USA > Arizona > History of Arizona, Vol. III > Part 14
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Arizona, as it was in 1863, was not an at- tractive place for law-abiding, industrious citi- zens. It was, in all respects, a wild and bar- barous country, to a great extent under the control of savages who resisted every step of the white man's progress. J. Ross Browne, who accompanied Charles D. Poston and Milton J. Duffield from California to Arizona, thus de- scribes the Territory as it presented itself to his mind at that time :
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HISTORY OF ARIZONA.
"No country that I have yet visited presents so many striking anomalies as Arizona. With millions of acres of the finest arable lands, there was not at the time of our visit a single farm under cultivation in the Territory; with the richest gold and silver mines, paper money is the common currency; with forts innumerable, there is scarcely any protection to life and prop- erty ; with extensive pastures, there is little or no stock; with the finest natural roads, travel- ling is beset with difficulties; with rivers through every valley, a stranger may die of thirst. Hay is cut with a hoe, and wood with a spade or mat- tock. In January one enjoys the luxury of a bath as under a tropical sun, and sleeps under double blankets at night. There are towns with- out inhabitants, and deserts extensively popu- lated; vegetation where there is no soil, and soil where there is no vegetation. Snow is seen where it is never seen to fall, and ice forms where it never snows. There are Indians the most docile in North America, yet travellers are murdered daily by Indians the most barbarous on earth. The Mexicans have driven the Papa- goes from their southern homes, and now seek protection from the Apaches in the Papago vil- lages. Fifteen hundred Apache warriors, the most cowardly of the Indian tribes in Arizona, beaten in every fight by the Pimos, Maricopas, and Papagoes, keep these and all other In- dians closed up as in a corral; and the same Apaches have desolated a country inhabited by 120,000 Mexicans. Mines without miners, and forts without soldiers, are common. Politicians without policy, traders without trade, store- keepers without stores, teamsters without teams,
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EARLY DAYS OF PRESCOTT.
and all without means, form the mass of the white population. But here let me end, for I find myself verging on the proverbs."
The population of Arizona was confined to a great extent to La Paz on the Colorado, Tucson, the Vulture Mine, and the placer mines in and around Prescott. As we have seen, gold was the great incentive, and it having been discov- ered in large and paying quantities in all the ravines around Prescott, this was the induce- ment which caused the Government to locate the capital permanently at Prescott, for naturally there would be a fort also, which was established at Whipple, and all immigrants and miners were protected to some degree.
There was located a short distance up the canyon from Prescott a town, which was called Goodwin in honor of the Governor, but which was afterwards known as Gimletville, the name given to it by the Prescottites. Samuel C. Miller erected the first house in this town.
For information regarding the development of the northern part of the State immediately after the settlement of Prescott, I have to rely almost entirely upon the statements of old settlers, which are oftentimes quite contradic- tory. The first house erected in Prescott was built by Manuel Yeserea, of New Mexico, who came with the troops which formed the escort for Governor Goodwin and his party from Fort Wingate, New Mexico. Yeserea arrived on the ground December 24th, 1863, and, according to C. B. Genung, stopped his loaded teams just where Granite Street turns to cross Granite Creek at the south end of town. On that spot he erected a two-roomed log house, and covered
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HISTORY OF ARIZONA.
it with dirt. One room was used as a store, the other as a living room. The survey of the town of Prescott was started from that old log cabin, and the surveyors lived in the house in the following May when they surveyed the town. Yeserea, in the meantime, having sold his goods and returned to New Mexico. Judge Howard occupied this house a little later, and called it "Fort Misery." In it was held the first court convened in Prescott.
At this time Capt. Joe Walker and some of his party were living just across the South Granite Street bridge, in a log corral, with two sides covered and the center left open for a fire- place; this corral was just outside the present townsite.
The next store started was in a small log cabin on Granite Street, where California Jackson lived when he died. Herman Menassee was the proprietor. He was murdered by a Mexican at his store in Wickenburg some years later. About the same time Barnett and Barth started another store on Montezuma Street, about where the Scopel Building now stands, and partly in front of the Arizona Miner office. This was the first building erected in the new townsite after the survey. The building was of hewn logs, about twelve by eighteen, and was built by Steve Richardson for Secretary McCormick, to be used as a printing office, and in it was installed the plant which the Governor and Secretary had brought across the plains with them.
On Monday evening, May 30th, 1864, the citi- zens around Granite Creek met at the store of Don Manuel Yeserea, and the dimensions and boundaries of the town were agreed upon, and
JOSEPH EHLE.
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EARLY DAYS OF PRESCOTT.
the name of Prescott adopted by resolution in honor of the historian. R. W. Groom and Van C. Smith laid out the town, Groom being some- thing of a civil engineer. In the absence of other instruments they used a frying pan. Van C. Smith, Judge Hezekiah Brooks and R. W. Groom were the commissioners for the sale of town lots. The historian, Joseph Fish, in his manuscript, says the first house erected within what was afterwards the townsite was "Old Fort Misery." By July 4th, 1864, two hundred and thirty-two lots had been sold in Prescott at pub- lic sale, and over $12,000 was realized from such sale. R. C. McCormick paid the highest price for any individual lot, $245.00, upon which was erected the printing office of the Arizona Miner.
One of the first men to locate in Prescott was Joseph Ehle. His family consisted of his wife, one son and five daughters. Mr. and Mrs. Ehle were married in 1841 in Iowa, from whence they emigrated to Oregon, thence to Denver, and on July 28th, 1864, they arrived in Prescott, where they located permanently. Mrs Margaret Ehle was born in Ohio on October 14th, 1817, and died in Prescott on November 4th, 1905. She was sur- vived by her husband, who died a few years afterward at the advanced age of 99 years. Mr. Ehle drove in several hundred head of cattle, which the Indians confiscated. Accounts of his death and funeral are as follows:
"DIES JUST SHORT OF THE CENTURY MARK.
"Joseph Ehle was Oldest Mason in World in Point of Age and Membership.
"Telegrams from Los Angeles yesterday brought the sad news of the death of Joseph
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HISTORY OF ARIZONA.
Ehle, the pioneer of all pioneer residents of Ari- zona, who passed away from old age on Tuesday.
"Had he lived until next March, he would have reached the goal of one hundred years. Of remarkable vitality, this aged man attracted the admiration and the attention of the many, so well was it known throughout the nation that his long race on earth had been attended with a distinction few if any had ever attained, in fra- ternal circles. He was reputed to be the oldest living Mason in the world, in point of member- ship as well as age. It is stated by authoritative sources that he had been a Mason since 1838, joining a lodge in the state of Iowa, seventy-four years ago.
"Aside from this feature of his citizenship, the deceased was a man of that sterling integrity and patriotic zeal that brought to his side friends by the score, and to his memory the trib- ute of his upright dealings with his fellow-men will be a beautiful chapter to close his earthly career. About three years ago his health began to decline, and he was taken by his daughter to a lower elevation on the coast. One faculty after another failed, when the wonderful ma- chinery of a once vigorous frame gave way, and the inevitable followed.
"The deceased arrived in Prescott early in 1864, with his late wife and several children, many of whom survive, among them being his son, John Ehle, who still makes Prescott his home. From the beginning he identified him- self with building up the country and to his credit he erected the first substantial home in the then wilderness, and which until a few years ago was situated on the southwest corner of Good-
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EARLY DAYS OF PRESCOTT.
win and Marina streets. This landmark has been supplanted by a modern row of brick flats. The old Ehle home, erected over forty years ago on North Montezuma Street, still remains as a symbol of his industry of other days, and which he occupied up to the last moment when he left the city a few years ago.
"The remains will be brought to Prescott to- day for burial beside those of his wife, who passed away nearly ten years ago. The de- ceased was a native of New York State." --- ("Prescott Journal-Miner," Thursday, Novem- ber 28, 1912.)
"FUNERAL OF JOSEPH EHLE.
"On Sunday last the solemn rites of the Ma- sonic order were pronounced over the remains of Joseph Ehle, who was one of the oldest of Pres- cott's citizens and the oldest resident in the county in point of years. He died when but a few months short of the century mark. The funeral services were most impressive, there be- ing in attendance many of the oldest and most highly respected citizens of the county, the pall- bearers being Masons, some of whom had been associates of the deceased for a half century. During his residence here, deceased has seen Prescott grow from a hamlet of log houses to the thriving little city it now is, and in his long years of residence had become endeared to all because of his integrity and unfailing friendli- ness. His remains now lie in Masonic cemetery, beside the body of his beloved wife, who, at the advanced age of 88 years, was laid to rest in 1905.
14
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HISTORY OF ARIZONA.
"Joseph Ehle was born in Mohawk County, New York, in March, 1813, and when still a boy went to Canada, where he learned the trade of millwright. In 1834 he returned to the United States, and made his home in Iowa, where he was married to Miss Margaret Williams. About the year 1837 he was admitted as a member of a Masonic Lodge, and for the remainder of his long life was a faithful member of the order. In 1851 he went to California, leaving his wife with relatives, and later went to Oregon, where he erected a sawmill and remained for three years. In 1860, with his wife, he went to Colo- rado, where they remained until 1864. In that year he headed a party bound for Prescott, com- ing by way of the Santa Fe trail. In 1865 Mr. Ehle erected the first gristmill in Arizona, hav- ing previously built a log residence of five rooms, at what is now the corner of Goodwin and Ma- rina streets, Prescott. In 1865 he established the government road station at Skull Valley, but in the following year returned to Prescott.
"Of the children born there were the follow- ing: John H. Ehle, Mary J. Dickson, Amy S. Sanders, Olive B. Crouch, Sarah F. Baker, and Margaret V. Foster. There were also twenty- four grandchildren and nineteen great grand- children.
"The pall-bearers were E. W. Wells, J. C. Stephens, Fred G. Brecht, N. L. Griffin, C. A. Peter, Sr., and Wm. N. Kelly."-("Prescott Courier," Saturday, December 7, 1912.)
In October, 1863, the Lount party came in from San Francisco, numbering thirteen per- sons. The following month a party composed of twenty-four men arrived from Santa Fe, and
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EARLY DAYS OF PRESCOTT.
this party was closely followed by a second from the same place, who commenced sluicing on Granite Creek. This second party came in with the military under command of Captain Pishon. Within a year after the advent of the Walker party, several families braved the perils of an overland journey, and settled on Granite Creek. The first family to arrive was that of Julius Sanders and his wife and daughter. They came in with a packtrain in March, 1864. Miss Mary Sanders afterward became the wife of Samuel C. Miller in April, 1867. Other families arriv- ing in 1864 were, Joseph Ehle and family, Dan- iel Stevens and family, consisting of a wife and a son and three daughters, T. M. Alexander and wife, with three sons and three daughters, Lewis A. Stevens and wife, John Simmons and wife, with two sons and a daughter, and J. P. Osborn and wife, with three sons and four daughters. Mrs. R. C. McCormick, the wife of the Secre- tary, came out in the same year, and died in childbirth in 1866 in the old Gubernatorial Man- sion. Captain Leib and wife came with the Governor's party a little prior to the others, and located at old Fort Whipple. Mrs. Leib afterward became the wife of Judge Hezekiah Brooks. By the end of 1864 there were twenty- eight of the gentler sex in Prescott. Neri Os- born states that the first marriage in Prescott was that of John Boggs to a woman who came from California, whose name he has forgotten. The Fish manuscript states that the first mar- riage in Prescott was that of John H. Dickson to Mary J. Ehle, which took place on November 17th, 1864, Governor John N. Goodwin officiat-
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ing. The first child born was Molly Simmons, January 9th, 1865.
William H. Read was the first clergyman to arrive in Prescott. He came with the Govern- or's party, and started a Sunday-school for boys, but no regular church organization was effected until June 14th, 1866, which was done by Mrs. Brooks, Mrs. Bashford and Mrs. Turner. The first ball held in Prescott was in November, 1864. The first regular meeting of miners was called for and held in Goodwin City, afterward called Gimletville, on December 27th, 1863, to make laws to suit everybody, particularly the Walker, Lount and Groom people. It is said they made all necessary laws, but could not make mines. Lumber was whipsawed at Prescott for the first buildings.
The first boarding-house for miners was pre- sided over by "Virgin Mary," who built a log house on Goose Flat, and christened it "Old Fort Misery." Two goats furnished the milk, and the price: "Board $25 in gold, per week in advance," hung from the latch-string. Shortly afterward a man by the name of Jackson started another boarding-house, and cut the price to $16 per week in gold. Virgin Mary could furnish goat milk for coffee, which was an attraction, and to offset this Jackson occasionally had a few stewed apples. The main diet was bread, veni- son and coffee. "Virgin Mary was one of two women who lived in Prescott in 1864. Her name was never known, but she received her nom de plume because of her charity and benev- olence. She died about 1888 on Lynx Creek, and her grave is unmarked and forgotten." ("Arizona Graphic," November 25th, 1899.)
OLD FORT MISERY.
7
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EARLY DAYS OF PRESCOTT.
Christy and Van Smith erected under con- tract, the old capitol building in 1864, of logs, which stood for many years. This was the old capitol on Gurley Street. Arizona's first legis- lature met in this building. Levi Bashford owned the property for more than twenty years. The original "Montezuma" building was erected in 1864. It was used as a saloon and stood where the Cabinet saloon and the Palace barber- shop were located in later years. About twenty feet back of the "Montezuma" the first boot and shoe manufacturing shop was erected. It was built and owned by John Laughlan. Judge Noyes tells how prices ranged for these articles. He bought a very common pair of hand-made boots on July 4th, 1864, for which he paid $37 in gold-dust. At this date currency was worth about fifty cents on the dollar.
D. Henderson & Co., had a general merchan- dise store near the creek. This place was later occupied by Fred Brecht and used for a black- smith-shop. The first adobe building in Pres- cott was used for a saloon, but was later con- verted into a clothing-house by Cook and Bow- ers. "Old Fort Misery" on Goose Flat was the first courtroom. Coles Bashford and Judge Howard were the only lawyers. The "Bear Pen" stood opposite the residence of V. A. Stephens. Michael Wormser erected the first building on what is now the plaza. It was built of adobe and stood near the southwest corner of Goodwin and Montezuma streets. He also started what might be termed the first store in the place, buying out Chaves who had made an attempt in that direction. Hitchcock started soon after.
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HISTORY OF ARIZONA.
It was said that in 1865 at least three thousand placer miners were located in the various gulches around Prescott. General Rusling, in his work "Across America," said, in 1867, that Prescott had a population of between four and five hun- dred. There were ten drinking-halls, but not a bank or banking-house, free school, Protestant church nor missionary in the whole of Arizona. Prescott, however, was just the reverse of Tuc- son in almost every particular. Tucson was composed almost entirely of adobe buildings with mud roofs and earth floors, and shutters for windows. In Prescott the houses were American; they were supplied with glass win- dows after the American style. The inhabi- tants were Americans, mostly from California and Colorado, and some of them were accom- panied by their American wives who had not for- gotten the lessons of diligence and thrift learned in childhood. The books in the houses were American, and the newspaper was American. Not even a Spanish advertisement could be found in its columns. In one respect only were Prescott and Tucson alike, and that was in the gambling saloons. These were open Sunday all day, night and day the game went on. Prescott was a mining town with but few comforts. Says Fish: "Of all the cities of Arizona, Prescott is the most 'Eastern' in its character; it never had an era of the 'bad man,' never a time when it was customary to serve 'a man for breakfast,' or when it was a safe and popular pastime to 'shoot up the town.' In this northern district the facilities for obtaining supplies were lim- ited; in early days the flour and beans were brought up from the Pima villages on pack ani-
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EARLY DAYS OF PRESCOTT.
mals, and the bacon, coffee, etc., were brought from Los Angeles by the same mode of transpor- tation. But a little later most of the supplies were shipped in from the Colorado River, where they were brought up in boats. Before this prices were fearfully high; potatoes and onions sold at seventy-five cents to one dollar a pound, and it took a hundred dollars in greenbacks to buy a sack of flour. But notwithstanding the difficulties of obtaining supplies at enormous prices, the mines drew a large number here, and the place grew quite rapidly. There were In- dian troubles and a lack of communication with the outside world. California papers were four weeks old, while those from the Atlantic coast were six weeks old."
Notwithstanding all these difficulties and drawbacks, the country began slowly to settle up, and ranches were being located in all favor- able localities nearby where there was any pro- tection given.
It will be noticed from the foregoing that many of the first buildings were used for saloons. C. B. Genung says :
"The first hotel was started and run by George W. Bernard, now of Tempe, and was known as the Juniper House, deriving the name from the tree under which the cooking and eating was done. It was very handy as a man could load up his plate with grub and go to the shady side of the tree to eat. About the time that Bern- ard opened his establishment, John Roundtree and Dr. Alsap opened the first saloon. That was opened under some large pine trees that grew on the lower end of Goose Flat. It was built of cloth and timber; a small wagon sheet
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HISTORY OF ARIZONA.
stretched over a pole which rested in the forks of two upright posts. The bar fixtures con- sisted of one ten-gallon keg of what we called whiskey ; a half dozen tin cups and a canteen of water. The cups had handles, loose at one end, and the loose end formed a hook by which they hung around the chain of the keg when they were not in use. A tenderfoot would expect that ten gallons of liquid would have soon been exhausted. On the contrary, it lasted until the company had lumber sawed and a house built and opened up. This house was owned by the Osborn family of Phoenix." This according to Neri Osborn was built by his father and used as a hotel. The members of the first Legislative Assembly of- fered Mr. Osborn their per diem pay for room rent which was declined. The following year George Lount and his partner C. Clark brought in the first sawmill which was operated just out- side the town limits of Prescott.
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CONDITIONS IN ARIZONA IN 1863 AND 1864.
CHAPTER IX.
CONDITIONS IN ARIZONA IN 1863 and 1864.
RESULT OF WITHDRAWAL OF TROOPS - FURTHER LETTERS OF JONATHAN RICHMOND - PROS- PECTING - LACK OF WATER IMPEDES MIN- ING-HIGH PRICES OF PROVISIONS-ASSIGN- MENT OF JUDICIAL DISTRICTS - METHODS OF EXPLOITING PROSPECTS - EXPENSE OF SAME ORGANIZATION OF COURTS-FIRST TERM OF COURT OF YAVAPAI
COUNTY - FIRST SES-
SION OF SUPREME COURT OF TERRITORY - SUPREME COURT REPORTS, IRREGULAR PUB- LICATION OF - EARLY LAWYERS OF TERRI- TORY-COMMENCEMENT OF TERRITORIAL AND STATE LIBRARY.
As before noted, the troops having been with- drawn from the Territory, in 1863, everything was left in chaos. Fields were abandoned, mines deserted, and towns depopulated all through the southern part of Arizona. The Indians were practically left to roam at will and murder and rob at pleasure, the only resistance being on the part of a few Mexicans and whites congregated in and around Tucson, and the Pima, Maricopa and Papago Indians. The state of affairs as it existed in Southern Ari- zona at that time cannot be better described than in the following series of letters from Jonathan Richmond to his relatives in Grand Rapids, Michigan, to whom we are indebted for a graphic description of the journey of the Gov- ernor's party across the plains to Prescott, and the condition of affairs in Northern Arizona. These letters are as follows:
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HISTORY OF ARIZONA.
"Tucson, Arizona Ter. "April 2nd, 1864.
"Dear Father :-
"When we arrived on the 28th ult., from Fort Whipple and the mines, found Judge Howell and Ex-Gov. Bashford comfortably located in a doby building adjoining a horse corral, (aristo- cratic).
"My experience in the mining districts I sup- pose you are anxious to learn of. So, using a sea phrase, 'Here you have it.' I left Fort Whipple on the morning of Jany. 25th. My companion and ever stanch friend, Moses B. (jackass) bore upon his back some of the lux- uries of these wilds, i. e., a few pounds of flour, bacon, beans, and coffee together with my min- ing tools, consisting of a pick, shovel, and min- ing pan, in all about one hundred and twenty pounds, a light load for a jack, which can easily carry from two hundred and fifty to three hun- dred pounds. On camping at night at Forbes, Sheldon & Smith's Ranch, (one mile from Gran- ite Creek Diggings, and twenty-five from Fort Whipple), I was joined by my friend, Wm. Thompson, who came from the States with us as Deputy Postmaster, who joined me for a pros- pect in the mines.
"Daylight of the 26th found us en route by a trail for Walker's Diggings some fourteen miles distant, which place we made about five p. m., having crossed five of the highest mountains in the country, besides passing through several dangerous canyons where our eyes were pretty busy reconnoitering for Mr. Tonto Apache, who very frequently gets the 'fall' on the ‘honest miner.' We stopped at the first cabin on the
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CONDITIONS IN ARIZONA IN 1863 AND 1864.
Gulch, and in the morning strolled up the Gulch six miles, the distance which is 'claimed.' On our return we dined, by invitation, with Mr. St. James, a gentleman from Denver, Colo., who has a store on the Gulch. He gave us some valuable information regarding the mines, laws, etc. He also introduced us to Mr. Smith, Re- corder for the District, who politely opened his records and presented us with a written copy of the laws.
"We found that the mines were not worked to a great extent on account of the scarcity of water. There were while I was there but a few claims which had water on them. The workers of the few lucky claims were making from ten to one hundred dollars per day. Many claims had been taken up by miners who have since left the country and are now 'jumpable,' the law re- quiring that each claim shall be worked every ten days in order that the claimant may hold it. "During the night snow fell to the depth of three feet, and quite a number of 'hackells' (small cabins) were hidden beneath the drifts. At roll-call Mose turned up missing, and a search was immediately instituted by my part- ner and myself. We started for the side of the mountain where the snow was not so deep as in the Gulch; thinking he might have strayed in search of the very scarce article of sacarta, (grass). After looking around for about an hour, thinking whether or not we had better give up the search, we stopped to rest and consider. Thompson sat down on what he supposed was the fallen limb of a tree. Imagine his surprise at being suddenly pitched headlong into the snow by the rising of the lost jackass which had
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