The Massacre at Tubac

SEPTEMBER, 1934. ARIZONA HIGHWAYS 7 The Massacre at Tubac A Glimpse Into Arizona History Made During the Days of Warfare With the Apache

By J. F. WEADOCK IT WAS IN THE YEAR 1849, following the discovery of gold near Sutter's Mill on the Sacramento river, that word of the precious metal was carried into the Ozark hills of Missouri. Even the hill men, bound as they were to their own homes by ties of kinship and custom, were not proof against this Lorelei of the west coast, and after long discussion and much preparation a large number banded together and agreed to start overland for the country of fabulous wealth, California. The long, difficult journey, with its many dangers, was given due considation, but the hardy Saxon blood of the hillmen gave little thought to danger and less to dif ficulty. Trained to toil as they battled their rugged mountain farms for a liv ing, toil and the trail did not daunt them. The journey was decided upon, wagons were strengthened and repaired, oxen shod and mules and horses, used for saddle stock, made ready for the trip. While the men cared for these things, the women of the mountain families gathered together those things with which they had made their mountain homes and packed them for the long trip overland. If there was sorrow at parting with the hills and valleys in which they had been born and lived and where little hillside graveyards held carved stones bearing the names of several previous generations, it was suppressed in favor of the adventure which was calling from beyond the plains and mountains.

In the wagon trails of which this tale is told, were more than thirty families, bearing with them all they owned in the world. As their forebears had faced the west, so did they, caring naught for what lay between them and their goal.

Far from these Missouri homes, snugGled on the banks of the Santa Cruz river, lay the little post of Tubac. It was a supply post for outlying mines and ranches, a change station for the stage lines and a distribution point for the news of the wide mountain ranges about it. It was at Tubac that cattleman and miner, trader and traveler stopped to exchange gossip as they went in and out of the hills on their various duties. A rugged pioneer camp, Tubac held all that such a camp usually contained. It had its good and its bad, but with few exceptions, all were hardy and brave, for such was the demand of that portion of the frontier. In the surround ing hills the warrior bands of the Apache roamed. Hardly a week passed but the smoke of the signal fires could be seen twisting above the peaks of the Santa Rita mountains or the Patagonias as the marauding braves gathered their forces for another hawk-like swoop on some isolated ranch or mine camp. Tales of death were not strange to Tubac, and its inhabitants. As they tilled their fertile fields, they found nearly as much use for their rifles as for their plows.

But the Apaches could not halt the camp. The valley fields were green with crops; potatoes, beans, maize and hay grew prolifically. The hills furnished good heavy mesquite logs for fires and for building posts and fences, while the adobe bricks of the native Mexicans gave the buildings their walls. Not far away, as miles are read, lay the Mission of Tumacacori where the Franciscan fathers schooled the peaceful Papago Indians in the trades and arts of the white man. The valley of the Santa Cruz, despite its warlike neighbors, was a peaceful place, located in a setting of much natural beauty.

Long weeks passed as the wagon train toiled over the trail, down into Texas and then across its plains and rugged hills. Death had visited the train, due to privation and accidents, while battle was not unknown to the rough clad, hard faced men who "rode point" for the wagons or the scouts who ranged wide on the ridges. But ever the oxen, patient in their toil, plodded on, lowing at times for water, but despite the heat, maintaining that stolid walk which rolled mile after mile behind. Texas was past and another range of hills and then into the Santa Cruz valley. Finally, as the train plodded along, the scouts rode in to say that it was just a short way into Tubac where forage and food could be obtained.

As the trail swung down into the long green valley, even the oxen quickened their pace and men, women and children looked with glad eyes on the rolling expanse of green trees and tilled fields. Here would be a temporary haven from a pitiless sun and the dry, dust filled air of the desert road. Here would be rest, water and fresh food, a change from the jolting wagons and the almost tasteless jerky which had furnished food for the travelers for many miles. Tubac, to the party of the wagon train, appeared an oasis indeed. The fates, however, had different plans and as the train pulled slowly into the green valley the riders ahead trotted (Continued on Page 16)