USA > Arizona > History of Arizona, Vol. III > Part 16
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with whom the mining companies of Arizona deal. A contract for the necessary supplies was entered into, and on the following day, at day- break, our horses at the door, well fed and cur- ried, we were not long in mounting and off for a 'paciar' to Magdalena, six miles below. Mag- dalena is one of the largest cities in Sonora. There are several extensive dealers who have large stocks of goods on hand, and are continu- ally filling orders from Arizona and Northern Sonora. We remained in Magdalena but one day, returning to Ignacio where we remained one day feasting on the luxuries of the land, which, in my opinion, surpass those of the Orient.
"We returned by the same route, arriving here, on the 24th Aug. and at the mines on the 25th. I left the mines on the 26th Sept. intending to return to Tucson, and be on hand for the fall term of court to be begun and held on the last Tuesday of this month. On arriv- ing here I learned that there were but six white men remaining in Tucson, the delegates to the Legislature having answered the call of the Governor by going north; many having left with the troops for the Rio Grande, and others whom I met here with their families, en route to Mag- dalena to attend the fiesta on the first four days of this month. H. McWard, Deputy Collector of Customs at this place, wishing to join them, by his desire I agreed to act the part of Collector during his absence, knowing it would be impos- sible for me to go to Tucson before the parties return from the feast.
"Your partnership letters to Judge Howell and myself I have duly acknowledged, but would
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CONDITIONS IN ARIZONA IN 1863 AND 1864.
now give you an idea of the situation of this country, when you may judge if an investment at the present state of affairs would be advisable.
"The troops that have been stationed in this part of the territory have enabled what few white settlers there are here, to get a start, some prospecting and opening mines for market; others raising stock, etc., and all in a fair way doing well, but what should come but an order withdrawing the troops from this section of the country, (with the exception of one company now stationed at this place). The whites are obliged to gather into the towns for protection until they can see some opportunity of getting out of the country, leaving everything behind.
"The only hope that the Tucson people have is that the Legislature will be adjourned to that place; if not, the people will be in readiness to leave the country. But two days ago a train of wagons belonging to Mr. Solomon Warner was attacked, the men killed and the property destroyed within twenty miles of here. The In- dians got six good guns, a number of revolvers, ammunition, etc.
"The Silver Mines which are working in this vicinity are obliged to keep a strong force. The 'Serra Colorado' has employed about sixty white men, and about one hundred Mexicans. The 'Santa Rita' has but eight men all told, but there is a few of Co. L, 1st C. C. V. stationed there until they can get men. If these troops should be withdrawn, which is very probable, they would have to give up work.
"Now a few words on mining. Mines or parts of mines can be bought at a very reasonable figure, say from $100 to $400 (in gold). Mines
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HISTORY OF ARIZONA.
are not to be bought in this country for GREEN- BACKS. The help employed are also to be paid in coin; provisions purchased with coin, or bought in the States for greenbacks and sent out. A lead (properly lode) can be purchased before it has been prospected to any extent, or a contract may be had with the owner or owners to sink to a certain depth, say 30 ft., I paying half the expense of sinking shaft. When at that depth by assaying, the ore shall pay 90$, 100$ or 200$ to the ton, he or they should receive the amount mentioned in contract for said lode.
"To go and open a mine say only as I have stated (to prospect it) we would need say two white men, and three or four Mexicans (no less) say for one month, the expense would be, as near as can be got at as follows :
"Mexican labor, 5/- (shillings) day in coin & rations (16lb. flour a week).
"American labor, 30$ to 40$ a month in coin and board.
GOLD
Wages of two Americans for 1 month $30 & $40 $70.00
Wages of four Mexicans for 1 month
@ 5/- 72.00 Labor $142.00 Flour issued to Mexicans (161b. week) 2561b @ $12 gold 31.00 Provisions for the boarders for 1 month :
100 1b. flour @ $12.00; 101b. Coffee @ $2.00;
100 1b. Pork @ 75¢, $75; 10 1b. Sugar @ 75¢, $7.50 114.50
Rice $10.00; Beans $5.00; Dried Fruit $5.00; Salt, Pepper, etc. $5.00. 25.00
Tools, rope for windlass and other necessary articles, cooking utensils, etc. 25.00
Transportation to mine from 2 to 3¢ per pound, say 900 1bs. @ 3¢ 27.00
$364.50
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CONDITIONS IN ARIZONA IN 1863 AND 1864.
"The Mexicans who are employed are allowed as stated above, 60¢ a day and a ration of 16 lb. flour a week; their coffee, sugar, &c., they are obliged to purchase at a light advance on the cost. A good supply of goods are kept on hand at all the principal mines, their Peons, (Mexi- cans), being good customers, oftentimes draw-
ing goods to the amount of their wages. It would be to the interest of the mine when once opened to purchase their supplies in the States. "It would be very difficult at the present time to get white labor, but by looking out and be- ing on hand, men may be found.
"In working a mine it is necessary to have at least half the number of white men that you have Mexicans; the latter are so treacherous, being ready at any moment to plunge a knife into a white man. Col. Poston's brother was killed while in the store at the 'Serra Colorado' and Mr. Wrightson's brother was killed here where I am writing, by Mexicans.
"Now for the greenback question. They are not worth 25¢ in this territory. They will not go excepting at one or two stores where they are selling out in hopes of getting out of the coun- try. There they are taken at from 20¢ to 25¢ on a dollar. Pretty state of affairs when the U. S. allows her currency to depreciate to that, when those who can get nothing else but the blasted stuff have to pay out all they can earn to keep them alive. Think of my office 25¢ for drawing up and taking affidavit, 50¢ for Writ of Attachment, etc. My paper costs me $2.00 a quire. Can anyone expect me to do well at such rates ? You give Judge H. and myself power to draw partnership drafts on you to pay the
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HISTORY OF ARIZONA.
expenses of opening and testing several mines. The money is not here, besides a draft on the East goes at a discount when negotiated. The only way, if funds cannot be sent here, would be to have them placed in San Francisco (Wells- Fargo & Co.) or with other parties on whom the Judge and I, jointly, could draw drafts payable either in gold or paper as the circumstances might require.
"We have no communication either with Cali- fornia or the East at present. The Military Ex- press mail has been taken off. God only knows when another will be put on. I send this by a portion of this, the last company of soldiers in this part of the territory. They leave today.
"Judge H. should be here to see Tucson and vicinity depopulated, the troops leaving, etc.
"Should a mail route be opened through Tucson from the States to California, there would be a prospect of the country's being popu- lated and developed, but until then, communi- cation being cut off, there is but little hope.
"If Judge H. was here and we furnished with funds, we could, at the present state of things, purchase claims very reasonable (for coin) ; get them recorded, and hold on until spring, by which time we should probably be able to open them.
"Should it so happen that we should get the capital here everything would advance 100 per cent, (Mines, ranches, etc.). The mines which I have in view are about seventy miles West by South from Tucson and but one hundred and fifty miles from the port of La Libertad on the Gulf of California, State of Sonora, Mexico.
CONDITIONS IN ARIZONA IN 1863 AND 1864. 241
"The Port of Libertad is one of the best sea ports on the Coast, having depth of water for the largest vessels afloat and being well pro- tected. That part of Sonora, including Lib- ertad, will, in all probability, be purchased and annexed to this territory before long. The wagon road from Tucson to the Gulf is good, but there is a scarcity of water.
"Write what we shall do, and as soon as the Judge arrives we will attend. I am very much in need of boots, pants and shirts. Boots are worth here, kip $30.00; calf shoes $15.00; pants 25$ and 30$; shirts $10 to 15$. Had I the funds would send you to purchase, but I have barely enough to purchase grub with. Your draft for 50$ I have not yet used. I should like for you to send by the Judge two of those new patent steel collars enamelled. They are very good for this country, being cleaned with a wet rag, (I say 'rag' because that is about all we have here), size 151/2.
"When or how we shall get our next mail I know not. As soon as we have a mail we can depend on, I shall send Mother and Grand- mother the 'Arizona Miner.' I am already a subscriber. Much love to mother and the girls and regards to friends.
"Yours &c., "J. RICHMOND.
"N. B. If not too hard on your pocket, I would like to have you send me a Colt's largest size revolver with accompaniments. The one I have (Smith & Wesson) does not carry lead enough. I am on my way to Tucson to attend the court. Please say to Judge H. that I have
16
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HISTORY OF ARIZONA.
written him several times, will write again from Tucson. Send slips from papers in envelopes- directed plain 'Clerk Dist. Court, Tucson, Ari- zona. ' "'
"Tucson, Dec. 1st, 1864. "Dear Sir :-
"Another opportunity offers for transmit- ting tidings to our relatives and friends. A party of six returned miners leave here in the morning for their homes on the Rio Grande, and by them we hope to connect with the regu- lar mail to the States.
"The First Legislature of this Territory ad- journed sine die on the 10th Nov. after a session of forty days. The laws which were passed will not go into effect until the 1st of January, 1865. Most of the code submitted by Judge Howell has been adopted, and is to be called the 'Howell Code.' An appropriation of $2500 was made for the Judge. The laws are to be printed in pamphlet form at the office of the ‘Arizona Miner,' and two hundred copies are to be printed and bound in a cheap form in California. The only copy of the laws which we now have is a rough printed copy of the Mining Law, a copy of which I this day enclose you.
"You will see that by this law the recording of mines and mineral lands are thrown into the hands of the Clerks of Probate. My hope be- fore the meeting of the Legislature was that by the Judge's (Mining) law, the Clerks of the Dis- trict Courts were to be the Recorders of Mines, and ex-officio clerks of the Probate Court, which, if so arranged, would in time be a good and pay- ing office, but the Legislature looked at it in this wise, and I cannot but see that they are right.
CONDITIONS IN ARIZONA IN 1863 AND 1864. 243
"The Clerks of the District Courts hold their office under the Government and consequently cannot hold the office of Recorder or Clerk of the Probate Court, they being selected by the county as in the States.
"The times set for holding the next District Courts are as follows : At La Paz on the second Monday in February, 1865; at Prescott on the second Monday in March, and at Tucson on the second Monday in April.
"The location of the Capital is unsettled, the vote taken being a tie in both houses.
"A bill was passed to raise $80,000 in gold on Territory Bonds to pay for the raising six com- panies of rangers to exterminate the Apaches, the Gov., King Woolsey and John Capron be- ing appointed commissioners to negotiate the bonds in California. The Governor is expected here this month en route for California. I hope
and pray Judge Howell will return soon.
My
office will not pay me and I must seek something else. There was no court held here this fall, and will not be before April. Everything is very high here, and a person who has no employment fares hard. I doubt if my clothes which I brought from the States will hold out until I receive those mentioned in your last. The first opportunity that offers I think I shall go to work. There is none here or in the vicinity. On the Rio Grande or Colorado I may get some- thing. Tucson is a deserted and played out town, all communication cut off, etc. Will say no more about it. I often read your letter of Aug. 29th in which you speak of what a good chance I could have had in Penn., but I am not alone to blame. Will write mother and the girls
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HISTORY OF ARIZONA.
by the next opportunity. There is nothing new to write about here excepting the dullness of the place, and the great scarcity of that (never can do without ) money. Was the Judge here, under the new law we could purchase and open one or two mines, get them recorded, and have good title, etc.
"Good-bye. Love to all. Regards to all,
Judge, etc.
"Your Son,
"J. RICHMOND.
"Do not let the Judge forget a pistol for me, large size, Colts, ammunition, &c. Powder worth here $12. per pound in gold.
"Tubac, Arizona, May 31st, 1865. "Dear Father:
"Your kind letter of the 25th March with en- closure, First National Bk. Aurora, on the 4th Nat. Bk., N. Y. is at hand. It is some time since I had received a letter from you, and I have read this one over several times and have compared the prospects of this country with those offered by you at home in a civilized community.
"There is but little doubt but that this country is rich in mineral but it will take years to de- velop it. Most of the veins in Southern Arizona are found in a barren range of mountains where vegetation is unknown, water is scarce, if to be found at all, and wood is out of the question. Sage brush, saguaro, and grease wood is found only in sufficient quantities for cooking pur- poses. The veins are distant from the depots of supplies. The war in Sonora has cut off the transportation through that country and the only source we have now to expect is from California
CONDITIONS IN ARIZONA IN 1863 AND 1864. 245
via Fort Yuma. The Cerro Colorado Mining Co., have suspended work for the third time. Their men are all thrown out of employment with no means of getting out of the country. The Santa Rita company have also suspended work with no money to pay it off.
"Mines cannot be worked here as in Cal., where they have the advantage of an extensive seaboard, a large inland supply, and a popula- tion sufficient for the protection of miners and freighters. The Government is sending troops in to this country for the purpose of cleaning out the Indians; how many troops have been sent to this country within the last eight years with like orders! They are sent here to lay around in quarters until their time is out, when new re- cruits occupy their place. They have done but little good in the protection of people who are desirous of developing the country.
"My roving disposition is satisfied. I think I have seen it all and am now willing to settle down as you recommend. If it is agreeable, I will go East with that intention, bringing with me speci- mens and surveys of a few mines which I may dispose of provided there are purchasers.
"Gov. Bashford left some six weeks since for the East. He was anxious for me to accompany him. He left disgusted with the country.
"Much love to all.
"Write soon.
"Your son, "JONATHAN.
"There is no prospect of our having a court here this year. Everything is upside down, most of the officials having left the country. Let me know as soon as you receive this so that if I shall
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HISTORY OF ARIZONA.
conclude to leave here I may get away before winter. I direct it officially so that it may go through. Do not dispose of the Aurora home- stead. Much love to all.
"JONATHAN."
As before stated. the author of the foregoing letters, returned East, and spent the balance of his life upon a ranch in Shawnee County, Kansas. The first term of court was held in Tucson in May, 1864, after which Judge Howell went East on account of the sickness of his wife, and shortly after returning to the Territory, resigned his position ; consequently there was no court held in Tucson until his successor, Henry T. Backus, was appointed in 1865.
Associate Justice John P. Allyn ran for Dele- gate to Congress in 1866, and was defeated, when he resigned his position on the bench, and Har- ley H. Carter, of Michigan, was appointed his successor.
Chief Justice Turner resigned in 1871, and was succeeded by John Titus.
The first term of court in Prescott was held for the purpose of organizing, in the early part of September, 1864, while the first Legislature was in session. The first regular term was held in the latter part of September, 1865, with Chief Justice Turner on the bench. According to the Fish manuscript the jury came into court armed with their guns and pistols. The Judge, after some hesitation, finally administered the oath to the jury, which, to him, appeared to be an armed mob.
The following day the Judge was giving some instructions to the jury, when they all seized their arms and rushed out. This action was soon ex-
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CONDITIONS IN ARIZONA IN 1863 AND 1864.
plained. A herd of animals had been attacked by the Indians and a signal had been given which one of the jurymen had seen. On arriving at the spot they found Tom Simmons fighting man- fully. He had killed three Indians, and on the approach of the jury and others, the enemy ran away. The jury then returned to the courtroom, and the next day the Judge brought his firearms to court with him. Mr. Fish says that he ob- tained the foregoing information from W. H. Hardy, who was present at the affair.
The Probate Court of Yavapai County was organized in 1864, and the first record of that Court is as follows :
"Probate Court, Third Judicial District, Ari- zona Territory.
"Court met Monday, September 5th, 1864, at 10 o'clock a. m .; present, His Honor Hezekiah Brooks, Judge; F. G. Christie, Clerk, and Van C. Smith, Sheriff. The appointment of Heze- kiah Brooks as Judge of the Third Judicial Dis- trict, A. T., was ordered to be read, and the ap- pointment of F. G. Christie as Clerk of said Court was ordered to be entered on the minutes of said Court. There being no further business before the court, it adjourned for the term. Hezekiah Brooks, Judge."
Charles B. Genung was the first administrator appointed by the Court, being appointed admin- istrator of the estate of J. W. Beauchamp, de- ceased, in September, 1864.
The foregoing is all that I have been able to obtain concerning the organization of courts in Arizona.
The first session of the Supreme Court of the Territory was held in Prescott in January, 1866.
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HISTORY OF ARIZONA.
The records of this court were very carelessly kept in the early days as will be seen from the following extract from the preface to the second volume of the Arizona Supreme Court Reports, by E. W. Lewis, the Supreme Court reporter :
"Since the publication of volume one of the Arizona Reports in 1884 there have been no offi- cial reports of the decisions of the Supreme Court of the Territory of Arizona. The diffi- culties in now preparing complete and accurate reports have not been few. In the earlier years the court held its sessions in various parts of the Territory, at Tucson, Prescott and Phoenix, and doubtless this largely accounts for the regrettable lack of completeness in the files and records of the court. In many of the cases filed prior to 1894, when the court established its permanent seat at the capital, the original papers are miss- ing ; in others but a portion are to be found. The records of the court in these early years in such minor details as the names of counsel, from what court the appeal was taken, and the name of the trial judge, are incomplete, and, in some in- stances, contradictory. No opinions have been recorded in permanent form from 1877 to 1886, and a few opinions which appear in the first vol- ume of these reports, as well as in the later Pacific Reporters, cannot now be found. The older minute records show a number of opinions as filed or to be filed which either never were filed or have since been lost. Quite a number of opinions have been found filed among the original papers and unrecorded which have not been heretofore published. It is needless to say that every effort has been made to find the missing files, and to ascertain the true state of the record, and, though
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CONDITIONS IN ARIZONA IN 1863 AND 1864.
it is not to be hoped that there are no errors, it is believed that there are none of serious moment. For such as appear the generous indulgence, so characteristic of the court and the profession is asked."
When it is considered that twenty years elapsed between the printing and publishing of the first and second volumes of the Reports of the Supreme Court of the Territory of Arizona, it will be seen that but very little attention was paid to this important part of the government of the Territory.
There were three lawyers in Prescott, John Howard, who, as before noted, was a New Yorker, who had settled in Denver, and joined the Governor's party and came in with that party to Prescott, where he made his home up to within a few years of his death. It is said that while in Denver he was married and that his wife deserted him. A few days after she had left his bed and board, he found that she was living with another man. Howard made out a quitclaim deed of his wife to her new affinity for a nominal consideration, had it duly recorded, and sent it to his wife's paramour. All the old-timers knew John Howard, or "Blinky" Howard, as he was called, as a most lovable character, full of humor and native wit. He never sought public posi- tion. The other two lawyers were J. P. Har- grave, concerning whom very little is known, and J. T. Alsap, whose biography is given in a pre- ceding volume, and who was both a good lawyer and a good physician.
In Tucson there were two lawyers, W. Claude Jones, the Speaker of the first House of Repre- sentatives, and Coles Bashford. The lawyers at
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HISTORY OF ARIZONA.
that time were without libraries. The Acts of Congress or the Laws of the United States, gov- erned all the Territories, but there was not a copy of the Revised Statutes of the United States in all Arizona. Secretary McCormick brought out a library to the Territory, but it consisted mainly of works on history and general subjects. This library he sold to the Territory for a thousand dollars, and these volumes became a part of and were the commencement of the Territorial and State Library.
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POPULATION-EARLY SETTLEMENT.
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.
According to Hinton (see "Handbook of Arizona," p. 44), the population of Arizona at the time when the Territory was organized, was, exclusive of Indians, 581. This is probably an error, or it embraced only the white population exclusive of Mexicans who became citizens under the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo and the Gads- den Purchase.
In the Fish manuscript it is stated that in 1864 about one hundred men were engaged in dry washing for placer gold on the west side of the Colorado near Fort Yuma. On the east side, near Castle Dome, there were about a hundred men engaged in silver mining. Castle Dome City then had four or five houses. On the east side of the river, and perhaps about twenty-five miles above Yuma, there were one hundred miners at Eureka District, and about ninety miles above Yuma was the Weaver District, which was a place of considerable activity. The number of men employed there is not stated. At La Paz it is estimated that there were probably five hundred miners at work.
Yuma, at this time, was the distributing point for the Territory. Here a Quartermaster's De-
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HISTORY OF ARIZONA.
pot was erected on the Arizona side of the Col- orado by Captain William B. Hooper, Assistant Quartermaster of the Arizona Volunteers. It was not only a distributing depot for the military posts, but was also the shipping point for Tucson and all the camps and settlements in the southern part of the Territory, as well as for the settle- ments in and around Prescott. In those days all roads led to Yuma. Fish says: "There was a long row of dance-houses on Main Street where the soldiers and freighters spent their money, and Charles Horner's blacksmith and wagon repair shop was worth $200 a day to the pro- prietor."
Besides the places mentioned above, Callville was founded about 1863 or 1864, at the head of navigation of the Colorado River, by Mormons, who have been the principal colonizers of the western country. Callville was in that portion of what was then Arizona on the west side of the Colorado, and was established so as to give a shorter and easier road into Salt Lake City and Utah, over which the Mormons could receive their supplies.
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