Today I am posting a newspaper article about my great-grandparents, Joseph Baldwin Tanner and Nora Almeda Foutz, describing the home they built and lived in, in Kirtland, New Mexico.
It appeared in the Farmington Daily Times (Farmington, New Mexico) on 14 Oct 1959, p E5. The article includes photos of the family home and a family portrait, along with wonderful biographical information.
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.
Joseph B. Tanner Stock-raising homestead file, patent no. 1070508, Santa Fe, New Mexico, Land Office; Homestead Files; Records of the Bureau of Land Management; National Archives and Records Administration.
[Abstract]
Stockraising Homestead Final Proof and Affadavits: Joseph B. Tanner, age 66 on 16 Jan 1934, married, eleven children, native born. Original homestead entry no. 061450 on 17 Oct 1930 at Santa Fe, NM Land Office. Description: Lots 5,6,7,8, E 1/2, W 1/2, E 1/2, Sec. 18, twp 21 N, R 13 W, N.M.P. meridian. States his claim was made in April 1930, and his residence has been continuous since that time. He lived in a tent until the house was completed in October 1930, and has lived 12 months of the year there. Land is all sandy loam, no timber. 40 acres plowed and under cultivation on the NW 1/4 of section 18. Grew 15-30 acres of corn and vegetables. Cleared 80 acres, irrigated small patch for garden. Built water storage tank, cleared and fenced land, built barn, built seven diversion dams, built rock storage house. Value of improvements $3,175. Children are all grown and gone, wife has business interests in Farmington and has been there the past year as of Jan 1934. Affadavits by Arthur L. Sutherland, Joseph C. Wynn, Jr.,
Abstract of Stock-raising Homestead Entry – Original: Joseph B. Tanner, male, of Gallup, NM, applying under the act of Dec. 29, 1916. Description: Lots 5,6,7,8, [1,2,3,4 crossed out] E 1/2, W 1/2, E 1/2, Sec. 18, twp 21 N, R 13 W, N.M.P. meridian, containing 574.12 [582.80 crossed out] acres. Native born, married with 11 children, age “64, yrs, 0”. No timber on land, no previous entries of any kind. Stamped date: Apr 1, 1930. His signature. Affadavit sworn before U.S. Commissioner on 31 Mar 1930 in Gallup, McKinley, NM, within Santa Fe, NM land district
On Granny's Trail 