USA > Arizona > History of Arizona, Vol. VI > Part 4
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HISTORY OF ARIZONA.
but small hope for Arizona very speedily, until she availed herself to the full of its actual advan- tages. With the alleged mines along the Colo- rado, from Ft. Yuma to El Dorado, in good operation, her population, as it increased, would naturally overflow to other districts; and, in the end, arid Arizona would become reasonably pros- perous. But, like all other commonwealths, she must have a base to stand on and work from. That base seemed naturally and necessarily the Colorado River, indifferent as it was. And all attempts to develop herself, except from that, in the absence of a railroad, seemed likely to end like the efforts of the man who tried to build a pyramid with the apex downward."
During these years, 1867 and 1868, attempts were made to establish ranches south of Tucson, on the Sonoita and at other places, and some of the adventurous agriculturists and stockmen paid heavily for the experiment. Tom Hughes had his ranch plundered several times, so did Charley Shibell; the Penningtons paid the for- feit of their lives for their daring; Pete Kitchen, although the Indians killed his herder and his adopted son, and filled his pigs with arrows, was the only one who withstood their raids, which were, in many respects, like his description of a trip from his ranch to Sonora; which was: "To-son; "To-bac; To-macacori; To-Hell"; this being the terminus. The only part of the Territory which, from an agricultural stand- point improved during these years, was the Salt River Valley and the valley of the Gila about Florence.
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EARLY SETTLEMENTS.
CHAPTER III.
EARLY SETTLEMENTS.
ALONG THE GILA RIVER: ADAMSVILLE AND FLOR- ENCE-CHARLES ADAMS, FOUNDER OF ADAMS- VILLE-NAME CHANGED TO SANFORD-WILL- IAM DUMONT FIRST POSTMASTER-RESENT- MENT AGAINST CHANGE - BICHARD BROS., AND THEIR FLOURING MILLS-REPUTED THAT LEVI RUGGLES BUILT FIRST HOUSE IN FLOR- ENCE-DISPUTE OF AUTHORITIES OVER SAME -CHARLES G. MASON, FIRST SETTLER IN FLORENCE - JOSEPH COLLINGWOOD OPENS FIRST STORE - DESCRIPTION OF RUGGLES' RESIDENCE - IRRIGATING CANALS IN AND AROUND FLORENCE - PAT HOLLAND - PIO- NEERS-FIRST CATHOLIC CHURCH IN CEN- TRAL ARIZONA-FLORENCE NAMED BY GOV- ERNOR MCCORMICK IN HONOR OF HIS WIFE- DISCOVERY OF SILVER KING MINE-FIGHT WITH, AND DEFEAT OF, PINAL APACHES- PRIMROSE HILL KNOWN AS "POSTON'S FOLLY"-MARICOPA WELLS - PRE-EMPTION OF BY JOHN B. ALLEN-MORGAN'S FERRY- MRS. CLIFFORD'S DESCRIPTION OF "MONTEZU- MA'S FACE"-MARICOPA CHARLEY'S RIDICU- LOUS PURCHASES.
This History of Arizona, so far as it relates to the settlement of the Gila and Salt Rivers, in the absence of printed records, is taken from in- terviews with old settlers, in Arizona parlance, "old-timers," and I have had to rely upon their
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HISTORY OF ARIZONA.
statements for the following, which may not be entirely reliable.
The first settlements in the Territory, included within the boundaries of Maricopa County as originally established in 1871, were made along the Gila River at Adamsville and Florence. Some claim that the first building erected was at the old town of Adamsville, about three miles west of Florence. From the best evidence at hand, both towns were located in the same year, 1866. During that year Charles Adams located at what was afterwards Adamsville. He took out a ditch there and irrigated his quarter sec- tion of land and it soon became a prosperous vil- lage. In the winter of 1866-67, the first store was opened, according to James M. Barney, the names of the proprietors I have not been able to ascertain. In the early part of 1871 the district was of sufficient importance for a postoffice. William Dumont was the first post- master, but the postoffice name was changed to Sanford in honor of Captain George B. Sanford of the First United States Cavalry, who was, for many years, in command at Fort McDowell and the record of whose combats with the In- dians has been previously noted. This action of the postoffice department caused much criti- cism throughout the Territory. The Arizona "Miner," in 1871, said that "at a spot in the Val- ley of the Gila, situated between Florence and Sacaton, some five years since, a pioneer named Charles Adams located a piece of ground, erected a shanty, and proceeded to divest his property of the offensive shrubbery, preparatory to the sowing of a crop of grain. The location was in
Ruins of Adamsville.
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EARLY SETTLEMENTS.
the midst of a large tract of land, and soon a thriving settlement sprang up, in the center of which Mr. Adams remained. At the solicitation of his neighbors he laid out a townsite on his property, gave lots to all who wished to build, and with one accord the whole community agreed that the town should be named Adamsville.
"The entire piece of property originally lo- cated by Mr. Adams was subsequently sold by him, but the town still retained the name of Adamsville, and all were satisfied until early in the present year, Territorial Delegate McCor- mick to satisfy a personal grudge of a political character against Mr. Adams, concluded to have the name changed. With this object in view he managed to have the name of the postoffice changed from Adamsville to Sanford. His hope and intention was that the town would for con- venience sake, adopt the name of the postoffice, when his purpose would have been accomplished. The object, too, has been partly secured, but not so firmly rooted that it may not be eradicated. The name of that town is Adamsville; and you, pioneers, who would protect and preserve the memory of one another from the spoliatory hands of the vandal politician, refer to it as such. Address your letters, when you have oc- casion to write thither, to Sanford, P. O., Adamsville, and let outside despoilers see and understand that they may not manipulate this simple heritage which you would hand down to posterity."
It should be remembered that the "Miner" at that time, was edited by John Marion, who
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HISTORY OF ARIZONA.
never forgave McCormick for the part he took in removing the capital from Prescott to Tucson.
After the departure of Mr. Adams, the founder of the place, who moved to the Salt River Valley, Adamsville became the head- quarters of the Bichard Brothers, well known business men of the Gila Valley, who erected a modern flouring mill at that place. The Bich- ards were the first traders with the Pima Vil- lages, and about the year 1865, became the owners of a primitive flouring mill at Casa Blanca, which was destroyed in the winter of 1868 by one of the great floods which occa- sionally occurred in the Gila Valley. Before its destruction this mill was used to grind corn and grain furnished by the Pima Indians. The Bichards constructed a new mill at Adamsville in 1869, which was provided with the most im- proved machinery of that day, shipped in at great expense from the Pacific Coast, and it was called "The Pioneer Flouring Mill." This mill was the first modern flouring mill erected in the Territory.
There were several members of the Bichard family, the head of which was William, an able and energetic business man.
The first house built in Florence was in 1866, by Levi Ruggles. Ruggles came to Arizona during that year as Indian Agent. He was a member of the Council in the Legislative As- semblies of 1873 and 1877, and was also Register and Receiver of the Land Office. He was a native of Ohio, and his wife was Cynthia M. Thorn. He was one of the principal merchants
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EARLY SETTLEMENTS.
of the town that he helped to found and build up. (Fish Mss.) He died in 1891.
Elliott's History of Arizona (1884), says: "Charles G. Mason was the first settler in Flor- ence; built the first adobe house there in the summer of 1866. In March, 1869, Joseph Collingwood opened the first store in Mason's Building. Levi Ruggles located in Florence in October, 1868." He afterwards built a fine residence there which is thus described in the work last named :
"It is a real pleasure to visit the beautiful home of Col. Levi Ruggles, the Patriarch of Florence. It is a perfect little paradise, and shows what can be done in this 'desert' land with water, labor and taste. He has a very fine variety of grafted trees, which show a vigorous and healthy growth. His peach, apricot, al- mond, plum, quince, pear, olive, fig, and pome- granate trees are remarkably strong and healthy, and the amount of young fruit they now show is simply marvellous. The trees will not be able to stand up under the load, and it will be necessary to shake some of the fruit off. We do not believe it possible to find fruit to surpass, either in size or quality, that grown in this orchard. The yield is regular and certain. It is the same each year. The same is true of every other orchard in the valley. There are no failures in the fruit crop, and it does not take long to make a good orchard here. Many kind of trees will bear the second year, after setting out. It is pre-eminently a fruit country.
VI-4
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HISTORY OF ARIZONA.
"Colonel Ruggles also has some very choice varieties of the grape, which, like the fruit trees, are remarkable in their growth and yield here. On his muscatel vines are clusters of grapes a foot in length now, and when these clusters shall have attained their full growth, they will be at least sixteen inches long, and weigh four or five pounds.
"In addition to his fruit trees and vines, Col- onel Ruggles has in his orchard sixty varieties of the rose family, all of which grow luxuriantly, and blossom freely."
This part of the Gila Valley advanced rapidly. Among the first business men located there were Joe Collingwood and E. N. Fish, who did busi- ness under the name of E. N. Fish & Co. They started in business in 1868, it being a branch of their business in Tucson. They had govern- ment contracts and wanted wheat and barley, the demand for which caused the rapid settle- ment of that locality. The settlers were backed by the merchants, who induced them to take up land, and furnished them credit, wheat and barley being the principal crops which they raised. The farming was principally done by Mexicans. All the ditches around from Flor- ence down to Adamsville and below, were built by peon labor, who received a dollar a day and their rations. It was pick and shovel work. The settlers usually paid themselves out of debt with one crop of grain.
Mr. George A. Brown, an old resident of Flor- ence, gives me the following history of the canals built in that section from 1868 up to 1875 :
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EARLY SETTLEMENTS.
"The first ditch was taken out to irrigate the lands around Blackwater, about twelve miles below the town of Florence on the south side of the river, probably known as the Blackwater Ditch. This ditch was built in the middle six- ties, and covered about five hundred acres of land. It was about three miles long. The second ditch was the Walker Ditch on the same side of the river, the south side. It was about the same length as the Blackwater Ditch, and covered about four hundred acres of land. This seems to have been taken out shortly after the Blackwater Ditch about 1867. The next ditch on the south side was the White Ditch, which was taken out before the Walker Ditch, but I am giving them in their rotation along the river. It covered three or four hundred acres of land, and was about the same length as the others. The fourth ditch on the south side was the Adamsville Ditch, which was probably about four miles long, and covered about four or five hundred acres of land in the old town of Adams- ville, four miles below Florence. The fifth ditch was known as the Chase & Brady Ditch. It was four or five miles in length. At the lower end of the ditch was the farm and mill of Peter R. Brady. The mill was run by water from this ditch which was built about 1868 or 1869. It covered nearly a thousand acres of land. The next ditch was the Alamo Juan Maria, which was taken out about 1868. 'There was water in that ditch, I think,' says Mr. Brown, 'in 1868, and it ran through the upper part of town. It was six miles in length and covered about two thousand acres of land.'
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HISTORY OF ARIZONA.
The next above was the Holland Ditch built in 1868. Water was turned into it in 1869. The Holland Ditch proper was three or four miles long, and covered some seven or eight hundred acres of land. What was known as the Wheat Ditch was simply an extension of the Holland Ditch. Holland let Wheat and others have water, and an extension was built known as the Wheat Ditch, and it was built down to Adams- ville. The Wheat extension was about six miles long. It was built in 1870 or 1871. The Wheat Extension probably covered from four to five hundred acres of land.
"Pat Holland, who built the Holland Ditch, became one of the large land owners around Florence, and did a great deal towards the development of Pinal County. He was after- wards supervisor of the County, and during the early eighties dealt largely in hogs in addition to his farming, supplying many of the neighbor- ing mining camps with pork.
"The farthest ditch west of Florence, not on the reservation, was known as the Swiss Ditch, and it was built in the early seventies, probably 1871. Joe Spinas, who is still alive, had two brothers, and they took out the ditch. There were five shares of stock in the ditch; Joe had one, and his brothers, Andres and Yacob, each had one, and there were two Mexicans who each had one. Each share represented a hundred and sixty acres of land. This ditch covered a little more land than the five quarters, and in addition to these five quarters, it covered a part of Antonio Lopez' hundred and sixty acres. This ditch was three or four miles long. The
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EARLY SETTLEMENTS.
next ditch taken out was by Sylvester Andrada. It was two or three miles long, and covered two hundred acres of land which he owned. The Stiles Ditch above the town on the north side was taken out about 1868 or 1869. It was about six miles long, and covered about seven hundred acres. The next, known as the Sharp Ditch, was three miles long, and covered about two hun- dred acres of land. It was completed about the year 1873. Next on the north side comes what was known as the Mcclellan Ditch. It was taken out before McClellan settled on the prop- erty. It was three miles long and covered from two to three hundred acres of land."
Among the pioneers of this locality were the following: J. W. Anderson, who came to Flor- ence in 1869 and farmed in 1870 under the Hol- land Ditch, after which he went to work for E. N. Fish & Co. Mr. Anderson was an edu- cated man and a polished gentleman. I knew him well. He was a man of undoubted integrity and ability. He was a native of North Caro- lina. He left that State in his early youth, at the age of nineteen, first going to Wisconsin and Minnesota, when, attracted by the gold dis- coveries in 1849, he started with a company for the Golden State. They came by way of Tuc- son, passing through there in 1850, and went from Tucson, via the Pima Villages, to Yuma, where they were delayed somewhat on account of the Yuma Indians, who were hostile at that time. They arrived in California in the fall of 1850, and he went into the mining country, where he remained prospecting and mining for about two years, when he went into Oregon and
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HISTORY OF ARIZONA.
began mining in Josephine and Jackson Coun- ties. While there he worked for a transporta- tion company, and then located at the mouth of the Willamette River. He was appointed Indian Agent by the Government, and held that position during all of Lincoln's administration. He was agent for those tribes along the coast of Washington, three small tribes. Afterwards he was the agent for the Nez Perces in Idaho, and made his headquarters at Lewiston when it was one of the roughest towns in the United States. He was in Montana for a little time mining. He left that country and came to Arizona in 1869. He was the first practic- ing attorney in Florence. He was an old bach- elor and died in Florence in the year 1898. Mr. Anderson was in the thick of the Reavis fight, which finally landed that adventurer in prison.
Peter R. Brady settled in Florence about the year 1869. His biography has heretofore been given in these pages. He was active in prose- cuting the Reavis suit, an account of which will be given in a succeeding volume.
Joe Collingwood was the manager for Fish & Co., when they started business in Florence in 1869. In 1877 Fish & Co., closed out their busi- ness in Tucson, and the business in Florence was continued under the name of J. Collingwood & Co. Silverberg, of San Francisco, and Ham- merschlag, were his partners. Collingwood bought them out and conducted the business until his death about the year 1882.
John D. Walker, whose biography is given in a former volume, was a resident of Florence for many years.
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EARLY SETTLEMENTS.
Granville Wheat settled in that part of the country in 1859; he was with the Butterfield Stage Line. He died in or about the year 1909. He was born in Kentucky, right on the Divide between the Green River and the Columbia, in 1829. He came to California in 1849, and to Arizona in 1859. He came into the Territory as a teamster, driving a team for the Butter- fields. He was teaming in and around Tucson and was in charge of a trading post for Toole at the old Maricopa Crossing. He was the first sheriff elected by Pima County; was sheriff at the time of the Camp Grant Massacre. He was present at the massacre, and at the trial before Judge Backus. He came into Florence in 1868; bought a relinquishment from a Mexican, which is now a part of the town of Florence. Wheat was one of the first Supervisors when the county of Pinal was created.
John C. Harris came in November, 1869, set- tling at either Blackwater or Sanford. He was around both places. He worked for Bichard Bros., at Whitewater, where their first little mill was located. Lige Bichard, another brother, died in the Pima Villages about ten years ago. Harris worked there for two and a half years. He was in the army and at the close of the war he started west. After he got into the western country, he located first in Nevada, where he worked as a carpenter. From there he went into the Honey Lake country in California. Sav- ing some money he went to San Francisco, and finally to San Diego, then in company with an- other man he came to Arizona, coming afoot from San Diego to Yuma, where they bought
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HISTORY OF ARIZONA.
a mule to pack their belongings. Among the incidents along the road which they experienced was coming across the coach which still lay at the other side of Yuma on the road, where it had been turned over at the time of the robbery of the United States paymaster. The sheriff of San Diego county had some of the outfit, and Harris and his friend met them going into San Diego. Harris recognized two of the prisoners as men he knew in Nevada, where they had killed a peddler and taken his whole outfit. From there they came south and helped to rob the pay- master.
John C. Harris was Probate Judge for about nine years and is now living. He is a widower and had seven children, six of them living. He has retired from business and spends much of his time at Ray.
Joe Spinas is among the old settlers and is still living at Florence engaged in the cattle business. He is reputed to be wealthy. He married Sylvester Andrada's daughter, and has two daughters by her, Mrs. Phil Nicholas, and Mrs. Ed. Devine. His wife died several years ago.
Steve Bailey came to the Gila Valley in 1870, and worked for the Bichard Brothers.
Andres Spinas, who settled in the Valley in 1870, now lives in Tucson.
Sylvester Andrada, who took out the Sylves- ter Ditch, was among the first settlers. He first came into the Gila Valley in 1863, and after- wards located there in 1868. He was a Mexican, said to have been born near Altar, in Sonora. He became naturalized and was a first class
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citizen, respected by all. He died in or about the year 1913, at the age of 86.
Victorio Lopez was another early Mexican settler. In the fight between Gandara and Pes- quiera for the Governorship of Sonora, he, being a Gandara man, was on the losing side. He came to the Gila Valley in 1868, and settled on 160 acres of land under the Swiss canal. He was married and had four boys and one daughter.
Martin A. Stiles was the first Receiver of the Land Office in Florence. According to Mr. Brown, he could neither read nor write, and was a very unreliable man. Ruggles conducted the business of his office. Stiles was killed at the ranch belonging to his wife, by his stepson, Bob Bible, about the year 1883.
In 1870 the settlers in and around Florence were as great in number, or greater, than those in and about Phoenix, and in the Legislature of 1871, which created the county of Maricopa, as will be seen further on, they made an effort to create the county of Pinal, embracing the Salt River Valley, with Florence as its county seat. At that time the population of Florence was estimated to be five or six hundred. Here the Catholics built their first Church in Central Arizona, known as the Assumption Church.
The town of Florence was located about half a mile from the Gila River, and was in the center of a very rich agricultural country which, like the Salt River Valley, would grow almost any- thing with irrigation. It was an adobe town, built in the Mexican style. One-half of its population, at least, were Mexicans. It was
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HISTORY OF ARIZONA.
named by Governor McCormick in honor of his wife. The first postoffice and mail facilities were obtained through the efforts of Governor McCormick and Levi Ruggles. Mr. Tom Ewing was appointed postmaster, but deputized Joseph Collingwood to run the office. The first mail arrived in September, 1869, on horseback from the Blue River Station, twenty-five miles distant on the Overland Stage road. One writer says :
"The town has a homelike promise in its out of doors aspect. It lies in the Gila Valley, en- circled by a wide stretch of delicious green and ripening fields of grain and alfalfa. To the northwest is a high, extensive plain. To the south, and trending east, are the usual ranges of low volcanic and granitic mountains, while across to the south, the eye can discern the far outline of the Picacho Peak. To the north, and trending west, can be seen a range of bold out- line, marked on the map as Superstition Moun- tains. There is a wide expanse of undulating plain to the east, and southwesterly the stage road to this place skirts near the foot of the volcanic hills already noticed. A considerable quantity of land in the valley is under irriga- tion."
The prosperity of Florence dates from the dis- covery and working of the Silver King mine. The following account of its discovery is con- densed from "Elliott's History of Arizona."
In 1870, when a party of soldiers were build- ing a road up the Pinal Mountains under orders from General Stoneman, one of the soldiers named Sullivan, employed in cutting the trail,
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EARLY SETTLEMENTS.
when returning from his work one evening, sat down to rest on a projecting rock, near the camp, and began picking up loose fragments of rock about him, amongst which there were some small but heavy black, metallic-looking lumps. These, instead of breaking up when pounded on the stones, became flattened out, and were evi- dently metallic, somewhat resembling lead. This attracted his attention, but he did not fully realize the importance of his find. He, how- ever, gathered a few of the lumps and went on to camp without saying anything about his dis- covery to his comrades; his term of service ex- pired soon afterwards; he was discharged from the service and made his way to the ranch of Charles G. Mason, located on the Gila River.
Mr. Mason was one of the very few frontiers- men who braved the terrors of the Apache and staked out a farm on the fertile bottom lands of the river. Sullivan remained at the place some time, and frequently showed the black ore, since familiarly known amongst the miners and pros- pectors of the region, as "nugget silver," to Mr. Mason, but without telling him exactly where he had found it. Mr. Mason supposed that he would go back to the place, and, no doubt, ex- pected to go with him and participate in the benefits of the discovery, but one day Sullivan suddenly disappeared and was not heard of for years after. He was supposed to have been killed by the Apaches, or to have perished on the desert, in the attempt, perhaps, to return to the place where he had found the rich silver ore.
In the year 1875 Mr. Mason and one of his neighbors, Benjamin W. Regan, formed a party
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HISTORY OF ARIZONA.
of five, consisting of themselves, William H. Long, Isaac Copeland, and another to visit the Globe District, taking a train of animals to bring out some of the ore. On their way back, March 21st, 1875, they were attacked by Apaches and one of their party was killed. His body was taken to Camp Supply, at the summit of the Stoneman Grade, and was buried by his com- panions in one of the old stone baking ovens used for baking bread by Stoneman's soldiers. When the survivors reached the foot of the grade, near to the water and camp ground, Copeland was sent to break off some of the croppings from projecting rocks at one side of the trail, and bring them into camp two miles below. He went to the place indicated, and soon after came hurrying into camp, shouting: "I've struck it." The excited and hopeful pros- pectors gathered around him, but they were in no condition to remain at that time to explore the locality or to make their prize more certain and secure. Travel worn, weary and saddened by the loss of their comrade, and without provi- sions, they hastened on to the settlement on the Gila, at Florence, crossing the dreaded desert at night. The next day, jealously guarding their secret, they gathered supplies together and hastened back to the discovery point. There, sure enough, they found the little black nug- gets strewing the surface, and mineral stains, of many colors, including green and blue, in the substance of the rock. The long sought treas- ure was found at last. Sullivan's discovery was no longer his secret.
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