USA > Arizona > Arizona, prehistoric, aboriginal, pioneer, modern; the nation's youngest commonwealth within a land of ancient culture, Vol. I > Part 1
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42
Gc 979.1 M13a v.1 1401431
GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01103 5364
2 vols
MAXX 2.700
Jas. H. mcclintock
ARIZONA
Prehistoric - Aboriginal Pioneer-Modern
THE NATION'S YOUNGEST COMMONWEALTH WITHIN A LAND OF ANCIENT CULTURE
By JAMES H. MCCLINTOCK
VOLUME I
,
TERRITORY O
F
SEA
ARIZONA
DITAT DEVS
1863
CHICAGO THE S. J. CLARKE PUBLISHING CO. 1916
1401431
ARIZONA
Dun land, sun land, rope and spur and gun land, What is your enchantment that you haunt my dreams ? View land, blue land, flash-of-every-hue land, Peak and plain and cañon-cradle dimpling gleam.
Sad land, glad land, poor old pagan bad land, Sometime to your castle we shall find the key; Wild land, mild land, slumb'ring, witch-beguiled land, Then you shall awaken, smiling, strong and free. -THERESA RUSSELL.
Vol. 1-1
PREFACE
The task of writing this History of Arizona was undertaken with a degree of confidence much stronger than later felt when there came fuller appreciation of the magnitude of the task. For, though Arizona may be called the Baby State and though within her borders last may have been found the nation's frontier, her history is one of rare antiquity. When the first English entered Chesapeake Bay the Spaniards already had been in Pimeria nearly seventy years and the landing of the Pilgrim Fathers on Plymouth Rock was full eighty years after the passage of Coronado, who here found Indians who for centuries had lived in well-ordered cities. The material has not been easy to gather, though much has been written upon the Southwest. Yet Bancroft's volume on Arizona and New Mexico, issued in 1889, was the only work that approximated complete treatment of the subject. The author felt that he had accumulated much data in the course of over thirty-six years of residence in Arizona, years mainly devoted to newspaper and general writing, yet must confess that the field of Arizona history, when delved into as an occupation, has produced much that was strange aud much that has changed his ideas on matters theretofore by him considered settled. The Territory has had many chroniclers of legends and events and many scientists have studied her ethnology and her natural features. There has been less trouble in finding material than in classifying it, balancing it in relative importance and finding the place into which each item best would fit. In this connection, in the consideration of a number of important features, it has been thought well to make classification by subjects, rather than to observe close chronological sequences.
In the progress of the work continually has been impressed upon the writer a feeling that Arizona is a land apart and unique. She has her own features of dual climates, of peculiar native flora and fauna, of contrasting wooded and snow-capped mountains, rising out of waterless, sage-colored, far-stretching plains, of "deserts" that become oases when torrential streams are checked- all broadly at variance with Nature's manifestations in any other State of our Union. Indeed, it has been said that only in far-off Palestine are these condi- tions in any wise duplicated.
There is a charm in all, that includes also the history of this Sun-Kissed Land, even though the epoch considered be one of dreadful tragedy. The stage setting always has been dramatic. In the wondrous, many-hued framing of the deep mountain cañons are cliff dwellings and on the plains are mysterious cities of an unrecorded past. Across the glowing landscape have paced mail-clad con- quistadores and brown-robed, sandaled friars. From the stage's craggy wings
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PREFACE
have stolen forms of Indians, naked, painted, and the foreground still is wet with the blood of the slain. There has been conflict, real and long-enduring, with successive soldiery of three nations holding back a cruel foe, and at least one struggle of civil strife.
On the pageant pathway have passed filibusters, bandits, desperadoes, cow- boys picturesque on broncos and prospectors with their humble burros, creaking carretas with their horn-yoked oxen, emigrant trains bound for the land of gold, freighting "outfits" with wagons of wondrous size and long strings of strain- ing mules, "thoroughbrace" stage coaches, settlers who literally bore a rifle on every plow beam, engineers, through whose transits a rosy future first was seen-and lastly the railroad, bearer of a modern and stable prosperity. Long sections of the panorama must be shown to secure realization of the travail through which the State has come into her newer life and then of her more' modern progress there must be detail.
What we of the territorial generation have known as the real pioneers of Arizona, those who came before or about the time of the Territory's organiza- tion, nearly all are gone, though there remain a few such men as Hughes, Genung and Banta to give evidence at first hand concerning the days when life was the only cheap article in the Southwest.
It is appreciated that the tale presented of early days may be over-sangui- nary and that large space has been devoted to the Indian warfare, of most unhappy memory. But no other part of our Nation ever fought its way to the star of civilization through such tribulation as here known, and this day is made the happier by contrast with the dark and bloody past.
The author owes much to Dr. J. A. Munk for the free use of his wonderful collection of Arizoniana (of 7,000 titles) in the Southwest Museum in Los Angeles. He would acknowledge also his indebtedness to scores of Arizona friends who have contributed much material and the help of good counsel and sympathetic interest.
There has been attempted only the plainest of condensed narrative, yet it has been sought to present as vividly as could be' done the full story of "The Marvellous Country." The result it is felt must have its percentage of error, both of omission and commission. But herewith it is presented, done in sincerity and in the love of the land of which it deals.
JAS. H. MCCLINTOCK.
PHOENIX, ARIZONA, January 1, 1916.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I NAMING OF THE LAND
"Arizona," a Word of Papago Origin, First Applied to a Northern Sonora District-
Later Spread Over the Gadsden Purchase and Accepted for the Territory .
...
.1
CHAPTER II ARIZONA'S ANCIENT SETTLEMENT
Casa Grande and the Valley Pueblos-Their Antiquity and Their Desertion-Cliff Dwellings and Dwellers-Connection with the Modern Indians-Stone Corrals- Petroglyphs 4
CHAPTER III INDIANS, HISTORIC AND TRIBAL
Aboriginal Peoples of Arizona, Peaceful and Otherwise-Origin, Customs and Devel- opment-Linguistic Stocks-Nomadic and Sedentary Tribes-Reservations-Efforts at Education 18
CHAPTER IV THE SPANISH CONQUEST
Cabeza de Vaca-Juan de la Asuncion, First Traveler in Arizona-Marco de Niza and the Seven Cities-Coronado's Expedition-Alarcon's River Exploration-New Mexican Settlement .41
CHAPTER V MISSIONS AND MISSIONARIES
The Jesuits Till Their Expulsion in 1767-Entry of the Franciscans-Padre Garcés, His Travels and Martyrdom-Foundation of San Francisco by De Anza- San Xavier 63
CHAPTER VI AMERICAN OCCUPATION
Passage of Pike, Pattie and Carson-Mexican Rule to 1846-Kearny's Victorious March Through to the Pacific-The Mormon Battalion-1ts Capture of Tucson . . 82
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CONTENTS
CHAPTER VII EARLY MINERS AND PROSPECTORS
Spanish Silver Mines and the Planchas de Plata-American Operations Along the Border -First Copper Production at Ajo-Placers-Walker and Weaver Expeditions. 101
CHAPTER VIII AMERICAN SURVEYS
Work of the Boundary Commission-Sitgreaves, Aubrey and Whipple on the Thirty- fifth Parallel-Beale's Wagon Road-Experiences with Camels-Surveys Along the Gila .113
CHAPTER IX SOUTHWESTERN FILIBUSTERS
Attempts of Pondray and Raousset de Boulbon to Establish French Colonies Near the Border-Walker's Expedition-Crabb's Great Plans and Their Disastrous Termina- tion-Grant Oury's Dash 124
CHAPTER X THE PRE-TERRITORIAL PERIOD
Old Tucson, a Border Metropolis-Its Foundation and Name-Yuma and the River Camps-Politics, when Arizona Extended from Texas to the Colorado-Confederate Activity .131
CHAPTER XI WITH THE STARS AND STRIPES
The Regular Army in Arizona and Its Leaders-Southmestern Military Posts-Aban- donment at the Outbreak of the Civil War-Forts and Camps, Past and Present. 145
CHAPTER XII
ARIZONA IN THE CIVIL WAR
Confederate Invasion of the Southwest-Hunter's Capture of Tucson-Picacho Pass Fight-Carleton's California Column-Mowry's Arrest-Apache Pass-New Mexican Military Administration 158
CHAPTER XIII EARLY INDIAN TROUBLES
The Apache Character-Mangas Coloradas and His End-How Cochise Started on The War Path-Border Desolation-Oatman Massacre -- Captivity and Rescue of Olive Oatman 172
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CONTENTS
CHAPTER XIV APACHES IN NORTHERN ARIZONA
Raids on Early Mining Camps-Woolsey's Pinole Treaty-Woes of the Verde Valley Settlers-John Townsend-Hostile Mojaves and Hualpais-The Arizona Volun- teers .185
CHAPTER XV INDIAN BORDER DEPREDATIONS
Protests of the Governor and Legislature-Eskiminzin-The Work of Cochise in South- western Arizona-Death of Lieutenant Cushing-Loot of the Hughes Ranch- Depredation Claims 198
CHAPTER XVI RETALIATION AND CONCILIATION
Camp Grant Massacre-Vincent Colyer, Attorney for the Apaches-General Howard's Effective Service-Cochise Surrenders-His Death-Indians Herded upon Reser- vation 206
CHAPTER XVII CLOSING IN ON THE APACHE
The Great Crook Campaign of 1872-Loring Massacre-Date Creek Conspiracy- Fight of the Caves-Del Shay-King's Fight at Sunset Pass-Victorio's Death 218
CHAPTER XVIII RAIDS FROM THE RESERVATIONS
Outbreak of Scouts at Cibicu-Middleton Ranch Attacked-Geronimo Escapes- Murders of Sterling, Colvig and Knox-Fight of the Big Dry Wash-Agency Conditions 232
CHAPTER XIX
THE FIRST SONORAN CAMPAIGN
Surrender of the Geronimo Band and Its Escape-Murder of the McComas Family- Zulick's Warning against Violence-Crawford Killed by Mexicans-Crook Resigns 243
CHAPTER XX END OF THE APACHE WARS
General Miles in Command-Capture of Geronimo's Band-Deportation of the Chiri- cahuas-Reynolds' Murder-Escape and Depredations of the Kid-Peace at Last, after Centuries of Bloodshed 259
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CONTENTS
CHAPTER XXI PIONEER TRANSPORTATION
Stage Coaching through the Indian Country-The Famous Butterfield Contract-Trials of Mail Contractors-Perils of the Road-Wayside Stations and Their Tragedies- Freighting by Wagon-Mexican Carretas 270
CHAPTER XXII FROM CAMELS TO AUTOS
Jefferson Davis' Experiment with "Ships of the Desert"-Beale's Experiences with Camels-Turned Loose on the Arizona Plains-The Faithful Burro-Modern Roads and Bridges-Military Telegraph Lines .283
CHAPTER XXIII SOUTHWESTERN RAILROADS
Helped by Land Grants and Subsidies-Fremont's Large Plans-Coming to the Southern . Pacific and Santa Fe Systems-How the Arizona Branch Lines Were Built-The Phelps-Dodge Roads-Railroad Lights that Failed . 288
CHAPTER XXIV THE MIGHTY COLORADO
Early Transportation on Arizona's Only Navigable Stream-The First Steamboats- Difficulties of the Pioneer Skippers-Explorations within the Grand Canon-Powell and Stanton Parties-How a Gorge Was Dug and the Material Removed . ... 302
Arizona - The Youngest State 1
CHAPTER I
NAMING OF THE LAND
"Arizona" a Word of Papago Origin, First Applied to a Northern Sonora District- Later Spread Over the Gadsden Purchase and Accepted for the Territory.
The name "Arizona," has been of disputed origin. On the face of things it would seem to have come from two Spanish words, arida (arid, dry, barren) and zona (zone), so called in a general way by the Spaniards who traveled north- ward from the "zona templada," the temperate highland of Mexico. What more natural than to speak of going to the "dry country ?" Euphony in Spanish pronunciation would account for the inversion of the usual form of noun and adjective. Yet there are many, skilled in the Spanish tongue, who insist that the word cannot be of Spanish origin.
Samnel Hughes, one of the oldest of Tucson's residents, has contended that it is derived from "ari-sonac," meaning "place of chastisement," by its form inferring that the victims were small people, or children, and joins with other well-informed students in centering the origin of the name in northern Sonora, entirely outside of the boundaries of the present State of Arizona.
Fred W. Hodge, the distinguished ethnologist of the Smithsonian Institu- tion, a scientist who has done much in the Southwest, also finds for "ari-zonac," though he translates it from the Papago as meaning "small springs."
Hodge is sustained with the small change of the noun to the singular form, by Dr. M. P. Freeman of Tucson, who has gone deeply into the subject and who has chased the name down in Spanish history. From his relation is quoted :
Some time prior to the date of its publication in Barcelona, Spain, in 1754, Padre Ortega wrote his "Historia del Nayarit (the district south of the Gila), Souora, Sinaloa y Ambas Californias; " in this, speaking of the mines of Sonora, he refers to the Planchas de Plata, that were discovered "a corta distancia del Real de Arizona" (at a short distance from the Real of Arizona). Real at the time was applied to "the town in whose district there were silver mines." Although published in 1754, this history bears conclusive internal evidence of having been written in the City of Mexico not later than the year 1751, and contains the first printed mention of which I have any knowledge of the name of our State, although it undoubt- edly appears in manuscript in the archives of the City of Mexico and of Spain, in the government correspondence had in 1736, relative to the interest of the government in this discovery. Ward, in his "Mexico in 1827," he being the English chargé d'affaires in the City of Mexico at the time of his writing, states that he had seen the correspondence, and says that a decree of Philip the Fifth ends by declaring the "District of Arizona" to be Royal
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ARIZONA-THE YOUNGEST STATE
property. The omission of the final "e" from Arizonac, in this case, has no special sig- nificance, nor has that of Ortega in his "Historia." The Indian name of their rancheria in the vicinity was undoubtedly Arizonac; this name the Spaniards probably adopted and applied to the locality in general, dropping the "e" in their pronunciation and spelling of it. Ortega makes no suggestion whatever as to the possible meaning of Arizona, or Arizonac. But this early mention of the name now borne by the State, I consider a most interesting historical fact.
Prof. R. H. Forbes of the University of Arizona, delving a bit into the Papago-Pima idiom, finds that "ari" means "small," usually applied to a babe or child, while "sonac" means "ever-flowing spring." He believes that the latter word has been confused with the Papago word "soni," "which con- veys the idea of low position, associated with violence," thus explaining and seeking to wipe out the Hughes theory. Professor Forbes, pursuing the subject, interprets several local names out of the Papago tongue, such as Arivaca, "little marsh" and Chooksonae, "black spring," possibly alkaline. He points to the fact that, twenty-eight miles southwest of Nogales is the old Arizona ranch, on the Rio Arizona, just north of the Sierra Arizona, with the Planchas de Plata only six miles distant. In that locality the name is an old one, and there is a natural assumption that it spread northward till it embraced all of Pimeria and, eventually, the western half of southern New Mexico. The fact that it was spelled variously on old maps and in old manuscripts would detract not at all from the strength of the statement.
Bancroft, in his History of Arizona and New Mexico, gives some support to this localizing of the word and suggests that the true meaning would be found' in study of the tongues of the nearby Indians, treating as mere guesses most of the explanations extant on the basis of similar Indian or Spanish words. One of these, contained in an early geography, was to the effect that, as the Gadsden Purchase had the shape of a nose, "Arizona" could be traced to the Spanish "nariz," in the form of "narizona," assumed to be a "large-nosed woman." John D. Walker, a Pima scholar, told it was from "orlison," meaning "little creeks."
Again, there is the variation of "Arizuma," said to be Aztec for "Silver Country," though the translation is open to inquiry concerning identity of the translator, for Arizona never was an Aztec province. Colonel Poston some- where gained the impression that Arizuma was an Aztec word meaning "rocky country." This should have some weight, as it often appears in this form in early chronicles and as Poston generally has been credited with naming the Ter- ritory at the time of its organization. He himself was a bit modest on the subject. His own account of the official naming of the future State has been pre- served. It follows:
On my return from Washington in 1856, I met at El Paso, William Claude Jones, then Attorney General of New Mexico, and on our journey up the Rio Grande we discussed the propriety of making a petition to Congress for the organization of a territorial government between the Rio Grande and Colorado. At La Mesilla, Jones, who was a lawyer and poli- tician, wrote the petition, and when it came to giving the proposed territory a name he wrote it "Arizona." The petition was signed by everybody in Mesilla who could write, and some who could not, and sent by mail to General Rusk, at that time senator from Texas. This is the first time that I know of the word Arizona having been used in any official or Gov- ernment communication. The petition is probably filed in the archives of the Senate at Washington as General Rusk presented it to Congress.
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ARIZONA-THE YOUNGEST STATE
Isaac D. Smith, an Arizona pioneer of large experience among the Papago Indians, in an article published many years ago in Tucson, most concisely gave his views concerning the origin of Arizona's name. He wrote:
As to the name of Arizona, there is very little mystery about it. If a person feels like traveling eighty-five miles southwest from Tucson to a place called Banera, west of Sasabe about eight miles, and south of the boundary line about one mile, his curiosity may be gratified. At that point about 300 years ago, lived a great many Indians, and in the vicinity is a small creek, which the Mexicans now call Sucalito, but which the Indians call Aleh-Zon (meaning young spring). At the head of this creek is a spring, but during rainy weather other small springs start up, hence the name. This large village. the Spaniards destroyed about 100 years ago. At the present time there are only a few hundred Indians who live there, and from the village and creek Arizona received her name.
The burden of proof sustains Doctor Freeman, Mr. Hodge and Mr. Smith. All would indicate that little reason exists for further research along this line.
CHAPTER II ARIZONA'S ANCIENT SETTLEMENT
Casa Grande and the Valley Pueblos-Their Antiquity and Their Desertion-Cliff Dwellings and Dwellers-Connection with the Modern Indians -- Stone Corrals --- Petroglyphs.
The identity of the people who once inhabited the valleys ,of Southern Arizona and their final disposition are questions that strike every visitor to Casa Grande and other such ruins, though possibly the first query will concern their probable age. The unthinking have called the southern pueblo remains "Aztec," something they assuredly are not. There also has been a desire to make more of the valley dwellers than they really were-to endow them with knowledge even superior to that of today and with possession of mystic lore like unto that of the priesthood of ancient Egypt. In fact, they were peoples not materially different from the pueblo dwellers of today, along the Rio Grande, at Zuñi or in the Hopi villages-they were Indians, of ordinary sort, of a settled, agricultural type. They dwelt in communities for mutual protection, and, being of gregarious inclination, living by the fruits of their own toil, natur- ally they were peaceful-though well equipped for the defense of their own. Such houses as Casa Grande and the great houses near Phoenix, Tempe and Mesa could have housed only a small part of the ancient population of the Gila and Salt River valleys, and it is probable the farmers usually lived in villages close to their fields.
That they were deeply devotional is shown by the finding of sacrificial imple- ments not dissimilar to those now in use in Zuñi, and elaborate must have been their rituals, covering the course of their daily lives, as well as their ceremonials of worship. They knew that water would run down hill and hence dug canals from the rivers to irrigate their fields, and these canals were dug broader and longer as the extent of the cultivated area enlarged. Nothing about it all was mysterious. Almost any of the sedentary Indians of today would do as well under like circumstances.
It should be appreciated by the casual viewer, as well as by the student. that the Southern Arizona valleys were not settled within a year, nor were they hastily abandoned. It is probable that even centuries were consumed in a slow migration through the valleys and that most of the towns were in ruins before the last of the clans finally abandoned the ground.
What made them move? From one familiar with the same type of Indian could come a hundred possible reasons. There may have been a failure of their water supply, for such streams, as the Gila often go dry for months. Alkali may have risen in the lands. There could have been an epidemic of disease.
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ARIZONA-THE YOUNGEST STATE
The medicine men might have announced there was naught but bad luck in the house. There may have been earthquakes, accepted as a sign from the gods of the underworld. There may have been wars, even among themselves, though the olden-time Apache may have been the same as he was on the coming of the white man. Possibly the best guess of all, considering pueblos of historic times, is that it became easier to move than to clean up, to clear away the debris of malodorous filth that had accumulated in each town. In Arizona Indian settle- ments the fierce summer sun is about the only sanitary agent known, save the occasional rain.
Though the chronology of the Pimas runs not back that far, it is not im- probable that a remnant of the ancient Gila and Salt River Valley settlement was swallowed up in the later Pima immigration, possibly before the time the fierce Aztecs marched down from the Northwest to subdue the gentler Toltecan people around the great lake of Mexico. Of a verity, the valley people long had been gone when the Spaniards came, nearly four hundred years ago, and had left no tradition behind. Carbonized wood remained of their roof rafters. Mayhap, conjecture that the valleys were settled 1,000 years ago would not come far from the real period, though Cushing rather inclined to a view of even more remote occupation.
One point assuring the antiquity of the house people lies in the fact that they knew the use of no metal. In a small cave in a hill near Tempe, Frank Cushing found, with other ancient relics, a fragment of copper, roughly fashioned as a cutting instrument, probably accidentally smelted from copper carbonate ores used in the lining of an estufa, an aboriginal cooking pit. A similar piece was found near the mouth of Tonto Creek. In a ruin just west of Phoenix, Wil- liam Lossing found three little copper anklet bells, similar to sleigh bells, within each a small pebble, to serve as clapper. These bells undoubtedly were from the ancient mines of Santa Rita, where the Mimbres Valley Indians dug out native copper and fashioned it into crude ornaments. A similar "hawk's bell," curi- ously marked, was given to Dorantes of de Vaca's party in 1536. Fewkes found a few bells in the Little Colorado ruins.
The successive outgoing migrations may have been in any direction. All evidences point toward the north as the way taken by many. There is a chain of pueblo-type villages, with central castles or communal houses, almost all the way from the Gila to Zuñi and to Tusayan. This continuity within the Verde Valley has been established by the researches of Cosmos Mindeleff and of Doctor Fewkes. In the valley of Tonto Creek are similar ruins of great antiquity.
Cushing brought Zuñis down to work on the excavation of Los Muertos, south of Tempe, where he and his red helpers unearthed scores of proofs of a Zuñi connection. Though Cushing in his makeup had a strong strain of romance, that may have colored his delightful narrations and detracted from the scientific value of his findings, he knew more of the Zuñi people and of their tribal lore than any other white man, and his declarations of this connection are entitled to all deference.
The Hopi (Moqui) have tales of a southern origin for at least two of their clans. It should be understood that the Hopi, though rated by Powell as of the same linguistic stock as the Shoshone, Ute and Comanche, really are a com- posite people. with a language in which are found Tanoan, Piman and Keresan
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