Kate B. Austin, 2020 Inductee Kate was born in 1904 in the area called Calva, located on the San Carlos Apache reservation. Kate was the eldest daughter of Mike and Hattie Burns and would be one of five siblings. Kate’s early childhood was spent near the San Carlos Apache reservation. Her playground was the spacious, […]
Williams, Kimberle
Kimberle Williams, 2008 Inductee In the early 1970s when she was just 10 years old, Ms. Williams began her fight to save her people’s lands that were to be flooded to form Orme Dam and Reservoir. She walked door to door getting signatures for the grass root polls. She was Miss Fort McDowell in 1981. […]
Williams, John
John Williams, 2017 Inductee (1904-1983) The inductee from Fort McDowell is Mr. John Williams. His Indian name was Kehedwah. He played a leading role in the Yavapai tribe’s eventual victory in the 1970s fight against the building of Orme Dam. The planned construction of the Central Arizona project storage facility, if built, would have threatened forced […]
Smith, Lula
Lula Smith, 2011 Inductee The former Tribal Council member is the 2011 Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation inductee. She was an active church volunteer, serving as an elder at the Fort McDowell Presbyterian Church her entire adult life. She attended the Phoenix Indian School and was very active in the government’s Home Extension programs. She served […]
Smith, John
John Smith, 2013 Inductee Smith was born in May 1906 and was an enrolled member of the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation. John spent all of his life with his wife, Lula Burns Smith, and their five children. He began working at a very young age and worked as a laborer with the City of Phoenix […]
Roosevelt, Pres. Theodore
President Theodore Roosevelt, 2004 Inductee (1858-1919) The 26th President of the United States serving from 1901 to 1909, Mr. Roosevelt was a dynamic, far-sighted and outspoken leader. He is historically famous for his “Rough Riders” regiment that stormed the hills of Cuba in the Spanish-American War; for his determination to build the Panama Canal; for […]
Pattea, Dr. Clinton
Dr. Clinton Pattea, 2004 Inductee (1931-2013) As a young boy in a home with dirt floors, no running water or electricity at Fort McDowell, Dr. Pattea committed himself to improving the lives of his people. He received his degree from Arizona State College-Flagstaff (now NAU) and worked in banking and with the Arizona Commission on […]
Mott Begay, Virginia
Virginia Mott Begay, 2015 Inductee Mott Begay was elected to the tribal council in 1973, but it was her effort as one of Fort McDowell’s most active fighters against the government’s proposed Orme Dam that resulted in her election to the hall of fame.The dam threatened her tribe’s existence with forced relocation and loss of […]
Montezuma, Dr. Carlos
Dr. Carlos Montezuma, 2004 Inductee ( 1866-1923) Stolen by the Pimas as a young boy, he was sold for 30 silver dollars a few days later to Carlo Gentile, a traveling Italian photographer. Gentile later adopted him and named him Carlos Montezuma. He became the first Yavapai medical doctor and practiced in Chicago. He gained […]
Mike, Bessie
Bessie Mike, 2004 Inductee This legendary basketweaver has baskets in the Smithsonian, at Balboa Park Museum, private collections and the River of Time Museum. Bessie at work in her yard was a familiar sight to those traveling along Fort McDowell Road. She was born in Ray, Ariz., on June 15, 1910. Six months later, she […]