BY MARY JANE HATCH
SISTER OF CATHERINE LAVORA HATCH
TOLD ABOUT 1960
     When I was twelve years old (sic) we still lived in town (Taylor, Ariz.). One summer day Father and the boys came home for dinner. During the meal Father said “You know, Mother, the boys have helped so good on the farm this spring and summer that I told them that when we finished hauling the hay and the grain was all stacked we would all go to the mountains fishing. What do you say?” No one waited for Mother’s reply, we knew how she loved to go camping with her family, so we all gave a loud hurrah! We started making plans that very minute. July 13 was Katy and Orlando’s birthday so we all decided that would be the day we would leave. We all worked to make it by then but we weren’t able to leave until July 14th. The year was 1905.
     What a happy crowd we were! Our Father and Uncle Ezra Hatch had fixed up an outfit for our Grandmother Standifird and her two daughters, Pearl, and Ruth. Her oldest daughter, Aunt Bashie had married Newell Call. She had given birth to a son first, and then in due time she had twin girls. She died soon after their birth, leaving the three small children for Grandma to raise. One died at three months, the other at nine months. The family realized the responsibility had been hard on Grandma, so they thought the trip to the mountains would be good for her and also for her son-in-law. So he and his little son, Vern, drove Grandma’s outfit. Uncle Ez had a large family but they were all younger than our three older boys. Uncle Ez had two wagons, so did my folks. There were also three saddle ponies for the boys to ride. As I make count Uncle Ez and Aunt Maria had six children and my folks eight. I believe there were 23 all together.
     Our first day was a picnic all the time. That night we camped near Show Low Creek. Early the next morning the children took soap and towels and went to the creek to wash. My little sister, Katy, who was born while Daddy was on his mission, was my pride and joy. She had beautiful blonde curls. I took Katy and my cousin May (who always said we were twins except we had different mothers) took her little sister Florence, and away we went to the creek. There we washed them and combed their hair. I made a braid on top of Katy’s head, tied a red bow in it, then made ringlets. To me, she was beautiful, maybe not as pretty as some, but she was the sweetest, the happiest and the laughingest little girl in the world. She loved everyone and they returned that love, so it was a sad time for everyone who knew her when she was lost.
     It was noon of the second day out. We had just stopped for dinner. Just a few minutes before we camped Florence and Katy climbed in our wagon. Katy got a bucket of cookies and passed them to Florence. “No, thank you”, said Florence, “I’m not hungry.” “Neither am I,” replied Katy, “but I’m going to eat to keep from getting hungry.” Little did she know that that would be the last bite she would ever have.
     While the men were making a fire and graining horses, Grandma, Aunt Maria and Mother took their buckets to find a spring and bring back water for the camp. When they returned they brought water and three big bunches of beautiful ferns and flowers. The three older boys had gone on down to the spring before the rest of us got there. I remember when we did get to the spring we laid on our stomachs and drank the good cool water. There was a stream coming from the northeast. We took our shoes off and waded, while some of the others were gathering flowers.
     The boys decided to go over to the canyon, which was about a mile away. Just before they left Florence wanted Katy to go to camp with her. She didn’t want to go but we told her she had better go. Florence left, she took the wrong trail. Soon Katy followed her. When Florence came up over the raise, she looked for camp but couldn’t find it. She stopped and looked all around, then she saw camp over to the north and ran to it. I guess Katy paid no attention. She thought she would soon catch Florence, but she didn’t . She went on to the canyon.
     Mother was always nervous about her children, and after Katy went to the spring she just couldn’t help with dinner, but stood where she could see everyone who came from the spring. She would call to each one, “Where is Katy?” They all gave the same answer. “Oh, she is with Mary and May.” But she wasn’t. As we neared camp Mother called, “Mary, where is Katy?” It startled me because I always took her with me. “I don’t know, Mother, she hasn’t been with me.” I’ll never forget that helpless, panicky look that came on Mother’s face. She screamed, then she said, “I’ll never see my little girl again, she is lost!” Then she started to sob. Father ran to her. “Don’t talk like that, don’t cry, she hasn’t been to the spring fifteen minutes. We will find her in just a few minutes.” May and I stayed with the small children while all the others went to look for Katy. For hours they ran, they called in every direction, but it was as if she had been swallowed up. Indians and others came to help. At 4 P.M. an Indian woman found her bouquet of flowers that Grandma had given her before she went to the spring. They were on the edge of the canyon. She had dropped them as she let herself drop ten or twelve feet to a ledge below. By now there were a great number of Indians and whites who rushed into the canyon. They were all confident they would find her before nightfall, but they didn’t. All night long they hunted, called and listened for her, but to no avail.
     As the word spread, men, horses and food stuff piled into our camp. Mother, Aunt Maria and Grandmother cooked all the time. The weary men would hunt until they didn’t have an ounce of strength left, then they would stumble into camp for food and rest. There was always plenty to eat. Every morning Uncle Will Hatch would drive a white topped buggy of Brother Palmer’s (Aunt Dora Hatch’s father) over to Mr. Cooley’s for provisions, which he gave to father at cost. He had hundreds of cattle and every morning he would have his sons, Charley, Bert and Don, kill a fresh beef and bring it to us. They never charged one cent for this. The Cooley boys knew that wild country and they, with many faithful men from that mountain country, stayed with the hunt from the first to the finish. Practically everyone who could leave their farms, came from every town and hamlet in Navajo County and many also came from Apache and Gila counties.
     Father got all the Indians he could. They helped so much, until they thought they would find her dead, if at all, then they all left. Indian Scouts were then sent from Denver and blood hounds from the State Prison. 1905 was the wettest summer in Arizona’s history, so the scent of her tracks was soon washed out and neither the hounds nor Scouts could track her.
     During the first week, I remember that one evening, just before dark we heard what sounded like great many horses coming. We all got behind a big pine tree and looked down the road. It was a Calvary troop from Fort Apache. They rode up to the camp and the Captain asked for the Mother of the little lost girl. Mom stepped up and said, “I’m the Mother.” Then he assured her not to worry because they would find the little girl and have her back to camp safely before daylight. He then asked the child’s name. “Katy,” replied Mother. “That’s a pretty name and I like it”, he said. He then called to his men, “The name is Katy.” They turned their horses and galloped away, while all thru the ranks the men were calling, “Katy, Katy”. Father said all night long they called, “Katy” but like all the other hunters, their efforts were useless.
     The canyon was searched with a fine comb. The men caught hold of hands and formed a long human chain and covered every inch of ground.
     There is a very deep hole where Gomas Creek falls over the cliff and from there it flows into White River. Well, some of the men finally decided that she had fallen into this deep hole. So they took the rods out of the wagon end-gates, heated them and made hooks. The men then swam this bottomless deep and drug it with these hooks fastened to ropes. Of course, this too came to naught. At one place a large pine tree had fallen and it reached from one bank to the other across White River. Some suggested that perhaps she had crossed the river on this fallen tree. Most of the men said that no child could cross, because of a large flood in the river. As the men talked of this in camp, Mother looked at them and said, “If a cat could cross on that tree, my Katy could.” No one followed the trail over the fallen pine.
     Soon a report came from Lakeside that a little girl, Katy’s size had been seen wandering in the edge of the forest down there. The searching party hated to leave the canyon since they hadn’t found her yet, but they were all pulled from the canyon and taken to Lakeside.
     Mother, who was over a month pregnant and had worked so hard to cook all the meals, was told it was best for the small children and her to go on home. So she took Mary, George, Lafe, Orlando and Ann and went back to Taylor. Father kept the two older boys, John and Ezra with him. What a sad thing it was for Mother to leave her tiny girl in those wild mountains! No one can imagine how she suffered all the time. Many of the nights while they were searching for her, we would be sleeping in the wagons, and Mother would hear a noise in the underbrush. She would sit up in bed, then dash out of the wagon into the brush calling, “Katy, Katy.” It would waken me and I’d dash after her. Whatever was making the noise would vanish, and there would be Mother with her arms outstretched calling for her child. When she saw that Katy wasn’t there she would fall on her knees and pray. She never got over the shock of this tragedy. Very often she would jump out of bed in the night, run for the door, open it and call “Katy, Katy.” This would awaken her, then she would go back to bed and cry herself to sleep. Daddy was always there to comfort her the best he could even though his heart was breaking.
     Of course, Katy wasn’t at Lakeside. A few days after the men left the canyon, a Mr. Savage was riding for cattle and he found a shoe. The lace was gone out of it. He hurried to find father. As soon as he saw it he knew it was Katy’s.
     The men rushed back into the canyon and onto the other side of the river. It wasn’t long until the other shoe was found. She had taken her shoes off, rolled her stockings and put one in each shoe, then tied them together and put them over her shoulder. We knew this, because in the knot that held the shoes together, they found strands of her hair and frayed threads from her pinafore.
     After that she seemed to make her way to the highest peak in the mountains. Before she reached the peak she took off all her clothes. The men found them in four neat little piles.
     One day, just twenty days to the hour of the time she was lost, a terrible storm came. Father said he had never been in such a storm. Lightning was flashing, big trees were falling and the thunder was deafening. Mr. George Bailey was in charge of the men and he called a halt and told them to find shelter as best they could. Some men went for a big oak tree. One man, Andrew Peterson, saw a blond curl lying on the ground. He picked it up, the said, “This looks like human hair”. Daddy looked at the hair, picked it up, then said, “This is my Katy’s hair”. He spurred his horse and rode to Katy’s lifeless, broken body. The animals had eaten her flesh but only one toe was missing. Her neck had been broken but the skeleton was all together. Her body was put in a box, taken to the Cooley Ranch and then brought home.
     Father sent a telegram, saying only, “We have found Katy.” How Mother’s hopes raised; she knew she was alive! Uncle Will, Mother and Grandmother were soon on their way to meet Father and Katy. What a disappointment she met! By the time the two buggies met, it was pitch dark and raining heavily. The only time they could see the road was when a flash of lighting would come. There had been no lightning for awhile and the two teams ran head on into each other. It was a wonder that someone wasn’t killed, but no one was hurt.
     Mother sprang from her buggy as soon as it was stopped--ran to Daddy and cried, “Where is Katy?” He pointed to the little box and sobbed, “In there.”
     They brought her home. The skeleton was perfect, so they wrapped the bones with cotton and then dressed her. A handkerchief was laid over what was once her beautiful little face. The family came in for the last time to see Katy. It looked like her little body, but without her sweet face, it never seemed like Katy.
     I believe the funeral was the largest ever held in Taylor, even though it has been 55 years. People from hundreds of miles away were there. They should have been in attendance. It had been their hunt, their sorrow, and their sacrifice.
     In those days, when a friend was in need it meant their community was in need, their county was in need. And they were all there ready to help. The whole state had been concerned over Katy for 20 days, and now it was over, even though the end was not what they had prayed and hunted for. Hundreds paid respect to little Katy Lavora Hatch and her fine family, by attending her funeral.

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Surprised in Church
George Phineous Hatch surprises his wife, Dora, by naming their 11th child Quola Mae.