Douglas daily dispatch., 1927-04-13

loaded with their baggage and sup
plies.
A few miles farther, when the
Little Colorado river was reached
Mann was literally baptized as ma
tive son of Arizona. The old mans
! eyes lighted with the fire of youth
as he recalled the laughable incident
as if it were yesterday.
when we reached the river, | came
out about 200 yards above the wagon
crossing he said "I wanted to see
the river, so 1 rushed out on high
bluff at the edge to get a good view
had no sooner reached there when
the whole bank gave way and threw
me into the water. 1 swan down un-
til | reached the crossing and waded
out That was my baptism as an Ari-
zonan."
The colonists received a blow that
took the heart out of most of them
when they reached St. Josephs, the
goal toward which they had toiled for
weeks, and the spot in which their
plans were centered. For party Of
Mormons had beaten them to the
tract and were building a stockade
and dam for irrigation.
! Determined to drive on, they struck
4 west to Canyon Diablo, where they
made camp. Early next morning,
Mann with fivea other youths and Il
light wagon and two mules started
out on journey destined to make
Arizona history They were going
through the mountains and pick out
a route for the heavier wagons and
the remainder Of, the party.
They reached a large valley about
three miles in width and surrounded
by forest Many yards out in the
valley and away from the remainder
! of the forest was lone tgee and a
plan grew in the brainsEof~ the east
ern Youths.
j Setting to work, they Topped off
every branch of the tree and smooth
ed it. Then they placed leather
loop at the top. A young man who
Mann remembers only as Tillinghast
owned an American flag and as the
conquerors stood at attention, the
flag was run up the pole. Years
later, after the arrival of the rail-
road, the town was given the name
of Flagstaff, Arizona
The date of the flag raising was
late in May, 1876, the exact date for
gotten by the pioneer here. AS he
groped for the date, he recalled an
other humorous incident.
after we six fellows had left the
remainder of the party to look for
the best route, there was preacher,
jTaplan by name, who decided to follow
and joins u.s." the pioneer chuckled,
'sHe must have been 20 years old
then, but he started out after us
through the wilds with only five
doughnuts for provisions Well, he
made it through, eating berries and
wild game, and beat US into Pres
cott. We found him there when we
arrived.
"Taplan said that he laid down be-
hind an old log one night to sleep.
When he awoke next morning, he
noticed that the other end of the
log looked different from the rest.
Suddenly the end of log arose and
stretched 1t was a big bear.
'"ine preacher and the bear looked
at each other. Taplan had two loads
in his old carbine, but said that he
thought to himself, If the Lord will
let him go, I'll let him go, too" The
bear was not interested and went
about his business.
The party took up land and sur
veyed a townsite of what is now
Flagstaff, but then decided to con-
tinue on to Prescott. There the life
was taken out of most OF the mem
ers of the colonization plan when q
heavy frost fell on the morning OF
July f. The party broke up, most OF
them going to California and re-
turning to New England in the fall
An element of tragedy touched the
old mans memory as he recalled the
story of a brick mason in the party,
who left the party at Flagstaff to sc
to Prescott to earn the then high
/, wages of $6 a day. The mason took
the wrong turn in the road and be-
J came lost Crazed by thirst, he blew
his brains out with his revolver. The
) body was found later by his COM
panions.
, The colonizers scattered to all cor
| ners and, their plans shattered, Mann
, took up his trade as a carpenter III
Prescott. He worked on the first
good school building there. Later he
5 made his living through prospecting
land hunting.
, In one trip he killed 28 deer and
one antelope, and on another occasion
: killed II antelope, sold them, and re
turned to kill IA more. He journeyed
! to Tom stone in 1882, after spending
: some time in Globe. He established
r horse ranch in the Huachucas.
5 In the year 1883 Mann shot an
, antelope on a spot that would now
| be in the center of Douglas. He was
tracing race horse which had been
5 stolen from him and the trail led
him into this section. There then
) was not a single h~sIse standing here
5 In 1883 he left the ranch to settle
; in Bisbee. He worked there until
5 1907, being prominent in the work OF
: the Elks lodge. He was one of the
: party that came here to install the
local Elks lodge.
After living in Parker, the pioneer
. went to Phoenix. He was crushed bJ
/ an automobile there on November ~
l 1919. Little more than a year later
d, he was struck down by speeding
bus and sent to a hospital for II