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Yavapai Indian

Wikiup

Modern Day Wikiup

The Schnebly Homestead

Zane

Author Zane Grey

History of the Yavapai Indians and the Pioneers of Sedona

Yavapai Indians

The Yavapai inhabit the Sedona area by the late 1400's/early 1500's. The Pai peoples (Hopi, Yavapai,etc.) are believed to have migrated to this area from the south.

The Yavapai were primarily hunter gatherers who hunted small game and subsisted their diet with the cultivation of corn, beans and squash as well as the collection of pine nuts, juniper berries and prickly pear cactus.

In addition, they constructed earthen pits that were used to roast the agave plant and it is believed that this was a delicacy for them and that the agave roasts served as a center of social activity.

Yavapai residences consisted of a teepee like structure called a wikiup which was composed primarily from the branches of the ocotillo. In the summer the shelters were left open and then were closed off as the colder winter weather arrived. They existed in small family bands as to not overstretch the resources of any particular area.

The Yavapai are also known as The People of the Sun. It seems that their spirituality was practiced in the form of seasonal dances showing a strong connection to nature. It is believed that worked with spirits called Kakakas who dwell in the caves of the Verde Valley.

The Sedona area was sacred ground to the Yavapai as their creation story takes place originates in Montezuma's Well and also has ties to Boynton Canyon.

With the establishment of Camp Lincoln and later, Fort Verde, the U.S. government used force to drive all Yavapai from their traditional land onto reservations in order to make settlement easier for the homesteaders. This is a very ugly part of American history as an untold number of atrocities were committed by this country in favor of American settlement .

The Pioneers of Sedona

The implementation of the Homestead Act in 1865 brought people out to the American west in search of wealth, adventure, escape and promises of a new life.

J.J. Thompson is considered the first settler to call the Sedona area home. He and his family took up residence in the Oak Creek Canyon around the area now known as the Indian Gardens. After the Thompsons various families moved into the Sedona area calling it Red Rock. Families were spread out between Oak Creek Canyon, Uptown and Cathedral Rock area.

Most of the first settlers were either farming along the creek, diverting the flow of the water for crop irrigation or were ranching cattle. Families were large but the death rate high as medicine was primitive. The nearest reasonable medical care was a three day ride to Prescott or longer to Flagstaff. Neighboring mothers usually served as the midwives in the birthing process.

Fun consisted of swimming in the creek and Saturday night dances as the community got together to feast, catch up, listen to music and dance.

The Sedona area began its road to township with the arrival of the Schnebly family in the 1890's. They homesteaded the area around what is now Tlaquepaque and they organized the first school, first hotel and became the first postmasters of the area.

Being the postmaster T. Carl Schnebly tried to name this place Schnebly Station but it was found to be too long for the cancellation stamp. So he shortened it up and named the postal area after his wife, Sedona. Sounds better, doesn't it.

The Schneblys worked with the Munds family to the north to hire out men to blast out a road from Sedona to Flagstaff. That road took over a year to build at the total cost of $1800 and when it was finished the trip to Flagstaff was shortened to 3 days. This road provided better access to the infrastructure and market of a city, where goods from Sedona could be sold.

From the 1930's with Zane Grey's Call of the Canyon to the 1950's with Howard Hughes' Republic Studios, the Sedona area became a location shoot for some of the Hollywood westerns. This helped put Sedona on the map and it is neat to see Sedona as the backdrop for such movies as Broken Arrow, Gun Fury, Angel and the Badman among others.