#2 Baldomedo Peralta (abt 1852-1903) - A Christmas Eve Tragedy

 

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Descendants of Baldomedo Peralta believe that he was born in Rio De San Pedro, Cuevas de Batuco, Sonora, Mexico.  He may have been the son of a Pedro Peralta.  His birth year seems to have been somewhere between 1849 and 1854, but verifiable records do not begin until he arrived in Phoenix in 1880.

Apparently, Peralta and Guadalupe Baldenegro had been keeping company since at least 1879.  They were on their way by wagon train from Superior to Phoenix in August, 1880, when their first child, Rosario, was born at a wagon stop called La Poste (now Apache Junction).

Upon reaching Phoenix, the couple was married on September 19, 1880, in a civil ceremony—possibly because there was no Catholic priest available. 

Thereafter, the Peraltas had children at regular intervals.  Descendants think there were twelve, although only six lived to adulthood.   It is not known for sure where they were all born, although the Peraltas seem to have resided in Phoenix continuously and not migrated back and forth between Mexico and Arizona.  A two-year-old daughter, Louisa, died in 1900 and was buried in Rosedale Cemetery.  Her older sister Guadalupe, aged 9, died in 1902 and was also buried in Rosedale.

Despite the vagueness of his origins, Baldomedo Peralta seems to have had some education.   Apparently regarded as ‘white’, he registered to vote in 1884, 1890, 1892, 1894 and 1900.  He was active in a Latino mutual-aid society and was also a member of Phoenix’s volunteer fire brigade.

On Christmas Eve, 1903, the Peralta family was enjoying a festive meal at their home when a kerosene lamp exploded, setting fire to the room.  Although the family ran outside into the yard, Baldomedo and Guadalupe quickly realized that one of the children was missing.  Peralta reentered the burning house, located the child and passed him through an open window to the family outside.  He then attempted to save some of the family’s belongings.  When he emerged from the house, his hair and clothing were on fire.  Although he stanched the blood flowing from a vein in his neck and walked to a doctor to be bandaged, his burns turned out to be more severe than was first thought.  He was admitted to Sisters’ Hospital, where he died on December 27th.  He was buried in the Catholic section of Loosley Cemetery.

After Baldomedo’s death, the oldest Peralta son, Porfirio, became the head of the family.  He too would eventually join the fire brigade.  Porfirio and his family remained in Phoenix until 1921, when they followed some of the other Peralta siblings to California.

- by Donna Carr