Coconino County Arizona – On Granny's Trail

Early Tuba City, Arizona: Records of the Tanners and Foutzes, part 6. Description of their property

Posted on May 14, 2012May 13, 2012 by Dayna Jacobs - "On Granny's Trail"

U.S. Senate, editor, Senate Documents Vol. 8, 56th Congress 1st Session, 1899-1900 (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government, n.d.), 8: Doc. 68, pp 19-23.

Schedule of improvements on land occupied by the Tanner and Foutz families in the Tuba City, Arizona area, 30 May 1899. This includes the property of Fred Tanner, John Tanner, Joseph Tanner, Emma Tanner, Seth Tanner, and Joseph Lehi Foutz. This information was recorded as part of “a Bill establishing the boundaries of an addition to the Navajo Indian Reservation, Arizona, and making appropriation for purchasing the improvements of settlers within the addition.”

Arizona pioneers, Biographical

Early Tuba City, Arizona: Records of the Tanners and Foutzes, part 5. A list of settlers and proposed payment.

Posted on May 10, 2012May 13, 2012 by Dayna Jacobs - "On Granny's Trail"

Here is a map of the boundaries of the Navajo Reservation in 1900, with the proposed enlargement reaching the Little Colorado River. Tuba City is just east of the Little Colorado.

Here is a list of the settlers there and the proposed financial settlement for the improvements to their land. They did not own the land because it had not been surveyed by the government yet, so technically they were squatters. A settler could only apply for a patent, or claim, if the land had first been surveyed. I can’t imagine why the surveyors had not yet made it out there to the desert, several days journey from civilization! Nevertheless, the settlers were fortunate the government was willing to pay them anything for their improvements because they could have come away empty-handed. With these funds they were able to move and re-establish themselves elsewhere. Joseph Tanner and Joseph Lehi Foutz went into New Mexico and settled in San Juan County.

Arizona pioneers, Biographical, U.S. Serial Set

Early Tuba City, Arizona: Records of the Tanners and Foutzes, part 4. Enlargement of the reservation is proposed.

Posted on May 7, 2012May 13, 2012 by Dayna Jacobs - "On Granny's Trail"

This is more from the U.S. Serial Set, or Senate papers, regarding the enlargement of the Navajo Reservation in 1900, which included the Tuba City area. The settlers there, including the Tanners and Foutzes were paid for the improvements they had made.

This begins with a letter from Pres. William McKinley, transmitting reports he had received from the Secretary of the Interior, E.A. Hitchcock and Col. James McLaughlin, U.S. Indian Agent, to the Committee on Indian Affairs. Hitchcock is explaining the need to enlarge the Navajo Reservation for the sake of water and grasslands needed for Navajo herds and crops, and McLaughlin is reporting on his observations during a 22-day visit to the Tuba City area.

The document also includes a “schedule of improvements” for David Brinkerhoff’s property. Brinkerhoff was the Bishop of the local LDS ward/branch. Brinkerhoff had the largest property, and later in the week you will see the schedule of improvements for the Tanner and Foutz families posted. Their industry and perserverance is remarkable, considering the arid conditions and remote locality.

U.S. Senate, editor, Senate Documents Vol. 8, 56th Congress 1st Session, 1899-1900 (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government, n.d.), 8: Doc. 68, pp. 1-4. This volume was found at the J. Willard Marriott Library, University of Utah.

(The thumbnails below are the same as the larger photos beneath them. I couldn’t figure out how to remove them!)

Arizona pioneers, Biographical, Four Corners, Maps

Early Tuba City, Arizona: Records of the Tanners and Foutzes, part 2

Posted on May 1, 2012June 25, 2012 by Dayna Jacobs - "On Granny's Trail"

Map of the Navajo Nation today. Notice where Tuba City, Arizona is, and where Farmington, New Mexico is. The Tanner and Foutz families were in Tuba City from about 1877 to 1903, when they moved to the Farmington area (to the town of Kirtland). When they settled in Tuba City it was not part of the Navajo Reservation, but relocated in 1902/1903 when the reservation was expanded and the townsite was designated for an Indian school.

Tuba City, Arizona was settled by Mormons at the invitation of Tuuvi or “Tuba” as the white people called him, a Hopi leader who was living in the nearby village of Moencopi, 50 miles west of Oraibi Hopi village. Tuba had a longstanding relationship with the Latter-day Saints, and in fact had been baptized by an early missionary. Tuba City is about 80 miles northeast of Flagstaff, Arizona and 50 miles from the eastern entrance to the Grand Canyon National Park. It is within the Painted Desert and is on US Route 160 near Arizona State Route 264. It is 200 miles from Farmington, New Mexico.

It was 1875 when the Mormons accepted his offer and came to stay. There were around fifteen families there. They were a hardy and industrious bunch, considering it was so far from “civilization” and they farmed under harsh circumstances. There were underground springs there but it took much effort to build workable irrigation systems for farming.

Joseph Lehi Foutz was officially called as a missionary to the Arizona Mission and “set apart” in 1877. In LDS Church Missionary Registers, 1860-1959, There was an entry for Joseph L. Foutz on Oct 1877: 64

[abstract] Father is Jacob Foutz, mother is Margaret Mon [sic]. He was born Mar. 16, 1836 in Caldwell County, Missouri, and was baptized in 1844 by Jacob Foutz. He was in the 40th quorum of the Seventies Quorum. He was living in Richfield, Sevier, Utah at the time of his mission call to Arizona, and was set apart 8 Oct 1877 by W. Woodruff. There was no date of return recorded. (LDS Church Missionary Registers, 1860-1959, p. 9, line #652, Jos. L. Foutz entry; microfilm no. CR 301-22 #1, v. 2, bk. B, p. 1700 [133], LDS Church Archives, Salt Lake City, Utah.)

In 1880 the Seth B. Tanner family was enumerated on the census for Yavapai County, living at “Tanner’s Ranch”, while the Joseph L. Foutz family was enumerated right after them, living at “Mowey Abbey”. This was really Moenave or Moa Avi Springs, just west of the Tuba City present-day site:

More records to come…

Archives and Libraries, Arizona pioneers, Biographical, Four Corners, Friday Finds, Navajo Reservation, Newspapers

Early Tuba City, Arizona: Records of the Tanner and Foutzes, part 1

Posted on April 29, 2012June 25, 2012 by Dayna Jacobs - "On Granny's Trail"

My grandmother, Annie Marie Tanner, was born in Tuba City, Arizona on 18 Aug 1901. I knew she grew up in Kirtland, San Juan County, New Mexico and wondered exactly when and why the family left Arizona. Tuba City lies within the Navajo Reservation in the northeast corner of Arizona, while Kirtland is just outside the Navajo reservation in the northwest corner of New Mexico. Using newspaper articles, Congressional records, and correspondence within federal agencies I pieced together the fascinating story of the early Tuba City settlement and will share some of the records in coming weeks , while also highlighting the archives and libraries where the records were found. Briefly, the settlers who had arrived in the 1870s were bought out by the federal government when the Navajo Reservation was expanded to include their property. There is a lot more to the story, though, as the records will reveal.

Here is a newspaper article, “Will Leave Their Homes”, (November 15, 1902 Coconino Sun, page one, column three) summing up the situation in Tuba City in 1902. It is blurry because it is a photo of a microfilm image taken at the Arizona State Archives in Phoenix, Arizona.

Note the mention of S.B. Tanner. That is Seth Benjamin Tanner, father of Joseph Baldwin Tanner and grandfather of Annie Marie Tanner. Watch in the coming weeks for records from this interesting period of time in Tuba City, and the Tanner and Foutz families.