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St. John's
History/ Websites/
Books/Manuscripts/Weather
"At the site of the future St. Johns, the crossing of Little Colorado River was called El Vadito (Spanish: "the little crossing") by Spaniards who first explored that section of the country. From 1864 on Soloman Barth, a trader to the Indians, packed salt from the Zuni Salt Lake to miners at Prescott and came to know the St. Johns region well. In a poker game in 1873 he won enough cattle and land from the Mexicans to permit him to forsake an itinerant trader's life and to settle down with his brothers Nathan and Morris to help him. He changed the name from El Vadito to San Juan (Spanish: St. John). One story says that the name came from that of the first woman resident, Senora Maria San Juan Baca de Padilla. Another asserts that the name comes from the annual feast of San Juan on June 24, which Spanish-Americans still celebrate in St. Johns as they do in other communities. In 1866 William R. Milligan (see Round Valley) came to the area, followed in 1870 by Frank Walker, who settled near the present St. Johns (see The Meadows, Apache q.v.). Soon a settlement began to grow at the crossing on the Little Colorado. By 1872 Spanish-Americans had established an agricultural community where St. Johns is today. In 1874 Juan Sedilla erected a stone cabin there.

Sol Barth sold out his interests in 1875 to Ammon M. Tenney, a Mormon agent who located on the G Bar or Sedro Ranch some thirty-five miles north of St. Johns. Following on Tenney's heels came Wilford Wodruff, president of the Church of Latter Day Saints, who on March 29, 1880, located a Mormon settlement approximately on mile north of St. Johns, but on September 19, 1880, Erastus Snow advised moving the settlement to high ground adjacent to the Mexican settlement. The name Salem was selected for the new location and steps were taken to establish a post office, which, however, never opened because of hostility to the Mormon settlement.

St. Johns was made the county seat in 1879, but in 1880 as superseded by Springerville. However,  in 1882 St. Johns again became the county seat, retaining that honor to the present."

Post Office established as Saint Johns April 5, 1880. Sixtus E. Johnson Post Master. Name changed to St. Johns, April 18, 1893.

Barnes, Will C.; Granger, Byrd (ed.) Arizona Place Names University of Arizona Press. 1960.
p. 21
 

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Websites

Arizona Department of Commerce Community Profiles- Saint Johns, Arizona
http://www.commerce.state.az.us/pdf/commasst/comm/stjohns.pdf

Saint Johns, Arizona Local Government Website
http://www.stjohnsaz.com/

Biography of Solomon Barth 1841-1928

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Sites to See

St. Johns Public Library
245 West 1st South P.O. Box 766 St. Johns, Arizona 85936-0766
928-337-4405
http://www.cybertrails.com/~rmaly47/sj.htm

Apache County Historical Society
180 W. Cleveland (P.O. Box 146)
St. Johns, AZ 85936
(520) 337-4737
Hours: 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. (Guided Tours Upon Request)
Read a description about the museum
 

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Books/Manuscripts found in the ASU Library Catalog

St. Johns, Arizona Stake Centennial : 1887 July 23 1987 / [editor, Wayne Davis]
BX8615.A7 S25x

Barnes, Will C. (Will Croft), 1858-1936. Papers, [19--]
MS CM MSS 20

Letters and papers, 1879-1960... Udall, Levi Stewart, 1891-1960.
FILM 9355

Journals of Ammon M. Tenney, 1887-1921 [microform.]
FILM 9230 reel 1 and reel 2

A history of the St. Johns Arizona Stake : the triumph of man and his religion over the perils of a raw frontier / by C. LeRoy and Mabel R. Wilhelm.
F819 .S15 W5x 1982
 

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Items on the Arizona and Southwest Index

St.-John's Story
CE EPH EP-16

CE EPH DTO ST. Johns.1-3

How "San Juan" Came to be Named "St. Johns", 1942
FE EPH DTO-ST. JOHNS

St. John's Indian School, LaVeen, Arizona, 1966
FE EPH IG-4.19

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Last Updated: July 26, 2002
If you would like to know more about the author of this site, Jeffrey Scott, feel free to visit his homepage.
In addition, if you have any questions about this site or Arizona History, feel free to e-mail Jeffrey