American Pioneer
& Cemetery Research
Project
Internet Presentation
121510
EAGLE CREEK GRAVES
In Greenlee County, Arizona
By Kathy Block
APCRP Historian
Greenlee
County is a very remote area of Arizona. It is located in southeastern Arizona
adjoining the border with New Mexico. It's county seat and biggest population
area is the mining town of Clifton. The main source of income is the copper
mines at nearby Morenci. (See “Tales from the Crypt” on APCRP site for further
description of this area.)
Map Courtesy: Neal
Du Shane
Eagle
Creek is an intermittent stream that originates in a hot spring at the base of
the White Mountain range 50 miles NW of Clifton and flows into the Gila River some 20 miles SW of Clifton. Eagle Creek supports 4.8 fishable miles,
mostly for bass. Gold and silver were
mined from the area, especially from East Eagle Creek in the mountains. Ranches along Eagle Creek and also the Blue
River and San Francisco River added to the economy since the 1870s. One of the
three largest cattle companies to operate in Arizona was the Double Circle with
ranch headquarters on Eagle Creek.
Tom
Gilleland, president of Mine Gates, Inc. located in Tucson, Arizona, installs
protective bat gates on caves and on old mines. During a recent project to
install a bat gate on an old mine along Eagle Creek, he discovered
a lone grave with an unreadable marker, and sent photos of this grave to me.
This grave is somewhat of a mystery!
Photo of marker on
grave on Eagle Creek
Photo Courtesy Tom
Gilleland
Research
on various Web sites yielded a possible name for this burial. There is a grave
listed as “Eagle Creek near Peg-Leg Wilsons Cabin” on Find- A -Grave, for Olie
Hagen. Olie was one of the earliest
settlers on Eagle Creek. He was, according to his DC, born in Norway. He may or
may not have ever been a naturalized American citizen, but married Willie
Swafford. She died of a bad fall in 1906. Her mother lived at Olie's home, and
he never remarried. On the DC his
occupation is given as “rancher”. He was quite famous for the packsaddles and
spurs that he made. He was born August 16, 1858 and died of “senility” on June
30, 1939 and buried at “Eagle Creek” on July 1, 1939 thru Mc Millen Funeral
Home in Clifton.
Photo of overall
area of this gravesite
Photo Courtesy Tom
Gilleland
Peg-Leg
Wilsons Cabin was the site of a famous incident in relation to the shootings at
the OK Corral in Tombstone. Ike Clanton, brother of Billy Clanton whose boasting and threats had led to Billy's death by the
Earp’s and Doc Holiday, was sought later for cattle rustling. A “mail order”
detective named Jonas V. Brighton shot Ike in the back and killed him at
Wilson's Ranch, as he tried to flee, on June 1, 1887. Ike's grave is listed in
Find-A-Grave as being an “Isolated Grave” on Eagle Creek. In late June, 1996, 109 years later, Terry
“Ike” Clanton, one of Ike's distant cousins, from Whittier, California, found
the remote location with the assistance of “grave expert” James A. Browning, a
former Citadel professor. Browning, author of a book that details grave sites
of more than 1,000 famous or notorious individuals in the West, claimed he'd
found Ike's grave. He and Terry Clanton
searched the area near Eagle Creek and “quickly discovered a shallow grave
under a large tree that they believed contains the remains of Ike
Clanton.” Kevin Mulkins,
a Tombstone historical buff from Tucson, is skeptical, though. So is Gary Mc Lelland of Glendale, who is an Old West history enthusiast
and photographer. He wrote, “It seems to me, there's not enough proof....I
would say I wouldn't bet any money on it right now.” Terry Clanton's efforts to
rebury Ike Clanton's remains next to those of Ike's father, Newman Haynes “Old
Man” Clanton, and brother Billy Clanton, in
Tombstone's Boot Hill Cemetery have been rebuffed by the City Council there to
date.
An
account of the fatal shooting, retold by a reporter who corresponded with
Browning, the detective, stated that:
“.....while they were at breakfast, Ike
Clanton came riding up to the door. Mr. Brighton got
up from the table, walked to the door, and was familiarly saluted by him. Just
at this time, Mr. Miller stepped to the door.....and when Ike saw him he
wheeled his horse and attempted to get under cover of the thick cover which
grows close to Wilson's home, at the same time pulling his Winchester from its
scabbard. Both Brighton and Miller ordered him to halt but instead of doing so,
when about twenty yards distant where the trail took a turn to the left, he
threw his rifle over his left arm attempting to fire; at this instance
Detective Brighton fired.....Ike reeled in his saddle and fell on the right
side of his horse, his rifle falling on the left.....When Brighton and Miller
walked up to where Ike lay they found he was dead. Mr. Wilson, at whose ranch
the shooting occurred, notified the nearest neighbors and four men came over
and identified the deceased and assisted in giving him as decent a burial as
circumstances would admit.”
Another
grave listed with Ike Clanton's is Della Issacks
Reynolds. She was born April 14, 1893 and drowned January 16, 1916 in the Blue
River. She, her husband, and two girls and a little boy lived along the Blue
River, which is near Eagle Creek. A
flood arose as she and her family were at a crossing a tributary of the San
Francisco River, at the Y-Y Ranch. Her husband George unhitched the wagon and
rode a horse across with the two little girls.
Della's horse reared in fright and threw her and her son into the
freezing waters. Her husband George tried to rescue her, but the two frightened
little girls followed him into the water. By the time he rescued them, his wife
and baby were swept down the river. Her body was found lodged in a drift, the
baby was not found until spring, hanging in a tree in a drift. Della was buried at Eagle Creek, and possibly
the baby was buried there, too. There's a headstone for Della, but the baby
isn't mentioned.
Della Reynold's grave is marked by an elaborate tombstone and
iron fence, so Tom's discovery probably isn't that grave. The Find-A-Grave listing implies it is near
Ike Clanton's, along Eagle Creek.
A look
at a map of Eagle Creek in this area shows “graves” upstream and downstream
from the location, plus the single grave found by Tom Gilleland. Tom wrote about this grave's location:
“There is no trail, and the road is bad.
The grave is on the right side of the canyon going downstream, and is about 100
feet from the right cliff wall. It is just past a canyon coming in from the
right, in a nice shaded spot. The road is impassable much of the year,
especially when the creek is running, or if the beavers have dammed up a
section. We crossed some very deep water to even get to the site. From Morenci
you take Lower Eagle Creek Road to the pump station, then
you go left downstream for 1-2 hours to a spot where you have to hike. The road
is passable only because we improved it to bring in our gate materials. After
the next big rain it will be difficult for a 4WD high-clearance vehicle to get
to the site.” (Written December 2010.)
Whose
grave DID Tom find? A grave 71 years old would surely have the weathered stone
shown in the photos. The DC for Olie Hagen stated burial at Eagle Creek. Is
there any importance to the listing as “near Peg-Leg Wilson's Cabin” which is
probably the one where Ike Clanton died? It is still a mystery as to who is
buried in the grave on Eagle Creek!
American Pioneer
& Cemetery Research
Project
Internet Presentation
121510
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