1870: vaccinates the Papago tribe against smallpox. In 1879 interested in forming a county medical society.
PCMS Centennial Program. 10-9-2004.
Nash, Steve. “Medical Progress in Arizona…”
See History of Arizona medicine; collections of Orville Harry Brown, M.D. [AHSL Special Collections WZ 70 AA7 H673]: vol. 3, page 200 "R.H." is probably a typo for "R. A."
Quebbeman, Frances E. Medicine in territorial Arizona. Phoenix : Arizona Historical Foundation, 1966, pages 71, 73, 259, 379.
Farish, Thomas Edwin. History of Arizona, Filmer Bros. Electrotype Co., 1918, volume 8, pages 232-233: "... It was reported that a band of Papago Indians were with them, but Dr. R. A. Wilbur, the agent of the Papagoes, who came into the post with the party, said that he had no knowledge of any of his Indians being present. As the Papagoes, for many years, have had a feud with the Apaches, and as they were the people whom the citizens of Tucson brought with them on their former visit and who had assisted so vigorously in the massacre, I was very much surprised, and expressed my great regret to Dr. Wilbur at seeing him accompany another expedition from the same place of a character so similar to the former, and composed of a portion of the same people, in a foray against another Indian tribe. He informed me that he had no authority from Dr. Bendel, the superintendent of Indian Affairs of Arizona, or from the Indian Office, to leave his agency. I called his attention to the fact that his presence with such a party was calculated to awaken distrust among the Apaches as to the honesty of our intentions in inviting them in, and I suggested to him the propriety of returning to his agency as soon as possible. The Doctor said that he had never received any copy of the laws of the Indian Bureau, and being uninformed of his duties, was not aware of there being any impropriety in his being here under such circumstances. He returned to his agency two days after the above interview. Before he left I requested him to use every means in his power to recover from the Papagoes the twenty-eight children stolen from the Apaches during the massacre. He promised to do so. ..."
Thrapp, Dan L.. Encyclopedia of Frontier Biography: P-Z, 1990, p. 1563: Wilbur, Reuben Augustine [sic], physician, Indian agent (July 7, 1840-July 10, 1882). Born at Plympton, Massachusetts, he was admitted to Harvard Medical School at 20, graduated in three years and for the next two practiced at Taunton, Massachusetts. In 1865 he went to San Francisco and from there to Arizona with its future governor, A.P.K. Safford and others. He was appointed physician for the Arizona Mining Company which operated the Heintzelman (or Cerro Colorado) Mine northwest of Tubac, Arizona, remaining until 1870 when he was named physician for the Pima and Maricopa Indians and six months later for the Papago, as well. In 1871 he also opened a private practice at Tucson.... Information from the Reverend Francis J. S.J.; Dan L. Thrapp, The Conquest of Apacheria, Norman, Univ. of Okla. Press, 1967.
Physician and Tohono O'odham Indian Agent:
See also: Wilbur, Reuben Augustus (1840-1882) US Office of Indian Affairs : correspondence. Arizona State Library, Archives and Public Records, Collection call number: MS 0861
http://cip.lib.az.us/Collection.aspx?CollID=1126
PCMS Centennial Program. 10-9-2004.
Nash, Steve. “Medical Progress in Arizona…”
See History of Arizona medicine; collections of Orville Harry Brown, M.D. [AHSL Special Collections WZ 70 AA7 H673]: vol. 3, page 200 "R.H." is probably a typo for "R. A."
Quebbeman, Frances E. Medicine in territorial Arizona. Phoenix : Arizona Historical Foundation, 1966, pages 71, 73, 259, 379.
Farish, Thomas Edwin. History of Arizona, Filmer Bros. Electrotype Co., 1918, volume 8, pages 232-233: "... It was reported that a band of Papago Indians were with them, but Dr. R. A. Wilbur, the agent of the Papagoes, who came into the post with the party, said that he had no knowledge of any of his Indians being present. As the Papagoes, for many years, have had a feud with the Apaches, and as they were the people whom the citizens of Tucson brought with them on their former visit and who had assisted so vigorously in the massacre, I was very much surprised, and expressed my great regret to Dr. Wilbur at seeing him accompany another expedition from the same place of a character so similar to the former, and composed of a portion of the same people, in a foray against another Indian tribe. He informed me that he had no authority from Dr. Bendel, the superintendent of Indian Affairs of Arizona, or from the Indian Office, to leave his agency. I called his attention to the fact that his presence with such a party was calculated to awaken distrust among the Apaches as to the honesty of our intentions in inviting them in, and I suggested to him the propriety of returning to his agency as soon as possible. The Doctor said that he had never received any copy of the laws of the Indian Bureau, and being uninformed of his duties, was not aware of there being any impropriety in his being here under such circumstances. He returned to his agency two days after the above interview. Before he left I requested him to use every means in his power to recover from the Papagoes the twenty-eight children stolen from the Apaches during the massacre. He promised to do so. ..."
Thrapp, Dan L.. Encyclopedia of Frontier Biography: P-Z, 1990, p. 1563: Wilbur, Reuben Augustine [sic], physician, Indian agent (July 7, 1840-July 10, 1882). Born at Plympton, Massachusetts, he was admitted to Harvard Medical School at 20, graduated in three years and for the next two practiced at Taunton, Massachusetts. In 1865 he went to San Francisco and from there to Arizona with its future governor, A.P.K. Safford and others. He was appointed physician for the Arizona Mining Company which operated the Heintzelman (or Cerro Colorado) Mine northwest of Tubac, Arizona, remaining until 1870 when he was named physician for the Pima and Maricopa Indians and six months later for the Papago, as well. In 1871 he also opened a private practice at Tucson.... Information from the Reverend Francis J. S.J.; Dan L. Thrapp, The Conquest of Apacheria, Norman, Univ. of Okla. Press, 1967.
Physician and Tohono O'odham Indian Agent:
See also: Wilbur, Reuben Augustus (1840-1882) US Office of Indian Affairs : correspondence. Arizona State Library, Archives and Public Records, Collection call number: MS 0861
http://cip.lib.az.us/Collection.aspx?CollID=1126
Master pnID
AMH-PN4030
Src1 DP
AHSL-DP
History of Arizona medicine; collections of Orville Harry Brown, M.D. [AHSL Special Collections WZ 70 AA7 H673]
volume 3, page(s) 200; volume 6, page(s) 488-489
OHB Checked
y
Residence(s)
Taunton MA
Tubac
Tucson