A Glimpse into the Complex History of Race in the United States
By J.J. Lamb
On January 3rd, 1894 Dora and Carter Crane welcomed their first child, Florence Estella, into the world. Florence was born on her parents’ homestead—La Cienega Ranch—in Vail, Arizona Territory. Even in 1894 there was paperwork to be completed and filed with the Arizona Board of Health. Carter’s response to question 11, which related to his “color or race”, was “Am.” What did he mean by Am.? Was Am. an abbreviation for American? Dora and Florence were listed as W[hite].
Those questions inspired me to look more carefully at Carter Crane’s Census and other official records. His answers to questions of race over the course of his life offer insights into both the constructed nature of race and its malleability. Racial categories were constructed to be, both literally and figuratively, black and white and those racial categories are anything but neutral: race was constructed to maintain the wealth and power of Europeans as their empires colonized first the Americas, and then later large swaths of the world, enslaving millions along the way.
So who was Carter Crane? Carter was born in Arkansas in 1853. His 1932 obituary states that he served with Buffalo Bill Cody in the Black Hills of South Dakota during the 1870s. It was probably in late 1878 or early ‘79 that his brother Peter convinced him to head to Arizona. The two walked much of the over 1,200 miles, living mostly off the land—their marksmanship key to their survival. By 1879 they were in the San Pedro River area, near Bisbee, where they hauled some of the first timbers for the Copper Queen mine. Arizona Territory’s 1880 census lists Carter Crane as a lumberman, Age: 25, Race: B, living at Lutrell, a mining camp 80 miles south of Tucson. Peter is listed as living in Tucson, he is also a lumberman, age: 30, Race: W. Arizona Territory was untamed and unregulated, a place where hard work made almost anything seem possible. Carter and Peter were industrious, resourceful, and bent on success.
Carter and Peter invested their earnings in a ranch in the San Pedro Valley, Crane’s Ranch. After Carter married Dora in 1893, the newlywed couple left Peter to tend to Crane’s Ranch seeking opportunity near the Southern Pacific Railroad siding at Vail—Carter had filed a homestead entry application in July 1891. A few years later, John Fraker homesteaded adjacent to Carter and the two quickly became business partners. They dug a two-mile-long irrigation ditch, by hand, to bring the water from Cienega Creek to the fertile soil of their homesteads.
“Visionary” is how the June 12, 1897 issue of the Arizona Daily Star described the ranching and farming operation of Carter Crane and John Fraker at Vail’s station which was supplying not only a livery at Vail, but both ends of the Tucson to Helvetia Stage Line. By 1899, Vail had become the bustling break of bulk point for copper from the Helvetia Mine in the Santa Rita Mountains as well as cattle from nearby ranches. Carter called his home La Cienega Ranch. Records show that Carter was civically minded and consistently registered to vote. In 1900, he was appointed to Vail Station–Voting Precinct No. 6’s Election Board to serve as a Judge. Carter sold La Cienega Ranch to the Tattersfield family in 1907. His vision and hard work are an important part of the foundation that Vail, as we know it today, is built upon.
Carter Crane and his family’s story shows us that one’s “race” is not innate but a function of norms and community. As Carter moved from place to place, and at various times, the categories ascribed to him in Arkansas and Kansas lost their power, he is listed as B, M, AM, and W. In this way—changing his race over time on official government documents—Carter Crane offers a small glimpse into the complex and messy history of race in the United States.
