Albert Franklin Banta

Albert Franklin Banta (December 18, 1843 – June 21, 1924) was an American newspaperman, politician, jurist, and army scout. As a scout, he was a member of the Wheeler Survey and assisted General George Crook during the Apache Wars. Banta was influential in the creation of Apache County, Arizona and later represented the county in the Arizona Territorial Legislature. As a newspaperman, he started and operated a number of papers throughout Arizona Territory.

For roughly two decades he used the assumed name Charles A. Franklin instead of his birth name.

Biography Banta was born to John and Phydelia (or Fidelia) Banta on December 19, 1845, in Warrick County, Indiana. His family moved to Wisconsin in 1848. His formal education ended at age 11. There is no record he ever married.

At the beginning of the American Civil War, Banta served as a "Three Month Volunteer" in the Missouri State Militia. Following his enlistment, he went to work for the Kansas Tribune. On a trip to Kansas City, Missouri, he was arrested by Union soldiers and accused of being a Confederate spy in the service of William Quantrill. Though released, he apparently took umbrage at the treatment he had received. In this role he served as a teamster escorting Governor John Noble Goodwin party to the newly formed Arizona Territory. In 1873 he was credited with the discovery of Meteor Craterfor a time called "Franklin's Hole". He was buried at the Pioneers' Home Cemetery.

The Grand Canyon "Banta Point" is named in Banta's honor. Tucson's "Franklin Street" was named after his work on a surveying crew led by Solomon W. Foreman in March 1872.