Cordelia Adams Crawford

Cordelia Adams Crawford (1865–1943) was a pioneer and healer in Arizona. She was known for her generosity to multiple, often conflicting, factions.

Biography Cordelia Adams was born on February 27, 1865, to Emily and John Adams in Willow Creek, a town near Lampasas, Texas. She was the youngest of five children, a sister named Saphrona, and brothers James Monroe, Andrew Jackson, and Jefferson Davis.

The Crawfords lived at a small ranch. Bush sold cattle in San Diego, so Cordelia regularly managed the ranch. Due to the rural setting, Cordelia delivered her own children This friendship may have saved her ranch during the Battle of Cibecue Creek.

The Crawfords had three children, Nona (August 4, 1881), Oran Sieber (March 14, 1884), and Emily (November 14, 1886).

The Crawfords remained neutral in the Pleasant Valley War. They moved to Tonto Creek. Cordelia managed the Tonto stage stop, where partisans from both sides stopped for food and lodging. Cordelia developed a way to serve the partisans without seeing them, speaking to them through a door. This strategy allowed her to say she had not seen the men in the party. The Crawfords returned to their ranch following the war.

In 1893, the Crawfords moved to Globe, Arizona. There, Bush Crawford killed a saloonkeeper with whom he had a dispute. He was sent to prison for two years, but was pardoned by Oakes Murphy after a year.

Bush died in 1935. Cordelia lived another seven years, dying on February 2, 1943.

Legacy Crawford was among the first women inducted into the Arizona Women's Hall of Fame in 1981.