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REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY
3 1833 01115 1419
Arizona's First Gubernatorial Mansion.
L
HISTORY
OF
ARIZONA
BY
THOMAS EDWIN FARISH, ARIZONA HISTORIAN
VOLUME III
PHOENIX, ARIZONA
1916
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
GUBERNATORIAL MANSION Frontispiece R. W. GROOM. Facing Page 4
JONATHAN RICHMOND Facing Page 48
PROCLAMATION ORGANIZING TERRITORY Facing Page 70
COLES BASHFORD Facing Fage 90
SEALS OF TERRITORY Facing Page 138
W. T. HOWELL . Facing Page 148
JOHN N. GOODWIN Facing Page 187 JOSEPH EHLE Facing Page 207
OLD FORT MISERY Facing Page 212
KING S. WOOLSEY . Facing Fage 258
MIKE BURNS
Facing Page 288
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CONTENTS.
VOLUME III. -
CHAPTER I. EARLY OPINIONS OF ARIZONA. PAGE
Opinions of Officials, Civil and Military-Precious Metals in Arizona-Military Prospecting Expeditions-General Carle- ton's Correspondence 1
CHAPTER II. PRECIOUS METALS IN ARIZONA.
Report of Military Prospecting Expedition-A. F. Banta's Story -Selection of Site for Military Post-Walker and Other Expeditions-Pauline Weaver-Early Times Around Pres- cott-Establishment of Fort Whipple-Fred Hughes' Story. 25
CHAPTER III. TRAVELS OF GOVERNOR GOODWIN'S PARTY.
Letters of Jonathan Richmond, One of the Party-Organization of Territory-Arrival at Fort Whipple-Formal Proceedings 47
CHAPTER IV. EARLY TERRITORIAL DAYS.
Governor Goodwin's Swing Around the Circle-Proclamation Or- ganizing Tucson as a Municipality-Proclamation Setting Time for Election of Delegate to Congress and Members of First Territorial Legislature-Organic Act-Result of First Vote for Delegate to Congress-Charles D. Poston- Charles Leib-William D. Bradshaw-S. Adams-Wm. J. Berry-List of Members of First Legislature-Coles Bash- ford-W. Claude Jones-Formation of Counties-Schools ...
71
CHAPTER V. THE FIRST TERRITORIAL LEGISLATURE.
Convening of the Legislature-Officers and Attachés-Governor Goodwin's Message
94
CHAPTER VI. THE FIRST TERRITORIAL LEGISLATURE (Continued). Howell Code-Fight Over Location of Capital-Report on Navi- gability of Colorado River-Resolutions Instructing Dele-
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viii
CONTENTS.
PAGE
gate Poston to Secure from Congress Arms and Mail Routes for Arizona-Appropriations for Schools-Only Measure Vetoed by Governor Goodwin-Governor Goodwin's Farewell Message to the Legislature-Farewell Speech of W. Claude Jones, Speaker-Résumé of Acts Passed-Seal of Territory -Appropriation Bill-Memorials to Congress 117
CHAPTER VII. FEDERAL GOVERNMENT'S TREATMENT OF ARIZONA.
Congress Disregards Appeals of Arizona for Aid-Sylvester Mowry's Protest Against Government Taking Over Mines- Judge Howell's Letters-Navigation of Colorado River- Activities of Delegate Chas. D. Poston in Congress-His Speech in Congress 144
CHAPTER VIII. EARLY DAYS OF PRESCOTT.
Governor Goodwin-His Broad and Liberal Policies-Prescott Selected as Capital-Selection of Town Site and Sale of Lots -First House-Bear Pen-First Hotel and Restaurant- First Store-First Court-First' Legislature-First Day School-First Public Building: "Gubernatorial Mansion" -- Description of Arizona by J. Ross Browne-Joseph Ehle, Pioneer-Lount Party-Early Settlers-First Boarding- house-Description of Prescott by General Rusling .. .... 187
CHAPTER IX. CONDITIONS IN ARIZONA IN 1863 AND 1864.
Result of Withdrawal of Troops-Further Letters of Jonathan Richmond-Prospecting-Lack of Water Impedes Mining- High Price of Provisions-Assignment of Judicial Districts -Methods of Exploiting Prospects-Expense of Same- Organization of Courts-First Term of Court of Yavapai County-First Session of Supreme Court of Territory-Su- preme Court Reports, Irregular Publication of-Early Law- yers of Territory-Commencement of Territorial and State Library 217
CHAPTER X.
POPULATION-EARLY SETTLEMENT-INDIAN TROUBLES. Population 1863-64 - Yuma - Callville - Hardyville - Indian Troubles-King Woolsey's First Expedition Against In- dians-His Official Report. 251
ix
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XI.
INDIAN TROUBLES. PAGE
King Woolsey's Second Expedition-Report of by Augustus Brichta - Resolutions by First Legislature Commending King Woolsey and Companions-King Woolsey's Opinion of the Military-Account of Fight by William Fourr-Official Reports of Fights With Indians-Remarks of Ben C. Cutler, 273 Assistant Adjutant-General
CHAPTER XII. INDIAN TROUBLES (Continued).
The Indians' Side of the Question-Stories by Mike Burns, Mo- have-Apache-His Capture by U. S. Troops-Indian Method of Catching Animals for Food-First White Men Seen by Indians-Ill-treatment by Soldiers and Navajo Indians- Killing of Commissioner of Indian Affairs Leihy-Massacre in Skull Valley-Massacre of Yavapais. 288
CHAPTER XIII. INDIAN TROUBLES (Continued).
Mike Burns' Story of "The Pinole Treaty"-Pimas and Mari- copas Deceive the Whites - Give Apaches Bad Name - Apache Bow and Arrow Making-Fight With Soldiers Be- tween Florence and McDowell-Indian Opinion of Soldiers as Fighters 304
CHAPTER XIV. INDIAN TROUBLES (Continued).
Mike Burns' Story of How the Indians Stole the Soldiers' Horses -- Fight With New Mexican Volunteers-Killing of Mike Burns' Mother - Breaking Up of Cibicu Apaches - Mike Burns' First Scout-Yavapais and Navajos at War-Com- ing of the White Men Disguised as Indians-Commit Out- rages-Breaking Up of Camp-Funeral Customs-Widows and Widowers-Dela-cha's Fight With Pimas and Maricopas -Attack on Soldiers
326
HISTORY OF ARIZONA. VOLUME III.
HISTORY OF ARIZONA.
CHAPTER I. EARLY OPINIONS OF ARIZONA.
OPINIONS OF OFFICIALS, CIVIL AND MILITARY- PRECIOUS METALS IN ARIZONA - MILITARY PROSPECTING EXPEDITIONS-GENERAL CARLE- TON'S CORRESPONDENCE.
That the great wealth, or latent wealth, of Arizona and New Mexico was unappreciated for fifty years is susceptible of ample proof. Col. James Collier, Collector of the Port at San Francisco, who reached that place in November, 1849, upon his arrival there, having traversed what was then New Mexico, declared that he would not accept the entire Gila Valley as a gift. Genl. W. T. Sherman, who as a lieutenant ac- companied Kearny's Expedition to California, it is claimed made the statement that we had had one war with Mexico to take Arizona, and we should have another to compel her to receive it back again. Col. Sumner, who was in com- mand of the Military Department of New Mexico, in one of his official reports to the War Department, after calling attention to the fact that the holding of New Mexico, which then in- cluded what is now Arizona, was costing the government four millions of dollars a year, ad- vised that the government buy out all the hold- ers of property in that territory, remove them elsewhere, and then turn the entire country over to the Indians.
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2
HISTORY OF ARIZONA.
J. Ross Browne and James W. Taylor, Special Commissioners of the Government for the investigation of the mineral resources of the United States, in their report to the Secretary of the Treasury, under date of November 24, 1866, in reference to gold in California and Arizona, said:
"The first mention of gold in California is made in Hakluyt's account of the voyage of Sir Francis Drake, who spent five weeks in June and July, 1579, in a bay near latitude 38°; whether Drake's Bay or San Francisco Bay is a matter of dispute. It certainly was one of the two, and of neither can we now say with truth, as Hakluyt said seriously, 'There is no part of the earth here to be taken up wherein there is not a rea- sonable quantity of gold or silver.' This state- ment, taken literally, is untrue, and it was prob- ably made without any foundation, merely for the purpose of embellishing the story and magni- fying the importance of Drake and of the coun- try which he claimed to have added to the posses- sions of the English crown.
"If any 'reasonable quantity' of gold or silver had been obtained by the English adventurers, we should probably have had some account of their expeditions into the interior, of the manner and place in which the precious metals were ob- tained, and of the specimens which were brought home, but of these things there is no mention.
"Neither gold nor silver exists 'in reasonable quantity' near the ocean about latitude 38°, and the inference is that Drake's discovery of gold in California was a matter of fiction more than that of fact.
3
EARLY OPINIONS OF ARIZONA.
"Some small deposits of placer gold were found by Mexicans near the Colorado River at various times from 1775 to 1828, and in the latter year a similar discovery was made at San Isidro, in what is now San Diego County, and in 1802 a mineral vein, supposed to contain silver, at Olizal, in the district of Monterey, attracted some attention, but no profitable mining was done at either of these places.
"Forbes, who wrote the history of California in 1835, said : 'No minerals of particular impor- tance have yet been found in Upper California, nor any ores of metals.' "
From the extracts which I have given above, it would seem that Arizona was the first of the territories under the American flag, west of the Mississippi River, in which gold had been dis- covered, but it remained for the opening of the large placers along the Colorado River, the dis- coveries made by the Walker party, and by other adventurers in 1862 and 1863, to attract general attention to the mineral resources of Arizona.
As before stated, the Walker party, after the discovery of the placers in and around Prescott, made a trip to the Indian villages for supplies, where they left letters to be forwarded east and west. Some of these letters undoubtedly reached General Carleton, in command of the Military Department of New Mexico, then em- bracing Arizona, with headquarters at Mesilla, New Mexico. He immediately sent Capt. Pishon, in command of a company, accom- panied by the Surveyor-General of the Terri- tory, Mr. Clark, to the new El Dorado, with in- structions to prospect along the route for gold, and to report the result. Capt. Pishon, after
4
HISTORY OF ARIZONA.
arriving at Chino Valley, some twenty miles north of Prescott, spent several weeks before locating the camp or camps of the Walker party. In the meantime R. W. Groom, familiarly known as "Bob" Groom, whom all old-timers in Arizona will remember, made his appearance at Carle- ton's headquarters, with reports of the rich dis- coveries in Northern Arizona, which reports re- sulted in General Carleton taking an interest in the mines of Arizona as will appear from the following correspondence :
"Headquarters Department of New Mexico. "Santa Fe, N. M., June 22, 1863. "My dear Captain :
"I have seen two letters written by Mr. Bene- dict to Judge Benedict, setting forth the wonder- ful discoveries which yourself and party have made. I have written to the War Department and to General Halleck on the subject. The Surveyor-General of New Mexico proceeds to visit your new gold regions, and when he re- turns will make an official report on their prob- able extent and value, so that the government can be well informed on the subject. If you can do so, when General Clark has completed his observations, I desire that you will come by Whipple's route, by Zuni to Albuquerque, with General Clark and escort, so that I may employ you as a guide for a couple of companies of troops which I will send to establish a military post in the very heart of the gold country. These companies you can guide back by the best practicable route for wagons. I am satisfied that Albuquerque will be the point from which you will draw your supplies. The people who will flock into the country, around the San Fran-
R. W. GROOM.
5
EARLY OPINIONS OF ARIZONA.
cisco mountains, will soon open farms and have stock enough for the mines. All they want is military protection on the road and in that coun- try until they have got a good foothold, then they will take care of themselves.
"I am just commencing active operations against the Navahoes. I enclose an order which organizes the expeditions. You see the new fort will be at Pueblo, Colorado, about twenty-eight miles southwest of old Fort Defiance, and this will be the nearest point for your people to get supplies in case of accident. The sutler there will doubtless have a large stock of goods, and I will tell him about keeping on hand such ar- ticles of prime necessity as you all might require. I send you a map of the country, so that you may know about where Fort Canby will be situated. I send you another similar map, on which you can trace your new gold fields.
"If I can be of any service to yourself or party, it will afford me pleasure to help you. If I can help others to a fortune, it will afford me not quite as much happiness as finding one myself, it is true-but nearly as much. My luck has always been not to be at the right place at the right time for fortunes. I have been a little too far ahead, or else a little too much behind, for that. Yourself and your party deserve suc- cess for your industry and perseverance. Hop- ing that each of you will receive abundant reward for your past toil and hardships and danger, I am, captain, very respectfully,
"Your Obedient Servant,
"JAMES H. CARLETON,
"Brigadier-General, Commanding.
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HISTORY OF ARIZONA.
"Captain Joseph Walker, "At the Walker Mines, Arizona. "Erastus W. Wood, "Captain 1st Vet. Inf. C. V. "A. A. A. General."
"Headquarters Department of New Mexico. "Santa Fe, N. M., June 22, 1863. "Captain :-
"I send you a map of New Mexico, on which I desire that you will trace your route to and from the new gold fields, in obedience to orders to go as an escort to Surveyor-General Clark.
"Have great care taken of your animals. When you arrive at the new diggings I want each of your men to prospect and wash, and I want you to report the exact time they severally work and the amount of gold each one obtains in re- turn for his labor during that time. Much re- liance will be placed upon these statistics. The people must not be deceived, nor be inveigled into that distant desert country without know- ing well what they may expect to find. If the country is as rich as represented-and of this I have no doubt-there will, on your return, be a revolution in matters here which no man now can even dream of. I have written to the au- thorities at Washington, that if the country is rich as reported, on your return I shall send two companies of California troops to establish a post right in the heart of the gold region. Your company may, perhaps, be one of them. So you will have an eye to the best location for a post of one company of infantry and one of cavalry. In returning by the Whipple route to Albuquer- que, mark the country well for the whole way from the gold region. Take your best men with
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EARLY OPINIONS OF ARIZONA.
you, and things to wash with. Send me a few specimens for the War Department on your re- turn. Wishing you good fortune, I am, captain, very respectfully,
"Your Obedient Servant, "JAMES H. CARLETON, "Brigadier-General, Commanding.
"Captain Nathaniel J. Pishon,
"First Cavalry California Volunteers, "Fort Craig, N. M.
"Official :
"Erastus W. Wood, "Captain 1st Vet. Inf. C. V. "A. A. A. General."
"Headquarters Department of New Mexico, "Santa Fe, N. M., June 26, 1863.
"General: I have written a letter to Captain Walker, which goes down to Fort Craig to your care. It is hoped and expected that he will come with you as guide on Whipple's route via Zuni. "Since you left I have seen a gentleman named Groom, who last fall came from the new gold diggings on the Colorado River, ascending Will- iams' Fork to the San Francisco mountains, and thence in by Zuni to Fort Wingate and
Albuquerque. He is very anxious to return to the new gold fields, having always entertained the purpose of doing so as soon as he was able. I have told him to go to Fort Craig and con- sult with yourself, Colonel Riggs, and Captain Pishon on the subject of your journey. He is firmly of the opinion that he can guide the party to the point indicated in Mr. Benedict's letter as the one where most gold was found-by the route from Zuni. If this can be done, a great
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HISTORY OF ARIZONA.
distance will be saved, much very hot weather upon the desert avoided, and, better than all, much time gained. The subject is left wholly to your decision. In case you determine to go from Fort Craig via Zuni, and so on on Whip- ple's route, Captain McFerran and myself have come to the conclusion that with three good wagons and teams you can take flour, bacon, sugar, coffee, salt &c., enough for the party for seventy-odd days, and travel light. You should take some pack-saddles complete, with ropes, wanties, &c., perfect, that when near the San Francisco mountains, if it becomes necessary or advisable to leave a camp or leave your wagons, you can proceed on to the gold fields without embarrassment. Great care and forecast must be exercised to have everything which will be indispensably necessary, and not an ounce more. In case you conclude to go by the Zuni route, then Mr. Groom can be employed by Colonel Rigg as a guide. From Fort Craig to Zuni there is a wagon-road over which troops have travelled, and Captain MeFerran says there are men living at Socorro, and in the neighborhood of Fort Craig, who know this route. One of them, Colonel Rigg can employ to pilot you out on to the Whipple route wherever it may be necessary to strike it, whether at or this side of Zuni. This guide can go through with you. Once on the Whipple route, then Mr. Groom's knowledge will be available. In case no such guide can be found for the country between Fort Craig and the Whipple route, your party can come up the river to Las Lunas and go out on the road via Fort Wingate. In this event, you need take from Fort Craig only rations enough to last to Wingate, and there lay in the supply
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EARLY OPINIONS OF ARIZONA.
for the remainder of the journey. This will save your stock for the rest of the work.
"All these remarks have been made having in view the decision to go via Zuni. In case you go by the Fort West route, as originally sug- gested, Mr. Groom, being an old and experienced packer, can be employed in that capacity. You will find him a very gentlemanly and intelligent man. He has had misfortunes and is entirely destitute, but from what I have seen of him, and what I have heard of him, he seems to be worthy of consideration, kindness, confidence and help. He is known to Colonel Rigg.
"Great care and vigilance must be exercised with regard to Indians. Never be off your guard ; never become careless ; be sure when your stock is grazing to have men with arms in their hands always with them, and always on the alert and awake. I cannot impress this matter too strongly upon your mind. In my experience I have found that to travel mornings and even- ings, and to lie by in the heat of the day, keeps the stock in better order than to make the whole march without turning out to graze. I wish you luck.
"I am, general, very respectfully, your obedi- ent servant,
"JAMES H. CARLETON, "Brigadier-General, Commanding. "General John A. Clark,
"Surveyor-General of New Mexico, Fort Craig, N. M. "Official :
"Erastus W. Wood, "Captain 1st Vet. Inf. C. V. "A. A. A. General."
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HISTORY OF ARIZONA.
"Headquarters Department of New Mexico, "Santa Fe, N. M., June 26, 1863.
"Colonel: I send you this note by Mr. Groom, whom you know. I have written to General Clark that if, upon consultation with yourself and Captain Pishon and Mr. Groom, it shall seem expedient to go to the new gold fields via Zuni, you are authorized to employ Mr. Groom as a guide, at a reasonable compensation. In the event of a decision among you to go that way, starting across the country directly from Fort Craig to the Whipple route, you are au- thorized to employ some good person as guide until that road is struck. This latter person's services will be continued throughout the jour- ney to and from the gold fields. After the Whipple road is struck, he can act as a spy and herder, etc. In case it is concluded to go via Fort West and Tucson and the Pima villages, you are authorized to employ Mr. Groom as packer, at a reasonable compensation.
"Great care should be taken to fit out this party down to the minutest detail. Some medi- cines should be taken along, some lint, bandages, a field torniquet, etc., etc. The wagons should be minutely inspected, the boxes looked at, and extra linchpins, hame-strings, buckskins for mending harness, rope for packing, two lanterns made secure from breakage, (in case a man is wounded by night,) axle-grease and auger, saw, some wrought nails, &c., &c.
"I am, colonel, very respectfully, your obe- dient servant,
"JAMES H. CARLETON, "Brigadier-General, Commanding.
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EARLY OPINIONS OF ARIZONA.
"Colonel Edwin A. Rigg,
"Commanding at Fort Craig, N. M. "Note :- In case the party goes by Fort Win- gate, provisions for the trip can be got there. "Official :
"J. H. C. "Erastus W. Wood, "Captain 1st Vet. Inf. C. V. "A. A. A. General."
"Headquarters Department of New Mexico. "Santa Fe, N. M., August 1, 1863.
"General: Enclosed herewith please find the last advices from Chihuahua, Mexico, received at these headquarters. Mr. Creel's letter, dated July 15, 1863, you will find to give the true feel- ing of the Mexican people in Chihuahua.
"The extraordinary developments of gold and silver in Arizona, which I write to you about in another letter by this mail, are but one example of the gold and silver in Chihuahua, Sonora and Sinaloa, which states the French want, and which we should never permit them to have.
"Respectfully, I am, general,
"JAMES H. CARLETON, "Brigadier-General, Commanding.
"Brigadier-General Lorenzo Thomas,
"Adjutant-General U. S. A., Washington, D. C.
"Official :
"Erastus W. Wood, "Captain 1st Vet. Inf. C. V. "A. A. A. General."
"Headquarters Department New Mexico. "Santa Fe, N. M., August 2, 1863.
"General: On the 21st of last June I wrote to you a letter, enclosing copies of several com-
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HISTORY OF ARIZONA.
munications in relation to extraordinary dis- coveries of gold and silver in Arizona Terri- tory, particularly at a point or region lying southwestwardly from the San Francisco moun- tains, west of Albuquerque, New Mexico. I now herewith enclose two other communications from Mr. Benedict and a man named Jack Swilling, both reliable men, on the same subject. These communications speak for themselves.
"There cannot be a doubt, from these and from other reliable sources that all that is said of these discoveries is true.
"You will see by the last return of the troops in this department that the effective strength is less than three thousand men. Of these, nearly eleven hundred are in active operations in a campaign against the Navaho Indians, and many of the remainder are constantly employed in active operations against the Apaches, who are scattered through the country in small bands, committing murders and robberies almost daily. The cavalry force in this country is en- tirely inadequate to pursue successfully these lawless savages. There were seven companies of the 1st cavalry California volunteers, which, last winter, General Wright wrote should be sent one by one across the desert, to New Mexico, as fast as they were raised. Of these, none have come, nor do I hear of their coming. Even if they started soon, it would be winter before they would arrive. I beg respectfully to urge upon the War Department, the absolute necessity of sending to this department, at the earliest prac- ticable moment, one full regiment of cavalry. The forage here this year is more abundant than ever, and when our stores now en route arrive,
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EARLY OPINIONS OF ARIZONA.
we shall have an abundance of everything for their wants.
"As soon as the surveyor general, Clark, re- turns and makes an official report on the rich- ness and extent of the new gold fields, it will be absolutely necessary to post troops in that sec- tion of the country; indeed, the capital of Ari- zona will be sure to be established there. All of the people of Tucson, our teamsters, and em- ployees generally, who could possibly get away,
have already left for that region. These troops, together with those we need here, additional to what we have, will fall below the mark of what are required. There will be many desertions. It is therefore incumbent on the War Depart- ment to take timely measures, so that troops to come may reach here before the grass is dry on the prairies or the winter sets in.
"The subject of these new discoveries de- mands the immediate and serious attention of the government.
"I am, general, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
"JAMES H. CARLETON, "Brigadier-General, Commanding.
"Brigadier-General Lorenzo Thomas,
"Adjutant-General of the Army, Washing- ton, D. C.
"Official :
"Erastus W. Wood, "Captain 1st Vet. Inf. C. V. "A. A. A. General."
"Headquarters Department of New Mexico. "Santa Fe, N. M., September 6, 1863.
"General: I enclose herewith the copy of a letter from Captain A. H. French, first cavalry
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HISTORY OF ARIZONA.
California volunteers, himself an old practical miner. From all points I hear news confirma- tory of the theory that from the head of the Gila northwestwardly to the Colorado River, near Fort Mohave, there is a region of country of unequalled wealth in the precious metals. I soon expect to hear of the return of Surveyor General Clark, and the party I sent with him to the new Eldorado, when the government will then be officially as well as reliably informed, by an eye-witness, of the wealth so much written about.
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