USA > Arizona > History of Arizona, Vol. II > Part 16
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During Captain Jefford's administration there was only one outbreak, if indeed it can be so characterized. "Rogers and Spence were living by permission of the Government and my- self, as agent, at Sulphur Springs. They were instructed by me not to keep any whiskey or liquors, and above all not to let the Indians have
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any because if they did, in one of their drunken sprees, they will murder you, and I will be obliged to order you off the reservation, which I do not wish to do. This was understood be- tween us. Two Indians, Pioncenay and Piarhel went down to their camp, and Rogers and Spence sold them whiskey at $10.00 per bottle. The Indians became drunk, and in a fit of intoxi- cation, killed both white men, when they would not sell them more liquor. I received the news at ten o'clock at night, they having been killed that morning about an hour after sunrise. I im- mediately went to Major McClelland, who was in charge of the military forces, and informed him of this murder, and told him that I wanted him to send an officer with me to Rogers and Spence's camp the next morning. He sent Lieu- tenant Hendley with twenty-eight soldiers. We went to the camp. I knocked open the head of a keg of whiskey, and in the bottom found several plugs of tobacco cut up, and a lot of chile, a de- coction that would make any man crazy. The next thing was to capture the Indians who com- mitted the murder. I was informed by my In- dians where they were, but a brother of one of the Indians had a few of his followers with him, and their efforts were to get the murderers away into Sonora, which they succeeded in doing. The two Indians returned to the reservation in about twenty days, from Sonora, and I was in- formed of it. I called up Tarjay, the son of Co- chise, and the head chief of the Chiricahua Apaches, and told him that I wanted those In- dians. My object was to take them and send them to Tucson for trial by the civil authorities.
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Nacheis, the youngest son of Cochise, urged me to let him deal with Esquinay, the war chief of the Chiricahuas, who was Nacheis' father-in- law, and who was protecting these two Indians. After some debate, I consented, and when resist- ance was made, Nacheis killed his father-in-law, and three or four Indians, when I had told them that they were prisoners, and they attempted to resist, the fight commencing, and Nacheis killing his father-in-law, as above stated, and four others. Pioncenay was shot through the lungs. This ended the trouble. Clum, who was my suc- cessor, turned him over to Charlie Shibell, Sher- iff of Pima County, and the Indian escaped."
During all the time that Jeffords was in con- trol of the Indians, he had their confidence and could induce them to do almost anything that he desired. He saw that they were protected at all times as far as possible in their rights, and dealt with them humanely, justly and friendly, thus commanding their respect and confidence. When his successor was appointed, his accounts were audited in Washington, and his bondsmen were released within three months, something unheard of in the history of the administration of Indian affairs in Arizona. Most of the Indian agents were under bond for $10,000. Jeffords was under bond for $50,000. He made all his re- ports to the Interior Department direct, and had, as before stated, the entire control of the reserva- tion given to him by President Grant.
Captain Jeffords was superintendent of the mail from Mesilla to Tucson, in 1866-67, dur- ing which time a number of his men were killed
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by Cochise's band, which led Jeffords to hunt up Cochise in person, as stated above.
The later years of Captain Jeffords' life were spent at Owl's Head, a mining camp in Pinal County, about fifteen miles from Red Rock Sta- tion, on the Southern Pacific, where he was in- terested in some mining property. He died on February 19th, 1914, and was buried in Tucson.
Charles H. Meyer was a German, and settled in Tucson in 1854. From 1875 he served several times as City Recorder. His court was unique ; every man, when first brought before him for any misdemeanor, he would treat leniently, sometimes giving him a lecture, but for the sec- ond offense, he usually imposed a heavy fine, and in addition, would send the offender to the chain gang. If the prisoner demurred to the sentence, the judge would generally double the time on the chain gang, saying : "Vell, I gifs you thirty days more on the chain gang for contempt of de court." By this method he kept Tucson an orderly city during his terms in office. He had the first drug store in Tucson, which he con- ducted for many years. One of the principal streets of the city, Meyer Street, is named for him. He died in Tucson September 7th, 1903, having been a resident of that town for forty- seven years.
A. F. Banta was born in Indiana in 1846, and came to the Territory in 1863. He was one of the chief Government guides and scouts, with headquarters at Fort Whipple, from 1865 to 1871. He was a member of the 10th Legislature, and introduced and passed a bill organizing the county of Apache, of which he became District
CHARLES H. MEYER.
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Attorney, holding the office two terms, 1879-80 and 1889-90. He was Probate Judge of the same county in 1881-82; a member of the Legis- lature in 1883-84; Justice of the Peace at St. John in 1876; at Springerville in 1877-78, and County Assessor in 1880. He was the chief guide of the Wheeler Exploration Expedition, and also the 100th Meridian Expedition in 1873. He served as United States Marshal and Deputy Sheriff in the 80's. He was the first postmaster at Springerville during President Hayes' ad- ministration. At various times he has been an editor. His last adventure of this kind was editing the "Observer" at St. Johns, Apache County. His personal adventures would fill a volume. In the enjoyment of all his faculties, and in perfect health for one of his age, he is still scouring the country and prospecting. The writer saw him a few weeks ago when he was or- ganizing an expedition to find what is known as the "Lost Dutchman Mine."
Up to 1862, beyond the explorations made by Lieutenant Beale, Felix Aubrey, and others, along the Beale road, nothing was known of Cen- tral Arizona, its mines, its forests, and its agri- cultural possibilities. It was the home of the Apache, the most treacherous and dangerous of all the Indian tribes. The first expedition to explore this section of the country was known as the "Walker Party." Captain Joseph R. Walker, who commanded the expedition, was an old hunter and trapper. In 1837, and 1838, in company with Jack Ralston, who later died, he discovered in this part of the country a metal which, years afterwards when visiting San
16
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Francisco, he found to be gold. In 1861, Walker desiring to explore this country for the yellow metal, organized in Kernville, Kern County, California, a company for that purpose. The following are the names of the members of that company; Captain Joseph R. Walker, Joseph R. Walker, Jr., John Walker, John H. Dickson, George Lount, George Cutler, Tarsith, Clothier, John I. Miller, J. L. Miller, Samuel C. Miller, George Blasser, Col. Harding, Phelix Buxton, Albert Dunn, Martin Lewis, Jacob Lynn and Luther Paine. Their objective point was the country in and around Prescott and the Little Colorado. After crossing the Colorado, they were continually harassed by Indians, which prevented them from ex- ploring the country to the south as they had in- tended. The San Francisco Mountain was their landmark and passing around its base, they fol- lowed up the Little Colorado, but failing to find gold, they pursued their journey eastward, and reached New Mexico that same year. Upon reaching New Mexico, the party maintained its existence and enlisted under "Kit" Carson
against the Indians. Captain Walker retained his rank and the original number of fighting men under him. In 1862, the party went to Colorado, and in the Fall of that year, another expedition was set on foot with the Hassayampa as the objective point. Thirty-four hardy and in- trepid men signed the muster-roll, with a full determination to blaze the trail for others to fol- low. The names and nativity of the men com- posing this expedition are as follows:
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Captain Joseph R. Walker, Tennessee; Jos- eph R. Walker, Jr., Tennessee; Martin Lewis, Missouri; Jacob Lynn, Missouri; Charles Noble, Missouri; Henry Miller, Missouri; Thomas Johnson, Missouri; George Blasser, Pennsyl- vania; Alfred Shupp, Pennsylvania; John J. Miller, North Carolina; Jacob Miller, Illinois; Sam. C. Miller, Illinois; Solomon Shoup, Illi- nois; Hiram Cummings, New Hampshire; Hiram Mealman, New Hampshire; Wm. Wheel- house, New York; George Coulter, New York; John "Bull," England; George Lount, Canada ; Rhoderic Mckinney, Canada; Bill Williams, Massachusetts; A. C. Benedict, Connecticut; A. French, Vermont; Jacob Schneider, Germany; John Dixon, Mississippi; Frank Finney, Louisi- ana; John Young, Kansas; Jackson McCracken, South Carolina; John W. Swilling, Georgia; Chase, Ohio; Felix Buxton, France; Chas. Taylor, Sailor; F. G. Gilliland, Kentucky ; Daniel E. Conner, Kentucky.
In September, 1862, the company left Pueblo, Colorado, and being regarded with some sus- picion, the authorities thinking they might be seeking to effect a junction with the Confeder- ates, General Carleton employed A. C. Benedict to accompany the expedition for the purpose of watching its movements and reporting the same. The party went south to what afterwards be- came known as Fort West, and stopped a short time, at that place, during the Winter of 1862-63, where Jack Swilling and Jackson Mc- Cracken joined them. Jack Swilling, as we have seen, had served under Captain Hunter when the Confederates captured Tucson, and
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commanded the little detachment that killed Lieutenant Barrett of the Federal army, in the engagement near the Picacho. While at Fort West, the party served the Government under the command of Captain McCleve. Leaving this place, they followed the old Butterfield trail for some distance but branched off from it to ex- plore the unknown wilderness in the north, from one hundred and fifty miles to two hundred miles distant.
This was the first invasion of Arizona by any organized body of white men, and was the be- ginning of the end of Apache dominion in that section of the Territory of Arizona. Crossing the great Gila Desert from Sacaton Station, now known as Oatman Flat, on the River Gila below the Pima Indian Villages, the Walker party reached the wooded territory in and around Prescott, and there made a final stand for a new base of operations. They felled the trees and built a corral in a hollow square that the savages could not break through, in which their sixty head of mules were kept during the night. For nearly a year previously, six men were required to guard the stock constantly, day and night; it only required one man to guard the corral. This change, inaugurated by Captain Walker, was very satisfactory, but the party were here stored away, or rather, secreted in a nook in the wilder- ness, unknown to any of their race, and it be- came necessary to notify the outside world where they were located, so it was decided to make a fly- ing trip to the Pima Villages on the River Gila. A hole was dug into which all their supplies and equipage was cached, and the party went south
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with their mules to get a full supply of pinole and other foodstuffs from the friendly Pimas, with whom they left letters to go eastwardly and westwardly by any stray party of soldiers that might pass through the Villages during the next six months. These letters described the locality and situation in the previously unknown wood- land, in which the party had decided to make their final stand. The return trip was made without accident, the party arriving at their new home after an absence of twenty days. Prepar- ing to do business with the Apaches, they strengthened their corral, and constructed a large log cabin, or fort, beside it for protection against their Apache foes, and for shelter from the storms, as the rainy season had begun in earnest. This corral and log cabin were built on the Has- sayampa about five miles from the present loca- tion of the city of Prescott. From this point, par- ties went out in all directions prospecting. Early in May, 1863, Sam Miller and four others went up Lynx Creek. Here while some of the party went hunting, Miller went over to a bank nearby, and washed a pan of dirt, from which he got $4.80. Word was sent to the main camp on the Hassaympa of the rich find. The party broke camp and moved on to Lynx Creek, where they worked successfully in placer mining and trap- ping.
A miner's meeting was organized, and Thomas Johnson was selected for president, after Cap- tain Walker had declined, and William Wheel- house for recorder. This was the first mining district ever organized in Central Arizona, and it was located about five miles south of the pres-
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ent city of Prescott on the north bank of the Hassayampa, and these were the first white men to locate in this part of the country, and with the abundance of gold they washed out, and the number of Indians they killed, they experienced, says Mr. Fish, what some termed "booming times." From this encampment, the party ex- plored the surrounding country as far east as the Agua Fria, and north or northwesterly to the Chino Valley on the Verde River, and Bill Will- iams' Fork, Bill Williams' Mountain, and other localities. Only one trip was made to Bill Will- iams' Mountain, north of the corral, as it was a stronghold of the Apaches, and the party ventur- ing into it had two of its members wounded. From the signal smoke, and occasional contact with Indian pickets, the party was convinced that the savages were increasing their number by or- derly concentration, and that at any time they were caught off guard, the whole party would be massacred. About six months had elapsed when they were surprised by the sudden appearance of a company of soldiers under the command of Captain M. J. Pishon and accompanied by Sur- veyor-General Clark of Santa Fe, New Mexico. The soldiers came over the old Beale road, and passed through the pretty woodland to its south edge, discovered the recently abandoned corral, passed out of the headwaters of the Hassayampa to Lynx Creek and found the party in temporary encampment there. There they remained for about three days, and when they started on their return, they abandoned five covered wagons in the northern plain, which were subsequently utilized to transport provisions from Los An-
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Angeles, California, to Prescott. General Clark stated that he had been searching for this local- ity for three months before finding the party. The route which he had travelled was estimated by the military to have been about five hundred and twenty-five miles from Santa Fe, New Mex- ico, to Prescott, Arizona.
The next party to enter this new region came in response to the letters left with the Pimas, and consisted of what was known as the "Peeples' Party" This party was organized by A. H. Peeples in May, 1863, and entered Arizona from California, by way of Yuma, where they met Pauline Weaver, who had come by appointment, Peeples having written him from California. The party, with Weaver as guide, followed up the Colorado River to La Paz, where the Mexi- cans had been placer mining for some time. They went east across the Plomosa Range and up the Cullen Valley. On nearing the moun- tains, some antelope were discovered, and Peeples followed them and succeeded in killing five. From this he named the stream Antelope Creek, and the mountain which rose from its northern bank, Antelope Peak. The party camped nearby, and before sundown had panned out some gold, on what they named Weaver Creek, in honor of the guide. The next day, four Mexicans, who had joined the party at Yuma, started off after their horses which had strayed during the night. In the evening, they came in with their stock, and, taking Peeples aside, exhibited a large quantity of gold nuggets which they had picked up on top of the moun- tain. They could have kept the secret to them-
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selves, but they gathered a large amount of gold and then rode safely into Mexico. The next morning, the party went to the top of the hill where innumerable chunks and nuggets of gold were found in a sort of sloping basin. In about a month, all the surface gold was gathered and the party scattered, some remaining to work the gravel bars of Weaver Creek. It is estimated that during the first month a quarter of a million dollars in gold was gathered. The mountain was named Rich Hill, and has yielded many thou- sands of dollars since that time.
From this period, newcomers came from all directions, settling down with the Walker pio- neers, in and around what afterwards became Prescott. The Walker party was dissolved in 1864, and some of its members afterwards be- came identified with the early history of the Ter- ritory of Arizona.
The history of this expedition has been writ- ten by Daniel E. Conner, the last survivor of the party, and I hope the State of Arizona will se- cure it, as it gives a succinct and continuous narrative of the expedition of the Walker party, which was the first to enter Central Arizona, the vanguard of that army of pioneers which sub- sequently reclaimed this rich and fertile country from savage dominion. The success of these pioneers is largely to be attributed to Captain Walker; he understood the Indian character well, and while his policy toward them was never brutal, but humane, yet he was always ready to meet them in battle, when such a policy was ne- cessary and could not be avoided. Patient and prudent, conservative, and cautious, enjoying the
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full confidence of his followers, the campaign, in every way, was a successful one.
The reports spread by the members of the command of Captain Pishon upon their return, of the rich gold mines in the vicinity of the Has- sayampa, and Lynx Creek, and around the head- waters of the streams in that vicinity, did much to attract attention to that region. Several par- ties were hurriedly organized to prospect in the new El Dorado. Jim Shelby, of Santa Fe, fitted out five teams loaded with provisions, groceries, etc., and left Santa Fe for the gold fields in Octo- ber, 1863. There were with him Frank Shaffer, Louis St. James, Billy Foster, Frank Riggs, John Justice, Tom Barnum and others. In a short time there was a second party on the way, which consisted of Rufus E. Farrington, W. C. Collins, Lew Alters, Ed. G. Peck, and Lon Thrift.
Among these early pioneers may be mentioned T. Lambertson, who was one of the first settlers in Walnut Grove; Gus Swain also an early set- tler at the same place; Theo. Boggs, who staked out a home on Big Bug, in 1863; John Townsend, who located a ranch on the Agua Fria in 1863. Townsend was a half blood Cherokee, cunning and brave, and had an undying hatred of the Indians and hunted them to the death. Several of his relatives had been killed by the Comanches in Texas and it is said that in revenge he had sent twenty-seven Indians to their happy hunt- ing grounds, but, like many others in Arizona, the Indians got him at last. While out hunting in the year 1873, he came upon a small band of Indians at Dripping Springs, and was shot by
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one of them. His body was found a few days later. He had exchanged a few shots with the Indians, and had received his death wound un- known to them.
In January, 1863, the military District of Western Arizona, which, up to that time, had belonged to the Department of the Pacific, was attached to the Department of New Mexico, and, by order of General Carleton, issued in October, 1863, all of the Territory of Arizona, lying north of the Gila River, and west of the Colorado, ex- cept that portion occupied by Fort Mohave, was created into a Military District. General Carle- ton decided to establish a post in the Chino Valley and two companies of troops were or- dered to accomplish this work. Captains Har- graves and Benson were selected, and the expedi- tion was put under the immediate command of Major Willis of the First Regiment of Infantry, California Volunteers. This expedition, with Captain Pishon as guide, left Fort Wingate on November 7th, 1863, following the old Beale route to Antelope Springs where they diverged. After leaving the Beale trail, they found the road extremely rough and many of their wagons were broken. The main portion of the command reached Chino Valley on December 23rd, and here was located Fort Whipple, so named in honor of Brigadier-General A. W. Whipple, who fell in the battle of Chancellorsville, and who, as a lieutenant of the U. S. Topographical En- gineers, had, before the Civil War, explored New Mexico and Arizona. This location was about twenty-two miles from the present town of Pres- cott, and in May, 1864, the location was changed and the present post established.
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CHAPTER XII.
EARLY PIONEERS AND SETTLERS (Continued).
J. W. (JACK) SWILLING-LIEUTENANT IN CON-
FEDERATE ARMY - MEMBER OF WALKER PARTY - DISCOVERS RICH HILL - BUILT FIRST CANAL FROM SALT RIVER-THE TOWN DITCH-ONE OF FOUNDERS OF PHOENIX --- BUILT TEMPE CANAL - DISCOVERS OTHER MINES-ACCUSED OF HOLDING UP WICKEN- BURG STAGE - ARRESTED AND CONFINED IN YUMA PRISON-DIES IN PRISON-HIS STATE- MENT - SAMUEL C. MILLER - MEMBER OF WALKER PARTY - KILLS WAUBA YUBA, HUALAPAI CHIEF-BECOMES RANCHER-ED- WARD G. PECK-SECURES HAY CONTRACT AT FORT WHIPPLE - MEMBER OF EXPEDITION UNDER KING WOOLSEY-GUIDE AND SCOUT FOR MILITARY - DISCOVERS PECK MINE - JACKSON MCCRACKEN-CLEANED UP FOR THE LEGISLATURE-DISCOVERS MCCRACKEN MINE -GOES TO CALIFORNIA AND LIVES ON PRO- CEEDS OF SALE OF MINE-JOHN T. ALSAP -- FOLLOWED MINING AND PROSPECTING-AC-
COMPANIES KING WOOLSEY ON EXPEDI- TION AGAINST APACHES-FIRST TERRITORIAL TREASURER-MEMBER OF TERRITORIAL LEGIS- LATURE THREE TIMES-PROBATE JUDGE OF MARICOPA COUNTY-DISTRICT ATTORNEY OF MARICOPA COUNTY.
J. W. Swilling, known as "Jack Swilling," was born in the state of Georgia in 1831. He emigrated to Missouri in early life, and there
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settled down. After having resided in that state some four years, his wife died, leaving one child, a girl, who afterwards married and lived in Missouri.
About the year 1857, Swilling emigrated to Texas where he remained for two years, when he came to Arizona, and was in the employ of the Overland Mail Company for quite a length of time.
During the Rebellion, Swilling was a lieuten- ant in Captain Hunter's company of volunteers in Baylor's regiment, and occupied himself with thirty of his men, in protecting settlers and others from the Indians along the Rio Grande in Southern New Mexico, and along the road to Tucson, Arizona. When the Confederates were driven out of New Mexico, Mr. Swilling re- mained in Arizona, and a few months after- wards, was carrying the express for the soldiers and acting as guide for them through the coun- try. The following winter, he joined the Walker Party.
He was one of the party that accompanied Colonel Jack Sniveley, a veteran of the Texas War of Independence, and General Houston's private secretary, in a prospecting trip when the mines of Pinos Altos were discovered, and Swill- ing, it is said, was at the head of the party that discovered Rich Hill, near Weaver Creek, in the lower part of Yavapai County, in the year 1863. Be this as it may, Jack Swilling accumulated quite a fortune, either from these placers or others.
In 1867, Swilling organized a company and built the first canal from the Salt River, now
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known as the "Town Ditch" which was intended to reclaim four thousand acres of land. This canal was completed in 1868, all the lands under it were located by settlers during the following two years, and quite a settlement was made in what is now the city of Phoenix. This name was given to the new settlement by Swilling, at the suggestion of Darrell Duppa, who explained to him that the name "Phoenix" was given in old mythology to a bird which rose from its ashes more beautiful and stronger than ever, and that here were the remains of an extinct civilization, long past, upon whose ashes would rise a modern civilization, stronger and more beautiful than that which preceded it.
In 1871, Swilling organized a company which built the Tempe Canal. Shortly after this, he moved to the Black Canyon and located a farm, and improved it. In the meantime, he had married a second time, and moved his family to his new home. During his residence at this place, the Tip-Top, the Swilling and other mines were discovered and the town of Gillett started up three miles from Swilling's residence, when he again moved, this time to Gillett, having located valuable property there.
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