board of Supervisors - F. W. Nelson; County School Superintendent 1-

F. M. Zuck; Probate Judge - Osmer D. Flake; -

W. M. Perrill; Justice of the Peace - Frank Wattron; Judge of Superior

^L etter from Will C. Barnes to Fred Schuster, dated February 4, 1934.

63 For names of later officials, see Appendix D. 146

Court - John J. Hawkins; and Board of Supervisors - J. H. Bowman,

J. H. Breed, and J. H.; W illis. An election was held on June 11 to determine whether the county seat would be located in Winslow or

Holbrook. The St. Johns Herald of June 20, 1895, shows that out of a total vote of six hundred nineteen, Holbrook was chosen by a m ajority of one hundred sixty-two votes.

Newspapers were not only the best source of political news, but they also presented a general picture of the town. The newspaper fatality in early Holbrook was a big one. The Holbrook Times, the town's first newspaper, had a short life beginning May 17, 1884.

However, the second paper, the Holbrook Press, may have been of even shorter duration. M rs. Dutton established the Press in 1885 but no issues have been located. The Phoenix Herald of March 20, 1885, commented "M rs. Dutton of the 'Holbrook Press' proves herself able to run her own office without the assistance of the officious lords of the town. "

One of the best newspapers {found in this period was The Apache

County Critic, established in 1886 with Frank Reed as editor. The

Holbrook Tribune said "It was a real live paper that stood for something.

It ran for about 18 months. The Apache County Critic beat its

^February 16, 1923. 147 editorial drums for a successful irrigation scheme. Improved farm lands, the paper surmised, would prosper the business community as a whobe. Another attempt in 1888 failed. A. F. Banta says "Colonel

Lament of The Albuquerque Journal came to Holbrook the summer of 65 1888 and started the Holbrook Standard; it lived but four to six weeks. "

, B anta^ himself edited the most successful newspaper of the era, if length of service is the major criteria. The Holbrook Argus, established as a Democratic weekly, December 12, 1895, was published

Letter from A. F. Banta to Will.C. Barnes, dated October 15, 1922, A.P,H.S.V - .

k^Banta -was editor until August 1, 1896. Albert Franklin Banta was born in W arrick County, Indiana, on December 18, 1843. As a child he moved with his parents to M issouri where he was raised in a log cabin. Banta had few opportunities at formal education. He stated that he "learned to set type a little in M issouri before coming West. What I do know, which of course is not much, has been gathered from observation and a voracious appetite for reading anything and every­ thing obtainable. " Hayden file, MS, A. P.H . S .. After living for a short time in Kansas, Banta went to Albuquerque in 1863 where he worked on a newspaper. Later the same year, he migrated to Arizona, arriving at Little Chino Valley in December 1863. Banta helped publish the first edition of the Arizona Miner on March 9, 1864. Banta was known in Arizona as a long time newspaper editor and publisher. However, he also worked as a printer, typesetter, bul- whacker, cowboy, scout, team ster, guide, express rider and bank cashier. He served as a printer and typesetter for the Rio Abajo Press (Albuquerque), Arizona Miner (Prescott), Arizona Sentinel (Yuma), and the Arizona Citizen (Tucson). Banta was also the editor, publisher and founder of the Arizona Pioneer (St. Johns), established 1882; The Holbrook Argus, established 1895; Pick and Drill (Prescott) established 1897; Weekly Douglas Dispatch, established 1902; and the Observer (St. Johns), established 1910. For many years in Arizona, Banta went by the name of Charles Albert Franklin. Because he first reported in northern 148

until 1913. ° ' At first several columns of the four-page paper were

printed in Spanish for the large Spanish-speaking population of

Navajo and Apache counties. However, the practice was discontinued

after several issues.

Arizona, it was for many years known as "Franklin’s Hole." Banta "boasted of having held more official positions by election and appointment than any other man in Arizona. " Estelle Lutrell, "The Arizona Frontier Press and Its Editors," MS, -A .P.H .S., p. 16. Banta, during his lifetim e, held the following positions: constable of Wickenburg (1869); Inspector of U. S. Customs in Tucson (1872); Constable of St. Johns (1776); Deputy Sheriff of Pim a County (1878); Justice of the Peace, Springerville Precinct (1878, 1879); first Post­ m aster of Springerville (1879-1880); D istrict Attorney of Apache County (1879-1880, 1889-1890); Census Enum erator for Apache County (1880); Notary Public, Apache County (1880-1892); Probate Judge, Apache County (1881-1882); Ex-officio County School Superintendent (1881-1882); Member of Twelfth Territorial Legislature from Apache County (1883); Deputy Sheriff of Apache County (1886); Deputy Treasurer of Apache County (1886); Justice of the Peace, Holbrook Precinct (1887-1888); First Lieutenant, Company K, (1891); Commanding Officer, Company K, Arizona National Guard (1892-1894); and Lieutenant Colonel of Cavalry on the staff of Governor Myron H. McCord (1897). On June 21, 1924, Banta died at the Arizona Pioneer’s Home in Prescott at the age of eighty. The Prescott Courier says of A. F. Banta: "Banta easily was the oldest printer in Arizona, and recognized by all as the dean of newspaper men of the state. " Prescott Courier, June 25, 1924.

'Other editors of the Holbrook Argus were: J. E. De Rosear, August 8-November 7, 1896; C. O. Anderson, November 10, 1896- April 28, 1900; H. A. Pease, May 5, 1900-January 1903; L. D. and J. H. Divelbess, February 7, 1903-1906; and Lloyd C. Henning, 1 9 0 7-1913.

L 149

From Holbrook's early days, schools took a prominent place in community life. The first reference to a public school in Holbrook is found in the St. Johns Herald of September 17, 1885, when the school opening on September 14 was announced. A Mr. German was the teacher.

The Prescott Weekly Courier reports "A good public school is kept running ten months each year, which speaks well for the people of

Holbrook. There are several very handsome dwellings in the town.

Take all in all, Holbrook is the best town in Apache County today, and its people are quite sanguine over its future greatness.

Holbrook's public school in 1886 was an adobe building, twenty- five by forty-five feet in size.

Miss Her stein has furnished us a copy of her (November) report (school) for publication in the Critic this week. We give it in another column. We see that there are twelve girls and fifteen boys in attendance, a total of twenty-seven children. In this we are disappointed; there ought to be twice that number under the tutelage of so capable a teacher as Miss Her stein. The parents who neglect to educate their children should be treated as criminals and have the little ones taken away from them. If any one wants it demonstrated how many more than twenty-seven children there are in town, who should go to school, start a dog fight, set to come off at some particular place any Saturday after­ noon, and clouds of witnesses will arrive that will astonish the most skeptical. There never has been, in this district, a more

February 5, 1886. 150

competent teacher than the present one and if the principles of learning are not thoroughly disseminated among the youth, and its benefits received by the children, it will be the fault of the parents and not of the teacher. ^

On March 31, 1887, Editor Reed of the Apache County Critic wrote that Holbrook had

A good . . . school-house . . . . well furnished a credit to older com m unities--in which a free school is taught at public expense from five to nine months in the year, is an item worthy the attention of parents, and the fact that the town Company has set apart an eligible site of five acres on which to build a select or advance school that is to be the nucleus of the future college of northern Arizona,, where the citizens of this and adjoining counties who will make their homes in the town, for the purpose of educating their children. Arrangements are already made which will secure an experienced teacher from the best colleges, as also a man of large means to establish such a school early this fall. The mild and genial climate.for the entire year and the exceeding healthfulness of the locality are such as to insure the success of the undertaking.

The earliest Holbrook school register on file in the office of the

Navajo County School Superintendent covers the period from September

4, 1893, to January 26, 1894. During this period, the teacher, Clara

F. M. Laughlin, had a total enrollment of forty-four students. One of

her students, Lloyd Henning, would later become very well known in

Northern Arizona. The August 7, 1925 edition of the Holbrook Tribune-

News quoted W. J. Hookway, a member of Holbrook School Board, as

69Apache County Critic, December 2, 1886. Estelle M. Herstein was born in Tennessee. In 1886, she m arried Frank J. Wattron, later Navajo County Sheriff. The couple had five children: Frank J ., Jr. , Robin, Enid, Marie, and Erma. 151 saying that "the daily average attendance for 1895 and 1896 was 31, and that the amount of money required to operate the Holbrook

school for that period was $627. 60. "

In the summer of 1898, the Holbrook school house was divided into a prim ary and an advanced grade. : C. O, Anderson, principal of the school, and editor of The Argus writes:

The public schools at Holbrook will open on Monday, September 26th. Two teachers have been employed for the term and a graded course of studies prescribed. The school house will be partitioned into two rooms and fitted up for a prim ary and advanced grade. In the prim ary grade special attention will be given to reading, writing, spelling, number work, etc., while in the advanced grade in addi- ■ tion to a thorough drill in the ordinary common school branches, a practical course has been arranged for these who desire to pursue advanced work. Special attention will be paid in this depart­ ment to the branches included in the teachers examinations in this territory. It is earnestly desired that pupils will be on hand when school begins so that all may be placed in their proper grades, and all may commence the work at the same time, remembering that a proper start is the foundation to a successful term ’s work. Parents are requested to cooperate with the teachers and trustees in securing and keeping up a full and regular attendance. Pupils from outside • districts, who wish to avail themselves of the courses taught he%^ have the privilege of so doing. No tuition will be charged them.

The average daily attendance in the Holbrook public school for

the week of October 31 to November 4, 1898, was sixty pupils. *71

^ The Argus, August 27, 1898. 71 Ibid. , November 5, 1898. This is an increase of ten over the previous year from November 29, 1897 to December 3, 1897, accord­ ing to the December 4, 1897. Argus . 152

Other factors besides schools added to the cultural life of Hol­

brook. On November 19, 1899, the Union Congregational Church was

organized with Rev. P. A. Simpkins as pastor. The trustees were:

F. M. Zuck, Allen Hill, W. B. Woods and Harry Carty; deaconesses

were Mrs. F. M. Zuck and Mrs. Woods;.organist, Mrs. M. M.

McCarty; clerk and secretary, Mrs. F. J. Wattron; treasurer, Mrs.

A. C. Barnes. ^ In the same year a literary society and a

team were organized in the town.

As 1901 drew to a close, Holbrook took on a new character. It

was less colorful, perhaps, but more mature. No longer would

Hashknife cowboys gallop down the streets shooting their sixguns.

No more would Holbrook be "known . . . as one of the most lawless

towns in the Southwest and [a town that] was frequented by the most 73 ' • notorious of lawless characters." By the end of 1901, Holbrook

had come of age.

The Argus of November 21, 1898, reported "it is the intention to build a church in the near future. " See also letter from Will C. Barnes to Fred Schuster, dated February 4, 1934. y 73Van Valkenburg, "Dinebikeyah," MS, A.P.H.S.."

k CHAPTER VI

THE SHERIFFS

Holbrook, during the 1880’s and 1890’s, developed into one of the toughest and most lawless towns in the country. According to one source, in a period of one year, twenty-six gun victims were planted in Holbrook's graveyard.. Shooting'brawls usually broke up dances and public gatherings and at least several times each week, drunken cowboys or badmen galloped their horses through town, firing their six-shooters, shattering store windows, and wounding bystanders who were too slow to take cover.

Not only was the town being ravaged by outlaws, but by 1886 this lawless element was also running wild in the surrounding countryside.

A bitter cattle-sheep war was in progress to the southeast of Holbrook; a small scale war, between the Graham and Tewksberry factions, was waging in Pleasant Valley in to the south of Holbrook; and a wholesale rustlers’campaign was in full swing on the cattle range near Holbrook. Many outlaws, chased out of Texas by the Rangers, came to the Holbrook area, and hired out to the Hashknife Outfit under an assumed name. 1

1Coolidge, Fighting Men of the W est, p. 121.

153 154

Possibly the most famous man in Holbrook’s colorful past was

Commodore Perry Owens, Navajo County sheriff and a principal of the town’s best-known gun battle. Owens' given name reflected his m other's love of history; he was born July 29, 1852, on the anniver- 2 sary of Commodore Perry's victory on Lake Erie. While Owens was still a young boy, his parents moved from their farm in eastern

Tennessee to Indiana. When he was only 13, he ran away from home.

He began working his way'west, on farm s in Indiana and on both farms 3 and ranches in Oklahoma and the . He spent some time at White Oaks, New Mexico. Contrary to popular belief, Owens 4 never lived or worked in Texas.

Owens said that "his mother was a great student of American history and an especial adm irer of the hero of Lake Erie. " Will C. Barnes, "Biography of Commodore Perry Owens," MS, A .P.H .S., p. 4. W illiam G. Rogers said that Owens turned twenty one while at his father's ranch in Oklahoma. Rogers wrote that "Owens was always a good-hearted boy, " and that hfe "liked him very much. " Rogers said that as a young boy he hunted with Owens, and always carried his game. Rogers also stated that "Owens had a fine reputation" and that "all the way through his life he was a brave man and was not afraid of any man on . "

Letter from Earle R. Forrest to Eleanor B. Sloan, dated August 14, 1957.

^Letter from M rs. Elizabeth Barrett Owens, wife of C. P. Owens, to Earle R. Forrest, dated January 10, 1937, A .P.H .S.. 155

Owens came to Arizona in 1881 and was hired as foreman by 5 John Walker at Navajo Springs in Apache County. During this period,

Owens held important positions with other large cattle companies, including the job of range foreman for the Gus Zeiger Outfit. In addition, hd was employed to guard cavalry horses at Navajo Springs where Indians threatened to steal the mounts. Owens quickly remedied the situation by killing so many Indians that the Navajos, who had repeatedly tried to shoot him, called him "the Iron Man" and actually believed he had a charmed life. The Indians also thought that Owens had supernatural powers, that he was not human, but a devil, and that it was impossible for a bullet to enter his body. There does not seem to be any record that Owens ever wore a bullet-proof vest or used any other kind of arm or but "he was never wounded and, as the Indians said, he had a charmed life. Owens is said to have killed as many as fifty Indians during his career. ?

Straw-yellow hair falling almost to his waist gave Owens a singular appearance. He was of average height (five feet ten inches)

^Richard Van Valkenburg, MS, A .P.H .S.. Dane Coolidge says that "Commodore Owens drifted in with the first stage line and became horse-herder at Navajo Springs Station." Fighting Men of the W est, p . 114.

^Letter from M rs. Elizabeth Barrett Owens to Earle R. Forrest, dated January 10, 1937.

7I b i d . 156

i -j

and had steel-grey eyes and a prominent high nose. He was extremely

sensitive about his hair as well as his two guns and any derogatory

remarks about either prompted a fight. However, since he was greatly

respected, no one who knew him made the mistake of making fun of his hair. ^ Owens usually wore his hair coiled and tucked under his

^Interview with Selso Montano, son of Seledon Montano, a good friend of Owens, Holbrook, July 1959.

^Lena Randell, et al. , The Daughters of the Utah Pioneers Organization, '‘Navajo County History," n. p. . 157 wide-brimmed hat, but sometimes when hunting Indians, he let it stream out behind as "a standing invitation to the Navajos to come and get it--if they could."

Many fabulous stores are told about the Commodore's shooting.

He wore twin forty-fives at his hips and carried two rifles in his saddle scabbards. He used an old single-shot Sharps with which he was said to be a dead shot at a mile and a W inchester repeater for closer work. As the Commodore, shot from the hip, he often got the drop on a man. For target practice, Owens "would alternate several targets on either side of a path, and then, with a pistol in either hand, lope down the path shooting those on his right side off with his right hand and those on the left, with his left. Barnes says that "it was quite a common trick on the range for someone to toss up a tomato can which Commodore would hit before it struck the ground and then, with 12 pistol shots, keep it rolling along until it was too badly torn to ro ll."

Owens is also said to have practiced when he was on a train by shooting out the window at fence posts. 13

The reason for Owens' longhair, according, to one story, was that he had killed a Navajo near Navajo Springs, and had been chased by the rest of the tribe of Indians. He left the area for awhile and when he returned, he had long hair so the Indians would not recognize him. Interview with Selso Montano, Holbrook, July 1959. Letter from M rs. George F. Kitt to Platt Cline, dated April 10, 1945.

l^Barnes, "Biography of Commodore Perry Owens," p. 6.

^L etter from Earle R. Forrest to Eleanor B. Sloan, dated August 14, 1957. 158

One story of his shooting prowess related that once when Owens was confronted by a band of Navajos,"he frightened them away by shooting a squirrel at a distance of about one mile off of a rock near the top of Kearns Canyon. Another time when the Indians "besieged him in the old stage station [at Navajo SpringJ, he stood off a hundred or more. For three days they kept after him; but every time an

Indian showed his head, the Commodore hit it. Finally, the

Indians gave up and withdrew.

As a result of these incidents, Owens quickly developed an out­ standing reputation for getting the ijob done. He was hired by a rail­ road contractor to stand guard over his herd of horses, which had been continually raided by thieves. When the outlaws rushed Owens in an attempt to stampede the herd, the Commodore killed two of them.

As the Pleasant Valley W ar threatened to involve the whole area and rustling was rampant, many persons felt the need of a "fighting sheriff" and Owens was nominated by a Winslow convention. The St.

Johns Herald quickly threw its editorial support to Owens. Although the editor, Barry Mathews, predicted little opposition, the balloting

^Interview with Selso Montano, Holbrook, July 1959.

^Coolidge, Fighting Men of the W est, p. 115. 159

was fairly close with Owens receiving 500 votes, to 409 for I. L»

H u b b ell. ^

The newly-elected sheriff of Navajo County was well liked.

The Argus in Holbrook described Owens as "a quiet, unassuming man,

strictly honorable and upright in his dealing with all men and is f immensely popular, and enjoys the respect and confidence of all who

know him. Another account gives a description of Owens as

follows: "All testify to the fact that he never drank, smoked, or

gambled and that he had a wonderful-respect for women. Any man who

made a rem ark in the presence of a lady which the Commodore con­

sidered unsuitable was then and there called upon to apologize; and he

was lucky if he was not whipped to boot. "18 Barnes writes that in

spite of Owen's "reputation, he was far from a poser and disliked

being considered a 'bad m an.' He did not seek notoriety or publicity,

although his record was such that it was difficult for him to avoid

attention everyw here." *1719

Minutes of the Board of Supervisors, Apache County, November 18, 1886.

17 Ju n e 19, 1897.

^Coolidge, Fighting Men of the W est, p. 113.

•Biography of Commodore Perry Owens, n p. 16. 160

Owens is best remembered in Arizona as the hero of Holbrook's famous gun battle. The other man who was to take such a leading 20 role in the "Blevins Fight" was Andy Cooper, Cooper*s real name was Blevins. He had changed his name when he came to Arizona because he was wanted by the law in Texas. Cooper had been suspected for some time as the leader of a gang of horse thieves operating in

Northern Arizona. However, on August 20, 1887, the editor of the

Apache County Critic, Frank Reed, wrote in his paper:

Considerable has been said of late by the press of Arizona, especially by the papers of Apache and Yavapai Counties, regard­ ing a gang of "rustlers" who are reported to be plying their vocation in Tonto Basin, and whose rendezvous is in the neighbor­ hood of Canon Creek, near the dividing line between the two counties. The leader of this gang of rustlers has been cited as one, Andy Cooper, who was classed as being a horse thief desperado of the most daring stamp, and the boldest man in his operations as had ever cursed the west. Accepting these state­ ments we have always looked upon this man Cooper as being of that class against whom indictments have been found or warrants of arrest sworn against; a fugitive from justice; one who was constantly upon the alert for his only fear, a surprise by the officers of the law . *

^B arnes says that "Cooper was said to be a son of M rs. Blevins by a former husband." "Biography of Commodore Owens," p. 5. Earle Forrest says that a descendant of John Blevins informed him that Andy Cooper was the son of Mort and Mary Blevins and a full brother to John, Charles, Hampton and Sam. Earle Forrest, Arizona's Dark and Bloody Ground (Caldwell, , 1950), p. 322. Forest describes Andy Cooper as a "short trigger man" and says that "he was a general all-around bad man, and the most dangerous of all the Graham fighters; a man to be feared; for added to his ability to draw quickly and shoot straight was a cruel nature that made him as deadly and treacherous a killer as ever set foot in old Arizona. " Ibid. , p. 37. Forrest also writes that "M rs. John Blevins said that die never knew a man more gentle around children or pets, and that he {Andy Cooper) had a very pleasing personality. " Ibid* 161

Last week Andy Cooper was in Holbrook and stopped in town two days, we noted his arrival emd cordial greeting by Sheriff Owens, ^ who assured him as well as the bystanders that he had no warrant for his arrest, and if there was one in existence, he was ignorant on the subject. ^ Considering that the sheriff is the officer to whom these m atters would be interested, we accept his statement as authoritative. It looks reasonable that if this man Cooper is guilty of the crim es charged that an indictment would have been found against him or papers for his arrest long since been issued; it would be a duty that the parties claiming to be injured not only owe to themselves but to the community at large. We are informed by M r. Cooper that of the existence of an organized band of "rustlers" in the section where he resides there is no doubt, but so far as his ranch being their headquarters and himself being associated with them, there is no truth in the statement. The Critic has no acquaintance , other than a brief interview, with M r. Cooper, but from the general surrounding circumstances, the non-action of those who claim to have pecuniarly suffered by the actions of this man, it is inclined to the conclusion that there is an Ethiopian lurking, somewhere, in the recess of the prem ises.

On September 1, 1887, Editor J. F. Wallace of the St. Johns

H erald took the Apache County C ritic to task by stating that; 2122

21 According to several sources, Commodore Owens and Andy Cooper were good friends and had stolen Navajo horses together. Inter­ view with M rs. Clara B. Lee and Clarence Lee, Holbrook, July 1959. Will C. Barnes says that "Owens and Andy Cooper had been very good range pals in the day " when Owens had been range foreman for Gus Zeiger. "Biography of Commodore Owens," p. 5. 22 ' ' Barnes says.that a grand jury meeting in St. Johns made, "at least two indictments against Andy Cooper for horse stealing and that there was also a special warrant issued by the court for his arrest specifically for the theft of some thirty or forty Navajo Indian ponies. "Biography of Commodore Perry Owens," p. 4. Barnes, however, gives no date for the issue of the warrants. The St. Johns Herald of September 11, 1887, says the w arrant was issued by the County Court of Apache, on March 26, 1886. 162

"M r. Cooper,11 the man whom the Critic steps out of the way to defend, we are informed, belongs to the family known in this ^ section by the name of Blevins. The father -- "Old Man Blevins" was recently found dead, and we are told owned 640 acres of as good land as can be found in Texas; on which he could have lived comfortably and made money. But such a life was not to his taste. He preferred one of excitement and adventure, so rented his farm , came to Arizona and organized this band of rustlers about which,so much has been said and written. He has six or seven sons, and all are "chips off the old block. " Andy Cooper, alias Blevins, however, appears to have taken the lead, and is more audacious than any of the others. From all we can learn this "M r. Cooper" has killed in pure wantonness--without cause or provocation--more than one Navajo Indian. This "Mr. Cooper" was seen by more than one reliable witness, driving along the public highway in broad daylight, from seventy-five to one hundred hedd of horses, he had stolen from the Navajos. From description this same "Mr. Cooper" is the man who sold the horses in Phoenix, that James Flake, and some others from about Snowflake, recovered a short time since. It was this same "M r. Cooper" tiiat told a gentleman of this county to wait for him for two or three weeks for the purpose of killing him. It is strongly suspected that a brother of this same "Mr. Cooper" is the m urderer of Samuel S. Shull, of Verde Valley, and a sheep herder, who was found dead some two or three months ago in Yavapai County. . Sheriff Owens may have stepped up to this "M r. Cooper" and greeting him cordially. May have assured "Mr. Cooper"and the bystanders that he had no w arrant for his arrest and if 1 the re was one in existence he was ignorant on the subject. " The records.

^"O ld Man" Blevins, as he was commonly called, first name was Mort. He disappeared from his ranch on and his fate was never known. Dane Coolidge is incorrect in describing the killing of "Old Man Blevins" and two of his sons at their ranch by Commodore Owens. Fighting Men of the W est, p. 126. After their father's disappearance, the Blevins boys moved their mother, called "Ma Blevins, ".a M rs. Gladden, and Eva Blevins, the wife of one of the boys, to Holbrook where they rented the small house where the fatal gun fight occurr ed on September 4, 1887. Hampton Blevins was the first white man to lose his life in the bloody Pleasant Valley W ar and the other brothers fought oh the side of the Graham faction. Charles Blevins was later killed in the W ar. Commodore Owens never had anything to do with the death of the father or his two sons as Coolidge describes. 163

however, tell a different story. We find that a warrant was issued for the arrest of this "M r. Cooper" from the Coxinty Court of Apache on the 26th day [of] March, 1886, and that Mr. Owens received the warrant from his predecessor in office, and sent it to Taylor for the purpose of having it served. How a newspaper can:.defend or apologize for such a man as this '?Mr. Cooper" is known to be, is more than we can make out. Our ideas of the objects and aims of all newspapers have been exactly the opposite. We have thought it their duty to decry and hold up to public concern, all thieves and m urderers.

Apparently pressure began to build up on Sheriff Owens to serve the warrant on Cooper. Barnes says that it was common knowledge

24 that Cooper was a frequent visitor at the Blevins home in Holbrook.

Barnes writes that:

Nobody for a minute doubted Owens personal bravery but the cowmen did wonder why those warrants were not served. The officers of the Stock Growers Association protested vigorously to the county supervisors at St. Johns about -the failure of the sheriff to get busy. It has always been my honest belief Owens hesitated to make the arrest because he felt sure that Cooper would fight and it would end in the death of one or possibly both of them. However, so many complaints about Owens1 lack of action reached the supervisors that they finally determined to call the sheriff before them and interrogate him on the subject of the unserved warrants. Naturally it was rather a ticklish proposition. Owens was inclined to be somewhat quick-tempered and while the members of the board felt they had a sworn duty to perform , none of them was eager to undertake the job. To their surprise and great relief, Owens took the m atter much easier than they had

^A ccording to one source,’ Commodore Owens knowing that he would have to carry out the law and arrest Andy Cooper if he was in town, supposedly said, "now Andy, when I am in town you stay out. " Interview with M rs. Clara B. Lee and Clarence Lee, Holbrook, J u ly 1959. 164

expected. He tried to explain why he had not served sooner on the warrants and promised he would act very soon. And so the m atter rested. ^

On September 4, 1887, Sheriff Owens rode into town to serve the warrant for Cooper’s arrest. Owens afterwards, said that he had

stopped outside Holbrook and "sitting on a little knoll that commanded

the village, worked out his plan of action. Someone ihad sent him word

26 that Cooper was in town. " The sheriff stopped at the drug store

owned by Frank W attron, the constable of Holbrook, and Owens’

deputy, and talked with W attron for a few minutes. W attron said

later that when Owens told him what he was going to do that he offered

to assist the sheriff either alone or with a posse. This the sheriff

refused. Owens said, "I don't want anyone hurt in this m atter. TheyWe

been telling all around the country that I was afraid to serve these

Cooper warrants, and a lot of other stuff. I'll show them that I'm not

afraid and take him single-handed or die a-trying. You just sit back 27 - ‘ ; and watch me do it, that's all I ask of you. "

Owens then mounted his horse and rode over to the livery stable.

The sheriff asked Sam Brown, the owner of the stable, where Cooper's *27

25i«Biography of Commodore Perry Owens," p. 5,.-

Z ^ Ib id ., p . 7.

27I b id . 165 horse was located and Brown stated that he was in the yard behind the stable. Owens then went into a small room that was used as an office, shut the door, and began to clean and oil his W inchester rifle. While

Owens was still in the room, John Blevins, Cooper's brother, came to the stable, led Cooper's horse to the street, and tied him to a cotton­ wood tree, in front of the Blevins home.

About 4 p. m. Owens came out of the stable and walked with his

W inchester in the band of his left arm to the Blevins place. He stepped on the and knocked at the door. The Apache County

Critic describes the fight as follows:

Several eye w itnesses^ to the shooting say that Sheriff Owens went to the house arm ed with a W inchester rifle and six-shooter; 28

28 The Blevins place was a drab little white fram e house on the north side of the railroad tracks. It was located about one hundred yards west of the post office. On the next lot to the east was the Arm- bruster blacksmith shop. Next door to the west was a stone house with walls sixteen inches thick. Still further west was a row of shacks and across the alley beyond was Brown and Kinder's livery stable. On the south side of the railroad tracks was located the main business of Holbrook in 1887. The Blevins house was an shaped house with a porch about two-thirds of the way across the front. From the porch two doors opened, one to the south and one to the east. The house contained four small rooms. In the house at the time were the Widow Blevins, M rs. John Blevins, Mrs. Gladden, a thirteen year old daughter, two little girls, ages seven and ten, two babies, Andy Cooper, John Blevins, Mdse B. Roberts, and Sam Blevins, a fifteen year old boy.

Z^Barnes says that the eye witnesses sitting on the depot platform watching the contest were Frank Wattron, A. F. Banta, W. H. Burbage, D. G. Harvey, himself, and one or two others. 166

knocked at the front door, whereupon Andy Cooper came to the door of the east front room, while John Blevins went to the door of the west front room. Cooper and Owens saluted. Owens said, "I have a warrant for you, and I want you to come along with me. " Cooper replied, "What warrant is it, Owens?" The sheriff answered, "The warrant for stealing horses. " Cooper seemed to think for a few moments and Owens said, "Are you ready?" and was answered by Cooper, "In a few minutes. " Owens said, "No! right away," then fired the ball from the W inchester, striking Cooper in the center of the abdomen, passing through the bowels and coming out near the spine; Cooper fell to the floor. That no injustice be done to the sheriff and in justification for shooting, we give Mr. Owens' statement in which he says Cooper refused to go and that he received in reply to his last request, the answer, "No, I won't go," coupled with a movement to raise his six shooter, which Cooper held in his right hand. Sheriff Owens then jumped back from the door, ^ (at the time he shot he was about three feet from Cooper and the door), throwing another cartridge into his gun, at the same time turning as he did, so as to face the door of the west front room, and fired the second shot, which passed through the right shoulder of John Blevins, thence through the door, striking the partition wall opposite. At this tim e, the sheriff retreated diagonally back to the corner of A rm bruster's blacksmith shop, in doing so, he observed Andy Cooper lying near to and under the east front window of the east room of the house. The sheriff, thinking Cooper was not yet dead, fired the third shot, the same going through the house below the said window, grazing Cooper's left arm . At the time of the shooting [pf3Cboper, Motse /sicj B. Roberts was sitting at a table in the southeast corner of east front room writing a letter. This table was opposite the door in which Cooper was standing when shot by Owens. On hearing the shot which killed Cooper, Roberts jumped up from the table and attempted to get away. He crossed the east front room (in which he was sitting when the first shot was fired) passing into a bedroom, adjoining the east front room--being the northeast corner room of the house.

^®At this point testimony seems to bear out that John Blevins shoved a six-shooter through the crack of the door and fired pointblank at the sheriff. The shot m issed Owens, but hit and killed Cooper's horse which was tied to the cottonwood tree in front of the house. 167

In this bedroom is a window facing the east, and about five feet from the northeast corner of the building. Roberts, in trying to make his escape, jumped out this bedroom window, six-shooter in hand, and as he turned the northeast corner Owens fired the fourth shot, which took effect in M. B. Roberts' left shoulder; the ball entering from behind, passing through his left lung, carrying away a part of left collar bone, and finally buried itself in a spoke of a wagon. Roberts passed on around corner of the house and re-entered at rear door into the kitchen, or rear north­ west corner room, where he fell in a heap, and lay weltering in a pool of his own blood. After shooting Roberts, Sheriff Owens began filling the magazine of his rifle from cartridges in his belt; this done he walked west from fifteen to twenty feet from corner of blacksmith shop, where he stood awaiting developments. At no time during the shooting was Sheriff Owens more than thirty-five feet from the house, while three shots (two by Owens and one from house) were fired at a three or four foot range. The sheriff had stood in his last position perhaps ten seconds, when Sam H. Blevins, (a youth of fifteen to sixteen years) rushed out, his mother after him, through the same door in which Andy Cooper was killed, with Cooper's six-shooter in his hand. The boy and his mother were about four feet from the door; seeing the sheriff, she screamed, grabbed hold of her son and rushed for the door, but too late to save the life of the foolish boy, as Owens' unerring rifle belched forth its fifth shot and the boy fell face downwards at his m other's feet, head and shoulders inside the door; the door through which he had stepped but a few moments before, but now a lifeless corpse--all within three minutes. After firing his fifth and last shot, Sheriff Owens coolly threw his rifle across his left arm (muzzle pointing away from the belligerous house) and calmly walked past, at a distance there from of twenty-five feet, going to Brown and Kinder's livery stable, where he had left his saddle horse. So soon as the firing ceased, several citizens went to the house, where a horrible sight met their gaze. Dead and wounded in every room, and blood over the floor, doors and walls. One little child, seven years of age, was literally bespattered with clots of human gore. The agonizing groans of the wounded, the death rattle of the dying, mingled with the hysterical scream s of the females made a sight that no one would care to see the second time. 168

All this is simply a chapter of Tonto Basin history, and no man as yet can foretell the end. ^

A total of six shots had been fired, five by Owens and one from the house. Sam H. Blevins was dead and Cooper, Roberts and John

Blevins were wounded. Cooper died about midnight the same day;

Roberts died several days later and John Blevins recovered in three or four weeks. The whole battle had occurred in a little less than five minutes.

Shown below is a diagram of the Blevins house and the location of the various participants in the battle.

N A Uvi*V " > E S T A 9 L I -oC -

}nitiin i t ) i n ) m w ; iiiiiiiiit)iiinin»t;tiH)iiiiiiiiiiiiiiir,iiiiiiiiii»nm8y ^ y c < BiiHiita

PLAT fO AM DLPOT t»T t»W -***oO* T AC C B• euv##* 0. MAMA euwiwt t - A e A S A T S TAt Blevins ~ Coojbev Bouse era* wuiwoeWfc ffff-A A. tWAtwlV ai Holbrook

AA A I N STREET < ------— STORES------^

PLAN OF TIIK IILKVINS-CXXJPF.R HOVSF., AS SKETCHED BY WILL C. IIARNI.S

L

Apaches and Longhorns, p. 142a. 31

31 Apache County Critic, September 10, 1887. Other prim ary accounts of the shooting can be found in the St, Johns Herald. September 169

Following the "Battle of the Blevins House, M a.controversy arose as to whether Owens had been justified in the killing of Cooper,

Newspaper editors quickly expressed their opinions. Editor Frank

Reed raised a cry against Owens but was "informed by the citizens of

Holbrook to 'cheese' his racket. "J A letter written from Holbrook to the St, Johns Herald states that "outside a few men, and very few at 33 that, Owens is supported by every man, woman and child in town."

Two opposite editorial views on the battle can be seen by the following statements: The editor of the Albuquerque Citizen reported that "after reading the account of the Holbrook killing, published in the Critic, in which Sheriff Owens killed two men and wounded a fourteen year old

8, 1887, the Coconino Sun (Flagstaff), September 10, 1887,and Will C. Barnes' "Biography of Commodore Owens." The various accounts of the shooting in general agree and differ only in minor details. The author has used the C ritic's account because it was written by an eye witness, A. F. Santa, soon after the battle. Banta says that he wrote the story that was printed in the Critic and that "Sheriff Commo­ dore Berry Owens read it and told the w riter it was correct in every particular." Letter from A. F. Banta to Will C. Barnes dated October 15, 1922. Although Barnes was also an eyewitness to the shooting, his account of the battle was apparently not written until many years later. For a secondary account of the shooting, see Nell M urbarger, "Battle of the Blevin's House, " Scenic Southwest, April 1949. For Owens' own account of the shooting, see Jo Jeffers, "Commodore Perry Owens," Arizona Highways, October I960.

32St. Johns Herald, September 8, 1887. 170 boy, the action of the sheriff does not show any bravery whatever. If the Critic report is correct, the sheriff killed a couple of men who 34 were not resisting arrest." Oh the other hand, the editor of the

St. Johns Herald felt that "too much credit cannot be given Sheriff

Owens in this lamentable affair. It required more than ordinary courage for a man to go single-handed and alone to a house where it was known there were four or five desperate men inside, and demand the surrender of one of them. And when one takes into consideration that the combatants were separated by only a few feet at the commence­ ment of the difficulty, it seems miraculous that Mr. Owens should

35 come out of it uninjured,11

Early the next morning, September 5, David G. Harvey, who was Justice of the Peace arid Postm aster, called together six well-known1 citizens of Holbrook to act as a coroner's jury. ° Will C. Barnes describes the\inquest as follows:

^Albuquerque Citizen, as quoted by the St. Johns Herald, Septem­ ber 22, 1887. 35 September 8, 1887.

"^The citizens were W illiam H. Burbage, of Adamson and Burbage Company; W. P. Vandewert, cowboy; G. W. Clemanette, section foreman for the Santa'iFe; E. J. Simpson, general manager of the Aztec Land and Cattle Company; Henry Kinsley, secretary of the Aztec; and Isaac T. Luce, butcher. Barnes says that "they were all men who could be depended upon to render a fair and honest verdict, without bias or prejudice." "Biography of Commodore Perry Owens," p. 12. 171

Commodore him self took the stand and testified to the fact that he was sheriff of Apache County, that he had no less than three warrants for Cooper's arrest. "When I first reached town," he told the jury, "Frank W attron warned me of Cooper's rem ark to him that very morning, that he would never surrender to any officer." Knowing Cooper as he did, he declared he could take no chances. Frank W attron, who was Owen's deputy for Holbrook, testified he had warned Commodore,of what Cooper had said that, morning in his -- W attron's -- drug store. "I'll never surrender to any officer," was W attron's sworn statement, "but if I live ^ 7 I'll go to St. Johns at the next term of the district court, surrender there and stand trial. I don't want any monkey business when I'm arrested. " Just what Cooper meant by "monkey business" W attron was unable to explain. D. G. Harvey, Justice of Peace, took the stand and testified that he was at the livery stable when Owens rode in and put up his horse. "I heard Owens ask Brown, the livery man, if Cooper was in town. " Brown, Harvey stated, answered that he was. Owens then said, "I am going to take him in. People have talked enough: about me being afraid to arrest men. There is a warrant right now, I expect, in the Holbrook post office here forwarded from Taylor by my order. " "I said to him ," Harvey testified, "Commodore, you don't need a warrant^S to arrest anybody you know has committed or is.about to commit a crim e." "Commodore then said," continued Harvey, "well, I've been shooting my pistol considerably today. I'll clean it and then arrest Cooper. " "While Commodore was cleaning his pistol, in another room with the door closed," Harvey testified, "Cooper's younger half-brother John, came into the stable, caught Cooper's horse, saddled him and led him out and up the street where the Blevins family lived and tied him to a cottonwood tree in front of it. " "When Commodore came out he asked me where Cooper's horse was. I told what had become ot it. Commodore then stepped into the granary, picked up his W inchester, looked to see if it was

^A pparently Cooper meant if he lived through the Pleasant Valley W a r. ' . -

3®McClintock also states that Owens did not have a w arrant in his possession for Cooper. History of Arizona, H, 115. 172

loaded. •Where does. Cooper live,' he asked me. I says,, 'just beyond the adobe house and next to the blacksmith shop.' Commo­ dore then walked away out of my sight.11 Dry-eyed and grim, the mother testified briefly to the effect that the. attack was unprovoked, that not a shot was fired from the house, that Houston Blevins, the dead boy, was her son and was fifteen years of age. ,; ■

There was considerable discussion before the jury and elsewhere as to the number of shots fired. • Some testified five, and others six.

A careful checkup, however, proved beyond doubt that six shots.were fired in,all; five by the sheriff and the one by young Blevins, which killed the horse.

The coroner's jury cleared Owens in the deaths of Cooper and

39 Houston Blevins. ? However, many persons say that the killing of

^9The official findings of the coroner's inquest held in the deaths of Houston Blevins and Cooper were published in the Apache County Critic on September 10, 1887, as follows: - Holbrook, Sept. 5, 1887 At a coroner's inquest held at this place, and on above date, on the body of one Houston Blevins, we the undersigned coroner's jury, find that the deceased, Houston Blevins, met his death from gun-shot wounds, by the hands of C. P. Owens, sheriff of Apache County, Arizona, and from evidence adduced, we, the jurors, find that the killing was entirely justifiable; the deceased offering armed resistance to the sheriff while in the lawful discharge of his duty, namely: attempt­ ing the arrest of one Andy Cooper. W. P. Vandervert I. T. Luce Henry Kinsley G. W. Chinneworth W. H. Burbage E. J. Simpson

Holbrook, September 6, 1887 We, the undersigned, coroner's jury, in the case of the inquest of the killing of Andy Cooper find that the deceased came to his death from the effects of a gun-shot wound; the gun being in the hands of Sheriff C. P. Owens, while in the official discharge of his duty. 173 young Blevins, practically in his m other's arm s, always weighed heavily on the sheriff's conscience.^ John Blevins was found guilty of assault with intent to m urder Owens. He was given a five-year sentence to the territorial prison at Yuma. However, he was pardoned by the governor before serving any of his sentence.

Probably as a result of the Blevins fight controversy, Owens did not seek re-election^ as Apache County sheriff in 1888. Instead he took a job with the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad as a guard for its passenger trains from Albuquerque to Seligman.

From testimony adduced we fully exonerate Sheriff Owens. Sam Brown W. P. Yaney J. Q. Adams on Henry Kinsley J. H. Wilson J. M. Higgins

^Interview with Selso Montano, Holbrook, July 1959.

^S t. Johns Herald, October 24, 1888. Barnes says that the governor's action "was approved by everyone conversant with the situation." "Biography of Commodore Perry Owens," p. 15. For additional information on John Blevins, see Chapter VII, p. 238-239.

^B arnes is incorrect when he states that Owens was defeated for a second term by a James Scott, a well-known sheepman of Show- low. "Biography of Commodore Perry Owens," p. 16. St. George Creaghe defeated Thomas Perez for sheriff of Apache County in November 1888. St. Johns Herald, November 21, 1888. James Scott was not elected sheriff of Apache County until 1894. 174

t .

i

4

\

Commodore Owens in early 1900's Arizona Highways, October I960, p. 7.

43 Later Owens was appointed the first sheriff of Navajo County and served from March 25, 1895 to December 31, 1896. During this period

Minutes of Board of Supervisors, Navajo County, March 25, 1895. Barnes is incorrect when he says, "several writers have stated that Owens was appointed by Governor Hughes as the first sheriff of the newly created Navajo County. The author, as a member of the legislature from Apache County, was the author of the bill which created 175 he also served as county assessor. About 1900 the Commodore moved to Seligman., where he opened a store or a saloon. ^ Soon after this

Owens met Elizabeth B arrett and the couple was m arried April 30,

1902. Owens was nearly fifty years of age, and his wife, twenty-three,

at the time of their m arriage. They had no children. J. H. McClintock

said that he saw Owens "in Seligman only a few months before he died.

He seemed like a fish out of water, and I think his decease mainly was 45 due to the fact that he didn't have a saloon to loaf in."

Navajo County with Frank T. Aspinwall, councilman from Apache County, named the new county offices. Commodore Owens was an applicant for the: s hie riff1, sc offi c e: but John T. Jones of Holbrook received the appoint­ ment in March 1895." "Biography of Commodore Owens," p. 16. There is no record of a John T. Jones holding any office in Navajo County. The Argus says that "when Navajo County was created he fiDwensQ was appointed sheriff without any solicitation on his part whatever. " June 19, 1897.

44 In a letter from Earl R. Forrest to Eleanor B. Sloan, dated August 14, 1957, Forrest wrote that M rs. Owens said Commodore Owens "opened a store about 1900 or a year or two earlier." Forrest in his book, Arizona's Dark and Bloody Ground, says that Owens was in the mercantile business, p. 136. Barnes writes that Owens opened up a regular old-time saloon in which he amassed considerable wealth. In this he followed the plans of most cowpunchers of those days, either a livery stable or a saloon. "Biography of Commodore Perry Owens," p. 16. In a letter from J. H. McClintock to Will C. Barnes, dated March 17, 1932, McClintock writes that he believed that Owens "had been keeping a drinking place until state prohibition shut him out. "

Letter from J. H. McClintock to Will C. Barnes, dated March 17, 1932. 176

The memory of the Blevins fight probably haunted Owens to his grave. • Owens is said to have seen the ghosts of the men he killed three days before he died of paresis of the brain at the age of sixty-six in

Seligman on May 10, 1919. However, he realized that they were m erely apparitions. ^ People in Arizona would long.remember Commodore

Perry Owens as the man whose "coolness and determination . . . made

47 him a terror to the crim inal element in the Southwest. "

Owens left an estate of ten thousand dollars,but even m ore, he left the town of Holbrook a colorful heritage. His record stands as a great landmark of law enforcement in the Arizona Territory, yet because Commodore Owens did not seek notoriety or publicity, few books on Arizona history have mentioneddhis fearless sheriff whose deeds were far more outstanding than those who were more outspoken and had more publicity.

Apparently, Holbrook attracted colorful figures to the office of

sheriff and one of the most unique was Frank J. W attron. He was born

February 15, ,1861, in Gasconade County, M issouri. After the death

of his parents, W attron was placed in the custody of an uncle. When he was eleven he moved with the uncle to Kansas where he later received

some training for the priesthood. . Falling out with his guardian, W attron

/^Interview with Selso Montanp,Holbrook, July 1959.

^T he Argus, June 19, 1897. 177 ran away from home at the age of sixteen. 48 For the next six years, he wandered throughout the Southwest, living for a time in Colorado,

New Mexico and Mexico, before settling in Mohave County, Arizona, in 1883. Shortly after in 1884, he moved to Holbrook where he opened a drug store in partnership with Dr. Robins on. Apache County Sheriff

Owens took on W attron as a deputy sheriff. ^ Commenting on Wattron*s

ability as a law officer, one newspaper reported that since W attron1 s

arrival at Holbrook "he has been a potent factor in preserving law and

order. In the turbulent times of the 'SO*s when the criminal element

ran riot in this section, no man was so desperate but what he obeyed 50 the commands of Mr. W attron."

W attron m arried the local school teacher. Miss Estelle M.

Herstein, in 1886. They had five children: Frank J. , J r., Robin,

Enid, Marie and Erm a. . W attron once held seven official positions at

the same tim e, including justice of the peace, deputy sheriff, notary *7

48 The Argus on June 19, 1897, described the situation by saying that "the rather harsh treatm ent put upon him by his parental friend, proved uncongenial to the sensitive and independent spirit of the lad, and he determined singly, to face the stern realities of life, and to roam o'er the wide world alone."

49 7An article in the March 31, 1887 edition of Apache County Critic stated that "Deputy Sheriff W attron has received a letter from Sheriff Owens stating that he could not afford to pay $25 per month for a deputy at Holbrook. Wattron takes off his badge and the shooters will hold a jubilee unless a vigilance committee calls a halt."

50 The Argus, June 19, 1897. 178 public, deputy clerk of court, deputy recorder, court commissioner and school trustee. In November 1896 he became the first elected sheriff and assessor of Navajo County, defeating John T. Jones, Hash- knife manager, by seven votes. ^ *

Frank J. Wattron (Courtesy of Lloyd C. Henning, Holbrook)

^Ijohn T. Jones had had so much trouble with rustlers that he decided to run for sheriff himself. Coolidge says that the ’'ringleader of the rustlers. Bill Young fa renegade Mormonj, had defied the courts to convict him. But during the electioneering. Young slapped Jones 179 CO This "beau, ideal sheriff" was a tall, dark, handsome man with

a black mustache who smoked long black cigars; carried a sawed-off

double-barrelled under his long frock coat, operated a saloon in the rear of his drug store, swore "artistic, strange and terrible

oaths,w as a professional gambler, took laudanum ^ to stop the

pain from which he suffered and "had earned the reputation of being a

C C bad man to cross."

with his hat and called him such im gentle manly names that he was required by W estern standards to fight. Jones declined to do that and was defeated." pp. 248-249.

^ The Argus, June 19, 1897.

^P latt Cline, "One Who Was Hanged," Scenic Southwest, April 1947, p. 4. . Platt Cline was the editor of the Holbrook Tribune-News from 1938 to 1946. Since 1946 he has served as editor of the Coconino Sun (Flagstaff).

Laudanum is a tincture of opium. This w riter was unable to discover what caused the pain from which W attron suffered. In 1901, the April 13 issue of The Argus reported that Frank W attr on had been treated by a doctor for a stick in his back. Platt Cline writes that W attr on took laudanum for sleeplessness. Will C. Barnes says that W attr on took "some drug which he is said to have taken to stop pain, from which he was a great sufferer." Letter from Will C. Barnes, Phoenix, to Fred Schuster, Holbrook, February 4, 1934. A.P.H.S..

55Cline, "One Who Was Hanged," p. 4. 180

Barnes writes:

Sheriff W attron was an odd character. He was at one moment the most blustering, grim, saturnine, sarcastic human imagin­ able. The next he was the kindest-hearted, softest spoken,. most generous man alive. He was.. . . tall and gaunt -- . . . over six feet tall and as thin as a rail -- garbed in a black long­ tailed frock coat bearing a large Sheriff's badge of silver on its left side, black trousers, vest, flowing tie and broad black planter's hat. . . . This costume he always wore, whether while m arrying some young couple, or trying some bold bad man for shooting up the town of Holbrook. 57 Judge Sloan describes Wattron as a druggist who "possessed a perverted sense of humor. He . . . served his community as its only

apothecary and also as its,".justice of the peace, an office he adm inistered

with little regard to judicial formality. The Judge tells the

following story about W attron:

, One day a train carrying a lot of Negro soldiers stopped at Holbrook. While the train was at the station, one of the soldiers was arrested by the local constable for fighting, and at once was taken across the road to W attron's place. The justice was at the time busy putting up a prescription. .Without stopping his work, W attron asked, "What's the charge?" "Disturbing the peace," said the constable. "Are you guilty?" inquired Frank, as he

^B arnes, "Official Am enities," MS, pp. 477 and 482.

^7Throughout this period ads appeared in The Argus advertising the many products that were sold by Frank J. Wattron in Pis drug store. A typical ad read: "Gun shot wounds and powder burns, cuts, bruises, sprains, wounds from rusty nails, insect stings and ivy poisoning, quickly healed by DeWitt's Witch Hazel Salve, positively prevents blood poisoning. 'DeWitt*^ is safe and sure." Address, F. J. Wattron, The Argus, July 8, 1899.

S^Sloan, Memories of an Arizona Judge, p. 186. For a biographical sketch of Judge Sloan see Chapter VII. 181

continued with Ms work, but glancing at the prisoner. "I reckon I is," was the reply. "Got any money?" asked Frank. "I've got about twenty dollars," said the defendant. "Then give it to the constable and get the hell out of here; your train's starting," was the order of the court. When the command was executed and the Negro had made Ms train after a speedy run, Franl^, Iwho had fimshed Ms work beMnd Ms counter, got down Ms court record to docket the case. After picking up Ms pen, he paused a moment, and then said to the constable, "Ben, what was the name of the defendant?" "Dam-fino, " said Ben. "All right," said Frank, and : "Territory of Arizona vs. Damfino,

Dane Coolidge tells another story about W attron. A man named

Jackson announced to the patrons of the Bucket of Blood Saloon that he would kill W attron. About that time, W attron came in the back door and ordered Jackson at gunpoint to drop Ms gun. Jackson did and

W attron began to curse Mm. The lawman said that he was justified in killing Jackson because Jackson had threatened Ms life. Then W attron ordered Jackson outside, drew a circle and ordered Mm to stand there.

Coolidge says that "for nearly an hour he cursed Mm without ever repeating Mmself. Then he stopped and said, 'Jackson, do you know what I think of you? You're a cowardly, yellow dog. * He broke

open Ms shotgun and showed Mm both barrels--em pty! 'Get out of town,' he ended and booted Mm down the street. "

On another occasion, Coolidge says, W attron met Ms match.

A cowboy named Haskins stared down the barrel of W attron's sawed-off

5 9 lb id ., p p . 186-187 182 shotgun and refused to put up his hands. Coolidge quotes Haskins as saying, "Go ahead and shoot; I'll give up my gun to no man. " Rather than kill Haskins, W attron gave him 30m inutes to put up his gun and

W attron then left. Next day W attron complained to Sheriff Owens,

"They're getting too hard for m e--I've got to have another man. I want a good, nervy deputy. " Owens told him to pick one. Coolidge goes on to say that W attron immediately hired Haskins as his deputy.

Nevertheless, the best known story about W attron and the one that is still talked about in Holbrook, concerns his "Invitation to a

Hanging. " On December 1, 1899, Sheriff W attron sent out invitations printed on white paneled cards, enclosed in white envelopes. The cards were addressed in old fashioned, swirling writing that is usually associated with weddings, to leading citizens of Holbrook. The invitations read as follows;

• M r. ■ - ______

You are hereby cordially invited to attend the hanging of one:

GEORGE SMILEY MURDERER

60Coolidge, Fighting Men of the W est, pp. 122 and 127-129. . Accord ing to Coolidge as Haskins was a natural born fighter, he made a good deputy. He later quit and drifted south to a gambling hall on the Mexican line where he got into a fight with some Mexicans. He killed all five with only five shots. The Mexicans, however, received their revenge the next day when a big Mexican came into the saloon where Haskins was playing cards and shot and killed him before he could draw. Ibid., p . 129. 183

His soul will be swung into eternity on December 8, 1899, at two o'clock p.m . sharp. The latest im proved methods in the art of scientific strangula­ tion will be employed and everything possible will be done to make the surroundings cheerful and the execution a success.

Sheriff ' - F. J. Wattron Navajo County, A. T. *

The invitation was a result of W attron's weird sense of humor in carrying out Arizona law. The Arizona penal code stated that a sheriff was to issue invitations to executions in order that witnesses would be present. It did not prescribe any form to be used, however. Wattron went to C. O. Anderson, publisher of the Holbrook Argus with a copy of his invitation and asked Anderson to have fifty copies of it printed on fitting cards. Anderson felt that his equipment was not suitable for a fancy job and sent it to a printer in Albuquerque. On December 9, 1899,

Anderson printed a copy, of the invitation in his paper and stated that

"there is a grim humor in this rather remarkably worded invitation.

We have no doubt but the sheriff will do well his unpleasant task

62 . connected with that occasion. . Whether Smiley joins in the invitation

^W attron file, A.P.-H.S.v For a copy of the original invitation, see Appendix H. . 62 - Smiley had shot and killed Thomas K. McSweeney, a section foreman for the railroad, in Winslow. . George Smiley, was born in Ohio in about 1863.' At the age of twenty, he drifted to Montana where he claimed to have a brother, Gordon. He was about five feet eight inches in height, strong and m uscular, had light hair and blue eyes, 184 in the same spirit remains to be seen. His past conduct has been characterized by a remarkable coolness, ^ and as the time for execution approaches, he is Hosing none of his nerve. He may con­ clude to assist the sheriff in making 'the surroundings cheerful and the execution a success.

Notoriety quickly developed when a newspaper reporter in Albu­ querque wrote a story about the invitation for his paper. The Associated

and weighed about 180 pounds. The Argus describes his crime as follows: "He (Smiley] was employed as a section hand west of Winslow and having some trouble with the section foreman quit his job. A few days previous to this there had been a change in section foreman, the last foreman in making out Smiley's tim e made it out for one day less than Smiley claimed he had worked. The foreman explained to him that he had made out the time according to the time book of the form er foreman, and he could not remedy the m atter until it was laid before the roadm aster. Smiley went to Winslow to get the m atter fixed up, but was unsuccessful. Shortly after McSweeney arrived bringing with him his wife, who was almost blind, and three small children. He was taking his wife to a specialist in Santa Fe, New Mexico, to be treated. Smiley met him and after an angry conversation in which several blows were exchanged, McSweeney attempted to escape by running, Smiley, shooting him in the back, inflicting a wound from which McSweeney died the next day in the hospital at Albuquerque. " January 13, 1900. See also April 1, 1899. The people of Albuquerque raised some money for ; Mrs. McSweeney so that she was able to return to her relations in Texas.

63 Smiley had been sentenced to death by Judge Sloan on October 14, 1899. The Argus:, reported "the prisoner received it with the same indifference which has characterized his past conduct." October 14, 1899. ■

The Argus, December 9> 1899. 185

Press picked up the story and it was printed in the newspapers in the

United States and its possessions, Canada, Mexico and South America.

Within a week the story of the "shocking invitation" was carried by

London, Berlin and Paris newspapers, and "they commented upon the brutality of one of the Governors in one of the American provinces.

Many American readers (especially m inisters) were shocked and wired, phoned and wrote to the President of the United States. The

President allegedly called his cabinet to discuss the incident. He told them that the Territory of Arizona was in trouble again and must be

censured. As a resultuof the conference. President W illiam McKinley wired a rebuke to Arizona’s Territorial governor, N. O. Murphy, and told him to take care of the m atter. Governor Murphy immediately wired Sheriff W attron on December 9, 1899, and ordered a thirty-day

stay of execution. W attr on had weathered the outraged newspaper stories t ' but he resented being rebuked by the governor. W attr on remarked to

Anderson, "Well, I got a hell of a lot of notoriety out of it, anyway. "

Anderson defended W attr on in an editorial written on December

16, 1899. He stated that W attr on had intended the invitation as a joke *3

/ C 3Letter from C. O. Anderson to Mrs. George F, Kitt, dated March 29, 1934, A .P.H .S..

66Ib id . 186 for only a few intimate friends and brother sheriffs and that it was the perfidy of the Albuquerque printer that it fell into strange hands.

Anderson writes that:

Every man, woman and child throughout the confines of this country are acquainted with the generosity, tenderheartedness and unquestionable integrity of Sheriff W attron. His official career has been unsurpassed in this section. As an officer, he is absolutely without a peer in the West. Firm and fearless, yet kind and absolutely honest, he enjoys the respect of friends and foe. Higher officials in Arizona, with few exceptions, might copy a number of things from the conduct of the sheriff's office of Navajo County with profit. If every public office in this territory has been so efficiently and honestly conducted as the sheriff's office of Navajo County during W attron's administration, when their official history shall be written, there will be no thievery to record, and no official dishonesty or incompetency to smooth over and excuse. ^

As a result, Sheriff W attron resented the publicity and especially the calling down from the governor. He was determined to have the last word and composed a second invitation. This one was also printed on formal, paneled cards, but W attron did not mail them until the day of the hanging (the governor's reprieve had run out). The invitation was bordered in black and was enclosed in a matching black bordered envelope. The invitation read as follows:

^The Argus, December 16, 1899. 187

Revised statutes of Arizona, Penal Code, Title X, Section 1849, Page 807, makes it obligatory on Sheriff to issue invitations to execu­ tions, form (unfortunately) not prescribed...... Holbrook, Arizona January 7, 1900 M r. ______: With feeling of PROFOUND SORROW AND REGRET, I hereby invite you to attend and witness the PRIVATE DECENT AND HUMANE execution of a human being: N am e: George Smiley Crime: Murder The said George Smiley will be executed on January 8, 1900 at 2 o 'c lo c k , p .m . . You are expected to deport.your self in a respectful manner, and any "flippant" or "unseemly" language or conduct on your part will not be allowed. Conduct, on anyone's part, bordering on ribaldry and tending to m ar the solemnity of the occasion will not be tolerated. F. J. Wattron S h e riff Navajo County N ote: I would suggest that a committee, consisting of Governor Murphy, Editors Dunbar, Randolph and Hull, wait on our next Legislature and have a form of invitation to executions embodied in our laws. ^

About a dozen persons witnessed the Smiley execution, January 8,

1900. It was the first legal execution performed in Navajo County.

During the next few years W attron continued to serve Navajo

County as well as run his drug store. His official positions included justice of the peace, January 1, 1901-December 31, 1904; probate &

& & Wattron file, A .F .H .S .. See Appendix H for a copy of invita tio n .

69in the April 13, 1901 issue of The Argus, W attron had adver­ tised that his business established in 1885 was for sale. 188 judge and clerk of the probate court and county school superintendent,

January 1, 1902-December 31, 1904. In November 1904, W attron was elected county treasurer. At the age of forty-four, Wattron died

August 2, 1905, of an overdose of laudanum. The coroner's jury returned a verdict of accidental death. Just before he died, W attron reportedly said, "Well, boys, I have a ticket punched straight to

Hell, with no stop-overs."’^

Upon W attron's death, the Holbrook Argus of August 25, 1905, commented, "His heart was as free as his hand and the numberless good acts of charity perform ed by him redound to his honest liberal character. Rugged, ultra intelligent, capable, earnest and kind, he shone as a jewel among us. " The newspaper went on to say, "Through the many offices that he held and so capably filled, he posed the soul of courtesy and honest capable endeavor . . . . We may m iss the *1

70 The editor of the Argus on October 1, 1904, remarked that W attron "is a man that makes good on any promise given, and his policy is 'Hew to the line, let the chips fall where they may. '" 71 1 Platt Cline says that W. B. Cross, a form er custodian of the Navajo County Courthouse, was present at W attron's death and that earlier in the day. Cross and other close friends walked W attron back and forth for hours in an attempt to work off the effects of the overdose of opium. Cline, "The 'Cordial' Invitation," Scenic Southwest, May 1947, p. 22.

72Ibid. 189

kind word, the honest bluff handclasp and friendly greeting that were

part and parcel of the man but the recollections of him and his

character are stamped indelibly in our being and not to be effaced

or modified by time. "

Anderson, Wattron*s long time friend, expressed in words what

Holbrook thought about Frank Wattron. Anderson writes:

\ . J. w A t I MUM I MDHUGti bt NOTIONS ##

F. J. Wattron Drug Store: Frank Wattron in serape and Joe Woods with rifle. (Courtesy of Lloyd C. Henning, Holbrook)

There were two outstanding characters in that place, which, when removed by death, could not, nor will not ever be replaced. It was F. J. Wattron, druggist with a bar in the rear of his drug store, and 190

M rs. Boyer, 73 who conducted a rooming house in the town. Watron [si<3 was a man of some education, tall and commanding with fiery black eyes, and dark hair. He was not afraid of anything. Yet he was kindness itself, sympathetic to a fault. Sickenes (sicl misfortune, or suffering to anyone, friend, stranger or foe brought out his wonderful qualities. He was always there to assuage it. His generosity was unlimited. Many stories could be told: of his wonderful magnaimity but space forbids it . . . . When she /Ivlrs. BoyerJ and W attron died, which were not far apart, the whole community agreed that those two outstanding characters could never be duplicated, nor supplied to Holbrook for future generations. And their verdict was correct. ^

Joseph Peterson, later Navajo County School Superintendent, recalled a statement W attron made to a convention of teachers when

Wattron was county school superintendent. It was, "On time should be written over the door of every school house in the land.11 Afterwards,

Peterson said, "every teacher in the county knew that he was expected to meet appointments 'on tim e' whether these appointments were calls to conventions or school reports Mr. W attron expected and demanded prompt attention.

Lloyd C. Henning, in an eulogy to W attron, also quotes Peterson as say in g :

To me there were two Wattrons: Frank J. Wattron, the business man, and Frank Wattron, the frontiersman .... In casual action *

^ F o r additional information on M rs. Boyer, see Chapter VII, p.217.

74C. O. Anderson, MS, A. P.H .S. .

T^Lloyd C. Henning, "Sheriff, Scholar and Gentleman - Frank J. W attron," unpublished monograph, A .P.H .S.'.' 191

and conversation he was rude if not profane; in duty he was strictly business . . . If he was stern, he was also kind and generous , . . He delighted in displaying the W estern character if he thought it would serve his purpose; on the other hand. He demanded prompt attention to duty from his associates. ^

For years, Holbrook citizens would remember the strange, moody sheriff who had done so much for the town and had brought it brief international fame with his invitation to a hanging.

Although the stories of Owens and W attron, the "Battle of Blevins

House," and the "Cordial Invitation," will long be told to tourists, there are many other incidents which play roles in Holbrook's picturesque heritage. These stories will form the substance of the following chapter.

"Ibid. CHAPTER VII

HOLBROOK'S COLORFUL CHARACTERS (1881-1901)

Besides the sheriffs described in the last chapter, Holbrook could boast another half dozen colorful characters. The town's legendary heritage was enriched by a robber who wrote poetry to his pursuers and a Hashknife foreman who thought killings were unnecessary and yet managed to round up seven cattle thieves. The writings of a trio of Holbrook men bring the era into sharp focus, making the w riters no less important than the lawmen and desperados they describe.

Holbrook's most famous (or infamous) badman was W. R.

McNeil, whom Platt Cline called the "Pistol Packing Poet. "1 McNeil's best-known exploit involved a $200 robbery of the Schuster Brothers

Store May 30, 1888. The Apache Review said that Adolf was in the store alone about 11 o'clock when a man entered and white Schuster searched an upper shelf for an article the man requested, the customer drew a gun and ordered him to open the safe. As the gunman started

^Scenic Southwest, July 1947, p. 3. The St. Johns Apache Review refers .to McNeil in its June 13, 1888 edition as the "m arauder nf rp any hcdr-bceadth escapes." The June 6, 1888 edition calls him "that daring desperado." This w riter found no other reference to a flamboyant name.

192 193 to leave with the lobt of cash and checks, Ben Schuster appeared with

a shotgun. But he could: hot fire because Adolf was between him and the robber. As the man ran away, he fired at the Schusters. Ben

Schuster took a shot at the robber but missed. The Schusters said '

the robber was not disguised and they thought it was McNeil, "the 2 horse thief, who is badly wanted both here and in New M exico."

Little is known of McNeil. Most sources agree that he was a

red-haired cowboy who worked for the Hashknife Cattle Company. A

good friend of M cNeil's. Bill Lee, said that McNeil told him he had been educated for the Catholic priesthood* Cline writes that McNeil

"was known in Flagstaff, Holbrook and Winslow as a worthless,

harum -scarum youngster with an aversion for work and an affinity for

barroom s. Barroom rumor said he came from a good family in the 2*

2June 6, 1888.

^Lee also said that McNeil had a beautiful stud brown horse with a white star on its forehead. Interview with M rs. Clara B. Lee, wife, and with Clarence Lee, son of Bill Lee, July 1959. Clarence Lee was born in Winslow in 1899. He spent most of his early life around cattle ranches. During World War II he served as a recruiter for the War Manpower Commission, obtaining men from the Hopi and Navajo Indian Reservations to work for the government. Clarence Lee operated a trading post in Holbrook and was chairman of the Selective Service Board. Mrs. Clara B. Lee still resides in Holbrook where she is affectionately known by everyone as "Grandma Lee. "This w riter is indebted to them for much information on early Holbrook. M rs. Clara B. Lee writes that McNeil was a very clever train robber and that he traded a fine stallion (that he had stolen) to Bill Lee for saddle horses. Letter from M rs. Clara B. Lee to this w riter, dated July 23, 1962. 194

East, that he had attended some big', university -- maybe Harvard of

Yale *- and that he was a 'rem ittance1 man, a common type in the

4 days of Arizona's youth." ,

Immediately following the robbery the Schuster Brothers aroused

Holbrook, and a posse was organized to chase the bandit or bandits responsible for the robbery. As the posse headed south across the

Little Colorado at daybreak, they found a poem by McNeil "tacked to the tree with a sharpened twig. "■* The poem read:

I am king of the outlaws I am perfection at robbing a store I have a stake .left me by And before long, I will have more.

They are my kind friends, the Schusters, For whom I carry so much lead In the future to kill this young rooster They will have to aim at his head.

Commodore Owens says he would like to kill me To me that sounds like chaff 'Tis strange he would thus try to kill me ■ , The red headed son-of-a-gun.

He handles the six shooter mighty neat And kills a jack-rabbit every pop But should he and I happen to meet There will be a regular old Arkansas hop. ^ *5

^Cline; "Pistol Packing Poet," p. 3.

5 Ibid_.

&As quoted in a letter from E. S. Clark, Phoenix attorney, to A. Schuster dated April 22, 1924. Copy of the letter sent to this w riter by Miss Helen Schuster, daughter of Adolf Schuster, dated August 13, 1961. 195

The posse failed to located McNeil and rode back into Holbrook the same day. Adolf Schuster filed charges against McNeil the next day, ^ but McNeil never was arrested for the Schuster robbery. Accord­ ing to Cline, "hews of further holdups by the smiling young bandit drifted back to Holbrook from time to tim e, but the youthful redhead always slipped through the law's fingers, and always left, or mailed back his rh y m es. *

An exact copy of the original w arrant has been framed and still hangs on the wall in the m anager's office of the present Schuster store in Holbrook. It reads as follows: In the Justice Court of Holbrook Precinct, County of Apache, Territory of Arizona. The Territory of Arizona, vs. Complaint . . . . M cN eil Adolph Schuster, being duly sworn, says: That on the 30th day of May, 1888, between the hours of 10 and 11 o'clock p. m ., of said day, in said county .... McNeil did, with great force and violence, unlawfully and feloniously, and against the will of the affiant, at the store of A. and B. Schuster, take from affiant certain goods and certain bank checks to the amount of $200. 00, the property of affiant, and with the intent to appropriate the same to his, the said .... McNeil's use, against the peace and dignity of the Territory of Arizona. Adolph Schuster Subscribed and sworn to before me, this 1st day of June, 1888. Albert F. Banta Justice of the Peace Holbrook Precinct The August 15, 1888 edition of The Apache Review in St. Johns stated that a reward of $1000 had been posted for McNeil, "alias W allace, alias King. "

8Cline, "Pistol Packin' Poet," p. 22. See also letter from Will C. Barnes to Fred Schuster dated February 4, 1934, A .P.H .S.. 196

Another story relates that Sheriff Commodore Owens was seeking

McNeil in the country between Holbrook and the New Mexico border,

and came up on a group of cowboys camped for the night. He asked if anyone had heard of a man named McNeil. None had, and Owens

asked to stay all night with them. One young fellow offered to share his bed roll with Owens. The sheriff awoke at dawn to find his

companions gone. However, there was a note pinned to the bed roll

from McNeil stating that he was an early riser, and "did not have 9 time to wait for Owens to get up in the morning. As a final insult,

he left the sheriff the following poem:

"Pardon me, sheriff I'm in a hurry; You'll never catch me. But don't you worry.

The poem was signed, "Red McNeil." McNeil was gone several

hours ahead of the furious Owens !

Cline relates that several weeks later Sheriff John Francis

of Coconino County and a posse were out looking for McNeil oh another

charge. Suddenly he came upon the outlaw at Clear Creek. McNeil

was on one side of the rain-swollen creek while the posse was on the

other. There was a loud crack from a high-powered rifle and a 9

9Cline, "Pistol Packin' Poet," p. 23.

Tbid. 197 bullet hit the sheriff's horse from across the creek. It was quickly followed by another shot which knocked off the hat of a man named

Jacoby, one of the members of the posse, apparently known to McNeil.

The posse quickly took cover behind rocks, but it soon became apparent

that the posse, and McNeil, hidden in the rocks across the creek,

were at a standoff. Several minutes later, McNeil yelled across,

"Hello, John. Guess you don't get me this time. I don't want to kill

anyone. If you will call it. off, you will never see me in your part of 11 the country agai n. " Knowing that the frontier badman had a strange

code of fethics, Francis walked out in plain sight of McNeil and yelled,

"All right, McNeil, it's a go. No shooting in the back. McNeil

quickly took off into the brush. Several days later, however, Sheriff

Francis received a poem in the mail from Utah. It read:

Here, where Clear Creek deeply flows From the melted mass of Mogollon snows. Here I lived and faint would roam O'er the county that I, for years, called home: Hunted continually, like some wild beast. Until I reached my ranch I knew no peace. ,

While strolling on the canyon side Three men on the opposite side, I spied. They were officers bold, brave men Who dreamed of the danger near

T b id .

12Ibid. 198

Until a report which startled all ; Quickly followed by a whistling ball Nothing could excel the leader's grace As he threw his rifle to his face. And as my carbine rang out, crack He quickly sent an answer back.

In fighting, these officers were well skilled, Yet strange to say, none were killed. But among the pines, birds whispered that, "A bullet pierced Jacoby's hat. And as the battle held its course Another struck John Francis horse. "

Although my name is badly smudged Toward these men I hold no grudge And hope some day, a free man to stand And grasp my combatants by the hand. ^

McNeil dropped from sight for a time. He is said to have attempted single handedly to hold up a train in Utah, but was shot in the leg by the conductor. He was arrested, tried for , found guilty and sentenced to prison. . He quickly adapted him self to prison life and began studying engineering. Released ten years later,

McNeil apparently secured a job as an engineer. Then, as the story goes, the railroads, stage companies, and merchants whom McNeil had robbed years earlier, began to receive money orders, repaying with interest old loans. Cline writes that "in the 1920's McNeil

^L etter from E. S. Clark to A. Schuster, dated April 22, 1924. Platt Cline's version is nearly the same. Apparently R. W. McNeil made a few slight changes in the order of incidents to fit his p o e try . 199 wrote a letter to a. Navajo County man jjCline says who was still living at the time he wrote his to discover, as he put it, if Schusters 14 in Holbrook 'were still mad at hi m. m McNeil was assured that the Schusters had probably forgotten the incident, but he again

disappeared.

Sometime during the same decade, or the early 1930,s, a professional, dignified looking man came into the Schuster store in

Holbrook. He asked for Ben Schuster. "When informed that Ben had . .

died in 1911, he courteously asked to see Mr. Adolf Schuster. Ushered into the office, the stranger introduced himself to Adolf as a one-time

resident of Holbrook. The two discussed old-tim ers but after the

stranger left, Adolf Schuster was unable to recall where he had known

the cheerful, well-mannered stranger.

Several years later, McNeil called Adolf Schuster, who was then

living in Los Angeles. He told Adolf who he was and made an appoint­

ment to see Mr. Schuster the next day.

McNeil arrived on time. He was grey-haired, well-dressed and'

very much a gentleman. He told Adolf that he was a hydraulic engineer

and that he had educated himself in engineering during his years in jail

following the attempted train robbery in Utah years before.

Incline, "Pistol Packin' Poet," p. 25. 200

Miss Helen Schuster, daughter of Adolf Schuster, writes that

McNeil and her father "had a wonderful time swapping yarns, and father was delighted with the visit. My only regret is that I did not

know who the man was or the circumstances of the robbery £of the

Schuster store in 1888]until after he left.

Cline, with a touch of drama, writes: "Red McNeil . . . steps

backward through the door of eternity, and with a grin on his face,

is gone in the darkness. The wind as it whips sand up the Rio Puerco

on May nights seems to chuckle, som etim es,1 and if you listen careful,

you may seem to hear a rhyme or two." ^

Another Holbrook citizen who ran into trouble with the law was

Bill Lee. W illiam James Lee was the son of John Doyle Lee, the

Mormon pioneer who settled Lee's Perry, and Emma Batchelder,

wife number seventeen of J. D. Lee's nineteen wives. He was born

in Harmony, Utah, on December 16, I860. He helped his father

establish Lee's"Ferry in 1870 and ran away from home in 1876. Bill

Lee arrived at Horsehead Crossing soon after this and for a short

time tended horses at the stage station. He also "chopped wood" at

^L etter from Helen Schuster to this w riter, dated August 13, 1961. See also Half a Century (1884-1934), n. p ., Holbrook Tribune- News, September 7, 1934.

Incline, "Pistol Packin' Poet," p. 26. 201

Ft. Apache and cooked "beef, beans, and biscuits.11 Bill returned home in 1877 and when his mother sold out to the Mormon Church in ,7 - ' ' 1882, Lee went to Winslow and worked as a cowpuncher. He ran

afoul of the law,as a result of a horse race in Winslow on the Fourth

of July. The Hashknife cowboys denied that Bill beat them. Bill

offered to run again and double the money but the cowboys declined.

In the argument that followed, the deputy sheriff, a railroad man

named McKinnon, pulled a shot gun on Lee and Bill shot him through

the shoulder. McKinnon threw the gun down and ran, while "Bill

kept shooting in the ground by his heels to see him jump, and for the 18 amusement of the crowd. " As a result of this incident, for many

years Bill Lee was considered an outlaw in the Holbrook area. He

was, of course, blamed for many crimes which he did not commit.

Bill*s wife, Clara Lee, writes that following the shooting incident.

; . • Bill rode back to his ranch on Chevelon . After turning his horse out to graze, he went into the old log cabin, put on the coffee pot to brew his coffee. While watching the dancing flames flicker in the dark hearth, he was startled with a sad realization, and said to himself. My God, I am a fugitive from justice .... Bill had declared he would never be arrested, and hung like a sneaking dog, as his young friend [jam es Stott) was hung at Phoenix Park. Stott was a fine young man who had come to A rizona for his health, an only son of an elderly couple who lived *III,

1?j. D. Lee, Bill's father, had been executed on M arch 23, 1877, for his part in the Mountain Meadows M assacre. See Chapter III, Footnote No. 3.

18Letter from M rs. Clara B. Lee to this w riter dated July 23, 1962. 202

in the East, and sent him money to live on. He took up a ranch in beautiful Phoenix Park, and was saving a little out of his small ' income to buy a cow or horse to stock that ranch. When a bunch of vigilantes'*, came to arrest a couple of men who stopped one night with him. When they awoke the next morning the cabin was surrounded by cut throats, and after Jim had cooked breakfast for all of them, they took him out .with the other two men and hanged him with the others. Bill was an outlaw from then on. A few days later he [Lee] found them with his young friend hanging with maggots crawling out their mouths, eyes and nose. Right then Bill vowed, he would never be arrested, even for stealing chickens. And he never was. No one who knew him cared to try it, there would be none willing to face him on an equal footing.

One story about Lee concerned Hook Larson, a deputy sheriff. Lee considered Larson a coward, who was always joining up with a posse to feel.big. One day a posse came on the train to M rs. Lee's house at Hardy Station, looking for her son. Bill. Bill was armed with two six guns and a W inchester rifle. The posse stayed for a time in the area guarding Bill's horse, and waited for Bill to make a move, but finally left. The posse knew that he knew they were there, and they did not want to face him. - Larson,. however, said, ."I am going to take him ," He knocked and pushed his way into the front room, saying,

"I am looking for R. W. M cN eil. "^9 After Lee heard Hook say he.

^Ibid. Letter edited by this writer.

^interview with Mrs. Clara B. Lee and Clarence Lee, July 1959. Larson, better known as Hook, was born in Denmark in about 1858. He came to Arizona as a freighter and afterwards engaged in the cattle business. Several months before he died, Hook Larson had purchased the Conners Hotel in Holbrook. He died on April 11, 1912. See the Holbrook Tribune-News, April 16, 1912. 203 would shoot McNeil down and read the warrant to him afterwards, he

stepped out from the back room and cursed, "You came for me, didn't 21 you?" Larson said, "No, I am looking for McNeil." Lee, not

taking his eyes from Hook, told the deputy to throw his warrant book

to his mbther. He then asked her to look at the warrant. The

warrant was for Lee's arrest. Bill then told Hook, "You have a 22 warrant for my arrest; serve it or eat it." Deputy Sheriff Larson

chose to eat the warrant. Bill then made Hook eat breakfast with him

and sent Larson walking back to town without his horse(and supplies)

which he turned loose. The horse returned to the Larson Ranch where

Hook later retrieved him.

'• Soon after this incident. Bill started for . While cutting

posts in Utah he cut his foot badly and by the time he was well enough

to travel, winter had arrived and he had met his future wife, so he

did not go on. Lee returned to Arizona in 1893 to move cattle to Utah.

Apparently the case against him had long since been forgotten and no

further warrant for his arrest was ever issued. Leerldied in Holbrook

on November 20, 1920. His wife, Clara, says that in those early days

"there was no better law enforcem ent than the six shooter" and that 2122

2 1Ib id .

22Ib id . 204

"there was no better dispenser of that law than Bill L ee,11 but her husband "was always the defender of right. " She says that never a

' - 23 braver and kinder man nor a better neighbor ever lived.

If further proof is needed to show Holbrook was a "wild west" town, here is a newspaper account in the St. Johns Herald of November

11, 1886:

Holbrook was the scene of considerable pistol practice as an election jollification. George Lee accidentally shot himself upon the index finger of the left hand, and was subsequently shot through the foot by the careless or accidental discharge of a comrade's pistol. The wounds are painful, but not regarded as dangerous . . . the two incidents . . . should be a warning and example to those who find amusement in the indiscrim inate shooting of pistols in towns and places where people are congregated or moving about. It is a dangerous .and foolish amusement, and risks the lives of innocent persons, with no profit or pleasure save the sport of listening to the deafening report of fire-arm s. We may admit that no harm is intended, but there are so many other ways of amusement which do not endanger others, that this too common practice might well be dispensed with and no one be the loser. Have a good old fashioned tim e, if you want to boys, but lay aside your pistols for your own sakes as well as that of others.

Another report, illustrating how the boys had a good time in the town's early days, is presented about five months later in another issue of the St. Johns Herald. The paper relates that:

There was a shooting affair at that place [Holbrook} last Friday night which resulted fatally to one of the participants, and the serious wounding of another. It appears the Mexican population of that town gave a baile, and that some of the cowboys happened to

23 Letter from Mrs. Clara B. Lee to this w riter, dated July 23, 1962. 205

be in town, went to the dance. As usual some of the "caballeros" thought the Americans were monopolizing the "senoritas, n and took umbrage thereat £sicj. The difficulty at the dance was con­ fined to words; but afterward some of the Mexicans meeting the cowboys in front of the bakery, fire was opened, it is claimed by the Mexicans, and some thirty or forty shots exchanged in rapid succession. Angel:Benajos was shot three times once through the heart and twice in the stomach. An American named picket was shot in the ankle, the ball ranging downward passed through the ankle. ^4

If ever a hanging were controversial, the one which ended the lives of Jefferson Wilson, James Stott and James Scott was. The trio was lynched on August 10, 1887, on the Canyon Creek Trail about six

25 miles wouthwest of W ilford in Apache County.

The St. Johns Herald reported that James Houck, an acting deputy sheriff under Sheriff C. P. Owens, arrested James Stott at gunpoint at Stott's Ranch in the Mogollon Mountains. When Stott asked to read the warrant, Houck said he had left it at Bear Spring. Meanwhile, twenty eight men rode up with James Scott as a prisoner. Stott graciously fed the crowd breakfast before the posse took Stott, Scott and Wilson; an employee of Stott's,to a spot about five miles west

^A pril 14, 1887. Since there was no paper published in Holbrook during this period, the St. Johns Herald was the best source of Holbrook news. Will C. Barnes tells a story called "A Plucky Landlady" based on this incident. See pp. 215-216.

^Barnes says August 11. Letter from Will C. Barnes, Phoenix, to Fred Schuster, Holbrook, dated February 4, 1934. The Silver Belt (Globe) reported that "the bodies of Stott, Wilson and Scott . . . [were] left suspended for a week before being buried. The supervisors, it is said, refused to pay for the holding of an inquest. " Quoted by The Apache Review (St. Johns), August 29, 1888. ------206

of Phoenix Park and lynched the three. The newspaper said that Scott,

a form er employee of the Aztec Company, was described by associates

as "quiet, sober and peaceable. " little information was found by the

paper on Wilson. The third man, Stott, was called "honest, honorable

and deserving" by his friends, the newspaper reported. However, it went on to say that Stott's enemies said he was the "brains of a

desperate gang of rustlers. "

The Herald said it was unable to learn of any charges brought

against Scott and Wilson but there was some "bad blood existing be­

tween Stott and Houck. " The newspaper denounced the and

called for an investigation. It concluded: "For a body of armed men

to be scouring the country, picking up men against whom they have

a grudge, and hanging them without the semblance of a trial, or

without even letting them or their friends know for what they were

hung, is going a little too far, even for a deputy sheriff."2^

Barnes writes that the Stott hanging occurred near his Long Tom

Ranch and that he took word of it into Holbrook. ; According to Barnes,

"Sam Brown was sworn in as coroner and he, with Fred Ames of the

Aztec Company with John Connor, Hook Larson and a man working for

me by name of Frankenfield, took a team and drove out to the place and 27 buried the three men under a tree from which they were hanged. "

2^August 23, 1888.

27Letter from Will C. Barnes to Fred Schuster dated February 4,1934. 207

People quickly began to take sides in the controversy. In an interview with the Yavapai Democrat, Houck defended his arrest of

Stott and stated that he had had nothing to do with the hanging. Houck

said that: he did have warrants for the arrest of all three men on

charges that they were involved in two separate shootings. But he

claimed that as the posse was returning the three prisoners to Pleasant

Valley, a party of about forty masked men took the trio away.

The Apache Review on August 22, 1888, said that "rum or has :i t that these men were hung with boots, spurs and hats on." The news­

paper said "it is feared that this will open the war again in Tonto

B asin." The newspaper concluded "It is high time that mob and lynch

law are suppressed and that the laws of the land were allowed to take

their course. "

A week later the Review stated:

Shortly after the robbery of the store in Tonto Basin, goods stolen at that time were found in the house of Jeff Wilson, which connected him with the rustlers. Whether J. W. Stott was a horse thief or not, it is stated to be a fact that his ranch was the headquarters of men known to be thieves, and that he acted as a go-between. It is also claimed that the men who robbed the store, above mentioned, went to Stott's ranch immediately after committ­ ing the crim e, and that Stott went to Holbrook and purchased a saddle for one of them.

A w riter who signed himself "One Who Knows" brought up several

questions in a letter printed on August 27, 1888, in the St. Johns

Herald. Stott, the letter writer said, owned a home, ranch, one hundred 208 and fifty head of horses and some fifty head of cattle. "Does it look reasonable that he should be engaged in stealing horses ?" Further­ more, the w riter said, "If these outlaws had sufficient evidence against those unfortunate men to justify their hanging, surely they had enough to convict in the courts of law. Ah, my friends, there were other 28 motives, not the least of which was personal revenge. "

29 John Addison Hunt, who said he knew both Scott and Stott well, believed that Stott might have been a rustler. But he thought that the other two men were hanged just because they were at Stott*s house at the wrong time. Hunt also thought that the leader of the lynching gang wanted Stott's ranch and was the man who afterwards ran his sheep there for years.

Certainly the most polemical figure in this entire controversy 30 seems to have been deputy sheriff Houck. According to several *29

OQ St. Johns Herald, August 30, 1888.

29 7 John Addison Hunt was born in Beaver City, Utah, on Septem­ ber 1, 1869. His father, John, was sent to Snowflake, where he was bishop for thirty-one years. There were only six log cabins in Snow­ flake when the family arrived in March 1877. John A. Hunt in 1886 at the age of seventeen carried mail from Holbrook to Ft. Apache. He was entrusted with a message from Lt. Charles B. Gatewood whom Hunt calls "Geo. W ." to General Miles concerning the surrender of . "Reminiscences of John Addison Hunt" told to M rs. George F. Kitt, February 26, 1941, MS, A .P.H .S..' on James D. Houck was surely one of the earliest pioneers in northeastern Arizona. McClintock writes that in October, 1874 he 209 sources, Houck hanged Stott because he wanted his homestead. Earle

Forrest, in his book Arizona's Dark and Bloody Ground, rem arks that

32 "the evidence points conclusively to Jim Houck as the instigator. "

He bases much of his conclusion on the fact that F. A. Ames, an employee of the Aztec Land and Cattle Company, wrote to James Stott, father of the hanged boy, that Houck was to blame for the hanging. Ames stated that Houck wanted Stott's "ranch for his sheep, and when every 3132

"took up the mail contract between Fort Wingate and Prescott, when service seemed impossible on account of the Indians, and succeeded where others had failed." Arizona, The Youngest State, II, 554. On April 9, 1880, the Arizona Miner reported that "James Houck, who keeps the station fifty miles east of Prescott has been arrested by the authorities at St. Johns on a charge of complicity, with a tram p, in the m urder of a doctor from Cincinnati, Ohio, a few days since at the station of said Houck. It is known that the doctor had, at the time he was killed, on his person, some $3,000." There was no further news­ paper report on the disposition of the case. The small town, Houck, which is just west of the New Mexico line, was named "after James D. Houck, sheepman, who ran a trading post, there, 1877 to 1885 . . . . Member of famous Thirteenth 'Bloody Thirteenth' legislature from Apache County .... First called Houcks tank . . . P. O. Established December 16, 1884." Barnes, Arizona Place Names, p. 213. 31 This statement would also be in agreement with the preceding opinion given by Mr. Hunt (if Houck was the leader of the gang who hanged Stott). The preceding opinion was also stated during an inter­ view in Holbrook, but this w riter believes the source needs to rem ain because of the possible effect upon certain families still living in the Holbrook area.

32p . 193. 210 other means failed he decided that something had to be done quickly, for

Stott expected to prove upon his claim in September and would then « require legal title." Ames also stated that Stott did not take part in the rustling that was going on in that section but that the stories of his participation in such stealing "were circulated by the young man’s 33 enemies--the parties who wanted to get possession of his ranch.",

James A. Hunt once .witnessed a near-shooting between Houck and Ed Rogers, boss of the Hashknife outfit, at the office of Dr.

Robinson where Hunt was being examined after he was kicked in the head by a horse. Houck was on the Tewksbury or sheepmen’s side and

Rogers, the cattlemen’s or Graham side, of the Tonto JBasin . .

Houck also was in the office when Rogers walked in, faced Houck and accused him of hanging an innocent man when he hanged Scott.

Houck said, "I did not do it." Rogers started.calling Houck unprint­ able vile names and then both men grabbed their six shooters and put them in full cock. Houck did not back down. Hunt said that Dr.

Robinson and his drug store business partner, Frank J. W attron, tried to quiet-them and get them to settle their trouble some other way.

"But those men paid no attention to anyone, but looked each other straight in the face. If either man had taken his eye from his adversary.

Cited by Forrest, pp. 211-212. 211 the other would have shot." Hunt said Rogers finally could face it no longer, threw the cartridges from his pistol, shoved the weapon in its scabbard and walked out of the room. "You could tell by Houck* s face and actions that he expected Rogers to reload his. gun after he got outside and possibly come back or shoot through the window. He stood for at least thirty minutes and never took his eye off the openings. 34 But Rogers did not appear."

Thus, it is conjecture whether Houck was responsible for the hanging of the three men in the incident that Will Barnes refers to as "Death Rides.in the H ills."

It is, however, a m atter of record that luck began to turn against

Houck. On December 26, 1888, there was an unsuccessful attempt

"Reminiscences of John Addison Hunt. " Hunt says that "Many years later I got well acquainted with Houck and one day while we were by ourselves in the mountains he opened up and told things that were so horrible that it is almost impossible to think about them, things that were done during the war. After he told many things thatl kiew more or less about, I said to him, ‘Jim , what ever became of Ed Rogers ?‘ He braced up and opened his eyes. ‘Do you remember the fuss in Holbrook?1 I said I certainly did. He said, ‘Two days after that Ed Rogers got a letter in the post office at Holbrook, and when he opened it there wasn’t a thing in it but 'G o,' written in red ink. ' I s aid, "What figure did that red ink cut?’ He said, ‘That meant blood if he did not go.' I already knew that Rogers had mysteriously disappeared and no one seemed to know when nor why. He was range boss of the Hash Knife but he left between two days." Hunt also states that "In after years Houck m arried a Mexican wife and when his several children got of school age he brought them to Holbrook." 212 to assassinate him. The Apache Review reports that on or about

December 21, Houck had just

crossed Chevellons Creek driving a sm all bunch of sheep, when he saw two men approaching on horse back. As they came near Houck dismounted from the mule he was riding and spoke to the men. Wherupon fsicj, in reply he received an order to throw up his hands. To this he replied by drawing his gun and both - parties began firing. Houck's mule was killed after which he escaped to Casbeer's ranch about two miles back on this trail .... Houck claimed to know the parties who attacked him. This may be the prelude to another Tonto Basin W ar. ^

On July 18, 1889> Houck's petition for appointment as constable for the Holbrook precinct was rejected by a unanimous vote of the O / Apache County Board of Supervisors.

Other than an occasional reference to his sheep raising activities, there are few newspaper references to Houck until his death in 1921.

The Arizona Republican reported that Houck committed suicide by taking strychnine poison at Cave Creek, Arizona, at the age of seventy-

3 7 four. "W itnesses said he had told them he was tired of living. "

It is difficult to determine whether the hanging was part of the

Pleasant Valley War or simply an isolated incident of violence. Earle

Forrest writes that "Will C. Barnes declares that this lynching had

^Decem ber 26, 1888. o / ...... M in u tes of th e B o a rd of S u p e r v is o r s , A p ach e C ounty, B ook 2, P . 121. -

April 2, 1921. 213 nothing to do with the feud; but there is no doubt that it was carried out 38 by some of the men affiliated with the Tewksburys.'i

Because of the perhaps doubtful credulity of the witnesses involved and the high feeling that occurred at the time of the hanging, this w riter will make no attempt to draw conclusions on what actually happened or who was responsible. Instead, an attempt is made here to give various viewpoints in a controversy which still smolders among certain pioneer families living in the Holbrook area.

Recording the stories of the area in this period were Holbrook's three best-known w riters—Will C. Barnes, C. O. Anderson and

Richard E. Sloan. Although they lived in the little Colorado Country

a comparatively short tim e, each left many vivid accounts of Holbrook's

early history. More than that, their writings reflect a way of life that is dead.

Will C. Barnes was the first in the little Colorado County, lived in the area the longest, and was the most prolific. He began ranching

on the little Colorado River in 1883.

Born in San Francisco on June 21, 1858, Barnes spent his early

years in a mining town in Nevada and farm s in Indiana and .

Barnes drifted through several jobs before he joined a newly organized

^Forrest, p. 193. 214 branch of the Army - the Signal Corps. He first came to Arizona in

1879 at the age of twenty one as a private with the corps. He was assigned as a telegrapher at Fort Apache. Barnes was also responsible for making weather reports each day to Washington, D. C .. In 1883 after having risen to the rank of sergeant in the Army and having been awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for bravery during an

Apache uprising in 1881, he left the Army.

Will C. Barnes Apaches and Longhorns, p. 120a 215

In 1888 Barnes was chosen as head of the Esperanza Cattle

Company. Within a period of four years the company nowned about

7, 000 head of very good range cattle..

Barnes described Holbrook in those days as "a wild and woolly town with a population of about two hundred and fifty persons. Three stores, a photograph gallery run by a Chinaman,v a chop-house, and 40 five saloons made up the business end of the ham let.”

Typical of Barnes' writing is the story, "A Plucky Landlady. ”

He recalls how two Texans, and a man identified only as "Peck's Bad Boy,11 infuriated some Mexicans by their attentions to the senoritas at a dance. The pair was chased out by a Mexican deputy sheriff. In front of the Apache Hotel where Barnes was staying, five or six Mexicans began shooting at Peck and Pickett. One Mexican was killed before the Texans managed to elude their attackers and find refuge in the Apache Hotel. When the landlady learned that

Pickett was wounded in the right foot and in agony, she insisted on going after the doctor herself. She feared Mexicans would kill Barnes if he went. She carried a six-shooter under her apron and "made her

•^^Frank C. Lockwood, ed. , Apaches and Longhorns, The Reminiscences of Will C. Barnes (Los Angeles, 1941), p. 153.

40Ibid., p. 136. 216 way fearlessly11 to the doctor's, passing a group of Mexicans in front of a saloon. With Peck and Barnes holding Pickett down, the doctor probed away at his foot. The only painkiller was a bottle of gin donated by the woman. By the time the doctor aroused the other

Americans at daybreak and sent a rider for the sheriff, some twenty drunk Mexicans raged the streets, demanding vengeance. The hotel

occupants barricaded themselves for a fight to the death. Barnes writes: v •

Pickett was moved into a sm all room without a window and with only one door. Several bed-rolls left there by cowboys, together with some sacks of bran, were placed in a sem icircle in one corner. Behind this fort, Pickett, unable to walk, lay on the floor, a W inchester and a Colt's revolver, with plenty of ammuni­ tion, at his side. His foot and leg had swollen to a terrible size and he was suffering fearfully. -

Sheriff Commodore Owens rode into town about 10 o'clock.

Alone, he drove away the Mexicans in what Barnes calls "a wonderful

example of law and cold nerve. " Within an hour, a heavily-armed

guard escorted Pickett and Peck to the county seat, seventy five

miles away. The testimony before the grand jury showed that the

Mexican victim probably had been killed by a shot fired by his own side

in the cross-fire. After several days in the St. Johns jail, the Texans

were freed, ,

^Ib id . , pp. 136-143. The "Plucky Landlady" referred to by Barnes was Mary Ann Boyer. She was the wife of A. M. Boyer, a member of the firm of Boyer and Trimble, carpenters and builders; 217

Will Barnes was also a romantic who liked to write poetry. The following poem which he wrote to some long since forgotten girl in

Holbrook on December 10, 1894, was found by this w riter among

Barnes' personal papers. *

A. M. Boyer was later quarterm aster agent for Fort Apache and in 1917 was appointed Police M agistrate. M rs. Boyer was the long-time manager of the Apache House Hotel. Barnes says that "she was a brave woman and afraid of mothing. As the wife of a sergeant in a United States A rtillery regiment, she went through the campaign against the Modoc Indians in the lava beds of northwestern California in 1876, and was in Fort Apache at the time of the attack on that Post in 1881. The little frame house occupied by her and her husband, then Post Commissary Sergeant, had a dozen holes shot through its thin walls before she and her three children could get out of it and into an adobe building to which the women and children in the Post had been hastily moved. Her form er husband, Sergeant William Jervis, served in a British regiment in .1855 during the Crimean W ar. He was a gunner in one of the supporting batteries at the moment when "the Light Brigade," immortalized by Tennyson, made its famous charge, and saw the whole action from beginning to end. Some of us at Apache rather doubted his story until one day he showed us his discharge papers from British Army. Across the face of his discharge papers were written in red ink the words: 1 Crimea, 1854-1856.1 He was a fine-looking, m ilitaty-like man, and in full dress army uniform one of the handsomest soldiers I have ever known. " Ibid., pp. 139-140. C. O. Anderson writes that "M rs. Boyer, who conducted a rooming house in town was an outstanding character. . Everyone stopping here at her rooming house found alihome. There was something magnetic about her personality which induced respect and confidence of every­ one. It was home to everyone. She was a beautiful character, sympathetic to those in suffering, honest and liberal to a fault. "Mother Boyer as everyone called her had the love, respect and confidence of every one of that section." C. O. Anderson, MS, A. P. H.S. . See also Chapter VI, p. 190. 218

In Memoriciin :

Who was it came to Holbrook town One pleasant summer day With haughty mien and wondrous gown That took our breath away? T w as you. Who was it made us all her slaves And needed but to speak Till I who came to stay a day Made that one day a week T w as you. Who was it used to make me sing Sweet songs of love and thy blue eyes, Who was it kept us on "the string" And laughed at all our lovers sighs ? T w as yo u . Who was it used to love to ride Right through the town that all might see The beauties of her riding gown And what a fool you'd made of me T w as y o u . Who was it showed us how to take Our partners in the "Gillies Grip," Who waltzed an hour without a break To that one song, "Why, Chip?" Twas you. ^

While still engaged in the cattle business in 1897, Barnes was elected to the territorial legislature from Apache County; 1897 was an important year in Barnes' life. He became chairman of the Arizona livestock Board, a position which he held until 1900. On May 4 he m arried Edith Talbot of Phoenix. Also, in the same year he met

Gifford Pinchot of the Conservation Service and the two men became

^^Barnes Collection, Scrapbook I, p. 3, A .P.H .S.. 219 lifelong friends. Pinchot convinced Barnes that he should become a part of ’s new conservation movement so in 1907 Barnes entered the Forest Service as an ’"Assistant Forester and Chief of

Grazing. " Although his pay was poor and the general public was uninterested in what he was trying to accomplish, Barnes worked tirelessly to try to save the lands and cattle industry of the west from destruction. President Wilson appointed Barnes to the United States

Geographic Board in 1920 and he became its secretary nine years l a t e r .

During future years, Barnes turned his attention more and more to writing. Not only are his stories of personal experiences invaluable to Holbrook and Arizona history, but his writings on conservation are important to the entire nation.

After spending twenty-two years in the Forest Service, Barnes retired at the age of seventy in 1928. He died in Phoenix on December 17,

1936, and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery, resting place for our nation's heroes.

Frank C. Lockwood, who edited many of Barnes' writings, gives in his introduction to Barnes' Reminiscences what might be a fitting tribute to one of Holbrook's outstanding citizens. Lockwood writes that Barnes "was an untiring and profilic writer and whatever he penned, he was able to make it interesting. He wrote unceasingly on 220 a hundred subjects, and published articles, long and short, in scores of journals and magazines*) In addition to all this, he contributed to newspapers and little-known magazines notes, letters and articles on m atters of natural history and on obscure or disputed points dealing with Arizona's past. Taken together, all this fugitive m aterial constitutes a very valuable historical fund.

Next to arrive in Holbrook was C. O. Anderson, who came in

1896 with his wife. Anderson was born in Norway on October 16, 1862.

In 1867, at the age of five,, he emigrated with his parents to the United

States. Settling first in W isconsin where C. O. Anderson received his early education, the Andersons moved to a Minnesota farm in

1875. C. O. Anderson left home in 1882, to become a member of the Chicago police department. The next year he entered the Illinois > Normal Institute. After two years of college, he went west to Rosita,

Colorado, fbr health reasons and taught school. He returned to

Illinois the following year and taught until 1888, when he went to Minneota,

Minnesota, to be principal of a school. However, again because of reasons of health he went west, this time to Butte, Montana. In 1890

^Lockwood, Apaches and Longhorns, pp. XXt-XXLL, For addi­ tional inform ation on W ill C. Barnes see Who Was Who in America (Chicago, 1942), I, 53; "Tribute to a Famous Forester," The Official Record, U. S. Department of Agriculture, IX, August 7, 1930, and Barnes collection of unpublished manuscripts, letters, notes, etc., a . p . h . s ..; 221

he moved to Delta, Colorado,where he taught school in the day time

and studied law at night. Anderson.was admitted to the Colorado

bar in 1893. He came to Arizona in 1895, located at Phoenix and

was admitted to the Arizona bar the following year.

Anderson says that he "landed" in Holbrook during a terrific

dust storm in March 1896. He became principal of the school at

Woodruff while his wife taught at Pinetop. In the fall he ran for county

attorney on the Democratic ticket but lost by two vot4s. Anderson

then purchased The Argus which "was used by the Republicans as

their organ, but when election was over they realized that they were

in for a regular monthly loss. They sold the paper to me, and I am

sure they never expected to receive a cent of the purchase price, but

tried to evade the regular monthly bill for its operation. . I bought it

on tic k . -

The following fall, Anderson was also hired as principal of the

Holbrook Schools while his wife was a teacher in the system.

None of Anderson’s writing have been published. Most are

rem iniscences or newspaper editorials. Although. Anders on was not

the best grammarian or speller, his writings portray daily life in

Holbrook in the late 1890’s and are filled with local color.

^Reminiscence of C. O. Anderson, MS, A .P.H .S., p. 20.

. 222

Anderson's legal career accounted for a story about three cow­ boys accused of stealing cattle. Anderson previously had defended the cowboys, who all three bore the given name, Jim , and ranched in the

Petrified Forest. This time, however, a large cattle company retained

Anderson to prosecute the trio. Despite Anderson's role in the case, the cowboys asked him to hire a good lawyer for them. Anderson recommended John Jones of Flagstaff and even went so far as to contact him for the defendants. Although Anderson 1 thought he had a

"dead sure case," the evidence "of the boys swept me and my client off our feet." Jones left town before the verdict had been announced and asked Anderson to let him know the outcome and request a $50 fee from the three Jim s. The jury decided for the defendant s who then dutifully paid Anderson the fee for their lawyer and Anderson mailed the money to Jones. "Such old time honesty and confidence in each other does not exist today," Anderson writes. "I often pine 45 ' for it. Times have changed. "

One of Anderson's best reminiscences was entitled "Red Hot War

News." During the Spam sh-Ame ri can W ar, the townsmen were so eager to read the war news he agreed as owner and publisher of the

Holbrook paper to put out extras. The telegraph operator jotted down

45Ibid. , pp. 23-24. 223 the gist of news passing over the w ires, handed it to Anderson and he ran off about twenty copies which he delivered to various places.

Once when there was a lag in the war news, the readers "roasted me because I had no news." Anderson asked to drop the arrangement but the readers insisted he continue. Upon learning that the men planned a gag about the war news, Anderson decided to beat them to the draw.

He went to the type case and set up the following:

RED HOT WAR NEWS

The Tim O'Rario, that was escorting the great battleship O'Regan around Cape Horn and which was thought lost or captured by the Spanish, has been located. It went astray on its course because the captain had a sty in his right eye, and got tangled in his calculations. It is now steaming majestically up the Colorado and will soon land in W attron's back yard where a big battle will be fought and John Barleycorn will win a tremendous v ic to ry .

Hamilton, the man who had tipped Anderson, then started up town, shouting "war news" and waving the galley-slip extras. A crowd gathered at W attron's drug store where Frank J. Wattron, the drug owner, got up on a stool and read the news. He did not tumble to the gag until the final lines when he began cursing Anderson and the audience howled with laughter. Anderson said W attron then had to set up drinks for the crowd. Round after round followed until

about four o'clock in the morning. Hamilton again warned Anderson

of a proposal to handcuff him, put him in jail for several hours and 224

-finally take him to W attron's where "they would have a jolly time at

my expense." The publication of the war news ended, however.

In 1900 Anderson sold The Argus and moved to Willcac where he

purchased the Arizona Range News and opened a law office. He also

served in Willcox as United State Commissioner, justice of the peace

and county coroner. ^ Anderson died in Hot Spring, New Mexico, at

the age of eighty-seven on September 28, 1950.

The last of Holbrook's adopted trio of w riters, Richard E. Sloan,

came to Apache County in 1897 as a Federal D istrict Judge. He had

been appointed to Arizona's fourth judicial district by President McKinley.

Although the Judge made his headquarters in St. Johns, the county

seat, he also spent a good deal of time in Holbrook.

: Sloan was born in Preble County, Ohio, on June 22, 1857. After

graduating from Monmouth College in 1877 with a B. A. , Sloan worked

on a newspaper and studied law in Denver, Colorado. Returning to

Ohio in 1882, Sloan entered Cincinnati Law College and was graduated

in 1884 with a law degree.

The same year he came to Arizona and opened a law office in

Phoenix with his fellow classmate, L. H. Chalmers. Sloan moved to

Florence in 1886 where he was elected district attorney of Pinal 4

4 ^Ibid. , p p . 2 5 -2 6 .

47Richard E. Sloan, History of Arizona (Phoenix, 1930), IV, 493. 225

County. The following year he m arried Mary Brown of Hamilton,

Ohio. . In 1888 he was elected to the fifteenth territorial general assembly. The next year, Sloan was appointed by President Harrison, associate justice to the first judicial district of the Supreme Court of the Arizona Territory. After living for a time in Tucson, Judge Sloan retired from the bench in 1894. He then moved to Prescott where he re-entered private practice.

The December 10, 1898 edition of The Argus reported that "Judge

Sloan is winning golden laurels on the bench all over the territory.

Every trip he makes into this section gains him more friends and adm irers. The bar is unanimous of the opinion that he is the ablest man in Arizona. He is the same pleasant unassuming gentleman wherever you meet him, and the people in general hold him in the highest esteem and adm iration."

Judge Sloan shared a flair for humorous writing with both Anderson and Barnes. He once described a divorce case he heard as a judge in

Holbrook. IThe case of Davis vs. Davis was contested by the defendant, chairman of a railway grievance committee and known as "Hell-roaring

Davis. " After M rs. Davis testified that her husband once threatened her life with a piece of gas pipe and struck her in the face, Davis rushed to the stand without waiting to be called, held up his hand to be sworn in and then, without being questioned, turned to the judge and said 226

"Judge, I love that woman, I would shed my heart's blood for that woman, but I just can't live with her. Let me tell the story. I was out on a run for thirty-six hours and when I came in the call-boy said, 'Davis, you had better go home and get some sleep, for you are going to be called again early in the morning, as we are shorthanded.' I went home. My wife had a piano, and in the evening a friend of hers, a neighbor woman, would come over and sing while she played. That was all right. I didn't object, but this night when I got home my wife was playing the piano, and the neighbor woman was there singing. I said, 'C arrie, you know I have been out for ..thirty-six hours and I am awfully tired, and as I shall be called early in the morning I am going to bed and I wish you wouldn't play the piano.' The bedroom was just off the parlor. About eleven o'clock, as I couldn't sleep, I got up and went to the door and said, 'C arrie, you know I have been up thirty-six hours, and I am going to be called early in the morning. I just wish you would quit playing that piano.' She turned and said, 'Davis, if you can't sleep here you better go some place where you can.' I went back to bed and tried to sleep. Judge, I tried my damnedest to sleep, but about twelve o'clock, I got up and came out and said, 'C arrie, you have got to stop this noise. You know I am tired and just can't sleep.' She just went on playing, so l went out into the yard and I picked up this [and when he said that he reached down and picked up the piece of gas pipe] and came back into the room and then walked up to the piano and said, 'C arrie, if you strike another note on that piano I am going to smash the god-damned thing all to pieces,' and Judge, she just turned up her face to me as her finger came down on the piano and said, 'There now!' and then I just slapped her in the face good and hard. Judge, what would you have done

W riting in a more serious vein. Judge Sloan said in his book,

Memories of an Arizona Judge, "Northern and eastern Arizona is and doubtless always will be, sparsely settled. " He also wrote that forty years before most of the region was given up to cattle-grazing. It was the time of the free and open range and the range was held by the *

*Sloan, Memories of an Arizona Judge, pp. 185-186. 227 strongest. The large cattle outfits divided the country between them­ selves and made war on the small cattlemen. The cattle rustler flourished.

He went on to say:

One thing that counted in ultimately putting an end to cattle­ rustling as a business was the breaking up of the big cattle outfits and the gradual substitution of sheep for cattle. This change, however, was not effected without strife such as occurred in Tonto Basin in the Pleasant Valley W ar. The creation of forest reserves and the control of the public range by the Govern­ ment gave it its finish. The stock interests in that region gradually fell into the hands of responsible owners like Tom Pollock, Tim and Mike Riordon, Campbell and Francis, and Colin Campbell, the Babbitt Brothers, Jerry Sullivan, the Perrins, and o t h e r s .49

Judge Sloan was reappointed district judge in 1902 and again in 1906 by President Theodore Roosevelt. Judge Sloan, one of two

Arizona delegates to the Republican National Convention in 1908, was instrum ental in pushing through the adoption of a plank favoring

Arizona statehood. President Taft appointed Judge Sloan governor of the Arizona Territory in 1909, and he served as the last territorial

governor until the territory became a state on February 14, 1912.

The following year Governor Sloan resumed the in

Phoenix. A "mug book" published by the S. J. Clarke Publishing

Company in 1916 says that Judge Sloan "has the distinction of having

49pp. 174-176. 228 served on. the territorial bench for a longer period than any other judge in the southwest, his opinions having given him a wide 50 celebrity as a clear, logical and concise writer and thinker. " Judge

Sloan died in Phoenix at the age of seventy-six on December 14, 1933.

One of his daughters, Eleanor B. Sloan, was the long-time director of the Arizona Pioneers' Historical Society in Tucson. .

The last colorful character to come to Holbrook was Burt

Moss man. Burton C. Moss man was born on a farm near Aurora,

Illinois, on April 30, 1867. When Burt was six his parents moved to

Lake City, Minnesota. In 1876 Burt and his father drove two prairie

schooners west to the Dakota border. The family moved west to the

New Mexico territory in 1882 and Mossman spent the next ten years

as a cowboy and ranch foreman in the Rio Grande country of southern

New Mexico. He first came to Arizona in 1893, as manager of the

Graybeal, M urray and Hudson Ranch in the Bloody Basin on the Verde

River north of Phoenix.

He arrived in Holbrook early in the morning of January 20,

1898, to take over a new job as manager of the Aztec Land and Cattle

Company. He was met at the train by a young cowboy, Charlie Fought.

Charlie gave a rundown on conditions at the ranch and stated that the

Aztec had received a tip the previous day that some renegade Mormons

50p . 809. 229 near Snowflake had some Hashknife cattle. Mossman decided to set an example and get the cattle back before he even reported for duty.

As the story goes. Fought offered to help him and the two left Holbrook at dawn riding south. Thirty long cold miles later, the two riders rounded a ridge in the trail and saw a campfire and a wagon and team about a hundred yards ahead. Three men quickly stepped to the wagon and picked up a rifle. Mossman wore a heavy overcoat and as he dismounted behind his horse, he pulled out a pistol and tucked it in his left sleeve. He then put both hands in his sleeve like a muff, and started toward the fire. The three startled rustlers stood staring at him in amazement. Frazier Hunt describes the incident as follows:

"By God! Ain't it cold!" he (Mossman] said, pushing his hands deeper into his sleeves. The three men eyed the visitors and made no answer. "Thought we'd freeze to death," Burt went on, edging toward the nearest of the trio. Suddenly he jerked out his right hand and shoved his Colt into the belly of the man on his left.

"Drop your guns!" he shouted. "Drop 'em!"

The rifles clattered to the ground.

"Reach.up!" Burt ordered. "Push 'em up!"

The boy had his own Colt cocked and pointed at the man on the

rig h t.

While Mossman covered the men, Charlie picked up their rifles

and searched them for pistols. Then Mossman handed a rifle to 230

Charlie to guard the three unarmed,men while he looked in the wagon.

Sure enough, he counted the quarters of three steers. The hides, were lying under a tree and each bore the Hashknife brand. Mossman motioned for one of the thieves to put the hides in the wagon.

"W e're driving back to Holbrook,11 he explained tersely. "You're all three going to ride in the wagon, and one of you'll drive the team.

I’m not going to bother to tie you up. I think you're a bunch of yellow skunks. But understand--I'll kill the first man that makes a false move. Now get in there and start going. *

Upon returning to Holbrook, Mossman delivered the prisoners, and hides to Judge Frank W attron, the sheriff.

"How far will you go in putting down this thievery ?" inquired

M o ssm a n .

"Well, how far will you go?" countered the Judge.

"I will go as far as you w ill," answered Mossman, "and then a little farther. "

"You're just the man I'm looking for," declared the sheriff, and 52 they shook hands and declared war on all rustlers.

Cap Mossman, Last of the Great Cowmen, (New York, 1951), p p . 9 1 -9 2 .

^^Coolidge, Fighting Men of the West, p. 250. 231

W attron made Moss man a deputy sheriff and, needless to say, when Moss man reported in to take over his new job as manager of the V. Hashknife/ his new found reputation had already preceded him.

Knowing that the Hashknife had been unable to obtain a single conviction for cattle or horse stealing during the past fourteen years,

Moss man next went to Snowflake to see the Bishop of the Church of

Latter-Day Saints. The men that he had brought into Holbrook were

Mormons, although they were not in good standing with the church at the tim e, and he was determined that they be tried, found guilty and sent to prison. Upon meeting the bishop, Moesman said, "I came to ask . . . . how you stand on this cow stealing. u

"I am against it,11 answered the Bishop, "and the Church of

Latter-Day Saints is against it. "

"All right,11 responded Moss man. "The first thieves I arrested happened to be Mormons, and I111 tell you what I'm going to do. I'm going to ask the District Attorney to draw a straight Mormon jury

53 and you'll have a chance to go on record."

In the past if there were any non-Mormons or Gentiles on the jury, the Mormon members always found their fellow Mormons not guilty, but as a result of Moss m an's talk to the Bishop, and to Sheriff W attron,

^Plbid., pp. 250-251. . 232 an all-M ormon jury found the three cattle thieves guilty and they were sent to prison.

Another well-known story about Mossman tells how he and 54 deputy sheriff Joe Bargeman rode down to W ater Canyon, on St.

Patrick’s Day, 1898, to look for some Mexicans who had been stealing

Hashknife cattle. As the two horsemen loped into the canyon, they saw six Mexicans loitering in front of two houses. As the two riders approached all but one of the men disappeared. . Mossman told the man, they.later learned was Baca, the leader of a gang of horse thieves, they were officers and wanted to search the houses. Baca let them search the house which he said was his. But when the officers found no beef and wanted to search the second house, Baca balked. He said that was his brother-in-law ’s and unless they had a search warrant or a w arrant for the man they had no right to enter.

This knowledge of the law made Mossman suspicious, so he pulled out a letter with numerous stamps and seals on it and said, "There is my search w arrant--read it !V But, as he had guessed, the Mexican could not read.

^W ater Canyon is a stream that rises near Wahl Knolls, a moun­ tain west of Springerville, and flows southward into the Little Colorado above the town of Eagar. It was thus named "because the first Mormon settlers secured most of their irrigating water from this stream." B a rn es, Arizona Place Names, p. 476. 233

"I don't give a damn!" Baca burst out in great excitement. "You can't go inside that door. "

While Mossman covered Baca, Bargeman broke the lock with an axe and found a freshly killed beef inside. Suddenly, Baca slipped

around the corner of the house and ran. Leaping on his horse,

Mossman gave chase. He overtook the fleeing Mexican, sabering his head with his gun barrel. While Mossman attended to Baca's scalp wound, another Mexican opened rifle fire. Soon three more Mexicans,

about six hundred yards away, began shooting at Mossman. A bullet

ricocheted from a rock in front of him and cut a slit through the bony

part of Mossman's nose. Momentarily blinded by tears, Mossman

managed someway to foil a new escape attempt by Baca. Jabbing a

pistol to Baca's head, he said in Spanish, "If your friends shoot

again, I am going, to blow your brains out. Now you tell tibemwhat I

s a y . "

Frightened, the Mexican complied and just then Bargeman

appeared and soon had the other Mexicans running. Next morning,

the officers marched their hostage to the door of a cabin where his

followers had spent the night. Mossman put his pistol under Baca's

jaw and told him to tell them to come out. If they didn't he vowed

he would blow off Baca's head and kill them afterwards. The men

came out, their hands up. On the way back to the jail. Miss man 234 stopped to pick up the beef hide: arid found his evidence gone. After all the fireworks, he was sure the men must be something more than cattle thieves. Therefore, he kept them incommunicado in jail for three weeks. Then he let them send out their laundry to their women­ folks but he inspected each garment closely after the laundry had been gathered. Under the seam of an undershirt he found written in

5 5 Spanish, Muevelo los Cab alios, which means move the horses.

Returning again to W ater Canyon, Moss man and Bargeman found sixteen horses stolen from the Salt River Valley. Apparently Baca's gang had long shuttled stolen horses from southern Arizona up to Utah and returned stolen Utah horses south to the Mexican border. Turning

"state's evidence," one of the gang helped build an airtight case against the other four outlaws.

By this time, Moss man had built himself quite a record not only in punishing cattle rustlers and horse thieves, but as an effective and efficient manager of the Hashknife, operating the Aztec without losing money for the first time. The Range News reported that:

Moss man is well known throughout the Southwest. He is a thoroughbred American and while a handsome, dashing cowboy, ready to shoot or fight or risk his last dollar in a wager, he also,

^Coolidge, Fighting Men of the West, pp. 251-255. See also Hunt, pp. 99-103 and Thomas E. Way, "Mossman Brought "Em in Aliye," Scenic Southwest, March 1950. 235

is an educated cultured gentleman capable of moving in the best society and attracting attention as a man out of the usual run, no m atter in what phase of life he is found. Moss man has been making a record this year in his efforts to rid the territory of the thieves that have been so extensive to his company. He has already sent seven of the worst theives; £sic]| . . . to the penitentiary, a good record for that section where it is usually very difficult to secure an indictment, much less a conviction. Most of the thieves sold calves. Mossman secured twenty detectives and had them right on the range. He and a detective, found a corral hid in the tim ber and watched a gang of thieves for twenty-four hours. While one thief stood guard the , others went out and rounded up the cows and calves, cut the calves into the corral and drove the cows away. If any cow came back it was killed. They captured 150 calves in this one corral. Mossman, who speaks Mexican like a native, had himself thrown in jail over night with a Mexican who was suspected, and during the night the Mexican opened his heart and told Mossman about the operations of himself and several others, which led to the arrest and conviction of several bad thieves. Mossman is both feared and hated by the lawless ones of his district. He is absolutely fearless and recently when cornered in the back of a saloon by a tough gang, who threatened to shoot him if he did not promise to let them alone, he laughed at them and told them he was a better man than they and would certainly have them put in the pen. After an hour's discussion, the gang, stung by Mossman1 s taunts, set down with him to a game of poker and he cleaned them out of all the cash they had and, went off laughing at them. ^

Barnes tells another good story about Mossman. Barnes says that at a roundup Mossman got into an argument with a Holbrook cattleman over a steer which Mossman thought the local cattleman had stolen. The steer was roped and thrown and the m atter of its owner­ ship was referred to Barnes as arbitrator. Barnes decided that the steer belonged to the Aztec Land and Cattle Company. Although the

56 Quoted by The Argus, December 23, 1899. 236 local stockman accepted the decision, he did so grumbling. The grumbling aroused the anger of Mossman, and he said,

uAw, what's the m atter with you? I'm going to have you arrested for stealing that steer anyhow, so what are you grunting about? You are-no good." •••’ ' "I'm as good as you are," retorted the Mexican. "No, you are not. There is nothing that you can do that I cannot do better than you. I can outrun you, outshoot you, outride you and I can lick you anyway you want. " Stung by these taunts, the Mexican offered to run Mossman 100 yards for $20. Mossman promptly accepted the proposition and won. Then the proposition was made to toss $5 gold pieces. Mossman won again, and then offered to exchange shots with the Mexican at twenty paces, but the Mexican had had enough. ^

Early in 1900 Mossman received word to liquidate the last of the Hashknife's fluid holdings. After clearing up the last of the stock, he resigned his position, leaving Frank Wallace in charge.

For a short time Mossman went into business with Ed Tovrea in

Bisbee. They bought out the Overlook Brothers Meat Company and formed Tovrea and Mossman Company, consisting of a slaughter-house and retail shops. Later the Tovrea Meat Company would become one of the state's major meat packing companies.

In March 1901 Governor Murphy appointed Mossman the first

Captain of the . The Governor and others were im pressed with the fact that in his Hashknife campaign Mossman had kept the jails full of rustlers but had never shot a man.

57I b id . 237

Moss man felt that killings were unnecessary and that most were performed by officers out for a reputation. ^ From the time Mossman was placed in command of the Arizona Rangers until his death, he was known to everyone as Cap. Although now in'an important position,

Mossman did not forget his friends in Holbrook nor lose his sense of humor. The Holbrook Argus, dn September 14, 1901, reports that

"From the explosion in the rear of W attron’s drugstore, Monday night shortly after the arrival of No. 2, it was thought that an attempt had been made to destroy the life and property of the ex-she riff and late general of the Wildcat Lagoons; but as soon as the smoke cleared away it was found that Lieut. [CaptainJ Mossman had arrived and placed a large giant {jfireJ cracker at the rear of the store simply as a salute to the general."

Mossman held the position of Captain of the Arizona Rangers until August 31, 1902. He spent the rest of his life in the cattle business living for a time in Bisbee and in Oklahoma, New Mexico,

Colorado and the Dakotas.

On December 12, 1905, Mossman m arried. He and his wife,

Grace, had two children, a son, Billy, and a daughter, Mary. His wife died in 1909, nine days after the birth of his daughter, and his son

SScoolidge, Fighting Men of the W est, p. 259. 238 was killed in an airplane crash in World War II. The Captain died at his home in Roswell, New Mexico, at the age of eighty nine, on

September 5, 1956. Certainly no resident of Holbrook led a life as typical of a western television hero as did Burt Moss man.

In describing Mossman, Frazier Hunt writes: "it is something 59 to be as tough as a boot and yet have the gentle heart of a child. "

By 1901 the Hashknife outfit had left Holbrook, bringing an end to an era. In October of the same year, the last of Holbrook's famous shootings occurred. The Holbrook Argus of October 19, 1901, called the incident "a most cold-blodded attempt upon the life of

Deputy Sheriff Blevins. The newspaper reported that Blevins had called down some soldiers from F troop for their boistrousness. The officer then had gone home for the night, in company with Ike Perkins.

Shortly after their arrival at the Blevins' home, about ten shots were fired by "two or three men" through the glass-paneled door. Blevins was hit just above the nipple on the right side and just below. He was reported "in a fair way to recover . . . unless blood poison should set in. " A bullet passed through Perkins' clothing, dropping into his

Hunt, p. 277.

^Ironically, John Blevins was the same John Blevins who took part in the Commodore Perry Owens' shooting; but this tim e, John Blevins was on the side of the law. This simply illustrates the point 239 shoe. Apparently unharmed were two other occupants, M rs. Blevins and M rs. A1 Stevenson. Blevins identified one man who was arrested and Justice Frank J. W attron took into custody two other soldiers who had deserted camp the night of the shooting. The paper concluded

"It has been a long time since Holbrook has witnessed a scene of this kind, and we are exceedingly sorry, as we do not believe that John

Blevins has an enemy in the country, and there was absolutely no cause for such an attack. "

After this shooting, Holbrook settled down as a nice, quiet, peaceful western railroad town. Needless to say, there are many more stories of Holbrook's colorful .past, but neither time nor space will allow their re-telling here. This w riter has attempted in 1 this chapter to give a representative picture of the more important characters and incidents in Holbrook's early history. They have ranged from R. W.

McNeil, the outlaw, and Judge Sloan, the last Territorial Governor of

Arizona, to Burt Mossman and John Blevins, officers of the law. Thus, a cross-section of Holbrook's colorful characters has been presented in this chapter.

‘that sometimes the difference between a western badman and lawman was only a m atter of a few circumstances. John Blevins was later killed in an automobile accident while serving as a state cattle in s p e c to r . CHAPTER VIII

COMING OF AGE (1902-1942)

Its boistrous, rowdy reputation as a cattle town only a memory now, Holbrook settled down as a sleepy western railroad town in the next forty years. Nevertheless, its population grew from about four hundred to about one thousand two hundred. With the coming of the

Machine Age, businesses became more diversified. Where once cattle and shipping held the top spot among Holbrook businesses, this new era brought emphasis on transportation, communications, public service and even recreation. Newspapers are the prim ary source in tracing the development of Holbrook during these years. The lack of other prim ary sources, such as diaries, letters, and unpublished manuscripts, seems to be a weakness not only in the case of Holbrook, but also in other histories of this period. Perhaps this is because the emphasis in the history of Arizona is still on the period before 1900.

As Holbrook's population increased, so did its public school enrollment. By 1909 the old adobe school building was inadequate and a $5,000 bond issue was passed for a new school building which

240 241 1 later would be Central School. It is interesting to note that during the

1890's and early 1900's some Holbrook citizens sent their families

to JLos Angeles because of the easier life and better school facilities.

Adolf Schuster and Frank W attron are only two examples of this trend.

However, this tendency to send their families or to move themselves

to California was not peculiar to Holbrook but existed during this

period through the state of Arizona. The average daily attendance

by 1912 totaled eighty one. The old adobe building was used for the

Mexican children. There were four teachers, three at Central and

one at the adobe building. M rs. L. C. Henning, ^ who probably did

more for Holbrook than any other woman, was one of the four.

1 The bonds were bought and held by Adolf Schuster. The last one was paid off in 1924. Holbrook Tribune-News, August 7, 1925. 2 M rs. L. C. Henning, wife of Lloyd C. Henning, took an active part for many years in Holbrook in numerous local organizations and charities. Ester Hess Henning was born in Danbury, Ohio, on Octo­ ber 15, 1889. She received training as a teacher at Ada, Ohio, and taught school for one year before coming to Holbrook in 1909. M rs. Henning taught school one year before her m arriage and for four years afterwards. In August 1911, she m arried Lloyd Henning; the couple had two children, a daughter, Billie, and a son, Robert. From 1931- 1940 M rs. Henning was president of the Navajo-Apache Telephone System, Inc.. She died in Holbrook on January 29, 1940. The editor of the Holbrook Tribune-News, on February 2, 1940, wrote: "For the future her greatest dream was a recreation center for the children of Holbrook. M rs. Henning outlined it to us this way: To raise funds by popular subscription until enough was in the bank for the property, a swimming pool, tennis courts and other facilities that make children happier—a thought always uppermost in her mind. Surely one, or all, of the organizations of which she was so much an integral part, could

- 242

Once again, voters approved*a school improvement program when they passed a $15,000 bond issue in the spring of 1913 to modernize the public school building. Within another year, however, students . needed additonal classrooms. The Methodist Church and the J. F. ,

Kemp home provided the extra class space temporarily. "Thanks to the kindness of the church authorities," the Holbrook News reported,

"slate cloth black-boards have been placed upon the walls and perm is­

sion given to seat the church with single desks. "

The passage of an $8,000 bond issue proposal in February 1917 financed the completion and furnishing of the high school building

erected in 1916. Although completed, the building stood idle until

after an election August 4. A month earlier, the school trustees notified Joseph Peterson, county superintendent of schools, that a petition with more than one hundred signatures had been received

calling for the establishment of a high school. ^ In reference to the

called election, the Holbrook News said Professor Edward D. Gallagher,

superintendent of Holbrook schools, estimated that forty-one pupils

take up the baton and carry it to the finish--for her. And when the park is done, and the happy voices of Holbrook's little children are singing among the trees, come around, and we'll name it for her. "

Q Navajo County School document, dated July 23, 1917, Office of the Navajo County School Superintendent, Navajo County Court House, Holbrook. The document was signed by W. B. Woods, L. D. Divelbess, and John Flanigan. 243 were eligible for high school and that if even half these students enrolled , 4 a high school would be well worth establishing. The vote was thirty eight to eight in favor of establishment of a high school. The newspaper said, "The people of Holbrook are generally in favor of anything that will benefit their town and the benefits that will come from a first-class, accredited high school are great; such was the reasoning of the people who voted in favor of the proposition Saturday. ^ Holbrook High operated from 1917 until 1921 as a non-accredited high school which meant that graduates had to pass entrance examinations to enter the university r;or any of the state colleges.

The old.adobe school building, its service.to education over, was sold in 1921 to the town of Holbrook for $1,500. The sale proceeds were used to buy lumber for a gymnasium built by. the manual training class members under the supervision of the teacher, Mr. Skaggs.

In the same year, the high school received accreditation as a member

of the North Central Association.

That the schools were growing can be seen in attendance figures.

Thirty-four students were enrolled in the high school during the 1926-27

school year while one hundred ninety six pupils attended the grade

school. By the school year 1930-31, these figures increased to eighty

4July 27, 1917.

5 Au g u st 10, 1917. 244 six students in the high school and two hundred forty nine pupils in the grade school. To accommodate the larger high school enrollment, voters had approved a $75,000 bond issue proposal in 1928 to finance an addition to the high school. In 1941, a little more than 20 years after its establishment, Holbrook High graduated thirty-six students, a new record. The schools expanded to a new field on the evening of

September 29 when the first adult education program opened at the high school. • . .

i Despite Holbrook's growth, floods and a fire posed temporary threats in the next 40 years. Fortunately, the 1902 fire never reached the major proportions of the disastrous 1888 blaze which destroyed much of the business district. The townsmen worked quickly to bring the 1902 fire under control, after cries of fire and pistol shots aroused

Holbrook citizens. "Within a few minutes after the alarm men and boys began to arrive upon the scene and with commendable spirit plunged unceremoniously into the work of fighting fire and saving property. No excitement prevailed and to this fact is due the limited area covered by the flames . . . The origin of the fire is not definitely known.

Losses as nearly as can be ascertained, were the Argus, $300; Louie

Ghuey, $500; A. M. Boyer, $2,000; W. B. Woods, $100; W etzler

B ros., $1,800. "6

^The Holbrook Argus, April 19, 1902. 245

The most damaging of the floods came in 1904 and in 1923, but

as a result funds were sought and used to reinforce the river banks

as a safeguard against later flood threats. Although the Navajo County-

Board of Supervisors had taken steps as early as July 6, 1904, to

close the Holbrook bridge over the Little Colorado until repairs were

made, the property owners were not satisfied. On August 29, land­

holders presented to the board a petition asking a five-hundred-dollar

appropriation to help protect private and public property from flood

threat. The petition stated:

That for the past 12 years the citizens of Holbrook have expended the sum of ten thousand dollars . . . in money and labor in order to keep the town of Holbrook from being washed away by the little Colorado River; that the unprecedented high waters of the past two days have caused the banks to cave in at an alarming rate at a point south and west of the James Scott house, not only endangering private property but also the Navajo County bridge and the Holbrook school building. This, if not protected, would in time, and a very short tim e--be left high and dry and the river would be running on the north side of the bridge and school house or both totally destroyed. ^

As a result, the board granted the appropriation and the river

banks were reinforced. However, nineteen years later the little

Colorado again threatened to flood Holbrook. The north bank began to

^Ibid. , September 3, 1904. The petition was signed: A. and B. Schuster, Wetzler B ros., F. J. Wattron, Mrs. C. O. Brown by F. J. Wattron, agent, A. M. Boyer, W. B. Woods, Smith and Smith, John R. Hulet, Supt. of A. C. M .I. , Loin. Ghuey, A. F. M cAllister, H. H. Scorse, W./H. Clark, R. D. Greer, Henry Kempenich and John Conner.

h, 246 crumble on September 17 and 18, 1923, and great torrents of water rushed through the homes of Judge J. E. Crosby and J. C.; Manley, as well as the Holbrook bakery.

The water carried away two cottages belonging to Dick Greer on the alley between Porter and Montana Streets and the old A. C. M .I. warehouse opposite Judge Crosby's. The county bridge withstood the rush of water and floating debris, but the Apache Railway Company bridge piling was ripped away. ^

"The ravages of the floods from the Little Colorado River during the few previous days awakened the people of Holbrook to the danger of present conditions to a degree never before experienced," the newspaper said.

As a result, most of the town’s property owners attended the largest public meeting ever held at Pastime Hall, September 20.

W. J. Hookway, president of the Chamber of Commerce, conducted the meeting. John R. Hulet was appointed chairman of a committee seeking aid from federal, state, county, and railroad authorities. He said he and other old-tim ers had been fighting the river for the past

30 years or more. In late December the Holbrook paper reported that pilings were being driven in to form dikes, one behind the A. C. M .I. 247 warehouse and the other in the rear of the R. D. Greer home. The dike was constructed of heavy four-inch plank nailed on each side of the two rows of piling, reinforced by about an eight foot thickness of heavy rock. Further down stream heavy rock (just as large as could be carried) would be placed along the bank of the river. Also, in

December, the Arizona Tax Commission granted perm ission to the

Board of Supervisors to levy a tax of $12,000 for the purpose of pre­ venting the river from endangering the bridges at Holbrook and St.

J o se p h .

Recovering from the effects of the 1923 flood took Holbrook several years. But flood control was only one of several projects during that time. Moreover, a group of volunteer citizens under the direction of the Lions Club planted twelve thousand tam arack trees along the Little

Colorado in the spring of 1936. The Tribune reported that the trees would "form a hedge and prevent dust and sand from the -river from blowing back into town and as sand blows against the trees, it will pile up and make an embankment which will prohibit the river from spreading toward the town. "9 The saplings were set out for about a mile and a half up the river from the Apache railroad bridge. Some of the trees may still be seen.

9ibid. , March 20, 1936. 248

Although Holbrook had not had a serious flood since 1923, the citizens of the town still sought help in controlling the little Colorado

River during the summer rainy season. As early as the fall of 1929, a group of U. S. Engineers completed a preliminary survey on a little Colorado River Control System, but it was not until the spring of 1937 that money was made available for the project. The Tribune declares that through the efforts of John Scott, member of the Arizona

Highway Commission, the state highway department, Governor R. C.

Stanford, and the Works Progress Administration (WPA), a two thousand seven hundred foot long dike will be constructed along the north side of the little Colorado River. The editor also states that

"with each succeeding flood, silt deposits have raised the bed of the river until now it is higher than the of the Holbrook streets."11

In the fall of 1937, the dike was extended from the Holbrook bridge west to the Apache Railway bridge and the WPA also made available

$25,590 to install curbs, gutters, and sidewalks on the first street north of Highway 66.

A growing town called for a new form of government; talk about the possibility of incorporating Holbrook came up more and more in

^The estimated cost of the project was $20,000. Of this amount $4,000 came from the Governor's emergency fund, $2,000 from the Arizona Highway Commission, $13,500 from the WPA, and $500 from H o lb ro o k .

U May 7, 1937. 249

1915 and 1916. By early 1917, the Holbrook News had taken up the cry.

The editor wrote on February 23:

Holbrook is growing rapidly and this growth can be m aterially assisted by incorporating the town. Sidewalks and paved streets are needed; the streets should be lighted and sewer and water systems should be constructed. None of these improvements can be secured until the town is incorporated. Moreover the town is badly in need of fire and police protection. Without fire protection the business section of the town may be destroyed at any time should a fire get started. Under incorporation, , adequate fire protection could be provided. At present the sheriff's office furnishes the only police protection and while this is all right, so far as it goes, it is not sufficient. To furnish the protection it does is outside the province of the sheriff's office. This protection is not one of the duties of the sheriff's office but it is furnished simply for accommodation. The town needs a m arshall and such can only be secured under incorpora­ tio n .

As a result of prodding from the town newspaper and interested citizens, an incorporation petition was circulated among Holbrook taxpayers. There seemed to be little opposition as more than two- thirds of the property owners signed the petition. By a unanimous vote of the Navajo County Board of Supervisors, Holbrook was incor­ porated on Tuesday, March 6, 1917, with a mayor-council type of

government. ^ The Board also appointed five councilmen to serve until a regular election could be held. They were W. R. Scorse,

Julius W etzler, P. T. Coleman, J. C. Pauls ell, and J. W. Richards.

^September 8, 1916. 250

At the first council meeting, on March 8, W. R. Scorse was elected mayor and the following officers were appointed: R. S. Teeple,

13 clerk; L». F. McClanahan, ;-and C. H. Jordan, attorney.

Soon after the completion of the incorporation, a small group of people

attempted to disincorporate. According to the News,

Some of the people who are seeking to disincorporate the town of Holbrook are not particular as to the kind of methods they use to accomplish their purpose. Destitute of valid arguments to cause people to look at the question as they do, they are seeking by false statements to secure signers to their petition, possibly . losing sight of the fact that most of the people try to convince by such methods will find out for themselves that they have been hoodwinked. ^

The two stories, circulated by the opposition were that the mayor and

council already had voted themselves salaries totaling $4500 and that

Holbrook was too sm all for incorporation. They stated that towns

the size of Holbrook that had tried incorporation met with failure. ^

On April 27, the News wrote "The proponents of disincorporation may

force the issue to a vote but the battle of ballots will result in a victory

for the allies of progress." *1

^Holbrook News, March 9, 1917.

1^Ibid. , March 16, 1917. Newspaper reports are the only source of early council proceedings. Although apparently minutes were kept starting with the first meeting, present city records do not begin until May 10, 1918. Interview with Tom Smithton, city manager, in Holbrook, J u ly 1961.

15April 20, 1917. 251

At their first meeting in May the mayor and council established a monthly salary schedule for city officers. The m arshal would.draw

$65; the clerk, $25; the superintendent of .streets, $10; and, the councilman would draw no salaries. The total salary cost to the town would be $100 per month. ^

In Holbrook's first city general election on May 28, 1917,

George W. Hennessey received the highest number of votes cast for councilman and was chosen mayor. Council men were John Flanigan,

17 Charles P. Cooley, W« H. Chamberlain, and L. D. DLvelbess.

B. B. Neel was appointed town clerk.

In July the council adopted Holbrook's first budget in the amount of $3790. 00. The tax levy was fifty cents on the dollar; fifteen cents would be for street improvements; and, thirty-five cents, for general p u rp o s e s .

^Holbrook News, May 11, 1917.

l^For a list of other mayors, councilmen and town clerks, see Appendix C.

The budget breakdown was as follows: Indebtedness preceding year p a n tin g $ 3 4 0 .0 0 Engineering War 1 3 0 .0 0 S a la r ie s 1, 620.00 Hall, fuel and light 3 0 0 .0 0 Stationery and printing 200.00 Street work 1, 000.00 Miscellaneous 200.00 $ 3 ,7 9 0 .0 0 252

The Holbrook town council sought to annex some areas outside the city limits before the federal census was taken in early T.940, but the effort failed. Upon completion of the census, an erroneous report that the population was fifty two less than in 1930 raised the ire of the editor of the Holbrook Tribune-News. On April 19, he wrote, "The diminutiveness of the town’s corporate limits was a huge joke a few months ago. Now it is a serious matter . . . . The;difference between 1,000 and 2,000 persons in the official figures, of Holbrook may mean a federal building, or something equally important some day. " It was not, however, until December 19, 1941, that the city limits were expanded by annexation to bring an estim ated five hundred people and sixty five thousand dollars worth of assessed valuation into the city and a new plat of the town was adopted. *9

*9The property that was annexed was adjacent and contiguous and the petitions had been signed by more than half of the property owners concerned. The town limits line was north and south of the length of Sixth Street on north, line ran east on Erie Street to a point just behind the school grounds, where it ran north half a block, to the alley between Erie and , where it ran east entirely through the town. The Tribune wrote that the town council clerk, J. R. McCleve, said that "the new plat carries the street names and designations which will hereafter be official." The paper further reported that the "council plans to have street signs erected in the immediate future, and all houses are to be numbered. " December 19, 1941. The dividing line in the new plat was Navajo Boulevard (formerly Porter Street). This boulevard divided the town in two and was the principal business street. It started at the railroad crossing at the depot, and ran north through town. The other principal thoroughfare (Highway 66, coming into Holbrook from the West) was Hopi Drive. 253

The official U. S. Census for 1940 showed Holbrook with a popu­ lation of 1, 184, an increase over 1930 of only, sixty-nine people.

During the same period, Winslow showed only a slightly higher rate

of increase, from 3,907 to 4,573. . As a result of annexation, Holbrook's

official population rose to 1,478 and the assessed valuation jumped to

$ 7 9 4 ,0 0 0 ..

- The city government offered more and better electric, water

and sewer systems as the twenties opened. For example, Holbrook

acquired a new sewer and water system in the spring of 1920, as well

as some electric street lights. On May 21, the editor of the Tribune

had written nNo one wants to live in a town where the m ajority of the

water is as unfit to drink as is the case in Holbrook and the lack of

sewage and fire protection is a constant menace to the entire community.11

A bond election was held on May 24 and passed by a vote of ninety to

thirty seven.

The Holbrook City Council at its May 20 meeting made, a contract

with the Holbrook Electric Light Company to install fifteen electric,

street lights in Holbrook. The lights were to be one hundred candle

power in brightness and would be located at suitable places^ throughout *21

^L etter from Howard G. Bruns man, Chief, Population Division, Bureau of the Census, U. S. Department of Commerce, to this w riter, dated July 18, 1958.

21 The lights were installed at the A. C. M .I. corner, Woods corner, Commercial Hotel corner. Central Hotel corner, south side bridge, 254 town. The Tribune ^remarks that "These lights have been something sorely needed for a long tim e, and from now on one can go home in the outskirts on a dark night without fear of breaking his neck!' ' The lights were, installed cind working by the middle of January 1921.

The installation of a new water system gained voter approval on

October 1, 1925. The vote of ninety two to one favored a bond issue not to exceed $44, 000. The city council is sued another contract for a new water supply, system in 1928, only eight years after a new system had been installed. The chief objection to the water supply was an overabundance of sodium chloride (common salt). However, it was not until the spring of 1929 that the new city well was ream ed and pumps installed. By June 7, the new well was producing one hundred gallons of water per minute.

. Againdn December 16, 1933, Holbrook voters approved a bond issue for a new water system by a percentage of twelve to one. The estimated cost of the new system was $48,200 of which $10,000 was to be received from the federal government. The old concrete storage tank was to be replaced with a new steel tank and a new pipeline laid

northside bridge, highway near Keys' store, at H. H. Scorse dwelling, Scorse lot opposite depot, Divelbess corner. Courthouse corner, Gallup road near garage, opposite Flanigans, C. H. Jordans, Mormon Church, and the high school.

22june 19, 1920. 255 from the Me Laws artesian well to Holbrook. The entire job was to be

carried out under government supervision. The.new water system was

completed three years later at a cost of $51,073.57. The new well produced 1250 gallons of water per minute, an ample amount to take

care of the daily consumption of 80,000 gallons.

By early 1938 Holbrook's new two hundred thousand dollar water

system was in full operation. Dave Ostrander, city water superinten­

dent, reported that the new system contained eight miles of water

mains under constant pressure, a modern pumping plant, and two

units of electrically driven wells, each capable of producing three

hundred gallons per minute. The town's daily consumption of water

in the summer totaled eighty five to ninety five thousand gallons and

was slightly lower in the winter months. Mr. Ostrander said that

from fifteen to twenty thousand gallons of water per month served as

sewer flushing water. He completed his report by declaring that the

town of Holbrook had in the last fourteen years pumped fifty two . - 23 million gallons of water through its water mains.

Meanwhile, a proposal was passed in late 1939 to refund "the

outstanding water and sewer bond that will retire approximately $28,000

in registered warrants, both now bearing 6 per cent interest. The sewer

23jbid., February 4, 1938. 256 and water bonds were originally issued for $135,000 bearing 6 per cent interest! They will be called for payment, although they are not serial bonds and not due until 1950 and will be supplanted with bonds 24 bearing 4 1/2 per-cent. "

The following year on July 2, Holbrook residents approved the granting of a new twenty five year franchise to the Holbrook Light and 25 Power Company by a vote of one hundred sixty to ninety one. The heavy balloting in the special election indicated the widespread interest in the proposal. Soon afterward, on June 20, 1941, the town council proposed that Holbrook purchase the local power company. This would develop into a controversy in 1942 over a one hundred thousand dollar ' ■ ■ . -■ . - ' - . bond election proposal to purchase the Holbrook Light and Power

C om pany.

^Tbid., December 22, 1937.

2^The first electric light company was organized in Holbrook in 1915. The firm was known at the Meyers-Quebedeaux Company and Kenneth Meyer was the manager. In 1925 the two partners sold out to the Holbrook Light and Power Company. M rs. Rowena Woods, a town resident, said that "quite an ado was made when the people of Holbrook first realized they would no longer need to use oil lam ps. 11 Holbrook Tribune-News, July 2, 1940.

Z^The opposition to the bond issue was based on the prem ises that too short a time had been given the voters to perm it them to investigate the m erits of the proposal and that the price for the power company was too high (the council planned to pay ninety four thousand dollars for the plant and set up an operating fund of six thousand dollars). There was also objection to the fact that a bond brokerage firm of 257

While thus expanding water, sewer and electric services, the city government ran into difficulties financially. For instance, delinquent taxes for 1930 doubled those of 1929. In the summer of

1931, town clerk W. J. Hookway reported that delinquent taxes owed the town of Holbrook from 1925 to 1930 amounted to $10,961.86 and that "this delinquent amount represents practically half of one year's budget and when collected would put the finances of the town in good condition. " The town budget for the year 1931-1932 was $30, 947. 26, a reduction of $2,510 over the previous year. The same year, 1931,

Denver, Colorado,had agreed to pay five hundred dollars to help defray the cost of the bond election and the brokerage company had negotiated an agreement with the council whereby that firm would be sold the bonds. The bond was voted on and passed in July by a vote of one hundred twenty one to seventy five. The editor of the Tribune on July 10 wrote "Holbrook had its first taste of 'ward politics' with paid workers on both sides of the issue ignoring all 'rules of the game' and slipping in low punches at every opportunity.

^Ibid. , July 3, 1931. The delinquent taxes due the town of Holbrook for the years 1925 to 1930 were as follows: 1925 $ 2 3 6 .4 2 1926 1 ,1 6 8 .5 6 1927 1 ,1 6 3 .8 3 1928 1 ,0 7 6 . 07 1929 2 ,3 5 8 . 10 1930 4 ,9 4 8 .8 8 T o ta l $10,951. 86 258 according to the Tribune, Navajo County's valuation dropped $421, 949.

The loss occurred as a result of the decrease in the amount of cattle,

28 merchandise, railroads, automobiles, and sheep in the county. The

Holbrook tax rate for 1931-1932 was $2.1531, an increase of $. 1548

over the previous years while the assessed valuation for the town in

1931 was approximately $104,000. The postal receipts for 1931,

called a good "business barom eter, fell only $320. 30 below the

1030 figure.

In contrast, the tax rate for 1942-43 was the lowest tax rate in

Holbrook history. The assessed valuation for the same period was the

highest since the town was founded in 1881,1 an increase of $80, 782

over the 1941-42 valuation of $729,141. Most of the increase came

as a result of the property added to the town by the 1941 annexation.

Ten thousand dollars of the town's $38,505 budget would be raised 30 by direct taxation, another low point in the history of Holbrook. *2

28Ibid. , July 17, 1931.

29ibid., January 8, 1932.

^T he figures for the cities tax rate from 1931-1943 and the amount of money raised by taxation from 1935-1943 are listed below: Tax Rate Money Raised by Taxation 1931-32 1.88 1932-33 1 .9 8 1933-34 2.28 1934.-35 2 .4 3 1935-36 2. 26 1 9 3 5 - 36 $ 1 5 ,3 8 6 2 .3 6 1936-37 1 9 3 6 - 37 16 ,6 2 5 259

In still another area, slum clearance, Holbrook forged ahead.

Word was received on August 28, 1941, that the federal government. had granted one hundred thousand dollars for slum clearance in \ H o lb ro o k .

Economic problems also vexed the community. Seven years

after its creation from Apache County, Navajo County had a total

indebtedness of $44, 000. Navajo County Recorder A. F. M cAllister

included this information in a report to the Governor in August 1902.

The county assessm ent roll of 1902 showed taxable property amount­

ing to $1,092, 905. 14, about $100, 000 less than the total of ,the previous

year. The drop was attributed to restrictions placed on the sheep and

cattle industries by the creation of the forest reserve, the reduction

of twenty-five per cent on lots and improvements in Winslow and

principally on the refusal of the Santa Fe Pacific Railroad Company to

continue to pay taxes of $5,000 per mile of valuation on their county right

of way of 57 m iles. The railroad claimed total exemption under the

1937-38 . 2 .7 0 1937-38 $19,195 1938-39 2 .9 3 1938-39 2 1 ,4 7 9 1939-40 2. 86 1939-40 2 1 ,0 6 0 1940-41 2. 16 1940-41 1 5 ,4 8 5 1941-42 1 .5 9 1941-42 11,605 1942-43 1.23 1942-43 1 0 ,0 0 0 Indebted of town, $121,000. $36, 000 water improvement issued in 1935. $63,000 water and sewer refunding, 1940. $22,000 bonds issued to refund warrants outstanding in 1940. Holbrook Tribune-News, July 31, 1942. 260 company reorganization but consented to contribute a gratuity to the county of $2500 per mile at not m ore than a levy of $3. 50 per $100 although the rest of the taxable property of the county for that year was $4. 25.

M cAllister said that rigid economy in county government, coupled with two sources of revenue would help offset the drop in taxable property. The sources mentioned were the refunding of the Apache

County bonds and the passage of a congressional act creating the Santa

Fe Pacific Railroad Company under a new charter which would stipulate that the company pay $175 per mile on its right of way and improvements in Arizona. McAllister said:

The most important economic question with us is Ithat of irriga­ tion, in the main as a farming people. There are possibly from 4500 to 5000 acres of land under cultivation, 20 irrigating canals in different sections of the county, with 30 or 40 miles of laterals with a total capacity of nearly 4000 m iner’s inches, and this is as yet one of the many undeveloped resources of this county, demonstrating what is. possible with restricted means as accomplished by an industrious .".people .... Holbrook, the county seat, is the commercial center of the county. . . . as an evidence of its importance as a shipping and receiving entrepot (sicj, we will submit a few figures furnished by the courtesy of Mr. C. H. Brown, the efficient railroad agent here to-wit: For the past year, 74 cars of horses, representing an estimated value.of $25,000; 112 cars of cattle, representing an estimated value of $45,000; 90 cars of sheep, estimated value, $75, 000; together with 1,350, 000 lbs. of wool and 1^200, 000 lbs. of government freight, and not including the total of merchandise distributed within a radius of 200 m iles, having no data to give the bulk or value of. . . . following exhibit will show and as of record in the office of the county school superintendent, Mr. F. J. W attron, to wit: Value of school buildings, $17,374.46; school apparatus, furniture, 261

libraries, etc., $2,281, 00; total, $19,655.46; salaries of teachers, $9,090. 82; average of salaries paid, $62.50; total expenditures from school fund for school year, $12, 293. 21, school census for present year between the age of 6 and 21, 950; actual attendance shown above, 838; estimate made by county school superintendent for present year, $14,790.00.31

In May 1903 the Albuquerque’Citizen reported that Holbrook

is small in proportion, but great in importance from a commer­ cial standpoint. Holbrook is commercially important from the fact that it is a distributing point for people living in the scope of country grazed over by thousands of sheep and cattle, 150 miles to the north and as far to the south. To the south of Holbrook leads the Fort for wagon routes of com m erce to several Mormon *20

31 Ib id . August 9, 1902. The abstract listed from the assessment roll of Navajo County in 1902 was: 1,036,960.91 acres of land $259,994.38 Improvement on land 3&,'707. 00 Town and city lots 9 3 ,9 1 8 .5 7 Improvement on lots 180.512.00 1,282 range horses 1 2 ,8 2 0 .0 0 440 work horses 1 7 .6 0 0 .0 0 278 saddle horses .5 ;5 6 0 .0 0 7 stallions 3 5 0 .0 0 21 mules . . • 6 3 0 .0 0 76 a s s e s 3 8 0 .0 0 2, 228 range and stock cattle 2 6 .7 3 6 .0 0 385 milch cows 7 ,7 0 0 .0 0 20 b u lls 3 0 0 .0 0 70,455 sheep 1 4 0 .9 1 0 .0 0 175 g o ats 3 7 5 .0 0 92 sw in e 4 6 0 .0 0 57, 155 miles of railroad 142,887.50 All other property 1 8 3 ,0 6 4 .6 9 $1,092,905. 14 262

towns and Fort Apache. At the fo rt. are stationed two troops of cavalry and one company of infantry.. They get their supplies from Holbrook, where they are shipped by the government. The Fort Apache trail is still the scene of the high-topped stage coach like Army ambulances and the mule team freight wagon. It is estimated conservatively that 10,000 people secure their supplies through the six or eight stores at Holbrook. It is also a large wool shipping point, but not the headquarters of many cattlemen, as in form er years. ^

Holbrook remained an important railroad shipping center. On

June 28, 1902, The Argus reported that "Holbrook is sustaining her reputation as a shipping point for wool and stock. There has up to this time been shipped 45 cars of wool, amounting to about 2,000,000 pounds, besides several trainloads of stock.11 In his 1904 annual report. County Recorder M cAllister wrote that

"Holbrook, the county seat, is the most important shipping point between Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Needles, California, being the extrepot£siq} of supplies for a radius of country of over two hundred miles . . . . The amount of wool shipped up to , 1904, 760,000 pounds, amount of freight received 1,709, 194 pounds, amount of government freight received during the same time, 2, 120,000 pounds, besides a large amount of livestock shipped to Eastern m arkets.

Although no longer the prim ary shipping center it had been in the

1880's and 1890's, Holbrook was still an im portant station on the Santa

Fe Railroad. This is confirmed by figures issued by J. M. Lee, local agent for the Santa Fe Railroad, showing the livestock shipments from *

■^Quoted by The Holbrook A rgus, May 16, 1903.

^Ibid., August 13, 1904. 263

Holbrook during the year 1917. The statistics giving the total cars and numbers of head shipped are as follows:

Cattle ’ • , Sheep C a rs N o. h e a d C a rs N o. h e a d

J a n u a ry 40 8929

F e b r u a r y 17 3741

M a rc h

A p r il

M ay 1 34.

Ju n e 88 4875

J u ly 14 684

A u g u st 14 504 12 3581

S e p te m b e r 2 64 83 18683

O c to b e r 63 • 2651 147 41573

N o v e m b e r 189 9232 161 37180

D e c e m b e r 26 946 80 15298

T o ta l 397 18990 540 129005

A ls o , 9 cars horses, 278 head. 34

The Holbrook Tribune-News reported on September 14, 1923, that UA

comparison of the business done over the Santa Fe Railroad for the year

1923 as compared with a sim ilar period in 1922, at the Holbrook station,

shows an increase for the year 1923 of 16 per cent. M

•^Holbrook News, January 25, 1918. 264

Meanwhile, Holbrook acquired a new railway in 1918 which pro­ vided transportation for tim ber felled in the White Mountains national forest reserve. The Apache Railway track, still in operation, was laid from Holbrook, seventy one miles south to d u ff s denega, at a cost of three million dollars. As a result, the newspaper declared on

January 8, 1926, Holbrook had become an important lumber shipping center. From January 1, 1925, to January 1, 1926, there had been shipped from Holbrook the following carloads of goods: lumber -

2,665 cars, livestock - 1400 cars, cattle - 800 cars, and sheep -

600 cars. By December 31, 1926, 1500 cars of livestock and 1900 cars of lumber had been shipped from ’-Holbrook.

Wool continued to be an im portant shipping commodity; as late as July 8, 1932, the Holbrook Tribune-News announced that "Holbrook was the . . . largest wool shipping point on the coast line of the Santa

Fe Railroad" and that 450,000 pounds of wool had been shipped during the year. Nevertheless, Holbrook declined in importance as a livestock shipping center on the Santa Fe Railroad in the thirties. Fewer and fewer references to the amount of stock shipped from town are contained in the papers of this period. One reason why Holbrook may have lost so much of the region's business was given by a committee from the

Northern Arizona Cattlemen's Association headed by Charles W etzler, who called on the Holbrook Chamber of Commerce in January 1936. 265

The only place cattle and sheep could be driven across the river, he said, was at the city dumping grounds which had become so congested it was almost impossible to use. By the time the mountain cattle

reached the crossing, they were tired and irritable. "It sometimes takes several hours to get a few head across the dumping ground and then when they are put in the stock pens, they do not lie down and

rest. This causes a great shrinkage," he said.

As a result, stockmen had urged the Santa Fe Railway to bidld

loading pens at Chambers and other points along the line. Cattle

Inspector Ed Hennessey reported more stock shipped from several of

these points than from Holbrook. Only a few years earlier, Holbrook

was the shipping center for stock from the entire section. A Gila

County cattle company became so disgusted it began paying an extra

freight charge of $30 a car to load at Snowflake. W etzler concluded,

the newspaper said, that the dumping of rubbish in the path across the • 35 cattle trail is a slap in the face of the cattlemen.

The Chamber of Commerce appointed a committee, composed of

Joe Gerwitz, Fred Schuster and Chet Leavitt, to meet with the town

council and the president of the Cattlemen1 s Association to try to

solve the problem. •

35pbi.(k , November 15, 1935. 266

Even as business slackened in such areas as cattle and shipping, ; it expanded in the more diversified fields of banking, services, trans­ portation, and communications. Holbrook had its first bank with the establishment in April 1909 of a branch of the Navajo County Bank of

Winslow. Lloyd C. Henning was named manager with the title, assistant cashier. Loui Ghuey's old photography saloon was remodeled to house the bank,, Holbrook citizens gained access to a \ public library for the first time in July 1925 when the library opened in the Community Church. Another service offered residents, the

Park-Navajo Hospital which was built in 1936 by Dr. J. M. Park, acquired a new wing in March 1941. Sidney Sapp, ^ a la w y e r, 3( founded the Holbrook News as a Republican weekly on May 14, 1909.

36Ibid., April 20, 1909.

3?Sidney Sapp was born in Fayette County, Illinois, on September 27, 1868. He graduated from college in Stockton, Missouri, and began a law practice there in 1895. Judge Sapp later migrated to Hominy, Oklahoma, where he served as postm aster, founded the town's first newspaper, and practiced law. He came to Holbrook in 1909. In 1912 Sapp was the first judge of the superior court under statehood. Leaving the bench in 1919 he maintained a private practice until 1936. In 1923 Sapp was Grand M aster of the Grand Lodge of Arizona, Free-and Accepted Mason. Judge Sapp was an outstanding leader in Holbrook as well as in the: state of Arizona. He died June 28, 1938, and was buried in Redlands, California.

38The paper became a Democratic organ in 1921 and was later independent. Future publishers and editors of the Holbrook News were: the Holbrook News Publishing Company, 1913-1914; G. M. Braxton, 1915-August 8, 1919; M rs. G. Braxton, August 15, 1919-June 4, 1920; 267

Thus, the town had two newspapers until February 4, 1913, when

The Argus ceased publication. The News was consolidated on February

23, 1923, with the Holbrook Tribune to form the Holbrook Tribune-News.

Mark H. Bryan was editor until 1927 when he sold to the Giragi

Brothers. ^ Under private ownership until 1947, the newspaper was then incorporated under the name of Northern Arizona Printers and

Publishers, Inc..

Although the A ztec: Land and Cattle Company had gone out of the cattle business in 1901, it was trying other economic endeavors, including the sale and leasing of land. The Holbrook Tribune-News reported on January 10, 1910, that officials had announced "they will lay out town lots on their land, in other words creating an addition to the town of Holbrook. Their proposed town will be directly south and west of the Mexican town across the bridge. The present town is now owned by C. F. Perkins. "

Earl T. Lyon, June 11, 1920-April 8, 1921; M rs. G. M. Braxton, owner, Sims Ely, editor, April 15-June 3, 1926; Holbrook News Company, Sims Ely, editor, June 10, 1921-April 22, 1922; Holbrook News Company, Claire H. Bryan, editor, last half of 1922. Estelle Lutrell, Newspapers and Periodicals of Arizona, 1859-1911, University of Arizona Bulletin, July 1949, p. 25.

^T he Giragi Brothers continued to publish the paper until 1938 when C. P. Giragi assumed control and published the Tribune until 1946. Other editors were Platt Cline, 1938-1945; C. O. Anderson, 1945-1947; and V. F ., Richards, 1948-present. 268

The incorporation of Holbrook and the establishment of the new high school in 1917 gave the town a wellrneeded shot of adrenalin.

Holbrook began to awake from its lethargy. In the spring the editor of the News wrote:

-Holbrook now has 55 business and professional firm s ... . . out of the town lead 4 star mail routes which supply about 50 post offices. There were shipped into Holbrook last year approxi­ mately 645 car loads of merchandise or nearly 26 million pounds. To this should be added about 6 million pounds of merchandise brought in by freight other than in car load lots, making a total of about 32 million ..pounds of merchandise distributed in the territory bo Holbrook. Local bank clearings run over $2,000 a day. "40

Like the inhabitants of many another town in the United States,

Holbrook residents marveled over the coming of the Machine Age. The arrival of the first automobile in town in the early 1900* *s drew a great deal of interest. Emma Hunsaker writes that when "the first auto­ mobile, called the *Rio Mountaineer c a r,1 came through the area it drove up in their yard ^McLawsj, and one of the little boys said, 'You funny men 'cos you've got a funny wagon. ' The two men, a driver and mechanic, spent the night with the Me Laws. The next day they went on their wzy East and when theygpt: to the Rio Grande River they tried 4i to cross on ice and went under. Both men were killed. "

40March 2, 1917.

41 " ' - ■ - : * Ibid.. M rs. Hunsaker says that the driver was Percy Mac gargle and the mechanic, David Fas set. She also writes: "In February 1885, 269

The automobile had come to stay when the Arizona Transporta­ tion and Automobile Company established its headquarters in town in

March 1908. Needless to say, there was a great deal of interest in

Holbrook, not only in the automobile but in the establishment of a highway through the area. Therefore, Holbrook citizens would strive

during the next several to route federal highways through their town. M rs. Hunsaker also recalls that the first highway through

Holbrook went by the McLaws1 place on the south side of the Little

Colorado River. ^

In an effort to secure a place for Holbrook along the route of a

proposed highway across northern Arizona, the Holbrook Argus in

the spring of 1912 wrote that the route

the first car load of flour arrived in Holbrook. My father, John McLaws, got $25. 00 lb. and J. H. Richards got $20. 00 lb. from John Hill Young, the man left at Holbrook. John [McLaws] sold the water well he owned at the ranch we all lived on and ran a dairy into Holbrook. He sold the well of water to Holbrook, which is the only means of water Holbrook has. We used to sell water into Holbrook while running the dairy truck for 5^ a gallon . . . He [johnJ was initiated into the Hash Knife outfit when he was 14 years old by a bully who made him stick out his foot, and the bully emptied a six shooter by hitting on one side of his foot and then the other. He ran the first dairy into Holbrook selling the milk in bottles, delivered at 10£ a quart. Frank W attron and Joe Woods ran the first saloon in Holbrook. Bill Cross ran the first barber shop. " Letter from Emma Hunsaker to this w riter, dated July 24, 1959. Letter edited by this w riter.

^Ibid u. S. Highway 66 is now on the north side of the river. 270

through northern Arizona should by all means follow the line of the railway from Albuquerque to Gallup in New Mexico, thence to the famous Petrified Forest at Adamana. From there to Holbrook and Winslow, through the and to Flagstaff and the , and from there to Prescott and Phoenix and on to the Coast, The idea of a touring car tfavassing j^sic]Arizona and missing the Petrified Forest, Painted Desert, and the Grand Canyon is absurd . . . This northern route would be less expensive to build than the one now mapped outfSpringerville, Fort Apache, Globe, Phoenix].43 L

The paper further stated that Navajo County's Board of Supervisors had taken up the m atter and that they were doing everything-possible to secure the route and that "a highway would be of great benefit for tours to local points of interest and to local owners of automobiles,"

Meanwhile, city and county governments took steps to improve roads already in use. Navajo County voted by a majority of more than two to one on April 24, 1917, to issue $160,000 in bonds to improve country roads. In a five-year period beginning in 1928, two new bridges would span rivers at Holbrook. The Levy Construction Com­ pany began work on the first in the spring of 1928. It was built at the south end of Holbrook, west of the existing structure across the Little

Colorado River. According to the Tribune of March 2, 1928, the

$51, 384. 14 bridge was the first in Arizona with sidewalks as well as a vehicle roadway. On July 5, 1932, a $250, 000 steel and concrete bridge across the Rio Puerco was dedicated.

43 Ibid., April 16. 271

In December 1929 the city granted a contract to the Southwest

Paving Company to lay six-inch asphalt on those Holbrook streets carrying highways 66 and 70 traffic. The previous May, the council had voted to match federal aid and to pave an eighteen-foot strip over highways 66 and 70 as they traversed town. However, the paving resolution was not officially adopted until August 28, 1929. The state also participated by paying the cost for a nineteen-foot center strip.

The paving was completed in the summer of 1930. Although the paving of Holbrook's major streets would aid the city's progress, in future years the paving problem was to become a very controversial issue.

Irate citizens went to court in January 1935 in a protest against paying assessm ents for paving they considered inadequate. Superior

Court Judge Sawyer issued a temporary order restraining the town council from selling property and collecting paving assessm ents. The suit charged that the paving company failed to follow specifications for m aterials and that the paving was a damage and not an asset to property owners, the newspaper said. Two years after the paving was put down in 1930, defects started showing up, the complaint said. The newspaper went on to say that in the citizens' opinion the streets were in worse condition than they were before they were paved and in many places very rough and dangerous. "The rocks have been flying to the sides 272 when cars have gone down the main street and windows on both sides

44 of the street have been continuously broken by them. " ' Two months later the Southwest Paving Company offered to reduce by twenty per - cent the amount of assessm ents remaining unpaid or reduce the amount Iby fifteen per cent plus the accrued interest. At a public mass meeting on March 28, it was voted unanimously to reject the offer. In early April the town council countered with a proposal that the company abrogate fifty per cent of the amount of the unpaid bonds.

The paving controversy raged most of the rest of the year. On

April 26 the council granted a $46,794. 71 contract to the E. L.

Yeager Company to pave Porter Street (the main north-south street through town) with from six to nine inch concrete and to put in side­ walks where none had been laid. The Tribune reported on May 10, that the Southwest Paving Company had threatened to sue the city and the town council. The paper states that the "city refused to fall for what is term ed a cheap bluff." In the middle of November the council countered by filing "suit to recover the bond for performance of contract of the Southwest Paving Company in the amount of $13, 052. 00 which was posted about five years ago. The council failed in its attempt to recover the bond money, but the paving assessm ents were d ro p p e d .

^Ibid., January 18, 1935.

August 4, 1933. 273

Meanwhile, the telephone came to Holbrook. The Argus reported

in 1907 that parties connected with the central office in town were "the

A. C. M.I. store, A. and B. Schuster, H. H.. Scorse,. Pioneer saloon.

Quarterm aster Agent Larson's office, Clark Hotel, Courthouse,

residence of R. C. Smith, Jos. F. Woods, and W. B. Woods. There

are several more subscribers for phones who will be supplied as soon

46 as the next shipment of phones arrive."

On April 28, 1907, the Arizona Electrical Telephone Company-

linked Holbrook with the Apache County seat of St. Johns. The Argus

declared that "customers in Holbrook can easily recognize the voices

of their friends in St. Johns.

By November 19, the company had "35 subscriber telephones

with applications on file for several more. ■ The link with other

cities to the east in northern Arizona was completed by mid-January

1908 and the citizens of Holbrook were able to talk to their friends in

Winslow, St. Joseph, Flagstaff, and other cities. The connection

with cities in southern Arizona was completed by the first of November

of the same year.

46 F eb ru a ry 9 , 1907.

47April 30, 1907.

48Ib id . 274

In addition.to rail and highway.transportation, Holbrook added the airway on May 15, 1929, when the W estern Air Express initiated regular passenger service between Los Angeles and K ansas.. Two planes arrived each day, one east bound and the other west bound.

The company built six runways, one hundred feet wide. The main runway was six thousand feet long, while the others were five thousand feet in length. . A large number of local residents welcomed the first plane. The $80, 000 tri-m otored Fokker, which originated in

Los Angeles, carried twelve passengers. Although the Holbrook

Tribune-News had quoted Robert O. Boykin, construction engineer for W estern Air Express, that the Holbrook airport was considered the best airport west of the M ississippi R iver,^ the company moved its passenger service to Winslow in October of the following year.

Meanwhile, Holbrook citizens, made the first attempt in. 1910 .to organize a Chamber of Commerce. The Argus reports that the "Holbrook

Commercial and Social Club (has)organized for the purpose of present­ ing the commercial advantages of the town and to promote social good 50 fellowship among the m em bers.11 However, this attempt and succeed­ ing efforts met with only tem porary success.

^ May "10, 1929.

^^Quoted by the Holbrook News, March 27, 1913. 275

The newspapers carried out some of the. functions of a Chamber of Commerce for Holbrook during the period 1910-1917. The Holbrook

News of May 23, 1913, extolled the advantages, of taking up a home­ stead or desert land claim in Navajo County and listed the probable expenses as follows:

Good cedar fence posts about twenty-five cents each; wire close to $4 per cwt; staples, $5 per cwt; digging posts holes (about two and one half feet), $8 per 100. Fence posts usually are set about twenty feet apart, with two wire stays woven in between the posts, using either the four or five wire fence. Most of our land may be grubbed and cleared for from $3 to $5 per acre. W ater is found from twelve feet down, every few feet striking a new strata, sufficient to supply wind mills or engines. This water is good for all household uses, as well as stock and irrigation. Since these improvements are put on land for which the settler pays from $100 to $200 per acre, why not put them on some of our homestead or desert lands. ,

The Albuquerque Journal also published an article giving the business opportunities available and greatly needed in Holbrook. The paper enumerates:

"a brick andtiile plant, laundry, first class hotel and dining room annex, electric light and cold storage, general line of shelf and heavy hardware, and.many other industries. About three years ago £l910j Holbrook began to awaken from a long Rip Van Winkle slumber and suddenly became aware of the many and varied resources of its surrounding country. In this short period the town has m ore than doubled in size. M ^

Another effort to establish a Chamber, of Commerce was made on

January 6, 1919, at the Commercial Hotel. The Board of Directors were L. E. Carron, president; Judge J. E. Crosby, first vice

51Ib id . 276 president; L. Caldwell, second vice president. Other members were

W. J. Hennessy, G. M. Braxton, W. E. Ferguson, H. D. Lore,

John Flanigan, and Mark H. Bryan.

The next attempt to form a Chamber of Commerce came when

Holbrook heard about the War Department order to evacuate Fort

Apache in February 1922. On March 3, the editor of the News wrote

"Towns and cities are made; they don't grow by accident. This fact should be a deep seated conviction in the minds of all re si dents a of

Holbrook and northeastern Arizona. If Holbrook becomes an important community in the state, it will only be persistent work on the part of its inhabitants.11 However, as before, the movement to establish an effective Chamber of Commerce was short lived.

Despite repeated failures, townsmen again tried to organize a

Chamber of Commerce in July 1926. The group was more active in

1931 than it had been for many years. Its members concentrated bn building good will in the area and promoting the completion of U. S.

Highway 66 across northern Arizona. The following year, however, the Chamber of Commerce fell again into a state of inactivity.

Although Holbrook had made great strides of a practical nature, it was not until 1918 that her citizens began to dream in term s

of future greatness. Perhaps every city needs a suspension from

reality, and Holbrook had its period of escape from the mundane when 277 townsmen were carried away by grandoise dreams of "black gold." " ’ • '

The editor of the Holbrook News helped to start the movement - when on January 11, 1918 he wrote:

The News believes that the time is now propitious for the organi­ zation of a local company for the purpose of prospecting for oil in this territory. Several thousand of acres of land have been filed upon by residents of the county, and we can see no reason why there should be further delay in putting down a well. A company headed by local people will have no difficulty in commanding sufficient money to finance a thorough test, whether it be twenty or fifty thousand dollars. With reliable men at the head of the company, there are plenty of sm all investors who will be glad to subscribe for stock to almost any reasonable amount needed. Why not make the test, and make it now?

By March 1, the Oil Boom (or Bust) was well under way. The

News reported that

One company has already been organized to drill for oil, and several other companies are in process of organization. Within the next few weeks there will be several rigs on the ground and drilling will be in progress. That oil will be struck, probably at a shallow depth, is the opinion of every person who has investigated the field. The men who are putting in their money to develop oil, are certain that they will be successful. Some of these men are experienced in the oil business, and the fact that they are investing their own money to test the Holbrook field is evidence that the field is a promising one. With the development of oil in the Holbrook fields, the town will have a rapid growth; it will soon develop into the largest town in the northern part of the state, possibly the largest town in the whole state.

Each new issue of the Holbrook News showed an increased interest and activity not only locally but also nationally in the Holbrook Oil 278 field. A regular column was devoted each issue to oil news and as the year progressed the column grew larger and larger. The El Paso

Times reported that "The natives of Arizona are all talking Holbrook.

They've forgotten about . the wealth of their mines and are making one grand rush for the oil fields.

Among the first oil companies organized were: the Apache and

Adam ana Oil Companies representing outside interests, the Holbrook

Oil Company headed by ex- Governor George D. Mecklijohn of , the Navajo (latter, called Hopi) Oil Company headed by Senator S. G.

Mayfield of South Carolina and the Producers' Oil Company composed largely of Holbrook people. Stockholders of the latter company were

Mayor George W. Hennessey, president; form er Mayor W illiam R.

Sco.rse, vice president; A. Blum, secretary and treasurer; and H. H.

Scorse, J. H. Scorse, James Donohoe, W. F. Williams, W. C.

Bradley, D. J. Thomas, L. M.; Raynolds, Adolf Schuster, Max Schuster,

J. C. )'Pauls ell, Philip Marges son, C. H. Brown, E. J. Marty,

Paul Meyerhoff, John Kist, and Wallace Newman.

It can be seen from the above list that many of Holbrook's leading

citizens were taking part in the rush. Although the Producers Oil

^Quoted by the Holbrook News, January 25, 1918. 279

Company was composed prim arily of local people, each of the companies had Holbrook men in its directories.

On June 28, 1918, the News declared that the formation of the .

Holbrook oil field indicates that the oil basis extends from about twenty-five miles south to one hundred thirty miles north and that it is about eighty miles wide. "There are said to be many seepages of oil and evidences of gas over this vast tract. "

The Holbrook Tribune which began publication on July 3, 1918, under Mark H. Bryan, capitalized on the great interest in the Holbrook

Oil Field. During the summer and fall of 1918 the town’s two news­ papers contained little besides oil news. Beginning with its October

10 issue and continuing for the next ten years, the Tribune used as a

slogan directly under the name of the paper—Heart of the New Oil

Field...... - . . :

. As a result of the boom, the assessed valuation of the town, by

the summer of 1918, had increased $250,000 over the previous year.

Holbrook’s valuation in 1918 totaled $1,021, 861. , The city tax rate

was thirty cents on every one hundred dollars of assessed valuation.

The assessed valuation of the Holbrook School D istrict No. 3 was

$3,270,409, a jump of $700, 000 over 1917. The school tax rate for

1918 was fifty-two cents. 280

The Adamana Oil Company started drilling in late September

1918. ^ It was the first to begin to drill and the last to stop, ten years later. By the end of November, a number of oil companies were drilling and most citizens of Holbrook thought that striking oil was only a m atter of a few weeks or days away. The Tribune even published an oil map showing the entire oil basin and where the various companies were drilling.

On November 28, the paper in a front page headline labeled, nTribune prize $150; " made the following offer:

The Holbrook Tribune makes the offer of $100.00 reward which will be paid to the company or individual that produces the first barrel of oil in the Holbrook oil district, the oil to come from any bore within the district. The money will be promptly paid upon presentation of proper proof. In addition, the Tribune will pay $50.00 as a second prize to the next producer of a barrel of petroleum. The two barrels must come from separate wells, producers and companies. As active work is now being done in the boring for oil, by some companies, and others are getting in shape to begin operations, while several are in the process of formation, the honor of getting the first ar second barrel of petroleum will be of no sm all moment. The prize will at least pay the cost of a big feed for the force at work at the fortunate oil wells.

Additional prizes were soon offered by Ralph Abounader, proprietor of Woods Pool Hall, one hundred dollars to the first producer; R. W.

S^For a copy of the front page of October 3 issue of Holbrook Tribune, see Appendix G.

54 For a copy of the Oil Map, see Appendix G. 281

Thomas, Globe, real estate man and broker, a sixty-dollar suit of clothes if oil was struck by January 29, 1919; and others followed.

The Holbrook papers continued to be full of oil news, but as the year progressed the front page stories about the oil field decreased in number and enthusiasm dimmed.,-

Occasionally an editorial would appear in an apparent attempt to raise hopes. On December 23, 1921, the Holbrook News declared that "the Holbrook oil fields* situation is in better shape at the present time than it has ever been. "

After the combining of the two newspapers in February 1923, wise

sayings replaced "Heart of the New Oil Field" and it was relegated to

sm aller letters in the top left hand corner of the front page. It was not until January 1926 that hope of striking oil was revived. Typical headlines in the Holbrook Tribune-News in 1926 were on January 8:

"Oil — Gas Blowouts in Adamana; High crude Petroleum Is Shot

All Over the Derrick by Huge Gas Explosion"; on February 5: "Adamana

Well Gets the Oil, High Grade Pennsylvania Crude and Paraffin Base

Testing at 42 plus Bourne £sicj" and the "Holbrook Field Now Proven

High Grade Oil"; and on February 26: "Many Oil Scouts Arrive in

Holbrook Seeking Facts about New Field." The Taylor Fuller Oil

Company by March 12, 1926, had reportedly drilled to a depth of

4,591 feet. This was the deepest any of the oil companies had drilled, 282 but the financial strain had been too great and the company collapsed a few weeks later. The Holbrook Oil Company, already had given up in 1925 after reaching 3,760 feet. «,

By 1927 the oil fever had diminished considerably among the citizens of Holbrook and only Adamana continued drilling. The Holbrook

Tribune-News finally dropped “Heart of the Oil Field" as its slogan and substituted, in its place, "Holbrook, Gateway to Petrified Forest. "

Occasionally, however, stories would appear in the paper that gave hope to those who were hanging on. On April 8, 1927, a headline appeared in the Tribune stating "High Test Oil in Blow-Out of Adamana W ells. "

Another story appeared in the June 15,. 1928 edition of the paper which said "Two companies will drill for oil here soon. " The Adamana Oil

Company, whose well was located twenty-two miles south of Holbrook, gave up in early 1928. The company had drilled down over four thousand feet but had suffered continuous difficulties. Apparently, the only people who made money in Holbrook's "oil rush" were those who had leased land.

Although the stock m arket crash in 1929 probably had some effect upon Holbrook's economy, it did not significantly affect individual members of the community. On November 7, 1930, the editor of the

Tribune wrote: —

Despite the so-called business depression, Holbrook is forging ahead, enjoying a stable growth, and fair business conditions in all lines ! 283

At the present time several building projects are under way or nearing completion. Wm. S. Bourdon of the Silver Creek Ranch, who moves his headquarters to Holbrook every winter in order ... that his children may attend the Holbrook schools, which are far above the average for a locality of this size, is constructing a new home on north Alvarado Street, between Oakland and Washington . Avenues. Whiting Bros, are constructing an addition in the rear of the J. C. Penney and Pay'n Takit store quarters facing Washing­ ton Avenue, to be used for storage purposes in connection with their garage. Frank Felsch is constructing a new home on North Porter Street, which will be completed within the next 30 days. Louis Karges recently completed the construction of two very neat residences on Pleasant Street. The new home of the Tribune-News, on east Oakland Avenue, will be completed this week. The present Tribune building will be completely renovated, inside and out, with a new and attractive store front to add to the appearance of the business property facing Porter Street.

Holbrook, in August 1933, took an active part in Franklin D.

Roosevelt's National Recovery Act. One hundred merchants agreed to set an opening and closing hour f or the m ajority of the retail merchants, thereby giving more people jobs. The set . hours were

8:00 a.m . to 5:00 p .m ., Monday through Saturday. The Tribune declared that the majority of business firm s hired at least one extra person on the payroll and in one instance the number was as high as six. The paper further stated that the program would "increase the payroll of the Holbrook merchants to a marked extent and thereby aid in national recovery." The merchants also advertised "real bargains" during "Blue Eagle Days" on October 14-16 held in celebration of the

National Recovery A ct. 284

The most popular sport in Holbrook during the period 1902-1942 seems to have been baseball. There are numerous newspaper refer­ ences to both the town teams and the local high school team s. In the early 1920's Holbrook had an automobile race track and, for a few years, auto racing appears to have been an important town sport. Al-

( though there was some horse racing during the stock shows {be ginning in 1935), this only occurred annually. In later years sporting interest

developed in the Holbrook High School and football teams known as the "Roadrunners.11 A holiday was practically declared in

December 1938 when for the first time in history, Holbrook defeated

Winslow in football. In 1941 the Holbrook basketball team won the

northern Arizona championship tournament.

Although sports were important for relaxation, conventions were

important to the town's "pocket book. " A m ajor event in Holbrook in

1939 was the first convention held in town. The Chamber of Commerce

had for some time been trying to secure a convention for Holbrook,

but it was. not until 1939 that the Chamber was able to schedule the

Lion's sixteenth annual Arizona D istrict No. 21 Convention held on

M ay 1 2 -1 3 .

The Japanes e-, on December 7, shocked

the citizens of Holbrook as it did the rest of the nation. Within a

week the town council purchased ten thousand dollars in defense 285

55 bonds. Town Clerk J. C. Me Cleve declared that *'the money was available from current funds and the purchase will leave a comfortable balance in cash in town funds for all current commitments. " .

The newspaper reported that "immediately upon learning of

Japan's attack, the four principal local agencies most directly involved in defense and war preparations perfected organization and plans and started to1 work. The four county chairmen were William Bourdop, civilian defense; Sheriff Lafe Hatch, law enforcement; John M. Scott, defense bond sales; and M rs. Nita Poison, Holbrook's Red Cross

Chapter. Bill Bourdon, who had derved as an.Army Captain in World

War I and had been decorated for bravery, said, "We need not suppose we are entirely out of harm 's way simply because we live in this small

Arizona community. I cannot too strongly warn our citizens that the trans-continental railroad, telegraph and telephone lines, and our nearness to the ammunition dump near Gallup, make it imperative that 57 we wake up to the emergency and stay that way. "

Sheriff Hatch stated,. "In case you observe any person, either at night or during the day, who appears, to you to be of a suspicious

ee Ibid., December 12, 1941. The paper also wrote that Victor W estover, Navajo County Treasurer, purchased thirty five thousand dollars worth of bonds for the county, . . a record for Arizona. "

56Ib id . 286 character, do not hesitate to call the sheriff’s office, or the nearest deputy. Investigation of false alarm s, no m atter what the numberj are cheap compared with one successful act of sabotage .... A ll highway and railroad bridges in the county are under guard as are all 58 other points of vulnerability . . ." Thus, the town of Holbrook girded itself for defense and worked toward doing its part in the war e ffo rt. •

By the end of 1941, Holbrook showed a marked degree of. progress.

The newspaper reported:

The town is now operating on a cash basis with plenty of funds on deposit in the bank for current operating expenses. Issuance of interest-bearing warrants is apparently a thing of the past in Holbrook. There is a reduction in total direct tax levy from $21,479 in 1938-39 to $11,605 for this year Q.94lj, a reduction of almost $10,000. The good business policy of the town council, headed by Dr. J. Minor Park, is beginning to show sizeable results. °

Because of '.the effect of the war, with increased government contracts

and railroad transportation, Holbrook’s economy in 1942 and future years would show a marked increase. There, of course, were set­ backs such as the newspaper report in February 1942 that Holbrook

suffered a loss in population "in recent weeks, particularly since

January 1. City water records show a net loss of water connections

of 20 m eters since that time. Sim ilar losses are shown by the Light

’Ib id .

Holbrook Tribune-News, August 8, 1941. 287 and Power Company. There are more rental properties than at any time in several years. There was also a drop in tourist travel on

Highway 66 as a result of the war and rationing. ^ * .

The 1942 Holbrook scene would include sugar rationing books, the continued push to sell war bonds and stamps, slogans such as

"food for victory*" and rum ors of an aircraft assembly plait or an airplane flying school locating in Holbrook.

Like any other pioneer town, Holbrook had some growing up to do before it got around to examining its m orals. As a m atter of fact,

Holbrook never had a church until thirty one years after its founding.

According to one source, Holbrook "had the distinction of being the , . 62 only county seat in the U. S. without a church. " Another source states that the residents of Holbrook boasted that the town "was too tough for women, children and churches. "^3 Nevertheless, in 1912, funds were raised to establish a Methodist church. The Methodists

60Ibid., February 20, 1942.

^ 2 - 1 - ~ The Tribune reported on April 3, 1942, that in February, 520 cars had come through Holbrook going west compared to 9,480 cars the previous year.

' a ? ' ' " ' " . ; ■ ' ; ; ° ^Holbrook Tribune-News, December 21, 1924.

k^lbid. , August 23, 1935. See also (Tucson). August 25, 1935. 288 had long been active in Holbrook but had served the town only with itinerant m inisters. ^ Sidney Sapp, an attorney active in the fund drive for the first church, says that he called on one pioneer resident for a donation to the building fund.

"What's this money for ?" the old tim er asked Sapp.

The attorney explained that it was to build a church "so families can be induced to come here and make their homes. "

"Who wants to bring women and children here ?" was the rejoiner. "This is a man's country. "

Sapp explained he had brought his wife to Holbrook and wanted her to be able to attend church.

"Send her back to Oklahoma if you want her to go to church,"

Sapp said he was told. ^

Methodist m inister from Flagstaff was first sent to Holbrook in 1884. The first church services were held in the town hall. For the next three years m inisters were sent to Holbrook at various times to hold services. After 1887 no m inisters were sent to town until 1896 when the Methodist Conference sent a m inister into Arizona to hold services at Holbrook, Yuma, Fortuna, and Winslow. This arrangement lasted two years, but because of the distance between the cities he was to serve, the m inister's visits to Holbrook were few in number. In 1902 the Methodist church sent a m inister to Winslow to serve both that city and Holbrook. After 1907 Holbrook was served by m inisters who happened to be passing through town. Holbrook Tribune-News, August 7, 1925. It was not until 1920 that Holbrook had its first resident pastor, the Reverend Frank R. Speck, pastor for the Methodist Episcopal Church. Holbrook Tribune-News, October 22, 1920. The town's first Community Sunday School was started October 5, 1922.

k^Ibid., August 23, 1935. 289

Sapp also said that the town*s favorite meeting-place was the

"Bucket of Blood" saloon and that "the church people accused the saloon keepers of influencing the cowboys against a church! The

"Bucket of Blood" saloon was definitely against the church, but after the completion of the "Methodist Church in 1913,- the saloon went out of business.. ' Although the county seat was without a church for

seventeen years, within the following few years a Mormon Temple, a Girl*s Friendly Hall and Chapel, and, in 1935, an Episcopal Church were built.

Holbrook, as well as the rest of the nation, was brought face

to face with another m oral issue in the Prohibition period--that of

enforcing the Eighteenth Amendment. On June 15, 1928, the Holbrook

Tribune-News reported that "In a raid conducted late June 8, Sheriff

L. P. Divelbess and Under she riff O. C. W illiams discovered a cache

of approximately 65 gallons of liquor concealed under the

floor of the old city hall building at the west end of town. " On October

16, 1931, the paper stated that Sheriff L. D. Divelbess and City

M arshall Frank O’Connell swooped down on two Holbrook "speakeasies"

late Wednesday and confiscated four gallons of moonshine and one

^Ibid. ■

' ' ' ' , 67The Holbrook Tribune-News reports that some say the influence of the church helped to kill the nBucket of Blood.11 Others say the cowboys 290 hundred pints of beer. Holbrook may have been just a little town out in the sparsely settled country of Arizona without an Elliott

Ness, but it was still part of the "roaring twenties I11" ; ' .

Before 1936 there were few references to the town's morals

(other than the closing of stills and confiscation oflliquor during prohibition). However, in November 1936.the "heat" was on. The

Tribune quoted Navajo County Sheriff Lafe Hatch as saying that

"We are putting on the lid and clamping it down tight. Slot machines and every other form of gambling are contrary to our anti-gambling laws . . . Conditions along 'saloon row' in Holbrook must also be vastly improved. They have gradually become worse from day to day until the women and some men of Holbrook who do not have auto­ mobile transportation are "reluctant to walk down the sidewalk to the post office. Such a situation cannot and will not be to le r a te d . The 'saloon row' situation," the sheriff added, "should also receive some attention from the Holbrook town officers. "

The Tribune also reports on March 4, 1938, that for operating a house of ill repute in Holbrook, Lou Wilson was fined thirty-five dollars or thirty-five days in jail by Judge A. G. McCloskey. The woman chose the thirty-five days. Although occasionally news

became disgusted with crooked gambling and many m urders which made the place famous. "The death blow to the saloon was struck one morning when a patron started through the swinging doors and saw two men, one lying across the other, on the floor. They had both been shot and the place was empty of living souls. The bartender had fled, fearing that he could not clear himself of the charges of m urder. It later developed that he did not know who opened the swinging doors and fired the fatal shots. There had been trouble over a gambling game earlier in the morning." August 23, 1935. 291 articles in succeeding Holbrook papers referred to gambling or , neither ever appeared a major problem in Holbrook as in many other northern Arizona cities (Winslow, W illiams, Prescott, and so forth).

The town's m ajor annual social event since its beginning in 1938, the county fair, can be traced back to a prophecy attributed to Kit

Carson in 1863. According to Bill Bourdon, * Republican State Representa tive from Navajor-County, Carson camped just east of the present

Schuster warehouse in the campaign against the Navaj os. Bourdon quotes Carson as saying, "Men, the day will come when one of the best fairs, stock shows and in the world will be held right here where you boys are doing squads east and west. The fair was combined in 1938 with the "Holbrook Annual Livestock Show, and

Jubilee" which began in 1935. Thus, the first annual "Navajo County

Fair and Stock Show" was held on September 9, 10 and 11 in the new fifty thousand dollar fairgrounds to celebrate the seventy-fifth anniversary "of famous old Horsehead Crossing as a watering place.

Holbrook apparently reached "way out" to obtain a date for an anniversary......

^%bid., January 29, 1938.

69lbid, 292

In the summer of 1938, the WPA with the approval of the Presi­ dent, spent about twenty thousand dollars to build the track, a corral grandstand and an exhibition building at the fairgrounds. The town's business men had raised money by popular conscription in the spring to purchase the future fairgrounds from the Scorse Estate. The property was then presented to Navajo County. . The combined fair and stock show was the first celebration of that magnitude to be held in

Holbrook and the town's first queen, ^* "M iss Holbrook of 1938, " was crowned for the occasion.

Another event that brought tourists to Holbrook throughout this period was the Hopi Snake Dance held at Walpai on the Hopi Reserva­ tion northwest of town. As a result of the Fair, Snake Dance, the location of Holbrook on U. S. Highway 66, and the proximity of the

Petrified Forest and , the tourist trade in the late

1930's began to become an im portant factor in Holbrook's economy.

For example, the Petrified Forest, established as a national monument by Congress in 1906, had 212,547 visitors in 1938. This

same year the Painted Desert entrance to the monument was opened.

70 The site of the fairgrounds was located on the of Oakland Avenue at the site of the ball park.

7*The queen.was Miss Martha Turbville. In the fall of 1939, she was named Grand Duchess of Arizona by Governor Bob Jones, to represent the state at the Texas Mardi Gras in February 1940. 293

By the year I960 the number of people who visited the park had increased to 911,531.^

As leisure time became more plentiful in the years 1922-23, a number of new organizations were started in Holbrook, including

Rotary, , Boy Scouts, and the Knights of Pythias.

Civic and service clubs became so numerous that a coordinating council was organized in the spring of 1941. The purpose of the council wss "to coordinate the work of the town's service, civic and welfare groups, so that duplications of projects will not occur, and to work out a calendar of events so that conflicts in dates for entertainments will not happen.11 The council apparently was a success as it operated for a number of years.

^For additional figures showing the visitor volume to the Petrified Forest National Monument, see Appendix F. The location of Horsehead Crossing had made it almost necessary for travelers to cross the Petrified Forest. Later the National Old Trails Highway across northern Arizona followed, for the most part, the earlier horse-and-wagon roads across the forest,,► A pamphlet published on the Golden Anniversary of the Establishment of the Petrified Forest National Monument states that "Berardo's £si(Q Store, at the ford of the river, was said to have had a number of beautiful and large specimens of the petrified logs and the m ajority of early-day stores in Holbrook contained specimens of various shapes, colors, and details. Northern Arizona Printers and Publishers, Inc. (Holbrook, 1956), n. p.

The Holbrook Tribune-News, May 9> 1941. -294

Although the county seat, Holbrook, began to trail the nearby town of Winslow in several ways in the first decade of this century.

For one thing, Holbrook never recovered from the crippling loss of the Hashknife cattle business. The newspapers concerned themselves more with events in Winslow than in Holbrook. More and more, town dances and important social events form erly held in Holbrook switched to Winslow. Even more important, Winslow replaced Holbrook as the key railroad town in the northeastern section of the state. By • 74 1910 Winslow had more than doubled the population of Holbrook.

Winslow incorporated in 1910 with a common council type government, but Holbrook did not incorporate as a city until seven years later.

Throughout the forty years a certain amount of friendly rivalry existed with Winslow and still rem ains today. An example of this competition can be seen in an editorial published in the Winslow Mail on August 30, 1933, and entitled, "Is Our Little Neighbor Sore?" The editor wrote:

^W inslow 's population in 1890 was 363; 1900, 1,305; and in 1910, 2,381. IT. S. Bureau of Census, Twelfth Census of the United States, 1900 (Washington, 1896), I, 438, and U. S. Bureau of the Census, Thirteenth Census of the United States; 1910 (Washington, 1913), II, 574. The 1910 official government census showed Navajo County to have a population of 11,491 and Holbrook a population of 609. No separate figures were shown for Holbrook in the 1900 census. Holbrook in 1890 had a population of 206. Letter from Howard G. Bruns man, Chief, Population Division, Bureau of the Census, U. S. Department of Commerce, Washington, D. C. , to this w riter, dated July 18, 1958. 295

In a five-column spread on the front page last week, the Holbrook Tribune-News waxed indignant at a description of Holbrook from the pen of Edward D. Dunn, in his popular travelogue "Double Crossing America by Motor?" After a hasty survey of the community, Mr. Dunn said, "This town is located on the burning waste of the desert. The water tastes like poison but is not dangerous to drink. One of the towns­ men told me that along Main Street they have several times planted trees, which thrived until some one watered them with the water we were given to drink, whereupon they straightway died." The Tribune-News w riter then goes on to caustically comment on the statements that the "only nice thing about the town is that Whiting’s garage was well managed and watched," the "evening of the desert town was, as always, cool, " "the main street was deserted," and ended his comment that "the experience was like a chapter from a Victorian novel. " Did Holbrook like these comments, or did they like them? But what apparently turns the w riter redheaded is the notation that appears at the bottom of the page of the book, "Those who prefer comfort to adventure, may drive 30 miles further on to Winslow, where the station hotel--a Harvey House--offers ample accommodations of the most modern and luxurious kind." Modesty and reverent regard for prevents us from further comment.

The years 1902-1942 were a period of growth and development, for Holbrook. During this era many modern conveniences, such as the telephone, electric light and automobile came to Holbrook. The year 1917 was especially important, for it was in this year that the town was incorporated, the high school established and the oil boom began. Floods and an often lethargic Chamber of Commerce continued to plague Holbrook. Voters approved bond issues for schools, paving,

water and sewer systems. The Navajo County Fair, established in

1938, became the town's major social event. Although Holbrook

declined in importance as a shipping center, the tourist traffic along 296

U. S. Highway 66 became more and more important to the town's economy. During the war years 1941-1945, a large amount of war m aterials and equipment passed through the town both by rail and highway. During the period 1942-1962, Holbrook would continue to decline as a shipping center, but the tourist traffic along route 66 would become even more important. EPILOGUE:

HOLBROOK (1942-1962)

W orld W ar II inauguarated a new and interesting period in the history of Holbrook, the writing of which will be left to another historian. War left its m arks, and the has reached the town and its environs. It is hoped that the threads of. the story may be found in this epilogue of twenty years.

As was shown in the previous chapter, the year 1942 will be

remembered in Holbrook as the year that the town threw itself whole­ heartedly into the war effort. During the next three years, Holbrook

continued to have ration books, war loan drives, victory garden

contests and air raid drills. A big boost to the town's economy came

in April 1943 with the establishm ent of a naval aviation cadet training

school at the Holbrook airport (named Park Field). The school

opened with a class of sixty cadets; fifty in prim ary training and

ten in secondary. Fullerton, California,Junior College was in charge

of all ground school facilities. The Holbrook Tribune News estimated

that the cadet school boosted the town's revenue by one thousand dollars

297 298 per day. * The school lasted fifteen months, closing early in August

1944. In that period, the school trained about five hundred cadets and spent $360, 000.

Although the battles raged many miles away from the streets of

Holbrook, it had a far-reaching effect upon the lives of many of its citizens. Quite often the town's newspaper reported the death of a

Holbrook man in the fighting in Europe or the South Pacific.

The major civic development during the war years was the city's purchase of the light plant in 1942. With the w ar's end, Holbrook again centered attention on civic improvements. However, voters defeated a proposal to grant a natural gas franchise in December 1945.

Only one out of ten citizens voted on the proposal to grant the franchise if and when a pipeline from Texas reached Holbrook. By June 1949, opinion changed and voters approved the franchise grant to the Southern

Union Gas Company by a vote of 304 to 77. In May 1946, the town council purchased a site for a new town hall at the southeast corner of the Navajo County Courthouse Square.

The year 1948 was a big year for city improvements. There was the beginning of a $21, 000 improvement project on the Holbrook airport in August 1948; the passage of two bond issue proposals of $125,000

on October 5, 1948, for improvements to the sewage disposal and

^September 17, 1943. 299

Holbrook and the Little Colorado River (Courtesy of J. Anthony Serio, Holbrook High School) water supply system; and the completion of a $266,000 flood control project let by the U. S. Army Engineers to C. C. Bong and Company.

The Holbrook Tribune-News rem arked that the completion of the flood

control project realized "the dfream of a decade by property owners

and citizens of this county seat who have worked unceasingly for the

past ten years to accomplish this security against floods periodically 300 that have already taken several blocks of property downstream during the past 40 years. '• Some 1. 83 inches of rain fell at Holbrook,

August 5, 1957, washing out the Apache Railroad bridge and pushing the river to a near-record high, but the flood control system stopped any flood threat to Holbrook.

Other civic improvements in Holbrook during ithe next thirteen years were the selection by the Municipal Park Board in May 1949 of a two-block site for a park and recreation center; the voters' approval by a vote of 412 to 15 in May 1951 of the granting of a lease to the

Municipal Electric Utility for twenty-five years; the initial availability

of natural gas in July 1951; the completion of new street lighting in the business section on November 25, 1951; the defeat by a light vote

on May 18, 1953, of a $50,000 bond issue to construct a new town hall; the establishment of Radio Station K.D. J.I. on October ;-13, 1955;

the town's purchase in November 1957 of a building to house a city

library; the annexation in February i960 of a three square mile area,

more than doubling Holbrook's municipal area; the completion of I960

of a new Federal Building which housed all Federal agencies except

the post office; the passage on May 22, 1961,of a $110,000 bond issue

proposal for municipal improvements including a new sewage disposal

^December 24, 1948. 301 plant and a new water storage plant; and the completion of a new post office on December 1, 1961.

Like the Spanish conquistadores before them, modern Holbrook men dreamed of great riches. Only this time, the riches, if there were any, would be in natural resources. Even during the war years interest was rekindled in Holbrook's possible oil field.

On September 17, 1943, the Holbrook Tribune-News reported in a headline that the "Union-Aztec Oil Prospect Number 1 Ready for

Holbrook from the Air (Courtesy of J. Anthony Serio, Holbrook High School) 302

Modern Holbrook (Courtesy of Lloyd C. Henning, Holbrook)

Spudding in This Weekend. " The paper went on to report that the drill might reach 4,000 feet before expected completion within six weeks. The drilling on the well, twenty-seven miles southwest of

Holbrook, continued until December 17 when the drill hit basement rock at 3,850 feet. Other companies, however, continued to drill in the area. The Union and Continental Oil Company continued a well 303 twenty m iles southwest of Holbrook until J^farch 17, 1944, when the company hit granite at a depth of 3,607 feet. Oil was once more forgotten until the Holbrook Tribune-News announced that "Drilling for Oil to Commence Soon. General Petroleum Announces Plans to

Drill for Oil near Holbrook as Big Lease Agreement Consumated."

The company*s well, eighteen miles northeast of Holbrook, reached a depth of about 4, 000 feet in February 1949 before bedrock was hit.

The glamour m ineral of the atomic age, uranium, took the spot­ light away from oil when the Tribune reported May 15, 1953, that ore was being mined on state land sixteen miles northeast of Holbrook.

The m iners, P. M. Gbston and Hugh Barton, already had shipped

145 tons of ore. For the next few years, rumors of uranium strikes overshadowed oil. But by the beginning of 1949 the oil drillers were back again. The Tribune reported the drilling of Ithree wildcats, one only six miles west of town.

Then, in the fall of 1961, interest switched to helium. The Tribune reported that test permits had been issued for five wells within twenty five miles of town. Holbrook finally got its first producing well and the Kerr-M cGee Oil Industries dedicated Arizona’s first helium gas extraction plant in December 1961 at Navajo, east of Holbrook.

^November 5, 1948. 304

Oil was not the only disappointment to Holbrook. The city con­ tinued to lack an aggressive Chamber of Commerce. Reorganized in early 1949, the chamber busied itself for the rest of the year and then activity died down again.

Editor Richards of the Holbrook Tribune-News placed the blame for the lethargic chamber on "lack of support" by the townspeople.

He proposed an "industrial fund" for such "possibilities" as a uranium boom, mushrooming highway construction program, a Petrified Forest 4 National Park and an increased housing demand.

Two of the editor's predictions came true. On March 17, 1958, the Petrified Forest became a national park by act of Congress.

This culminated over twenty-five years of effort by Holbrook business­ men to change the monument to a national park. The second prediction, increased highway construction, also m aterialized, but only after much controversy.

. From the end of the war in 1945, Highway 66 traffic through

Holbrook continued to increase. During June 1946 westbound cars were passing through town at the rate of 46. 5 cars per hour. By June

1950, this figure had increased to 63 westbound cars per hour or more than one car per minute. On October 5, 1951, the westbound traffic

^December 28, 1956. 305 reached 1, 000 cars per day. During 1955, 500,000 westbound cars traveled through Holbrook. Although the eastbound.traffic also increased it)could not compare with the westbound traffic. These cars brought tourists who spent money and Holbrook, therefore, be­ came extremely concerned in 1957 over the probable by-passing of the city by the proposed interstate and defense highway system. In

October 1957, a committee was named at a public hearing to recommend a program to delay, and if possible, thwart the.by-pass. The Chamber of Commerce finally reached an agreement in July I960 on the by-pass route of Interstate Highway 40. It provided three traffic interchanges; one at each end of town, using the present U. S. Highway 66 as the access route to Holbrook with a third cloverleaf north of .town on the mesa. The first traffic interchange on was placed in operation at the Petrified Forest National Monument in October; yet the subject drew heated discussion as late as November 22. Only time would tell whether the m ajority of the citizens would ever agree to the proposed by-pass arrangement.

Although IT. S. Highway 66 is extremely im portant to the economy of the town, the road is also responsible for bringing a great deal of crim e into town. ^

^There are repeated.newspaper references to car thefts, rapes, robberies, forgeries, bad checks, run-away teen-agers, and so forth. The papers are also full of fatal automobile accidents along the highway which has become known as "death row. " ^ 306

Construction started in I960 on two new industrial plants which would have a marked effect on Holbrook's economy. These were the nineteen million dollar , west of town, and the forty million dollar Southwest Forest Industries, Inc., a paper Imill

at Snowflake, southwest of Holbrook. The paper plant was completed in November 1961.

Schools continued to grow during the period 1942-1962. Four new classrooms were added to the public schools in June 1949. Prop­

erty owners defeated a $295,000 bond issue for new school buildings in January 1956. But they approved ,lhe accepting of $120,000 from

the Bureau of Indian Affairs to remodel and improve school housing in return for making Holbrook high school facilities available to one hundred twenty Navajo Indian students in the next twenty-year period.

Apparently recognizing the need for school construction, the voters

on January 6, 1959, passed a school bond issue of $280, 000 for

additional classroom s. The Holbrook public schools' report of a

total enrollment of 1,842 in September 1961, illustrated that more

classroom space would be needed in the near future.

Although the Navajo County Fair remained the biggest social

event during this twenty-year period, Holbrook had reason to be proud

of some of its high school groups. On November 15, 1946, the Holbrook

Tribune-News quoted the November 11 edition of the Arizona Republic 307 as follows: "In point of spectator interest, perhaps the outstanding attraction yesterday at the Arizona State Fair--the biggest day in fair history--was the nattily clad and sharp-stepping drum and bugle corps of the Holbrook High School.11 This group continued to excel.

In February 1949 the Holbrook Drum and Bugle Corps took the sweep- stakes honor at the LaFiesta de las Vaqueros in Tucson, Arizona.

The Drum and Bugle Corps again was honored in Tucson in March of the following year, by being named the best drill team and most colorful musical organization. Another high school organization which made the town proud, Holbrook Roadrunners, defeated Winslow in football, 39-20, in 1955 for the first time in twenty one years.

The citizens of Holbrook during the late 1950*s and early *60's, also became increasingly interested in Little League baseball. In 1961 the Northern District Little League playoffs were held in Holbrook.

Two other items of social and athletic interest during this period were the organization of the Holbrook Country Club (including a course) in August 1949 and the founding of the annual Hashknife Stampede and

Horse Show in June 1957.

Thus, during the period 1942-1962, Holbrook continued to grow and develop. The 1950 census showed an increase in the population living inside the municipal corporate lim its of town, of 95 per cent over the previous ten year period. During the decade of the 1950’s, 308 the population for Holbrook increased by 44 per cent while the Navajo

County increase during this same period was up only 19 per cent.

The population had grown from 206 people in 1890 to 3,438 people in

I960.

The Holbrook town budget for 1961-62 was set at $278, 000. The amount to be raised by direct tax levy against property was $32,540.

This would amount to one dollar per one hundred assessed valuation.

The budget in 1961-62 compared with a town budget in 1942-43 of

$38,505 and in 1917-18, of $3,790.;

Thus, it is probable that Holbrook would continue to grow and progress along with the western section of the United States, but it is not the function of the historian to predict the future but only to record the past. If history is prologue, then this thesis is merely an introduction to the social, economic, political, and cultural develop­ ment of the town of Holbrook. APPENDIX 309

A P P E N D IX A

CHARACTER AND AMOUNT OF FREIGHT (IN TONS) SHIPPED

FROM HOLBROOK ON THE ATLANTIC AND PACIFIC RAILROAD1

C o m m o d ity 1885 1888 .1 8 8 9

G ra in 5 ...... 2 6 Hay and Straw 1 6 Fruits and Vegetables 2 S a lt 19 13 .3 Mill Stuffs 4 4 Wines and Liquors 1 ' Livestock 402 1,161 2 ,2 4 8 Lumber and Forest Products 16 „• 2 F u r n itu r e 7 16 19 W ool 180 194 308 Hides, Pelts and Leather 42 19 25 O ils 11 5 H a rd w a re 3 1 1 General Merchandise 60 181 28 Company M aterial 666 785 795 15 Stone, Cement, Etc. 1 M eats 6 Machinery and Casting 4 Vehicles and Tools 2

T o ta l T ons 1 ,4 0 8 2 ,4 1 5 3 ,4 4 5

1 Willi am F. Guild, Arizona Commercial and Industrial (Washing­ ton, 1891), pp. 63-65. 310

A P P E N D IX A

CHARACTER AND AMOUNT OF FREIGHT (IN TONS)

DELIVERED TO HOLBROOK ON THE ATLANTIC AND PACIFIC 2 RAILROAD

C o m m o d ity 1885 1888 1889

G ra in 184 205 675 Fruits and Vegetables 30 61 96 Bar and Sheet Metals 29 15 C o al 139 126 139 S a lt 14 38 27 Brick, Stone, Cement; Etc. 2 1 3 Flour and Mill Stuffs 337 393 407 M ea ts 1 1 34 44 Wines and Liquors 67 53 61 Machinery Castings 14 6 42 Agricultural Implements 5 12 4 Vehicles and Tools ” ■ 9 42 36 Livestock ‘ 3 ,9 0 3 628 80 Lumber and Forest Products 328 136 60 F u r n itu r e 12 51 33 O ils 11 20 38 Hides, Pelts and Leather 1 Hardware and Cutlery 58 55 53 General Merchandise 895 540 646 Company M aterial 1 ,3 6 6 964 342 Hay and Straw ' 68 77 W ater and Ice 15

T o ta l T ons 7 ,4 0 5 * • •• . *. 3 ,4 3 3 2 ,8 9 3

2 Ib id . , p p. 6 6 -7 1 . 311

, APPENDIX B

APACHE COUNTY OFFICERS (1885-1895), INCLUDING CONSTABLES 1 AND JUSTICES OF THE PEACE FOR THE HOLBROOK PRECINCT

1885-1886 Supervisors: Henry Hunihg-, . Chairman W. B. Leonard, Member Ernest Tee, Member T. S. Bunch, Clerk Frank Reed, Clerk Wm. T. Dalby, Clerk County Clerk: A. Ruiz District Attorney: C. L. Gutter son County Sheriff andA.ssessor: J. L. Hubbell County Judge: Wm. M. Rudd County Treasurer: Dionicio Baca St. George Creaghe Probate Judge: E. C. Bunch Constable: Frank J. Wattron H. A. Larson A. M. Duncan S am B ro w n Justice of the Peace: J. W. Skaggs J. S. Kentuer J. W. Higgins D. G. Howey Francisco Guittierez

1887-1888 Supervisors: Ernest Tee, Chairman David Rope, Member J. H. Richards, Member G. W. Wakefield, Member 1

1 Minutes, Board of Supervisors, Apache County, July 31, 1885- April 8, 1895, Navajo County Courthouse, St. Johns. There are no records available prior to July 31, 1885; they were all destroyed. 312

Probate Judge and County School Superintendent: R. E. M orrison Sheriff: C. P. Owens County Treasurer: J. T. LeSueur District Attorney: T. N. Johnston Clerk of Board: E. W. Nelson Constable: Frank J. Wattron Justice of the Peace: A. F. Banta George H. Thompson

1889-1890 Supervisors: R. C. Biassingame, Chairman David Rope, Member Henry. Smith, Member P. T. Coleman, Member Wm. N. Rudd, Member Sheriff: St. George Creaghe Recorder: Arthur Ashton (also Clerk of Board of Supervisors) Assessor: J. D. Likens Surveyor: S. G. Ladd District Attorney: A. F. Banta Probate Judge: J. T. LeSueur Treasurer: Nat Greer Constable: Lesser Rehfeld Justice of the Peace: George H. Thompson

1891-1892 . Supervisors: F. T. LaPrade, Chairman R. C. Bias singame. Member Will C. Barnes, Member Williani Morgan, Member Charles Jarvis, Clerk Sheriff and Assessor: O. B. Little District Attorney: T. S. Bunch Treasurer: W. H. Gibbons Probate Judge and School Superintendent: A rt McDonald Clerk of District Court: John T. Hogue Constable: F. U. Haskell Justice of the Peace: Frank J. W attron 1893-1894 Supervisors: F. T. JLaPrade, Chairman William Morgan, Member Leandro Ortega, Member Charles Jarvis, Clerk Sheriff and Assessor: W. R. Campbell District Attorney: T. S« Bunch Probate Judge and School Sup>erintehdent: A rt McDonald County Recorder: F. W. Nelson Clerk, District Court: Alfred Ruiz Constable: Ed Wright Justice of the Peace: Frank J. Wattron

1895-1896 Supervisors: L, J.; Brown, Chairman William Morgan, Member John H. W illis, Member N. Gonzales, Clerk Clerk, District Court: Alfred Ruiz District Attorney: W. H. Burbage Sheriff and Assessor: James Scott Treasurer: Albert F. Potter Probate Judge and School Superintendent: W illard Farr Surveyor: Allen Frost Constable: W. H. Clark Justice of the Peace: Frank J. Wattron 314

A P P E N D IX C

MAYORS, COUNCILS AND CLERKS OF HOLBROOK (1917-1962)

D a te : March 6, 1917 M ay o r : W. R, Scorse C le rk : R. S. Teeple C o u n c il: Julius W etzler, P. T. Coleman, J. C. Pauls ell, J. W. Richards .

F irst council appointed by Navajo County Board of Supervisors.

D ate: 1918, election May 26, 1917 M a y o r : George W. Hennessey C le rk : B . B . N e e l C o u n c il: John Flanigan, Charles P. Cooley, W. H. Chamberlin; / L. D. Divelbess.

D a te : 1919 M a y o r : J . # • L ee C le rk : B . B . N e e l C o u n c il: John Flanigan, W. H. Chamberlin^., Charles P. Cooley, James H. Scorse. Resignations: B. B. Neel as clerk, 8/1/20. Appointments: J. M. Patterson as clerk, 8/7/20.

D ate: 1921 M a y o r : Charles P. Cooley C le rk : J. M. Patterson C o u n c il: John Flanigan, J. M. Lee, James H. Scorse, W. H, Chamberlin. Resignations: W. H. Chamberlin as councilman, 9/28/21. C. P. Cooley as Mayor, June, 1922. J. M.. Lee as Councilman, December 13, 1922. , Appointments: L. Cadwell as Councilman, 10/13/21. L. Cadwell as Mayor, June, 1922. C. H. Jennings as Councilman, June, 1922. W. F. Williams as Councilman, 12/22/22. 315

D ate: 1923 M a y o r : Lloyd C. Henning C le rk : C. W. Moore C o u n c il: C. H. Jennings, Fred W etzler, W. J. Hookway, W. F. W illiams. Resignations: C. W. Moore as Clerk, August 13, 1924. W. J. Hookway as Councilman, August 13,1924. C. H. Jennings as Councilman, 2/11/25. Appointments : W. J. Hookway as Clerk, 8/13/24. W. B. Woods as Councilman, 10/8/24. John Taylor as Councilman, 3/11/25.

D ate: May 25, 1925, Council Elected: Votes Recfd. Ed. W. Stevens 97 John Taylor 78 W. B. Cross 69 W. B. .Woods 68 G. L. Noel 66 It is assumed that since Ed. W.;Stevens received the highest number of votes he was elected Mayor.

For the period May 1925 to July 1929, no minutes were found. Thus no record of Elections. However, from ordinances passed and of records, the following officers have been determined.

D ate: ,1927 M ay o r : G. C. Leckron C le rk : W. J. Hookway C o u n c il:

D ate: I 929 M a y o r : A. F,. Light C le rk : W. J. Hookway C o u n c il: J. C. McCleve, E. J. Whiting, W. B. W oods,Sr., G. L. Noel. 316

D a te : 1931 M a y o r : Frank B«i Rees C le r k : Wj J.* Hookway ...... C o u n c il: J. ■ C. • Pauls ell, E. B. Newman, Tom Isaacson, Hays.

D a te : 1933 ■ M a y o r : J. C. Pauls ell ■ C le rk : W. J. Hookway C o u n c il: H. M. Hays, Tom Isaacson, E. B. Newman, Frank B. Rees. Resignations: E. B. Newman as Councilman, 9/30/33. Appointments; W. B. Woods, Sr. as Councilman, 4/24/34.

D a te : 1935 M a y o r : H. M. Hays C le rk : W. J. Hookway C o u n c il: Tom Isaacson, J. C. Paulsell, F. B. Rees, W. B. Woods, S r.. Resignations: J. C. Pauls ell as Councilman, 1/8/36. Appointments : James Reeder as Councilman, 2/17/36.

D a te : 1937 M a y o r : James Reeder C le rk : W. J. Hookway C o u n c il: E. B. Buell, Tom Isaacson, W. B. W oods,Sr. , F. B. Rees.

D ate: 1939 M a y o r : J. Minor Park C le r k : George A. Kyes C o u n c il: G. C. Leckron, Santos Ortega, Lloyd Taylor, P. R. Hancock.

D a te: 1941 M a y o r : * J. Minor Park - C le rk : J. C. McCleve C o u n c il: Santos Orfeega, P. R. Hancock, Lloyd M. Taylor, G. C. Leckron. 317

D ate: 1941 (Continued) Resignations: G. C. Leckron, as Councilman, 6-30-41. Appointments: C . W . Lewis as Councilman, 11/5/41.

D ate: 1943 M a y o r : J. Minor:: Park C le rk : J. C. McCleve C o u n c il: P. R. Hancock, C. W. Lewis, Santos Ortega, Lloyd M. Taylor. Resignations: J. Minor Park as Mayor, 9/8/43. P. R. Hancock as Mayor, 8/16/44. C, W. Lewis as Mayor, 4/11/45. Appointments: B . J. Sanders as Councilman, 6/14/44. C. N. Ledfors as Councilman, 8/16/44. E l e c t e d : P. R. Hancock as Mayor, 9/22/43. C. W. Lewis as Mayor, 8/16/44.

D a te : 1945' . , ... M a y o r : J. M. Wilkinson C le rk : J. C. McCleve C o u n c il: J. P. Gerwitz, L. B. Owens, C. N. Ledfors, Charles Dudding.

D a te : . 1947 M a y o r : L . O w ens C le rk : JVC. McCleve thru 8/31/47. _ E. L.Gardner effective 9/1/47. C o u n cil: Joseph P. Gerwitz, Louis Chacon, Dallas W. Guttery, Ralph Harris, Dr. J. E. Kalb, Verne D. Seidel. Resignations: Louis Chacon as Councilman, 6/14/48. Appointments : Pete Armijo as Councilman, 6/14/48.

D a te : 1949 M a y o r : Verne D. Seidel C le rk : E. L. Gardner - Died February 1950, C o u n c il: L. B. Owens, Ralph H arris, Pete Armijo, George M ester, Lee Kutch, Ishmael Torres. Resignations : Donald E. Ellison as Clerk 4/30/50. Pete Armijo as Councilman, 4/15/50. Lee Kutch as Councilman, 12/31/50. Everett C. Fox as Clerk, 4/30/51. 318

Date : 1949 (Continued) Appointments : Donald E. Ellison as Clerk, 3/23/50. . Everett C. Fox as Clerk, 3/10/50. Fan Thompson as Clerk, 5/1/51. Albert Baca as Councilman, 7/5/50. J. M. Wilkinson as Councilman, 1/1/51.

D a te : 1 9 5 1 , M a y o r : George R. M ester C le rk : Fan Thompson C o u n c il: H. Lee Smith, Albert Baca, Cecil R. Tuley, Harvey Randall, Joe P. Gerwitz, Ishmael H. Torres. Resignations : Fan Thompson as Clerk, 9/30/51. Ishmael Torres as Councilman, 1/12/53. Appointments : Roy Tuley as Clerk, 10/1/51. Jay Manley as Councilman, 2/11/53.

D a te : 1953. M a y o r : A. C. Whiting . C le rk : Nelda Rencher C o u n c il: Tom Burns, R. P. Bradley, Frank Adair, Joe Gerwitz, Ken DeWitt, Harvey Randall.

D ate: 1955 M a y o r : A. C. Whiting C le rk : Nelda Rencher C o u n c il: Tom Burns, R. P. Bradley, Frank Adair, William Dyer, Joe Gerwitz, Harvey Randall. Resignations : Nelda Rencher as Clerk, January 31, 1956. Appointments : Thomas E. Smithson as Clerk, Feb. 1, 1956.

D a te : 1957 M a y o r : A. C. Whiting C le rk : Thomas E. Smithson C o u n c il: John H. Owens, W illiam Dyer, Frank Adair, R. P. Bradley, Roy J, Downing, J. M errill Young Resignations: JohnH. Owens as Councilman, 8/31/58. J. M errill Young as Councilman, 3/3/59. 319

D a te : 1957 (Continued) Appointments : Dono C. Brinkerhoff as Councilman, 9/24/58. H. Albert- McEvoy appointed to Council, 3 /3 /5 9 .

D a te : 1959 M a y o r : H. Albert McEvoy C le rk : Thomas E. Smithson C o u n c il: Dono C. Brinkerhoff, Jack B. Guttery, Edward J. Jennings, Philip K. Gardner, Robert B. Reward, Lawrence Chavez. Resignations: H. Albert McEvoy as Mayor, 11/18/59. Appointments: Dono C. Brinkerhoff as Mayor, 12/9/59. Virgil C. Stuart as Councilman, 12/3/59.

D a te : 1961 M a y o r : W illiam M. Smith C le rk : Thomas E. Smithson C o u n c il: Virgil C. Stuart, Jack B. Guttery, Wilford W. Kyes, Lawrence Chavez, Philip K. Gardner, Lloyd M. Taylor. 320

A P P E N D IX D

NAVAJO COUNTY OFFICERS (1895-1962)

SHERIFFS OF NAVAJO COUNTY: C. P. Owens March 25, 1895 - December 31, 1896 F. J. Wattron January 1,. 1897 December 31, 1900 F. P. Secrist January 1, 1901 - December 31, 1902 C. I. Houck January 1, 1903 - December 31, 1906 Joseph F. Woods January 1, 1907 - December 31, 1914. R . Li. N ew m an January 1, 1915 - December 31, 1918 and January 1, 1921 - December 31, 1922 Charles W. Harp January 1, 1919 - December 31, 1920 Li. D . D iv e lb e ss January 1, 1923 - December 31, 1932 and January 1, 1939-December 31, 1940 and January 1, 1949 - February 28, 1949 O. C. Williams January 1, ,1933 - July 8, 1936 Lafe S. Hatch July 8, 1936 - December 31, 1938 and January 1, 1941 - December 31, 1944 Cecil McCormick January 1, 1945 - December 31, 1948 Li. B en P e a r s o n February 28, 1949 - December 31, I960 G len Li. F la k e January 1, I96I to present.

ASSESSORS, NAVAJO COUNTY: C. P. Owens March 25, 1895 - December 31, 1896 F. J. Wattron January 1, 1897 - December 31, 1900 F. P. Secrist January 1, 1901 - December 31, 1902 C. I. Houck January 1, 1903 - December 31, 1906 Joseph F. Woods January 1, 1907 - December 31, 1908 Wesley Jones January 1, 1909 - Debruary 12, 1912 W. F. Williams February 12, 1912 - December 31, 1914. Fay I. Gardner January 1, 1915 December 31, 1920 W. E. Shumway January 1, 1921 - December 31, 1928 Joseph L.: Petersen January 1, 1929 - December 31, 1930 and January 1, 1933 - December 31, 1936 Orlando C. Williams January 1, 1931 - December 31, 1932 Arthur Palmer January 1, 1937 - December 31, i960 Kenneth DeWitt January 1, 1961 - present 321

TREASURERS, NAVAJO COUNTY: E. A. Sawyer M a rc h 29, 1895 - December 31, 1896 James Scott January 1, 1897 - December 31, 1898 J. H. Richards January 1, 1899 - December 31, 1900 F , M . X u ck January 1, 1901 - December 31, 1904 J. W. Richards January 1, 1905 - December 31, 1908 L. D. Divelbess J a n u a ry 1, 1909 - February 28, 1914 and January'1, 1947 - December 31, 1948 J. W. Richards March 1, 1914 - December 31, 1918 J, M. Patterson January 1, 1919 - December 31, 1922 George J. Schaefer January 1, 1923 - December 31, 1926 W allace EllswBoth January 1, 1927 - December 31, 1928 F, H. Brown January 1, 1929 - December 31, 1932 ts?,: T. Stephens January 1, 1933 - July 6, 1936 Kewen R. Savage July 6, 1936 - December 31, 1938 Victor E. We stover January 1, 1939 - December 31, 1942 Joseph L. Petersen January 1; 1943 - December 31, 1946 and January 1, 1951 - December 31, 1954 Everett C. Fox January 1, 1949 - June 28, 1950 R, E. Porter July 1, 1950 - December 31, 1950 Joseph-L. Petersen January 1, 1951 - December 31, 1954 A. L. Johnson January 1, 1955 - present

RECORDERS, NAVAJO COUNTY: F . W, N e lso n March 28, 1895 - December 31, 1896 J. H, Frisby January 1, 1897 - December 31, 1898 A. F. McAllister January 1, 1899 - September 3, 1909 Conrad Hess, Jr. Sept. 3, 1909 - January 31, 1912 C, M. C. Houck January 31, 1912 - December 31, 1913 W. H, Larson January 1, 1914 - December 31, 1914 Dee M. Moss January 1, 1915 - July 9, 1917 Pauline Woods July 9, 1917 - March 1, 1920 Marguerite Drumm March 1, 1920 - September 15, 1922 Lucretia W. Flanigan September 15, 1922 - December 31, 1928 Caroline Adams January 1, 1929 - December 31, 1932 Percy R. Shuck January 1, 1933 - December 31, 1938 Elda R. Probst January 1, 1939 - present

CLERKS OF BOARD OF SUPERVISORS, NAVAJO COUNTY: F. W. Nelson April 1, 1895 - December 31, 1896 J. H. Frisby January 1, 1897 - December 31, 1898 A. F. McAllister January 1, 1899 - September 3, 1909 322

Conrad Hess, Jr. September 3, 1909 - January 31, 1912 C. M. C. Houck January 31, 1912 - December 31, 1913 W. H. Larson January 1, 1914 - December 31, 1914 Dee M. Moss January 1, 1915 - March 19, 1917 Ralph S. Teeple March 19, 1917 - December 31, 1920 M. R. Tanner January 1, 1921 - December 31, 192& Wallace Ellsworth January 1, 1923 - December 31, 1926 R. B. Walton J a n u a r y 1, 1927 - A u g u s t,16, 1.928 W. J. Hookway August 16, 1928 - December 31, 1934 Chester O. Sharar January 1, 1935 - April 7, 1941 Dorothy J. Leavitt April 7, 1941 - present

COUNTY SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENTS, NAVAJO COUNTY: F. M. Zuck April 1, 1895 - December 31, 1896 B. F. Jackson January 1, 1897 - January 30, 1902 F. J. Wattron January 30, 1902 - December 31, 1904 Robert C. Smith January 1, 1905 - December 31, 1914 Joseph Peterson January 1, 1915 - December 31, 1920 Hattie H. Penrod January 1, 1921 - December 31, 1922 Kate V. Kinney January 1, 1923 - December 31, 1924 Hattie H. Flaharty' January 1, 1925 - December 31, 1928 Edith L. Henderson January 1, 1929 - December 31, 1932 Mary A. Brown January 1, 1933 - June 30, 1955 . M argaret E. Porter July 1, 1955 - present

PROBATE JUDGE AND CLERK OF PROBATE COURT, NAVAJO COUNTY: Osmer D. Flake April 6, 1895 - December 31, 1896 B. EV: Jackson January 1, 1897 - December 31, 1901 Frank J. Wattron January 1, 1902 - December 31, 1904 R. C. Smith January 1, 1905 - December 31, 1912

CLERK, SUPERIOR COURT, NAVAJO COUNTY: W illiam B. Woods January 1, 1912 - December 31, 1914 Lloyd C. Henning January 1, 1915 - December 31, 1930 W allace Ellsworth January 1, 1931 - December 31, 1942 Victor E. Westover January 1, 1943 - September 30, 1946 Nancy C. Sherwood October 1, 1946 - December 31, 1946 Bruce A. Gardner January 1, 1947 - September 15, 1947 Lafe S. Hatch September 16, 1947 present 323

DISTRICT ATTORNEYS, NAVAJO COUNTY: W. M.. Perrill April 1, 1895 - December 31, 1896 W. H. Burbage January 1, 1897 - December 31, 1902 T. F. Moran January 1, 1903 - December 31, 1904 W. P. Geary January 1, 1905 - December 31, 1911

COUNTY ATTORNEYS, NAVAJO COUNTY: Jesse E. Crosby January 1, 1912 December 31, 1914 Clarence H. Jordan January 1, 1915 December 31, 1916 Thorwald Larson January 1, 1917 December 31, 1918 Thomas R, Greer January 1, 1919 December 31, 1922 Thorwald Lar s on January 1, 1923 December 31, 1924 P. A. Sawyer J a n u a r y 1, 1925 December 31, 1928 Charles Dewey M cC au ley January 1, 1925 - December 31, 1932 D on U d all January 1, 1933 - December 31, 1938 W.. Dean Nutting January 1, 1939 - April 1, 1942 and September 3, 1946 - December 31, 1948 W .. E. Fergus on April 1, 1942 - June 27, 1942 Dodd L. Greer June 27, 1942 - September 3, 1946 A x lin e January 1, 1949 - December 31, 1950 Me Ivy n T. Shelley January 1, 1951 - December 31, 1954 W. Dean Nutting January 1, 1955 - December 31, 1956 Edwin R. Powell January 1, 1957 - December 31, I960 Fred O, Wilson January 1, 1961 present

JUSTICES OF THE PEACE, NAVAJO COUNTY: F. J. Wattron April 1, 1895 - January 1, 1897 W. H. Clark January 1, 1897 - July 8, 1897 B. F. Jackson July 8, 1897 - May 2, 1898 F. M. Zuck May 2, 1898 - December 31, 1900 F. J. Wattron January 1, 1901 - December 31, 1904 Freeman H. Hathorn January 1, 1905 - August 9, 1905 A .. F. M cAllister August 9, 1905 - December 31, 1906 F, M. Zuck January 1, 1907 - April 6, 1909 W. R. Scorse April 6, 1909 - October 5, 1909 C. M. C. Houck October 5, 1909 - December 31, 1913 M. A. Crouse January 1, 1914 - December 31, 1914 A. M. Boyer January 1, 1915 - December 31, I9I8 D. W. Easley January 1, 1919 - April 7, 1930 W. H. Clark April 7, 1930 - December 31, 1930 A. G, McCloskey January 1, 1931 - August 4, 1958 David J. Stouffer August 4, 1958 - June 30, I96I 324

POSTMASTERS OF HOLBROOK, APACHE COUNTY: James H. Wilson 1882 Davi d G. Harvey 1883 Frederick A., Breed 1884 David G. Harvey 1885 Thomas P. Robinson 1886 Crestes P. Chaffee 1888 H e n ry R ead 1889 James R. Wilson 1890 James W. Boyle 1893

POSTMASTERS OF HOLBROOK, NAVAJO COUNTY: John R. Hulet 1896 Louis E. Divelbess 1897 Martin A. Crouse 1908 E. Jack Smith 1912 Charles Osborne 1914 Luther Cadwell 1923 George L. Noel 1936 Ernest S. Hulet 1948 - present time

JUDGES, NAVAJO COUNTY: John J. Hawkins 1895-1897 Richard E. Sloan 1897-1906 Edward M. Doe 1909-1912 Sidney Sapp 1912-1919 Jesse Crosby 1919-1931 P. A. Sawyer 1931-1935 John P. Clark 1935-1942 W. E. Ferguson 1942-1945 Don T. Udall 1945 - present time

SUPERVISORS, NAVAJO COUNTY: J. H. Bowman 1895-1896 J. H. Breed 1895-1896 J. H. Willis 1895-1898 and 1901-1902 J. X. Woods 1897-1900 L. E. Divelbess 1897-1898 and 1901-1902 Z. B. Decker, Jr. 1899-1900 325

John Hancock 1899-1900 Jo h n H unt 1901-1902 F. F. FUchinger 1903-1904 R. C. Cre swell 1903-1904 and 1915- 1916 and 1919-1920 H. B. Smith 1905-1906 J. J. Shumway I9 0 5 -I9 O 6 Q. R. Gardner 1907-1908 and 1915- 1916 J. E. Richards 1907-1908 and 1912. 1914 and 1921-1922 James Scott 1909-1910 O. B. Sutton 1909-1910 Barnett Stiles 1913-1914 E. T. Hatch 1913-1914 George W. Hennessey 1915-1916 John A. Freeman 1917-1918 C. E. Owens 1917-1918 and 1921 1922 and 1925-1926 John Flanigan 1919-1920 W. J. Crozier 1923-1924 and 1943 1956 Joseph Peterson 1923-1924 C. G. Payne 1923-1926 W. H. Denham 1925-1926 Wm. H. Chamberlin 1927-1928 J. A. Greaves 1927-1934 John L. Willis 1927-1936 and 1939 1944 E. B. Newman 1929-1932 Lloyd C. Henning 1933-1936 C. D. McCauley 1935-1942 J.: Lester Shumway 1937-1938 and 1945 .1946 Joseph L. Petersen 1937-1940 Ben R. Hunt 1941-1959-present Vern L. Willis 1947-1954-1955 Hubert McHood 1957-present Virgil M. Flake 1955-1958 Hal F. Butler 1959-present 326

A P P E N D IX E

CENSUS FIGURES FOR HOLBROOK, ARIZONA1

Y e a r P o p u la tio n

1890 206

1900

1910 609

1920 1,206

1930 1 ,1 1 5

1940 1, 184

1950 2 ,3 3 6

I960 3 ,4 3 8 *

*No separate figures were shown for Holbrook in the 1900 Census. There is no mention in the Census reports of Horsehead Crossing, by which Holbrook was originally known. . Letter from Howard G. Bruns- man, Chief, Population Diviaon, Bureau of the Census, Department of Commerce, to this w riter, dated July 18, 1958. A P P E N D IX F

Visitor Volume PETRIFIED FOREST NATIONAL MONUMENT1 (For years since accurate records maintained)

Y e a r T o ta l Y e a r T o ta l

1924 4 2 ,7 8 1 1943** 3 4 ,7 9 1 1925 5 5 ,2 2 7 1944** 4 0 ,7 2 9 1926 5 3 ,3 4 5 1945** 1 0 0 ,6 9 4 1927 6 1 ,7 6 1 1946 2 8 6 ,5 0 7 1928 7 5 ,2 2 5 1947 3 4 1 ,5 9 9 1929 6 9 ,3 5 0 1948 3 4 3 ,1 6 0 1930 1 0 5 ,3 5 3 1949 347,961 1931 9 4 ,4 1 1 1950 3 5 2 ,8 8 9 1932 8 3 ,6 3 0 1951 3 3 5 ,6 0 8 1933 8 0 ,7 2 0 1952 3 7 4 ,3 3 3 1934 9 0 ,3 6 5 1953 403,562 1935 7 0 ,5 1 1 1954 419,842 1936 9 4 ,8 9 9 1955 4 4 1 ,7 0 4 1937 1 0 5 ,3 9 6 1956 602,965 1938* 2 1 2 ,5 4 7 1957 6 6 5 ,7 4 7 1939 18 9 ,4 2 1 1958 7 1 3 ,0 8 0 1940 1 9 9 ,4 2 0 1959 8 7 8 ,4 2 3 1941 2 4 5 ,6 4 0 I960 9 1 1 ,5 3 1 1942** 7 3 ,0 2 9

* Painted Desert entrance opened. ** W orld W ar II years.1

* Monument Attendance Records (1924-1960). 328

APPENDIX G - MAPS

Early Spanish Expeditions into Arizona Bancroft, p. 43. 329 O O R N of

ap M AHIZOUAaMBW MEXICO. AHIZOUAaMBW

Arizona and New Mexico in 1889 Bancroft, p. XXXIX. 330

The Little Colorado Country- Adapted from map by Howard E. Daniels, "Mormon Colonization in Northern Arizona," inclosure 1. 331 APPENDIX H - NEWSPAPERS AND DOCUMENTS

Prominent Holbrook Citizens in 189?. Holbrook Argus, June 19, 1897. (Courtesy of Arizona Pioneers' Historical Society) 332

iriHtK h r ju bkii%. H I" mm Uwe •—* — v.wf fmm,. i*4 HwMki. —1 xv t-cwl • 1 W Ml Ik.- reMw- -«».4. ■•••»■■»■•«# I* 11- k»l Nik.

iwm yk# I . \.m l-rv k, rn, m##W • *#. w#ii,m-W ■ Ml Ik-W I«4m»

Prominent Holbrook Citizens in 1897. Holbrook Argus, June 19, 1897. (Courtesy of Arizona Pioneers* Historical Society) HOLBROOK TRIBUNE I leant of the New Oil Kiuld Adamana Oil Co. Drilling pil* ...... - —kr , IkM IW <

j= = 5 H :* :

Oil B oom Holbrook Tribune, October 24, 1918. (Courtesy of University of Arizona library) 334

Vivajo-Aputlic Altxhacl aiul Tillc (j». "l.'C gjgJTSjg 11( )| J$|« X )K I KljUINK

p>^«5Efs«as«sssss-2sarr A«>AMANA .w " 'TU' ir Nm, iwwiM-wN#, 3^S^*Sr^i?£=^T£St£:i ll^~* x— n<~i ^ n-

Ww*HU II.HwIC^r 1 Aztec IVimlctim Securities (]ilt Itnuhcm Kw(>.. » ■ , |. a |>lllllv) M«m«.ifc(X w i k h .i x x i .k <;k( n :i :ks

>N««si» nisakrli

Holbrook Oil Field Map Holbrook Tribune, November 1918 (Courtesy of University of Arizona library) V / 3 4 1 w Holbrook, . J rizomi, .... /tfpp.

J /r . , / # & & c c . You ore hereby coni lolly invited to offend the hanging of one

George Sm iley, fimivOerer. His soul will be swung into eternity on December 8,

jSyq, ot 2 o'clock p. ///., sharp. Fhe latest improved methods in the art of scientific strangulation will be employed and everything possible will be done to make the surroundings cheerful and the

execution a success. F. J. WATTRON, Sheriff of Navajo County.

Invitation to a Hanging (Courtesy of Arizona Pioneers’ Historical Society) R rrh c d Statutes o f A rizona% Pena! Code* T itle X .% Sec. />•/.'< J^uge SO?, makes it obligatory on Sheriff to issue ;m tfattens to executions% form (unfortunately) not )>rc*cribed.

Holbraok% Arizoj y - l ( / 0 0 .

Mr.

With feelings of profound sorrow einei regret. / hereby invite you to attend and witness the private, deeent and humane execution of a human being; name, (ieorge Smiley; crime, murder. ! he said (Ieorge Smiley w ill be executed on January S. nyto. at 2 o'clock p. m.

J on are expected to deport yourself in a respectful manner, and any "flippant ' or "unseemly" language or conduct on your part w ill not be allmoed. Conduct, on anyone's part, bordering on ribaldry and tending to mar the solemnity o f the occasion -will not be tolerated. F. J. WATT POM. S h e r tf , / Str.ap CmnUf.

t v .«/* tmr m txt k g U lo t-tr- amO A«r<- a form o f tm Urnttom to eir.Ktumi tm bod ltd m tu t hn-i.

Invitation to a Hanging (Courtesy of Arizona Pioneers* Historical Society) BIBLIOGRAPHY BIB LI OGRAPHY

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Way, Thomas E ., "Mossman Brought ’Em in A live," Scenic Southwest, (M a rc h 1950), 5, 14, 18; (A p ril 1950), 9, 14, 18l 344

Unpublished M aterial

Adams, David-Edward, "Rem iniscences.M anuscript in the Arizona Pioneers' Historical Society, Tucson, Arizona (1935).

Anderson, C. O ., "Reminiscences." Manuscript in the Arizona Pioneer s' Historical Society, Tucson, Arizona.

Banta, A. F ., Manuscript in the Arizona Pioneers' Historical Society, Tucson, Arizona.

Barnes, Will C ., "Biography of Commodore Perry Owens," Manuscript in the Arizona Pioneers' Historical Society, Tucson, Arizona.

______, Collection of Personal Papers in the Arizona Pioneers' Historical Society, Tucson, Arizona.

______"Official Amenities. " Manuscript in the Arizona Pioneers' Historical Society, Tucson, Arizona.

______"Sheep Trouble. " Manuscript in the Arizona Pioneers' Historical Society, Tucson, Arizona.

Bushman, John. Diary in the Arizona Pioneers' Historical Society, Tucson, Arizona.

Connell, Charles T. , Manuscript in the Arizona Pioneers' Historical Society, Tucson, Arizona. .

Gouts, Gave J. , Manuscript in the Arizona Pioneers' Historical Society, Tucson, Arizona.

Daniels, Howard E. , "Mormon Colonization in Northern Arizona. " Unpublished M aster's Thesis, University of Arizona, I960.

Fish, Joseph, "Autobiography." Manuscript in the Arizona Pioneers' Historical Society, Tucson, Arizona.

, "History of Arizona. " M anuscript in Ithe Arizona Pioneers' Historical Society, Tucson, Arizona. 345

Flake, Osmer D .. Manuscript in the Arizona Pioneers' Historical Society, Tucson, Arizona.

Henning, Lloyd C ., "Frank J. Wattron, Sheriff, Scholar, and Gentle­ man. 11 Monograph in the Arizona Pioneers' Historical Society, Tucson, Arizona (1941).

Heywood, Joseph Neal. Diary in the Arizona Pioneers' Historical Society, Tucson, Arizona.

Hunt, John A ., ^Reminiscences," as told to M rs. George F. Kitt. Manuscript in the Arizona Pioneers' Historical Society, Tucson, Arizona (1941).

LeSueur, James W arren, "United Order in Arizona. " Manuscript in the Arizona Pioneers* Historical Society, Tucson, Arizona.

Loring, George E. , Manuscript in the Arizona Pioneers' Historical Society, Tucson, Arizona.

Loring, Madison. Manuscript in the Arizona Pioneers Historical Society, Tucson, Arizona.

Me Laws, John. Diary in Holbrook, Arizona.

Pearce, Joseph. Manuscript in the Arizona Pioneers' Historical Society, Tucson, Arizona.

Randall, Lena, et. a l., "Navajo County History." The Daughters of the Utah Pioneers' Organization. Holbrook, Arizona.

Roberts, Paul H. . Manuscript in the Arizona Pioneers' Historical Society, Tucson, Arizona.

Smith, Ellen Johanna, "Life Sketch of Mons Larson. " Manuscript in the Arizona Pioneers* Historical Society, Tucson, Arizona.

Swilling, John W. . Papers in the Arizona Pioneers' Historical Society, Tucson, Arizona.

Van Valkenburgh, Richard F ., "Dinebikeyah. " Manuscript in the Arizona Pioneers' Historical Society, Tucson, Arizona (1940), 346

Van M etre, Edward, "The Early History of Show Low, Arizona. " Manuscript in the Arizona Pioneers' Historical Society, Tucson, A riz o n a .

Wattron, Frank J .. Papers in the Arizona Pioneers' Historical Society, Tucson, Arizona.

Pamphlets' and Bulletins

Barnes, Will C. , Arizona Place Names. University of Arizona General Bulletin No. 2. Tucson: University of Arizona, 1935.

Colton, Harold and Baxter, Frank C ., Days in the Painted Desert and the San Francisco Mountains. Northern Arizona Society of Science and Art Bulletin No. 2. Flagstaff: Museum of Northern Arizona, 1932.

Dellenbaugh,, F .. S ., The True Route of Coronado's March. Bulletin of the National Geographical Society. Washington: National Geographic Society, 1897.

Half A Century (1884-1934), Holbrook Tribune-News, September 7, 1934.

Luttrell, Estelle, Newspapers and Periodicals of Arizona 1859-1911. University of Arizona Bulletin No. 15, Vol. XX, No. 3. Univer­ sity of Arizona, 1949.

Petrified Forest National Monument 1906-1956, Golden Anniversary of the Establishment of. Northern Arizona Printers, 1956.

U. S. Census of Population: I960. Final Report, Number of Inhabitants, Arizona. U. S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the .Census, I960. 347

Personal Interviews

Crawford, W allace, City M agistrate of Holbrook; Holbrook^ Arizona, J u ly 1959.

Henning, Lloyd C ., form er mayor of Holbrook and a long-time Hol­ brook resident; Holbrook, Arizona, July 1959, July I960, July. 1961, and July 1962.

Hulet, Earnest, Postm aster of Holbrook; Holbrook, Arizona, July 1959.

Lee, Clarence and M rs. Clara B ., long-time residents of Holbrook; Holbrook, Arizona, July 1959.

Montano, Selso, former member of-Holbrook Fire Department and a long-time resident of Holbrook, Arizona, July 1959.

Smithson, TV E. , Town Manager of Holbrook; Holbrook, Arizona, J u ly I9 6 0 .

N e w sp a p e rs

Apache County Critic (Holbrook), June 3, 1886-October 1, 1887.

Apache Review (St. Johns), May 30, 1888-January 9, 1899.

Arizona Champion (Flagstaff), February 2, 1884-May 16, 1891.

Arizona Democrat (Prescott), January 23, 1880-December 30, 1881; January 26, 1883-May 4, 1883.

Arizona Enterprise (Prescott and Florence), August 11, 1877; January 5, 1878-January 11, 1879; August 6, 1881-June 2, 1888; December 27, 1890.

Arizona Daily Miner (Prescott), September 7, 1867-October 8, 1867.

Arizona Republic (Phoenix), December 11, 1899; December 22, 1928; March 10, 1935; August 3, 1952. 348

Coconino Sun (Flagstaff), November 25, 1927.

Holbrook Argus (Holbrook), December 12, 1895-February 4, 1913.

Holbrook News (Holbrook), December 31, 1909-February 9, 1923.

Holbrook Tribune (Holbrook), July 3, 1918-February 9> 1923.

Holbrook Tribune-News (Holbrook), February 16, 1923-December 25, I960.

Holbrook Times (Holbrook), May 17, 1884.

Prescott Journal Miner (Prescott), October 8, 1866-December 27, 1885.

Prescott Weekly Courier (Prescott), February 4, 1886-December 25, 1896.

St. Johns Herald (St. Johns), January 12, 1885-June 28, 1897.

Weekly Arizona. Miner (Prescott), March 9, 1864-December 27, 1899.

Weekly Journal Miner (Prescott), February 27, 1885-December 27, 1899.

Winslow Mail (Winslow), August 30, 1933.

Unpublished Letters

Baca, Josephine, Probate Clerk, County of Bernalillo, State of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico to Harold C. Wayte, August 3, I960. Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Banta, A. F.:, form er editor of Holbrook Argus to Will C. Barnes, author of Arizona Place Names, October 5, 1922. Arizona Pioneers' Historical Society. 349

Bradley, D. J ., Chief Clerk, Valuation. Department of Santa Fe Rail­ road in Chicago to H ,. L. Moore, Chief Clerk to Superintendent at Winslow, October 26, 1950. Chicago, Illinois. Copy of letter in the possession of Harold C. Wayte.

Barnes, Will C ., Arizona author, to Fred Schuster, Holbrook merchant, February 4, 1934. Phoenix, Arizona. Arizona Pioneers’ Historical Society.

Bruns man, Howard G. , Chief Population Division, Bureau of the Census, U. S. Department of Commerce to Harold C. Wayte, August 5, 1959. Washington, D. C..

Burgess, Benjamin, Clerk, Navajo County Board of Supervisors, to Harold C. Wayte, July 30, 1959. Holbrook, Arizona.

Clark, E. S. , Phoenix attorney to A. Schuster, Pioneer Holbrook merchant, April 22, 1924. Phoenix, Arizona. Copy of letter in the possession of Harold C. Wayte.

Davenport, Frances, Head of History and Genealogy Section, Connecticut State Library, Hartford, Connecticut, to Harold C. Wayte, July 23, 1959. Hartford, Connecticut.

Fishbein, Meyer H ., Archivist in Charge, Business Economics Branch, General Services Administration, National Archives and Records Service, to Harold C. Wayte, July 14, 1959. Washing ton, D. C ., July 28, 1959. Washington, D. C..

Forrest, Earle R. , Author of Arizona’s Dark and Bloody Ground, to, Eleanor B. Sloan, Director of the Arizona Pioneers’ Historical Society, August 14, 1957. Washington, Pennsylvania. Arizona. Pioneers’ Historical Society.

Hayden, Carl, U. S. Senator from Arizona, to Lloyd C. Henning, prominent citizen of Holbrook, August 8, 1952. Washington, D. C .. Letter in the possession of Lloyd C. Henning, Holbrook.

Henning, Lloyd C. , prominent citizen of Holbrook, to Harold C. Wayte, July 17, 1958; September 14, 1959; August 17, 1961; July 25, 1962. Holbrook, Arizona.

Huns aker, Emma, Daughter of John W. Me Laws, Holbrook pioneer, to Harold C. Wayte, July 25, 1959. Holbrook, Arizona, 350

Jeffers, Jo, Holbrook w riter, to Harold C. Wayte, August 27, 1962. Holbrook, Arizona.

Kitt, M rs. George F ., Director of the Arizona Pioneers' Historical Society, to Platt Cline, editor of the Coconino Sun, April 10, 1945. Tucson, Arizona. Arizona Pioneers' Historical Society.

Lee, M rs. Clara B. , wife of William James Lee, to Harold C. Wayte, July 23, 1962. Holbrook, Arizona.

McClintock, J. H. , author of History of Arizona and Mormon Settle­ ment in Arizona, to Will C. Barnes, author of Arizona Place Names, March 17, 1932. . Phoenix, Arizona. Arizona Pioneers' Historical Society.

McKinney, Joe, form er Hashknife cowboy to Will C. Barnes, author of ■Arizona Place Names, March 18, 1935.. Wilcox, Arizona. Arizona Pioneers' Historical Society.

Muss elm an, Roy D ., Acting Chief, Personal Census Service Branch, U. S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Pittsburg, Kansas to Harold C. Wayte, August 12, I960. Pittsburg, Kansas.

Owens, Mrs. Elizabeth Barrett, wife of C. P. Owens, form er Navajo County Sheriff, to Earle Forrest, author of Arizona's Dark and Bloody Ground, January 10, 1937. San Diego, California. Arizona Pioneers' Historical Society.

Potter, Albert F ., former Arizona sheep rancher and member of U. S. Forest Service, to Will C. Barnes, author of Arizona Place Names. May 20, 1932; May 22, 1932. Los Angeles, California. Arizona Pioneers' Historical Society.

Probst, Elda R. , Navajo County Recorder, to Harold C. Wayte, . August 18, 1961. Holbrook, Arizona.

Roberts, Paul H. , form er resident of Arizona, who knew Albert F. Potter, to Harold C. Wayte, July. 17, 1958. Newport Beach, California. 351

Schuster, Miss Helen, daughter of Adolf Schuster, pioneer Holbrook merchant, to Harold C. Wayte, August 13, 1961; November 24, 1961. Los Angeles, California.

Schwartz, Harry, for Neil Franklin, Archivist in Charge, General Reference Branch, General Services Administration, Washington, D. C ., to Harold C. Wayte, August 8, 1958. Washington, D. C ..

Smithson, T. E. , Holbrook Town Manager, to Harold C. Wayte, July 28, I960; August 30, 1961. Holbrook, Arizona.

Swenson, Milton D ., Chief, Personal Census Service Branch, U. S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Pittsburg, Kansas, to Harold C. Wayte, August 5, 1959. Pittsburg, K a n s a s .

Thomson, Charles L ., Manager, Pueblo Chamber of Commerce; Pufeblo, Colorado, to Harold C. Wayte, July 30, 1959. Pueblo, C o lo ra d o .

M aps •

Map of Arizona Territory (prepared by authority of O. B. Willcox, Commanding Department, under the direction of F irst Lieutenant Fred A. Sm ith,. Adjutant, Twelfth, Infantry Engineers Office, D. A ., 1879), Arizona Pioneers’ Historical Society.

Map of Arizona Territory (sketch map copy of a map drawn in 1894 by A. S. Reynolds), Arizona Pioneers’ Historical Society.

Official Map of the Territory of Arizona (compiled from Surveys, Reconnaissances and other sources by E. A. Eckhoff and Paul Riecker, Civil Engineers, 1880), Arizona Pioneers' Historical S o c ie ty .

Rand McNally and Company, Map of Arizona (San Francisco: W. W. Elliott and Company, 1884), Arizona Pioneers' Historical S o c ie ty . 352

Special M ilitary Map, United States Army, Territories of New Mexico and Arizona (prepared in the Office of the Chief of Engineers, U. S. A ., 1879), Arizona Pioneers' Historical Society.

U. S. Department of Interior, General Land Office Map of the Territory of Arizona (compiled by C. Roeser, 1879), Arizona Pioneers' Historical Society.