I am looking for the approximate locations of these place names in the Apache County area.
Fuzas?
Cedro?
Ojos Bonitas
Cooley
San Salvador (in 1880 census)
Lagunas Largos, NM (state line?)

For those who are wondering about other place names in the area, El Tule, Tule, or Tulas is between St. Johns and Lyman Lake and also know as the Chavez Ranch area. Salado is just south/outside of St. Johns. El Mineral is Vernon. Richville is Lyman Lake. Silver Creek is 18 miles West of Concho. San Antonio is 7 miles North of Concho. Concho was first known as El Rio Colorado Chiquito. St. Johns was known as the El Vadito land grant.

Cooley in now McNary east of Pinetop and Hondah

Thanks for clarifying where Cooley was. What do you know about the first Cooleys? I know they were C. E. Cooley and Maria Cooley. I heard Maria may have been full blood Navajo or Apache. I could be wrong. They had quads in 1882 and triplets in 1885. I believe they had more children than that.

Was Cooley a trader? Was he one of the Texans that came to the Little Colorado/White Mountain area in the 1870s? Did he have anything to do with the paper mill in McNary?

While going through records, their family caught my eye after Maria had quads then triplets, plus Cooley is a place name in some of the other records from the St. Johns Catholic Church.

Thanks for replying!
Clarissa
henpeckerssociety@earthlink.net

If I remember right, Cooley was in the Military at Ft. Apache when he started his ranch. The ranch later became Cooley then McNary. The mill is now closed.

My great uncle Ray remembers as a young boy going into the forest of McNary with my grandfather Procopito to bury a stillborn baby my grandmother just gave birth to. I would have never guess this area to be the old Cooley ranch area.

The other place names that still have me stumped are Ojos Bonitas, Fuzas, and Cedro. San Salvador was Rudd Knoll, near Nutrioso. Lagunas Largos is about forty miles down the dirt road from St. Johns in New Mexico. No other place names have caught my eye lately than these. Do you know about the other three?

Clarissa
henpeckerssociety@earthlink.net

Actually, Richville (named after the Richey family of St. Johns) is almost exactly between St. Johns and Roundvalley and was once known as Walnut Grove.
El Tule was directly beneath the Lyman damn and was destroyed after the damn broke in 1912 (I think that date is right). There's an interesting story about the night the damn broke--i'll relay it if you really want to know. McNary also has an interesting history.
El Vadito means "little crossing" and St. Johns was so named after Jose Saavadra built a toll bridge over the little Colorado for Mr. Luna. In 1874, when they applied for a post office, the town was to be called San Juan, but the government changed the name to St. Johns.
Wow, long explanation of things. Sorry

Long explanations are good. I think there should be some dialog on the history of the area. I am finding lots of things are not quite as accurate as stated in some of the books or in the oral histories.

It was my understanding that Richville is now covered by Lyman Lake. When was it known as Walnut Grove? I am surprised by that name because I didn't think walnuts grew wild in Arizona.

The dam broke April 15, 1915. That is the flood that drowned Josefa Saavedra and her baby at El Tule.

If El Vadito was a land grant, as Solomon Barth said it was, then people were living or herding along the Little Colorado much earlier than how written history has it. I haven't squared away when land grants were last issued and if El Vadito was a bona fide land grant. I would like to see the papers for Barth's filing of squatters rights for El Vadito, as his great grandson states he had done.

When Manuel Antonio Candelaria brings his newly started family back to the Concho area in 1861, he reported that "there were a handful of others living along Concho Creek." I would suspect the same for the Little Colorado area.

I have read about why St. Johns wasn't named San Juan in the first place. However, I do like it better than the name Salem. I came across another report of the bridge being built in 1873. Was the bridge located at where Apodaca Sreet ends? Or was that another bridge that got washed out?

I find it interesting that Sol Barth and his brothers never filed for homesteads, except Federico Barth filed for one in New Mexico. I cannot find any filings on Antonio Luna. Saavedra doesn't file for one until the 1880s. I think Jose Maria Baca was there along the Little Colorado in 1871 - per his homestead petition information.

There are a lot of loose ends and inaccuracies in the history for the area, and Sol Barth may be the one to thank for that. He was a slick gambler with a "take the money and run" attitude. The best gambler will have everyone suspicious and guessing about everyone else, except of him. I can only imagine what webs were spun to fuel the friction between all the people that settled in the Little Colorado area.

I would love to hear your account on McNary! I don't know that much about McNary and how it was started. Coming across the Cooley name piqued my interest for McNary.

Thanks for Posting!
Clarissa

San Antonio is now called Hunt--in case you didn't know.

Ojos Bonitos (pretty spring) is now barely in New Mexico on the Hinkson ranch between Zuni and St. Johns on the old old old cavalry route. There's a huge really cool indian ruin there.

Cedro is also named after another big spring and is also on the Hinkson ranch. It's about seven miles from Fence Lake, also in New Mexico.

My dad (the place names expert in the family) has never heard of Fuzas.

Richville is in the place mentioned before, I have no idea where the Walnut Grove name came from. Lyman lake did cover a little town that Jose Saavadra moved to--neither my dad or myself could remember the name of the place.

The Lyman dam has actually broken a number of times, the most damage was done, and the most lives lost when it broke in 1915. It broke the night of either the St. Johns high school prom or graduation--anyway, legend has it that the people were afraid that the dam might give way so some kid was stationed out there to keep an eye on it (unfortunetely he wasn't smart enough to just stick his finger in the hole! ; )). All the adults of El Tule had gone into the St. Johns event and left there kids--about 15 in all--with a sitter. When the dam actually started to give, the kid was able to outrun the water (on a horse or in a car) and warn the people of St. Johns, who were able to make it to higher ground. All the kids in El Tule however, were not so lucky. Their bodies were found as far away as Holbrook, and some were never found. There are still some structures that were either to far down the river or on the other side of the flood water that survived.

If there's ever anything else you want to know just ask. I'm going to start another thread about McNary and St. Johns.

Cameron

Clarissa,
I have recently obtained a VHS on the history of NcNary, Az. I have family from the St. Johns area too. One of my Hispanic grandparents side lived and worked in McNary in the sawmill days. They are not mentioned in the video but, many others are. If you would like to know how to get one, or who to call email me at brinkerhoff@cybertrails.com
Darlene

Hello Darlene,

I am going to assume ... and I need to check this with my great uncle Ray, that my grandfather Procopito worked in McNary when my Grandmother Antonia Gonzales gave birth to either Ruben or Emilia. Both of these babies died at childbirth or were born stillborn. My great uncle remembers going into the forest with my grandfather to bury the baby. Please let me know what the price is for the video and where I can get a copy.

Also, I am curious to what Hispanic families you are part of. I have been communicating with several people tracing many of the families that settled along the Little Colorado. It is starting to become a nice network and very helpful to all. The video may be helpful to them too. Please write me if you are a Chavez, Pena, Gonzales, Rubi, Peralta, Lucero, Saavedra, Zamora, Candelaria, Baca, Martinez, or Garcia. There are several websites you may want to be invited to.

Thanks for your input!
Clarissa Cosgrove
henpeckerssociety@earthlink.net
azchavezfamily@earthlink.net
heirloomheaven@earthlink.net