Homeless in Arizona

A secret grave yard in Tempe???

I was riding my bike around in Tempe and discovered this graveyard in the middle of a nice residential neighborhood near Arizona Mills Mall.

The grave yard is near Beck Avenue & Fremont Drive, right smack in the middle of a residential neighborhood. You can only get there by driving thru the residential neighborhoods.

The major cross streets are Priest Drive and Hardy Drive to the west and east, and Baseline Road and the Superstition Freeway and Western Canal to the north.

The graveyard is kind of behind that Home Depot on Baseline. But you can't get there from Home Depot.

Since it's labeled Guadalupe Cemetery I suspect it was used to bury people from the nearby town of Guadalupe.

I think the town of Guadalupe was initially created when a large number of Yaqui Indians fled from Mexico as political refuges to Arizona. Maybe during the Mexican Revolution. I am not sure of the exact history.

A large number of the graves were in Spanish rather then English. I kind of felt like I was in Mexico when I was wandering around.

I will probably go back next week and take lots more pictures.

Wed, Dec 9, 2015 - More History

They told me this was the location of the original Guadalupe community, before they moved to Baseline Road and Priest Drive.

I also talked to a guy who lived nearby and he told me the graveyard was over 100 years old. That would place it in the time frame of the Mexican Revolution which was 1910 thru 1920.

He also told me that the people that lived there were political refuges from Mexico who were also Yaqui Indians.

He wasn't quit sure why they left Mexico. Was it the Mexican Revolution or something else? He didn't know.

He said the Guadalupe Community has a write up on the history of it.

He told me the land which the graveyard is on, was originally owned by a farmer who let the Indians say there.

He said the Federal government later relocated the Indians from this location to the city of Guadalupe location which is about a half mile south of here and a half mile to the west.

Source

Guadalupe is a town in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States. Since its founding, it has been known as a center of Yaqui culture and it is home to many religious festivals. The town motto, "where three cultures flourish," recognizes the towns roots in the Yaquis, Mexicans and descendants of the original farmers.[3] Nestled between Phoenix and Tempe, the 2010 census listed the population of the town as 5,523.[1] Guadalupe was founded around 1900 by Yaqui Indians, who fled their homeland in Sonora to avoid oppression by the Mexican government of Porfirio Diaz.[4] Respectful visitors are welcome to observe these ceremonies, although photography is forbidden.[4] Guadalupe is primarily a residential area; most residents commute to other parts of the Phoenix area to work.[4]

Source

Although Guadalupe didn't incorporate until 1975, our history dates back to 1907. Guadalupe is home to three cultures – with one of those cultures being the Yaqui Indians. The Yaqui Indians have endured many turbulent times beginning with wars fought against the Spanish and Mexicans. The Yaquis were trying to protect the land that they lived on near the Yaqui River in Sonora, Mexico. When Porforio Diaz defeated them, the Yaquis were sent down to the jungles of Yucatan. But during the Mexican Revolution, the Yaquis joined up with Pancho Villa. When Villa's army was defeated, the Yaquis headed to the United States for safety. Many of the Yaquis came up to the Salt River Valley to work on the construction of canals in the area. A community sprung up here – where we became Guadalupe.

Over the years many Hispanic families have also located in Guadalupe, and it has becoming a stopping point for Mexican immigrant workers. When the Yaqui people fled to Arizona. Anglos here were sympathetic to their plight as refugees and Yaquis were able to find a home in the Salt River Valley's agricultural economy. Catholic and Presbyterian missionaries also supported the community and helped secure land for a legal Town site in 1914. Residents voted to incorporate the town in 1975.

Source

Guadalupe dates from a 40-acre homestead given to a group of Yaqui Indians in 1914, two years after Arizona became a state. It looks like little Mexico, doesn't it? - Guadalupe resident Fidelis Garcia

The Yaqui had fled Mexico's Sonora state after decades of war against a Mexican government intent on seizing their land. Most settled around Tucson, but about three dozen others continued north to Tempe and the Salt River Valley, where their experience in irrigation helped local residents turn desert into farmland.

Although the local farmers valued Yaqui know-how, they didn't want them or any other Mexican immigrants as neighbors. So the Indians were relocated to an arid 40-acre homestead nearby. That also appeared to be by design; because the land was too barren for the Yaqui to grow their own food, the landowners could continue to count on the Indians' low-cost labor to work their farms.