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For two days, from July 19-20, the Town of Snowflake continued a 141-year tradition in the celebration of Pioneer Days that started on July 21, 1878, when the first six Mormon families settled along the banks of the Silver Creek.
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Complete with a Saturday morning parade, night ranch rodeos, fireworks, entertainment, food and dances, the celebrations this year continued much like Hunter Lewis, Snowflake councilman, remembered them as a kid.
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Growing up in Snowflake and graduating from Snowflake High School, Lewis has many fond memories of the celebrations. “The big thing I remember as a kid was the parade and the softball games,” shared Lewis. “Before Snowflake’s old rodeo stands were condemned, they used to have afternoon rodeos there and then there would be the championship softball games at night at Fredrickson Park.”
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Lewis recalled that after the softball game, everyone would lay out on the field to watch the fireworks.
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While the rodeos are now held at night at the Taylor Rodeo Park and the softball games are a thing of the past, the folks of Snowflake still come out in mass for a variety of activities that fill both Friday and Saturday.
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“The parade, rodeo, barbecue and softball, have all been part of the Pioneer Day experience,” continued Lewis. “We have a lot of people from the metro Phoenix area that come up. A lot of people come home during this time. There are so many people from Snowflake or that have family here.”
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For Lewis the history of his ancestors and the town are a point of heritage. “Pioneer Days origination is from the pioneers that entered into the Salt Lake Valley in July 24, 1847. It’s part of the Mormon heritage of the town. It’s something that was brought with the settlers when they came from Utah to Arizona.”
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According to Mormon history, the venture into the Little Colorado River Valley, that encompasses the modern day cities of Holbrook, Joseph City and Winslow, started in 1873, when a reconnaissance expedition was sent to the area to make a feasibility study for colonization.
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Among the scouts was a Norwegian missionary, Andrew Amundsen, who pretty well summed up the bleak land in his journal when he wrote that the area was no place fit for a human being to dwell on.
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Not to be deterred, the first group of colonists arrived in late May of that same year. One journal entry referred to the Little Colorado, disparagingly, as “a loathsome little stream, as disgusting a stream as there is on the continent.”
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But even the most resolute among them quickly gave up as the colonists packed up and returned to Utah within the year. But three years later, Brigham Young sent another group of colonists.
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Included in this group was the redheaded frontiersman named Lot Smith as well as other church leaders like William C. Allen, George Lake and Jesse D. Ballinger. These men led four colonizing parties, each numbering about 50 people, establishing Obed, Sunset, Brigham City and St. Joseph.
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All four communities constructed self-containing forts of cottonwood and sandstone that included a mess hall, housing, shops, cellars, storehouse and wells.
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In 1878, the communities of Sunset, Brigham City and Obed were ravaged by floods and malaria, causing the colonists to pull up stakes and move on.
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St. Joseph was the only one to survive, and in 1923 the Santa Fe Railroad changed the name to Joseph City so it would not be confused with St. Joseph, Missouri.
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Despite numerous crop failures and dams destroyed by the Little Colorado River, the colonists at Joseph City managed to win the battle against the elements.
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To this day, Joseph City holds the honor of being the oldest Mormon settlement in the Little Colorado River Valley.
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Meanwhile, the search for good farm land brought William Flake to the banks of the Silver Creek. The land was owned by James Stinson, who offered to sell it to Flake for $12,000.
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With no money to offer, Flake negotiated the price down to $11,000 to be paid with cattle from Utah and on July 21, 1878, six Latter-day Saints and their families settled in the valley.
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Lewis noted that a lot of settlers were coming from Utah during that time, looking for any locations that were ideal for new communities. “This is a beautiful valley. Snowflake and Taylor were settled almost at the same time. The two towns have always been one community.
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“Pioneer Days is something that is looked forward to by all ages,” concluded Lewis. “What is great and what I love about Snowflake is the participation from community members. There are so many people that put in so many hours behind the scenes, that do floats and help with clean up. It is amazing to see how many people go and clean up after the parade and rodeos. The whole celebration truly highlights our town and who we are.”
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