Apache May Slaughter
Encyclopedia
Apache May Slaughter was the daughter of Tombstone, Arizona
sheriff John Slaughter and his wife Viola
.
Apache May was found by John Slaughter as he was following a group of Apache
s in Mexico
. She had been abandoned to her luck by her natural parents. John Slaughter returned to Arizona
with Apache May. When she was adopted by the couple, she also became Daniel Boone
's great great great granddaughter.
Apache May's name came from her background, and her month of birth. Calculating her age, the Slaughters were convinced she was born in the month of May of that year!
were no strangers to the small girl; she was constantly pictured and appeared in most Arizona publications of the era.
The Slaughters love
d Apache May. She usually wore dresses made out of posters of different kinds. These were chosen for her by the Slaughters, who supposed that she would look outstanding in the small dresses.
Apache May died at the Slaughters' San Bernardino Ranch
when one of her dresses caught fire as she was playing near a pot with boiling water. (note added by Hope Hankin, granddaughter of John Hankin who grew up in Bisby and spent summers on San Bernardino Ranch - I will add a photo I have of Apache May that I inherited from my grandfather): There were rumors at the time that were more likely true that the ranch hands, who were prejudiced against the little girl for being Indian, was actually set on fire by the ranch hands. Viola was devastated.
She is buried in a cemetery
on the San Bernardino Ranch where 32 other people associated with the Slaughters also lie.
Tombstone, Arizona
Tombstone is a city in Cochise County, Arizona, United States, founded in 1879 by Ed Schieffelin in what was then Pima County, Arizona Territory. It was one of the last wide-open frontier boomtowns in the American Old West. From about 1877 to 1890, the town's mines produced USD $40 to $85 million...
sheriff John Slaughter and his wife Viola
Viola Slaughter
Cora Viola Howell , later to become Viola Slaughter, was a famous Arizona rancher and the wife of sheriff John Slaughter.-Early years:Viola Slaughter was born in Missouri to Amazon and Mary Ann Howell...
.
Apache May was found by John Slaughter as he was following a group of Apache
Apache
Apache is the collective term for several culturally related groups of Native Americans in the United States originally from the Southwest United States. These indigenous peoples of North America speak a Southern Athabaskan language, which is related linguistically to the languages of Athabaskan...
s in Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
. She had been abandoned to her luck by her natural parents. John Slaughter returned to Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
with Apache May. When she was adopted by the couple, she also became Daniel Boone
Daniel Boone
Daniel Boone was an American pioneer, explorer, and frontiersman whose frontier exploits mad']'e him one of the first folk heroes of the United States. Boone is most famous for his exploration and settlement of what is now the Commonwealth of Kentucky, which was then beyond the western borders of...
's great great great granddaughter.
Apache May's name came from her background, and her month of birth. Calculating her age, the Slaughters were convinced she was born in the month of May of that year!
Young Celebrity
Apache May Slaughter became a young celebrity across Arizona, because many newspapers and publications speculated about the girl's natural parents, her relation to the Apaches and whether those factors would affect her personality in the future and turn her into a violent person without morals. PhotographersPhotography
Photography is the art, science and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film...
were no strangers to the small girl; she was constantly pictured and appeared in most Arizona publications of the era.
The Slaughters love
Love
Love is an emotion of strong affection and personal attachment. In philosophical context, love is a virtue representing all of human kindness, compassion, and affection. Love is central to many religions, as in the Christian phrase, "God is love" or Agape in the Canonical gospels...
d Apache May. She usually wore dresses made out of posters of different kinds. These were chosen for her by the Slaughters, who supposed that she would look outstanding in the small dresses.
Apache May died at the Slaughters' San Bernardino Ranch
San Bernardino Ranch
San Bernardino Ranch is a site in the southern San Bernardino Valley in the region of the San Bernardino National Wildlife Refuge in extreme southeast Cochise County, Arizona that is significant for its association with the beginning of cattle ranching in southern Arizona and northern Mexico. The...
when one of her dresses caught fire as she was playing near a pot with boiling water. (note added by Hope Hankin, granddaughter of John Hankin who grew up in Bisby and spent summers on San Bernardino Ranch - I will add a photo I have of Apache May that I inherited from my grandfather): There were rumors at the time that were more likely true that the ranch hands, who were prejudiced against the little girl for being Indian, was actually set on fire by the ranch hands. Viola was devastated.
She is buried in a cemetery
Cemetery
A cemetery is a place in which dead bodies and cremated remains are buried. The term "cemetery" implies that the land is specifically designated as a burying ground. Cemeteries in the Western world are where the final ceremonies of death are observed...
on the San Bernardino Ranch where 32 other people associated with the Slaughters also lie.