24 Dec 1877 – 8 May 1965
Great-grandson of Philp Cardon and Martha Marie Tourn
Grandson of Louis Philip Cardon and Susette Stalé
Son of Joseph Samuel Cardon and Selenia Walker
JOSEPH ELMER CARDON
by Joseph Elmer Cardon
| Born: | 24 Dec 1877 | Place: | Woodruff, Arizona |
| Baptized: | 21 Feb 1886 | Place: | Colonia Juarez, Mexico |
| Married: | 6 Oct 1900 | Place: | Colonia Juarez, Mexico |
| Endowed: | 2 Oct 1907 | Place: | Salt Lake Temple |
| Died: | 8 May 1965 | Place: | Mesa, Arizona age 88 |
I was born in a wagon box. My parents were Joseph Samuel and Selina M. Walker Cardon, who had just came from Oxford, Idaho to help settle Lake’s Camp on the little Colorado. Shortly after my birth, we moved to a little place called Taylor, Arizona. Here we remained until I was about 7 years old. My grandfather (Philip) and my father moved into Old Mexico to the Mormon Colonies to escape the persecution of polygamy.
The journey was commenced sometime in the last of November or the first of December of 1884. There were in the company the following families: Hawkins, Whiting, East, my father’s first family (Joseph Samuel, his wife Selina M. Walker, and children: Selina Vermina, Joseph Elmer, Josephine Susette, LeRoy Phillip, and Edith); and my grandfather (Louis Philippe Cardon and his first wife, Sarah Ann Welborn) and my father’s youngest brother, Louis Paul Cardon. (Joseph Samuel’s mother, Susette Stale, his oldest brother Emanuel Philip and his only sister, Mary Catherine, who both were married, did not come at this time). My father and Uncle Louis each drove a four horse team. My mother, Selina, and Grandmother Sarah, as we called her (which by the way was not my grandmother), took turns driving a single team. The rest of the company had horses which I, as a boy of 7 years old, was detailed to drive. My father having been over the road before, was chosen director of the company. (From History of Grandmother Susette Cardon by Joseph Elmer Cardon on page 5 it states: “From here Grandfather, (Louis Philippe Cardon), and his oldest son, Joseph Samuel, and his (Joseph Samuel) second wife, (Cornelia Van Dam), were called into Old Mexico in 1883. One year later, (1884) Joseph Samuel Cardon returned to Taylor, Arizona. He gathered stock and other equipment such as they could take with them with their provisions. He, with his first wife, (Selina M. Walker) and (first 6) children, his father’s first wife (Sarah Ann Welborn) who had no children and Grandfather’s youngest son, Louis Paul, 17 years old, went with this group. After a few months, Louis Paul returned to Taylor, Arizona with Joseph’s second wife” (who died in Taylor, Arizona in 1885)). On reaching Fort Apache, he noticed an uneasy feeling among the Indians, and urged the company to move on just as far as possible that day. They arrived sometime after night fall to the top of what is called the 7 mile hill. There was a full moon. When the stock was taken care of, the meal prepared, and the time for prayer came, they knelt in prayer. While bowed in prayer, an Indian dog came into camp. On arising from prayer, a group of Indians could be seen in the distance. The men of the camp were called to round up the stock as fast as possible. Meanwhile, the Indians moved on without molesting the camp in any way. About 3 miles from our camp, the Indians had killed two stock men. Their intent was to massacre our camp, but the Lord had protected us.
In a few days we reached the Black River, which was a swift mountain stream with boulders in it. At this place the tongue of the wagon that my mother and Grandmother (Sarah) were driving broke. This happened while the remainder of the camp moved on up the ridge to make camp. Since it was cool, father tried three times to make a fire, but was impressed each time not to do so. Father said he was sure he heard the sound of horses’ hooves on the opposite side of the river. Undoubtedly these were Indians. As they came to the crest of the mountains, the Gila River Valley stretched before them. Father saw some ponies tied among the willows along the river bottom. He was impressed to make camp on the ridge where they were. The next morning on reaching the river, we found where the Indians had been waiting in ambush.
Late the next afternoon, word reached us from Fort Thomas that a boy, who was hired by an outfit moving through the country to drive their loose stock was taken by the Indians and tied to a tree and stoned to death. Father got on one of the team horses and came back to where I was with the loose stock and helped me with the herd. It was after dark before we reached camp. This was at the time the Negro soldiers were serving in the Calvary.
Early the next day we reached Fort Thomas, (Arizona). I well remember how those Negro women came out and grabbed up some of the smaller children. Some of those good old sisters with great tears rolling down their cheeks, said they marveled how you could all get through without being harmed by the Indians. We continued on u the valley until we reached Pima and Thatcher (Arizona). These were places on the Gila River which were just being settled by the Mormons. On reaching these places word just came that the two Wright brothers had been killed by Indians. The Wright brothers were trying to retrieve some horses that the Indians had stolen from them and were ambushed.
My father thought it best to leave the family and stock in Thatcher while he went with the rest of the outfit into Old Mexico. As I remember, he was gone about three months. On return trip, he was accompanied by a man named Gibbons (Could this be Andrew Smith Gibbons, the Indian Missionary?). On reaching a place called “the Cowboy Pass”, Father came to a fork in the road. The main road continued around the ridge while the cutoff road went up over the ridge. He waited for Brother Gibbons to catch up with him. Father told him that he was impressed to take the cut off road, they learned that some Indians were in ambush, waiting for them to come by the main road. No doubt the Indians would have killed them if they had followed the main road.
When father got through to where we were, we gathered up our stock and went to Old Mexico. We reached there without any trouble with the Indians. However, the Indians did go into Mexico and got into a fight with the Mexican soldiers where the old Indian Chief Gerimero was killed. The Indian, Apache Kid, as he was known, drifted back into the mountains. These Indians would occasionally come down to the settlements and steal and plunder. This same group of Indians came to one of the Mormon families that lived on a ranch some three miles from the other Mormon settlement. It was early in the morning and the two boys were doing the chores in the absence of their father. The Indians opened fire on the two boys. One was killed and the other wounded. The Indians went into the house and killed the mother. They found a small girl in the house and intended to take her. However, she ran outside. The wounded boy saw her and motioned to her. They both hid in the chicken coop. When the Indians came out of the house and saw that the girl and boy were gone, they left.
Months later, this same group of Indians went into another field and swiped corn, potatoes, and other vegetables. The Indians only went a short way toward their old camp and spent the night. The two owners of the crops followed the Indians. They came to the little open valley in which the Indians were camped. The Indians were making preparations to start for their camp in the mountains. The two men crept around to a place where they thought the Indians would not come. But as the Indians started to leave, they came straight toward the place where Mr. Martin Harris and friend were hiding. The old Indian Chief came within a few yards of them when he saw them and started to pull his gun. Mr. Harris beat him to the draw and shot and killed him. The other Indians started to flee. Mr. Harris fired at the fleeing Indians. He knocked one from his horse. As they came up to this Indian, they discovered that the dead person was a squaw. Then Mr. Harris looked to where the old chief lay. He saw the blanket around the old chief move and thought that the old chief was still alive. Harris aimed his gun and fired on the chief. When he removed the blanket, he found that a small boy had been strapped to the old Indian’s back. Mr. Harris told me that killing the boy made him feel very bad. In fact, he did not enjoy killing but was forced to in self-defense. This incident put an end to the Indians in that part of the country.
Grandfather and my father settled land about three miles below the present site of Colonia Juarez. We planted and harvested our first crops. On finding out that we were outside the tract of land purchased by the Church, we moved further up the valley in order to be within the boundaries of the purchase. Grandfather and my father each took half of a city block. On this they planted orchards and vineyards. In addition, each built a home. Later, father took up lands two or three miles above the city. But then he decided to take a 40 acre place five miles above the first. Therefore, he divested (stripped) himself of the first place.
On this 40 acres, father built a home. This farm was near the foot of the mountain. In fact, a part of it was on the side of the mountain. There was plenty of grassland and pasture for our stock. Also there was plenty of good grass up the river. My father and E.L. Taylor took up a lease on this range land and put cattle on it. Of course, I did my share of riding after the stock. I always helped with the roundups which made me late in starting school in the fall. Father finally sold all of his property (1894) and moved down the river to where Colonia Dublán is now located. (While Joseph Samuel lived in Colonia Juarez, his wife, Selina, gave birth to a son, Leonard Jesse on 6 Jun 1887. Then he married Rhoda Ann McClellan on 24 Jul 1888 in Colonia Diaz, Chihuahua, Mexico and they lived in Colonia Juarez and had 9 children. Then Selina gave birth to the following children: Eugene William, 3 Sep 1889; Junius Welborn, 21 Jan 1891; and Cornelia, 24 May 1893.)
During the hot summer months of the first year or so that we lived in Juarez, the Mexicans used to come and tear out our dams and leave us short of water, causing our crops to burn. So the Saints called a two day fast. In answer to our prayers, an earthquake came. After this, there was plenty of water. A town site was laid out east of the lands owned by the Saints. The people settling here wanted the older settlers to divide the water with them. The older settlers did not want to do this because it would make them short of water. Some of the brethren made the promise that if the older settlers would share the water with the new town site, that there would be water for all. The promise was literally fulfilled.
(From the history of “Grandmother Susette Cardon” page 5 it states: “A few years later, in 1897, Louis Paul, his first wife, Ella Saunders (married 9 Oct 1895 in Salt Lake City, Utah), his mother, Susette, his sister, Catherine, and her husband, Joseph Clawson, went with him (Louis Paul) into Old Mexico. Louis Paul, being called there to teach school in Colonia, Dublán.”) (Louis Paul must have remained in Taylor, Arizona from 1885 – 1897).
Two or three years after we moved to Dublán (1896 or 1897), the railroad company decided to bring a branch line from El Paso up through Dublán and on through the floor of the Mountain. I spent the winter months working on the Railroad. During this time my father and others took a contract for telegraph poles to put along this railroad. So in March, I quit working on the grade and went hauling poles out of the mountain. My brother, Leroy, (14 or 15 years old) went with me (Elmer, 19 or 20 years old). We placed poles along the railroad track to El Paso del Norte. Then I went to hauling ore out of Sonora to the railroad station from Naco, Arizona to the colonies in Mexico. I had an 8 horse team hitched to three wagons. So did my brother Leroy. While I was trading, I hired John Dewit to drive my team while I went home (Colonia Dublán, Mexico) to get married. I chose for my wife Lucinda Hurst, daughter of Philip Hurst. (The Hursts lived in Colonia Dublán, Mexico, too). We were married 6 October 1900 (in Colonia Juarez, Mexico). A few days after our marriage, I returned to my outfit and left my wife at home. In a short time, she came to Naco where I was trading. Then a company decided to put a railroad line from Naco to the mines in Sonora. Neile Larson, Charles Patten and I put our outfits together and helped to build the railroad. My wife went home to Dublán, Mexico. A short time after this, I took part of my outfit and went home. I arrived just a few weeks before our first child, Joseph Phillip, was born. In just a few weeks, the rest of my outfit returned from working on the railroad. We sold most of the horses. After this, we built us a little home out east about six miles from Dublán. (The trading was more of a freighting job).
While here, Ira Pratt and I took the job of riding the Dublán pasture. Ira stayed with the job just a few months. After he left, I had the job all to myself. I hired a Mexican boy to help me. (Elmer’s & Lucinda’s other children born in Dublán, Mexico are: Ella, 14 Sep 1903; Ernest Elmer, 11 Jan 1906; Mildred, 23 Mar 1908, and Hazel, 20 Oct 1910. Elmer’s father, Joseph Samuel, died 28 Sep 1908 in Colonia Dublán, Mexico).
The Mexican revolution broke out in 1912. In July 1912 I sent my family, (wife Lucinda, Joseph age 11 down to Hazel, age 20 months and my Grandmother, Susette with their belongings, not knowing when I would see them again) to El Paso, Texas in box cars of the freight train. (Just prior to this time, I went to Grandmother Suzette’s house, and took her bottled and dried fruit and hid them under the floor of her house.) I stayed behind with the other men to protect our property. But they too, were forced to leave. On a moment’s notice, I hitched up two of my mares to a borrowed buggy and took several elderly men who were not able to ride so far on horseback with me. We took with us a sack of flour. We prepared this flour by pouring a little water in the top of the sack, stirring it around and then cooking it on a stick over the fire. Later, I returned (fall of 1912) to gather what livestock and tools I could, but I never cared to return. (Everything was just as Grandmother Susette had left them, not a door or a window had been opened not even the tubs of wheat she had stored away on a little porch outside, had been disturbed.)
The first place that Elmer lived after leaving Mexico, was Jaynes Station, (Tucson), Pima, Arizona. One daughter was born there, Gladys, 23 Jan 1913. Then Elmer moved his family (of 8) to Binghamton, Pima, Arizona. Three more children were born here: Eugene Hurst, 25 Apr 1915; Udel Wilson, 8 Aug 1917; and Lloyd Woodruff, 7 Jan 1920. (Their daughter, Hazel, died there the 21 Sep 1914. Joseph Samuel’s third wife and children also settled in Binghamton. See Joseph Phillip Cardon History.) Then Elmer moved his family (of 10) to Virden, New Mexico where their tenth child Lois was born 26 Jan 1926.
Then Elmer moved his family (of 11) to Kirtland, New Mexico in 1929. They stayed there until Elmer, along with two sons, Ernest & Joseph, bought a farm in Allison, Colorado in 1935. They worked the farm there until 1943. Since most of the children were married (except Eugene, Udell & Lois), Elmer and his wife, Lucinda, decided to go to Mesa, Arizona to work in the temple for a couple of months. They ended up staying. Elmer worked as a caretaker of the temple grounds for 12 years and as an ordained ordinance worker for years.
Elmer had a stroke which impaired his mental abilities. However he remained in good physical health. He passed away on the 8th of May 1965 in Mesa, Arizona.