1st Bank in Apache County Arizona

     Hispanic America USA
                First Bank in Apache County
   Copyright (c) 1996 -1997 All Rights Reserved

The Apache County Bank in Concho, Arizona, was the first bank
in Apache County, Territory of Arizona,

as well as the first bank in Northeastern Arizona Territory.
This bank was established in 1902. It opened with a
capital asset of $15,000.00 in cash.

The heavy stockholders were the Candelaria Brothers, descendants
of Don Manuel Antonio Candelaria .

The cashiers and bookkeepers were Ambrosio, M.A.,
and Rosalio Candelaria.

There was an attempt to rob the bank in Concho, once. The following
incident is told by the late Manuel Antonio (M.A.) Candelaria who
worked at the bank as a bookkeeper.

He lived just behind the bank building, in a separate house. Home
dark night around midnight he heard noise, a squeaking noise, he jumped
out of bed, got dressed, and taking his pistol, approached the bank building near a window, he saw a man lifitng up the bank window. He had already lifted it about six inches. Pointing the pistol at the robbers ribs, he shouted both in Spanish and enlish "stick-em-up". The robber appeared to start raising up his arms, then suddenly he turned around to grab M.A.'s pistol. M.A. pulled the trigger twice, but it did not discharge, some one had used the pistol and failed to reload).

The two men tangled in a wrestling match on the ground. the robber gets loose and jumps up, grapping a steel rod, the same rod he used in lifting the window, and hits M.A. over the head. He then took off on a waiting saddled horse.

It was never known who the robber was, but M.A. Candelaria crried a scar on his head, caused by the blow from the iron rod, the rest of his life.

This information by the Concho Historical Society, from the
book entitled "Concho, the Enchanted Pearl".

And also from the personal files of Judy Baca Romero Padilla,
Candelaria, Peña, San Juan