AZ 565
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Collection Summary | |
| Creator: | Wilbur, Rueben Augustine |
| Collection Name: | Rueben Augustine Wilbur papers, |
| Inclusive Dates: | 1863-1897 |
| Physical Description: | .8 linear feet |
| Abstract: | Collection includes appointments, correspondence, financial records and reports relating to his activities as United States Special Indian Agent and Physician for the Papago (now known as Tohono O'Odham) Indians; and personal and family papers including correspondence, tax records and receipts. |
| Collection Number: | AZ 565 |
| Repository: |
University of Arizona Libraries, Special Collections University of Arizona PO Box 210055 Tucson, AZ 85721-0055 Phone: 520-621-6423 Fax: 520-621-9733 URL: http://speccoll.library.arizona.edu/ |
Dr. Wilbur was born in Taunton, Massachusetts in 1840 and graduated from the Harvard Medical School in 1863. He moved to Tucson, Arizona in 1865, established a medical practice and homesteaded ranch lands near Arivaca, Arizona. In 1868-1869, he was hired by the Bureau of Indian Affairs to conduct a vaccination program for the Papago and Pima Indians. On February 8, 1871, he was appointed United States Special Indian Agent to the Papagos residing in the Arizona Territory; on February 18, 1871, Wilbur was also appointed Attending Physician to the Papagos.
After leaving office, Wilbur operated his cattle ranch at Arivaca, spent a great deal of time trying to clarify his financial position with the federal government regarding expenditures when he was Indian Agent, submitted several proposals for mail route contracts and became involved in mining ventures in Sonora, Mexico. It is of interest to note that in 1880, prominent Arizona pioneer, Charles Poston filed a civil lawsuit against Wilbur in the 1st Judicial District Court to recover certain lands near Arivaca that were part of Wilbur's ranch.
Wilbur died suddenly in 1882, while on a trip to Massachusetts and was buried in Plymouth. His wife, Raphuela Wilbur continued to operate the ranch near Arivaca until the turn of the century and it has remained in the family. It is now being operated by Wilbur's granddaughter, Mrs. Eva Antonia Wilbur-Cruce and her husband, Marshall W. Cruce.
The papers of the first subgroup relating to the administration of the Papago Indian Agency document administrative and financial activities, efforts to recover Apache children taken hostage by participants of the Camp Grant Massacre, arguments for the establishment of a reservation for the Papagos at San Xavier, the problem of non-Indian settlers on Papago lands, and arguments between Dr. Wilbur and Bishop Salpointe concerning expenditures for a school at San Xavier that culminated with Wilbur's removal as Agent in 1874.
The papers of the second subgroup relate to personal and family affairs, the bulk of which are related to the operation of the Wilbur Ranch near Arivaca, Arizona, mining activities in Sonora, Mexico and activities of Mrs. Raphuela Wilbur after Dr. Wilbur's death in 1882. There is no information on Dr. Wilbur's medical practice before or after his tenure as Papago Agent.
Some correspondence is in Spanish.
None.
It is the responsibility of the user to obtain permission to publish from the owner of the copyright (the institution, the creator of the record, the author or his/her transferees, heirs, legates, or literary executors). The user agrees to indemnify and hold harmless the Arizona Board of Regents for the University of Arizona, its officers, employees, and agents from and against all claims made by any person asserting that he or she is an owner of copyright.
Rueben Augustine Wilbur papers(AZ 565). Special Collections, University of Arizona Libraries.
| Subgroup I: Papers relating to the Administration of the Papago Indian Agency at San Xavier, Arizona, 1863-1880 | |||||||||||
| Appointments, 1871 | |||||||||||
| Contains appointment papers of Dr. Wilbur as United States Special Agent for the Papago Indians in the Arizona Territory, dated February 8, 1871 and as Attending Physician to the Papago Indians of the Arizona Territory, dated February 18, 1871. Includes a $10,000 bond, dated March 18, 1871, supported by securities pledged by Estevan Ochoa, William Scott, James Lee and Robert Crandall. | |||||||||||
| box | folder | ||||||||||
| 1 | 1 | Appointment Papers. , 1871 | |||||||||
| Correspondence, 1871-1880 | |||||||||||
| Contains the agency letterbooks (unbound) for 1871-1873, that document the daily business of the agency. Also includes letters to and from the United States Commissioner of Indian Affairs, the United States Treasury Department and the Pima Indian Agency. Items of note in this correspondence include discussions of the Camp Grant Massacre, efforts to recover Apache children held captive from that incident and extensive documentation of Dr. Wilbur's financial problems relating to expenditures made at the Papago Agency. In addition, this series contains documentation of the political feud that developed between Dr. Wilbur and Bishop Salpointe of the Tucson Catholic Diocese, the problem of encroachment of non-Indian settlers on Papago lands near San Xavier, Wilbur's suggestions for a Papago Reservation, and requests for assistance in obtaining anthropological field data from the Smithsonian Institution. | |||||||||||
| Also present is the draft of a letter sent to John Titus, Chief Justice of the Arizona Territorial Supreme Court, from Dr. Wilbur requesting legal assistance in the recovery of Apache children kidnapped during the Camp Grant Massacre. All of the correspondence that postdates Wilbur's removal as Papago Agent in 1874 documents efforts to resolve financial problems that occurred when he held the office of Papago Agent. | |||||||||||
| box | folder | ||||||||||
| 1 | 2-4 | Sent Correspondence: Letterbooks. , 1871-1873 | |||||||||
| 1 | 5 | Sent Correspondence: Commissioner of Indian Affairs. , 1878-1880 | |||||||||
| 1 | 6 | Sent Correspondence: John Titus. , 1871 | |||||||||
| 1 | 7 | Received Correspondence: Commissioner of Indian Affairs. , 1872-1879 | |||||||||
| 1 | 8 | Received Correspondence: Pima Agency. , 1879-1880 | |||||||||
| 1 | 9 | Received Correspondence: Smithsonian. , 1879 | |||||||||
| 1 | 10 | Received Correspondence: Treasury Department. , 1879-1880 | |||||||||
| 1 | 11 | Sent and Received Correspondence: John B. Salpointe. , 1873-1874 | |||||||||
| Annual Report, 1874 | |||||||||||
| Annual Report prepared and sent to Commissioner of Indian Affairs which includes information on schools, distribution of annuities and tools, problems of drunkenness, non-Indian settlers living on Papago lands, livestock, farming and a strong statement containing Wilbur's perceptions of the influence of the Catholic Church in their dealings with the Papagos. | |||||||||||
| box | folder | ||||||||||
| 1 | 12 | Annual Report. , 1874 | |||||||||
| Financial Records, 1871-1880 | |||||||||||
| Contains property lists, receipts and bills, statements of public funds, vouchers for expenses, certificates of support for vouchers, subvouchers for expenses, receipts from the Treasury Department, and remarks of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs on agency accounts and statements of differences from the Auditor's Office at the Treasury Department that document expenses incurred during the operation of the Papago Agency from 1871-1874. The bulk of this material relates to Dr. Wilbur's financial difficulties of justifying agency expenses. A portion of this material was produced after Dr. Wilbur left office in 1874, but it all pertains to financial activities that occurred during his tenure as Special Agent and Physician to the Papago. | |||||||||||
| box | folder | ||||||||||
| 1 | 13 | Property Lists. , 1873-1874 | |||||||||
| 1 | 14 | Receipts and Bills. , 1871-1876 | |||||||||
| 1 | 15 | Statements of Public Funds. , 1873 | |||||||||
| 1 | 16 | Vouchers, Aravaipa and Pinal Apaches, San Carlos. , 1873 | |||||||||
| 1 | 17 | Vouchers, Papago Agency. , 1872-1873 | |||||||||
| 1 | 18 | Certificates of Support for Vouchers. , 1871-1875 | |||||||||
| 1 | 19 | Subvouchers. , 1877-1880 | |||||||||
| 1 | 20 | Receipts from Treasury Department. , 1873-1874 | |||||||||
| 1 | 21 | Remarks from Office of Indian Affairs. , 1871-1876 | |||||||||
| 1 | 22 | Statements of Differences from the Auditor's Office at the Treasury Department. , 1871-1877 | |||||||||
| Tribal Lists, 1871 | |||||||||||
| Contains holographic list, probably prepared by Dr. Wilbur early in his tenure as agent, which has the names of the "Captains" and "Adjutants" for several Papago villages labeled as "pueblos." These terms represent a holdover of a Spanish practice of assigning village leaders specific titles. All of the villages listed represent communities located west of San Xavier on what is now the main Papago Reservation. | |||||||||||
| box | folder | ||||||||||
| 2 | 1 | Tribal Lists. , 1871 | |||||||||
| Pamphlets relating to Indian Affairs, 1863, 1874 | |||||||||||
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| 2 | 2 | "Ethnology and Philology of America," George Gibbs. Smithsonian Miscellaneous Contributions, No. 160, 33 pp., Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution. , 1863 | |||||||||
| 2 | 2 | Remarks of Hon. Richard C. McCormick of Arizona in the House of Representatives, 43rd Congress, 8 pp., Washington, D.C.: GPO. , 1874 | |||||||||
| Remarks relate to the Army Appropriation Bill, Preservation of the Buffalo, Reduction of the Army, National Washington Monument, the Military Telegraph and Title to Lands in Arizona. | |||||||||||
| 2 | 2 | Speech of Hon. Richard C. McCormick of Arizona in the House of Representatives on the Indian Appropriations Bill, 43rd Congress, 12 pp., Washington, D.C.: GPO. , May 11, 1874 | |||||||||
| 2 | 2 | Laws and Regulations relating to Indian Affairs, loose signatures tied with string, octavo. 93 pp., Washington, D.C.: GPO. , 1830s-1860s | |||||||||
| Subgroup II: Personal and Family Papers, 1871-1897 | |||||||||||
| Correspondence, 1871-1897 | |||||||||||
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| 2 | 3 | Correspondence Received: Dr. Wilbur. , 1871-1880 | |||||||||
| 2 | 4 | Correspondence Received: Dr. Wilbur regarding mining activity in Mexico. , 1878-1880 | |||||||||
| 2 | 5 | Correspondence Received: Mrs. Wilbur. , 1882, 1892-1893, 1897 | |||||||||
| 2 | 6 | Correspondence Received: Unidentified. , 1895 | |||||||||
| Summonses, 1880 | |||||||||||
| Contains a summons from the 1st Judicial District Court in Pima County, a holographic draft of the summons and two additional summonses from the United States Surveyor-General's Office for the Territory of Arizona. These all relate to a civil suit filed against Dr. Wilbur by Charles Poston and Santiago Ainsa in a dispute over the ownership of the "La Aribac" land claim in the Arivaca Valley, Arizona. | |||||||||||
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| 2 | 7 | Summonses. , 1880 | |||||||||
| Financial Papers, 1874-1895 | |||||||||||
| Contains receipts, bills of sale, notes, lists and tax receipts that relate primarily to the operation of the Wilbur Ranch near Arivaca, Arizona. Also includes several mail carrier proposals submitted by Dr. Wilbur in 1877. Receipts and bills also document Mrs. Wilbur's purchases from a variety of merchants in Tucson and a contribution made by Dr. Wilbur to the Republican Congressional Committee in 1874. | |||||||||||
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| 2 | 8 | Mail Carrier Proposals. , 1877 | |||||||||
| 2 | 9 | Arivaca Ranch. , 1875-1895 | |||||||||
| 2 | 10 | Receipts and Bills. , 1882-1895 | |||||||||
| 2 | 11 | Property Sale. , 1895 | |||||||||
| 2 | 12 | Tax Receipts. , 1873-1892 | |||||||||