Prescott Begins - Prescott Corral

Prescott Begins: A Blank Spot on All Maps
Becomes Territorial Arizona’s Capital City
By AL BATES
The events that resulted in the small mining community of Prescott becoming Arizona Territory’s
first capital city had their beginnings 18 years earlier while the isolated area around it was an
unexplored part of the newly independent nation of Mexico. So, before there could be a Prescott
there had to be an “Arizona,” and that required both a war and a large land purchase.
P
Part 1: President Polk Creates the American Southwest
resident James K. Polk presided over the final land acquisitions that satisfied
America’s “manifest destiny” thus making the United States a bicoastal giant. In his single term as President he settled the boundaries for our Pacific
Northwest by negotiation with England. And then he created the American
Southwest by setting in motion a monumental land grab from Mexico.
The Mexican-American War began in 1846 as
a dispute over where to locate
the Texas border with
Mexico—Americans wanted
the border at the Rio Grande
River, the Mexicans thought it
should be much further east.
President Polk guaranteed war
by sending American troops
into the disputed area, and
Mexican troops obligingly
attacked them.
California, Nevada, Utah, and the Territory of
New Mexico that then
included most of today’s
Arizona.
The original instructions to
American negotiators for
setting terms to end the war
were to set the Texas border
at the Rio Grande River and
to establish the remainder of
the southern border for the
United States at the 32nd
parallel (a few miles below
Tucson) to provide room for
a transcontinental railroad
corridor.
The American response to the
Mexican attack climaxed with
a year later with the capture of
Mexico City and the Mexican
President James K. Polk
government conceded that,
The 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
indeed, the Texas border would be at the Rio
established the border with New Mexico TerGrande. But then the American negotiators
ritory well above the 32nd parallel, using the
dropped the other shoe: They also wanted
Gila River as a major dividing point. Even
California and the lands between there and
so, Mexico ceded a gigantic chunk of its
Texas for which we would pay them ten millands, to the United States for peace and a
lion dollars.
paltry sum of money. However, defects in the
The Mexicans unhappily had to cede territory
boundary settlement quickly brought the
to the United States that became the states of
treaty under fire from both sides.
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The boundary location was at issue because
the map used in the treaty negotiations was
highly inaccurate and left the exact border
position open to conflicting interpretations.
Attempts at a compromise were rejected by
the United States Congress, leading to saber
rattling on both sides. A second war appeared
imminent unless these issues could be resolved peaceably.
S. Congress for ratification, but first Congress
had to tinker with the results.
The final boundary line evolved as it did to
fill two desires. The stepped section to the
east was intended to bring the heavily used
Gila Trail within the U.S. and the diagonal
section to the west was in response to Mexico’s request that the border be far enough
above the Colorado River delta for the building of a bridge linking Baja California to
Mexico.
The Gadsden Purchase
When most of what is now Arizona came into
the United States following the Mexican War,
the area above the Gila River was an isolated,
unsettled western outpost of New Mexico
Territory with no separate identity and of little
perceived value. It was only
after the purchase of almost
30,000 square miles of land
below the Gila River that
the idea of a separate
political
entity
named
Arizona emerged.
The Gadsden Purchase was ratified in 1854,
but formal takeover was delayed until the new
dividing line between the two nations was
surveyed and marked. On February 20, 1856,
the last Mexican troops
withdrew from Tucson, and
tradition has it that a tiny
group of pioneers (including
William Kirkland) then raised
the American flag over the
“Old Pueblo” for the first
time.
In 1853 the new American
The Gadsden Purchase was
President, Franklin Pierce,
not universally applauded.
dispatched James Gadsden,
One California newspaper
a southern railroad man, to
correspondent wrote that it
Mexico as United States
was, “a barren, deserted,
James Gadsden
Minister with instructions to
dreary waste—a desert—
settle all issues left over
useful
only
as
a
dwelling place for the coyote,
from the Mexican War. However, Gadsden’s
the owl, the rattle-snake, and the prairie dog.”
most essential mission was to obtain sufficient land for the building of a transcontinenBut when American settlers began arriving in
tal railroad on a route below the Gila River.
the Gadsden Purchase they found more than
an inhospitable waste populated by cactus and
The ceding of Baja California to the US was
lethal critters. They found opportunities in
quickly off the table and the Mexican govmining, farming and ranching. This despite
ernment held firm to the position that their
the growing menace of the Apache tribes and
territory must continue to include a land route
the activities of a lawless element that was
to Baja. This removed any possibility for an
encouraged by a lack of law enforcement.
American port at the Gulf of California, but
had no impact on the goal of providing for the
In the words of one early settler, they had “no
southern railroad route. A draft treaty signed
laws for our guidance, no courts, [and] no ofon December 30, 1853, by Gadsden and the
ficers to preserve the peace.” American setMexican negotiators was submitted to the U.
2
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Gadsden Purchase of 1854 also showing location of Prescott.
tlers in the Gadsden Purchase—including
those former Mexican citizens who chose to
become Americans—began clamoring for the
establishment of a separate territory, with its
capital located at either Tucson or Mesilla.
leader, Col. John R. Baylor defined a Confederate Territory of Arizona, splitting it from
New Mexico Territory along a horizontal line
at the 34th parallel, declaring himself its military governor. On February 14, 1862, the Rebel government in Virginia formally recognized Arizona as a Confederate Territory
adopting Col. Baylor’s definition.
The first important use of the name Arizona
was in an 1856 memorial to Congress advocating a separate government for the Gadsden
Purchase to be named Arizona Territory.
This was only the first of several attempts to
urge the process along, including at one point
creating a provisional government with a full
slate of territorial officers for their definition
of “Arizona,” including Dr. Lewis S. Owings
as its governor.
The Confederate Territory of Arizona was
short-lived, ending when volunteer Union
forces from California and Colorado drove
the rebels back to Texas. At that point, General James H. Carleton, commander of the
California volunteers declared himself military governor of Arizona using the shape recently approved by the United States House
of Representatives (but not yet approved by
the Senate), thus becoming the third individual to claim the title of Governor of a territory
named Arizona.
Then in 1861 the Arizonans rejected the
United States and tried to attach themselves to
the newly declared Confederate States of
America. Later that year their efforts became
moot when a rag-tag army of Texans invaded
southeastern New Mexico Territory, and their
3
M
Part 2: Arizona Escapes from New Mexico
ost of what we now know as Arizona became a part of the federal union
in 1850 when New Mexico Territory formally became part of the United
States. The area was attached to the United States in 1848 as part of the
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, but formal creation of New Mexico Territory was
delayed for two years until the “Great Compromise” of 1850 established controls
on the extension of slavery into newly acquired territories.
Congress began debating the creation of an
Arizona Territory in 1856, considering a variety of configurations for the new territory.
in the cause of territorial status for Arizona.
When these efforts appeared to be bearing
fruit, he turned his attention to the forming of
the new territorial government with, he
hoped, a prominent role for himself. And that
brings us to the fabled “Oyster Dinner” with a
guest list of congressional “lame ducks” and
other politicians eager to gain public appointments in the new territory.
The debate over splitting Arizona from New
Mexico Territory included some 18 Congressional bills that produced a variety of proposed shapes. Some proposals split Arizona
from New Mexico Territory along a horizontal line while others called for a vertical split.
Details of the dinner, such as who organized it
and who paid the bills, are not revealed in
Poston’s account of the event, but through his
presence he was able to get for himself the
consolation post of Territorial Indian Agent,
but only after all the plum assignments had
been doled out. His contention in later years
that his influence on the lame ducks aided in
final passage of the creation bill is self serving and probably inaccurate.
It was not until February 20, 1863, that the
Senate finally agreed to a bill that had passed
in the House over nine months earlier and
President Lincoln signed the organic statute
four days later. The next step was to appoint
a slate of officers for the new territory. And
here’s where Charles Debrile Poston, the selfdesignated “Father of Arizona”, comes in.
Poston, a colorful self promoter, had been one
of the earliest adventurers to inspect the
Gadsden Purchase for potential mineral riches
(fabled Spanish silver mines) and had, with
backing of Eastern financial interests, established a productive mining operation with its
headquarters at Tubac. However, with the
coming of the Civil War and the resultant
withdrawal of Union troops from New Mexico Territory, the Apache menace forced him
and surviving associates to flee to safer
climes.
Preparations for the journey from Washington
D. C. were made with the goal of the newly
appointed officers being in Arizona before
1863 ended (thus to ensure that the officers
were eligible for that year’s pay), but were
delayed by the death of Governor-to-be John
A. Gurley.
The final slate of territorial officers included:
Governor John N. Goodwin, Secretary Richard C. McCormick, Chief Justice William F.
Turner, Associate Justice William T. Howell,
Associate Justice Joseph P. Allyn, District
Attorney Almon Gage, U. S. Marshal Milton
Poston was soon in Washington where he began, by his description, successful efforts to
lobby the president and members of Congress
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Duffield, Surveyor-General Levi Bashford,
Superintendent of Indian Affairs Poston and
Postmaster the Reverend Hiram W. Reed.
but that item was removed, thus leaving the
location to be selected by the governor.)
Plans had changed and when the Governor’s
party left Santa Fe their new destination was
to be the new gold diggings in the Central
Arizona Highlands and the eventual establishment of Arizona’s first Territorial Capital
on the banks of Granite Creek.
The bulk of the Governor’s Party traveled
west over the Santa Fe Trail, while Poston
and Marshal Duffield travelled separately to
Tucson (via San Francisco), arriving in January 1864 where they expected to meet the
Governor’s Party. (One proposed version of
the Organic Act included a provision that the
seat of government be established in Tucson,
Part 3: Gold is Discovered in the Central Arizona Highlands
O
n May 10, 1863, the first recorded event in Prescott history occurred. At a
spot some six miles south of today’s courthouse plaza, a band of 25 men
approved a document that created the first mining district in the Central
Arizona Highlands.
Those men were members of the Joseph R.
Walker exploratory party who had found
placer gold on the Hassayampa River after a
roundabout trip from California that crossed
Arizona, headed up into Colorado and then
swung down into New Mexico before turning
west again into this previously unexplored
area.
party (Sam and Jake Miller and their father
John plus four others). The size of the party
changed over time as members came and
went during their travels. One of the newcomers was Daniel Ellis Conner who joined
them in New Mexico using an assumed name
because he was fleeing the federal authorities
for his part in a failed insurrection in Colorado. He later wrote about his experiences in
a manuscript published posthumously.
The journey had started two years earlier
when a young Canadian miner convinced
Walker, who at age 62 was living quietly in
northern California, to take on one more expedition. George Lount sold Walker on the
idea that there was gold to be found in the Little Colorado River valley of Arizona. The old
mountain man was eager for one last adventure before failing eyesight forced his retirement.
Thus far the expedition had been unsuccessful
in their search for gold, so they now turned
south and west with hopes of finding gold in
the Verde River Valley. It was then they encountered another newcomer near Pinos Altos, New Mexico Territory. John W. (Jack)
Swilling had interesting information that
caused Walker to change plans. But first
would have to come the mission Swilling was
on at the time of their encounter.
Walker and Lount began with a nine-man
party that also included two of Walker’s numerous nephews. Then, while still in California, they merged with the seven-man Miller
Civilian contractor Swilling was key to a Union Army plan to capture the dreaded Apache
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Chief Mangas Coloradas. The successful implementation of that plan—which was modified to use some of the Walker Party members
as decoys—and its deadly aftermath, is detailed in Conner’s writings.
by the Abraham Peeples party—guided by
Paulino Weaver—who had come from the
Colorado River to the Wickenburg area and
who had also run short on essential supplies.
News of the Gold Find Spreads
Swilling convinced Walker that three years
earlier he had encountered significant traces
of gold in an unexplored area north of the
Gila River when he had led a militia group
called the Gila Rangers in a retaliatory raid on
Apache stock raiders up an unknown river—
now called the Hassayampa—and into an unexplored area. Thus, after a pause while
Swilling completed his army contract, they
continued west.
Before arrival of the Walker Exploratory
Party in the Prescott Basin in the spring of
1863, Central Arizona was unknown territory,
thus all maps of the time show just an empty
space where the Prescott area now is. In fact,
an important reason for Captain Walker to
come here was a desire to see, in his words,
“the only unknown section of the United
States and its territories.”
No news spread more quickly in 19th century
America than word of a gold strike and when
news of the 1863 Walker and Weaver Party
finds spread to the other American states and
territories—and to Mexico—fortune seekers
began to arrive from all directions.
The Walker party followed a route well
known to Swilling that took them to Tucson,
then up to the Pima/Maricopa villages, and
back up the unknown river to find the promised placer gold and the formation of the Pioneer Mining District. Under rules established
that day, and documented in the Journal of
the Pioneer and Walker Mining Districst,
each of the 25 “original prospectors” was allotted two initial placer claims along either
side of the Hassayampa River near their
campsite.
Today, some members of the Walker and
Weaver exploratory parties are immortalized
in Prescott street names and, more prominently, in settlement names such as Wickenburg, Peeples Valley, Miller Valley, and the
ghost town of Weaverville. Other early arrivals left their names at Kirkland and Groom
Creek.
Before serious mining could start they had to
restock some essential supplies—such as
flour, salt, coffee and tobacco—so a trip to
Ammi White’s flourmill and trading post at
the Pima/Maricopa villages below the Gila
River was in order. Caching some equipment
and supplies to keep them safe, they retraced
their steps down the Hassayampa.
Some members of the Walker party left their
imprint on Yavapai County history, others
quickly disappeared. The almost-blind Captain Walker soon retired to the family ranch in
California. Daniel Conner stayed a bit longer
but moved to California after famously trading his ownership of a valuable ranch for a
pistol. Jack Swilling’s best-known accomplishment was the introduction of modern agriculture to the Salt River Valley resulting in
the founding of Phoenix.
After completing their business at White’s
establishment—including communications of
their findings to the outside world—the expedition headed back up the Hassayampa.
There was a surprise along the way. A dust
cloud approaching them was at first assumed
to be an Apache war party. To their relief
they discovered that the dust was being raised
Another member of the Walker Party, John
Dickson (sometimes spelled Dixon) went into
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trains. George Lount, who had left the
Walker Party somewhere between New Mexico and the Hassayampa River, soon arrived
at the diggings. Over time he established Arizona firsts as a partner in Prescott’s first
sawmill, and in the first ice plant in Phoenix.
Original Prospectors of the
Pioneer Mining District,
May 10, 1863
Capt. J. R. Walker
Jos. R. Walker Jr.
Daniel Ellis Conner
John Dickson
Abner French
Jacob Linn
Chas. Taylor
Jacob Miller
H. B. Cummings
Jas. V. Wheelhouse Wm. Williams
Jack Swilling
G. Gilliland
Frank Finney
Jackson McCrackin
S. C. Miller
Rodney McKinnon
George Blosser
Felix Cholet
A. C. Benedict
M. Lewis
S. Shoup
Jas. Chase
T. J. Johnson
George Coulter
A very early arrival was the colorful and controversial King S. Woolsey who followed the
Walker Party up the Hassayampa after their
return visit to the Pima/Maricopa villages. He
partnered with John Dickson in establishing a
farm on the Agua Fria River at today’s
Dewey-Humboldt. He was a noted Indian
fighter and later a power in the Territorial
Legislature.
One final early arrival of note was Jacob
Waltz who established a placer claim in the
Pioneer District with four others on September 21, 1863. Waltz later made statements
that would lead to disappointment and sometimes death when others tried to discover his
legendary “Lost Dutchman’s Gold Mine.”
farming in a partnership with King S. Woolsey. He married Miss Mary Ehle of an earlyarriving family and also was an early settler at
Skull Valley. (Governor Goodwin presided
over the Dickson’s marriage ceremony)
Captain Walker announced the official disbandment of his exploratory expedition late in
1863, making this statement: “We have
opened the area to civilization, now it is up to
civilization to do the rest.”
The Miller brothers, Sam and Jake, tired of
the stoop labor involved in placer mining,
switched to freighting into the isolated area,
first with mule trains and then with wagon
W
Part 4: General James Carleton Gets Involved
hen in mid-May 1863 the Walker Party returned to Ammi White’s store
at the Pima/Maricopa villages for necessary supplies, they took the opportunity to inform friends and relatives of their gold finds in the central
Arizona wilderness. At least two of their letters went to General James H.
Carleton, military commander for both Arizona and New Mexico territories, reaching him at his Santa Fe headquarters in June.
General Carleton and his volunteer “Column
from California” had played a pivotal role in
flushing the Confederate army from Arizona—then a part of New Mexico Territory—
in 1862. The general then assumed military
governorship of Arizona until a civilian government would be in place.
The new territory’s appointed officials would
not be in position to take control for another
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six months. They were at this point (June
1863) three months away from beginning
their cross-country trek from the east coast;
meanwhile Carleton had all the reins of civilian leadership for the new territory in his
hands.
official letter predicting the new capital, “will
be” at the gold fields, “not at insignificant
Tucson” which was located in a “sterile” region.
His response to early letters from Kirby
Benedict and Jack Swilling caused the founding of the first Fort Whipple at Del Rio
Springs and would divert Governor Goodwin
and his party from their intended destination
of
Tucson
to
the
wilderness around the
Hassayampa “diggings.”
After a false start—caused by the change in
the intended route from Santa Fe—Clark,
with a military escort commanded by Capt.
Nathaniel Pishon, and with Robert Groom as
their guide, left Fort Craig, New Mexico Territory, on July 2, 1863, for
an isolated place none of
them had ever seen. The
expedition consisted of 35
men mounted on horses and
mules and three wagons,
each pulled by a six-mule
team
Surveyor General Clark’s Visit
In one of his next letters to
his military superiors,
Carlton emphasized that, “
. . . it will be absolutely
necessary to post troops in
that section of the country;
indeed, the capital of
Arizona will be sure to be
established there.”
The initial stage of their
journey via Fort Wingate
and the Zuni Pueblo to the
Flagstaff area was well
known since the route had
He quickly made plans to
been surveyed by Lt. Amiel
verify accuracy of the
W. Whipple in 1853-54, as
General James H. Carleton
early reports. The initial
part of a federally funded
plan was for Surveyor
search for railroad routes
General John A. Clark, with a military escort
across the west. From the Flagstaff area they
commanded by Capt. Nathaniel Pishon, to
angled southwest into rugged and unexplored
follow a southern route through Tucson and
territory using advance scouts led by Groom
then up the Hassayampa.
to find routes that offered water for men and
animals and terrain passable by the wagons.
Those plans changed when a gold seeker
named Robert Groom appeared at Carleton’s
The final stage of their journey was simplified
office. Groom, who had recently crossed
on August 17 when the advanced scouts,
northern Arizona from the Colorado River,
Groom and one of the military escort, encounconvinced the general that he was able and
tered Paulino—aka Pauline, birth name Powready to guide the Clark party across a much
ell—Weaver who brought them up to date on
shorter northern route. And so he did.
events at the diggings. (The illiterate old
mountain man, trapper and guide had changed
While waiting for Clark to report back,
his given name when he was forced to beCarleton had additional encouraging letters
come a Mexican citizen while living in Taos
from men “whose statements are to be credin the 1830s because of the Mexican governited.” These prompted him to send another
ment’s strict residency requirements.) Two
2
days later Clark’s party was at the Hassayampa diggings.
Clark’s return to Carleton’s Santa Fe headquarters was much quicker than the trip out,
reaching there on September 17. Carleton
responded to his very favorable report by
sending troops to establish a military presence
at the diggings for the protection of both the
miners and the long-awaited party of territorial officials.
They had learned from Weaver that most of
the Walker party—plus newcomers—had
moved eight or ten miles east to Lynx creek
where there were miners “dry washing.”
Also, an even richer find had been made by
members of Weaver’s party 35 miles to the
southwest.
That post was named for General Amiel
Weeks Whipple who had recently died of
wounds suffered during the Civil War battle
of Chancellorsville. Whipple had surveyed
across both northern and southern Arizona
following the Mexican War.
Placer mining still predominated, despite water shortages, but some lode claims were being made by miners around Lynx Creek.
Clark’s immediate reaction to what he had
learned, noted in his personal journal, “convinces me that this is a very rich & extensive
mineral country. The gold is very coarse & is
found in almost every ravine.” Clark observed miners at work and also went on prospecting parties, and was given a share in two
claims discovered while he was there. He
also obtained samples of gold nuggets and
specimens of mineral-bearing quartz.
In a letter announcing departure of the Fort
Whipple founding party, Carleton again expressed his opinion that the capital, “will be at
the goldfields, not at the insignificant village
of Tucson.” But now he had solid evidence to
back up the earlier reports, two specimens of
pure gold. These he sent to Secretary of the
Treasury Salmon Chase with the request that
the larger nugget be presented to President
Abraham Lincoln.
An ongoing problem for the miners was a
seasonal lack of water in the creeks which
limited their take since dry washing yielded
only the coarser gold while the smaller flakes
were lost. Another problem was getting from
place to place over roadless and rugged terrain.
By this time Carleton was anxiously awaiting
the arrival of the appointed Arizona officials,
wondering if the government, “would ever
come.” When they did arrive at Fort Union,
New Mexico Territory—still five days travel
from Santa Fe—on November 9, 1863, General Carleton was there to greet them with
news and a suggestion.
Clark left until last a visit to the unusual—and
so far the most productive—placer gold find
located atop Rich Hill, between Prescott and
Wickenburg. There he saw “a quantity of the
gold which has been picked up in working
over the ground with a butcher knife.” At that
point the placer had already yielded $20,000
($1,300,00 at current rates) and less than half
the ground had been worked over. Jack
Swilling, one of the claim’s six partners, gave
him “a fine specimen” and sent two specimens to General Carleton.
There is no record of their conversations, but
when Governor Goodwin and his party left
Fort Union the next day they had a new destination. Instead of heading to Tucson, they
were headed west to the “diggings” following
the route established by Groom. Still, location of the first capital was not certain, and
Governor Goodwin would not make his
choice known for almost a year.
3
Part 5: An Embarrassing Start to a Long Journey West
I
n the afternoon of Saturday, September 25, 1863, after a two-hour delay to
complete packing, the party of Governor John Goodwin and other Arizona Territorial officers left Leavenworth, Kansas, on the first leg of their wagon train
trek to the wilds of the southwest. Soon afterwards, they, and their military escort,
were completely lost.
Most of the appointed officials had been approved by early March, but circumstances had
delayed their start west until late August when
they began travelling in small groups by train
and river steamer to gather at Leavenworth.
Among them was Associate Justice of the
Territorial Supreme Court Joseph Pratt Allyn
who recorded the party’s cross-country progress over the next four months in letters published in his hometown newspaper, the Hartford Evening Press, using the pen name Putnam.
colored mules. … We went on perhaps an
hour, when we discovered we had left the
main road and telegraph wire.
“We followed the troops, the wagons followed us. The road grew worse and worse
until it got to be no road at all. Somebody
had blundered. … There had been no guide,
as it was supposed impossible to get out of a
broad traveled main road. There we were. To
turn around, impossible; before us a steep hill,
at the foot of it a ravine fringed with trees,
and beyond a beautiful little valley, a tiny
house nestling alone in the grove. There we
must camp. The troops of course went across
without difficulty, and the ambulances followed empty and without accident except that
one broke a spring.
Judge Allyn describes the beginning chaos
thus: “The train dotted the further slope of the
hill-side … thither I hastened and found a pile
of our personal baggage unpacked, and no
place for it apparently.” The Major in command of the escort solved that problem, “and
in the twinkling of an eye what a change.
Trunks, boxes, bundles, &c., began to fly, one
into one wagon, another into another, until I
concluded it would be much like looking for a
needle in a haymow to ever try to find them
again.
“We bivouacked, for our wagons were stuck
at the ravine, and improvised supper. I have
told you how we started, mess chest in one
wagon, trunks in another, bed in another; now
even the wagons had not come. Necessity is
the mother of invention; we had coffee, coffee
pot, some tin plates and cups, a ham boiled in
Leavenworth, and a loaf of bread; we borrowed sugar, bought milk, and in short fared
sumptuously.
“About 4 o’clock we moved, the cavalry
sweeping over the rolling swells of the prairie
in advance … then the string of ambulances,
each with four mules, our transportation train
and that of the escort, some thirty odd white
covered wagons in all. … From front to rear
the whole stretched over a mile; the dark mass
of cavalry creeping up the farther swell,
throwing back the sun’s ray from flashing sabers and gleaming rifles, the starry banner
flaunting its folds proudly over them; the long
line of white wagons contrasted with the dark
“To be sure we hadn’t any knives, or forks, or
spoons, but we had appetites and fun—for
this wagon business took the comical turn.
They all got across, breaking four not badly,
and upsetting one. … We slept on the ground
without a tent, and I never slept better. Next
morning we rose early and breakfasted much
as we supped. How to get out was now the
10 TERRITORIAL
OFFICIALS
Seated: Judge Allyn,
Governor Goodwin,
Secretary McCormick.
Standing: Gov’s Secretary
Fleury, Marshal Duffield, District Attorney Gage.
Missing: Surveyor Bashford,
Judge Howell, Chief Justice
Turner, Indian Agent Poston,
and Postmaster Reed.
Date and location of the photograph is unknown
question. An hour spent in exploration found
a passable way over the adjoining farms, taking down fences, &c. The troops and ambulances, as before, got safely out and the wagons stuck; six of them broke something, and
the doctor’s large six-mule spring wagon upset … injuring it considerably. It was noon
before we got fairly started on the main road
again, and then we were just four miles from
Leavenworth. At evening we reached precisely the camp we hoped to make the evening before.”
“Our plan of march is for reveille to sound
before sunrise and the train to move promptly
at 6 o’clock, and make the whole march at
once, camp leisurely and have plenty of time
for sporting. … The scene at reveille is perhaps the most striking, as it certainly is the
most trying (to one’s temper). The moon
shines brightly on the white tents and wagons,
the mules are browsing in the tall grass, and
the slow pacing of sleeping sentries is seen,
when suddenly the shrill notes of the bugle
break on the frosty air, there is a rustling in
tents, wagons, and among the sleepers on the
ground as of sleepy people turning over under
their blankets.
After a night spent repacking the wagons, a 6
a.m. Monday start had them on their undaunted way towards Arizona Territory.
“Again and again the notes are repeated. By
this time the scene is alive; drowsy men creep
out, fires begin to flicker all over the field, the
mules make the most unearthly noises I ever
heard, teamsters swear and the mules kick,
coffee pots begin to boil, quails to broil.
Again the bugle sounds, and down go the
tents. By this time breakfast is ready; lazy
people are brushing their teeth or trying to
comb their hair. At last we are all seated
shivering around the mess table eating with
ravenous appetites and chattering teeth.
On the Right Road, Finally
Once past their embarrassing start from
Leavenworth, Kansas, and finding their way
back to the army’s supply road to the west, ,
Governor Goodwin’s party of territorial officials and their military escort fell into a military style travel routine as Judge Joseph Allyn
wrote from Fort Riley in his October 4, 1863
letter:
11 “After breakfast begins the packing, and fortunate is one’s temper if it stands the strain of
this. There is always something more to get
into a wagon after it is full; your ax or your
spade is missing, or your blankets are damp.
At last everything is picked up, the troops are
in line, mules are all harnessed, the saddle
horses stand pawing and impatient, and the
cavalcade moves off promptly at 6 o’clock.”
people of eastern Kansas on almost constant
alert. Fortunately the rumors diminished as
they moved further west. Occasional winddriven prairie fires were perhaps more threatening as being more tangible, than the danger
of the bushwhackers.
On occasion, soaking rainstorms made the
early morning departures even more trying.
Judge Allyn again: “I have tried to picture to
you breaking camp by moonlight, but the
same performance in a driving rain is quite
another affair. I don’t know of anything more
absolutely dismal. Everything is wet or at
least damp; it is pitch dark, there are no candles in the lanterns of course, the fires are
hard to light, and burn fitfully and spitefully
after they are lighted; breakfast has to be
served in a tent, and you step on each others
feet, spill your coffee, and find your ham
tough. … You finally get started, wet, uncomfortable, and cross. The roads are muddy,
the wagons stick, the harnesses gall the poor
mules, traces break, &c. On the morning to
which I refer, however, the sky cleared just as
we started, and the day brightened into the
loveliest of the trip thus far.”
Several of the civilians in the caravan—often
including Territorial Governor Goodwin—
moved ahead of the caravan on foot hunting
for the abundant prairie chickens and quail for
dinner. Others, including Judge Allyn, rode
ahead on horseback, sometimes hunting, other
times just enjoying the unique new sights the
movement ever west would bring.
The travelers were ever conscious of the ongoing Civil War and the bloody impact on the
residents of Kansas by marauders such as
William Clark Quantrill and his raiders. Just
weeks before, on August 21, those raiders had
massacred 150 male citizens of Lawrence,
Kansas, and left the town a burning ruin.
Rumors of Quantrill’s next intentions kept the
12 After a short layover at Fort Riley, Kansas,
for rest, repair and resupply, it was onward
again. The next significant stop was Fort
Larned, Kansas, which they reached in two
weeks after their first encounters with regional wildlife featuring antelope, prairie
dogs and buffalo. Judge Allyn again, “… our first antelope
made his appearance and crossed the road
right in front of the advance guard, not a carbine was loaded else he might have been easily shot. The soldiers darted off in pursuit;
perfect folly, for the antelope is the fleetest of
animals and can pass the most inaccessible
places. Some buffalo were seen at a great distance and I saw a beautiful tame one among
some oxen near the road.” That same day
they passed Salina, Kansas, the last town and
post office until New Mexico.
They Join the Santa Fe Trail
On October 11, 1863, the Governor’s Party
passed the Pawnee Rock landmark near where
their route joined the Santa Fe Trail. To that
point on their journey they had followed a
military supply road that paralleled the famed
trail before angling southward to join it. At
first, there was little excitement except for the
new and, to them, exotic landscape. The leg
between Forts Riley and Larned had some
more exciting events.
Two days later, Jonathan Richmond—a
young man who would become the court clerk
for Territorial Supreme Court Justice William
T. Howell—wrote home that they, “routed a
drove of fifty-seven buffalo, and in the lapse
of an hour four lay dead, and were fast losing
flesh in the shape of roasts, steaks, etc.” The
party chaplain, Rev. Hiram Reed—on his way
to take the post of territorial postmaster—
showed a surprising skill at butchering: “He is
the only one in the party that knows how to
do it,” wrote Judge Allyn. “He cut out the
tongue and the hump, stripped off enough of
the hide to make a bag to put the meat into,
tied it up with string made of strips of the
hide, all almost as quick as I write this.” The
next day three more buffalo were killed and
butchered and much of the meat was cut up
into strips and dried to provide jerky to supplement their fresh meat supply.
Judge Allyn wrote about their passage
through a spot called Junction City: “Unfortunately for us, Junction City had whiskey
shops, and we had a beautifully drunken
crowd of teamsters and soldiers by the time
we camped that night. Some of the wagons
got tipped over and a few things were spilled
out, our tent poles among them, which were
never found; somebody jayhawked them, I
suppose. The result was, the governor and I
came to grief, or rather [to] a small wedge
tent instead of our statelier wall one.—There
is this advantage about it, however: it isn’t
half the trouble to pitch, and that’s no mean
item when you are tired and hungry.”
Buck fever erupted at the first sightings of
these grand animals. Judge Allyn again:
“During the day one large bull came sweeping
down reviewing the train. He passed safely
from front to rear guard, more than a mile, at
some five hundred yards from the road. It
was an exciting scene. From all the ambulances men were hurrying out with rifles,
while the soldiers had nearly all broken ranks
in the mad excitement, and dashed off in
chase. Rifle and pistol balls were whistling
all around and it was a wonder that no one
was hit, including the buffalo.”
On the next day, a soldier in their escort,
when lighting his pipe while passing through
high grass, started a prairie fire upwind of an
isolated farm. Fortunately no structures were
lost but the settler’s haymow and corn stack—
his summer’s work—were destroyed. Members of the party took up a collection to make
up his loss.
13 The easiest part of the trip was over—the terrain was changing and so was the weather.
The next significant stop would be two weeks
later at Ft. Lyon, Colo., where they would
prepare to cross the 8000-foot Raton Pass. happened to mar the pleasure of the journey,
thus far.”
News of the Gold Finds
They departed from Fort Larned after three days, proceeding to the Cimarron Crossing of the Arkansas River where they took the Santa Fe Trail’s north fork, on the way to Fort Lyon, Colorado, choosing the longer route for its better water availability. There was a gradual rise in elevation and they began to encounter early snowstorms. Obtaining water required new procedures;
instead of free flowing streams they were
forced to dig into apparently dry streambeds
to find water for man and beast. They found
the result of sand filtering to be pleasant.
A more serious issue was providing proper feed for their horses and mules as summarized by Judge Allyn in one of his letters,
“…want of grass begins to tell upon our animals, or rather too much corn, for it requires
rough feed, as they call it, that is—grass, hay,
corn-stalks, &c, to digest corn—especially
with mules.”
He continued, “Pishon says in his report that
the mines are far richer than any previously
discovered. He was there twelve days, travelling and prospecting. Gold was found everywhere. … Many of the men of our train intend going into the mines on our arrival.”
Judge Allyn’s next letter did not mention the
gold discoveries, but wrote of his concern
about the weather and the 8000-foot Raton
Pass: “We were detained there [Fort Lyon]
four days, first for repairs and the necessity of
rest, and last by a severe snow storm, the most
severe known here since the post was established. We passed the time comfortably
enough in camp, barring a few frozen toes and
some things of that sort, but it was difficult to
avoid gloomy anticipation and forebodings
with regard to the passage of the mountains as
one looked at the shivering animals picketed
around.”
Wood for fires became scarce, and they were
forced to rely on dry buffalo chips for fuel.
Jonathan Richmond wrote home, “Being out
of the wood district, were obliged to use, as a
substitute, buffalo 'chips,' which, to our surprise, made a better fire than the wood we had
been using.” He added, “It is amusing … to
see all, from the Governor down, out on the
prairie, bag in hand, collecting 'chips.'”
Their next passage would take them over the
8000-foot Raton Pass and on to Fort Union,
New Mexico, where they would hear more
news of the gold rush and where a historic
decision would be made.
On the other hand, Richmond noted that spirits were high: “Our party, the escort, the
teamsters, and all attached to the party, have
enjoyed excellent health and are in fine spirits. The killing of one of the teamsters by the
assistant wagon-master striking him over the
head with a spade, is the only thing that has
Sunday, Oct 25, 1863, they arrived at Fort
Lyon and two days later Richmond wrote a
letter that started with a routine description of
the fort and the nearby Indian encampments.
Then came exciting news: “The governor
has a Santa Fe paper of the 17th of October,
from which I have been reading an official
report of Capt. N. J. Pishon, U. S. A., concerning the recent mining discoveries among
the San Francisco mountains.”
Raton Pass was noted for sudden, severe
storms that often trapped travelers, some
times fatally. They left Lyon in a heavy
14 snowstorm, and subsequently found no grass
for mules and horses in four days of travel.
When they did come to an area with forage it
was too late to prevent the deaths of several of
their weather-beaten and malnourished animals.
ify the Navajo Indians and to move them to a
reservation far from their established homeland. Feelings against the Navajos were extreme because of their incessant stock raids on
Pueblo tribes and the Mexican-American villages. Allyn quoted a prominent New Mexican resident who told of once splendid pasture
with herds and flocks. “Now the Navajos
reign supreme and the few sheep left are
driven into town every night. So completely
are the rancheros at the mercy of the Indian
now, that tender mutton is an impossibility in
this land of sheep, the animals having to be
driven so far that they keep poor.”
They Enter New Mexico
Fortunately the weather cooperated, passage
over the pass was easier than they had feared
and the crossing into New Mexico was uneventful,
Two days later they had their first exposure to
New Mexico land ownership patterns based
on Mexican land grants still recognized by the
United States. There the wealthy holders of
the land lived like feudal lords, while the poor
families who labored for them were held in a
state of peonage. Beyond this, Judge Allyn
was disturbed to discover that at one large
ranch, “All the house servants were Navajo
girls, captive slaves in fact, for, in defiance of
law, they are bought and sold. They make the
best of servants it is said, but that is no very
good reason why they should be stolen, although it is not very popular to suggest that
here.”
Cultural differences continued to capture Allyn’s interest, “This day we camped at a
Mexican village of several hundred inhabitants, nearly all peons of the same man. As
this was our first real Mexican town, it excited considerable curiosity, and our party began to wonder if Tucson were like this, and I
suspect that there was quite a general disgust;
to one accustomed solely to American towns,
nothing can be more forlorn looking than an
adobe village.”
General Carleton Greets Them
On November 9, 1863, they arrived at Fort
Union New Mexico and Allyn reported their
greeting. “General Carleton was here waiting
for us, and the Governor’s salute echoed from
the surrounding mountains as we wheeled
into camp.” After a meeting between the
general and the governor it was announced
that Tucson would be bypassed and they
would proceed directly to the mines by the
Whipple route.
Judge Allyn was more impressed with the
prospects for cattle and sheep ranching than
for the lure of gold. “Given security from Indians and this stock raising is a surer way to a
fortune than the richest gulch in the new El
Dorado to which we journey. Sheep almost
treble annually and disease is a thing almost
unheard of among them. Now that they are
beginning to shear them the profit is enormous, for your capital more than doubles annually with out estimating the wool at all.
The Navajo Indians today own several millions of sheep. A few years ago they had
none; so you see thieving pays.”
Allyn, a member of a prosperous family, expressed doubts about the new destination:
“We arranged at once to proceed to the field
of the new discoveries in the centre of Arizona, and not go to Tucson at all. This saves
us 200 miles of land, but leaves us in the
woods, in the winter, in about the latitude of
The governor and party had arrived during the
campaign by General James Carleton to pac 15 Memphis, at an elevation of at least 5,000 feet
above the sea to found a city.”
Across New Mexico—Slowly
blacksmiths and carpenters combined to make
it impossible to start on Monday, and six
inches of snow that morning rendered it exceedingly undesirable, so Wednesday was
agreed upon as the final day. ... Entertainment following entertainment demonstrated
that the hospitality of the good people here
was as untiring as it was lavish, and days
slipped rapidly away. It was quite late on
Thursday, Thanksgiving Day, when we finally started southward.”
The next stage of the cross-country trip for
Governor Goodwin’s party took them quickly
from Fort Union to Santa Fe where they began to encounter a series of delays. And then
on to Albuquerque to experience yet more
delays. It was not until Dec 8, 1863, that they
were finally on the way to Fort Wingate, the
last lonely outpost of civilization before
reaching Fort Whipple—if it would exist and
if they could find it, both events expected but
not guaranteed.
Those nightly entertainments had consisted
chiefly of the bailé or fandango dances (quadrilles and slow waltzes) and Allyn left a detailed but chaste account of his late night experiences among Santa Fe’s demi-monde. He
found the nightly dances they attended while
at Albuquerque to be more sedate and elegant.
At each New Mexican town or village along
the way they were feted with nightly dances
that they welcomed after “50 days of isolation”.
In all, they had over three weeks in delays,
some unavoidable, some not. Much of the
unavoidable delay came from the need to find
replacement animals for those that had taken
them this far.
At Fort Union two of the Missouri cavalry
companies of their escort returned east; the
third continued on, the escort now to be under
command of Lt. Col. J. F. Chavez of the First
Regiment, New Mexico Volunteers. At Albuquerque the escort was joined by Captain
Rafael Chacón and 29 troopers of New Mexico volunteer cavalry. The presence of the
New Mexicans with their experience fighting
the Navajos was welcome since there were
fears of stock loss to Navajo raiders.
On the other hand, court clerk to-be Jonathan
Richmond, from a less affluent background,
was gleeful that Tucson would be bypassed:
“[W]e proceed directly to the mines … every
one in the party is gold struck. The fever is
raging furiously.”
Judge Allyn wrote while en route to Albuquerque, “If there is any country where one
needs and learns patience it is New Mexico,
and if there is any particular thing in which it
is more required than in any other it is in the
movements of trains, especially if they be
government ones. Yet when one gets accustomed to the slow, deliberate way of doing
things here, and falls in with it, it is not so unpleasant as you would think it. There is
something in the climate that makes mere living so pleasant that persons get over looking
for their pleasure in the results of things
done.”
The Army’s campaign against the Navajos
was in full swing, but many of the warriors
refused to surrender and be forced onto a reservation, this despite desperate conditions for
themselves and families. Allyn again, “As the
winter approaches, the suffering of these Indians increase. They dare not build large fires,
they are out of food and clothing, so that we
may reasonably expect that large numbers
will follow the example of these and come in;
while on the part of those that remain, the war
They had expected to leave Santa Fe on a
Monday, Allyn wrote, “but obstinate and lazy
16 will be prosecuted with an increased vigor
from [sic] their very suffering. It will require
at the hands of our escort the utmost vigilance
to prevent the successful raiding of our large
train.”
mer following the Beale wagon road west to
Antelope Springs where they turned more
southerly.
General Carleton’s instructions to Major
Willis were to establish a military post near
the gold fields to be known as Fort Whipple
in honor of Gen. Amiel W. Whipple, who had
recently been killed in the Civil War Battle of
Chancellorsville. There they would, “preserve order and give security to life and property in that region until the civil officers of
Arizona now en route from the east shall arrive within that Territory and shall establish
and set in motion the machinery of civil government.” On December 13, 1863, six days after leaving
Albuquerque, they reached Fort Wingate and
“… were welcomed as only one can be at a
frontier post. Shut out and isolated as a soldier is, the arrival of a stranger is a godsend.
Your horse goes to corn and you to a lunch in
less time than it takes to describe it. Oyster
and champagne form the bill of fare.”
Fort Whipple is Established
As Arizona Territory’s first Governor and his
official party were slowly crossing northern
New Mexico Territory they were following in
the wake of another combined military and
civilian expedition headed to the central Arizona “diggings.” The army part of the expedition—on their
way to establish a military presence for the
area—numbered about 180 officers and men. Their transport required mule teams, ox-­‐drawn wagons and three ambulances—
tended by civilian teamsters and drovers—
to carry their equipment and supplies. They were joined on the way by a number of New Mexican merchants with wagons loaded with goods to sell at the new dig-­‐
gings, and also driving 500 head of beef and 1,500 head of sheep for hungry miners. Major Edward B. Willis of the California Volunteers led the expedition which com-­‐
pleted its assembly at Fort Wingate on No-­‐
vember 7, 1863. The Army’s force included two infantry companies, commanded by Captains Benson and Hargrave, plus Cap-­‐
tain Nathaniel Pishon and a portion of his cavalry company. Captain Pishon then
guided the force along the route he and Robert Groom had pioneered the previous sum Other than the military officers, few names of
those on the expedition are known. Army
contract surgeon Dr. Charles Lieb and his
wife Mary Catherine were the only married
couple known to be with the Army contingent, although there may well have been some
women with the New Mexican merchants.
Albert Franklin Banta, was one of the civilian
“bullwackers” driving the oxen. He later became a newspaperman and many times public
servant in the territory. His later boast was
that he had held more public offices than anyone else in the territory.
Two members of the Roman Catholic clergy
of New Mexico also joined the expedition,
Bishop J. B. Lamy, whose diocese included
both New Mexico and Arizona, and an assistant, Father J. M. Coudert. Bishop Lamy was
making his first visit to the western portion of
his spiritual domain, and while at the diggings
would offer Christmas Day Mass 1863 for 20
to 25 men kneeling on the snow-covered earth
along Granite Creek.
Fort Whipple was formally established December 23, 1863, at Del Rio Springs in Little
Chino Valley, a spot suggested by Captain
Pishon for its abundance of water and grass.
17 However it was not an ideal spot, as it lacked
timber and was situated some thirty miles
from the diggings at Lynx Creek.
1863, after a wait for the heavy wagons to
catch up and be readied. In addition to the
two companies of cavalry that served as their
escort and their heavy freight wagons, they
were accompanied by a number of freight
wagons owned by New Mexican merchants
and by their “500 steers, that always went
ahead opening the road,” according Captain
Rafael Chacón of the escort.
The journey there had not been without incident. Weather across the 35th parallel was
exceedingly cold and stormy, and by the time
Willis’s command reached the base of the San
Francisco Peaks the oxen were failing to such
an extent that it became necessary to cache
some of the stores at the head of Sycamore
Canyon, leaving behind 11 soldiers (Fred G.
Hughes, as NCO in charge) to guard them. It
was nearly a month before a relief party
commanded by Lieutenant Pomeroy arrived
with 40 mules—all the mule teams of the
command. That night, in Hughes words,
“The herd was stampeded, every hoof taken,
and one of our herders shot.” Three weeks
later a second relief party arrived at the cache,
bringing oxen to haul the stored materials to
Ft. Whipple, reaching there in late January,
shortly before arrival of the Governor’s Party.
Their next significant stop was two days later
at Fish Springs (Ojo Del Pescado) where they
took two days to repair wagons and rest the
animals, and for an impromptu celebration of
Christmas Eve, with music, patriotic speeches
and hot toddies—all in a pelting snowstorm.
They found the occasion to be, “unique, impromptu and a success.”
Christmas Day they resumed their way to the
diggings, next passing through the Zuni
Pueblo. Judge Allyn reported that, “Our party
spent most of the day in Zuni … and a lively
market day ensued. We wanted burros, the
Zunis had burros. So, counting out silver and
spreading out blankets, cotton cloth, etc., negotiations began ... The Indians were shrewd;
just as the bargain for one was nearly fin-
Arizona Territory at Last
Governor Goodwin and his party left Fort
Wingate, New Mexico, on December 20,
18 ished, it was discovered that he was blind;
another had another defect, and so on. After
the animals we wanted were picked out, it
took a long time to fix the price, and much
longer to pay it, for each piece of money was
closely scrutinized, and much of the silver we
had was in dimes.”
spondents in the party. Jonathan Richmond
wrote briefly of the event, “We arrived here
to-day, and the Governor has issued his proclamation, a copy of which I enclose.” Judge
Allyn, on the other hand, neglected to mention the event at all in his next letter to Hartford.
On December 29 they arrived at Navajo
Springs, certain that they finally were in Arizona Territory. It was thus time to have a
formal ceremony announcing the presence of
the new government charged with organization of the territory’s political structure.
The only contemporary account of the event
appeared in the premier issue of the Arizona
Miner newspaper on March 9, 1864, which
features a report of the paper’s owner, Territorial Secretary Richard McCormick, conducting the ceremony and hardly mentions
Governor Goodwin at all.
A Proclamation is Issued
The ceremony was opened with a brief speech
by Secretary McCormick followed by hoisting of “Old Glory” and a prayer by Reverend
Reed. Mr. McCormick administered the oath
of office to Chief Justice William Turner, and
to Associate Justices William Howell and Mr.
Allyn. Chief Justice Turner then swore in
Governor Goodwin and District Attorney Almon Gage. The Governor’s proclamation was
read aloud in English by Mr. McCormick,
then in Spanish by Mr. Read.
They had hoped to hold the inauguration
ceremony at newly established Fort Whipple
before the end of December, but previous delays made that impossible. The pressure to
hold the ceremony before the end of the year
was caused by wording of the Organic Act
that led to the impression that at least some of
the officers otherwise might not be eligible
for 1863 salaries.
Because of the change in plans, the preprinted
copies of the proclamation had to be amended
by hand to change the ceremony’s location
from Fort Whipple to Navajo Springs and the
December 29, 1863, date was added. The
amendments also included the statement that,
“The seat of government will for the present
be at or near Fort Whipple.”
The Governor’s Party was still three weeks
away from completing their journey and were
facing a spectacular obstacle in Hell Canyon
which would be a source of extreme problems
for the heavy freight wagons.
The Final Leg to Fort Whipple
The body of the proclamation outlined some
of the important actions to be taken by the
new government beginning with holding a
special census and formation of judicial districts, and followed by election of members of
the legislative assembly and of other officers
provided by the Organic Act.
After leaving Navajo Springs, Governor John
Goodwin’s party of territorial officials and
their military escort followed the Puerco
River to the Little Colorado River, then past
the Cosino Caves (now Walnut Canyon National Monument) and onward to Volunteer
Springs (south of today’s Bellemont). From
there they turned further south, using records
from Lt. Amiel Whipple’s 1853 exploration,
and more recent notes from Surveyor General
Clark, for their guides.
The ceremony at Navajo Springs was an important event in Arizona’s territorial history
but it got scant recognition by the two corre 19 PmoGr.nM loff.
TO THE PEOPLE OF ARIZONA:
I, JOHN N. GOODMN,
having been appointed by the President of the United States, and duly qualified,
Governor of the TERRITORY OF ARIZONA, do hereby announce that by virtue of the powers with which
invested by an Act of the Congress of the [Jnited Statesr providing a temporary government for the Territor/r
I
I
as
am
shall
this d.y proceed to organize said government. The provisions of the Act, and all laws and enactments established
thereby, will be enforced by the proper Territorial officers from and after this date.
A preliminary census will forthwith be tak€tr, and thereafter the Judicial Districts will be formed, and an election
of members of the Legislative Assembly, and the other officers, provided by the Act, be ordered.
I invoke
the aid and co-operation of all citizens of the Territory in my efforts to establish a government whereby
the security of life and property will be maintained throughout its limits, and its varied resources be rapidly
successfully developed.
ffipd
and
&ffiffi
JOHI\ ]){. GOODWII{.
c"*g6F€t#s*"
By the Governor:
RICHARD C. M'CORh{ICK,
__._@
secretary of the Territory'
RIZONA
Facsimile copy of the Governor’s Proclamation establishing Arizona’s Territorial Government on December 29, 1863, while en route to Fort Whipple. 20 From the beginning at Leavenworth, Kansas,
in September 1863, the party could travel
only as fast as the slowest oxen-drawn freight
wagon. After passing through New Mexico,
the pace was even slower for the Beale
“Road” hardly deserved the name. Still worse
struggles were yet to come for they were
about to enter an area with no developed
roads forcing more frequent rest days for
equipment repair and recuperation of animals.
military escort’s commander Lieutenant Col.
J. Francisco Chavez confirmed Allyn’s
opinion, “This is by far the worst canyon I
ever saw for wagons to cross and at first sight
it appears impossible.”
Capt. Rafael Chacón of the escort described
the actuality of the crossing: “It took us eight
days to go through this canyon. … Carts and
wagons were lowered with a team of horses,
with the four wheels tied with rope and half a
pine tree fastened behind. Thus they lowered
them, one by one, with their corresponding
cargo. In order to make our way up, we
cleared a space large enough in order that
three rows of mules with twenty teams in
each row could work. They spread them out
to the sides and when they were united
together again they had progressed the
wagons about eight or ten yards, and we
returned to open up the teams until they could
get to the top.”
Impatience with the enforced slow pace had
been building, thus, at an estimated two days
ride from Fort Whipple, four mounted
members of the party, including Judge Allyn,
and
Secretary
Richard
McCormick,
accompanied on foot by six soldiers, went
ahead on their own. As they approached the
recently emptied Fort Whipple cache at
Sycamore Canyon they found—stuck on a
tree—a note from Lt. Pomeroy warning that
the road ahead was nearly impassable and that
Tonto Apaches had stolen 40 of his mules and
were in open hostility.
Jonathan Richmond wrote of the governor’s
greeting at Fort Whipple, "Our arrival here
was announced by the firing of a Governor's
Salute of eighteen guns on the morning of the
22nd. Offers of prayers and thanksgiving
should have been made, but upon viewing the
site which Major Willis … had selected for a
military post, and, if suitable, for a capitol, we
concluded to let the thing slide.” Richmond’s
further comments give a clue to the fort’s
future. After praising the fine grass available
for feeding the animals he noted the lack of
wood for buildings and heating, and
remoteness from the miners.
They continued on in bright moonlight until
halting near midnight but fearing to light a
fire lest hostile Indians would discover them.
In the morning, Indian smoke signals could be
seen, “in every direction.” After crossing
Hell Canyon, they arrived at Fort Whipple “in
time to get dinner” on January 17, 1864. In
his next letter to the Hartford Courier, Judge
Allyn observed, “Our welcome was of the
most cordial character, and reports from the
mines are the most favorable.”
The rest of the official party arrived five days
later. The heavy freight wagons were several
days further behind because of the difficultto-traverse Hell Canyon. Judge Allyn wrote
of Hell Canyon as, “The most infernal canon
for wagons I have seen yet. It was about 300
feet deep and the sides were nearly
perpendicular, and covered with rolling
stones. I doubt if wagons can get down
except by letting them down with ropes.” The
The next months would be extremely busy
ones for the new officials while they
established the political structure necessary
for a functioning territorial government. One
early action would be Governor Goodwin’s
exploration of his new domain taking him to
Tucson and southern Arizona in hid search for
the most appropriate site for the Territorial
Capitol.
21 T
Part 6: The New Officials Take Charge
he year 1864 was a busy one for Arizona’s newly arrived territorial officers,
for there was much to be done to establish a functioning government in
what had been a sorely neglected part of New Mexico Territory.
Governor Goodwin put high priority on learning about his new domain and its residents
and scheduled trips to visit key locations. The
first trip started two weeks after his arrival at
Fort Whipple when he visited the nearby Pioneer and Walker mining districts.
of Private Fisher of the escort and five Indians. That evening two of Woolsey’s employees caught up with the news that Indians
had—for the third time—stripped the Agua
Fria Ranch of “every hoof except oxen
ploughing near the house.” A second skirmish, at an Indian rancheria, was inconclusive, with no known fatalities on either side.
A highlight of that brief trip came at Joe
Walker’s camp where he joined an evening
meeting honoring the participants in the Battle of Bloody tanks and their leader King S.
Woolsey. The governor praised Woolsey’s
efforts and named him his military aide with
the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. It also
prompted the governor to deliver a speech
recommending the extermination of hostile
Indians.
The expected mineral deposits did not materialize and on March 11, after going up the
Verde River as far as Montezuma’s Castle,
the governor and most of his party started
back to Fort Whipple. Judge Allyn and a
companion took a side trip to the Salt River
Valley where he commented on the remains
of an extensive irrigation system left by an
ancient farming civilization.
Governor Goodwin’s next exploration would
be a lengthier jaunt east to the Verde River,
an area “reputed to be rich in minerals.” In
addition to a military escort he was joined by
a group of civilians and by Judge Joseph Allyn who continued to keep the people of Hartford, Conn., informed through his newspaper
accounts. Allyn’s correspondence made it
clear that members of the party were spoiling
for a fight to gain revenge for Indian stock
raids.
Meanwhile, two appointed territorial officials
who had not travelled with the Governor’s
party—Charles D. Poston, Superintendent of
Indian Affairs, and Milton B. Duffield, Territorial Marshal—reached Tucson in midJanuary and were wondering when the others
might arrive.
The governor’s expedition marshaled at
Woolsey’s Agua Fria Ranch, departing on
February 21. They travelled light, with
equipment and supplies limited to what could
be carried by pack animals over rugged terrain.
Governor Goodwin had dispatched Duffield
to San Francisco with a request to the army
for additional military protection. Duffield
chose the ocean steamer route to San Francisco, arriving in early November. The request for additional troops was turned down,
but he was offered transportation across the
desert to Tucson with a cavalry company soon
to leave For14Pt Drum.
On Saturday, February 27, there was a brief
skirmish with Indians resulting in the deaths
Why Poston did not travel in relative comfort
with the Governor’s Party is uncertain, but he
22 opted to jolt his way west by stagecoach, arriving in San Francisco in late November
1863. He, like Duffield, then travelled to
Southern California by ocean steamer, leaving
Drum Barracks for the desert journey a few
days behind the marshal.
first in Tubac and then at Tucson—but the
Miner was the first newspaper published in
the newly formed Arizona Territory, and for
many years was a prominent voice commenting on territorial affairs.
Territorial Secretary Richard McCormick
brought the materials needed to publish a
newspaper overland with the Governor’s
Party. These materials included a used printing press of 1820s vintage and handset type
fonts. According to McClintock’s History of
Arizona, that press was in use in Prescott as
late as 1880, but was destroyed in the Whiskey Row fire of 1900. Even then the bed was
recovered and used as an imposing stone.
Travels of the Poston and Duffield parties began to overlap at Fort Yuma where Duffield
spent time prospecting and Poston began his
Indian agent duties by distributing presents to
the local Indian tribes. They left Fort Yuma
separately, but both arrived in Arizona Territory in late December thus relieving any question about pay caused by wording in the Arizona Organic Act.
Once at Tucson, their paths separated. Poston
continued on to distribute gifts to friendly
southern Arizona tribes and to revisit the area
where he had run a silver mining operation
before being driven out by Apaches in 1861.
The nominal publisher was Tisdale A. Hand,
a 23-year-old immigrant from New York,
though it is certain that the owner, Secretary
McCormick, contributed much of the editorial
matter. Albert Franklin Banta who had arrived with the Fort Whipple founders as a
“bullwhacker,” was Hand’s assistant for the
early issues.
Duffield had little to do in Tucson since there
was no existing court system, leaving him idle
until February when he was directed to come
to Fort Whipple where he would take charge
of the territory’s first census.
In the manner of the times, the Miner had a
motto, "The Gold of that Land is Good." It
consisted of four pages, with four columns to
the page, and initially was published twice
monthly before becoming a weekly in 1867.
Advertising in the first issue occupied only a
single column on page four and included jewelry and watch making services, postage
stamps and envelopes for sale, and a $100
dollar reward for recovery of Marshal Duffield’s lost horse.
Poston on completing his tour of southern
Arizona began combining his chores as Indian
Agent with a successful campaign for the
elective position of first Territorial Representative to Congress.
The Arizona Miner Begins
To those of us who still use newspapers,
March 9, 1864, was an important day in local
history for that is when the first issue of the
Arizona Miner newspaper was published at
Fort Whipple, then still at Del Rio Springs.
Additional embellishments on the first page
included images of the American Flag and the
original territorial seal designed by Secretary
McCormick. Editorial content included a description of the governor’s proclamation
ceremony at Navajo Springs including the
text of Secretary McCormick’s remarks. The
Organic Act establishing Arizona Territory
was also printed in full. Much of the remain-
Some may argue that that the Miner was not
the first newspaper published within Arizona’s boundaries—the Weekly Arizonian had
been published briefly before the Civil War,
23 First Issue of the Arizona Miner Newspaper
24 ing columns contained filler material from
other sources, a common practice of the time.
“boiling with rage,” picked up his gun, and
slowly returned it to its scabbard.
Page two led off with pledges to emphasize
local news and everything outside “of note.”
And there were statements that the Miner
would be “independent” and “non-partisan,”
which political foes of the Secretary must
have found amusing.
Banta concluded his story with, “Shortly after
this Mr. Hand left the country for the East.”
The Governor Travels South
By early April 1864 Governor Goodwin was
on the road again; this time headed to southern Arizona to visit the Tucson and Tubac
areas.
Some of the local news items found in the
first issue: Urgent need for stage routes to Albuquerque and Mesilla; Considerations of
where the Territorial Capital should be located; Indian troubles including the third raid
on King S. Woolsey’s Agua Fria ranch; and
information on the upcoming special census.
Before departing for points south, the governor (and Secretary McCormick) had completed two necessary tasks preceding the elections of the territorial legislators and the representative to Congress. First was to create
the three judicial districts that also would
serve as the original legislative districts. Second was to establish the ground rules for the
special census that, among other things,
would determine how many councilmen and
representatives each district would have in the
bicameral legislature.
After Fort Whipple moved to its new location
on Granite Creek, the newspaper moved to
the new Prescott townsite. Their offices were
located across from the town plaza in a frame
building that the paper proudly announced
was the first building completed in the townsite. The first issue published with a Prescott
dateline was June 22 and the paper apologized
for missing one edition due to the move.
Just below the community of Weaver (sometimes called Weaverville or Antelope) the
governor encountered a party headed for Fort
Whipple that included Indian Agent Charles
Poston and Judge Joseph Allyn who were being escorted by 60 Maricopa and Pima Indians led by Chiefs Juan Cheveria and Juan
Manuel. The news that the governor shared
with Poston and Allyn was bad.
Publisher Hand did not remain in Prescott for
long. Banta, although a not totally reliable
source, shed some light on his departure telling of an incident, featuring Editor Hand and
a desperado named Lou Thrift. He told that
one day at dinner in the Prescott House Hand
got into a political argument with Thrift, a
native of Virginia and ardent Confederate
supporter, and “in the dispute Hand was so
indiscrete as to call Thrift a liar.” Thrift proposed to settle the matter then and there with
“Colonel Colt” as arbiter. Hand demurred
saying he was unarmed and never carried a
pistol.
Half the population had left to avoid starvation and death (at Weaver the estimated population had dropped from 400 to 100). Fort
Whipple was thronged with fugitives; and
there wasn’t an animal fit to use left in the
country. And King S. Woolsey was leaving
with 100 men on a second expedition against
the Apaches.
Thrift then drew one of his two six-shooters,
cocked it, and placed it beside Hand’s plate
indicating he was free to use it. Hand prudently declined to do any shooting. Thrift,
After stopping at Weaver—where Maricopa
Chief Cheveria was celebrated as a hero for
25 his role in the Bloody Tanks affair—Poston
and his Indian escort abandoned a plan to visit
the Hopi villages and instead headed to a
hoped-for rendezvous with Woolsey to help
on his new anti-Apache campaign. Allyn and
two companions continued on to Fort Whipple, “. . . a melancholy journey, past burned
and deserted cabins.”
Race and ethnicity was ignored by the census,
but in the third district over half the women
and 300 of the men were born in Mexico or
places that had been part of Mexico until
1848. About half of those counted were born
in the United States, but 24 other nations of
origin were identified. Almost 200 of the
men were married to women left behind in the
“states” or in native lands, some never seeing
those spouses again. There are accounts of
early arrivals conveniently forgetting their
marriage vows and finding new wives locally.
Governor Goodwin continued to Southern
Arizona where he would remain for almost
two months while the citizens of Arizona
waited to hear which location the governor
would choose for the first legislature, and
would-be politicians waited to learn what
openings they might vie for.
The list of occupations given to the census
taker ranged from the whimsical, “bummer”
and “whatever” to a wide list of serious occupations, although miner, soldier and laborer
were the three most common. There was one
“whiskey seller” and one minister/postmaster.
Seventeen of the single ladies listed their occupation as “mistress” which is open to interpretation.
A Special Census is Taken
During the absence of the governor from central Arizona during April and most of May
1864, the taking of the special census was the
most noteworthy event. Territorial Marshal
Milton Duffield led the effort. He chose to
cover the first (southern) district himself, and
appointed Charles A. Phillips to the second
(western) district, and “Minister/Postmaster”
Hyrum Read to the third (northern) district.
Of political importance, the census answered
the question of how power in the first territorial legislature would be divided. The southern district (Tucson mainly) was assigned just
under half the seats, making it a good bet that
the two most powerful offices, the Council
President and the House Speaker would go to
men from Tucson.
There was a profound racial bias to the census
since Indians—even friendly tribes—were
excluded. An analysis of the 1864 census
shows the total non-Indian population of Arizona to be 4573, slightly higher than an abstract of the results used by the governor in
allocating seats in the legislature.
A Townsite is Surveyed and Named
April 1864 had been a quiet month, but
windy, and once the Governor had left for
southern Arizona, there was little going on
politically except the tedious task of completing the first census and Indian Agent Poston’s
travels in search of votes for Territorial Representative to Congress.
The third district headcount—including some
late entries—was 1088 and was centered
about the area that would soon become
Prescott. The population was heavily male,
with the 49 women and girls outnumbered 22
to one. Single women outnumbered the married ones and there was a scattering of children. There were 19 married couples, one
pair being spliced by the Rev. Reed while taking the census.
One event of some interest came when Robert
W. Groom surveyed a quarter section west of
Granite Creek that Secretary McCormick
claimed and named Pinal Ranch. McCor-
26 The Combination Office and Residence Shared by the Territorial Governor and Secretary
mick’s intentions for the land would become
known only after the Governor’s return.
adopting the best mode of disposing of lots in
the proposed town.” The Federal laws controlling such disposition of public lands posed
some problems, but a work-around was found
that was not perfect, but ultimately was confirmed.
While the announcement of where the first
legislature would meet would wait until after
the July 18 elections, there were hints—
maybe only wishful thinking—that since Fort
Whipple had been moved to Granite Creek,
the Governor must have decided that this
would be the place. Therefore, some interested citizens, primarily Robert W. Groom
and Van C. Smith—with no documented
authorization—started the actions essential to
establish a suitable site for a capital city.
Those citizens picked two adjacent quarter
sections located between Pinal Ranch and
Fort Whipple as appropriate, and Mr. Groom
with a small crew surveyed streets and avenues and alleys and blocks divided into lots.
The Arizona Miner in its next issue—the first
published in Prescott—reported on the meeting, noting that Mr. Groom was chosen to
preside and Miner Publisher Tisdale Hand
was appointed secretary. Dr. J. T. Alsop of
Lynx Creek had a prominent role introducing
a series of resolutions, which were unanimously adopted “after some discussion.” No
count of or list of attendees was published.
The first two resolutions approved the townsite as surveyed by Groom and that it would
be named Prescott in recognition of the
prominent historian.
Whether Secretary
McCormick was present or not is unknown,
but he did accept credit for the name suggestion.
Shortly after the Governor arrived back from
Tucson May 24, an anonymous notice was
“widely posted” saying, “There will be a public meeting held at the store of Don Manuel,
on Granite Creek, on Monday evening, May
30, 1864, for the purpose of considering and
(Interestingly, official use of the name
27 Prescott is found in a governor’s proclamation
dated four days earlier.)
A housekeeping resolution provided for a portion of the lot sales to pay for the expenses of
the survey. However, all other payments on
the lots were to await “perfection of the title
to the lots by the general government.”
The next resolutions adapted federal law to
recognize local circumstances, first declaring:
“That we believe it to be for the best interest
of all concerned, that the lots be sold and disposed of under the act of Congress approved
March 2d, 1863.” And then declaring, “That
on account of the great delay which must attend communication with the Secretary of the
Interior, (owing to the lack of mail facilities),
and in the absence of a Register and Receiver
of the Land Office in this district, that Messrs.
Van C. Smith, Hezekiah Brooks, and R. W.
Groom, are hereby appointed to act as Commissioners . . . in laying out, appraisement
and disposition of the lots in accordance with
the said Act of Congress.” The “commissioners” acted quickly and the first auction of lots
was held just five days later.
One final piece of business was proposed, this
time by Mr. Charles Dorman, and again
unanimously approved, that the 88th anniversary of American Independence be celebrated
on July 4 in Prescott.
In the days that followed, the Governor and
Secretary “moved their tents” to Pinal Ranch
across Granite Creek from the townsite and
began arrangements for construction of a
large log building that they would share as a
combination government office and residence.
And thus the town of Prescott began through
the efforts of a few men who refused to let
legal technicalities interfere with necessity in
order to enhance the prospects for bringing
the territorial capital there. Now all they
could do was to wait expectantly for the governor’s official announcement, but that would
not come until after the elections for the territorial legislature in July.
In all probability “the store of Don Manuel
on Granite Creek” was the property of a
young hispano from New Mexico who was
one of the New Mexican merchants who
came to the diggings with the Fort Whipple founding party. The 1864 census of lists Manuel Yrisari age 25, born in New Mexico, an Arizona resident of five months, occupation merchant, with real estate valued at $1,000, and personal estate at $12,000. That original log cabin
served a variety of purposes for the next 70
years before being moved to the Sharlot
Hall Museum grounds as “Fort Misery”.
Their efforts were rewarded. In late August,
the Arizona Miner published the Governor’s
proclamation stating that the newly elected
members of the Council and House of Representatives would meet at noon September 26,
1864, in Prescott. The recent wilderness area
had become the territorial capital for now—
even though that role would not be permanent, for this was a plum that other communities craved.
A Plaza is Specified
The next resolution would have a significant
impact on the characteristics of the new town
by stating, “That at least one square in the
proposed town site should be reserved for a
public plaza . . .” thus providing for our noteworthy courthouse plaza.
28 Part 7—Prescott Celebrates the Fourth of July
O
n July 4, 1863, it is probable that the handful miners in the Central Arizona
Highlands were too concerned with survival and hopes for wealth to give
any thought to the nation’s birthday. The twin problems of Isolation and
Indians forced concentration on essentials.
But a year later with the arrival of the Army
and government officials, enough had
changed for the better so that a celebration
was in order—even though the isolation
caused shortages of almost everything and the
Indians were still pesky.
whom were miners dressed in all sorts of
costumes.”
He continued on to elaborate on the
appearances: “The officers were dressed
ordinarily, while the citizens, miners, or
adventurer, whichever would be their proper
name, for the most part were dressed most
any way. None of them had coats. Some had
moccasins on, while others wore old shoe
tops alternately half-soled and worn out,
probably a dozen times previously.”
Independence Day in Prescott 1864 began
with raising “Old Glory” on a 100-foot
flagpole on the plaza, followed by a review of
the Fort Whipple troops by Governor
Goodwin. At noon the dignitaries appeared
on a platform located at the southeast corner
of the Plaza and Rev. H. W. Read opened the
event with a prayer. Next, the Star Spangled
Banner was performed by three musicians, on
two violins and a banjo.
Hosiery was unavailable and he described the
miner “make-do” consisting of rectangles of
cotton flour sacks “to be in the height of
fashion on this occasion, while the wearers
had patched trousers and one . . . wore only
his under pantaloons, because he had no
trousers to put on.”
Our Declaration of Independence was read in
English by District Attorney Almon Gage and
in Spanish by Milton Hadley.
The
“orchestra” then performed “The Grave of
Washington” prior to an oration by Secretary
McCormick.
He continued, “All of them had the remains
of a check shirt and what was left of what was
once a felt hat that had been mended so often
that it was of many colors.” The common
costume also included “pistols and butcher
knives.”
The Secretary’s remarks were so well
received that, by unanimous vote of those
present, copies of the oration were asked to be
printed
(presumably
on
Secretary
McCormick’s Arizona Miner press).
Conner, a one-time Civil War insurrectionist,
recalled of his life in the wilderness, “This
was the freest country on earth at that time.
No civilization, laws or books. No restriction
nor anything to eat.
The ceremonies ended with firing of a
national salute and the crowd scattered to the
few available places where whisky was sold.
The result according to the Miner, “Nobody
was hurt although the boys waxed very merry,
and some of them very tipsy, and there was
no little promiscuous firing of revolvers.”
“Thus ended the first celebration of the Fourth
of July ever had in central Arizona and it was
a success and pleased all the attendants. I
remember that a light shower of rain fell after
it was over on that day, the first of the
season.”
Years later, Daniel Ellis Conner recalled that
there were no ladies among the audience “of
about thirty or forty persons present, most of
29 Prescott, Circa 1868
Sources
Griggs, George, et al, The Mexican Experience in
Arizona.
1864 Census for Arizona Territory, Historical Records
Survey, 1938
Henson, Pauline, Founding a Wilderness Capital.
Allyn, Joseph Pratt, Letters published in the Hartford
Evening Press, using pseudonym Putnam,
published between October 8, 1863 and
February 12, 1864 (Sharlot Hall Museum
Archives).
Meketa, Jacqueline Dorgan, Legacy of Honor, the life
of Rafael Chacón, a Nineteenth-Century New
Mexican.
Altshuler, Constance Wynn, editor, Latest from
Arizona!, The Hesperian Letters, 1859-1861.
Poston, Charles D., Building a State in Apache Land.
Nicolson, John, editor, The Arizona of Joseph Pratt
Allyn, Letters From a Pioneer Judge.
Arizona Miner newspaper, selected 1864 editions.
Sacks, B., M.D., Be it Enacted: The Creation of the
Territory of Arizona.
Bates, Albert R., Jack Swilling, Arizona’s Most Lied
About Pioneer.
____________Arizona’s Angry Man, United States
Marshal Milton B. Duffield, (monograph).
Browne, J. Ross, Adventures in the Apache Country.
Sanders, Thomas, My Arizona Adventures, The
Recollections of Thomas Dudley Sanders:
Miner, Freighter and Rancher in Arizona
Territory, Al Bates, editor.
Carleton, James, correspondence published in Farrish.
Clark, John A, personal journal, (Sharlot Hall Museum
Archives).
Richmond, Jonathan, letters published in Farrish.
Conner, Daniel Ellis, edited by Berthrong &
Davenport, Joseph Reddeford Walker and the
Arizona Adventure.
Walker, Joseph R., et al, Journal of the Pioneer and
Walker Mining Districts, Yavapai County
Archives.
Farrish, Thomas Edwin, History of Arizona.
30