Rev. Edgar Guenther

Construction section of the Enterprise, which has developed a distinctive, attractive and substantial style of architecture. Fourby twelve-inch hand-adzed rough timbers are laid up, one above the other on the narrow edge, with a two by one strip in between. This leaves a crack for tight chinking. The inside is faced with attractively finished lumber. Excellent taste is used in the native rock work on the inside and outside of the fireplaces and parts of the wall structure.

Anyone interested in leasing a lot at Hawley Lake and building a cabin there can visit or write to the White Mountain Recreation Enterprise, Box 218 at Whiteriver, Arizona, for an application. It is better to go to Hawley Lake and select a lot from those that are still available rather than to pick one from a plat at long range.

Last summer there was an increased flow of campers and fishermen to the Smith Park-Hawley Lake area. Many brought trailers and camping equipment and stayed the full ten days allowed in designated campsites set apart from the restricted homesite areas.

While fishing is the principal pastime many enjoy hiking, boating and horseback riding. The Enterprise is to be commended for its decision not to allow any motor boats on the lake to disturb the peace and quiet. Rowboats and sailboats glide quietly along the shoreline, in and out of the many inlets adding to the charm of vacation activities.

There are trailers for rent for those who do not have camping equipment but want to stay overnight or longer. The general store carries fresh, frozen and canned foods, some clothing, all kinds of fishing tackle along with a service station.

To reach Hawley Lake, the original route is still available. You take a road plainly marked Hawley Lake, branching off of State Route 73, seven miles south of Indian Pine. The new, easy grade, more direct route from Highway 73, six miles cast of McNary and through McCoy's Bridge, will soon be finished.

Although Hawley Lake is by far the finest developed recreation area on the reservation there are innumerable near native attractive spots along the main streams and at four other lakes all with camp grounds. The roads to some of these are on the primitive side and are best travelled in fair weather. Some little advertised but worthwhile points of interest are the remote settlements of Cibecue (CBQ), Carrizo Creek, the trout hatchery and Blue Lake, Canyon Day, McKays Lookout, The Lutheran Mission up East Fork and beyond that Geronimo's Cave.

A side trip through the high altitude rangeland between McNary and Springerville and down the Big Lake road as far as Maverick is a rewarding scenic drive.

Some of the more popular creeks that offer good fishing and camping are the Diamond, Paradise, Tront, Tonto, Bonito, and Snake all in the more popular eastern section. Auto trips to all of these offer real pleasure to those who enjoy getting a breath of fresh air and viewing great expanes of wilderness country. In summer your altimeter will be a good guide to use in selecting a cool spor. At elevations over 6,000 feet it can be pleasantly warm with crisp evenings while at lower altitudes it can be quite hot.

Then there are remote big game areas where permits are allowed for a limited number of animals each year during the fall. Wild life photographers also find a happy Hunting ground there. During the 1961 fall season one hundred permits at $15.00 were issued for taking bull elk and sixty-four were bagged. Later four hundred permits were issued for any elk with approximately one hundred taken as weather conditions worsened and game became more wily. Best hunting, of course, is off the used roads and far back into areas reached by trails only. Hunting for small-er animals is good and licensed in many more accessible areas. Permits may be obtained for some predatory animals.

One trip we recommend is to Tonto Lake in the far southeastern corner of the reservation. It's nice because the road takes you through varying types of country, has a lovely objective and offers a place to bed down after you reach it.

There are three rustic cabins with beds and cooking facilities but you will need your own bedding. Camp grounds on the edge of the lake are delightful and boats can be rented and some supplies bought at the boat dock.

Starting at Whiteriver, we took State Route 73 down to the Fort Apache Junction where our route turned eastward. Quickly leaving the bluffs we went down to the bridge over the Whiteriver. Looking north we could see the steep-walled canyon cut out by the river and could readily see how this made an ideal barrier against attack on the fort from that direction back in the early days. To the south there were meadows lined with willows and walnut trees. The walnuts were beginning to ripen but many green ones (colored yellow) had fallen and were scattered over the ground. The Apaches use the hulls to make their beautiful yellow dye.

As we were on a sight-seeing trip looking for pictures, we took the inviting road off to the right along the river, passing many farm plots irrigated from the river where subsistence crops were being raised for the Canyon Day families up on the mesa a little farther on. At one spot, where a nice sand spit ran out into the river, we stopped to visit with a group of Apaches gathering walnuts, Christine Johnson of Eager had come over to visit relatives and gather walnuts. They had brought a burro down to the stream and were loading up their bulging sacks. Christine's baby was safely tucked in a cradleboard and propped against a tree.

We made pictures of the group, featuring the baby, of course, and since they wanted us to send them copies we spent some time writing down names and addresses. Everyone had fun and after a series of good-byes we journeyed on down the river a way and saw where the cattle are driven across it during the big fall roundup.

Doubling back, we climbed the hill up to Fort Apache and once again took another look at this frontier post. Past the old stables and the cemetery the road led into the East Fork Valley. There were many small homes with farms on either side of the road and the cottonwoods were beginning to turn gold. At the junction of the Tonto Lake-Maverick road, a school bus was discharging a load of children who then scattered in all directions. Nearby, the Community Building, constructed with tribal lumber and volunteer work crews, was being readied for a meeting that night.

Turning to the right, we made a gradual climb through a small settlement of homes and wikiups for a short distance, then the road took a sharp turn up a steep hill.

Winding back and forth along the finger-like ridges coming down from the mountain, there was a steady climb for about two miles. On the way up and near the ridge we passed through some stands of small trees and bushes with clumps of bear grass scattered all along the way.

As we reached the top we were on a very extensive mesa of rich grazing land. Looking back we had a wonderful view of the wide East Fork Valley and, as the weather was clear, could see all the way to old Mt. Baldy, about thirty miles away.

In the folds of the many smaller ridges and canyons coming down to join the main valley, we could well imagine the ideal hideouts that were secreted forever there. As we proceeded on towards our night's destination, large sections were seen where the juniper had been uprooted to improve the grass-producing capability. There were excellent stands of thick native grass all over this area but the grass was short and sparse in the sections not worked on.

As we reached more open country there was grass as far as the eye could see, then we came to an area of scattered timber patches with open parks in between. Cattle were grazing peacefully, the roads were lined with flowers, yuccas with their dried seed-pods on tall stalks stood guard-like sentinels over meadows almost completely carpeted with blossoms.

There were many water holes presenting a panorama of activity as small bands of horses and cows came in for water. These water holes, or tanks as they are known to cattlemen, are artificial ponds built to store water during the summer so that cattle can have water nearby.

At Chino Springs we passed some road machinery, marked U.S. Indian Roads, which was grading our the rough spots. In the settlement were stout corrals and sorting pens, a ranch house with TV antenna, outer buildings, several cars, all set in among stately, old walnut trees.

After Chino we traversed another wide stretch of rich range land and again through patches of timber and open parks then through arroyos lined with willows and liveoak. Cedars and pines were on either side until we came to the edge of a steep canyon where the road went into a quick descent, passing a fine picnic point overlooking Big Bonito Creek. At the bottom there was a bridge over the then quiet stream and attached to the bridge was a government water-measuring station.

Once on the other side, the character of the country changed again with ancient gnarled cedars predominating the landscape as thick stands of yellow daisies and red Indian paint brush made their contribution to the beauty of the vista all around us. The land was more broken now and rock formations began to show up while graz-ing cattle were almost always in sight.

Almost like opening a door to another country we came into thick stands of pines and aspens almost crowd-ing the road off the map. It was getting towards late afternoon and the sun with its red rays was painting the tops of the trees with a bright glow. There was no wind. The road was on level ground and we parred along easily and quietly being rewarded several times with sur-prising pictures of small bunches of deer and flocks of wild turkeys.

We were traversing a wide plateau between Tonto and Bonito Creek, headed northeast until the junction of the Maverick and the Tonto Lake road was reached. We were lucky to get there before dark and make the tum to the right to Tonto Lake in daylight as the next turnoff is difficult to recognize in the dark.

The rest of the way is over rough but quite passable road and leads to a true back-country lake completely surrounded by pine forests. The fishing there is excellent. Campfire lights were burning here and there as we pulled in and we were most grateful to a friendly couple from Tucson, who were veterans on the Tonto trail, for letting us share their fire to cook a hor meal.

It is cold at night at Tonto Lake and it's easy to sleep late in the morning until the sun comes up over the pines and warms the air.

Early risers nearly always have a thrilling sight of a small herd of elk grazing in the lush green meadow close to the lake.

Ruins of Kinishba (Brown House) can be seen by a short drive on a plainly marked dirt road which branches off from State Route 73 about three and a half miles from Fort Apache on the way to Carrizo Junction. The late Dr. Byron Cummings, Dean of Archaeology at the University of Arizons, took Kinishba for his pet project. He spent years studying, unearthing and restoring this ancient settlement built by pueblo-living people about nine hundred years ago, but was unable to finish the restoration for lack of funds.

This is a project the Tribe would like to complete, but at present they also lack the money. Some of the walls and roofs are falling in again and the Recreation Enterprise has now fenced the area to prevent further destruction by livestock. They have asked the National Parks and Monument Service to take it over for a national monument, as Dr. Cummings had hoped they would, but no action has been taken on this yet.

The Recreation Enterprise is today under the management of James D. Sparks. His wide experience in conservation work with the CCC and the U.S. Forest Service, Navy duty, mining and electrical engineering, game protection, business management and community services well qualifies him for this complicated responsibility. A tireless, dedicated worker, he hardly knows the pleasure of personal holidays although working right in the heart of a vacation paradise. Long hours find him occupied with office routine, on-the-spot supervision of widely separated building projects, searching for overdue hikers, fighting fires and tending to the personal needs of his employees.

With major development well on its way at the close of 1961, the Council took a satisfied look at the annual Recreation Enterprise report presented by Manager Sparks.

During the past seven years a little more than a million dollars of Tribal money has been invested. As a result of this investment some $400,000 has come back to the Tribe in salaries paid to Apache workers on various projects. All the ground work has been laid out and major facilities at six lakes, two motels, five service stations, two boat docks and all cabin sites have been completed.

These combined facilities started to produce income in 1958 and have chalked up a total sales figure of $1,000,000 and there has been an overall net profit most ofwhich has been ploughed back into the project as additional capital investments.

White Mountain RECREATION ENTERPRISE FT.APACHE INDIAN RESERVATION

"We are proud of the progress we are making in creating for ourselves an economically stable existence. Our plans for the development of recreation areas, improving our grazing land and livestock, farming, mining and timbering, indicate our awareness of the basic laws of economics. "Because of the success and expansion of our Tribal Enterprise program, we feel that there is little doubt but that the White Mountain Apache, collectively, is rapidly becoming able to assume a place in this Nation Most gratifying is the fact that the Recreation Enterprise employs sixty Apache members of the tribe full time and forty on seasonal jobs. Through training and job experience, they have advanced to responsible positions. Encouraging, too, is the fact that Enterprise outlets have provided a ready market for arts and crafts produced by local Apaches and thus stimulated interest in the making of baskets, beadwork, painting and other saleable articles . . . another source of revenue for individual members of the tribe. With 450 cabin sites now leased, around $36,000 rent money comes in, along with $50,000 for hunting and fishing permits annually. Sales have increased each year since the projects got into high gear and 1961 showed a gross of $860,000 with a net profit of about $58,000-just about 7 per cent. Estimates for 1962 project a net profit of $83,000.

With present projects already proven successful, the Tribe is looking forward to the expansion of existing facilities and the building of even more to serve the tourist. A modern lodge costing $350,000 is planned for Hawley Lake. It will have eighteen rooms in the main building with dining room, recreation hall, cocktail lounge, snack bar, curio shop and newsstand. Twenty individual cabins would complete the spread in a spectacular setting along the lake shore. Such a lodge would have a projected profit of from thirty to fifty thousand dollars per year.

In addition to the satisfaction over the financial success of their own tribal enterprises, the Council is complimented by the serious interest taken in them by other Indian tribes. Already representatives from forty tribes have inspected and studied the Recreation Enterprise at first hand. The Blackfeet and Utes, who have large areas of their own suitable for recreation, have started similar projects patterned after the Apaches.

During our stay in the White Mountain Apacheland, we traveled the reservation on paved roads as well as along rough ones already penetrating the back country. We met many Apaches in their homes, talked to them and watched them work in their camps and on Tribal projects. No better words can be found to commend these Apaches for their progress during the past seventyfive years, and their outlook on the future, than those written by the Tribal Council: as a full citizen, not only with all the rights and prerogatives, but also with all the duties and responsibilities." Since the Fort Apache Indian Reservation was set aside, four or five generations of Apaches have ridden across this sacred land by horseback, in modern conveyances and school busses. It has been a slow process for them to change from the ways of their ancestors to those of the white man. But time has been on their side and today there is little left of the old Apache culture and way of life. Very, very few of the oldtimers are left. Instead, there are some successful business men, administrators, skilled workers and teen-agers just like those in any other part of the United States.

There are no great war chiefs leading bands of roving Apaches on raids today. Instead, a score of dedicated descendants are charting a course for continued progress for the Tribe in education and business.

We recommend that you visit the Fort Apache Reservation and share with them the pleasure of a stay in their well-preserved wilderness and receive their traditional greeting “Hon-Dah”-“Be our guest.”

Rev. Edgar Guenther By Lucile and Charles Herbert

After-dark travelers along the Fort Apache-East Fork road pass a brightly lighted modern building near the bridge. It is a veritable lighthouse of hope and inspiration in a vast land of rugged mountains serrated with deep, winding canyons where live the White Mountain Apaches. Inside, groups of Apache boys and girls can be seen at fine desks in efficiently arranged classrooms, "burning the midnight oil," seriously studying under kindly, helpful supervision of their missionary teachers. These modern-day Apaches are a striking contrast to their primitive forefathers as they diligently take advantage of the educational opportunities offered to them. Some of today's brilliant tribal leaders were reared in its orphanage and graduated from its schools. Hundreds of young Apache men and women were trained there to take their places in today's business world as teachers, technicians, lawyers, craftsmen, clerks, nurses and executives as well as good Americans.The mission's main growth from its small, difficult start in 1894 to its present extensive operation can rightfully be credited to the late Reverend Edgar Guenther and his wife, Minnie, who pioneered when the way was hard, rough and long.

Here is the Lutheran Mission with its orphanage, grade and high school, dormitories, dining room, auditorium, craft shops, utilities, a church and homes for a staff of 27 teaching and caring for 250 students, 100 of whom board at the mission. First mission to be established on the reservation, it is now the largest with nine branches at Whiteriver, Canyon Day, Cedar Creek, Carrizo, McNary, Maverick and two around Cibeque.

Edgar Guenther was born on a farm in South Dakota and after a full education through Northwestern College he elected to study for the ministry at Wanwatosa, Wisconsin, in the Lutheran Seminary. In 1911, while there, he volunteered to fill a vacant missionary post in far away, still partly wild, Arizona at a promised salary of $60.00 per month.Not losing any time, the 25-year-old novice arrived with his bride of a few weeks at Globe, Arizona, in January at the height of the year's worst blizzard-which blocked off the way to his assigned post on the Apache Reservation. He was forced to mark time in Globe for

MISSIONARY AND FRIEND TO THE APACHE FOR FIFTY YEARS

Almost two months. Determined to reach his chosen parish as soon as practical, he took his bride on a 600-mile detour by train back east through Bowie, Deming, Albuquerque and west again into Holbrook. From there the couple made a hard three-day trip by buckboard to isolated East Fork, upstream from Fort Apache. There they found a cold, dreary, run-down house and an ill-equipped, small school building where three missionaries before them had served making only slight progress. Although seventeen years in being it had developed into little more than a cleared spot in the wilderness.

The young missionary had been instructed by his superiors to get the school going. He spoke no Apache and only a few of his prospective students and parishioners spoke any English. No money had been allocated for the task and he had nothing to start with but his faith and strength. In later years the reverend mused, "We were in the midst of a wilderness of strange faces, customs and scenery, but God seemed nearer to us than He did back in our homeland."

With true pioneer vigor and determination he rolled up his sleeves, took saw and hammer in hand, made repairs and additions with donated lumber and quickly opened the doors of their home and the school to all who wished to come. The little school started with sixteen children and served as a church meeting-place on Sundays where the minister preached the word of God and there started a lifelong friendship with the Apaches.

In the beginning he had to teach and preach through an interpreter but gradually his flock learned English and the Guenthers learned Apache. From the beginning Mrs. Guenther stood side by side with him in the church and social work. For the school, simple grammar lessons were worked out and typed with an old-style Oliver on paper donated by the then Globe weekly, The Silver Belt. When more children were brought in he hand-made chairs and desks for them at night after the long day's routine tasks were over.

Soon he and Mrs. Guenther found time to start horse-back trips around their vast parish, meeting families in their camps, carrying the Gospel to them, advising them and administering medical aid to the sick. The tall, lanky, sharp-featured man-of-God became known to the Apaches as Inaschudt Ndaes'n (Tall Missionary) as he journeyed far and wide to broaden the scope of his teachings.

The Guenther home was open to any who came seek ing aid and advice. They shared their meager meals with any who were hungry, starting a tradition which has been carried on by the mission ever since. The school expanded, Sunday congregations became larger and more devout and the Guenther family grew as the first of nine children to be reared and educated was born. Continuing their rounds on horseback, their firm-born was even taken along on an Apache cradleboard as they carried on as a team.

In a few years a major contribution to Apache family welfare was made when an orphanage was started for Apache childrenthe first such orphanage for Indians in the southwest. The first babies were cared for in im provised apple-box cradles in a spare room while any needing special attention were swung in hammocks close by the matron. During the flu epidemic in 1918-19 six soon children were brought in and a special building had

to be erected to take care of them properly. The carpenter-missionary was right in the middle of this building program but by then he had some trusted assistants among the Apache parishioners and the job was done in rapid time with more donated lumber. Today the orphan age cares for an average of 30 children and is a model show-place for visitors to the mission.

Another important milestone was reached when the Apache Chief Alchesay, sick with the flu, disappeared in keeping with an ancient tradition. Fearful of the consequences should he die, the government doctor and the Tall Missionary made an extensive search for the old chief but in despair the government doctor soon gave up. The Reverend sought Divine aid, carried on and through friends found Alchesay in the timber wrapped in blankets. On the spot he administered medicine. The chief recovered, much to the chagrin and astonishment of the medicine men.

After the war two assistants were hired to help take care of the growing needs of the now accepted mission. The Guenthers found it advisable to move their growing family to a roomier and more centrally located house in Whiteriver as by then the Reverend had been appointed as superintendent over all of the Lutheran activities on both the San Carlos and Ft. Apache reservations. The horse had given way to a buckboard and soon the buckboard was replaced by a Model T Ford to help speed up the expansion of the work throughout the reservations, A new and final church was started in Whiteriver with the Reverend giving a hand and directing a crew of volunteers. As always Mrs. Guenther was right in there pitching and today she takes pride in the lovely natural wood interior finish which she applied with two coats of varnish. When this church was dedicated in 1923 Chief Alchesay officiated at the opening of the door. Then, as proof of his accepted faith, the old Chief led one hundred members of his tribe up the aisle to the altar where he and his followers were baptized. Then and there the mission trail found an easier tuning as through the ensuing years many, many other Apaches followed the lead of their chief, building a larger and more devout congregation throughout the reservation.

Time was passing, more places of worship were built and the responsibilities and ravages of dedicated hard work began to tell on the pioneer missionary. He accepted semi-retirement relinquishing the more demanding tasks to younger men on his staff including his son Arthur.. Recognition and credit began to flow to this modest worthy man-of-God. A great day for him came when the Apaches accepted him as the first white man to be adopted into the tribe as a full brother. With this great honor he was given an expertly made, traditional Apache burden basket and a lifetime permit to hunt and fish anywhere on the reservation, Unwilling to be inactive, Reverend Gunther kept open-house for his flock. In his study he spent long hours every day giving personal and spiritual advice to his followers who still sought out the Tall Missionary to bring their troubles to.

Times had indeed changed since the Guenthers took up their post in 1911. There were 2,500 persons on the reservation then; now there are 4,000. Five missionary workers spread the gospel over the vast reaches of Apacheland where he had preached alone. Over 250 students file past a cafeteria-style counter three times a day. There is usually a waiting list of 50 for entrance to the mission school. An all-Apache chorus records hymns on tape to be broadcast on the Lutheran radio hour from Show Low. Students and teachers join forces to put out The Broken Arrow, their school publication. Apache women and their children gather for ladies-aid meetings each week. Classes of interested workers preserve the art of ancient Apache crafts. Young Lutheran Pioneers go on field trips and attend good citizenship classes. Their son, Reverend Arthur Guenther, dashes around the reservation in high-speed cars along trails the elder Guenther covered on horseback. And the Lutheran Church now considers its Apache mission field of such importance that it appropriates around $150,000.00 annually to support it.

When he died in the spring of 1961, just one day before his 76th birthday, the fine church in Whiteriver was filled to overflowing with Apache men, women and children, in levis, calicos and business dress. They had come from every corner of the reservation to pay tribute to their beloved brother.

Edgar Guenther's living monument is the sprawling, pulsing mission chain which he envisioned and spent the greater part of his life helping to build. The bright rays of his lighthouse now reach far beyond the boundaries of a reservation and give increasing hope to the future.