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(MORMONS.) Cynthia A. Rogers. Letter by a young second wife in a frontier settlement in Arizona. Autograph Letter Signed "C.A. Rogers" to "Brother Howlett." 3 pages, 8 x 5 inches, on one folding sheet; folds, minimal dampstaining. [Utahville, AZ], 30 September 1881
"The Indians killed the man, destroyed the goods & took the team."
This letter was written by Cynthia Ann Eldredge Rogers (1847-1930), who was born into the large Mormon community in Pottawattamie County, Iowa, and came to Utah as a girl. In 1863 she married the much older Ross Ransom Rogers (1821-1897) as his second wife. His first wife died in 1871. In 1877, Brigham Young directed the establishment of Utahville or Jonesville in Arizona Territory, and the Rogers family became part of the original settlement (it was soon renamed Lehi, and was later absorbed into the city of Mesa near Phoenix). There Cynthia raised a large combined family--the 1880 census lists 11 children at home from both mothers, with 5 more to be born to her through 1890. Despite the gloomy tone of this letter, she spent the rest of her life in Arizona.
The letter offers updates on five of the family's children, most of them the adult children of her husband's first wife. She describes ongoing conflicts in the decades-long Apache Wars. The Battle of Fort Apache had taken place just 29 days earlier: "The Indians have broke out in the eastern part of this territory & New Mexico. They have killed some citizens & some soldiers. The last word we got, they had got them quelled. . . . George is in New Mexico herding Indians. Charley lent his team to a man to haul some goods. The Indians killed the man, destroyed the goods & took the team."
Rugged frontier conditions are suggested in several passages: "The Salt & Gila Rivers have been booming high. They are down now. The result is there is large amounts of freight at Maricopa for all parts of the teritory & everybody is going to make their fortune freighting. Ross has just gone to Tempe with a load of barley." She notes that "Mrs. Biggs is in Phoenix plying her trade as a nurse" and hints at scurrilous gossip surrounding her stepdaughter Theodocia: "Docia is living with Mrs. Collins 12 miles from Joseph place. There is great tales round here about her, but they originated with the Jones crowd. Of course, misery loves company."
