An Unrepentant Rebel: Colonel Ridley - Lower Salt River Recreation Area

Among the characters roaming the vicinity of the Lower Salt River Recreation Area, Colonel Alonzo Ridley was one of the most interesting.  As I've discussed previously, Dr. W.W. Jones lived and ranched in the Salt River and Tonto areas in the late 1800's.  The Colonel was a good friend of the Doctor and sometimes kept the Doctor company at the ranch.

Alonzo Ridley immigrated to California from Maine in 1849 seeking his fortune in the gold fields. In the 1850's, he evidently gave up on mining and moved down to the village of Los Angeles where he became an Indian agent on the Tejon Reservation. He later served as under-sheriff in Los Angeles County and it was in Los Angeles where he first met Dr. W. W. Jones.

The Colonel's most notable adventure was the escort of General Albert Sidney Johnston from California to Texas.  Albert Sidney Johnston was an experienced soldier, a graduate of West Point and recently commander of the U.S. Army's Department of the Pacific.  Johnston had resigned from the U.S. Army at the beginning of the Civil War and settled as a neutral in Los Angeles.  Eventually, Johnston feared that he would be arrested by Union authorities and so decided to travel to Texas.  Ridley chose the confederate cause while in California where he organized and commanded a militia of like minded men to escort General Johnston to Texas to join the Confederate Army.

Art and Picture Collection, The New York Public Library. "Albert S. Johnston Crossing The Desert To Join The Southern Army." The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1863. http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47e0-f92a-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99

In 1861, scouts commanded by Captain Ridley led the way across the southern California deserts and across the Colorado River at Yuma.  From the Colorado, they traveled up the Gila River to the Pima villages near present day Phoenix then down the Santa Cruz to Tucson. They continued their trek across Arizona and New Mexico while carefully avoiding Apaches and the Union Army until safely reaching El Paso where the militia was disbanded.

Ridley served as General Johnston's bodyguard at the battle for Shiloh where Johnston was fatally wounded. Afterward, he trained in Texas as an engineer and eventually became a Lieutenant Colonel in the Confederacy but he was captured at Fort Butler in Louisiana in 1863 and was imprisoned until the end of the war.

Art and Picture Collection, The New York Public Library. "Retreat of the confederates from Shiloh." The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1905. http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47e0-f96e-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99

  After the war he didn't sign the pardon agreeing to surrender but instead emigrated to Mexico and fought on the side of Maximilian in the Mexican Civil War. He lived in Mexico for several years and was employed by a British company responsible for building the Vera Cruz to Mexico City railroad.

In 1877 he returned to the states and met Dr. Jones while Jones was working a gold mill on the Hassayampa River near Wickenburg. He became good friends with Dr. Jones and resided with him many times over the years. In 1885, Dr. Jones and Colonel Ridley were described as entertaining hosts by expedition members traveling down the Salt River. The travelers had reportedly stopped for the night at the Jones ranch just above the Verde River confluence in what is now the Lower Salt River Recreation Area. It's my best guess that the ranch was located near what is now a Forest Service facility on N. Usery Pass Rd.

The Colonel didn't consider himself a citizen of the US. He was a citizen of the Empire of Mexico and referred to himself as such. However, he was required to take the oath of allegiance and become a US citizen in order to be the executor of Dr. Jone's estate in 1896. It says much of their friendship that the old rebel finally took the oath. After settling the estate, he traveled to Havana, Cuba but returned to Arizona after a couple of years. He died in Tempe in 1909 and is buried at Double Butte Cemetery.



References:
Texas Sate Historical Assoc., https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fri57

Gene C. Armistead, "California's Confederate Militia: The Los Angeles Mounted Rifles,"

Daily Phoenix Herald, June 5, 1885, "A Daring Expedition".

Arizona Republican, July 16, 1896, pg 5.

Arizona Republican, March 26, 1909

Dr. W.W. Jones & Family - Salt River Recreation Area

Lately I've been snooping around in a website called Chronicling America set up by the Library of Congress. I ran into the site by following the Google+ site "Phoenix, Arizona Historical Images".  The Google+ site posts lots of interesting historical images and notes.  I decided to do some research on some East Valley pioneers who didn't fit into the typical history book profile.  The following accounts are mostly taken from newspaper articles found in Chronicling America.

Several of the old and existing landmarks around the East Valley are named after folks from the late 1800's and early 1900's.  One of these pioneers was Dr. W.W. Jones.  He was born and educated as a doctor back east in Maryland and then migrated to Los Angeles, California. For several years around 1870, he and a partner operated a freighting business between California and Arizona.  During that period, he married 18 year old Alcaria Montoya in Yuma. They built a home at 1008 E. Buckeye in Phoenix in 1879. His connection to the East Valley is through accounts of his having a ranch near Coon Bluff.  The landmark "Jones Ford" is shown on a 1904 topo map near Coon's Bluff in what is now the Salt River Recreation Area. In addition to Jones Ford, "Monroy's Ranch" is also shown on the map.  It probably belonged to Alcaria's Tio Poncho. Jones is also reported to have operated another ranch near Hidden Water Spring on Cottonwood Creek north of what is now Saguaro Lake (Butcher Jones Beach).

Remnants of ranch life east of Coon Bluff

In addition to ranching, dabbling in politics and occasionally practicing emergency medicine (bullet wounds & such), he was a prospector and mining speculator. He, from time to time, owned shares in several mines from Prescott to Florence including the famous Vulture Mine. In some circles, it's hinted that he may have known Jacob Waltz of the Lost Dutchman Mine legend.  

Dr. Jones is buried in Double Butte Cemetery, Tempe, AZ.

After the Dr's death in 1896, Colonel Alonzo Ridley acted on the behalf of his estate in probate court. The Colonel was a long-time friend of the Dr's.  He was a confederate in the civil war, refused to agree to surrender, emigrated to Mexico, fought on the side of Maximilian in the Mexican Civil War and worked on the Vera Cruz to Mexico City Railroad before returning to Arizona. Colonel Ridley is another character worth exploring.  (I'll write something of the Colonel later).  After the Colonel's return to the states, he lived on the Jones ranch for several years.  Deputy Sheriff G.G. Gonzales (a well known Tempe lawman, at least back then) was initially assigned as guardian of Jone's children until the Dr's son John could take responsibility.  

The son of Dr. Jones, Johnny Jones, ran the Jones ranching business after the Dr.'s death in 1896. According to Dane Coolidge's book "Arizona Cowboys", Johnny worked very hard to collect and sell enough cattle to provide his sisters with an inheritance. Johnny ran cattle in the western foothills of the Four Peaks Range around the Cottonwood Canyon drainage. 

Western Foothills of the Four Peaks Range

Along with other cattlemen in the early 1900's, he had serious issues with sheep traveling through the range. Between the sheep and cattle, the range became badly overgrazed leading to lack of ground cover and increased erosion. The Salt River dams were being built during that time and there was concern by downstream farmers and the government that the erosion could cause increased sediment at the lakes and dams. The overgrazing ultimately led to the formation of the Tonto National Forest. Sadly, Johnny died of the flu while still in his late 30's.

Abandoned Stock Tank and Cattle Pens along Cottonwood Creek

It's been fun researching this stuff.  I'm looking forward to seeing what else I can find.

Adios