Arizona PVT CO D Indian Scouts Indian Wars
Arizona Death Certificate
The following information was contributed by: Richard S. Mickle
Another well-known Indian Scout was Ma hoi na vie, a full-blooded Hualapai. His name was changed to Jim Mahone when he enlisted in the Army in 1873. According to his personal affidavit in 1924, he was unsure of his date of birth, adding, "Indians have no way of keeping record of their birth, like white people." Before he enlisted, he had a garden at Willows and hunted deer and antelope using bow and arrow. Indians were trackers, man or beast, and often supplied the troops with meat on their missions. He remembered, "I enlisted as a scout before the railroad was built through this country. Soldiers were located at Prescott, Ft. Rock (west of Seligman) and Ft. Mohave (along the Colorado River south of Bullhead City), Arizona. A man who was carrying money to pay the soldiers was killed by the Apaches somewhere west of Prescott, and the soldiers called the Hualapai Indians to trail the Apaches and to capture them."
One of his prized possessions was a written recommendation signed by 1st Lt W. George Elliott. It read, "This, Jim Mahone of the Hualapai Indian Tribe is a trustworthy and intelligent man. He is an old scout having served under General Crook in the years gone by. Of him, the General says ‘no braver man ever trod shoe leather.'" Jim carried it until it was badly worn but still legible. Jim's eyesight began failing his last years and he was blind the last ten years of his life. There is a tale that he shot an antelope illegally and someone told the game warden who, when he went to check it out, found the hide on Jim's mule. Jim explained that he could not tell the difference between an antelope hide and a deer hide. His story was so convincing that the warden wondered how he could see well enough to shoot it in the first place!
The newspaper at Williams, AZ, 1949: "Famed Indian Scout dies. Believed to be probably the oldest Indian known, Jim Mahone, 120-year-old scout who helped trail Geronimo, last of the outlaw Apache chiefs, has been buried. He died August 6 at Peach Springs, was buried at Seligman cemetery after he had been honored with both Indian services by his Walapai brethren and military services in recognition of his services to the U.S. Army. When General Crook was put on the trail of the warring Apaches with orders to subdue them once and for all, he called upon Jim Mahone. Many other Indian scouts had been captured, tortured and killed by the Apaches, but Mahone stayed on the job until the last renegade band was brought under control. An old man 40 years ago, Jim had been for the past four decades a familiar figure about the streets of Seligman, Ashfork, Williams and Prescott."
His HUALPAI Indian name was Mahoynavie. The U.S. Army changed it to Jim Mahone when he enlisted as an Indian Scout in 1873. He was 23 years old at the time. His father died at an early age from a rattlesnake bite. In those days, food was scarce and they used every means of getting it. According to the story told by the tribesmen, the father was reaching into a hollow stump for a rabbit when he was struck in the face by a rattler and died a few hours later. He had two sisters and a brother. His youngest sister married Jeff, the man who led the "whites" to the rich, "White Hills Mine."
After Manone's discharge from the U.S. Army in 1878, he bought his wife Betsie, from her parents in Mineral Park. He had to pay a Navajo blanket and a pony for Betsie who was just a young girl at the time. Jim had quite a time keeping her. She kept running back home to her parents and each time she did, he had to buy her back again. She finally became reconciled and made him a faithful wife. They had two sons, Frank Mahone and Jim Mahone, Jr. Frank passed away when he was 15 and young Jim died in 1937, the same year Betsie passed away. Mahone married again in later life. Notations by May E. Young, The Desert Magazine Feb. 1957.
While in the Army, Mahone had served under General Crook. One of his most prized possessions was a written recommendation by "M. George Elliott, 2 Brig. Infantry, U.S. Army." He carried it until it was badly worn but still legible. It read as follows:
"To Whom It May Concern,
This . . . Jim Mahone of the Hualpai Indian Tribe is a trustworthy and intelligent man. He is an old Scout, having served under General Crook in the years gone by. Of him, the general says, "no braver man ever trod shoe leather."
Jim Mahone passed away on August 6th 1949, and the citizens of Seligman gave him a fitting burial. Thus another colorful character of the early pioneer days of Arizona has gone, leaving only his vanashing footprints on the shifting sands of time.
Arizona Death Certificate
The following information was contributed by: Richard S. Mickle
Another well-known Indian Scout was Ma hoi na vie, a full-blooded Hualapai. His name was changed to Jim Mahone when he enlisted in the Army in 1873. According to his personal affidavit in 1924, he was unsure of his date of birth, adding, "Indians have no way of keeping record of their birth, like white people." Before he enlisted, he had a garden at Willows and hunted deer and antelope using bow and arrow. Indians were trackers, man or beast, and often supplied the troops with meat on their missions. He remembered, "I enlisted as a scout before the railroad was built through this country. Soldiers were located at Prescott, Ft. Rock (west of Seligman) and Ft. Mohave (along the Colorado River south of Bullhead City), Arizona. A man who was carrying money to pay the soldiers was killed by the Apaches somewhere west of Prescott, and the soldiers called the Hualapai Indians to trail the Apaches and to capture them."
One of his prized possessions was a written recommendation signed by 1st Lt W. George Elliott. It read, "This, Jim Mahone of the Hualapai Indian Tribe is a trustworthy and intelligent man. He is an old scout having served under General Crook in the years gone by. Of him, the General says ‘no braver man ever trod shoe leather.'" Jim carried it until it was badly worn but still legible. Jim's eyesight began failing his last years and he was blind the last ten years of his life. There is a tale that he shot an antelope illegally and someone told the game warden who, when he went to check it out, found the hide on Jim's mule. Jim explained that he could not tell the difference between an antelope hide and a deer hide. His story was so convincing that the warden wondered how he could see well enough to shoot it in the first place!
The newspaper at Williams, AZ, 1949: "Famed Indian Scout dies. Believed to be probably the oldest Indian known, Jim Mahone, 120-year-old scout who helped trail Geronimo, last of the outlaw Apache chiefs, has been buried. He died August 6 at Peach Springs, was buried at Seligman cemetery after he had been honored with both Indian services by his Walapai brethren and military services in recognition of his services to the U.S. Army. When General Crook was put on the trail of the warring Apaches with orders to subdue them once and for all, he called upon Jim Mahone. Many other Indian scouts had been captured, tortured and killed by the Apaches, but Mahone stayed on the job until the last renegade band was brought under control. An old man 40 years ago, Jim had been for the past four decades a familiar figure about the streets of Seligman, Ashfork, Williams and Prescott."
His HUALPAI Indian name was Mahoynavie. The U.S. Army changed it to Jim Mahone when he enlisted as an Indian Scout in 1873. He was 23 years old at the time. His father died at an early age from a rattlesnake bite. In those days, food was scarce and they used every means of getting it. According to the story told by the tribesmen, the father was reaching into a hollow stump for a rabbit when he was struck in the face by a rattler and died a few hours later. He had two sisters and a brother. His youngest sister married Jeff, the man who led the "whites" to the rich, "White Hills Mine."
After Manone's discharge from the U.S. Army in 1878, he bought his wife Betsie, from her parents in Mineral Park. He had to pay a Navajo blanket and a pony for Betsie who was just a young girl at the time. Jim had quite a time keeping her. She kept running back home to her parents and each time she did, he had to buy her back again. She finally became reconciled and made him a faithful wife. They had two sons, Frank Mahone and Jim Mahone, Jr. Frank passed away when he was 15 and young Jim died in 1937, the same year Betsie passed away. Mahone married again in later life. Notations by May E. Young, The Desert Magazine Feb. 1957.
While in the Army, Mahone had served under General Crook. One of his most prized possessions was a written recommendation by "M. George Elliott, 2 Brig. Infantry, U.S. Army." He carried it until it was badly worn but still legible. It read as follows:
"To Whom It May Concern,
This . . . Jim Mahone of the Hualpai Indian Tribe is a trustworthy and intelligent man. He is an old Scout, having served under General Crook in the years gone by. Of him, the general says, "no braver man ever trod shoe leather."
Jim Mahone passed away on August 6th 1949, and the citizens of Seligman gave him a fitting burial. Thus another colorful character of the early pioneer days of Arizona has gone, leaving only his vanashing footprints on the shifting sands of time.
Arizona PVT CO D Indian Scouts Indian Wars
Arizona Death Certificate
The following information was contributed by: Richard S. Mickle
Another well-known Indian Scout was Ma hoi na vie, a full-blooded Hualapai. His name was changed to Jim Mahone when he enlisted in the Army in 1873. According to his personal affidavit in 1924, he was unsure of his date of birth, adding, "Indians have no way of keeping record of their birth, like white people." Before he enlisted, he had a garden at Willows and hunted deer and antelope using bow and arrow. Indians were trackers, man or beast, and often supplied the troops with meat on their missions. He remembered, "I enlisted as a scout before the railroad was built through this country. Soldiers were located at Prescott, Ft. Rock (west of Seligman) and Ft. Mohave (along the Colorado River south of Bullhead City), Arizona. A man who was carrying money to pay the soldiers was killed by the Apaches somewhere west of Prescott, and the soldiers called the Hualapai Indians to trail the Apaches and to capture them."
One of his prized possessions was a written recommendation signed by 1st Lt W. George Elliott. It read, "This, Jim Mahone of the Hualapai Indian Tribe is a trustworthy and intelligent man. He is an old scout having served under General Crook in the years gone by. Of him, the General says ‘no braver man ever trod shoe leather.'" Jim carried it until it was badly worn but still legible. Jim's eyesight began failing his last years and he was blind the last ten years of his life. There is a tale that he shot an antelope illegally and someone told the game warden who, when he went to check it out, found the hide on Jim's mule. Jim explained that he could not tell the difference between an antelope hide and a deer hide. His story was so convincing that the warden wondered how he could see well enough to shoot it in the first place!
The newspaper at Williams, AZ, 1949: "Famed Indian Scout dies. Believed to be probably the oldest Indian known, Jim Mahone, 120-year-old scout who helped trail Geronimo, last of the outlaw Apache chiefs, has been buried. He died August 6 at Peach Springs, was buried at Seligman cemetery after he had been honored with both Indian services by his Walapai brethren and military services in recognition of his services to the U.S. Army. When General Crook was put on the trail of the warring Apaches with orders to subdue them once and for all, he called upon Jim Mahone. Many other Indian scouts had been captured, tortured and killed by the Apaches, but Mahone stayed on the job until the last renegade band was brought under control. An old man 40 years ago, Jim had been for the past four decades a familiar figure about the streets of Seligman, Ashfork, Williams and Prescott."
His HUALPAI Indian name was Mahoynavie. The U.S. Army changed it to Jim Mahone when he enlisted as an Indian Scout in 1873. He was 23 years old at the time. His father died at an early age from a rattlesnake bite. In those days, food was scarce and they used every means of getting it. According to the story told by the tribesmen, the father was reaching into a hollow stump for a rabbit when he was struck in the face by a rattler and died a few hours later. He had two sisters and a brother. His youngest sister married Jeff, the man who led the "whites" to the rich, "White Hills Mine."
After Manone's discharge from the U.S. Army in 1878, he bought his wife Betsie, from her parents in Mineral Park. He had to pay a Navajo blanket and a pony for Betsie who was just a young girl at the time. Jim had quite a time keeping her. She kept running back home to her parents and each time she did, he had to buy her back again. She finally became reconciled and made him a faithful wife. They had two sons, Frank Mahone and Jim Mahone, Jr. Frank passed away when he was 15 and young Jim died in 1937, the same year Betsie passed away. Mahone married again in later life. Notations by May E. Young, The Desert Magazine Feb. 1957.
While in the Army, Mahone had served under General Crook. One of his most prized possessions was a written recommendation by "M. George Elliott, 2 Brig. Infantry, U.S. Army." He carried it until it was badly worn but still legible. It read as follows:
"To Whom It May Concern,
This . . . Jim Mahone of the Hualpai Indian Tribe is a trustworthy and intelligent man. He is an old Scout, having served under General Crook in the years gone by. Of him, the general says, "no braver man ever trod shoe leather."
Jim Mahone passed away on August 6th 1949, and the citizens of Seligman gave him a fitting burial. Thus another colorful character of the early pioneer days of Arizona has gone, leaving only his vanashing footprints on the shifting sands of time.
Arizona Death Certificate
The following information was contributed by: Richard S. Mickle
Another well-known Indian Scout was Ma hoi na vie, a full-blooded Hualapai. His name was changed to Jim Mahone when he enlisted in the Army in 1873. According to his personal affidavit in 1924, he was unsure of his date of birth, adding, "Indians have no way of keeping record of their birth, like white people." Before he enlisted, he had a garden at Willows and hunted deer and antelope using bow and arrow. Indians were trackers, man or beast, and often supplied the troops with meat on their missions. He remembered, "I enlisted as a scout before the railroad was built through this country. Soldiers were located at Prescott, Ft. Rock (west of Seligman) and Ft. Mohave (along the Colorado River south of Bullhead City), Arizona. A man who was carrying money to pay the soldiers was killed by the Apaches somewhere west of Prescott, and the soldiers called the Hualapai Indians to trail the Apaches and to capture them."
One of his prized possessions was a written recommendation signed by 1st Lt W. George Elliott. It read, "This, Jim Mahone of the Hualapai Indian Tribe is a trustworthy and intelligent man. He is an old scout having served under General Crook in the years gone by. Of him, the General says ‘no braver man ever trod shoe leather.'" Jim carried it until it was badly worn but still legible. Jim's eyesight began failing his last years and he was blind the last ten years of his life. There is a tale that he shot an antelope illegally and someone told the game warden who, when he went to check it out, found the hide on Jim's mule. Jim explained that he could not tell the difference between an antelope hide and a deer hide. His story was so convincing that the warden wondered how he could see well enough to shoot it in the first place!
The newspaper at Williams, AZ, 1949: "Famed Indian Scout dies. Believed to be probably the oldest Indian known, Jim Mahone, 120-year-old scout who helped trail Geronimo, last of the outlaw Apache chiefs, has been buried. He died August 6 at Peach Springs, was buried at Seligman cemetery after he had been honored with both Indian services by his Walapai brethren and military services in recognition of his services to the U.S. Army. When General Crook was put on the trail of the warring Apaches with orders to subdue them once and for all, he called upon Jim Mahone. Many other Indian scouts had been captured, tortured and killed by the Apaches, but Mahone stayed on the job until the last renegade band was brought under control. An old man 40 years ago, Jim had been for the past four decades a familiar figure about the streets of Seligman, Ashfork, Williams and Prescott."
His HUALPAI Indian name was Mahoynavie. The U.S. Army changed it to Jim Mahone when he enlisted as an Indian Scout in 1873. He was 23 years old at the time. His father died at an early age from a rattlesnake bite. In those days, food was scarce and they used every means of getting it. According to the story told by the tribesmen, the father was reaching into a hollow stump for a rabbit when he was struck in the face by a rattler and died a few hours later. He had two sisters and a brother. His youngest sister married Jeff, the man who led the "whites" to the rich, "White Hills Mine."
After Manone's discharge from the U.S. Army in 1878, he bought his wife Betsie, from her parents in Mineral Park. He had to pay a Navajo blanket and a pony for Betsie who was just a young girl at the time. Jim had quite a time keeping her. She kept running back home to her parents and each time she did, he had to buy her back again. She finally became reconciled and made him a faithful wife. They had two sons, Frank Mahone and Jim Mahone, Jr. Frank passed away when he was 15 and young Jim died in 1937, the same year Betsie passed away. Mahone married again in later life. Notations by May E. Young, The Desert Magazine Feb. 1957.
While in the Army, Mahone had served under General Crook. One of his most prized possessions was a written recommendation by "M. George Elliott, 2 Brig. Infantry, U.S. Army." He carried it until it was badly worn but still legible. It read as follows:
"To Whom It May Concern,
This . . . Jim Mahone of the Hualpai Indian Tribe is a trustworthy and intelligent man. He is an old Scout, having served under General Crook in the years gone by. Of him, the general says, "no braver man ever trod shoe leather."
Jim Mahone passed away on August 6th 1949, and the citizens of Seligman gave him a fitting burial. Thus another colorful character of the early pioneer days of Arizona has gone, leaving only his vanashing footprints on the shifting sands of time.
