April 11, 2011 © Thomas J. Kollenborn. All Rights Reserved.
Grave
markers or grave stones are quite rare within the boundaries of the
Superstition Wilderness. I recall a few, but most of these have been
totally obliterated. Fifty or sixty years ago there was a very primitive
marker at the gravesite of old George Miller and his two partners.
Twenty years ago all that remained of this marker was a steel fence post
driven deep into the ground. I doubt this old steel fence post marker
can be found today. Miller was buried in April of 1936.
Another very old marker lies
near the old Kennedy Ranch on the eastern extreme edge of the wilderness
area. According to stories, this was the grave of an old cowboy who
wanted to be buried on the range he worked most of his life. I have
heard this story from more than one old timer. Many of these gravesites
are keep secret because friends or relatives do not want the sites
vandalized or disturbed.
Probably one of the oldest
markers was that of Elisha Marcus Reavis’ grave in what the forest
service now calls Grave Canyon. Reavis’ grave is located some four miles
south of the old Reavis Ranch house along the trail to Roger Trough
Trail Head. The grave no longer exhibits a stone marker.
When I first visited the site
in late 1960’s the stone marker was on Reavis’ grave. The marker read
Elisha M. Reavis 1829-1896. Somebody had scratched this information into
a stone. When I visited the site of the grave again in 1975, the stone
marker was still in place. When I returned to the gravesite in the
mid-1980’s I found no marker remaining on the grave. The last time I
visited the gravesite in late 1990’s I found no marker on Elisha M.
Reavis’ grave.
There are several stories
about other unmarked graves in the wilderness area. Bud Lane, a local
cowboy and packer, use to tell a story about an old Indian that was
buried in the apple orchard at the Reavis Ranch. He had worked for the
Cleman’s Cattle Company. According to Lane he was buried under his
favorite apple tree sitting up. The old man had maintained and cared for
the orchard for many years and had lived nearby the ranch. He was given
food and other essentials in return for his help.
Another interesting story
involves a prospector named James Kidd. He prospected the eastern edge
of the Superstition Mountains for more thirty years. He worked the area
around Pinto Creek, but never found what he was looking for. His partner
Walter Beach said he and Kidd worked a claim in the mountains west of
Globe but never staked it. Beach said Kidd never wanted anyone to know
where he was working in the mountains. He was an extremely secretive
individual. When his heart started failing him he wanted to be buried in
mountains near his claim. Walter Beach told an old acquaintance of mine
that James Kidd got his wish. If you ever discovered his burial site
you would find his gold Elgin railroad watch. Beach said it was buried
with him.
Several years after Kidd’s
death, a fortune was discovered in his bank account. His bank account
exceeded more than $500,000.00. The battle for this fortune between
various groups lead to a book titled The Great Soul Trial. Kidd believed
in ghosts and the hereafter. The group that could prove the existence
of a spirit or the soul would receive his fortune.
Another interesting story
about a burial site in the wilderness area is the alleged grave of
Alfred Senner. There is little documentation that Senner actually
existed, yet there is enough information about this man to believe he
did indeed exist. A story is told about a burial site high up in
Monument Canyon where Senner body supposedly came to a rest after
plunging over a 2,000 foot ledge where he, his riding horse and pack
animal went over the edge during a snow storm. Senner supposedly
high-graded (stole) rich gold ore from the old Mammoth Mine and cached
it somewhere on Superstition Mountain above Goldfield. The story was
Senner fell while trying to retrieve his cache of high-grade gold ore
from the top of Superstition Mountain. Is it fact or legend? Who knows
for sure?
Buried in several different
sites along the face of Superstition Mountain are the remains of Native
Americans. Several residents in the Apache Junction area have found
graves when they were excavated the foundations for the their homes near
the base of the mountain. Some were very elaborate burials including
several different kinds of artifacts ranging from turquoise jewelry to
small ollas a (ceramic jars) filled with arrowheads.
Another interesting burial
site lies in a very remote canyon in the heart of the Wilderness Area.
Buried in this grave is man who wandered the mountain for five decades
searching for a gold mine he believed existed. The story goes something
like this. When he finally succumbed to pancreatic cancer he was deep in
the mountain and begged his two friends to buried him rather than call
out for a rescue crew. His friends knew how important it was to him for
his remains to be left behind in the mountains. I have always doubted
this story, but who knows for sure?
I am sure there is others
buried within the wilderness area whereby no records or information
exist about their burial sites. Especially during the period following
the American Civil War when the first miners and ranchers entered this
country in search of a new way of life. All my life I have heard stories
about obscure burials within the wilderness of old prospectors who
died, were cremated and interned somewhere in this vast wilderness; a
practice that is technically illegal.
These prospectors and treasure hunters were true individualists and they were determined to have their way even in death.
