A history of Holbrook and the Little Colorado Country (1540-1962) Item Type text; Thesis-Reproduction (electronic) Authors Wayte, Harold Columbus, 1926- Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. 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 source 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-AMERICANS . 20 H I. THE FOUNDING OF MORMON SETTLEMENTS ALONG THE LITTLE COLORADO RIVER ..... 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 towns 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 town in the state had such a colorful history; the Hashknife Outfit, which served as a haven for many outlaws from Texas and New Mexico, was chiefly responsible for that heritage. Early Holbrook witnessed many a bloody encounter between warring groups of stockmen and between true western "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 Mormons migrated to the area. 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 Navajo County 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 hanging. 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 Northern Arizona. Modern day Holbrook is situated on U.. S. Highway 66, on Arizona highways 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 Los Angeles, 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 Desert, the Petrified Forest, and the Navajo and Hopi 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 history of Arizona 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 Colorado River 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 Pueblo 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 canals. 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 United States. 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 Hopis, 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 Marcos de Niza, 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 Navajos and Apaches.