IN OLD ARIZONA

Geronimo, mounted left, was the last of great Apache leaders. On right (mounted) is Nacheis, chief of the Chiricahuahuas. Standing (left) is Geronimo's son and grandson, while on the right is the son of Nacheis. Photo was taken in '80's.

A group of Chiricahua Apaches on the warpath against the U. S. Cavalry. An earlier Chiricahua leader was Cochise. Of all the Apache tribes, this tribe was one of the most respected by American soldiers for courage and cunning.

At an Apache camp, Photographer Fly came across this group of youngsters. Standing in front of the group is Santiago (James) McKinn, who had been taken captive by Indians. He was released later. A decade ago he was living in Phoenix.

Apache Scouts serving under General Crook contributed much to the eventual surrender of Geronimo. If it weren't for friendly Apaches the Indian wars might have been prolonged for years. General Crook spoke highly of their services.

Geronimo's cruelty to some of his own people caused many Apaches to fight against him, and others felt continuing the Indian War was a futile effort. Here are three of General Crook's Apaches armed and equipped by the U. S. Army.

Despite overwhelming odds, the Apaches fought undaunted against the U. S. Cavalry. Part of their advantage was in familiar terrain, part again was being able to travel light and live off the land. This is a typical warrior's camp.

St Johns THE TOWN OF FRIENDLY NEIGHBORS CONTINUED FROM PAGE ONE

Jose Saavedra and his father, traveling slowly in a two-wheeled ox-cart. They built a bridge to cross a band of sheep and pitched a camp nearby. The trail from Zuñi to Ft. Apache came this way and soon there were freight-ers to use the bridge of the Saavedras In 1872 John Walker built a cabin on the river, and soon thereafter came Solomon Barth whose destiny was to be linked forever after with St. Johns. At El Vadito -the little crossing he won several thousand head of sheep in a card game. When these were delivered to him he brought several families from New Mexico to look after them, and thus formed the nucleus of a settlement. He is said to have chosen the name of St. Johns in honor of the first female resident, Señora Maria San Juan de Padilla de Baca, the name of San Juan giving away to the English equivalent of St. Johns.

In 1879 a group of Mormons headed by Ammon M. Tenney bought 1200 acres of land from Barth for 770 cows and $2,000.00 worth of "other goods" to be furnished by the church. This first group settled just north of the present site, but the following year, on the advice of Erastus Snow, the settlement was moved to higher ground near the Mexican settlement. It was first proposed to name the combined settlements Salem, but St. Johns was finally decided upon. A post office named Salem was actually established but never opened. Sextus E. Johnson But the wild splendor of this land that had once been the home of immense forests and lakes, and the mighty dinosaur and mastadon, did not take kindly to the efforts of mere man who seemed bent upon wresting a liveli-hood.

This was no time for the lazy or the indolent. Every man pitched in and did his share or else moved on. And it was such hard times as these that produced a unique community, a community of friendly neighbors in which every one helps and takes pride in being an essential part of that community.

St. Johns has no loud-mouthed group of "official braggers" but you have only to stop in the town for a few minutes to sense the friendly, co-operative, neighborly spirit that pervades the whole community. There are no "strangers" in St. Johns, only good neighbors who have a quiet dignity and pride in their community.

St. Johns wears its modern dress very well, but it still remembers a boisterous and a wild-and-wooly frontier.

Located in the heart of eastern Arizona, St. Johns is the county seat of Apache County. It is sixty-two miles to the nearest railroad shipping point. St. Johns must depend upon the highway for transportation, and there are three small, short-lived highways that pass through the town. U. S. 260 takes off from Holbrook sixty-two miles away, goes by way of St. Johns to Deming, New Mexico; U. S. 666 passes through from Colorado to Douglas, Arizona; and State Highway 61 begins at the New Mexico line and goes through St. Johns on the way to Show-Low. Thus St. Johns is "inland" from main highway arteries as well as from railroad lines.

Mail is brought in once a day from Holbrook, and all supplies and freight must be trucked in. The White Mountain Lines run a daily bus schedule through St. Johns, serving the other nearby communities as well. Besides Holbrook, which is sixty-two miles away, there is Sanders, fifty-four miles to the north, and Springerville, thirty miles toward the west, and the small community of Concho only fourteen miles away. The state line is some seventeen miles east, dividing New Mexico from Arizona. Situated at an altitude of 5650 feet above sea-level, St. Johns has an average rainfall of about twelve inches. It has an ideal year-round climate; average winter daytime temperature between 40 and 50 degrees; average summer daytime temperature in the low 90's, with summer nights in the early 50's.

Most estimates give the population of the town at about 2500, and that of Apache county as 27,000. There are 11,202 square miles in the county, or about 7,169,492 acres. Of this the Apache and Navajo Indian reservations contain 63.42% of the total; the Apache and Sitgreaves National Forests, and a part of the Petrified Forest, take in 7.64%; state lands and public domain include 12.59%, with private lands only 16.35% of the total acreage of the county.

There are 7,585 acres of irrigated land, 3,444 acres of dry land farming, 1,156,104 acres of grazing land, and 5,185 acres of other land including town lots.

The main sources of income are from ranching and farming. The net valuation of the county is $7,999,094.00, with the net valuation of St. Johns set at $226,661.00. Annual retail sales are about $400,000.00.

There are no sheep now in the St. Johns area, but there are still many large and small cattle ranches. Much of the farming, both irrigated and dry-land farming, is given over to the raising of feed for livestock. Thousands of tons of hay are raised, and grain and corn in quantity, but mostly for feed. Large orchards have dwindled in size until they are mostly for family use now. A wide variety of things are grown in truck patches, and each family cans hundreds of jars of fruit and vegetables yearly, but no appreciable quantity is sent out for sale.

The annual Apache County Fair is held at the St. Johns Fairgrounds, usually in late September or early October. There are prizes for community exhibits, as well as individual showing of livestock of all types, poultry and agricultural products, home-canning, home-made articles, sewing, cooking, and Four-H Club work. Horseshows, racing, rodeo, and old-time dances are a part of the fair as well. Here is a county fair at its very best.

Everyone takes some part in the Fair as with all other things in St. Johns. As one resident expressed it, whenever anything is really a community project, there is always plenty for everybody to do. Almost everything done of importance in the town is a community affair, but St. Johns is not a narrow-minded one mind town at all. There is, curiously enough, just about two of everything, of each type of business, hotels, stores, churches, and even people! The population is almost equally divided between people of English and Spanish descent. For most of its life St. Johns even had two weekly newspapers, beginning with the Orion Era and the Apache Chief published in the early eighties.

The Mormon Church of the Latter Day Saints has as its Bishop, Nello W. Greer, and Albert Anderson is President of the Stake. Father Charles O'Hern serves the Catholic Church of St. John the Baptist.

St. Johns has a volunteer fire department and an excellent fire engine, purchased only a few years ago. The town's water supply comes from nearby springs. Current civic projects include sewer lines, a new gymnasium for the high school, completion of the new hospital, and improvement of streets. There are practically no houses for rent in town, and much private construction is already underway which will not only include homes but business buildings as well.

Well kept roads lead in just about every direction from the town, and it is only a short drive to good fishing and hunting, and to mountain and forest peaks. Nearby are such scenic places as the Petrified Forest, the Blue Hills, Lyman Dam, Big Lake, Crescent Lake, Salt Lake crater, lava flows, and many other smaller scenic spots.

The town has had no major crime for many years, and no police department. The county has a sheriff, undersheriff, and deputies stationed throughout the county. Radio station KOA 237, located in Sheriff Harris Miller's office at the court house, serves as contact for the radio cars of all law enforcement officers throughout the area, and maintains contact with other stations as well.

St. Johns is too busy with its many community projects to have any idle hands for mischief as one resident aptly put it. The Mutual Improvement Association is the guiding spirit for community self-improvement and entertainment.

Out of the past they have taken that which was good and welded it firmly to the present. The elders of St. Johns do not preach it; they give the younger generation a realistic view of just what the old times were like, and just why it was necessary for all to be good neighbors.

Every year they hold a Camparama and Pioneer Day, July 23 and 24th. The Camparama is held on the square or at the Fair Grounds, and is a realistic presentation of what the old pioneers faced. There are pageants, a campfire camp with wagons just like in the old days, with oldtime costumes, campfire cooking, and sleeping out in bedroll and camp just as their fathers had to do.

But it was not all work and no play. Around the campfire they sing the old songs, and listen to stories told by those who lived them. From all these the spirit of cooperative neighborliness takes on a new significance.

But this annual affair is only a small part. All during the year the Mutual Improvement Association directs and carries out a varied program for the whole community. For the older people there is a bi-monthly Square Dance. It is held either in the Recreation Hall at the Church or at the town pavilion. Sometimes there are 14 sets, or 112 people taking part at once in the dance.

Since 1941 the St. Johns Square Dance has become more and more an important part of the social life of the whole community. Hundreds now attend and take part where only a few couples used to. There is now a regular committee under direction of Marvin Stradling, and a four piece old-time orchestra consisting of a fiddle (violin), banjo, guitar, and piano. And the Square Dance has become more than just a source of entertainment; it brings people closer together at regular intervals and gives them all a common bond of fun and enjoyment. The cares of the day fade with the music, and the night air is filled with laughter and friendship. Everyone, old and young, has a chance to visit with his neighbor.

The MIA also sponsors regular dances, modern and old-time, for the younger people. There are also regular picture shows sponsored by the MIA, as well as a whole host of other entertainment throughout the year such as plays, games, music, pageants, and special ats, and special event suppers.

The Holy Name Society, under the direction of Father O'Hern, sponsors a boys club in which all boys take part. There are entertainments, athletic events, and team participation during the summer months when the boys are out of school.

St. Johns is not satisfied with doing things halfway. Everyone takes a part in the civic life and development of the town. During the past year they have erected a fine hospital building and have equipped it. It was opened about the first of September. A long-felt need was brought to a climax when one of the town's beloved citizens had to be flown to a distant hospital for medical attention that saved his life. The town got busy then, under the direc-

tion of Farr Whiting, and now have a 15 bed hospital with rooms for doctors, nurses, and a dentist. It will be one of the finest of its kind anywhere.

The neighborliness of St. Johns stems from its closely knit community life. Walk down the main street any day you like, and talk to anyone you meet and you will find that this spirit of friendly neighborliness is common to all. Talk to Myrlan and Errol Brown, publishers of the St. Johns INDEPENDENT-NEWS, at the upper end of main street, and glance over a few copies of this excellent weekly. Then saunter slowly down the street either side, it doesn't make any difference. Stop and talk to the people on the street; they won't mind, and they are proud of their community. You can spend all day just on the street talking to neighborly people, but don't forget the others, in the business establishments. Here again you are going to be agreeably surprised. Those who own and manage business places in St. Johns are not just store-keepers and shopkeepers at all. Drop in at the Whitings, Pattersons, the Drug Store, or even the post office. See genial Jacob "Jake" Barth in his store. It is a large establishment but Jake is never too busy to be friendly, or to help someone in need. St. Johns, founded by his father, Solomon Barth, owes much to the Barth family, but Jake would be the last to say so, or claim any credit. His philosophy is like that of so many others of the first families: it is a privilege and a responsibility to live in the community of St. Johns.

town. Or cross the street and drop in on Jim Shreeve. Besides being about a “dozen other guys” such as county supervisor, member of various board and committees, and “fiddler” in the Square Dance orchestra, he is a veritable mine of information on not only the past history of St. Johns, but of the present as well.

Dances are held in the recreation hall of the Mormon Church. In friendly St. Johns, however, everyone takes a part.

Young and old have a good time at the community dance.

You might also hunt up Dewey Farr and Grover Udall. They, too, like everyone else in St. Johns, are busy men. Besides his many other duties, Farr is also a State Highway Commissioner. But they will manage somehow to take time out to tell you about St. Johns, and the many community projects that are being carried out.

It takes work, all of these things, but it wasn't lazy people who came to eastern Arizona in the beginning, nor those who stayed. The man with one job in St. Johns is about as rare as a hen's tooth. There is just too much to be done, and besides that you have to help someone else all the time to be a good neighbor!

If you had to pick one symbol that best expresses the community spirit of St. Johns, you might well choose Lyman Dam. The building of this dam is truly a record of toil, hope and frustration, heart-ache and disaster, but above all it is a material symbol throughout the years of an accomplishment despite tremendous odds and almost unsurmountable obstacles by the people of the community.

ple who came to St. Johns stayed and built a community with hard work and neighborly good will. It is not only a town, it is a living example of Americanism at its best, and a symbol of hope for the future of all America.