Military Wives in Arizona Territory by Jan Cleere

Author:Jan Cleere
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: TwoDot
Published: 2021-01-07T00:00:00+00:00

On September 7, 1872, Sarah gave birth to son Frank Brooks Upham at Camp Apache. She had three more children over the ensuing years. John Southworth Upham was born on November 5, 1881, while the family was stationed at Fort Walla Walla, Washington; followed by Ethelbertha Upham on February 8, 1883, in San Francisco. The youngest, Edith Upham, arrived at Fort Walla Walla on May 17, 1884.

According to Frank, “During the second year [at Camp Apache] the Indians became more and more troublesome and harder to control . . . so much so, that it became advisable to exclude them from the limits of the post by the necessary guard, and my wife accordingly saw but little of them, only those visiting our house who had a special permit for that purpose, and this confined to a few of the more important personages.”

One afternoon an unusual commotion was suddenly observed among some of them, who had collected at a point near the Tucson road to the eastward of the post, and before it was realized, or any steps could possibly have been taken by the guard to prevent it, a number of Indians fled rapidly in the direction of the post, closely pursued by others, in a state of partial drunkenness, hallooing and shooting with guns, and bows and arrows, as they closely followed behind.

[O]ur house was the first and most exposed in this direction, and here the fugitives immediately came, taking refuge in the rear of the house, and about it, and behind the big chimney which ran up to the outside; either hoping to obtain protection, or for the purpose of making a stand, as they were also armed.

The situation in the inside of the house was critical and alarming: as usual at that time of day, I was absent. My wife and child were alone, and she fully understood the situation. The man who should have been in the kitchen—he was there but a few minutes previously—or somewhere within call, was nowhere to be seen, and had undoubtedly run away ingloriously or hidden when he saw the Indians coming, though he had served during the whole war of the rebellion as an enlisted man, and was at one time a sergeant.

Immediate action was necessary, for the danger from a chance bullet coming through the chinks in the logs was considerable, and not to be despised; besides which, the possibility of the Indians crowding their way inside the house, when they found she [Sarah] was alone, was not pleasant to contemplate.

She did not long remain undecided, however, but took a small riding whip which hung against the wall, went at once outside the house, and drove them away by a lively application of the little whip to their bare feet and ankles. Several of these intruders were young Indians with whom she had a personal acquaintance; but they all immediately sneaked off with a sickly smile, and would, no doubt, have greatly preferred to have faced the fire

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