Mini-lesson:

The Mystery at Mount Elden: Flagstaff, AZ
Lesson Plan:

The Mystery at Mount Elden: John Elden, Vigilantism and Geography in Flagstaff, AZ in 1887

Grade Level: 9-10

Enduring Understandings: History is a dynamic and fluid construct open to interpretation and reinterpretation. As the historian Alan Muslow eloquently states, “the absence of a direct correspondence to the reality of the past, the way in which history is interpreted and reported as a narrative is of primary importance to the acquisition and character of our historical knowledge."[1] In other words, historical knowledge is always predicated on an author’s interpretation, which, often times, is from yet another individual’s are group’s account of a particular event. As a result, if an author’s interpretation is based on oral histories, newspapers, and other documentation that are false, a tendency for inaccuracy surfaces on the turbulent sea of the past. This lesson plan will teach the idea that history is indeed an interpretation of the past, which is perpetually open for debate, inquiry and reexamination. Certainly, as this lesson will show, some accounts of the past are often more accurate than others. Through an examination of a local event in Flagstaff’s historical past, the death of John Elden’s youngest son at the hands of a teamster named Robert (Bob) Roberts, students will encounter the dynamic construction of history and learn to think critically about the past. Although part of a broader subject on the administration of justice in the West, in particular vigilantism, this lesson plan is primarily focused on introducing students to different historical interpretations of a local microhistory.

Goals and Objectives:

Arizona Content Standard Correlation:

-Content Standards in History:

1SS-P2. Demonstrate knowledge of research sources and apply appropriate research methods, including framing open-ended questions, gathering pertinent information, and evaluating the evidence and point of view contained within primary and secondary sources.

PO 4. Compare and contrast different accounts of the same event, including hypothesizing reasons for differences and similarities, authors’ use of evidence, and distinctions between sound generalizations and misleading oversimplifications

1SS-P12: Analyze the development of the American West and specifically Arizona.

-Skill Standard:

-Content Standards in Geography:

PO 4. how people have depended on the physical environment and its natural resources to satisfy their basic needs, including the consequences of Arizonans’ adaptation to, and modification of, the natural environment

-Content Standards in Government:

PO 6. conflicts which occur between majority rule and individual rights

Specific Objectives:

Students identify where Mt. Elden is and who it is named after.

Students identify the difficulty of ascertaining the true facts of an event.

Students understand where the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad ran in New Mexico and Arizona

Students understand the administration of justice in Arizona in the late nineteenth century and the dilemma that occurs when a small majority rules over an individual’s rights.

Students reflect on why natural resources were essential for survival in the desert Southwest and how this necessity led to conflict.

Glossary of Terms:

Teamster: One who drives a team or a herd.

“Tyranny of the majority”: When majority rule reaches conclusions of injustice.

Homestead: 1. A house, especially a farmhouse, with adjoining buildings and land. 2. Law Property designated by a householder as the householder's home and protected by law from forced sale to meet debts. 3. Land claimed by a settler or squatter, especially under the Homestead Act. 4. The place where one's home is.

Background Information:

“On a crisp September morning in 1887,”[2] a rifle shot echoed from the surrounding rock walls that project into the air nearly 10,000 feet from the base of Mount Elden in Flagstaff, Arizona. What began as an inconvenient interruption in the daily life of a homesteader had tragically ended in the murder of a six year boy known as Little John Elden. As the story is told, a teamster named Robert (Bob) Roberts passed through the Elden homestead (see picture) seeking water for his herd of mules. Knowing that the Elden Spring was nearby, Roberts proceeded to take his herd to the watering hole when Mrs. Elden, upon discovering his presence, politely requested that he go to the nearby Hull or Clark springs to water his mules. After an escalating passionate exchange of words, Roberts acquiesced to her demands but in defiance fired a random shot into the air. Tragically, the bullet found its way into the chest of Little John Elden, killing him instantly.

Although this transpiring set of events has evolved into its present form, what happens next is debated in the historical records. According to the official folklore, John Elden formed a citizen’s posse that chased Roberts into New Mexico, ultimately killing him for his crime. In other versions, however, John Elden set out alone in pursuit of Roberts and supposedly never found him. Still, another version claims that Elden, Phillip Hull, Peter Brogdon, and four others set out for Roberts and upon finding him in New Mexico, gathered in deliberation until deciding to execute him as he fled the posse.

This classic tale of western chivalry, vigilantism, resource scarcity and mystery serves as an introduction to a five day unit on justice and the fluidity of historical documents. After teaching student’s the importance of thinking critically about a given “fact,” students will follow up with a two day examination on the Camp Grant Massacre. Discussions will focus on how majority rule can lead to acts of justice and injustice and how scarcity of natural resources can lead to conflict. Following the segment on the Camp Grant Massacre students will spend one day discussing the rise of the Ku Klux Klan in the southwest and how this is yet another form of vigilantism. Finally, the last day will be spent comparing these three microhistories and relating them to the aforementioned broader themes (vigilantism, justice, resources scarcity, and majority rule).

Lesson Activities:

Anticipatory Set: (Lead-in)

It is important to note that prior to this lesson, students will have completed a unit on the Homestead Act, Indian removal, and Indian pacification. This previous lesson will have introduced students to concepts surrounding a homesteader lifestyle in the west and, later on, will provide a foundation for understanding the Camp Grant Massacre and how the government modified its stances on Indian pacification.

Materials and Equipment:

Map of Arizona and New Mexico with the Atlantic and Pacific railroad.

Props for Role-Playing (Plastic Rifles, Cowboy Hats, Brooms for Horse)

A list that delineates individual group members.

Primary/Secondary Documents:

Newspaper Article “Little Miss Elden’ Named John!”[3]

Newspaper Article, “Little Miss Elden’ Rest Here in Peace”[4]

Journal Article, “The Dead Sleep Lonely”[5]

Memoir of Flagstaff resident Roy Fanning[6]

Platt Cline Memoir[7]

Student Handouts:

Role-Playing Script

Article from the Arizona Daily Sun on June 29, 1961

Conglomerate of past and current photos of Elden grave and homestead.

Memoir of Flagstaff resident Roy Fanning. (Distributed to half the class)

Memoir of Flagstaff historian Platt Cline. (Distributed to half the class)

Step-By-Step Procedures:

Break students into three groups using the attached list of characters. In this sense, this lesson plan utilizes an aspect of the jigsaw method by writing down different categories of famous people and having students pick a name at random. In total, three groups are necessary for this activity. Once groups are established, members will designate a facilitator and a timer. Each group will then receive a handout and follow the instructions described on the worksheet. After examining the worksheets, students will be asked to present their findings.

Group 1 (Famous Actors/Writers): This group will consist of eight students, all of which will have a famous actor or writer’s name (See Group List). Once segregated, these students will receive the Role-Playing Script and begin discussing their presentation.

Group 2 (Famous figures in Arizonan History): The second group can have as few as three students or as many as eight. These students will be asked to describe the environment surrounding the Elden homestead using current and past pictures.

Group 3 (Famous Native Americans): Again, this group can include as few as three students or as many as eight. Students will be asked to read and present a 1961 newspaper article that appeared in the Arizona Daily Sun, which offers a different perspective on the Elden killing.

After the groups are finished with their presentations, the teacher will lead a discussion utilizing the Socratic Method, which will focus on why different interpretations exist on this historical event. Themes that need to be raised include: the role of natural resources in the West, the administration of justice (focusing on majority rule and individual rights, as well as vigilantism), and the accuracy and cultural bias of historical records.

Questions for discussion:

Which interpretation is correct? What does this say about supposed “facts” in history?

What role did resource scarcity play in this event?

Was Elden and his posse justified in killing Roberts, or would have a fair trail been better?

Student Assessment:

At the end of class, half of the students will receive an interpretation of the event from long time Flagstaff resident Roy Fanning (the teacher should specifically distribute this to Group 2 because the article they read offers contradictory testimony from Fanning four years earlier), while the other half of class will receive an interpretation from Platt Cline’s memoirs (See attached documents). For homework, students will reflect on an event in their past that involved a disagreement with someone else. They will then compare their memory with the person they were in disagreement with. Writing a half-page summary of the discrepancies they found between the two interpretations, students will explain why these inaccuracies occurred, what happened as a result of this disagreement, and how justice was finally administered. In the final paragraph, students should draw comparisons between their experience and the interpretation they receive. (See Rubric and Homework Assignment)

Extra Credit:

Students will look for a current or past event that describes two different interpretations of the same occurrence.

Group List:

Famous Native Americans (Group 1)

Geronimo

Ira Hayes

Cochise

James Francis Thorpe

Sitting Bull

Pontiac

Tecumseh

Crazy Horse

Local/Arizonan Politicians (Group 2)

Henry Ashurst

Bruce Babbitt

Platt Cline

Barry Goldwater

John McCain

William Rehnquist

Sandra Day O’Connor

Zane Grey

Stewart Udall

Carl Hayden

Cesar Chavez

Famous Actors/Writers (Group 3)

Earnest Hemmingway

Walt Whitman

Charlie Chaplin

Marilyn Monroe

Shirley Temple

John Wayne

Ray Bradbury

Sylvia Plath

Instructions for Group 1: Examine the following photographs and have the facilitator give a 3 minute presentation on what the environment was like for the Elden family in 1887. Pay particular attention to the natural resources, climate and housing conditions.

Use the following questions as a guideline:

1. Describe the climate the Eldens lived in during 1887. Was it hospitable?

2. Why would the Eldens choose this location for their home? (Hint: Read sign)

3. Look at the Elden homestead. Is there any evidence as to how this home was built? Who do you think built the home for the Eldens?

4. Are there any remnants of the Elden homestead today?

Instructions for Group 2: Read the article as a group and ascertain what aspects of the story you want the facilitator to illuminate. Use the following questions as a guideline.

1. Where did this event occur?

2. According to this article who died at the base of Mt. Elden in 1887.

3. Who killed this person?

4. How was the killer treated by the local residents of Flagstaff and where was he found?

5. Do you indicate any cultural bias in this reporting? Does anything indicate a particular time period?

6. What does the author mean when he says, “law of the frontier?”

7. To this day, who is interested in this gravesite?
Role Playing Script (Adapted from Maurice Kildare’s “The Dead Sleep Lonely”)

Instructions for Group 3: Cast members of your group for the following characters. Read over the script and prepare to present it to the class.

Cast:

Mrs. Elden: (Middle Aged Woman of a Rancher)

Helena Elden: (Age 10)

Robert (Bob) Roberts: (“A bettle-browed, dark complexioned burly man”)

Peter Hamon (Pete) Brogdon: (A Flagstaff cowboy)

John Elden: (

Phillip “Old Man” Hull: (Owner of a prominent Flagstaff Ranch)

Little John: (Age 6, son of the Eldens)

Narrator

Script:

Narrator: For three quarters of a century a lonely grave under an alligator juniper near Elden Spring at Flagstaff, Arizona has posed a mystery of early frontier times. What you are about to see is an account of one historians point-of-view. (Pause) The date is September 24, 1887. Mrs. Elden, and her daughters Helena and Eloise and Little John are playing at the nearby Elden Spring, (Narrator motions to kids playing) when suddenly the teamster Bob Roberts and his herd of mules approaches the spring. Irate, Mrs. Elden confronts Bob Roberts.

Mrs. Elden: Mr. Roberts, you know we must hoard this water for our stock or they go without.

Mr. Roberts: I can’t help that, them mules has come a long ways and are thirsty. We’re going in!

Mrs. Elden: (in a pleasant southern drawl) Won’t you please go on to Hull or Clark Springs where they have no shortage of water.

Mr. Roberts: Stand aside, woman. We’re driving them mules in!

Mrs. Elden: Oh, no you’re not, we will chase them away as fast as they get to the head of the draw. My husband will be in directly and you’ll have to deal with him.

(Bob Roberts decides that it would be best to acquiesce to Mrs. Elden’s demands and in defiance, shoots his gun in the air which dramatically hits Little John in the heart as he falls down dead.)

Mrs. Elden: (screaming in hysteria) Helena, go fetch your father, quickly!

Helena Elden: (saddles up her horse and rides of stage left, lights dim)

Narrator: Eventually, Helena found her father, “Old Man” Hull, and Pete Brogdon, at the stock barn chatting about [historical accuracies]. After a hasty funeral a citizen’s posse is formed.

Hull: (To Elden) John, let’s form a citizens posse and ride out after this man who killed your son. There’s a trading post on a wash up near Gallup, I bet we can find some information on him there.

Narrator: As soon as the grave was filled, Elden took Hull’s advice and formed a citizen’s posse with Brogdon and four others. After following the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad (point to map) into New Mexico for four days, the posse discovered Roberts heading back West, to the scene of the crime.

Brogdon: There’s a rider coming down the road.

Hull: Maybe he’s from New Mexico. Howdy, stranger.

Elden: (suddenly jerking his sixshooter) Get down, Roberts! Make it real easy-like, or you’re a dead man!

Roberts: (startled, but remaining on his horse) What’s this all about?

Elden: For killing my boy John, and you know it. We chased after you, and you damned nigh got away.

Roberts: It must have been a stray, an accident pure and simple.

Elden: Shut up. Tell, it to a jury. You’ll go back and stand trial.

Roberts: Yeah? You fellers ain’t lawmen. You got no authority to arrest me, damn you. I’m tired of fooling, so let’s break this up!

(Elden, Hull, and Brogdon take out their pistols and convince Roberts to acquiesce to their demands.)

Narrator: When Roberts body was found weeks later, ground evidence revealed that he was riding up the wash when he was felled by a single bullet from the side. The signs tended to show that Roberts had been freed, turned loose and must have been told to start riding yonder. Who actually killed him was a secret not one of the three ever revealed.

Homework Assignment:

For homework, reflect on an event in your past that involved a disagreement with someone else. Compare your memory with the person you were in disagreement with. Write a half-page summary of the discrepancies you found between the two interpretations. Please explain why you think these inaccuracies occurred, what happened as a result of this disagreement, and how justice, if any, was administered. In the final paragraph, draw comparisons between your experience and the interpretation of the Mt. Elden tragedy you received at the end of class. Be prepared to discuss this in class.

Grading: Students will be assessed according to the attached rubric. Scores will be recorded for each category and an average will determine the overall grade.

Notes/Citations: