Apache Indians In Arizona

A century of celebrations

By early July in 1911, the scene was set for one of the best parties Flagstaff had yet seen.

"Come Right Along!" posters beckoned to one and all, to a celebration they wouldn't forget -- Independence Day, and an extra day added for good measure.

The July 7, 1911, issue of The Coconino Sun weekly newspaper (precursor to the Arizona Daily Sun), recounted what it called the "Biggest Crowds Ever Seen in Flagstaff."

By the summer of 1911, the budding town of Flagstaff was at a crossroads, straddling its pioneer past and the possibility of a modern future.

Flagstaff had become an incorporated town on May 26, 1894, the same year Lowell Observatory was established and only five years before the Northern Arizona Normal School was formed, both signs of a move toward civility.

By the early 1900s, town officials had already begun a reform movement to restrict or eliminate gambling and prostitution, and to raise saloon fees and ban liquor licenses south of the tracks.

Cement sidewalks were gradually being installed downtown, replacing muddy and dusty walkways.

Although the clouds of war were on the horizon in late 1912, in 1911 they had not yet taken the world to the edge, and wouldn't until June 1914, when the assassinations of the Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife ignited World War I.

'SHOOTING THE ANVIL'

The 1911 Independence Day holiday began with pistol fire at sunrise, followed by "shooting the anvil" when a big charge of black power threw a heavy blacksmith's anvil high in the air with a clang that reverberated for miles around.

Holiday events ran from Monday, July 3, through Tuesday, July 4, with a big parade on the streets downtown, when the newspaper reported, "4,500 to 5,000 people" in jammed conditions celebrated the nation's birth.

Even "fitful showers" Monday "did not change the jolly, whole-souled complexion of the crowd, for many of them were badly in need of moisture -- for range, ranch and stock."

The parade was led by the Flagstaff Military Band, followed by marching soldiers and floats, including an elegant Woman's Christian Temperance Union float with young women dressed in white and an Emerson School float with lively young people dressed in red, white and blue, "who did not forget for a moment that they had a school yell."

The two-day celebration also took place at the grandstand and race track, a location now occupied by NAU's Lumberjack Stadium.

Western Trips: The 25 Year Long Apache War And What Many Believe ...

There were many ways to start an Indian war in 1800's America. One way was to take land from the Native Americans and force them to live on reservations. Another way was to hunt the buffalo to near extinction thus taking away the most important source of their sustenance. Still another was to make a treaty and then break it. In the 1862 Arizona Territory a new way was found. That was to kidnap a chiefs family and hold it for ransom. This story starts in 1861 when a Tonto Apache Indian party raided a ranch is far southern Arizona Territory. The raiders stole livestock and ended up kidnapping a twelve year old boy, a stepson of the ranchers Mexican wife.  The rancher told his story to the local military at nearby Fort Buchanan (the remains of which are pictured below right). The commander, Colonel Morrison, ordered a Lieutenant George Bascom to take a large contingent of troops and locate the boy. It's thought that while the army (Morrison) wanted to make a concerted effort to find the boy and have the ranchers livestock returned, his main concerns were the raging Civil War back east. He may not been involved as much as he should have been in the unfolding drama. A bit also needs to be said regarding Bascom's background and experience. A Kentuckian and recent graduate from West Point, he had just recently arrived in the Arizona Territory about three months prior. He was unfamiliar with the area and likewise unfamiliar with the Apaches. In other words, he was inexperienced on the ground. Likewise, the troopers assigned to accompany him were a new contingent of troops also inexperienced. Not a good combination to deal with a delicate kidnapping situation as future actions would reveal. Bascom's opinion however was that the raid and kidnapping was done by the Chiricahua Apaches which is what the rancher claimed. His commander then ordered him to go after the Chiricahua's and do anything necessary to free the boy. That's a fairly open order and alot of responsibility for a relatively new Lieutenant. Bascom along with 54 troopers traveled to a location known as Apache Pass where a Butterfield Stage station was located. In fact, the two station attendants were familiar with Cochise who had a winter camp in the nearby rugged mountains. There Bascom sent word that he wanted to have a meeting with Cochise. Bascom and his men set up tents about a mile away from the stage station and awaited Cochise. Apparently Cochise, who had a reputation for honesty, was suspicious of the meeting and as a precaution took along several family members.