CHARLOTTE IRIS CURTIS
Charlotte Iris Curtis was born January 9, 1873 in Salem, Utah. When she was eight years old her parents, Joseph Nahum Curtis and Sarah Diantha Gardner, were called to colonize St. David, in Cochise County, Arizona, on the San Pedro River. It took them six months to make the trip by horse and wagon. When they arrived in what is now St. David, they circled their wagons as a fort for protection from indians and outlaws. They lived this way for about a year until houses could be built.
Iris, as she was called, once talked to the famous indian chief, Cochise, and had many experiences with the indians, as well as with such famous Tombstone residents as the Earps, Clantons and Doc Holiday. The Curtis' lived about fifteen miles north of Tombstone and they hauled cheese, eggs, chickens, and their farm produce to this wild town to trade for things they needed at the stores. On one trip when she was twelve, Iris had a toothache and her father had Doc Holiday, the famous outlaw who was also a dentist, pull her tooth. Iris was the oldest child of her parents and accepted much responsibility for her younger brothers and sisters.
When Iris was a young girl in St. David, there was a major earthquake while she was at school. She was playing jacks outside during recess and was not hurt by the falling rocks and adobes. This earthquake helped fulfill prophecy, inasmuch as an apostle promised the saints that if they were faithful the land would become more inhabitable. It had many swamps filled with mosquitos which caused fevers. The earthquake dried up the swamps.
On December 23, 1890, Iris married George Arthur Hoopes in her father's home on the ranch. In 1894, the young family was called by the Church to settle in Thatcher, where they bought a small farm. George was called on a mission to the Indian Territory of Oklahoma and Iris stayed home with the children, making her own living from their farm.
While George was on his mission all of the children became very ill with various illnesses. They were afraid the baby would die. After praying for courage, Iris looked out her window and saw an old man with a long beard and brilliant white clothes coming toward the door and she let him in, telling him her desperate situation. He said the children would be well and not to worry. He asked for a drink and when Iris returned with it the old man was gone. Iris believed he was a heavenly messenger who had come to comfort her.
Iris served as the Thatcher Ward Relief Society President during the First World War and the devastating flu epidemics, risking her own life to care for the sick. She encouraged her boys to play in the Thatcher Town Band and had them practice on her front lawn, serving lemonade and cookies to the musicians. Her home was open to her many relatives, including those who came to attend the college in Thatcher. Iris enjoyed having oyster suppers and parties of all types. She also loved to go back to St. David to visit her family. They traveled by team and wagon, staying for several weeks, until they bought a car.
In 1921, Iris contracted typhoid fever and was confined to bed or a chair for the rest of her life. George died in 1927, leaving her a widow for ten years. Even though she was an invalid, Iris always prepared a Christmas breakfast for all of her family, making pies, cakes, cinnamon rolls, and even baking a turkey. She continued this tradition until her death.
Iris was buried on a very cold day in the Thatcher Cemetery, January 5, 1937.