BAUER FAMILY HISTORY FROM VALERIE (BAUER, STRINKER) KURSON SNAVELY - THANK YOU VALERIE/sTEPHEN

 "My mother, Marjorie "Bauer " Kurson Snavely, granddaughter of Apollinar and Maria Bauer of Tombstone, was born in Phoenix, Arizona in 1920. Marjorie was the eldest daughter of Bertha Bauer Strinker and Joe Strinker. Mom grew up listening to her mother Bertha’s stories about the adventures and lives of Apollinar and Maria Bauer, who were Bertha’s parents and my mother’s grandparents. Unfortunately, Mom never knew either Apollinar or Maria, who’d died by the time Margorie was born. Almost to the end of her long life, Mom would tell me fascinating tales about her grandparents, who were original founders of Tombstone…how her grandfather, Apollinar, was the wagonmaster of the wagon train that traveled west to Arizona Territory, how the actions of her grandmother, Maria, prevented a band of Native Americans from burning the wagons and potentially killing their occupants, and how Apollinar once encountered Billy The Kid. I loved listening to Mom’s accounts of these long-ago events, especially those about actual historical events. One of these stories involved the famous gunfight at Tombstone’s OK Corral. Apollinar and Maria Bauer owned a butcher shop/meat market adjacent to the corral, and undoubtedly knew everyone involved in the incident. In fact, Apollinar was sworn in and testified at the subsequent OK Corral Inquest. At the time of the gunfight, the Bauer family lived adjacent to their store and during the showdown, at least one of the bullets went through their front window, nearly killing the baby - my mother’s Aunt Minnie. (see below image)

 As a girl, Mom undoubtedly visited the vacant Bauer storefront in Tombstone with her family. Those were the days before the town became the tourist destination that it is today. Mom was very proud of her Bauer heritage and her family’s history, and passed that on to me. Like any old building, the original Bauer store deteriorated over time until it no longer remained. I was a 4-year-old, living in Ohio during 1957, when Mayor Sid Wilson had a “new” adobe version of my great-grandfather’s store constructed to represent the original that was gone. Although it may not have been an architectural twin, the new Bauer’s gave Tombstone visitors the opportunity to get an idea of what the town looked like during its Wild West days. It was also an effort to retain an air of the history that surrounds and encompasses the place. While on a sentimental trip to Arizona during the early 1980s, Mom had a chance to see the reconstructed store building. She was delighted and I well remember her telling me about it when she returned. Unfortunately, I never got to visit the building myself. Sad to hear it is now a parking lot. As Apollinar and Maria Bauer’s great-granddaughter, I’m saddened that the reconstruction of my relatives’ store wasn’t thought worthwhile enough to preserve. It served to connect the Bauer name with the town’s historical past, which - as founders - was appropriate. Today, that building would have been over 60 years old. It’s not a far stretch to imagine that some of the folks who planned and worked on it during the 1950s may, in their youth, have know Apollinar and Maria personally. During my Tombstone visit, I met only one person - an older man working in the Bird Cage Theater who recognized the Bauer name. In its zeal to expand tourist parking, I must wonder if Tombstone hasn’t unfortunately erased part of the reason that people come to visit - history. Mom told me that during her visit to Tombstone during the ‘80s, she absolutely saw some of her grandfather’s possessions in a location that I remember to have been the Birdcage Theatre. When we were there a couple of years ago, we toured the Birdcage…there were lots of old things, but none were marked with provenance!" All the best… 

Valerie (Bauer) Kurson Snavely (great-granddaughter of Apollinar and Maria Bauer October 26, 2022 

SOT 2022