Читать книгу Arizona Ghost Stories - Antonio Boone's Garcez - Страница 7

Father Eusebio Kino first mapped Arivaca, lying approximately 11 miles north of Arizona’s border with Mexico in 1695. It is in an area that contains some of the oldest mines in the United States. Arivaca, which is unincorporated, is about 56 miles southwest of Tucson in southern Pima County. The locale may have been a Tohono O’odham (Pima) Indian village before 1751,when natives revolted against the Spanish, who were attracted by precious metals and excellent grazing land. Native Americans, arduously worked the mines developed by the Spaniards, under the direction of the Tumacacori Mission padres. In 1833, the Mexican government approved a petition by brothers Tomas and Ignacio Ortiz to raise cattle and horses on 8,677 acres of land that formed the Aribac Ranch. “La Aribac” is a Native American word meaning “small springs.” Although boundaries for the ranch were never certain, the Sonora Exploring and Mining Company in 1856 nonetheless bought its rights. This company operated mines near Arivaca and Tubac. Also located on the ranch were reduction works for the Heintzelman Mine. The post office was established in 1878.

Charles Poston, the father of Arizona, acquired the property in 1870 and later asked the U.S. government to confirm his right to 26,508 acres. The U.S. surveyor general recommended confirmation of 8,680 acres, but the U.S. Congress took no action. Poston’s rights were obtained by the Arivaca Land and Cattle Company, which asked the U.S. Court of Private Land Claims to approve the land claim. The court refused, saying it was impossible to identify...the land that was intended to be granted. This decision was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court on March 24,1902, and the land became part of the public domain.

Arivaca now is primarily a retirement and residential area.

I interviewed Frances at her home in Arivaca, a small little town tucked within a quaint desert valley. Within this quiet town lies Frances’s two-bedroom home. From the street, the house reveals no indication of the horrific events that had transpired within its walls just a few years before.

Frances preferred that I not describe the outside of her house; by doing so she believed some of her neighbors might recognize who she was and begin to gossip. Given her serious concern, I have also chosen not to use her real name.

—Antonio