The Passing of Arthur Alchesay Guenther

[Bob Boze Bell]

May 2, 2012

Spent most of the morning changing my editorial in the next issue to honor the late Pastor Arthur Alchesay Guenther. I met the man who shook the hand of the legendary Apache leader Alchesay in June of 2006, when Scott Stone invited me up to the White Mountains to see Guenther's incredible collection of Apache artifacts and photos.

 

Here's part of my comments:

I was doing research on the infamous scout Mickey Free, when Scott contacted me and told me I needed to come up to the White Mountains to meet the man who knew the legendary Apache leader Alchesay AND Mickey Free’s granddaughter. On June 22, 2006 I traveled up to Pinetop, Arizona to meet Lutheran Pastor A.A. Guenther. It was a thrill for myself and, later, Paul Hutton, to meet Pastor Guenther, not only because of his extensive knowledge of Apache history and culture (he speaks fluent Apache) but because of his special relationship with Alchesay.

When Pastor Guenther said to me, “You know Mickey Free carried a big knife,” it had gravitas. You may have noticed that is exactly how we portrayed him in our graphic cinema presentation.

 

Hutton and I ended up publishing a 20-page excerpt of the Mickey Free story in the December 2009 issue of True West (plus several other subsequent two-page Graphic Novel installments)
Pastor Guenther passed away on April 30, 2012. To think that The Top Secret Writer (Hutton) and I shook the hand of the man who shook the hand of Alchesay is what living hstory is all about.
Scott Stone summed up our feelings: “We lost one of Arizona’s great pioneers and a valued friend today.  He contributed much to his chosen people of the White Mountain Apache Tribe. He possessed leadership both on and off the reservation in a gentle, kind and caring way. We will all miss seeing his ever smiling face.”

 

Here's a photo Scott Stone took of me meeting Pastor Guenther:

 

And, of course, I gave the Guenther's a shout-out when we published the excerpt on Mickey Free. Here is a character in the story, Pastor Guenther:

 

The funeral for Pastor Guenther will be this Saturday at 9 a.m. at the White River Lutheran Church with a graveside service at noon in Lakeside.

 

"A fascinating gentleman and a historic treasure trove. Glad we met him."

—Paul Andrew Hutton

 

And I would do well to honor the guy who built my chicken coop—J.D. who has since moved to Utah and left us all poorer because of it.

 

 

While I was looking for my photos of Pastor Guenther I ran across this majestic scene of Elephant Butte:

 

Which in a way is a tribute to J.D. Nelson in itself.

 

"The first and great commandment is, Don't let them scare you."

—Elmer Davis

[Pete Prellwitz]

Thanks for the article! I knew Art back in the 70s, when I was a kid/teen in the Lutheran Pioneers.  Pastor Guenther and I were on a number of campouts and backpacking trips back then. And I had the pleasure of spending part of an afternoon with his mother, Minnie, back in 1972.

[Jim Holden]

Actual "living history" is harder and harder to encounter these days, as most of our links to pioneers have already left us.  This is a fascinating person that we should know more about.

By the way, I absolutely love your videos, and think they are very informative about Wyatt Earp, Photos, and history.  Darn shame that they get so few plays - you should get at least 3,000 from the community here - come on guys get on YouTube and Subscribe to Bob's True West Videos!  They'll alert you every time he posts one!

I would love for you to do a short one taking us through the progression of one of your paintings.  Seeing them progress here is very interesting for someone like me who has no talent....your thought processes are fascinating.

[Sue Cauhape]

It's always a stunning event when an historical treasure is lost to us. Books are great records, but to touch the hand of someone who knew personally the history makers is intensely profound. 

[Pete Prellwitz]

If you'd like to see a photo of Arthur Alchesay Guenther with Alchesay, head to the Lutheran Pioneer site: http://alchesay.org/history/2alcheasys.html. While Art Guenther DID shake Alchesay's hand, he was only a small child; Alchesay died just before Art's fifth birthday. But the article does give some details about how important the Guenther family was to Alchesay.

When I spoke to Minnie on that 1972 afternoon, she still smiled with love and fondness for the chief. She said that he would sometimes ride all day just to be able to share dinner with them.