B. Johnny Rube Collection

TITLE: B. Johnny Rube Collection

DATE RANGE:   1878-1996

CALL NUMBER: Y-MS2

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: 2 linear feet (4 boxes)

PROVENANCE: Donated by B. Johnny Rube, 2000.

COPYRIGHT:  Yuma County Library District owns the copyright to this collection.  

RESTRICTIONS: This collection is unrestricted.   

CREDIT LINE: B. Johnny Rube Collection, Y-MS2, Yuma County Library Special Collections

PROCESSED BY: Linda Whitaker, March 2013

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE:    

Born in Riga, Latvia on November 2, 1938, Latvia of German parents, Bernts “Johnny” Rube immigrated to the U.S. with his parents and five siblings at the age of 13. They were forced to flee their native country in the closing days of WWII as Russian forces advanced and were interned in a displaced persons camp. From there, they went to England and in 1951, arrived in Yuma, Arizona under the sponsorship of the Whitman Seed and Cattle Co. and the Lutheran Church. Bernts Rube spoke no English but had read about the Old West and was expecting to see cowboys and Indians.  

He graduated from Yuma High School, joined the National Guard in 1956, and enlisted in the Navy a year later. While serving in the Navy, he became a U.S. citizen.  Upon discharge in 1962, he joined the Yuma Police Department as a patrolman and was promoted to detective in 1967 specializing in arson investigations.  In 1980, he became the School/Police Liaison Officer for Yuma High School. After 20 years in law enforcement, he retired to pursue his role as B. Johnny Rube, author and Yuma Law Enforcement Historian.  

His serious interest in law enforcement history began in 1967 when as a young detective he was asked about Isaac Polhamus, the last Yuma police chief to be elected. Studying and researching Yuma Police and Sheriff’s Department history became a favorite past time.  He published a number of newspaper, journal and magazine articles and produced a book-length, unpublished manuscript on the history of the Yuma law enforcement.   In 1996, B. Johnny Rube published the book A Wooden Road Through the Hollow of God’s Hand-Taming the American Sahara. 

Sources: Yuma Daily Sun, August 8, 1965; Valley and Foothills News, January 21, 1981

SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE:   

This collection was previously split between the AHS Yuma and Tucson branches. The materials have been reunited here.  The research files include many hard-to-find sources, aggregated news articles typed from microfilm, and bibliographies. The bulk of photographs are numbered and indexed. They were intended to be published in the History of Yuma Law Enforcement book. 

Arranged in four series, then alphabetically and chronologically within. 

Series I: Personal;

Series II: Writings;

Series III: Research Files;

Series IV: Photographs.   

 CONTAINER LIST: