Rosa Santa Cruz O’Meara (1876 - 1909) - The Death of an Innocent Bystander

 

Picture Created by Val (AI)

Rosa Santa Cruz was born in Arizona, June 1876, to José Maria Santa Cruz and Espectacion Lorona.  She was the second oldest of their four children. Since José Santa Cruz was a blacksmith by trade and also involved in mining, the family moved often. In 1880, they were living in Signal, Arizona. The 1882 Arizona Territorial Census recorded them living in Maricopa County. José then moved his family to the area of Superior, Arizona, where Rosa and her sisters were attending the Silver King School in 1884. Later, the family moved to Florence. 

The Santa Cruzes were back in the Salt River Valley by the time Rosa’s sister, Ramona, married Simon Robles in 1896.  José’s wife Espectacion died in Phoenix November 15, 1897.  Eighteen months later, Rosa married Edward O’Meara on May 1, 1899.  Edward, who had arrived in Phoenix in 1895, was a bricklayer by trade and thirteen years older than Rosa. The couple had two children, Lawrence Francis “Frank”, born 1899, and Mamie, born 1902.  

While their children were still young, Edward became paralyzed and was placed in Sisters’ Hospital.  Rosa moved her family to the small town of Winkelman, Arizona. Times were hard.  during the hot summer, she and the children lived in a shed with only three walls and a blanket covering the open side. It was located behind a general store owned by merchants Akel and Tilly.  Near Rosa’s humble abode was a tent belonging to Pablo Ortega.  

Ortega had an ongoing feud with the merchants because they threw their slops out the back door of the store on to the ground in front of his tent. At 5:40 a.m. on July 31, 1909, an irate Ortega fired several shots at Akel and Tilly, striking both. However, when the shooting stopped, neighbors discovered that Rosa O’Meara had also been hit. She had been standing out of view behind the blanket covering the front of her shed when a bullet pierced her right shoulder, exiting through her left shoulder.  She died 30 minutes later.  Rosa’s sister Ramona had her body brought back to Phoenix for burial in Loosley Cemetery.  At this time, the location of her grave is unknown.

-Donna carr