Apache County, Arizona
Biographies
COLTER,
FREDERICK TUTTLE,
Frederick, Tuttle Colter Cattle and
Lands, Springerville, Arizona, was born at Neutreoso, Apache County,
Arizona, February 2, 1879, the son of James G. Colter and Rosa (Rudd)
Colter. He married Miss Dodge Phelps at Springerville, November 17,
1904. Mr. Colter's paternal ancestors were prominent in public affairs
for many generations in Nova Scotia and his father was one of the
pioneer cattlemen of Arizona and New Mexico. He located in the latter
State in 1873 and his ranch at Alma was the scene of a three-day fight
in 1881, between a band of 325 Apache Indians, led by Chief
Gerónimo and a party of twenty-seven white men. In this
engagement the elder Colter lost cattle and horses valued at $30,000.
Fred T. Colter, who is one of the
leaders of the Democratic party in Arizona, received his preliminary
education in the public schools of his native country and concluded
with a commercial course in the Pueblo (Colorado) Business College, in
1900. He spent his early days in the cattle business with his father,
but at the age of fourteen left home and went to work as a cowboy for
W. H. Phelps, a wealthy cattle raiser of Arizona. It was while thus
employed that he educated himself, going to school at odd times.
In 1899 Mr. Colter was chosen
Manager, and later became partner with Mr. Phelps, continuing for
nearly five years. In 1904, with about 300 head of cattle, Mr. Colter
established an independent business and later added sheep and horses to
his holdings. He now has about 300 head of cattle, 6000 sheep and 500
horses.
Besides his operations as a stockman,
Mr. Colter has been engaged for several years in the development of the
agricultural resources of his section of the country and has
approximately 1400 acres of irrigated land in Apache County. In 1907 he
began the building of reservoirs at the head of the Little Colorado
River and since that time has constructed five of these. In 1910 he
joined in the work of constructing the Lyman Reservoir, which has about
15,000 acres under it, 1000 being owned by Mr. Colter. This work,
completed in the Summer of 1912, is one of the largest irrigation
enterprises in Arizona, having twenty-five miles of canals. The system
was completed at a cost of about $200,000, with Mr. Colter as one of
the principal factors in its construction. He is now planning the
erection of another reservoir in New Mexico. These operations, in which
Mr. Colter takes an active personal interest, are important in the
reclamation of wide areas of cultivable land in the new States of
Arizona and New Mexico.
the political life of Arizona and is
the leader of the Democratic party in his county. In 1907 he was
elected County Supervisor, serving five years. In 1910, while still
holding the office of Supervisor, Mr. Colter was elected Delegate to
the Constitutional Convention at which the organic law of Arizona was
formulated. He served as Chairman of the Committee on Mode of Amending,
Schedules and Miscellaneous, and during all the sessions fought
consistently for progressive- measures and the rights of the people,
but at the same time opposed various radical measures which he
considered a detriment to the future of the new State. He made a
determined effort to incorporate a section on health and sanitation,
but it failed of adoption.
From the time of the Constitutional
Convent ion down to date, Mr. Colter has been a member of the
Democratic State Executive Committee and in 1911, at the first State
election held in Arizona, was a candidate for Senator from his county.
He was defeated by a small majority.
Because of his intimate knowledge of
the cattle business, Mr. Colter was chosen by Governor Hunt of Arizona
for the office of State Sanitary Commissioner. He assumed the duties of
office in April, 1912. He is also Vice President of the Arizona Cattle
Growers' Association.
During his political activity Mr.
Colter has been actuated by a sincere desire to improve the conditions
of the State and its people and to him is due much credit for
benefiting the conditions of the poorer people of Arizona.
Mr. Colter, although a young man, is
ranked with the successful men of his State and in addition to the
interests already mentioned, is an active worker for good roads and the
realty development of Arizona. Co-operating with the National Highway
Commission, he made strenuous efforts to have the Ocean-to-Ocean
Highway routed through his section of Arizona, in the hope that it
would aid in the development of the State.
Mr. Colter is an ardent and
intelligent worker for Arizona's progress and one of her substantial
citizens. He is a heavy landowner in his own section and also holds one
hundred acres of splendid property on Central avenue, a beautiful
boulevard of Phoenix, Arizona, where he contemplates building a winter
home. Because of activity in public matters he spends a great deal of
his time at the State Capital.
Because of the diversity of his
interests, Mr. Colter is not conspicuous in club or fraternal
organizations, his only affiliations being with the Benevolent and
Protective Order of Elks and the Woodmen of the World.
Being the Portraits and Biographies
of the Progressive Men of the West ...By Notables of the West Published
by , 1915
ADAIR, JOHN WESLEY
Born at Pickens County, or Green
County Alabama, February 18, 1821.
Married, Rebecca at Washington City,
Washington County, Utah, September ___, 1858.
Enlisted at Council
Bluffs, July 16,1846, to serve one year as Private, Company
C, Mormon Battalion marched across
what is now southern Arizona
and was honorably discharged at Los Angeles, July 16, 1847.
Returned to Arizona in 1880, and
resided for a time at Showlow in Navajo County.
The settlement of Adair, Navajo
County, named for him.
Died at Nutrioso, Apache
County, Arizona, May 5, 1903, aged 82.
SOURCES OF INFORMATION
Tyler, D. - Concise History of the
Mormon Battalion, 1881 pp. 121,370.
McClintock, J. H. - Mormon
Settlement in Arizona, Phoenix, 1921, pp. 21, 36,
281, (portrait).
Barnes, W. C. - Arizona Place Names,
Tucson, 1935 p. 9.
The Adjutant General of
the Army - Military service records.
U. S. Veterans Administration -
Pension records,Mex.,S,C.7,562,
The Deseret News, Salt Lake City, May
27, 1903, p. 6, (obituary).
WESLEY ADAIR (also referred to as
John Wesley Adair) a private in Company C of the Mormon Battalion, was
born Feb.
18,1820, in Pickens County,
Alabama. Became a member of the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints
about 1842. Gathered with the Saints
at Nauvoo and acted as one of the minute men there, being driven out
with the rest of the
Saints in the spring of 1846. Arriving at the Missouri
River he responded to the call of the United States and
became a member of the famous
Mormon Battalion and suffered the hardships incident to that notable
march of infantry. He joined
the Saints in Utah in 1848 and moved to Arizona in 1880, living for
a time at Showlow, Navajo County.
His life was spent on the frontiers
and he was a hard-working man, always full of faith in the Gospel and
died May 5, 1903, 83 years
old, at Nutrioso, Apache Co. Arizona.
(Deseret News May 27,
1903, page 3.)
In the Probate Court of Apache
County,
Name: Adair, John Wesley
Addressor Deceased: Nutrioso, Apache
County, Arizona
Date and Place of Death: Nutrioso,
Arizona May 5 1903
When and Where born: Pickens County,
Alabama February 18, 1821
the pension records show that Wesley
adair was born February 18, 1821 at Green co. Ala. Married September
1858 to Rebecca___ at Washington city, utah
They resided in Arizona five years,
New Mexico two years and Utah twenty four years.
He received a warrant for 160 acres
of bounty land, 1855 and a pension of $12.00 per month from August 27,
1896 under the act of January 5, 1893.
He died May 5, 1903. Mex. SC 7, 562
Adair, Wesley, not born as George
Wesley Adair,
Private Co. C. Mormon Batalion Vol.
was mustered into service July 16, 1846 at Council bluffs to serve one
year and was mustered out July 16, 1847 at Los Angeles, Cal. a private
Transcribed
from information found here http://www.asu.edu/lib/archives/
William Flake
1839 - 1932
Born in North Carolina July 3, 18 3
9. young William Flake moved to Utah with his parents in 1849 by
wagon train.
In 1850 his father was killed while examining a colony site in
California, but, undaunted, his mother took the family to the new
settlement of San Bernardino the following year, returning to Utah in
1857.
In 1858 William Flake married Lucy White and a year later star a cattle
ranch at Beaver, Utah.
In 1877 he, and other Mormon colonizers, left with a wagon train and
herds of cattle for the Little Colorado region of Arizona,
arriving January, 1878.
The colonists lived in their wagons that winter and were forced cut up
sacks and canvas for clothing. In the spring Flake traded cattle
James Stinson's ranch, which was under irrigation and growing crops
corn and wheat. That summer Flake's family and their more proverty
stricken neighbors lived largely on beef and roasting ears, but by fall
his fairly well-provided for the coming winter. In the fall of '78,
Eras Snow, an Apostle of the Church, arrived and. deciding that Flake's
ranch was a promising place for a settlement, joined with Flake in
creating town of Snowflake.
Those were trying days for the Mormon colonists, and William Flake took
a leading part in settling and lending a helping hand to new arrivals
When Apache County was created in 187!), Snowflake was temporarily the
county seat, and the first term of court was held in Flake's honor
Noted for his generosity, William Flake furnished thousands of free
meals to neighbors, businessmen and chuck-line riders alike. He
established the Thanksgiving-time custom of furnishing free wood and
free beef to every widow or needy person in the community—a practice
this carried out to this day by his descendants.
Hale and hearty in his old age. He rode the range until a short time
before his death at the age of 93. he was a thorough cowman in every
respect.
John Henry
Heap
1857-1947
John Henry Heap was born in Parawan, Utah, on Aug. 20,1857. His parents
were among the early settlers in the Salt Lake Valley.
Twenty-three years later, on Nov. 3, 1880, John Henry---as everyone
called him in later years—married Mary Ann White, having made a 250
mile trip to Salt Lake for that purpose. It is still related in the
family that the expense of the trip was only $10, which included the
purchase of a brass kettle and clock. Both items are still in the
possession of the family, and the clock bears it $6 price mark.
In 1881 John Henry was assigned to go to Arizona to help develop
settlements in that area. He joined the 16 wagon train of his father in
law Joel White. After 4 months on the road, slowed down by the
livestock which had to graze en route, the wagon train arrived in the
vicinity of St. Johns.
During the ensuing winter, John Henry found work at a nearby
sawmill and at Fort Apache, and he and Mary Ann home in their wagon box
from January to April, even though the winters in northern Arizona are
really cold.
The following spring he returned to the land he had taken up near St.
John’s where he managed to build a 12 X 14 home of lumber. Soon
afterwards he began to develop a cattle outfit in the Quarter Circle 7
brand, which he had originated in Utah. And as time went on, children
came and the family grew.
John Henry became active in all phases of community life. In 1897, he
was sent to England on a 2 year mission. On his return, he resumed his
ranch and community activities, and soon became know as one of the most
helpful and generous hearted men in the St. John’s region.
His death on Aug. 27, 1947, while he was responding to a call to
prevent irrigation water from wasting. His wife, Mary Ann died in
1929.
Surviving children are his sons, Parley and Byron, and daughters, Mrs.
Elva Sorenson & Mary Ellen Greer. A grandson Harden Heap, carries
on the quarter Circle 7 cattle brand near St. John’s.
