Mormon Settlement in Arizona Part 32

1882--Jan. 28, re-location of Holbrook townsite; June 1, N.B. Robinson killed by Indians, Indian troubles in mountain settlements; June 24, N.

C. Tenney killed at St. Johns; July, establishment of first paper in Apache County; July 19, L.D.S. settlement at Tempe; Dec. 10, Maricopa Stake organized; Dec. 25, naming of Thatcher.

1883--Jan. 4, location party in Mexico from St. David; 13, settlement of Layton; Feb. 25, establishment of St. Joseph Stake at St. David; spring, Forest Dale abandoned; Aug. 25, Wilford and Heber organized; Nov., naming of Lehi.

1884--Mar., land jumping in St. Johns; Nov., Young and Grant party visit Yaqui Indian country.

1885--Feb. 9, departure of first L.D.S. Mexican colony; Nov.-Dec., Indian depredations in Gila Valley; Dec. I, killing of Lorenzo and Seth Wright on Gila r.; Wilford abandoned.

1886--Feb. 9, Andrew S. Gibbons died at St. Johns; Aug. 31, death of Jacob Hamblin at Pleasanton; Sept. 8, Isaac C. Haight died at Thatcher.

1887--Jan. 24, first donation to Arizona temple; May 3, earthquake at St.

David; Fredonia settled; July 24, St. Johns Stake organized; Dec. 4, C.I.

Robson president of Maricopa Stake; Dec.18, Snowflake Stake organized.

1889--Jan. 14, St. Johns Stake Academy established; 21, Snowflake Academy established; Apr. 2, Brigham Young Jr., and Jesse N. Smith purchased Little Colorado Valley lands in New York; May 11, Wham robbery, near Ft.

Grant.

1890--Feb., Great floods on Little Colorado r. and Silver Creek.

1891--Feb., large damage done by Salt r. floods.

1892--June 20, Lot Smith killed by Indians near Tuba City; July 3-4, general conference of Arizona Stakes at Pinetop; Dec. 8, Chas. L. Flake killed at Snowflake.

1893--Feb. 19, artesian flow struck at St. David.

1894--Feb. 24, C.I. Robson died at Mesa; May 10, C.R. Hakes president of Maricopa Stake.

1898--Jan. 29, St. Joseph Stake reorganized under Andrew Kimball; May 21, death of Chas. Shumway; Sept. I, St. Joseph Stake Academy opened at Thatcher.

1903--Feb., Tuba settlers sell to Indian Bureau.

1904--Sept. 15, death of P.C. Merrill.

1905--May I, breaking of St. Johns reservoir.

1906--June 5, death of Jesse N. Smith.

TRAGEDIES OF THE FRONTIER

It is notable that few were the Mormons who have met untimely death by violence in the Southwest. It is believed that the following brief record is, very nearly, complete:

George A. Smith, Jr.--Nov. 2, 1860. Killed by Navajos near Tuba City.

Dr. J.M. Whitmore and Robert McIntire--Jan. 8, 1866. Killed by Navajos near Pipe Springs.

Elijah Averett--Jan. 1866. Killed by Navajos near Paria Creek.

Averett had been with the Capt. James Andrus expedition after the Whitmore-McIntire murderers and had been sent back, with a companion, with dispatches from about the Crossing of the Fathers. He was killed on this return journey and his companion wounded.

Joseph Berry, Robert Berry and the latter's wife, Isabella--April 2, 1866. Killed by Paiutes at Cedar Knoll near Short Creek, west of Pipe Springs. The three were in a wagon and had attempted to escape by running their horses across country, but the Indians cut them off.

They fought for their lives and one dead Indian was found near their bodies. In the woman's body was a circle of arrows.

Joseph Davidson, wife and son--June 12, 1869. Perished of thirst on Southern Nevada desert, in Muddy Valley section.

Lorenzo W. Roundy--May 24, 1876. Drowned in Colorado River.

Nathan B. Robinson--June 1, 1882. Killed by Apaches near Reidhead.

Nathan C. Tenney--June 24, 1882. Unintentionally shot by Mexicans in course of riot at St. Johns.

Jacob S. Ferrin--July 19, 1882. Killed by Apaches 12 miles east of San Carlos.

Mrs. W.N. Fife--Sept. 11, 1884. Murdered at her home in the Sulphur Springs Valley. She had given a Mexican dinner and was rewarded by a shot in the back. A 13-year-old daughter was saved by the timely arrival of a Mexican employee. The murderer, only known as Jesus, was captured the following day by a posse of settlers and, after full determination of guilt, was hanged to a tree. The murderer's skull now is in possession of Dr. Ezra Rich of Ogden, Utah.

Lorenzo and Seth Wright--Dec. 1, 1885. Ambushed by Apaches in Gila Valley.

Frank Thurston--May 23, 1886. Killed by Apaches six miles west of Pima.

Lot Smith--June 20, 1892. Killed by Navajos near Tuba.

Chas. L. Flake--Dec. 8, 1892. Killed by fugitive criminal at Snowflake.

Horatio Merrill and 14-year-old daughter, Eliza--Dec. 3, 1895. Killed by Apaches at Ash Springs, 30 miles east of Pima. This crime has been charged to the infamous Apache Kid.

Isaac Benj. Jones--May 12, 1897. Killed at El Dorado Canyon, near the Colorado River. While freighting ore to a mill, he was ambushed and shot from his wagon by a Paiute, Avote, who murdered several other whites before being run down and killed by Indians on Cottonwood Island, where he had taken refuge.

John Bleak--Jan. 26, 1899. Killed by Mexicans, near Hackberry, Mohave County. The body was found with many knife thrusts, with indications of a desperate resistance of two a.s.sailants.

Frank Lesueur and Augustus Andrew Gibbons--Mar. 27, 1900. Killed by outlaws near Navajo, eastern Apache County. They had been deserted by six Mexican members of a posse trailing American cattle thieves, who were fleeing northward from near St. Johns, and were ambushed in a mountain canyon. Lesueur was killed instantly by a shot in the forehead and Gibbons, already shot through the body, was killed by a shot in the head at very short range. The murderers were not apprehended.

Wm. T. Maxwell--1901. Killed by outlaws near Nutrioso. He was the son of a Mormon Battalion member.

Wm. W. Berry--Dec. 22, 1903. Murdered in Tonto Basin. John and Zach Booth, goat owners, were arrested for the crime. The latter was hanged and the former released after disagreement of the jury. The crime also embraced the murder of a 16-year-old boy, Juan Vigil, son of a herder.

Berry at the time was in charge of a band of sheep.

Hyrum Smith Peterson--Nov. 12, 1913. Killed near Mesa. Peterson, city marshal, was shot down by thieves whom he was trying to arrest.

Frank McBride and Martin Kempton--Feb. 10, 1918. Killed 60 miles west of Pima. McBride was sheriff of Graham County and Kempton was deputy. The two sought arrest of the Powers brothers and Sisson, draft evaders, who were in a cabin in the Galiuro Mountains. With them was killed another deputy, Kane Wootan. In a following special session of the Legislature, the families of the three were given $17,500, to be invested for their benefit.

[Ill.u.s.tration: KILLED BY INDIANS 1--Geo. A. Smith, Jr. 2--Dr. Jas. M. Whitmore 3--Seth Wright 4--Jacob Ferrin 5--Eliza Merrill 6--Diana Davis Fife 7--Lorenzo Wright]

[Ill.u.s.tration: KILLED BY OUTLAWS 1--Nathan C. Tenney 2--Chas. L. Flake 3--Frank Lesueur 4--Augustus Andrew Gibbons 5--Wm. Wiley Berry 6--Hyrum S. Peterson 7--R. Franklin McBride 8--Martin Kempton]