Jose Saavedra: First Settler of St. Johns

Jose Saavedra and his mother Anastacia (Anna) Saavedra

I have been wanting to create this post for some time, but alas, life gets in the way and other tasks demand priority.  Better late than never I suppose.

One of my biggest pet peeves, as soon as I started becoming more familiar with St. Johns history, is the continued declaration of Solomon Barth as the 'founder' of St. Johns.   Although Mr. Barth was a key citizen in the early history of St. Johns, there were quite a few people to populate this area before the Barths.

In December 1872, Jose Saavedra arrived in the area from Cubero, New Mexico, and laid out a farm on the west side of the river.   About 12 miles upstream from where the Little Colorado and the Rio Zuni met, the road from Fort Wingate to the newly established Fort Apache crossed the river.  Within two years Jose and his father had built a bridge across the river and charged .25 cents per wagon to cross.  They originally built the bridge for a wealthy sheep man, Mr. Antonio Luna who was running several bands of sheep in the area at the time.

They built the first house in St. Johns.  It was a common kind made in early days, a cedar picket house.  Cedar posts were tamped into the ground about 18 in. side by side.  Others were added across the roof.  All were bound by strips of rawhide.  The roof was covered with brush and tramped and packed, a foot of dirt added, sides and cracks filled with mud.  A fireplace built, but not a nail, brick or piece of sawed wood in it.  An axe was the only tool they needed.  They lived in this house for two years.

In the Spring of 1875, Mr. Saavedra moved in to where St. Johns now stands and filed on a homestead laying northwest of the grist mill.  He cleared off a small part of this land and took the first ditch out of the Little Colorado river for irrigation. He also built a small grist mill and supplied the early settlers with flour and corn mill.

In the fall of 1875 other settlers began moving into the area, including Solomon Barth who brought in sheep and cattle.  Mr Saavedra worked his farm until 1879 at which time Morris Barth bought all of the early Spanish settlers land and sold it to the Mormon settlers who were entering the area.  Jose then moved to El Tule, some ten miles above St. Johns, and filed on a new piece of land.  He farmed there until 1915 when the Lyman dam broke and practically washed his farm away.  His daughter-in-law and her child were drowned in that flood.  Mr. Saavedra moved up to higher ground beneath the Lyman canal, and when the dam was rebuilt cleared another farm and planted it.  This was the third farm he had cleared and leveled in the valley.

I found a couple of articles in the early St. Johns newspapers that make mention of Mr. Saavedra.

April 11, 1907  Spanish Section of the St. Johns  Herald-News

July 1911  Spanish Section of the St. Johns Herald News

My rough translation using the Internet: 


Mr. Don Jose and his wife Isabelita, 
they took part in this week, they came 
to bring their mother Anastacia T. 
Vda de Saavedra that in the company of 
her daughter the Mrs Modesta D. de Duran 
were in El Tule, since last week.

Mr. Don Jose M. Saavedra, El Tule, his 

wife Isabelita and his children, Ms. 

Amalia Los Joyenes Pedro and Jose were 

in this Monday from San Antonio where 

they went to witness the 

wedding Montoya.

 
 
Don Jose Saavedra passed away January 30, 1930 at Williams, Arizona where he was visiting his daughter, Mrs. Amalia Bustamente. He was 80 years old and had lived in St. Johns for 59 years.

His wife having died some years earlier he usually spent the summer months with his niece, 
Mrs. Modesta Duran of St. Johns. 

 Jose was born born in Cubero, New Mexico in 1851.

Information for this post was gleaned from the following sources:

Mr. Saavedra's Obituary.
An excerpt from Chapter 13, page, 406 of "A Civil War History of the New Mexico
Volunteers and Militia", by Jerry D. Thompson. 
A short article by Mr. Jim Shreeve