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Americn Pioneer & Cemetery Research Project
Version 020609
Revised: 010713
Contents
ADDITIONAL
HISTORY ON EHRENBERG
JAN.
7, 2013 UPDATE EHRENBERG CEMETERY
Historic Pioneer Cemetery
By: Lois Ann Preston
Ehrenberg, Arizona
Ehrenberg's post office was established September 20, 1869 and
discontinued December 31, 1913. Named after Hermann Ehrenberg, this town was
the principal town on the Colorado River during the "old west" days.
![CEM46842343_120398163702[1].jpg](EHRENBERG_MAST_TEXT_010713_files/image003.jpg)
Ehrenberg Arizona Pioneer
Cemetery Photo by: Lois Ann Preston
By the mid 1870's, Ehrenberg had a population of about 500 people. By
the early 1900's, the railroads had taken place of the steamboats and most of
the population of Ehrenberg had moved elsewhere.
Map
by: Neal Du Shane 11/27/08
Ehrenberg Cemetery is just two blocks off I-10. Graves are
covered in stone, many have no headstones.
By Martha Summerhayes
Born October 21, 1844 - Died May 12, 1926
WINTER IN EHRENBURG
From Jack’s diary
(her husband): “Aug. 23rd. Heat awful. Pringle died today” He was
the third soldier to succumb. It seemed to me their fate was a hard one. To
die, down in a wretched place, to be rolled a blanket and buried on those
desert shores, with nothing but a heap of stones to mark their graves.
The next day I
asked Jack to walk to the grave-yard with me. He postponed it from day to day,
but I insisted upon going. At last, he took me to see it.
There was no
enclosure, but the bare, sloping, sandy place was sprinkled with graves, marked
by heaps of stones, and in some instance by rude crosses of wood, some of which
had been wrenched from their upright position by the fierce sand-storms. There
was not a blade of grass, a tree, or a flower. I walked about among these
graves, and close beside some of them I saw deep holes and whitened bones. I
was quite ignorant or unthinking, and asked what the holes were.
“It is where the
coyotes and wolves come in the nights,” said jack.
My heart sickened
as I thought of these horrors, and I wonder if Ehrenburg held anything in store
for me worse than what I had already seen. We turned away from this unhallowed
grave-yard and walked to our quarters. I had never known much about “nerves,”
but I began to see specters in the nights, and those ghastly graves with their
coyote-holes were ever before me. The place was but a stone’s throw from us,
and the uneasy spirits from these desecrated graves began to haunt me. I couldn’t not sit alone on the porch at night, for they peered
through the lattice, and mocked at me, and beckoned. Some had no heads,
some no arms, but they pointed or nodded towards the grewsome
burying-ground: “you’ll be with us soon, you’ll be
with us soon.”
By:
Kathy Block,
APCRP Historical Staff
It's
interesting to contemplate how linked historical facts are with one another.
The circle widens as one splashes into the pool of information in books and on
the Internet. Many of the following facts were actually found when researching
Dome and Gila City.
A
paper by Doe Stragnel, "The History of LaPaz & Ehrenberg" (written as a thesis), gives
some information about Herman Ehrenberg, the man for whom the town of Ehrenberg
was named. He had a varied and exciting life. He was born at Steuden, near Leipzig, Saxony (Germany) between 1816 and
1820. (Records lost.) He came to New York in 1834 or 1835 and enlisted in the
New Orleans Grays in the War for Texas Independence. He was captured and while
facing a firing squad he feigned death and fell. He temporarily escaped but was
recaptured and received a saber slash which left him with a facial scar.
Through intervention of a fellow German attached to the Mexican forces and/or
due to his youth, he was released and returned to Germany to complete his
education and obtain a degree as a mining and topographic engineer.
When
he returned to the United States after writing a book, in1836, he was involved
in a number of important mining and topographic surveying activities. Stragnel comments: "Apparently, as a result of this
publication, a large number of German families immigrated to Texas. The book
has never been translated into English but represents the impact that one
individual was capable of having at this juncture of history."
Eventually
he joined another famous historical figure, Charles Posten.
They met in Tucson in 1856. Posten became the Alcalde of Tubec and in the
census of 1860 Herman Ehrenberg was listed as a resident of that city with a
net worth of twenty-five thousand dollars, a small fortune at that time. (Suggesting that Ehrenberg was doing quite well with his surveying
activities.) An interesting link with another historical event is that
Ehrenberg in 1863 mentioned to Henry Wickenburg that he had found a promising
gold mining area in the Little Harquahala Mountains.
Wickenburg explored the region and did find it to be potentially rich. However,
on his way back home, he discovered Vulture Mine and forgot all about the area
his friend Ehrenberg had found!
The
connection with the site of Ehrenberg is that Ehrenberg surveyed the city and
it was first called Mineral City .In 1863, it was the site of the Bradshaw
Ferry Landing on the Colorado River 90 miles north of
Yuma. It consisted of a few tents, crude huts, and sixteen men. Ehrenberg was
robbed and murdered at Dos Palmas, California (near present day Palm Springs)
on October 9, 1866 and never knew this town was named after him. He was a
lifetime bachelor, so there are no descendents.
Another
link to Arizona history in the naming of Ehrenberg is that the legendary
Goldwater family began a mercantile enterprise in 1862 when Michael Goldwater
hauled some much-needed goods across the desert from California and opened a
store at LaPaz. In 1868, one morning, residents
discovered the shifty Colorado River had changed its course overnight! The town
was now high and dry, so everyone, including the Goldwater family, packed up
their belongings and located on the banks of the new river course. The new town
was named Ehrenberg in honor of their friend who had been killed two years
before. By 1870 the town had 87 dwellings and 96 families. By 1875 the
population had grown to 500 with stores, saloons, corrals, blacksmith, wagon
shop, two bakeries, a hotel, a Catholic Church and the Arizona State Company.
And a cemetery! A descendent of Michael
Goldwater, the noted Senator Barry Goldwater, called Ehrenberg, "one of
the greatest surveyors and map makers ever to visit the Western United States.”
The
cemetery monument was erected in 1935 by the Arizona State Highway Department
and relics of the past were cemented into an apron surrounding the base of the
rock and morar "obelish".
An
invaluable reference book (I collect history books), is called A Guide to
Western Ghost Towns, 1967. The author, Lambert Florin, had this to say
about Ehrenberg and the cemetery at that time! (Many decades
ago). "From Blythe, California, go east across Colorado River into
Arizona. Just after crossing note gravel exiting left (north), this is location
of Ehrenberg . . . Almost at intersection is Boot Hill Cemetery, one of
bleakest, most forlorn in West. Piles of stone mark graves, identification
totally lacking. Some markers come tantalizingly close to being legible.
Imposing monument erected by highway crews is desecrated by vandals. Careful
search east of exit road reveals some scanty adobe ruins. Hot in summer."
This
write-up touches on some of the past of Ehrenberg. Note the positive changes in
present day photos and description!
JAN. 7, 2013 UPDATE EHRENBERG
CEMETERY
By Kathy Block
APCRP Research Staff
In early January
2013, Ed and I visited Ehrenberg Cemetery. We stopped at a little store at an
RV Park north of the cemetery to ask for information. The very helpful lady
working there has helped clean up the cemetery and expressed regret that the
“younger generation” wasn't interested in its history or in preserving it.
We found the
grounds to be nicely maintained and the monument restored, with artifacts
embedded in concrete around its base.
|
Monument at entrance to cemetery |
Artifacts embedded around base of monument |
|
Sign facing Ehrenberg Road |
|
One section of the
cemetery to the left of the entrance contained the graves of at least 7 members
of the Daniel family. These had crude markers. Here are two of them:
|
Robert Daniel, Known as CINCO |
Alfred M. Daniel, died August 1913 |
There were many unidentified graves marked by piles of stones, and several
had “unknown” signs.
|
“Unknown” grave sign |
Near entrance, remains of old wagon in corner |
Rosters of the
burials are available on the Internet.
The location of
the cemetery just east of the Colorado River and south of the site of the
historic settlement of La Paz was probably very convenient for burials of early
settlers, explorers, and travelers in this region.
American Pioneer & Cemetery Research Project
Version 020609
Revised 010713
WebMaster: Neal Du Shane
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©2003-2013 Neal Du Shane
All rights reserved. Information contained within this website may be
used
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