USA > Arizona > History of Arizona, Vol. VI > Part 17
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of the tribe strung the worms through the mid- dle with a needle and thread. They would then double the strands several times, and place the strands over their necks, and the live worms would wiggle upon their naked busts. The sun shining upon the variegated collars made them appear to be a beautiful necklace. Of course it was beautiful until we discovered that it was really live, repulsive worms." (The Indians boiled these caterpillars with a little salt, and then ate them.)
The mesquite grove of which Mr. Hunter speaks was probably the grove which covered what is known as the "Balch Addition to Phoe- nix." It was covered with mesquite in 1887 when the writer settled in this valley.
Some time in the spring of 1868 a little girl was born to John Adams and wife, who it is claimed was the first white child born in Phoenix. She is now married and the mother of a large family.
Mr. Hunter was married in Yavapai County in 1868, to Miss Ollie T. Gallaspy, which was among the first marriages solemnized in that county. Four children were born to this union. In 1884 he served in the Territorial Legislature, and after that time was, for several years, jus- tice of the peace at Safford, where he died about the year 1912. Speaking of early arrivals in the Salt River Valley, Mr. Hunter says :
"Up to August, 1868, there were a number of new people who came into the valley. Among the lot were Lum Gray and family, Greenhaw, Patterson, and the Rowe Family, and an old fel-
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low known as Red Wilson, who formed a com- pany with old man John Adams, and others, to take out what was known as the Wilson Canal. It came out of the river below the Swilling Canal. Old Red Wilson made life miserable for me. Every time I met him he was telling me the future of the Salt River-that I was young and that I would live to see a city built there, etc. I could not see it like he did, but just twenty-eight years afterwards I visited the val- ley again, and realized that old Red Wilson had proven himself a correct prophet. Phoenix had risen from the ashes, from nothing as it were- it was on the occasion of her first midwinter car- nival. She was decorated and presented one of the most beautiful appearances that I ever wit- nessed. I felt indeed that I was another Rip Van Winkle. Twenty-eight years ago here were the same Pima and Maricopa Indians in evi- dence plentifully. These Indians were from the Government schools at Phoenix. What a change in so short a time. They were forming on the Churchill Addition by platoon to take part in the parade through the city, my old Alfileria Flat in the long ago. Twenty-eight years before their fathers and mothers were eating raw cater- pillars on the very same spot where their child- ren were forming for parade, with Indian youths leading the procession with a brass band of their own, followed by a little boy corps of drummers. The maidens who had the caterpillar necklaces then, were dressed in uniform, marching by platoon like the regulars of the army. Every- thing had changed except the grand old brown mountains-they looked just the same, together
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with the everlasting sunshine,-Arizona sun. A very few of the old-timers remain. The promi- nent noted ones are all gone to their reward. King Woolsey, Andrew Peeples, Sam McClat- chey, Tom Dodge, Jack Swilling, George Monroe, Jerome Vaughn, Murphy, Dennis, Jim Cushing- berry, Bill Smith, Bronco Billy, Buckskin Tom, Bob Groom, Joe Fugit, Joe Fye, John Montgomery, and many others who figured prominently in Arizona life in the long ago, have, as far as I know, passed away. Andrew Peeples, Jack Swilling and old Negro Ben were the discoverers of the Weaver District. Jack dug out with his butcher knife thirty thousand dollars in nuggets. Nigger Ben dug out be- tween six and ten thousand. I do not recall the amount that Andrew Peeples got. Old Negro Ben lost his life by the Indians along some time in the seventies."
Getting married in Arizona, and particularly in this portion of the Territory, was rather a dif- ficult matter in the early days, as the following stories show. Mr. Hunter gives this account of the marriage of one of his cowboys in the year 1868 :
"The oldest daughter of John Adams and one of our cowboys, by name Wm. Johnson, were married. Difficulty No. 1, came on the scene, which had to be overcome. There was no preacher in the whole of Arizona that we knew of, no justice of the peace nearer than Prescott, and how to overcome this difficulty was a prob- lem. I told my friend Johnson that Fort Mc- Dowell was a six-company fort, and the Govern- ment always looked after the spiritual welfare
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of the soldiers, and there must, of necessity, be a chaplain stationed there. On inquiry we found this to be the case, so on one of the most beautiful sunshiny days of April, the bride and groom, with a party of friends armed to kill, act- ing as an escort to the happy couple, hiked to Fort McDowell. Our desires being made known to an old white-headed man, who was designated by the soldiers as being the chaplain, we told our wants. This appearing to the old preacher as a most extraordinary occasion, he communicated with the commander of the post, who, in turn, agreed with the preacher, and in a short time the usually quiet military camp, situated in the far west and upon the banks of the beautiful Verde River, was to witness one of the most extra- ordinary scenes that had ever taken place in Ari- zona-the birth of the first little home in Salt River Valley. The soldiers were formed in a hollow square around the grand flag pole, on whose top floated the Stars and Stripes. The military band was discoursing the most lovely music, the old preacher with his white head un- covered to the beautiful sunshine, the parade ground was covered with the most beautiful wild flowers, as well as the whole surrounding coun- try, the grand old brown mountains looked solemn and happy, adding dignity to the scene. Everybody looked happy, and why should they not feel that way? It was surely a red-letter day for Arizona, for the first home of Salt River Valley had been formed in April, 1868. I fail to recall the day of the month. The descendants and pioneer relatives of these first families still live in Salt River Valley. Old man John Adams
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and his wife were my personal friends-good people they were, true pioneers, true friends, ever ready to respond to the needs of their fel- lows. They would divide their last crust with the needy prospectors who chanced their way. If still alive they are very old. I presume, how- ever, that they have both passed to their reward in the great beyond."
Mr. John F. Crampton gives the following concerning the marriage of one of his two sis- ters: "Mrs. Fitzgerald, my sister, was married in 1873. Her husband was postmaster and had a store at Yuma, and came to Maricopa Wells to marry her, where my sister, with the rest of the family, were living at the time. Dr. Alsap was Probate Judge in Phoenix. They sent for him to perform the ceremony, and when he got to Maricopa Wells he found out that he was out of his jurisdiction, being in Pinal County, and, consequently, could not perform the marriage. The girls took on a good deal, and when I got there, having just ridden on horseback from Tucson, I asked them what was the matter. They told me that everything was ready for the wedding and that Dr. Alsap was there, but that he was out of his jurisdiction and could not perform the ceremony. My sister said: 'Henry is up here from Yuma, and Dr. Alsap is here from Phoenix, and we are in another county and cannot get married.' I thought a minute, and then said: 'That's easy. The line is only six or seven miles from here. We'll all get in the coach and drive across the line.' I went to the corral and hitched up six horses to the stage coach, and we all piled in and on, twenty-seven
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of us, and drove out across the line into Mari- copa County. We got there about eleven o'clock at night, and with some holding candles, and standing around in a circle, Judge Alsap per- formed the ceremony, and we drove back to Maricopa Wells. They were married under an ironwood tree."
The day after the wedding Mr. Crampton drove a six-horse Concord stage coach to Yuma with the bride and groom and members of the wedding party. They probably had a good time both at Maricopa Wells and at Yuma, for mar- riages at that time were few and far between, and congratulations on the part of the boys to the lucky bridegroom were extended with great cordiality, interspersed with champagne, and the et ceteras.
Mr. Crampton says further :
"I went out to see the place about three years ago, and the old tree is still there. My niece says that if she can do it, she is coming to Arizona to take up that tree, and plant it in her mother's yard, and then her mother will have her hobby there."
Mr. and Mrs. Fitzgerald remained in Yuma until 1879, when they settled in San Francisco, where Mr. Fitzgerald died, and there his widow still survives him.
This is the first record that I know of any- where, where pioneers had to drive six or seven miles and then be married at midnight under an ironwood tree.
Among the early pioneers in the Salt River Valley, aside from J. W. Swilling, two men stand out most prominently in the history of
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Phoenix, William A. Hancock, who was born on the 17th day of May, 1831, in Barry, Massachu- setts, and died in Phoenix in the year 1901, and John T. Alsap, who was born in Frankfort, Ken- tucky, February 28th, 1830, and died in Phoenix on the 10th day of September, 1886.
Captain Hancock was educated in the public schools in Massachusetts and in Leicester Acad- emy, and, in the spring of 1853, with his brothers, John and Henry, made the trip across the plains and deserts to California, where they located upon a ranch. In 1864 Captain Hancock en- listed in the California Volunteers and in the following year was sent to Fort Yuma, and was there mustered into Company "C" of the First Arizona Volunteers, with the rank of Second Lieutenant. He was stationed at Fort Mc- Dowell, and promoted to the rank of First Lieu- tenant, and was mustered out of the service in September. 1866. He then became superintend- ent of the Government Farm at Fort McDowell, and then post trader at Camp Reno, which latter position he held until he came to the Phoenix Settlement in 1870. As has been stated Captain Hancock surveyed the city of Phoenix, and held many offices of honor and trust, having been the first postmaster of Phoenix, District Attorney, Probate Judge, and the first sheriff of Maricopa County, having been appointed to that position by Governor Safford. He also served as Assist- ant Attorney of the United States for the Dis- trict of Arizona, and was, for some time, County Superintendent of Schools. He was always an earnest friend of irrigation projects, and was one of the committee of three appointed to in-
CAPT. WILLIAM A. HANCOCK.
JOHN T. ALSAP.
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vestigate the Colorado River project. In poli- tics a Republican, he loyally aided in the estab- lishment of the party in Maricopa County, and served, at one time, as a member of the County Central Committee. He was one of the mem- bers of the Pioneers Association of Arizona, of the Territorial Bar Association, of the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows, and of Capt. Owen Post, G. A. R., at one time being senior vice-commander of the Post. He was married in 1873 to Lillie B. Kellogg, and leaves two chil- dren, a son, Henry L. Hancock, and a daughter, Mrs. Mabel Latham. Captain Hancock was associated, in his lifetime, with most of the en- terprises in Phoenix and the Salt River Valley, and his reputation was always that of an enter- prising, energetic citizen, whose integrity was never questioned.
John T. Alsap, as before noted, was the first Territorial Treasurer. It was through his in- fluence as a member of the Sixth Legislature of the Territory that the county of Maricopa was created. As a lawyer, Judge, town commis- sioner, and, in fact, in every capacity in which he acted, he proved himself a citizen of rare enterprise, merit and worth.
One of the honored pioneers and esteemed citi- zens of Phoenix, was Simon Novinger, who was born in Halifax, Dauphin County, Pennsyl- vania, January 14th, 1832, a son of Isaac and Hannah (Hawk) Novinger, both natives of Lykens Valley, that county.
Mr. Novinger was reared in much the usual manner of farmer boys of his day, attending school about four months, and devoting the re-
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mainder of the year to the labors of the field. After attaining his majority he worked two years at the stone mason trade, and then again engaged in farming. He spent considerable time in travelling over the east, and in 1863, started for Nevada. From St. Joseph, Mo., he started across the plains with ox teams, but learning of the gold excitement at Virginia City, Montana, he decided to go to that place. He went up the North Platte to Red Butte, and then took the trail north, afterward known as the Bozeman Route. There were 417 men in the company with which he travelled, and they had with them 127 wagons. They were twice at- tacked by Indians, but finally reached their des- tination in safety. On his arrival in Virginia City, Mr. Novinger engaged in building for a time, and then turned his attention to placer mining, in which he was quite successful. He spent five years in Montana, Nevada, Idaho, Ore- gon and British Columbia, and in 1868 went to Stockton, California, where he engaged in farm- ing for a time, later following the same pursuit at Visalia, that State.
In 1871, Mr. Novinger came to the Salt River Valley, at which time Phoenix contained but two buildings. He engaged in prospecting at Four Peaks. On one of his expeditions he was ac- companied by two other men. Leaving him at camp the two others started out to look for water, and while they were gone he was attacked by six Indians, whom he put to flight, although they succeeded in wounding him in the right leg. He was taken to Fort McDowell, where on ac- count of his injuries he remained for one hun-
SIMON NOVINGER.
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dred and forty days. He then returned to Phoenix, and in 1873 bought a claim and filed on it, consisting of the southeast quarter of section 12, township 2, Maricopa County, a mile and a half from the city. As the years passed the growth of the city touched the boundaries of Mr. Novinger's ranch. In 1877 he bought another tract of one hundred and sixty acres adjoining it on the north, and in the later 80's sold it to General Collins and General Sherman, who laid out on it the "Capitol Addition to Phoenix," which has been quite rapidly built up. Mr. Novinger operated his ranch successfully, rais- ing grain and hay.
In politics Mr. Novinger was a stanch Demo- crat, and served as a member of the county com- mittee. He made frequent trips East and trav- elled extensively in both the north and the west. He died January 24th, 1904, in Phoenix.
The portrait of Mr. Novinger which accom- panies this sketch was taken with his little grandniece, Mabel Clara Novinger, daughter of Mason D. and Eva Hampton Novinger.
VI-18
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CHAPTER XIII. MORE SETTLEMENTS.
IMMIGRATION IMPEDED BY INDIAN TROUBLES AND OTHER DIFFICULTIES-C. E. COOLEY, A. F. BANTA AND HENRY W. DODD HUNT LOST MINE-BIOGRAPHY OF C. E. COOLEY-BIOG- RAPHY OF HENRY W. DODD-TOWN OF ST. JOHNS LOCATED-BIOGRAPHY OF SOL. BARTH -LOCATION IN ROUND VALLEY BY WILLIAM R. MILLIGAN-STARTING OF SPRINGERVILLE- LOCATION AND NAMING OF SHOW LOW - FIRST LOCATION OF HOLBROOK-LOCATION ON SILVER CREEK, NOW SNOWFLAKE - BIOG- RAPHY OF JAMES STINSON - BIOGRAPHY OF DANIEL H. MING-INTERVIEW WITH J. LOR- ENZO HUBBELL - FIGHTS WITH OUTLAWS AND RUSTLERS - REMINISCENCES BY PROF. E. C. BUNCH - BRINGING IN OF FIRST SAW LOG - ADVENT OF MORMONS - GROWTH OF CATTLE INDUSTRY-"BRIEFS"-OUTLAWS.
Until after the subjugation of the Indians by General Crook, little progress was made in the settled portions around Prescott and other places. During 1870 and 1871, some settlements were started in what is now Maricopa County. The northeastern part of the Territory had been crossed and explored several times, but it was still practically a wilderness. There were no mines found to create an interest in this section. The land was not of a superior quality, and ex- cept in a few localities water was scarce, and some of it was of a very bad quality, especially
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that of the little Colorado River, so this section, taking it all together, attracted neither the pleas- ure seeker nor those who were looking for homes. Indian troubles and other difficulties impeded immigration, which came in but slowly. A few, however, were penetrating the unoccupied places in the northwest, making feeble efforts to estab- lish homes, while a few were looking for mines.
On July 12th, 1869, C. E. Cooley, A. F. Banta, and Henry W. Dodd, left the Zuni Villages with a small party of Indians to hunt a gold mine known as the "Doc Thorn Story." Cooley was born in Virginia on the 2nd day of April, 1836. In 1856 he came West, landing at Santa Fe, New Mexico. In 1858 he went to Colorado, and clerked in the first store opened in that State. In 1869 he came to Arizona on a mining expedition, and soon after he settled at Apache, where he married an Apache woman. He was prominent as a scout, and served under General Crook with marked distinction. He first settled at Show Low, but later moved to a place inside the reser- vation, twenty-two miles north of Apache, where he died in 1917.
Henry W. Dodd was born in Ohio February 7th, 1839. He served in the Civil War from the year 1861 to 1864, came to Arizona in 1869, and later served as guide and scout for the Govern- ment. In 1886 he was thrown from a horse, and died soon after.
A. F. Banta is still living, and his biography will be found in a succeeding volume.
In the year 1870 a man by the name of John Walker, who was employed to carry the express between Forts Wingate and Apache (the latter
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post having just been occupied by troops), built a cabin at the crossing of the Little Colorado about five miles below where St. Johns is now located. The following year a few Mexicans gathered around this place, and built some temporary huts, and in the spring of 1872 they located the town of St. Johns. Solomon Barth and a few others came in shortly before the town was started. For several years it made but little progress, and like most of these frontier places, had its proportion of renegades, both American and Mexican.
Solomon Barth was a native of Prussia, born in 1842. In 1855 he came to America and drifted from the Eastern States to California. In 1860 he came to La Paz on the Colorado River, and from there went to Weaverville, and in 1863 he was at Granite Creek. He engaged in mail contracts and merchandising, the latter business being carried on in New Mexico, and, in 1873, he moved to St. Johns, where he con- ducted his business very successfully. He is still living in St. Johns.
In the Fall of 1870 William R. Milligan left Fort Craig with a trainload of corn for the mili- tary post which had been established at Apache. His wagons were drawn by oxen. His route was by the Tularosa, New Mexico, and Round Val- ley, Arizona, to Fort Apache. After delivering his corn he returned, stopping at Round Valley where he put up a log house. This was the first improvement made in the valley. He did this to hold his claim on the place, and this was the first train of wagons to pass through this part of the country. In the fall of 1871 he made
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another trip with corn. This time he had fif- teen wagons, and among others who were with him was Marion Clark. Owing to the lateness of the season and other causes, a part of the corn was left at the house that had been built the year before. They expected to return soon for it; this was in January. On returning Milligan brought in a complete outfit for farming. He brought with him Anthony Long and Joe Mc- Cullough as partners in the enterprise. Some corn and a little barley were put in, the plowing being commenced about the fifteenth of April. Marion Clark planted some on what was later the Julius Becker farm. This may be said to be the starting of the town now known as Springerville.
During the spring Milligan and Clark made a trip on horseback to Camp Verde to see about disposing of the corn which Milligan had left, and to put in bids on hay and wood contracts for Fort Apache. In June the corn was sent over to Camp Verde. The price they received for it was not made public. At Apache Milligan received ten dollars a hundred for Indian col- ored corn, and twelve and a half dollars for American.
The winter of 1871-72 was a remarkably mild one, it being more like summer than winter. There was no snow or rain in the valley until about the first of April, when there was a slight fall of snow which only lay on the ground for two or three days. The following summer was exceedingly dry. In July the river in the val- ley dried up so that the fish died in places. There was no rain until about the middle of
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August, when the first rain came, and this turned off with a freeze that killed the corn which was just in roasting ears. A small patch of barley, however, that Milligan had put in did well. The loss of the corn crop had a discouraging effect on some. Clark abandoned the enterprise, and Mc- Cullough drew out from his partnership with Milligan, and took Clark's place. "Tony" Long drew out and went to Fort Apache to work.
The starting of this place was unlike most other places in Arizona. The hostile Indians never moistened its soil with the blood of its in- habitants. The murderous Apache allowed the settlers to prosecute their labors in comparative peace. The White Mountain Apaches were never as hostile as those in the south and west. It is stated that the first year in the valley the settlers saw bear, deer, antelope, and turkeys al- most daily, and that mountain sheep were found in the mountains. Milligan made a permanent location here, and others coming in, some from St. Johns, made the place stronger, so it soon became the center for this region. In the early days of the place all supplies were obtained from Socorro, New Mexico.
C. E. Cooley left his companions on the Salt River, in 1869, where he had, as before stated, gone on one of his mining expeditions, an ac- count of which will be given later. He drifted back to the newly established post, Fort Apache. Here, as before stated, he married an Apache woman (in fact, he married two sisters), and took up a place on White River, some eight miles above the post. In 1872 when the corn was killed by early frosts in Round Valley (the
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Milligan place), Marion Clark came over and worked for Cooley a short time. He then went over to Show Low, where he decided to take up a place. There he had some negotiations with one Suvian, a Mexican, about going into partner- ship with him in locating the place. He went over the ground carefully and located a water ditch. The Indians told him that he was "loco," (crazy), in thinking of settling there for the creek went dry at that point in summer. About this time Cooley and Dodd came through with a party of scouts and Indians looking out a road from Fort Apache to Camp Verde. Coming to this place Cooley remarked : "This is my ranch." Dodd said, "No, it is mine," so to decide the mat- ter they played a game of "seven up" to see who should own the ranch. Cooley played "high" which placed him within a point of going out, when Dodd said, "Show low and go out." Cooley showed the three spot, which proved to be low. This gave him the game and he jumped up and said he would call the place "Show Low," which name it bears to this day.
Cooley was soon informed that Clark had made a claim on the place. He went to Clark and persuaded him to drop Suvian, whom he was thinking of taking as a partner, and take him in- stead, which Clark did. Clark and Cooley took out the water, and made some improvements, when Clark drew out, leaving the place to Cooley. Cooley immediately commenced to make im- provements upon a much larger scale.
In the year 1871 or 1872, an Indian Chief, with a small band of Indians, located at the confluence of the Show Low and Silver Creeks. Here they
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raised a little corn, but the chief dying soon af- ter, the Indians abandoned the place, which was shortly afterwards taken up by Richard J. Bailey.
In 1870 Luther Martin made a location in the little valley just below Woodruff. He soon abandoned this place and went to St. Johns. About this time 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 a trading post. Berrando had some means. He was a member of the Peeples' Party that dis- covered gold at Rich Hill. Later, Henry Hun- ing succeeded in getting Berrando's wife, and it was reported that he also secured a large share of Berrando's property.
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