b"Reavis continued from page 8settler's favor. It was the strong Apache belief that anyoneNow, the name Reavis was not unknown in thosethat beautiful valley was the only reliable perennialharming a crazy man would come to a similar enddays as many people seem to believe. Elisha had awater source in the entire mountain range. Reavis himself. For years, local opinion was divided regardingbrother by name of Logan U. Reavis who lived in St.cultivated and irrigated about fifteen acres of land by the question of the Reavis mentality. Was he deranged,Louis, Missouri. This brother was grabbing headlineshimself. He had chickens, turkeys, hogs, burros, two or did it merely suit his convenience to pretend to beadvocating that the nations capital in Washington,horses and several dogs he cared for. When he came that way? Like everything else about this strange andD.C. should be moved to St. Louis. Needless to say,to town he was always seen riding his favorite burro secretive man, no one will ever know. Some say you canhe was not successful. At that same time Elisha wasand leading a string of eight or more burros laden with still feel his presence when you walk the area knownemployed as an officer of the courtDeputy Unitedproduce. It is believed that he sold $30,000 worth during today as Reavis Ranch. his two-decade tenure.So there you have it. That is prettyBy 1896 Reavis was approaching much the way the Reavis story hadthe 70-year mark and his few been told. Other than mentioningfriends were beginning to worry his vegetables and wonderfulabout him due to his failing health. apple orchard in passing, theOn April 9, 1896, one of those Indian episodes were what youfriends, James Dalabaugh stopped got when talking about the hermitat the ranch for a visit and to check of the Superstition Mountains.on his friend. The old man was However, as time has passed, wegetting ready for a trip into Mesa have learned a great deal morefor supplies. Dalabaugh bid his about this enigma known as Elishafriend farewell and left as he had Marcus Reavis. We now know whoother business in the area. By early he was, where he came from, andMay 1896, Dalabaugh arrived at when and we have a good idea ofJack Frasers ranch only to discover why he was here. that Reavis had not passed by, as he usually did. Worried, Elisha Marcus Reavis was bornDalabaugh backtracked and found in Beardstown, Cass County,the remains of the old hermit near Illinois in 1827. We dont knowRogers Canyon some four miles much about his growing upsouth of his ranch. His mules were years, but we do know that bynearly starved but still tied up 1849 he moved to California. TheIsham Reavis Logan U. Reavis nearby. The remains and the head same sweet scent of opportunitywere separated, probably by the grabbed at him the same as it had for so many othersStates Marshall in Phoenix, Arizona, and Ishamdogs and other wild critters. They were gathered up during that gold rush era. He prospected for gold onReavis of Nebraska, an uncle, was a member of theand buried by the trail under a flat rock with his name the San Gabriel River near Los Angeles but foundSupreme Court of Arizona Territory, appointed byand date scratched on it.himself more successful at teaching school at ElPresident Grant.Monti, California. And so ended the saga of Elisha M. Reavis in the Elisha Reavis squatted on an isolated valley in thewilderness or did it? Speculation followed his death By the 1860s Reavis had moved again; this time toSuperstition Mountains as his home in 1874. In a letterthe same as any death does in the Superstitions. Arizona Territory, where he worked the gold veins andwritten to his brother Logan Uriah from Silver KingSome believed he was killed to gain ownership of his placer deposits up around the Bradshaws near Prescott.Mine, Elisha states, I am in the vicinity of the abovepropertysome even believed the Apaches finally He remained there for several years before returning tomine improving one of the finest mountain rancheskilled the White Devil because he infringed on the his same haunts in California. During this stay, he metthis year, but have lost my entire crop of vegetablessacred ground of the powerful Thunder Godor Mary Y. Sexton and on December 30, 1867, they were(which would have brought me not less than fivefar more mundane, he simply succumbed to heart married. The couple had two children, although, onlythousand dollars) on account of the drought. failure. Either way, his original resting place is long the girl survived; her name was Louisa Maria Reavis. gone but many landmarks in the mountain bear his Four years later, near the end of the Rancherianame. His remains are now buried near an Indian ruin By 1869 their marriage was failing. It was ElishasCampaign (Yavapai War) in the Superstitionunder a pile of stones to forever reside in his beloved desire for the family to join him and return to Arizona,Mountains, Elisha Reavis began contracting servicesSuperstition Mountains. however, his wife was afraid of the territorys wildnessto break and pack horses and mules for the Army. It and refused to leave her parents. Elisha and Mary neveris during this era that the stories of his crazed antics did reconcile their differences. Elisha left in Septemberwith the Apache began to circulate. It is no doubt true 1869 and traveled to La Paz, Arizona Territory, the thenthat he was a crack shot, but there has always been county seat of Yuma County. Mary died, a few yearssome confusion as to what the rifle was that he carried. later, still in California. After her death, their daughterFor the record, the old mans rifle (one of his two long went to St. Louis to live with some of his relatives. guns) was an 1873 38-40 Winchesterthe other was a 12 gauge Parker side-by-side shotgun.Without a doubt, Reavis became a peculiar sort of loner. One of his more pronounced peculiarities that According to Tom Kollenborn, Reavis located literally in he developed after the loss of his family was that hethe middle of the Superstition Wilderness. The spring in would never enter into a house where a woman was present.The old mans riflewas an 1873 38-40 Winchesterthe otherwas a 12 gauge Parker side-by-side shotgun.His remains are now buried near an Indian ruin under a pile ofstones to forever reside in his beloved Superstition Mountains.10 June 2020"