SIERRA VISTA, Ariz. (KGUN) — The establishment of Fort Huachuca, formally known as Camp Huahcua, in the late 1800s brought a diverse population to southeastern Arizona. Mexicans and members of the Yaqui tribe fled suppression from the Mexican government and war, ending up in present-day Cochise County.
"There's an old saying, 'you know who you are today because of the events in your past'," said Sierra Vista resident, Ron Rivera. "Certainly the Hispanic culture was important in building Sierra Vista.”
Walking through the Fry Pioneer Cemetery, located on the West End of Sierra Vista, you see the names of the people who helped lay the foundation for the city on engraved in brick. There are over 200 adults, children and babies buried at the cemetery. The Fry family has a sectioned off part for their own family, but allowed other people to be buried outside their plot because there wasn't another cemetery close by.
"These individuals helped build this community, and a lot of times, their stories are forgotten” said Henry Hauser Museum Curator, Melissa Miller.
Two of the people in the cemetery are Serapio Valenzuela Jr. and Alfredo Laguna, who migrated to Arizona from Mexico in the 1800s.
"Times were tough back then,” Rivera said.
They and their friends came to the area to work as wood cutters for Camp Huachuca. Marta Messmer is Valenzuela’s granddaughter, and a second generation Sierra Vistan.
"I could have not imagined living in a tent your whole life,” she said. “Whatever job that brought him money to help with the family, is what they did.”
Valenzuela, Laguna and the other wood cutters would go into the mountains to cut the trees, bringing the wood back down for use by soldiers to build houses and burn for light and heat.
“They contributed a lot to the foundation of this city with the work that they did, and just bringing their families here and establishing themselves, they helped build this community,” Miller said.
Women also came to the area looking for a new life, working in the very limited jobs they were able to.
Messmer says it wasn’t until working with her dad, Naco Valenzuela, to preserve Fry Pioneer Cemetery that she learned the impact her family had on Sierra Vista.
"Growing up, it wasn't something that I really, you know, realized how important that was,” she said.
Naco worked in the cemetery growing up. Messmer says he dug the graves before the burials, and it was his map they used to mark the graves during the restoration of the cemetery back in 2019. Messmer has many family members and family friends buried at the cemetery.
"They all wanted to be here," Messmer said. "I probably would have chosen to bury my father here also, but that's not allowed.”
Burials at Fry Pioneer Cemetery stopped decades ago, and the cemetery is now designated as a historic place the federal government.
The City of Sierra Vista will again be hosting its Dusk with the Dead event at the cemetery on Saturday, Oct. 19 from 5:30 - 7:30 p.m., according to the Sierra Vista Facebook page. The event gives people a chance to learn more about the people buried at the cemetery and their contributions to the city.
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Alexis Ramanjulu is a reporter in Cochise County for KGUN 9. She began her journalism career reporting for the Herald/Review in Sierra Vista, which she also calls home. Share your story ideas with Alexis by emailing alexis.ramanjulu@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook.
