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American Pioneer
& Cemetery Research
Project
Internet presentation
Version 041711
FAIRBANK and FAIRBANK CEMETERY
COCHISE COUNTY, ARIZONA
History research by Kathy Block
APCRP Historian
Cemetery research by Kevin Hart
APCRP Certified Coordinator
Original
Fairbank, AZ c.
1890
Fairbank
was a frontier town located on the banks of the San Pedro River ten miles west
of Tombstone. Initially, the area was
first part of an old Mexican land grant called the “San Juan de las Boquillas y Nogales.” It was first settled in the 1870s as a simple
stagecoach stop on the way to Tombstone and called “Junction City.” Then, it
was named “Kendall” before officially becoming a town with the name “Fairbank”
in 1881. When the New Mexico and Arizona railroad established a train station,
the town was renamed for a Chicago investor, Nathaniel Kellogg Fairbank. He was
also one of the main organizers of the Central Mining Company in Tombstone. A “wye” for turning locomotives was installed in town,
bringing at least three railroad lines to establish depots. A short New Mexico
and Arizona line connected the Southern Pacific track in Benson southwest thru
Fairbank and on to Nogales, Arizona and Nogales and Guaymas,
Mexico. The depots were important for
shipping cattle and ore coming from Tombstone.
Freighters
hauled ore from the Tombstone mines to mills at Contention City and Charleston.
Fairbank was not connected to Tombstone by railway until 1903. Until then,
travelers continued the last ten miles to Tombstone by stagecoach on the
Butterfield Overland Mail line, which opened in 1885.
A post
office was established May 16, 1883, in the “Adobe Commercial Building”, which also housed a saloon and general store. The post office was finally discontinued in
the 1970s, as population shrunk. At its height of prosperity, by the time of
the 1890 Census, Fairbank had approximately 478 residents. The population
shrunk to 171 by 1900, increased to 269 in 1920, before a steady decline,
ending with its abandonment, with zero population, in 1970.
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Fairbank Pioneer
Cemetery
Photos by Kevin
Hart
Residents
and travelers, at its peak, were served by four stores, a butcher shop, the
elegant Montezuma Hotel with a restaurant (established 1889), two other
restaurants, five saloons, a Wells Fargo office, the railroad depot, a stage coach station, a much-needed
jail, the post office and a school. It also had a steam quartz mill. A cemetery
was soon developed a half mile out of town, high upon a hill with views of the
San Pedro River and mountains.
The
cemetery was needed to bury residents of the area who died from disease, fire,
murder and other causes. See the roster for the variety of illnesses and causes
of death. The San Pedro River flooded in 1890 and 1894. There was much property
damage, and some narrow escapes from death. An earthquake in 1887 altered the
course of the river, devastated some of the makeshift structures of Fairbank,
and knocked railroad tracks out of place. A fire in a building on May 5, 1897
burned three young children to death: Edward Blanco, age 3; Gabrille
Blanco, age 4; and Manuel Padrea, age 3. Their
remains were probably buried in Fairbank Cemetery, though their DCs give no
location. There were eventually 31 documented known burials, which Kevin Hart
recently researched. See the Fairbank Cemetery roster for causes of death and demographics.
Kevin’s
detailed infield research found there are in total potentially 60 sites, 38
adult male graves, 11 adult female graves, 4 male children’s graves, and 1
female child’s grave. It is believed in total there are 54 internments plus 6
memorials.
26
confirmed death certificates have been documented listing Fairbank Cemetery as
the place of interment. In addition 5 death certificates were found of
individuals listing Fairbank as their place of residence at the time of their
death, but no place of burial was listed. If interred in the Fairbank Pioneer
Cemetery it would raise the internments to 59.
Layout of the
Fairbank Pioneer Cemetery
By Kevin Hart
A train
robbery on February 21, 1900, added to the colorful history of Fairbank. Very
briefly, the express car of a Benson to Nogales train was held up by six gunmen
when it arrived at the Fairbank railroad station. Two of the robbers, named
Billy Stiles and Burt Alvord, had been deputy sheriffs but joined four outlaws.
They mingled with the crowd milling about the station and pretended to be
drunken cowboys. Suddenly they attacked the baggage car. A brave lawman, named Jeff D. Milton, “who
was given the highest praise for his defense of his trust”, was inside the
express car guarding the Wells Fargo box and its payroll. As he was hit by
gunfire, he threw the key to the box away into a corner, so the gang couldn't
open it. He fought the men with a
shotgun even though his left arm was shattered by shots from lever-action
Winchesters. Milton slammed the door shut, and collapsed unconscious between
two large boxes. This saved his life when the outlaws riddled the car with
bullets. The robbers opened the door of the baggage car and were unable to find
the keys, so they mounted their horses and rode away.
One who
was left behind, Jeff Dunlap, alias Three-fingered Jack, was a well-known horse
thief. He died a day later of buckshot wounds to the chest from Milton's
shotgun. Before he died on February 22, 1900, he confessed who the gang members
were, with Alvord named as the leader. His DC is available, and it says he died
from “Gunshot wounds.” He was buried in Tombstone. The robbers were eventually
hunted down and imprisoned. One had fled to Mexico. The penalty for train
robbery was hanging. Leniency was exercised for the attempted robbery, and all
the outlaws ended up with lesser sentences.
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Two of the
remaining markers
Photos by Kevin
Hart
Milton
was sent for treatment to San Francisco, as medical care in Fairbank was very
limited. When told his arm would have to be amputated, he reportedly went into
a rage, vowing he would kill any doctor who amputated his arm! His arm wasn't
amputated, but was permanently disabled. Jeff D. Milton's DC shows he died May
7, 1947, at age 85 and 6 months, in Tucson, from “Cerebral hemorrhage, and
arterial sclerosis.” His occupation was given as “retired peace officer” and he
was cremated and buried in South Lawn Cemetery.
Fairbank
began its decline when drought ruined farmers who traded there. The Tombstone
mines closed in 1887 from flooding and depletion of gold and silver ore. This
forced the mills that processed the ore to shut down. Then, in 1901, the
Mexican land grant on which the town was situated was purchased by the Boquillas Land and Cattle Company. The owners extended
leases only on the commercial buildings and several residences, into the 1970s.
Any remaining residents left the town, when the buildings were declared unsafe.
The former land grant was acquired by the Bureau of Land Management in 1986,
and the town site and cemetery were incorporated into the San Pedro Riparian
National Conservation Area.
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Remaining
structures in Fairbank
Photos by Kevin
Hart
Some of
the remaining structures have been stabilized and preserved. The gypsum block
schoolhouse, built in 1920 to replace the old one which burned down, was
opened as a museum and information center for Fairbank in March 2007. Other
buildings on display include the Adobe Commercial Building, which had a general
store, post office, and a saloon; the Montezuma hotel foundations (the building
was torn down when Hwy. 82 was built); a small house built in 1885 with gypsum
block made in Douglas and used until the 1930s; a later house built in 1925;
and the stable and outhouses from the early 1940s.
Fairbank Cemetery
overview
Photo by Kevin
Hart
A
half-mile trail leads to the old cemetery, described by one writer as: “Now
there are only the whispers of the breeze and perhaps the ghosts of loved ones
longing for someone to visit and lay fresh flowers on their graves.”
The
ruins of the Grand Central Mill are a mile beyond the Fairbank Pioneer cemetery.
American Pioneer
& Cemetery Research
Project
Internet presentation
Version 041711
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Neal Du Shane
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