Source Methodology: The Search for Big John

There was not much information on Big John when we started this project, so bits and pieces have had to be stitched together. Scholarly sources were used to conceptualize and interpret the artifacts, but untangling John Silveira’s connection with Searchlight and the Walking Box Ranch was absolutely essential. 

1940 Census in Searchlight. At this point, he was the Deputy Sherrif.

Arizona Marriage Licence in 1947 to one Daisy Clapsaddle.

History is fragile. John and his wife had no children, and at the point of this research, his wife had passed. There was no one alive who could tell us his full story. So, unusual as it sounds, I turned to Ancestry.com to fill in these blanks on a character we knew so little about. I used such records, census records, draft registration papers, city directories and the like, to form a narrative. The information provided in these records allowed us to build context. Paired next to the oral histories, they really illuminated our perspective of John. I rather enjoyed this part of the process. 

“Arizona, Country Marriage Records, 1865-1972” digital image s.v “John G. Silveira” and “Daisy V. Clapsaddle.” Marriage Licenses, 1942 – 1943. County Marriage Records. Arizona History and Archives Division, Phoenix, Arizona.

“1940 United States Federal Census” digital Image. s.v “John Silveira.” Census Place: Searchlight, Clark, Nevada; Roll: m-t0627-02276; Page: 1B; Enumeration District: 2-6.