Arivaca Yesterdays
This is where Mary Kasulaitis shares monthly stories about Arivaca Yesterdays. From 1993 to 2022, they were published in the Connection (Arivaca, AZ) and then Southern Arizona Connection. Some are new and some are updated versions of previously published stories. There is no particular order to these stories. Use the link below to read more.
Les Wooddell April 2024
You couldn’t invent a more colorful Western character than Les Wooddell, even in the early years of the 20th century. Born in 1890 in Minnesota, DeLeslie Wooddell and his family moved to Arizona when he was young. Les attended a military school and the University of Arizona and early on became interested in the cattle business. Les was a deputy sheriff for a while and also bought cattle and horses from the Pima Indians. With this experience, he became the youngest deputy livestock inspector ever appointed. He worked under Rye Miles, who had been an Arizona Ranger. In those days livestock inspectors were in the field, monitoring the cattle on the open range that extended from the Santa Ritas to the Gulf of Mexico and from the Baboquivaris to the Catalinas. They went to the roundups and made sure branding was legal and calves matched up with cows. Their job was to track down stolen cattle and report to the State. During these years, Les learned the brands of every rancher or horse owner in Southern Arizona and remembered them for decades. He knew everyone and what they were doing. Les lived in Arivaca during the exciting years of the Mexican Revolution, when the border was porous and law was loose. He could be pretty tough, but he could also be found in the fanciest society balls of the day.
Author and photographer Dane Coolidge remembered Les Wooddell in his book, California Cowboys. After a visit to Arivaca in 1914, he said: “My friend Leslie Wooddell was a great character in the country, being known far and wide as Cabezon on account of his big head. He had been a cattle inspector for several years and ridden far out across the Papago desert, where a white man was far from welcome...He could speak Spanish as well as English and knew a lot of the Papago words...He knew Indian signs also and most of the dim trails that led out through their land.”
At some point, Wooddell worked for the Arivaca Land and Cattle Company and also for Jack McVey, who owned Las Jarillas Ranch. Then he moved on and left Arivaca. He married Lucia Josephine Sykes of Nogales and they had three children. (Lucia's parents were Eugene Sykes and Maria Saldamando Sykes). Les and Lucia could be found in the society parties in Tucson and Nogales. Lucia and the children lived in Nogales most of the time when Les was roaming around.
About 1919 he became a partner with Joe Wise of Nogales and they bought La Arizona Ranch, which lies southwest of Nogales. Subsequently, he bought other ranches in Mexico, moving further south. He eventually went as far south as Yaqui country and Guaymas. It is said that Les was the only Anglo who would go into Yaqui country in the 1930s. For years the Mexican government fought the Yaquis, attempting to take over their valley. One time a Yaqui kid was wounded in a battle with soldiers. Les went for help from Dr. Noon, who couldn’t travel to where the boy was, but he gave Les instructions and equipment for removing the bullet. Les performed the operation and patched the boy up. When he could ride, Les loaned him a horse and sent him home. The thing was, the boy was the son of a Yaqui chief, and thereafter, Wooddell could do no wrong in the eyes of the Yaquis. He had a little ranch by the Yaqui country and was allowed to run his cattle on their land, although they didn’t make it too easy. He told Charlie Michelena of how he would sit for long hours around a campfire, negotiating with the Yaquis to renew his permit. Later the Mexican government took his ranch away and gave it to the Yaquis, so Les got a couple more ranches between Hermosillo and Guaymas.
In his retirement years, Les moved back to Nogales and spent mornings reminiscing at the corner coffee spot in Escalada’s Store, where he was good friends with owner Joe Escalada. Other old timers joined him with stories about the days long gone. Les created, and you can still see, a brand board bearing the brands of every rancher and horse owner he remembered. His portrait still hangs above it. Les also got involved with the Arizona Historical Society in Tucson, realizing that he had lived through an era that was fast disappearing. He donated a saddle designed for riding through cactus, as well as an ox cart. His most important donation was a brand board that stood inside the front door for many years, similar to the one at Escalada’s. What’s more, he stood in front of that board and recorded on tape something about each of the many brands, all of which he could remember. The board is in storage and no longer on display at AHS. Les sat for an interview with John Duncklee and in other ways made sure his recollections about the history of the area did not disappear. Les passed away in 1966 and Lucia in 1982, and are buried in Nogales Cemetery.
Thanks to: Tila Escalada, Simon Escalada, Charlie Michelena, and John Duncklee. Also California Cowboys by Dane Coolidge and a bio by Richard G. Schaus in the Arizona Cattlelog,
The Gill Cattle Co. on the Buenos Aires Ranch March 2024
The Buenos Aires Refuge was a working cattle ranch for over a hundred years before it was purchased by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 1985. For many of those years it belonged to the Gill family, which had one of the largest cattle operations in the United States.
Fred Gill (1869-1954) and his wife Carrie came to California and began a cattle empire in Tulare, California. When their three boys were old enough, Fred purchased ranches for them to manage, which became part of the overall operation, spanning four states. During World War II Fred Gill and Sons was one of the largest owners of cattle in the United States, supplying the U.S. military with 60,000 head per year. Son Adolph had the California holdings after their father died, Emmett was in Oregon, and Roy Gill came to Arizona. They also had ranches in northern Arizona and New Mexico.
Roy O. Gill (1897-1983), the eldest son, became the manager of the Buenos Aires Ranch when the firm purchased it in October of 1926 from Jack Kinney. At the time, this also included La Osa Ranch and the Secundino, which bordered the Buenos Aires Ranch, and 2000 head of cattle. Fred Gill and Sons Cattle Company owned the ranch until 1959, making it one of the longest tenures of any of the owners. Pedro Aguirre had begun the Buenos Ayres Ranch in the early 1870s.
Fred Gill had the original ranch house restored, but Roy and his wife Marguerite and family also had a house in Tucson. Roy spent much time on the ranch and had high expectations for his employees. It was during his ownership that many of the improvements were made, since this also coincided with the birth of the Soil Conservation Service, part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The SCS, now known as the Natural Resource Conservation Service, assists ranchers with procedures, structures or other improvements that will stop erosion and encourage the growth of beneficial grasses and plants. The Gills fenced off pastures to aid in rotation of their herd of Hereford cattle, built spreader dams to reduce erosion, dirt tanks to provide water for cattle (wildlife benefited) and thus also disperse the herds. They installed 250 miles of new interior fencing, using cedar posts for which holes had to be dug. Spreader dams encourage the spread of water across the floodplains, especially when arroyos are starting to form.
Part of the operation in Arizona included a feedlot in Phoenix, where the cattle were fattened, so that Gill cattle went from the range all the way to the packing plant. Clayton Vincent, ranch manager during the 1940s, grew up in California near the Gill headquarters and was hired as a cowboy while still in his teens. He came to Phoenix to work in the feedlot and was then moved down to the Buenos Aires Ranch, where he worked as manager from 1941-55. An interesting Saturday Evening Post article by (8/17/46) describes life on the ranch in 1946, when he and his wife Dolores were raising their family. Also working for the Gills at that time were Chofo and Arsenio Araiza, Bill Walls and J.D. Andrews. The cook, Güerito Felix, was another character on the ranch. He had been struck by lightning and had gray hair, but he manned a good chuckwagon. Clayton’s opinion was that cattle have personalities like people and he treated them well. No chousing, as they say. At that time they were buying yearlings and selling them at two or three years. Later they had a cow-calf operation. The Aguirre Lake was 175 acres of water, near which was an irrigated alfalfa field. Sacaton and Johnson grass grew in the flats and there were few mesquite trees. In the 40s, the vegetation looked wonderful, but the 50s brought a drought that drastically lowered the number of cattle that could be raised. The Gills sold out in 1959.
The Vincents left the Buenos Aires when their children were old enough for high school, the closest of which was in Tucson. (Bill and Marie Wall’s son, Frank, drove himself the 70 miles from the Figueroa Ranch to Tucson High over mostly dirt roads. Apparently the Vincents wanted to spare their children.)
Roy Gill’s daughter Joyce married Richard Siebeck. Dick became the manager and they lived at the big house and raised their children there and in Tucson. Joyce had stories about the movie stars who came out to stay at La Osa. Many of their pictures are still on the walls of that ranch, which is now a guest ranch.
The Gills were community minded and once provided a basketball court and baseball backstop for Arivaca School. Roy Gill and other members of the family also raised quarter horses, which are well known in that industry (and descendants can still be found). In an oft-told story, Roy’s horse Barbara B raced and beat a thoroughbred in 1947, and Roy won $50,000. The horse barn was built with the winnings. It was Roy who built the airstrip near the headquarters of the Buenos Aires. The Gill ranching operation was one of those marriages of high society and hard dirt work that can sometimes be found in the cattle business.
References: Ranching, Endangered Species, and Urbanization in the Southwest: Species of Capital by Nathan Sayre, a history of the Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge by Betty Leavengood, also see RootsWeb.com. Thanks to the late Joyce Gill Siebeck for her memories.
JPS Brown—the Cowboy’s writer February 2024
It is too late to meet Joe Brown, except on paper! He is one of those local writers who made good, and happily visited the Caviglia-Arivaca Library in 2008. He was known country-wide as J.P.S. Brown (Joseph P. Brown) for his true-to-life stories about ranch life in Arizona and Mexico. He will open your eyes to real life on the Mexican border—both sides of it.
JPS Brown is from this part of the country. Born in Nogales in 1930, he was from old ranching families that have been in Santa Cruz County since the 1850s. His great-great grandfather was William Parker, who traveled through Arizona in 1850 with the 49ers and came back to homestead southeast of Patagonia. Parker Canyon is named for him. On Joe’s mother’s side of the family, his grandfather, A.B. Sorrells, was a horse trader from Arkansas who came to Arizona and homesteaded in Harshaw Canyon. A.B. married Melvina Parker, the daughter of William. The descendents of these families are numerous and include Joe’s grandmother, Maude and her daughter, his mother, Mildred Sorrells. Mildred married Paul Summers who had come to Arizona in 1914 at the age of 12 with a cattle drive. They bought the Rock Corral Ranch near Tubac, but lost it in the Depression. Paul acquired and lost or sold many ranches over the years. Joe was born in 1930.Then his parents divorced and Joe took the name of his step father, Viv Brown. Brown was also a cowboy, so Joe continued to learn his trade in the cattle business. He was raised on the High Lonesome Ranch near Sanders.
Joe’s schooling was somewhat unusual – boarding school in Santa Fe, followed by Notre Dame University. This is where his writing began to flourish. He took a job as a reporter in Holbrook and later El Paso and found that daily writing chore wasn’t to his liking. Not until later, when the muse began to appear and writing became a self-imposed task.
A few years in the Marines followed, and finally Joe was back in the cattle business
Ranchers along the border must be bilingual in Spanish and English, and Joe was no different. He was more like a Sonoran: more attached to the Mexican tradition, he said, when I interviewed him in 2008. When I told him I was raised with it but couldn’t speak Spanish, he said, “Shame on you.” Fluency in Spanish came easy to Joe, who has spent many years in Mexico, beginning in childhood when his cattle-trading father took him to Sonora. In the late 50s he started buying cattle and horses in Chihuahua, Sonora, Baja and points south. He spent much time in the Sierra Madres, where cowboying takes skill with a horse or mule and also an understanding of the people and their ways. Otherwise, you may find yourself dead. During this time he kept a journal. After several years of this he had a book, which became Jim Kane in 1970. Jim, you see, is mostly Joe. Joe’s experiences and stories he has heard go into the book. He interviewed his grandmother and acquired 100 hours of interviews, which went into some of his books. Most of the time the names are changed, but not always. Other experiences provided material for other books, including The Outfit, which was based on a roundup at Art Linkletter’s Nevada ranch. Joe provided cattle and horses for the movie business in Tucson, including The Three Amigos. He acted in bit parts, as well. Jim Kane was made into the movie Pocket Money, with Paul Newman and Lee Marvin.
Some years after he finished Jim Kane, he wrote The Forests of the Night, which is about a Mexican vaquero and his nemesis, a jaguar. This is “a true and very informative document on Mexico's Sierra Madre and its hardy people and animals,” according to a review. Hardy is an understatement for the people who inhabit the canyons of the Sierra Madre, ranching and smuggling. For that is a main method of employment. Growing marijuana in inaccessible canyons can be done by anyone with the will to do it, no matter the lack of education or social status, the latter being a major stumbling block to achievement in Mexico. Complications also include the individuals who have made themselves powerful in the drug trade. Joe’s book, Wolves at our Door, was the beginning of another series on that most politically sensitive subject. It is an eye-opener and should be read by every U.S. citizen. The wolves are the Mexican drug-runners, people-runners, Mafia-like criminal masterminds. They prey on us all—and we don’t have the eyes to see. They prey on their own people as well. Kidnapping, robbing, killing, right on our doorstep and within United States territory, all funded by the drug money that comes from U.S. pockets.
Joe knew well the world of the Sierra Madre, that lies just south of us. It is a beautiful world of rugged mountains and precipitous canyons, with plenty of stories to tell. Joe is the man for that job. Critics say he provides the most realistic picture of cowboy life of any writer. Whether in Mexico or the U.S., vaqueros or cowboys, ganado or cattle, Joe has done the world a favor with his portrayal of this “vanishing way of life.” It is history in the guise of fiction. Anthropologist Bernard Fontana said, “This is far and away the best ethnography of border cowboy culture ever written or ever likely to be written.” Leo Banks interviewed Joe for the Tucson Weekly and he says, “he’s a great writer, probably the best you’ve never heard of.” Joe lived it all, and wrote it, and it is hard to believe he has actually survived his own life. He was still riding and writing well into his 80s.
Superlatives aside, as a member of the Authors Guild, Joe’s eleven previous books have been reprinted, including his four book Arizona saga: The Blooded Stock, The Horseman, Ladino, and Native Born, based on his family history in Southern Arizona. He had two books out fairly recently: the autobiographical The World in Pancho’s Eye (his childhood) and Wolves at our Door. Most of his books are available at the Pima County Public Library.
Joe Brown lived with his wife Patsy in Patagonia until she passed away in 2011. He lived to be 90 and passed away in 2020. His obituary is referenced below
Sources:
“Writing about the cowboy way,” by Kathy McCraine, in the Arizona Cattlelog, March 2008.
“J.P.S Brown’s Last Stand,” by Leo Banks, in Tucson Weekly, August 30, 2007. (this can be found in the archives at www.tucsonweekly.com.
https://tucson.com/news/local/a-real-border-cowboy-and-writer-j-p-s-brown-dies-at-90/article_eacf00be-9e0e-5f6b-ac98-42ebad3176a5.html
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Arivaca in the 1980s January 2024
Arivaca became the community that we know in the 1980s: a self-built community with diverse people and non-profits for every need.
But let’s back up a few years, to 1970, for which there is no census data for the population. We estimate there were about 100 people in the townsite and surrounding area as given in the “Arivaca Briefs,” the newspaper of that day (1948 to c1975) Then, in 1972, the Arivaca Ranch, owned by the Boices, sold 9000 acres of range land to Nationwide Development and the 40s were born. The townsite was by itself as it is now. Slowly and gradually Nationwide sold property to people who, for the most part, wanted to live out in the country and be independent. Many were young, some were retired. Also in the 1970s, a group of hippies: Eileen Jaffe and her husband Tom Shook, John Godsell and Debra Rosegrove bought the 20 acre mining claim in California Gulch that would become the center of the hippie community (not commune), which also extended to various other disbursed mining claims in the National Forest and the town of Ruby. Tom invited his friends to come down and pitch a teepee or bring a bus and live there. Caretaker Terry Vierra invited his friends and acquaintances to come to Ruby. Word spread far and wide across the U.S. Eventually most of those folks moved to Arivaca or moved away, so that a large contingent of “hippies” were living in the 40s as well as the other, more conservative, demographic. These were the “newcomers,” who ran up against the ranchers, cowboys and miners every once in awhile. Let’s just say it took awhile for them all to get acquainted and learn to live alongside each other. That happened in the 1980s.
Meanwhile there were two organizations that had been running the community activities: the Arivaca Homemakers Club (women) and the Arivaca Small Mine Operators Association (men). The first Arivaca Daze event featuring food, music and activities was held in in 1980 to benefit both organizations. In 1970 there were no permanent churches until Tony Prevor built St Ferdinand’s Catholic Church. First Baptist Church followed, then the “Blue Church,” as Arivaca Christian Center is nicknamed.
In 1981 the Arivaca Area Health Services was created to provide emergency medical services, a priority. A trailer parked on the grounds of the Arivaca Mercantile was opened by Dr. Augusto Ortiz, Medical Director, and Mike Frazer, President of AAHS with his Board of Directors. United Community Health Services is the overall organization.
As the 1970s and 80s moved along, the community acquired many young people, hippies or not, who met each other, married or not, and settled down to raise families. They got acquainted and since most of them were from urban areas and many were college educated, began to create an infrastructure of social services.
The distance from Sopori School to Arivaca meant children were being bussed several hours a day. A number of parents began to petition Sahuarita School District for a school, but to no avail. So they set up their own school in 1982. As time went on this became Blue Sky Learning Center. Camp Granola was developed as a summer activity for the hippie children so that they could learn the skills necessary to live an independent life: gardening, cooking, and building construction, all from the ground up.
In 1983, the Arivaca Arts Council was set up by educationally minded mothers of the town’s preschoolers got together to provide enrichment and learning opportunities. (Several of those mothers went on to teach at Sopori Elementary School.) Out of this effort grew the Arivaca Community Center, which housed many of these opportunities. Led by Mike Armour, it was established in 1985 on Universal Ranch Road. Thankfully, Community Development Block Grants had become available through Pima County. One was granted to the ACC which included enough funds for a building and land.
In 1988 the Arivaca Coordinating Council/Human Resources Group was incorporated to provide social services. Project PEP was the mainstay behind it: John Arnold had been spreading information to all the rural areas to help them help themselves. Connie Deere Sparks also contributed. Conflicts began to emerge: one was the location of the Fire Station. Some 40s people petitioned the Townsite trustee, Judge Mehan, to put the Fire Station on the School grounds. He approved it but after a protest by townsite residents who had not been consulted about it, the approval was rescinded. Then the Fire Dept Board decided that it would be better served by locating the Station by the Community Center. After some shenanigans, this did happen and it is in a logical location to serve the whole area. People worked out their differences and settled into a pattern of serving a specific need.
You can see a pattern here: people realize a need, form an organization to supply that need, look for funding, then they build it from scratch. A few others were formed later, like Arivaca Helping Hearts, the brainchild of Connie Sparks, and Faith Baptist Church under Pastor Rick Lewis. Arivaca Homemakers has morphed into Friends of the Arivaca Schoolhouse & Historic Townsite. The Arivaca Small Miners Org. has disappeared along with the prospectors.
For the most part, these 80s organizations continue to provide needed service to the community. Arivaca in the late 80s was a far cry from the 1950s, the era of my childhood. And I, for one, am happier for it.
Arivaca: a land of peace, love and rock 'n roll January 2024
There once was a time of great change. During the 1960s and 70s America underwent a drastic overhaul of politics, social norms, religious affiliations and cultural practices. Most of the followers of this movement were young people who traveled the country, hitchhiking or whatever, going from place to place, searching for answers. Some of them came to Arivaca.
There are people who live here now who were in Greenwich Village, at Woodstock, hung out at Haight-Ashbury in San Francisco, gave out flowers on street corners, knew Weathermen in Wisconsin, went to the Gathering of the Tribes, followed the Rainbow people, traveled the craft fairs, or in other ways were in the absolute middle of the counter-culture movement. They represent many of the values that grew out of the rebellion in those years. There are any number of different definitions of the term hippie. Many people just think negatively of drugs and student riots, but we need to remember the reasons behind the rejection of the culture that had developed after World War II. Rejected were: racism, segregation, Joseph McCarthy style fear and control, unthinking exploitation of nature and animals, discrimination against hiring or educating women, gays, Jews, Catholics and other groups. Hippies denounced the consumerism which, spurred on by advertising, had taken over people's interests and drove their competitive lifestyles. Questions were raised as to who our enemies were and why we were at war in Vietnam. There was women's liberation. Like primitive Christianity, Eastern religions like Buddhism and Taoism promoted peace and love; but churches had buildings and rigid exclusionary doctrines that had to be supported with money. Most importantly, for hippies, individual freedom was the ultimate goal. For many people, freedom lay in owning very little. "When you've got nothing, you've got nothing to lose." People began to demand the right to be free--there was no one right way or wrong way to live, eat, dress, sing or practice religion or politics. Some had no goals: "You went with the flow--you didn't have expectations." Being instead of doing. "Living in the present moment," Sunny said. Spurred on by music, which became a driving and unifying force behind the revolutionary changes, our country became a different place. Looking around us now, we can see the results of the generation that changed everything, both the benefits and detriments, and we watch as our culture's pendulum swings.
Frequently rejecting their parents' lifestyle, and traveling (often hitchhiking) across the country from one place to another, young people searched for their perfect haven. Some of them found it here. Bobbie's first sight of cows walking down a totally deserted Main Street gave her a vision of the peaceful life. One might say that Arivaca was the perfect place for hippies. One could tune in, turn on and drop out and no one's the wiser. There were old vacant mining camps and shacks in the hills, recently inhabited by old prospectors like Walt Edwards, Tomas Torres and George Goehring who had died or moved away, leaving their places unoccupied. Why not move in? And what is more perfect than a patented mining claim (privately owned land) totally surrounded by National Forest on which you could camp?
The late sixties-early seventies were a different world. Arivaca was at one of its lowest points of population in those days, but the community of hippies, most of whom were from somewhere else like snow birds, grew together. Most of them came to Ruby, a deserted mining camp with habitable buildings, and California Gulch, where Tom & Eileen Shook and John Godsil & Debra Rosegrove had bought a mining claim. The Lower Lakes was a good camping spot. Quite a few people set up tents or teepees and moved in. Some people lived in buses.
The women raised their children with help from each other, learning midwifery, gardening, herbalism, goat-raising, how to find and prepare good natural foods, living a life similar in many ways to homesteaders. They practiced kind, peaceful living and opened their homes to strangers. Although not really a commune with no group philosophy, it was communal living by choice and freely made. There were couples and families, not just free love. People learned that being loving means setting limits. There is karma. Was this a life of ease? Not hardly. The days were filled with chopping wood, keeping fires going, hauling water, grinding grain, making fry bread, cooking, gardening, milking goats, dipping candles, yoga and caring for children. In the early days these were mostly young city kids, unprepared for what amounted to an extended camping trip in dry rugged canyons. Living in the hills like the prospectors. The ones who couldn't take it moved on. The ones who stayed spent time hiking, discussing spirituality, philosophy, politics, practicing old time crafts like leatherwork, carving, dyeing cloth, beadwork and other Native American crafts, carving gourds, weaving and making music. As Jerry Garcia said, "What we're thinking about is a peaceful planet. We're not thinking about anything else. We're not thinking about any kind of power. We're not thinking about any kind of struggles. We're not thinking about revolution or war or any of that. That's not what we want. Nobody wants to get hurt. Nobody wants to hurt anybody. We would all like to be able to live an uncluttered life. A simple life, a good life. And think about moving the whole human race ahead a step, or a few steps or half a step."
Terry was the caretaker at Ruby from about 1968-72. He first learned about the place from some hitchhikers. He thought, "Here's an adventure!" Then he came back several times to visit before he finally came here for good, feeling a strong draw from the place. Most people who stayed have a strong attraction for place. They just know this is the place for them. One weekend Terry showed up and the caretakers were gone. Just like that. He asked Marge at the Mercantile and she said they had gone to South America! So Terry became the caretaker. At that time he had given away his truck, so he had to depend on others to get a ride to town. It sure was fun, those times, he said. For a long time he didn't even have a bedroll, just a big long leather coat with a sheepskin lining. And a big white dog. It was primitive living--getting by on very little. Jeannie remembered: "We'd go to the Warehouse in Tucson and get a big load of food. 50 pounds of rice, flour, beans, oatmeal, carrots--staples. A big block of wax, and we'd make candles-- and that would hold us for the month. People would come out from Tucson on the weekends and bring food and share it." At the swap meet in Tucson you could trade for things and meet like-minded people. A guy came up in a big truck and asked Rex for directions. It was Terry. She said, "I don't know you." He said, "Sure you do, I'm just one of the brothers.'
Obe, Hal, Mike, Brad, and Tom always had their guitars along. Singing and playing music came together. Brought people together. Rock, bluegrass and folk music, playing and writing songs. Any number of bands have emerged from the musicians who moved here.
Obe liked what he saw in the Gulch and asked Tom if he could set up a teepee. He agreed, so Obe went off to get the materials, then spread the cloth out in a field and sewed it himself, eventually (in the 17 years he lived there) making four teepees. To earn money for this, Obe and Sabrina made and sold candles at the Coop in Tucson where they did yard work and house cleaning to buy food and gas, then would come back and stay here until they needed to earn more. People would go to the Tucson swap meet to sell things they made. Eventually, the gulch people moved to Arivaca where life was a little less rough. A not-uneducated group of souls, they joined their neighbors and helped Arivaca grow, and so we got the Gadsden Coffee and Cafe Aribac, Arivaca Community Center, Arivaca Arts Council, C Hues' murals, Alan's internet--Arivaca.com, Blue Sky Learning Center, Sarah's Bakery, the Clinic and the Library, the Main Street Artists' Coop, Hal's Woodworking, Obe's Solar power, Kevin's Recycling, yoga, the cooperative buying club, Ellen's tie dye, Robert and Nancy's mesquite furniture, Marian's Farmers Market and the Arivaca Action Center, thanks to these folks called hippies.
What has remained in Arivaca with the people who came here in the 60s and 70s is an evolved sense of lifestyle: living as best you can within the constraints of the economy but maintaining the ideals of freedom, acceptance and the quiet life in the country. Where else can you find signs that remind you of PEACE, LOVE and COMMUNITY!
Please join us on January 27, 2024 at the Old Schoolhouse from 10 am to 4 pm to celebrate the world of hippies at the Arivaca Memories and Music Festival, which this year features the 1960s and 70s.
The Cristero War came to Sasabe December 2023
Americans may not realize that from 1926-29 Mexico had a religious civil war, which in its final days came as far north as the American border: to Agua Prieta, Naco, Nogales and Sasabe.
The Mexican Revolution had ended in 1920, but one significant conflict was not resolved: church and state relations. Prior to the Revolution, in the era of President Porfirio Diaz, the Catholic Church had amassed great power and wealth, and there were few non-Catholics. Revolutionaries thought it controlled the poor people. But as a part of the Revolution, the Constitution of 1917 had anti-clerical sections in which regulation of the churches and religious groups were quite severe. Allegedly, there was freedom of religion, but any event held outside of a church building (parade, festival, pilgrimage) was regulated by the government, monasteries were abolished, church property was turned over to the government. The government could regulate the number of priests in any given area and forbade the wearing of religious clothing outdoors. For awhile, nothing was enforced. There were ongoing attempts by the Church to compromise. Then the atheist, Plutarco Elias Calles, an ally of former President Obregon, was elected President in 1924. He confronted the Church everywhere he turned. In 1926 he signed the Calles Law, giving regulatory teeth to the Constitution of 1917. Worship was now banned. Churches were closed. Religious refugees began to flee to the United States. Father Ed Carscallan, who used to serve St Ferdinand's, remembered this time with sadness.
Not only religion, there were other problems in Mexico, especially for foreign corporations and aliens (mostly Americans) who owned land in Mexico, over which the government wanted to exert control, even nationalization. Labor demonstrations and workers' rights were on the rise. The violence that came with the crackdown on the Catholic Church was complicated by other social issues. In October 1927, a peaceful demonstration was held with thousands of participants. Then violence began, mostly in the central and western part of Mexico. Calles said, "it's the law or guns." The rebels chose guns. Priests who said Mass were shot by the government. The devout religious people could not countenance this disrespect, and the rebellion began. The rebels named their revolt La Cristiada, after Christ the King (Cristo Rey) and called themselves Cristeros.
They had no idea the Cristero War would last close to three years but they were motivated by their cause and their faith. The Cristeros used guerrilla warfare more than the regular army, which made it harder for the federal troops to fight back. They targeted railroads since they were always in need of supplies. A League of women (with their children helping) began secretly to supply the rebels with food and ammunition and protect and aid the priests in hiding. As time went on, the Cristeros became more organized and took over some municipalities, in the central part of the country but eventually in many localities from Chiapas to Sonora. It did not go away... and the government had to deal with the consequences of not being able to quell the rebellion for over two years.
The U.S. government had issues with this neighbor's rebellion, since it was dealing with thousands of Catholic refugees and economic disruptions. (Many of the devout settled in Los Angeles and never returned to Mexico.) Diplomacy had not worked under the previous ambassador, but when Dwight W. Morrow arrived, he became a more successful negotiator. (DWM was the future father-in-law of aviator Charles Lindburgh) The main issues were property ownership and freedom of religion, both of which the U.S. deemed important. Many American citizens and businesses (oil, mining, railroads) owned land in Mexico. In the meantime, diplomatic solutions were not happening.
President Calles served his four years (1924-28) and Obregon was re-elected (He had served from 1920-24). But before he took office he was assassinated by a rebel, Jose de Leon Toral. Obregon's successor, Emilio Portes Gil, served until 1930. Behind the scenes, Calles was still very powerful. He created the Partido Revolucionario Nacional, which eventually became the PRI, which ruled Mexico from then on. However, Portes Gil eventually negotiated the end to the Cristero War, along with a number of Mexican Bishops, the Knights of Columbus in the U.S. and other organizations in Mexico.
By 1929, the rebellion, led in the north by the ambitious Gen. Jose Escobar, had reached the border, conveniently located to supplies in the U.S. Sasabe, AZ is a Port of Entry, and across the line is Sasabe, Sonora or "Mesquite." (with a Spanish pronunciation, please.) No wall in those days, of course. People came and went freely. At that time, Sasabe, AZ had about 100 residents and across the line were 200 more. When the rebels arrived in Mesquite in early March, locals on both sides of the line began to expect war, some with much anticipation. On this side, just west of town, was the La Osa dude ranch. It was owned at that time by Mrs Arthur Hardgrave, from a wealthy Kansas City, KS family. Also with her in residence were her sister, Mrs James Jones and a friend, Mrs P.H. Hamilton.
In the spring of 1929, exporting vegetables into the U.S. was being hampered by rebel forces, which, by March, had also taken Nogales and Juarez. Fortunately, the 10th Cavalry soldiers were still stationed at Camp Little in Nogales. The news of what was happening began to appear in headlines on the front page of the Arizona Daily Star.
The Federalists came east from Baja, CA and met the 85 Rebels in Sasabe under Capt Jose Juan Montalvo, on April 19, 1929. 20 rebels were killed as well as 5 federal soldiers, and there were many injuries. The rebels were driven across the line into the U.S. Bullets crossed the line and hit the San Fernando schoolhouse. The Star nonchalantly reported that "Nothing the matter with the way those boys fought on either side." The ladies from La Osa Ranch, aware that there were no medical facilities across the line, gathered up what they had and joined Dr Hardy from Sasabe, his wife and daughter and Miss Alice O'Barr, the teacher at San Fernando School, and went over to assist the injured. The teacher even helped bury a rebel, with his red bandana to mark his allegiance. Three doctors from Tucson arrived. Soon, with help from the Mexican consul, a collection of food and other needs was gathered up in Tucson and brought to Sasabe. Initially, they took the injured to the school. Once things were safe, the injured of both sides were brought to La Osa Ranch and nursed back to health. The more seriously injured were taken to the hospital in Tucson. The uninjured rebel soldiers were taken to the jail in Tucson where they were kept until the U.S. government felt it was safe for them to return. Capt Montalvo escaped towards Nogales. Sheriff Jim McDonald, who brought the rebels to Tucson, said he met one Francisco "Pancho" Villa at Mesquite. (This of course, is not the Pancho Villa of the Mexican Revolution, because he died in 1923.) Villa played an important part In the capture of Mesquite due to his knowledge of the terrain. He proudly displayed to the sheriff where one of the rebel bullets had passed through his cartridge belt, clipping off a shell. Asked by the sheriff if he was scared. Villa replied. "No, my friend had just been killed and I was much mad."
Responding to the battles, federal troops led by Calles himself were headed north. By the first of May, Nogales had fallen to the federal soldiers, and the war was winding down. General Escobar fled to Canada. Ambassador Morrow managed to bring the parties to agreement on June 21, 1929. The agreement allowed worship to resume in Mexico and granted some concessions to the Catholic Church. However, the most important part of the agreement was that the church would recover the right to use its properties, and priests recovered their rights to live on such property, even while losing ownership.
Thanks to Paul Bear of La Osa Guest Ranch for the inspiration for this story and Harry Meyer for his book, La Cristiada, the Mexican People's War for Religious Liberty by Jean Meyer, and the Arizona Daily Star.
End of war : Legally speaking, the Church was not allowed to own real estate, and its former facilities remained federal property. However, the church effectively took control over the properties. It was a convenient arrangement for both parties, and the church ostensibly ended its support for the rebels.
Previously published in the Southern Arizona Connection, but reprinted because of the current situation with cartel violence in Sasabe, Sonora.
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Arivaca History
A Historical Perspective by Fred Noon
300 BC to 1400 AD - Area inhabited by Hohokam Indians.
1400 - The O'odham (Pima and Tonono) Indians, possibly descendants of the Hohokam, occupied the valley for many years, and named the area; "Ari" (Ali) means "little," "vaca" (wahia) refers to a place where water comes up. Early Spaniards recorded the name as Aribac.
Recorded History to 1695 - Father Kino, missionary and explorer, traveled through Aribac and included the visita of San Martin de Aribac on his map of Pimeria Alta.
1736 - A silver strike, just south of the present international boundary and known as the 'Planchas de Plata' encouraged prospectors to move north in search of silver and gold.
1751 - Pima Indian uprising against the Spaniaards. A decisive battle was fought in the area.
1776 - The Tubac Presidio moved to Tucson after Arivaca was first considered but rejected because of the poor water quality and plentiful mosquitoes (both problems now solved).
1853 - Gadsden Purchase puts Arivaca in the U.S.
1858 - Discovery of rich silver ore northeast of Arivaca. Tomas and Ignacio Ortiz sold their Aribac Land Grant to the Sonoran Exploring & Mining Co. headed by Charles Poston and Samuel Heintzelman. Samuel Colt of revolver fame was an investor. Colt sent a shipment of books - one of the first libraries in Territorial Arizona. A telegraph line from the mine to the smelter near Arivaca was the first in the Territory.
1873 Anglos began to arrive in larger numbers after Apaches put on reservation
1878–79 A post office was established. Mail was brought from Tucson by horse-drawn stages. Pedro Aguirre, merchant and freighter, built the first schoolhouse in Arivaca at his own expense. It is the oldest standing schoolhouse in the state. Dr. Adolphus Noon arrived and for the next 20 years gives medical aid to the residents.
1886 - An Apache Indian attack kills once rancher and wounds another in Bear Valley 15 miles southeast. They also raided the Jalisco Ranch to the east, but the family had fled. An earthquake rocked Southern Arizona causing cracks in buildings. The Arivaca area was a huge dust cloud and large slabs of rock broke off Montana Peak near Ruby. The epicenter was in Sonora, Mexico. A smallpox epidemic in Arizona prompted Dr. Noon to vaccinate area residents.
1896 - Rand-McNally Atlas shows Arivaca population to be 236.
1911 to 1914 - The railroad is completed between Tucson and Nogales. Amado was the freight and passenger station - mail was delivered to Arivaca via mule-drawn buckboard. First automobiles begin to arrive in Arivaca including a King 8, a Chalmers Packard, and a Ford.
1914 - Townsite surveyed for federal patent-granted in 1916.
1916 - Connecticut National Guard Cavalrymen arrived because of unrest in Mexico. Stationed in Arivaca, they rode along the border. The Utah Cavalry barracks were erected, a new well and pumping plant and a telephone line connected the Army Post with Amado.
1918 - Influenza epidemic claimed the lives of 30 area residents.
1920–21 - A severe drought reduced cattle herds. The only stock water left was in the valley, which became a boneyard. A bone dealer hauled truckloads away for processing into bone meal.
1923 - The first major improvement of Arivaca Road - six miles near old Sopori School and the Cerro Colorado Mine using horse - drawn dirt scrapers and prairie plows.
1929 - The Eagle Pitcher Co. of Joplin, MO began development of the Montana Mine at Ruby providing jobs for area residents.
1938 - State Health Dept. investigated the mosquito problem after two cases of malaria. Gambusia fish were planted in the ponds. They thrived and provided protection to the present day.
1953–56 - Arivaca population of 66 people according to the Arivaca Briefs newspaper. Arivaca Mercantile gutted by fire. The post office was reestablished with equipment from the abandoned Ruby Post Office. Electric power lines arrived uplifting Arivaca from the dark ages.
1965 - Winter rains over eight inches caused earthen dam at Arivaca Lake to collapse, flooding the Cienega. A concrete dam was installed.
1972 - Arivaca Ranch sold 11,000 acres to a land developer who subdivided the land into 40-acre parcels.
1976 - The dirt Arivaca Road was paved
1980s and 90's -The many new residents, a result of available homesites, along with the old timers were witness to a new chronology of events, including the formation of a medical clinic, fire department, human resource office, community center and public library gained through the efforts of the local populace.
2000s - Tightening of border security brought a new era of highly visible law enforcement with it's pros and cons.
2010 - US Census - Arivaca population 695
TODAY - Arivaca is a fun little town worth experiencing. You'll feel welcomed by the local residents hanging out at Gadsen Coffee or the La Gitana Cantina. In the cooler months, Arivaca is likely to have a street fair on the first Saturday of the month. The shops are open and there's a Marian's Market - Arivaca's Farmer and Artisan Market Every Saturday - arts & crafts booths, and lots of fun things for the kids to do.