C.L. Flake Home

Charles Love Flake (1862–1892) was the second oldest surviving son of William Jordan Flake and Lucy Hannah White. At age 15, Charles traveled from Utah to Arizona as part of the family’s calling to settle the territory. He later attended Brigham Young Academy in Provo and served an LDS mission to Mississippi from 1883 to 1885.

After marrying Christabell Hunt in 1885, Charles became active in civic and business life in Snowflake — he was elected justice of the peace in 1886, taught school, operated a retail store, and held a contract to carry U.S. mail from Holbrook to Fort Apache. Charles and his brother James formed a business partnership on July 1, 1890.

Tragically, on December 8, 1892, Charles was fatally shot during an attempt to arrest a suspected bank robber from New Mexico. His death was recorded as the first murder in the young town of Snowflake. Charles is honored on the Arizona Peace Officers Memorial at the state capitol in Phoenix.