Alchesay - Fort Huachuca - U.S. Army

Barnes, Signal Sergeant Will
The Signal Corps played an important role in Arizona’s development, operating thousands of miles
of telegraph lines, providing a national weather service, and, in 1886, establishing an unique heliograph
network. Notable among these signalmen was Sgt. Will C. Barnes. Later a prominent
Arizonan, cattleman, and author, he first came to Fort Apache in 1879 as a private. During the
Indian uprisings in 1881 at Cibecu Creek, he risked his life to climb an outlying mesa and signal the
undermanned fort of the return of the main body. Time and again he alone ventured into enemyinfested
areas to repair cut telegraph lines and carry dispatches. For his conspicuous gallantry, he was
awarded the Medal of Honor. Sergeant Barnes adopted the two orphaned sons of the Apache scout
Deadshot who was executed for his part in the mutiny at Cibicu. After leaving the Army, Barnes
became a cattleman in Holbrook, Arizona, was elected to Arizona’s 18th Territorial Legislative
Assembly, and wrote a number of books, including his Reminiscences and Arizona Place Names,
which is still the standard reference work today on geographic names. With the cattle business
waning after the turn of the century, Barnes took a position in 1907 with the Forestry Department
to develop and preserve grazing lands. In 1928 he worked for the U.S. Geographic Board. Retiring
from government service in 1930, he and his wife Edith Talbot Barnes settled in Phoenix where
Barnes died in 1936.