Lewis and Pranty

[azdave35]

Yep... One of these days we'll have to go out there so you can point some stuff out

Just found the Lewis family on the Missouri 1880 census BTW...Greg, if you don't have that census stuff already I can send it to you for your files.

Dave, do you have the issue of True West that Mike posted? I haven't looked thru my junk, but I don't think I have it...I think I would have remembered an article about Fred Pranty?

jim..i have a few boxes of true west but they are all from the 60's and early 70's .. sears kay is a beautiful little oasis in the desert..whoever homesteaded that knew what they were doing
i'm not sure but i think bob boze bell is the editor of true west mag. now...you might be able to contact him and see if they have a copy of the article:
https://truewestmagazine.com/category/inside-history/

there are a couple crooks online that have the issue but they want $79.00 for it...lol
i'll look online more and see if i can find a more reasonable copy

 

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[azdave35]

jim..i have a few boxes of true west but they are all from the 60's and early 70's .. sears kay is a beautiful little oasis in the desert..whoever homesteaded that knew what they were doing
i'm not sure but i think bob boze bell is the editor of true west mag. now...you might be able to contact him and see if they have a copy of the article:
https://truewestmagazine.com/category/inside-history/

there are a couple crooks online that have the issue but they want $79.00 for it...lol
i'll look online more and see if i can find a more reasonable copy

https://www.wolfgangs.com/magazines/true-west-apr-11978/magazine/OMS29696.html

 

[Gregory E. Davis]

Hello Jim: I located a John W. Lewis in the 1920 census. Age 58 and he gives his home as Cave Creek, Maricopa Arizona but his birth place is listed as the United States. Occupation Farm Operator, Industry, Cattle Ranch. Parents both born in Illinois. etc. Cordially, Gregory E. Davis

 

[Gregory E. Davis]

To azdave35: I have a complete collection of True West Magazines. Let me know the next time you out my way and you are welcome to copy the article. Cordially, Gregory E. Davis. P.S. No charge.

 

[azdave35]

To azdave35: I have a complete collection of True West Magazines. Let me know the next time you out my way and you are welcome to copy the article. Cordially, Gregory E. Davis. P.S. No charge.

thanks greg...i'll try to swing by next week

 

[Gregory E. Davis]

Hello Jim: Yes, I would like a copy of the Lewis family on the Missouri 1880 census. I would try to look it up on Ancestry.com but there are just to many Lewis's. Glad you were able to find the correct family. Cordially, Gregory E. Davis

 

[AZBCE]

What incredible information! I've compiled a lot of research on Fred Pranty. Thank you, Gregory, for starting this thread after our telephone conversation. I'll be visiting you soon to ignite some personal conversation about this subject. Everyone's research and information are incredibly helpful while I research and write about this subject.

I recently visited Fred Pranty's cabin and mine at gun Creek. The trail is super rough and overgrown. We had to cut two fallen trees out of the Trail and endure much Arizona pinstriping. We could obviously tell that nobody has been there for many years. The old cabin was built very well and I assume it was built somewhere around 1890.



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If I could also add that Fred was also a hunter. He was known as the greatest mountain lion Slayer in the territory. Killing 34 lions in 2 years.

Has anybody found any information about their involvement in the construction of the fish creek portion of the Apache Trail? One newspaper article describes them as constructors. I know the Apache Trail was mostly built on Indian labor. However, I believe the foreman who ran the projects were not Apaches.

 

[azdave35]

What incredible information! I've compiled a lot of research on Fred Pranty. Thank you, Gregory, for starting this thread after our telephone conversation. I'll be visiting you soon to ignite some personal conversation about this subject. Everyone's research and information are incredibly helpful while I research and write about this subject.

I recently visited Fred Pranty's cabin and mine at gun Creek. The trail is super rough and overgrown. We had to cut two fallen trees out of the Trail and endure much Arizona pinstriping. We could obviously tell that nobody has been there for many years. The old cabin was built very well and I assume it was built somewhere around 1890.

View attachment 1732780

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If I could also add that Fred was also a hunter. He was known as the greatest mountain lion Slayer in the territory. Killing 34 lions in 2 years.

Has anybody found any information about their involvement in the construction of the fish creek portion of the Apache Trail? One newspaper article describes them as constructors. I know the Apache Trail was mostly built on Indian labor. However, I believe the foreman who ran the projects were not Apaches.

you can say goodbye to that cabin

 

[AZBCE]

you can say goodbye to that cabin

Not sure what you mean by that...?

It's pretty hard to access. Access is restricted by private property. Unless you know who to talk to, no one is getting past the gate.

 

[azdave35]

Not sure what you mean by that...?

It's pretty hard to access. Access is restricted by private property. Unless you know who to talk to, no one is getting past the gate.

you got up there..you also cleared the brush so other knotheads can get there...its been my experience that when someone posts pics of a historical cabin online...it isn't long before its vandalized

 

[Gregory E. Davis]

OK guys: Point taken. Now lets all shake hands and get back to doing research. Cordially, Gregory E. Davis

 

[AZBCE]

you got up there..you also cleared the brush so other knotheads can get there...its been my experience that when someone posts pics of a historical cabin online...it isn't long before its vandalized

Yes and I also know the owner of the private property. More information has been derived from this thread alone. A picture makes no difference...

It's marked on USGS maps, Forest Road going to the cabin is open for travel, we cleared some trees, so what. It's published on other websites including this one and it's not like I'm gonna be handing out GPS coordinates.

I'm not sure what made you start throwing insults around. It's just a conversation about an old cabin, calm down buddy...

 

[AZBCE]

OK guys: Point taken. Now lets all shake hands and get back to doing research. Cordially, Gregory E. Davis

Thank you sir ��

 

[azdave35]

Yes and I also know the owner of the private property. More information has been derived from this thread alone. A picture makes no difference...

It's marked on USGS maps, Forest Road going to the cabin is open for travel, we cleared some trees, so what. It's published on other websites including this one and it's not like I'm gonna be handing out GPS coordinates.

I'm not sure what made you start throwing insults around. It's just a conversation about an old cabin, calm down buddy...

just my nature i guess....

 

[azdave35]

Yes and I also know the owner of the private property. More information has been derived from this thread alone. A picture makes no difference...

It's marked on USGS maps, Forest Road going to the cabin is open for travel, we cleared some trees, so what. It's published on other websites including this one and it's not like I'm gonna be handing out GPS coordinates.

I'm not sure what made you start throwing insults around. It's just a conversation about an old cabin, calm down buddy...

i'll take a ride up there in a year..if the cabin is still standing i'll be surprised

 

[gollum]

Gregory,

Here are the Payson Pioneer cemetery records for the two Fred Prantys.

Fred Pranty (the Y in Prantys name is illegible on his stone marker.) 1864 - 1924 buried May 1938 grave 94924068.

Fred Pantry (a mis spelling of Pranty) 1924 - 1938 buried 1947 grave 96324516.

Best,

Matthew

I found the "PANTRY" Grave, and it took a while, but finally found the "PRANT" Grave as well. Actually it is a metal marker, and the "Y" is legible (barely), but I think they just made a mistake recording the grave:


FRED PRANTY
BORN ABOUT 1864
DIED ABOUT 1924
BURIED MAY 27 1938

Mike

 

[Gregory E. Davis]

Hello azbce: There has always been a story about the Indians having a trail that descended down Fish Creek Hill. Could Lewis and Pantry have improved that trail for better access to their ranch? Just a guess on my part. The story about Lewsi and Pranty being "constructors" appeared in P.C. Bicknell story "In The Box Canyon" Phoenix Daily Herald, June 25, 1896. This would have been shortly after the formation of the Hudson Reservoir and Canal Co. which filed Corp. papers in 1893. They were going to build the dam but just did not have the money. That is when the Salt River Valley Water Storage and Reservoir Co. was formed. The rest is history. The Tonto Trail/Roosevelt Road, or as we know it today the Apache Trail was completed in September 1905. It followed a completely different path for it had to be graded to handle the heavy freight wagons and not just horses or mules carrying packs. If Lewis or Pantry were involved in this part of the trail, I have yet to locate anything, but that is to say that there is not something out there about them. Cordially, Gregory E. Davis

 

[Gregory E. Davis]

Mike and Kraig: Now there is a real conundrum for you. Two Fred Pranty buried twice in two different graves! cordially, Gregory E. Davis

 

[Gregory E. Davis]

Hi: Anything new on Lewis? Greg

 

[gollum]

Mike and Kraig: Now there is a real conundrum for you. Two Fred Pranty buried twice in two different graves! cordially, Gregory E. Davis

Greg,

More than you know! LOL Since Kraig is working on the "Greer buried the wrong bones in 1947 theory", I was trying to look at it from other possibilities. Primarily that all the bones weren't found in 1938 and sometime between 1938 and 1947 someone brought in the rest of the skeleton. That doesn't work though. In all five versions I have, Dude Greer brought in the Pick, Pistol, skull, and some other bones. The sack found in the jail had a skull included. Both skulls were described as having a single bullet hole.

Since Pranty's Niece is 99% likely underground currently (born in 1907), it seems that Stan Brown (or his donated papers at Sharlot Hall) may be the only (or best) way to figure this out.

SO: The skeleton found in 1938 had a skull full of gold teeth, Pranty's Pick, and Pranty's Pistol (or at least the pistol Pranty was known to have borrowed).

I am down to only three possibilities without reaching too far:

1. The skeleton in 1938 was definitely Pranty, and the bones Greer buried were someone else.

2. The parts of the skeleton Dude Greer found were buried in 1938. Some more bones were brought in at a later date and were buried as Pranty (Pantry) in a different grave.

3. There was never an actual burial in 1938 and the bones were tossed in a sack to sit on a jail shelf for nine years. (least likely).

??

Mike