THE 'CAN MAN' STILL LIVES (BUT HE IS 83 YEARS OLD SO...........

I tried to get back up here on this blog but had forgotten my sign in information so was unable.  Not sure how I made it this time. So, I don't remember my last post so will try to check it out and go from there.....We have this COVID 19 thing going around so I have been confined to my home for the past few weeks and here is the result.  I finally shaved this morning!!!!!!

RETURN OF THE "CAN MAN"

March 23, 2020

I thought that I had lost this post forever but I somehow got it back up to view.

Memories

The Haught Family....... Joe Haught, I vaguely remember going out on horseback with your Dad, my Dad and maybe one or two others. It seems that it was in the mountains close to Young (maybe off down toward Cherry Creek from Board Tree Saddle) I can not remember the purpose of the ride (I think that I heard somewhere that my Dad and your Dad had some mining interest somewhere.) The main thing I remember about the trip is that we seen a big black bear (dead) up fairly high in a tree. I don't know what year it was but I am guessing that it was in the early fifties when I was in my early teens.

Just meandering through my mind.....I had a really nice Christmas and New Year with my family here in Tucson, AZ--My grand-niece (my half brothers grand daughter) who also lives in Tucson came over to a family gathering at my ex wifes home and I was able to get to know her and her family a bit more.  We only got acquainted about a year ago.

Getting late so off to bed I go----to dream about my "CAN MAN" days.........

Happy New Year 2016

Just wanted to let you know that I am still here. More later.....

Memories, Birthdays and Such

The Can Man Before Prostrate Cancer

My Dad Van Baker and My Daughter Maria Teresa Creighton

Family Picture taken at my daughter's home in Tucson a few years ago.

September 3rd (yesterday) was my Dad's Birthday.  In the latter years of his life we would have a family re-union on his birthday at the Rock House Trailer Park where he lived every year.

My friend Betty Gilbert finally became unable to live alone so she was able to get into Faubush Homes (an assisted living place) in Globe, AZ.  I have been able to visit her a few times there and I try to have phone contact with her at least once a week. Her and I both have birthdays in November, I will be 79 and she will be 81.

Not Getting Any............Younger!!!

Well, here it is 2015-----probably a heck of a lot happened since my last post but you know how us old farts don't remember much.  Like I should have posted up here at least 5 or 6 times, but guess what----it didn't happen!!  We still have the five dogs surviving in our back yard here on Mary Drive in Tucson. They depend a lot on me because the grandkids only want to play with them and not have to take care of them. My long time friend, Betty Gilbert got to where she couldn't drive anymore and had a problem living alone so she finally got to move into a care center out in Ice House Canyon in the Globe, AZ area.  They take her social security check and in return give her food, housing and medical care.  I talk to her about once a week on the telephone.  She has TV but can only watch what the staff allows and the sound is turned down real low so as to not bother other people in the area.  So she can only view and not hear the programs.

I am still a diehard Phoenix Suns Basketball fan and again hoping that they will get in the playoffs this year.  They failed last year.

During the late summer last year (or early fall) my niece April got married and we were able to attend a big reception at a nice park up in the Phoenix area.  A lot of the family were there so it was a nice "get together".

I am probably not remembering something else important that has happened but I have an excuse.....I am getting old!! Love to all and God Bless from Virgil (gino) Baker aka "The Can Man"

Oh yes!! Now where was I ???

May 21, 2014......I got lost along the way and just showed up today.  One hundred degree days are starting.  Cooler is on HIGH!!  I still have five dogs living in the back yard.  On the hotter days, I try to make sure that they get wet down with a spray hose 2 or 3 times a day.  Hear sirens in the distance getting closer.  A common happening these days.  Basketball season is coming to an end soon.  My Phoenix Suns never made it to the playoffs.  So sad!  I am now looking at Indiana Pacers (my Mom was born in Indiana) and Oklahoma Thunder (I have friends in Oklahoma, reason enough to want them to win, right?)  Time to feed my five dogs, maybe they can wait a few minutes.....One of them, Regalo (my fathers day gift about 6 years ago) was today trying to scratch around his collar area.  I tried to help him and noticed that he had a scabbed over ring under the collar about half way around his neck.  I could not get the collar off so I pulled out my old trusty box cutter knife and sliced it apart.  After examination, I put some Burts Bees ResQ Ointment on the whole area (to the best of my ability as my 77 years allows me).  I hope that it helps. I plan on doing it again maybe in the morning.  I can hear them (the dogs) barking so maybe I can get another post up here a little sooner next time!!!!  God Bless......the can man, Virgil (gino) Baker......

Post Script: 5/29/2020 (Yep, I'm still around at 83 years young).....I mentioned 5 dogs in the above paragraph. Only one (1) of those 5 is still alive...that would be Sheila which is the last one of those five that we acquired during that time period.  We have acquired 2 more so now have a total of 3. The world is still "going to the dogs!!" (smile)

TOMORROW IS FEBRUARY

I cannot believe that it has been this long since I visited my blog.  I don't know where to start.  These 7 pictures were taken at Joe's Pancake House on New Years Day 2014.  If you live in Tucson or plan a visit, I highly recommend this place for Braakfast or Lunch. Home type atmosphere and really good food.

I guess this is all that I will be able to get posted today.  God Bless all of you......."the can man"

Yeah......I'M STILL HERE!!!!!

So...a hell of a lot has happened since my last writing.  Impossible for me to delve into all of it.  Christmas is upon us again.  At my age, 77, I don't jump up and down with joy anymore but my beliefs keep me celebrating as much as I can.  The grandkids here in Tucson are growing like weeds! (an overused expression, maybe) Anyway, the oldest one--Enrique (who has his own home) will be 23 this month.  Stefan James is 14. Emmett Van, I think, is 12....hard to keep up.  Hope to get more here later with pictures...I have to start my daily routine of picking the kids up from school and taking them where they need to go for other activities.

Wild and Wet in Tucson, AZ

We had a pretty good thunderstorm this afternoon.  We are about two houses off of Mann Street on Mary Drive and Mann Street always becomes a raging river as it passes by our street.  We get a fair flow of water on Mary Drive that runs off into Mann Street.  It all goes down one more street to the north of Mary Drive where there is a dip in the road and the water makes a sharp left turn and ambles on to who knows where.  Now, that all made sense, right? 

I messed around all day, not getting much done and waited until the thunderstorm started... to start driving to the Costco Warehouse.  It was about a one half hour drive in fantastically heavy traffic and with the windows closed and the windshield wipers going full blast the windows started fogging up real bad.  I turned the heater/defroster on and breathed a lot of hot air for a period of time.  I tried cracking my driver side window open a few inches to offset the temperature on the front window to clear the fog but then a car would zip by on that side and splash a couple of gallons of water through the opening and all over me!  By the time that I arrived at Costco, just a little bit wet, the rain had slowed some.  Getting out of the vehicle and looking around with my wide brimmed sombrero on my head, I wished that I had worn high topped work shoes instead of a dress shoe type.  I swear, I waded through running water 6 inches deep to get into the store.  I was using one of those fold up window shades from my vehicle to use as an umbrella.  As strange as I looked, when I showed my Costco Card----they let me in.  Thank goodness, it was fairly dry on the return trip to home about an hour later.  Have a good day....The Can Man

Over The Hill

I have always wondered what was "over the hill" --- now at my age, I think I am beginning to find out.  So many problems and so few solutions.  Family, city, state, nation and world problems.  You look for solutions but you find only a few.

This July has about 4 and 1/2 weeks and there is about a week and a half left.  We are having nearly daily thunderstorms which help to keep the temperature down a little bit.  I don't know what this has to do with the price of tea in China. (yeh, I get a little rattled sometimes!)

It is a Monday afternoon close to 2 o'clock.  I have dressed after laying down for a period of time and am planning to go outside to the back yard, check on the five dogs well being and pick up all the Poop.  Also, I need to carry the household garbage bags from the carport area out back to the dumpster in the alley.  Then I need to drive down to the corner drugstore (Kolb & Golf Links) where there is a water vending machine and get about 10 gallons of water for the dog's.  Yes, I buy machine water for myself and the dogs.  They don't like the taste of the tap water and neither do I!!  I also need to go to Costco and get two bags of dog food ($60).

Will this all get accomplished?  We will see!!!  Have a good day. The Can Man.

Summer Monsoons 2013

On my last post there was snow in Tucson.  Not now!!  We had over a month of 100 plus degree weather and to cool it off just a little--the monsoon season started.  The grand-kids here have been going to Karate classes a lot along with their parents.  (No, I am a little too stiff and sore to be doing that!)  The kids also spend a lot of time at the YMCA activities.  Keeps them out of trouble.  I don't know what kept me out of trouble when I was that age.  I never spent many daytime hours at home during the summers.  That was in Young, Arizona where there were a lot of options of what to do but none of them included electronics.  I used to go out hiking a lot, sometimes with my brothers and sometimes alone.  I always liked to find out what was "over the hill".  I had to drink water out of mud tanks that were designed for livestock to drink from.  This was only occasionally but I don't ever remember getting sick from it.  I have hiked up to, on and over most of the small mountains surrounding Young (Pleasant Valley) Arizona.  I would guess it is about 6 to 10 miles across Pleasant Valley, from one end to the other.  I walked that a number of times back and forth from my home to visit friends who lived on the other end of the valley.

Looking Back.......

Better late than never....(who said that?)  Betty Gilbert got out of the hospital after they finished a couple of days of test.  I'm not sure what the final diagnosis was but she seems to be a lot better now (after she got over a minor touch of the flu that she probably contracted at the hospital).  I don't know when or if she will have to go into hospice care.

Moving on, we had quite a snowstorm yesterday and last night in the Tucson area. That was a rarity.  I got some good video but I don't seem to have much luck trying to get video posted up here.  I do have some pictures (see above) of the leftover snow at around 10 this morning.

 Sunday, 17 February 2013, my daughter and I and the my two grandchildren (Stefan James and Emmett Van) journeyed to the Tucson Rodeo Grounds to attend La Fiesta De Los Vaqueros Rodeo.  This is an annual event here in Tucson and this year it runs for 6 days plus a Rodeo Parade downtown on one of those days.  Have a good day.  The Can Man

LIFE GOES ON!!!

I was just talking on the phone to Betty Gilbert, a very close friend of mine who lives in Globe, AZ in a trailer court.  She lost her brother two or three weeks ago. He lived in Apache Junction, AZ.  Today she told me that she has to be admitted into the hospital on Monday the 21st of January to spend 3 days (one thing that she said they were going to do was put her on a machine to "clean" the blood supply in her entire body).  She indicated to me that she will probably be put in "long term" care after the hospital visit.  She was packing some things in preparation.  She has 3 dogs that she has had for many years and that she is very close to.  They will be taken to the dog pound and probably put to sleep.  It tears me up that this is happening to her.  Her life has never been that good as she had a husband that mis-treated her most of her adult life.  I am going to try to drive up to Globe tomorrow (about a two and one half hour drive one way) and visit with her for a couple of hours.

Living in Miami, AZ and Making Extra Income

I worked for Ana, a Filipino lady at the Miami Recycling Center for a few years (until she sold out to someone else).  I had previously been a buyer at San Carlos Indian Reservation while working for Ana and I had learned a lot about the business so I decided to start my own little business.  Little did I know that it would keep me busy for several years and provide an extra income for me and the people close to me.  A usual routine was that I would go to San Carlos on Monday, Wednesday and Friday of each week with my Toyota pick up and a trailer. The loads that we bought were always transported to my home in Miami for safekeeping overnight.  Also, we bought a lot of scrap that had to be "cleaned" so that it was salable at the best price.  I almost always had a hired Indian helper at San Carlos, usually the same person all of the time.  The helpers, over time, learned to pack and tie down the loads plus other things necessary to get the job done.  It was a two man job, so we always worked together.  Most of the time we would buy enough in one day to warrant hauling the load the next day to Tucson to sell.  I generally hauled to Tucson on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.  And since on Saturday, the recycling closed at 1 p.m., I had to get down there early.  Some of the tools that we had and made use of in my yard in Miami:  Air compressor with accessories, air chisel, several weighing scales of various types, bench grinder with a wire brush wheel, chop saw, electric drills, electric screwdrivers, a big vise, a hand truck (dolly), etc.  The chop saw was really a time saver and I became very proficient with it.  It is amazing to me that I was never seriously hurt while working in the yard over the years.  The good Lord was watching over me..(to be continued)

Below is a picture of my two story apartment on Kent Street in Miami, AZ.  You cannot see the bottom apartment because of the fence.  All of the processing (cleaning, which generally means getting any foreign materials such as wood, iron, nails, screws separated from the non-ferrous metals, also stripping insulation from copper wire) was done in this enclosure between the fence and the apartment structure. It was pretty noisy at times, especially the chop saw, but we never had any complaints from the neighbors.

The two pictures below will give you some idea of the size of the yard I or we (sometimes I had help) had to work in

I probably have over 1,000 pictures of can and scrap loads that I have hauled over the years.  Below are just a few.

 In the photo below, you can see some of the variety of non-ferrous metals that I worked with. On the tongue of the trailer, in the tub, you can see heavy copper wire, the tub itself would be MLC grade aluminum, also painted aluminum and some stainless steel items. On top  is a lot of painted aluminum, some extrusion, aluminum rims,  two plastic barrels full of aluminum or copper.  Then, covered up inside the trailer may be more copper, cast aluminum, etc.

 Below is a nice Van that I had for a short time. I ruined it by letting it overheat when the thermostat stuck shut right after I bought it.

 Below is one of my smaller loads..."I'm just so proud to be here!!"

Below: I think this was one of the loads that I hauled in from San Carlos while still working for Miami Recycling before I learned to use ratchet tie downs!!

Delving back in Time....way back

I left Glasgow, Montana in March of 1961 headed for Torrejon Air Base, close to Madrid, Spain.  (Courtesy of The United States Air Force)  I did not have enough rank to get travel for my new wife so I had to leave her behind with 3 small children (one of them mine).  I was not very long in Spain before I received a letter stating that she had petitioned for a divorce.  She only asked for $35 a month for child support.  I had already been testing the waters in Madrid for female companionship and it was there that I found Carmen Martos (my third wife to be).  We had to leave Spain to get married as she was not allowed to marry a non-catholic person in Spain.  Gibraltar was the alternative.  So we were married in the city of Gibraltar (Rock of Gibraltar) on 22 November 1963.  Our first child, Maria Teresa was born April 14, 1964 at the base hospital (Torrejon Air Base) just outside of Madrid, Spain.  I had to take an elementary course in Spanish (Air Force requirement) shortly after arrival in Spain and I subsequently learned the language fairly rapidly through necessity.  After being in Spain for almost four years, the Air Force decided to send me to Walker Air Force Base at Roswell, New Mexico.  Our second child (Antonio Ramon Ricardo) was born at the base hospital at Walker AFB in Roswell, New Mexico on 11 March 1966.  (I always heard that you were supposed to keep your wife barefoot and pregnant!) One year later (March 67), I received orders to go to Vietnam and I wound up at an Air Base just outside of Saigon. (Tan Son Knut).  I used to know how to spell the name, now after so many years, I am not sure.  I had an interesting experience during the so called Tet Offensive.  The enemy landed (I think it was called a 100 millimeter) a couple of rockets very close to where I had parked my bicycle about 30 minutes previously.  One detonated and the other one did not.  We slept in two story Quonset Huts and we had some protection of sandbags around the outside area.  My bunk was on a lower floor and I was on the bottom bunk of a double bunk setup.  One guy in a Quonset Hut next to ours (second floor level) was killed by the blast.  Another day there was rifle and or pistol fire in an area where I was trying to return to my sleeping quarters and that was a bit exciting.  One night when I got off work (12 hour shifts the whole year) they would not let us leave the building where we worked because of infiltrators on the base.  I climbed the outside stairwell of the building and watched a helicopter gunship firing tracer bullets down towards a compound area where the infiltrators were.  They were flying around in circles and firing a long time.  It was a beautiful sight from a distance but I would not want to have been on the ground under that barrage!
I left Vietnam in March of 68, reassigned to Davis-Monthan AFB, Tucson, AZ.  Carmen and the children had stayed at Roswell, New Mexico during my years absence.  We rented an apartment close to the base in Tucson and stayed there for two years.  They then sent me (us) to MacDill AFB, Tampa, Florida.  (the military paid for moving my family from Spain and throughout the rest of my 20 years)  After approximately 2 years at Tampa (I drove taxi as a part time job for one year in Tampa) we were reassigned to Sondrestrom Air Base, close to Kaiserslaughtern, Germany.  From Germany, we were able to spend some vacations in Spain during our four year stay there.  Leaving Germany I was assigned to Luke AFB, Arizona for retirement processing.  We tried finding work at Bagdad Copper Mines (over close to Prescott) and stayed there for a few weeks.  Giving up on job hunting there, we moved to Tucson where we bought a home.  Our household goods from Germany arrived a few weeks later and I caught a military plane going out of Davis-Monthan AFB to (I think it was Travis AFB, CA) and from there I hitched a ride in a military vehicle going to San Francisco where I had to go to pick up our car...  After jump starting the car (the battery on the vehicles does not stay charged on the long boat trip from Germany), I drove it back to Tucson.  I had previously worked part time for the NCO Clubs in Germany (dishwasher, barback, and bartender) and Base Bowling Alley (night-weekend manager) so I found a job at the bowling alley on Davis Monthan.  I finally gave that up and started working as an attendant at self serve gas stations.  I finally got hired on by Kaman Bearing and Supply Corporation and was with them for 7 years until the mines started slowing down and they did not need me any more.  Carmen divorced me right after I lost that job.  Our former home was sold and I packed up and moved to the Rock House Trailer park on Salt River on the Globe-Young highway.  My Dad was living there at the time.  A short time after moving up there, I met Martha Fesler who offered to share her mobile home with me if I would move it from Globe to the Rock House Trailer Park.  Since I was renting, I thought it would be a good idea since I was renting a trailer and the only thing I had for company was a black cat that I had brought from Tucson.  We finally got married and I spent a couple of years there until my Dad died in 1990.  Shortly after that I found a job with Miami Recycling in Miami, AZ and I contracted to buy a home in Miami.  (to be continued) Have a good day, Virgil Baker (the can man)

Birthday of My First Child by My First Marriage

Edward Gene (Baker) Peterson at age 14 & Virgil-Eddie on June 3, 2007

  Eddie was born on December 6, 1957 in Globe, Arizona while I was stationed at Sondrestrom Air Base in Greenland.  His Mom, Linda (Witty)(Baker) Peterson was only 15 years old when we were married in Florence, AZ (I think it was July 2, 1956).  I was 19 years old and had been in the Air Force about 1 and 1/2 years.  Linda's parents signed a consent form stating that she was 16 and of legal age (in Arizona) to get married with parents consent.  Linda filed for divorce (I believe in 1959) while I was stationed at Glasgow Air Force Base, Montana.  Before leaving Montana in 1961, I met and married Loretta Red Elk who had two previous children (Marlon and Kim Lynette).  My daughter Carmen Jean was born in Montana in 1960.  She lives in Georgia now with her husband and three children. Loretta filed for divorce shortly after I was reassigned to Torrejon Air Base at Madrid, Spain in 1961. Loretta passed away a few years ago.  In Madrid, I met and married Carmen Martos who had a six month old girl (Maria Rosalinda). Maria Rosalinda passed away at 46 years old in Miami, Arizona.

Carmen Jean and Husband J.R.

Carmen Jean Baker

Maria Teresa was born at the Air Base in Spain in April 1964.  We left Spain that same year going to Walker Air Force Base, Roswell, New Mexico.  Antonio Ramon Ricardo (Richard) was born at the base at Roswell on 11 March, 1966.  And that is the history of all of my children (that I know about!).  Carmen divorced me in or around 1982 and a couple of years later I married Martha (Resner) Fesler.  No children from that marriage.  I lived with her for a couple of years and then moved out on my own.  I supported Martha until her death some years back.

Have a good day! Virgil Baker (the can man)

Maria Teresa (Baker) Creighton and Virgil Baker

Maria Rosalinda (Baker) Martos, her son Tony and Virgil Baker

Antonio Ramon Ricardo (Richard) Baker

If we make it through December.............

We have had an awful lot (probably not good grammar) of family activities in the past few days.  On Saturday, Dec 1st, I, Maria , Greg Horton, Stefan James and Emmett Van all attended a friends (Michael-11) birthday party at MAMA'S PIZZA located near Kolb and 22nd Street in Tucson.  On Wednesday, the 28th of November, Emmett Van had his 11th birthday dinner at Texas Roadhouse and later on Sunday, 2 Dec he had an official birthday party at our home on East Mary Drive in Tucson.  I think everyone had a great time.  They played several different games that were set up in the back yard and there were sandwiches and frozen icees from Eegees plus birthday cake and all kinds of other soft drinks.  I took lots of pictures but when it came time to video everyone singing happy birthday to Emmett Van, I totally screwed up.  I forgot to push the record button!!  What a bummer.  Michael got to attend Emmetts party also.  Then there was one other birthday child in attendance.  His name was Ken Horton who was 81 years old.  He is one of Emmett Van's Grandfathers.  Have a good day. Virgil Baker (the can man)

An Article about The Apache Indians (Late 1800's)

I found this very interesting because I have passed by close to where this massacre occurred probably a few hundred times without knowing this history.  Now, I hope that I get a chance to go up to that area to "explore" a little bit before I am too old!

Camp Grant Massacre: Arizona Territory, 1871.

by Jim Gressinger on Nov. 26, 2012, under Apache Wars In Southern Arizona, Native American Culture, Old West, Soldiers & Indians, Southern Arizona History & Culture

Today, there’s nothing there. Nothing to suggest what happened in the early morning of April 30, 1871. Nothing to commemorate this blood-soaked ground where 144 people, almost all women and children, lay murdered and mutilated.

Camp Grant Parade Grounds

Camp Grant, named for the famous Civil War general, was an Army post built at the confluence of the Gila and San Pedro Rivers so that U.S. soldiers could protect local settlers and miners who had begun to flood into this area near present-day Winkelman in the late 1860′s. From this vantage point, 70 miles north of Tucson, the Army hoped it would also be in good position to protect the San Pedro River overland freight route that ran from New Mexico to California.

The Apaches: Hated and Feared

This area had long been home to various bands of Apaches. The Apaches had few friends among other nearby tribes. Long before the coming of the Spanish, Anglos, and Mexicans, the Apaches had raided other Indian groups and were hated by their neighbors, including the Papago Indians we now call Tohon O’odham or Desert People.

When the Spanish, and later the Anglos and Mexicans began to settle here, the Apaches were happy to raid their ranches, mining camps, settlements, stagecoaches, and wagon trains. Raiding was their way of life. To be a respected Apache male, you had to be a successful raider, which meant you had to be a skilled thief and murderer.

Generally, the Apaches were after anything they believed would benefit themselves, particularly horses, mules, and ammunition, but also items they could trade, such as slaves, for whiskey and better weapons. They were utterly unconcerned about others. As such, they were “good” raiders in the sense that they were usually successful, at least in the early years before the Civil War and the arrival of the U.S. Army. The Apaches excelled at lightening fast ambushes and seldom left their victims alive. It took the Army a quarter of a century to solve the “Apache Problem”, which they accomplished by both force and treachery.

Anyone living in Southern Arizona and Southern New Mexico or Northern Sonora and Chihuahua Mexico who wasn’t Apache was rightly terrified of them. When confronted with a superior force, such as the U.S. Cavalry, the Apaches were adept at guerilla warfare. From the establishment of Camp Grant in 1871, it would be another 15 years before the legendary Apache shaman, Geronimo, would surrender for the 4^th and final time. Even then, it took a brilliant General named Crook, 5,000 soldiers, and several hundred Indian scouts to run him to ground.

Apache “Feeding Stations”

During this time, one Apache band after another surrendered as the number of warriors declined from old age, but more often death in battle.  Following surrender, most were sent to reservations where sickness – particularly malaria, malnutrition, exposure, and hopelessness further reduced their numbers.

In 1870 the commander of the Army in the Arizona Territory established “feeding stations” to provide rations for those Apaches who surrendered. By doing so, the Army hoped to convince all “renegade” Apaches to cease raiding and accept reservation life.

Lt. Royal Whitman

Soon, some Apache bands indicated a willingness to give up raiding and adopt a sedentary lifestyle in return for adequate rations.

In February 1871, five old, hungry Apache women in ragged clothes came to Camp Grant looking for a son of one of the women who had been taken prisoner. The senior commander, Lt. Royal Whitman, had just arrived from the east and had not yet learned to hate all Apaches.

He fed these women, treated them kindly, and sent them off with a promise of similar treatment for others of their band if they would come to Camp Grant in peace. Word spread and other Apaches from Aravaipa and Pinal bands soon came to the post seeking rations of beef and flour. Among them was a young Apache war chief named Eskiminzin who told Lt. Whitman that he and his small band were tired of war and wanted to settle on nearby Aravaipa Creek.

In return for rations of beef and flour, Chief Eskiminzin and his Apaches turned over their weapons to Lt. Whitman and promised to stop raiding. Whitman accepted their promise and, in addition to rations, offered them pay for field work.

Chief Eskiminzin

As more Apache arrived, Whitman created a refuge or “rancheria” along Aravaipa Creek about a half mile east of Camp Grant, and wrote to his superior for instructions. Due to a bureaucratic mix-up, no reply was forthcoming.

By early March there were 300 Aravaipa and Pinal Apaches camped near Camp Grant, and by the end of March there were 500. During March the flow of Aravaipa Creek declined and Lt. Whitman authorized theArivaipa and Penal Apaches to move five miles upstream from Camp Grant, to the mouth of Aravaipa canyon, which today is a beautiful Nature Preserve.

Fear And Anger In Tucson

Seventy miles south in the small, dusty, predominantly Mexican town of Tucson, there was considerable animosity toward the soldiers stationed at Camp Grant. The citizens of Tucson felt surrounded by a vast desert controlled by Apaches who continued to raid and murder despite the growing presence of the Army.

On the one hand, Tucsonans had negative feelings toward the Camp Grant soldiers.  They blamed the Army for not keeping American citizens safe. Truth-be-told, most Anglo and Mexican residents of Southern Arizona, and their influential newspapers, were at this time demanding that the Army simply exterminate all Apaches, rather than feed and clothe them.

Moreover, the San Pedro River overland freight route guarded by the soldiers at Camp Grant was taking business from the valuable overland route that went through Tucson.

On the other hand, many Tucson businessmen were profiting handsomely from the experimental Apache “feeding stations” operated by the Camp Grant soldiers. They were also profiting by providing substantial supplies, including a lot of beef, for the maintenance of the soldiers there and other garrisons around Southern Arizona. Yet, if the Army was successful in teaching the Apaches to be self-sufficient farmers, the military posts all around Arizona would be disbanded and this lucrative trade would dry up.

In early 1871, as the population of peaceful Penal and Araviapa Apaches continued to grow near Camp Grant, other Apaches, most notably the Chiricahuas, continued to raid and slaughter Anglo and Mexican settlers throughout Southern Arizona. The good citizens of Tucson considered these raids and atrocities related to the Camp Grant experiment. Everyone in town was either angry, afraid, or both. Bellicose meetings were held to determine a course of action. Later, no one would accuse the good citizens of Tucson of being indecisive.

 The Mob

On the morning of April 28, 1871, an excited mob of 6 Anglos and 48 Mexicans left Tucson for Camp Grant, along with 94 Papago Indians. The Papago had easily been recruited from their reservation just south of town. They were traditional enemies of the Pinal and Aravaipa Apache with whom they had a long history of war. Like all the settled residents of Southern Arizona, the Papago hated and feared the Apaches.

William Oury: a prominent Tucsonan and a mob leader.

Tucson’s most prominent citizens were involved: Sam Hughes, William Oury, Juan Elias, Hiram Stevens, William Zeckendorf, and Tucson’s first elected mayor, Sidney DeLong.

When Lt. Whitman learned about the mob headed for Camp Grant, he immediately sent a warning to the Pinal and Aravaipa Apaches. It arrived too late.

At dawn on April 30, 1871, the Tucson mob mounted a surprise attack on the Penal and Aravaipa camps. A day or two earlier, the Apache men had left their women and children in camp and were up in the mountains hunting.

The Papago were in the forefront of the attack, clubbing, stabbing, and slashing their nearly helpless victims to death. Most of the Anglos and Mexicans stayed back and shot any of the Apache women and children trying to escape from the slaughter.

Chief Eskiminzin was present, but was one of the few to escape. The Papago captured about 27 of the youngest Apache children and took them to sell as slaves in Mexico. Once the fighting was over, the Papago mutilated and scalped their victims.

Whitman sent a medical team to render assistance, but they found no survivors. He had his soldiers bury the dead.

Aftermath

Following the Camp Grant Massacre, the Apaches learned once again that the Americans could not be trusted.

Camp Grant defendants pose in front of courthouse where they were acquitted.

In the East, were American citizens were no longer threatened by Indians, the reaction was outrage. Eastern newspapers demanded justice. President Grant threatened to place Arizona Territory under martial law if the the participants were not brought to trail.

In October, 1871, a grand jury indicted about 100 individuals thought to have participated in the massacre. The very public trial lasted 5 days. The attorneys for the defense focused their arguments exclusively on the history of Apache raids, murders, and depredations. No Apaches were invited to testify. The jury deliberated for 19 minutes and declared all defendants not guilty. What was a massacre in the East was justifiable homicide in Tucson.

That year, the new commanding officer in the Arizona Territory, Lt. Col. George Crook, undertook a survey of military posts and potential reservations sites. Crook had Camp Grant closed and ordered that a new Fort Grant built at the western base of Mount Graham.

Lt. Col. George Crook about 1871.

The new location in present-day Graham County was better located to subdue the remaining hostiles. In March 1873, Camp Grant at the junction of the San Pedro and Aravaipa Rivers was abandoned. Today, it’s the site of Central Arizona College. The new Fort Grant is no longer a military fort, but a location for state prisons.

Immediately following the massacre, a reservation was set aside for the Apaches at Camp Grant. But the following year all Apache reservations were consolidated and moved north to the intersection of the San Carlos and the Gila Rivers.

In the years following the massacre, relatives of the enslaved Apache children repeatedly petitioned the U.S. government to help repatriate their kidnapped children. Only 7 or 8 ever returned to their people.

Chief Eskiminzin later wrote,”When I made peace with Lt. Whitman, my heart was very big and happy. The people of Tucson and San Xavier must be crazy. They acted as though they had neither heads nor hearts … they must have a thirst for our blood. These Tucson people write for the papers and tell their own story. The Apache have no one to tell their story.”

Today, the massacre site, about five miles upstream from the abandoned site of Camp Grant on Aravaipa Creek, is unmarked.