ARIZONIQUES

Territorial Fourth

By all accounts, it was a good old-fashioned Fourth of July. The residents of Prescott, numerous miners, nearby ranchers, and visitors from as far away as the Colorado River town of La Paz assembled beneath the pines on the west side of Granite Creek that pleasant summer day in 1868. The boom and brass of the military were missing someone forgot to invite Fort Whipple's officers and men to take part in the ceremony, although they were present-but excitement still ran high.

Early that morning, a horse race was run. The purse was a tempting $300. At 10:30 A.M., the town's formal celebration began. It opened with a prayer, a reading of the Declaration of Independence, and the singing of "My Country, 'Tis of Thee," accompanied by a portable organ. After the main oration ("brief, sensible, patriotic, and to the point," reported one who attended), everyone settled down to a picnic lunch.

Today the Fourth continues to inspire community celebrations throughout Arizona. The truth that was spoken 121 years ago in Prescott's sun-checkered pine grove endures: "And if there is an event in the history of the world, a day above all others dear to...lovers of liberty and especially to Americans, it should be the Fourth of July"-even without the boom and brass.

Unique to Arizona and the Southwest. Wassaja

In the Fort McDowell cemetery, 25 miles northeast of Phoenix, stands a tombstone marked "Wassaja. Carlos Montezuma, M.D. 1869-1923. Mohave Apache Indian." Not far away, a roadside marker beside State Route 87 proclaims Dr. Montezuma "the greatest of the educated Apaches."

This remarkable Arizonan went from captivity to fame as a Chicago physician. Yet he returned to the desert to die among his people.

At about the age of six, Wassaja was captured by Pima Indians during a raid near the Superstition Mountains landmark called Weaver's Needle. His kidnappers took him to Florence, where they sold him to an itinerant photographer named Carlos Gentile for $30.

The boy was baptized Carlos (after Gentile) and Montezuma (after the Aztec emperor). Gentile, determined to see the child educated, took him to Chicago.

There the photographer set up a studio, but when a fire wiped out his business, he placed the boy with a Mrs. Baldwin. Later William H. Steadman, a Baptist minister, became his guardian.

An apt student, Montezuma studied chemistry at the University of Illinois and graduated in 1883 from the Chicago Medical College, a branch of Northwestern University. He practiced medicine briefly in Chicago and then joined the Bureau of Indian Affairs as a physician. He practiced on three Indian reservations in the West and then at Carlisle Indian School in Pennsylvania before returning to Chicago in 1896.

His experience with the Bureau, sometimes called the Indian Service, alienated him from the federal agency. He founded a monthly magazine called Wassaja in April, 1916, and dedicated it to the abolition of the Bureau.

In 1922, suffering from diabetes and tuberculosis, he determined to return to his native Arizona. He disposed of his personal fortune, took leave of his wife, and retired to the Fort McDowell Indian Reservation, disdaining all medical treatment. There he died-city physician and proud Native American-on January 31, 1923.

Arizona State University historian Peter Iverson has published a biography of Wassaja, titled Carlos Montezuma and The Changing World of American Indians. To order a copy, inquire at your favorite bookstore.

Only a Memory

From 1880 to 1882, the silver-mining town of Galeyville, Arizona, prospered. Its population of more than 400 miners, businessmen, dance-hall girls, and cattle rustlers made it the second largest town in Cochise County. It had 11 dance halls and saloons that never closed, two hotels with restaurants, two butcher shops, several general stores and lumber yards, several doctors and lawyers, a post office, assayer, and a Wells Fargo office.

Because of its location on the eastern slopes of the Chiricahua Mountains, near the head of the San Simon Valley, it also made a convenient market for cattle rustled south of the border. Tombstone outlaws John Ringo and Curley Bill Brocius used it as a retreat.

The town was named after Pennsylvania oil pioneer John Galey, who owned the nearby Texas Mine. Whether he knew of the settlement's reputation as an outlaw hideout when he bought the claim from Artemus Fay, editor of The Tombstone Nugget, is doubtful. Galey was more interested in the treasure hidden underground than in the violence of life on the surface. Before he bought the Texas Mine, he had discovered and drilled many of the top-producing oil wells near Titusville, Pennsylvania.

But his faith in the Texas Mine was misplaced. By April, 1882, he could no longer meet his miners' payroll. He fled to the East Coast, where he had to borrow from his lifelong friends, the Mellon family of banking fame. Years later, with Galeyville only a memory, its erstwhile leading citizen more than repaid that loan when he drilled the Spindletop Well in Beaumont, Texas the foundation of the Gulf Oil Corporation.

CALENDAR

June 17-July 30, Phoenix. In "Rodin: Romantic Genius," the Phoenix Art Museum exhibits 30 sculptures by Auguste Rodin, including some of his most significant works. Telephone 257-1222.

July 1-5, Flagstaff. At the Museum of Northern Arizona, the 56th annual exhibition and sale of Hopi kachinas, baskets, pottery, jewelry, and other arts and crafts features demonstrations by Native American artists. Telephone 774-5211.

July 15, Payson. The town's fifth annual doll show appeals to collectors and dealers alike. Telephone 474-4515.

July 15-16, Prescott. Enjoy country and bluegrass entertainment at the Bluegrass Festival at Watson Lake Park. Telephone 445-2000.

July 24-25, Snowflake. The Pioneer Days celebration includes an arts and crafts show, parade, barbecue, rodeo, fireworks, dances, and more. Telephone 536-4331.

For a more complete calendar of events, free of charge, write to Arizona Office of Tourism, 1100 W. Washington St., Phoenix 85007. Unless otherwise noted, all telephone numbers are within area code 602.