Daniel Geisinger

Daniel Geisinger, 1834-1886
Freighter
 
Buried in City/Loosley Cemetery, exact location unknown

(Sketch by Edwin Forbes, artist, 1863. Library of Congress.)

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Before dams were built upstream, crossing the Salt River could be a hazardous undertaking. It’s how Daniel Geisinger lost his life in 1886.
 
Daniel Geisinger was born on November 20, 1834, in Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, to John Geisinger and Mary Ann Bachman. Pennsylvania was home to large numbers of German immigrants, and Geisinger (or Geissinger) was a common surname there.
 
Daniel had seven siblings. The family seems to have moved every few years, so evidently they were not farmers. The 1850 census lists John Geisinger as a miller.
 
In about 1854, several of the older Geisinger siblings—Rebecca, David, Mary Ann—moved to Dixon, Lee County, Illinois. Late in life, David moved further west to Iowa. 
 
Although the younger Geisinger children remained in Pennsylvania, Daniel was perhaps restless and looking for adventure. On March 27, 1855, he signed up at Newport, Kentucky, for a five-year term in the U. S. Army. The enlistment contract described him as being 5 feet 7 inches tall with a fair complexion, blue eyes and brown hair. He was assigned to Company A, 3rd United States Cavalry.
 
At the end of the war with Mexico in 1848, the U.S. Army had reverted to its peacetime size. Since its principal duties were guarding the border with Mexico and protecting frontier settlements from Indian attacks, Daniel very likely served somewhere out West. He mustered out with the rank of corporal at Fort Garland, Colorado Territory, March 27, 1860.
 
Reportedly, Geisinger arrived in Arizona around 1863. In 1876, he registered to vote in Yavapai County; by 1882, he was in Pinal County. Newspaper accounts as early as 1875 identify him as a long-distance freighter, hauling supplies for Arizona mercantiles.
 
Geisinger died on April 26, 1886, while fording the Salt River at Phoenix. A sixteen-mule team was pulling a loaded freight wagon, and Geisinger was riding his favorite mare alongside the lead mules when the strong current swept several off their feet. In the ensuing confusion, Geisinger leaped from his saddle in an attempt to keep the mules from drowning, but he became entangled in their harness. Although his companion, Grant LeBarr, tried valiantly to save him, Geisinger too was swept away downstream.
 
Geisinger’s body was recovered several days later, and he was buried in City/Loosley Cemetery. At his funeral, the old mare he had been riding on the day of his death was draped in black crepe as a poignant reminder of the tragedy.
 
Geisinger’s grave has no surviving marker.
 
© 2026 by Donna L. Carr. Last revised 8 July 2026.

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