Print
Comment
Rate
Frontiersman
 |
| James H. Tevis as a young man. (PHOTO COURTESY/W. Lane Rogers) |
By W. Lane Rogers/for the Range News
James H. Tevis was a sturdy individualist unencumbered by convention. In 1891, the Sixteenth Territorial Assembly enacted legislation establishing a 20-year tax exemption for railroads building new lines. Representing Cochise County in the lower house, Tevis supported the revenue-deflating measure. At the same time, he sought to economize by closing the territorial prison at Yuma. He proposed that felons be hanged; those convicted of misdemeanors be whipped, publicly.
A Virginian born in 1835, Tevis left home at 14 to work as a cabin boy on the Mississippi River. He was not much in the 1850s when he became a soldier of fortune filibustering with both William Walker and Henry A. Crabb in Mexico and Latin America.
1857 found Tevis in Arizona where he experienced high adventure as an intrepid frontiersman and resolute settler. He migrated from the San Francisco River to the Sonoita Valley to Apache Pass, skirmishing all the while with Apaches. When the manager of the Butterfield stage station transferred to a safer clime, Tevis assumed its operation.
He joined attacks against Apaches, participated in at least one foray into Mexico, and accompanied a raiding party into Navajo country. In a story that may be apocryphal, it is said that he was captured by Cochise but escaped.
Attracted by a gold strike at Pinos Altos, Tevis left Apache Pass in 1859. At the outbreak of the Civil War, he joined rebel Texans and was given command of Arizona scouts, earning the lifelong sobriquet, Captain Tevis.
After the war, he married Emma Boston and took up ranching near Austin, Texas. Then, in 1879, he returned to Arizona-in the company of Emma, five daughters, and three sons.
Drawn to his old haunts, Tevis claimed land north of Fort Bowie. Surely, he knew that the Southern Pacific Railroad would seek right of way across his claim. It did, he prospered, and the village of Tevis, later Teviston, sprouted.
Tevis filed multiple claims in the Chiricahua Mountains, established the Tevis Mining District, and was among the organizers of the Cochise Mining and Milling Company. He owned a store in Teviston and property at Tombstone valued in 1883 at more than $6,000.
With the exception of a brief stint in Tucson, Tevis lived out his life at Teviston operating the Southern Pacific Hotel. The Arizona Daily Star noted that, "The captain has grown rich feeding tourists."
Teviston died in 1905. Three years later, in June 1908, the post office mandated a name change-and Teviston became Bowie.
A Virginian born in 1835, Tevis left home at 14 to work as a cabin boy on the Mississippi River. He was not much in the 1850s when he became a soldier of fortune filibustering with both William Walker and Henry A. Crabb in Mexico and Latin America.
1857 found Tevis in Arizona where he experienced high adventure as an intrepid frontiersman and resolute settler. He migrated from the San Francisco River to the Sonoita Valley to Apache Pass, skirmishing all the while with Apaches. When the manager of the Butterfield stage station transferred to a safer clime, Tevis assumed its operation.
He joined attacks against Apaches, participated in at least one foray into Mexico, and accompanied a raiding party into Navajo country. In a story that may be apocryphal, it is said that he was captured by Cochise but escaped.
Attracted by a gold strike at Pinos Altos, Tevis left Apache Pass in 1859. At the outbreak of the Civil War, he joined rebel Texans and was given command of Arizona scouts, earning the lifelong sobriquet, Captain Tevis.
After the war, he married Emma Boston and took up ranching near Austin, Texas. Then, in 1879, he returned to Arizona-in the company of Emma, five daughters, and three sons.
Drawn to his old haunts, Tevis claimed land north of Fort Bowie. Surely, he knew that the Southern Pacific Railroad would seek right of way across his claim. It did, he prospered, and the village of Tevis, later Teviston, sprouted.
Tevis filed multiple claims in the Chiricahua Mountains, established the Tevis Mining District, and was among the organizers of the Cochise Mining and Milling Company. He owned a store in Teviston and property at Tombstone valued in 1883 at more than $6,000.
With the exception of a brief stint in Tucson, Tevis lived out his life at Teviston operating the Southern Pacific Hotel. The Arizona Daily Star noted that, "The captain has grown rich feeding tourists."
Teviston died in 1905. Three years later, in June 1908, the post office mandated a name change-and Teviston became Bowie.
 |
 |
|
| County P&Z commission says no to airpark permit | Arizona DPS mourns loss of former Willcox officer |
Article Rating
Reader Comments
The following are comments from the readers. In no way do they represent the view of willcoxrangenews.com.
Sidney Brooks wrote on Jun 18, 2009 6:58 AM:
Nevertheless, I favor changing the name of Bowie back to Teviston. Colonel Bowie for whom the town was named was never anywhere near the area. "