USA > Arizona > History of Arizona, Vol. VI > Part 7
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John Moon.
William Miller.
Lindley H. Orme, who came to the Valley from California in 1870, and was a brother of John P. Orme, who came to this section from the Golden State in March of 1877, and of Henry C. Orme, who came here from Texas in 1879. Lindley H. Orme was sheriff of Maricopa County for eight years, and a member of the Territorial Council which secured the removal of the Capital from Prescott to Phoenix. He passed away on September 24th, 1900.
Peter Nelson, who is still a resident of the Valley.
William L. Osborn, who left Prescott for the Salt River Valley on June 8th, 1869, and still resides there.
John P. Osborn, who reached Prescott in 1864, and left that place for the Salt River Val- ley with his family on January 24th, 1870.
Benjamin F. Patterson, whose daughter christened "Arizona," is said to have been the
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first white child to be born in the Salt River Valley.
Charles R. Perkins.
Niels Peterson, who came to this Valley in 1871, and settled near Tempe.
John Y. Parker.
William Parker.
James Parker, the second master of the Phoe- nix Public Schools.
George R. Roberts, brother in law of A. N. Peeples of Wickenburg.
Thomas D. Roper.
Moritz Rohling.
John Roach, the pioneer saloon-keeper of Phoenix.
John A. Rush, afterwards a candidate for Delegate to Congress from Arizona.
J. Direly Rumberg, who once owned the cor- uer where the Ford Hotel now stands.
David Shultis, who was an unsuccessful candi- date for Sheriff in the county election of 1872.
Richard Stinson, who was, by appointment of Governor Safford, the first District Attorney of Maricopa County.
Francis A. Shaw, who was appointed by Gov- ernor Safford a member of the first Board of Supervisors of Maricopa County.
John B. Summers.
Byron W. Smith.
Varney A. Stevens (Stephens), who came to the Valley from Prescott. Thomas Shortell. Stephen S. Strode. James F. Storey.
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SETTLEMENT OF THE SALT RIVER VALLEY.
Nathaniel Sharp, an early resident of the "South Side."
Banna jah H. Stone.
Benjamin Simmons.
Andrew and Jacob Starar, who had been drifting around the mining camps of the west for some years before coming to Phoenix.
"Frenchy" Sawyer, who raised the first crop of barley in the valley.
Alhira B. Sorrells.
Daniel Twomey, who was killed by Tonto, Apaches near Camp McDowell on April 15th, 1874.
Henry Tippett.
John Underwood, the first valley settler to be slain by the Apaches.
James Vader, who on April 3rd, 1874, lost three thousand pounds of flour and three thou- sand pounds of barley in attempting to ford Salt River when at flood.
Thomas C. Worden, who succeeded Tom Bar- num as County Sheriff in the fall of 1871.
Gordon A. Wilson, who was a member of the House of Representatives from Yavapai County in the 5th and 6th Territorial Legislatures, and whose ranch was located on the north side of the Salt River near what is now known as Wil- son's Crossing.
George W. Williams, who was known as "Old George" and who was elected Public Adminis- trator of the county on November 5th, 1872.
Kinsey Watson.
Andrew White. VI-7
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James A. Young, known as "Coho" and an early Justice of the Peace of Phoenix Precinct.
John A. Young, who was elected both Super- visor and Justice of the Peace at the special elec- tion of May 1st, 1871.
Edwin A. Yerkes, at one time chief clerk for the old firm of William B. Hellings & Co., at Mill City.
Many of these settlers were not permanent in the community where they lived, but were identified with the State builders who laid the foundation for the future commonwealth of Arizona.
In the raising of the first crops in the Salt River Valley, eight thousand acres of land were placed under cultivation.
W. B. Hellings & Co., erected in the year 1871 their flouring mill in what was then known as Mill City, the ruins of which now remain just east of the State Insane Asylum near Phoenix. Bichard & Company erected a flouring mill in Phoenix, which was destroyed by fire, supposed to have been of incendiary origin in the year 1871.
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CHAPTER V.
EARLY SETTLEMENTS-PHOENIX AND VICINITY.
LOCATION OF PHOENIX TOWNSITE-EAST PHOE- NIX - FIRST COUNTY ELECTION - WEST PHOENIX CHOSEN-EARLY SETTLERS-SALE OF TOWN LOTS - HAYDEN'S FERRY, NOW TEMPE-CHARLES TRUMBULL HAYDEN'S Ex- PERIENCE AS FIRST PROBATE JUDGE IN TUCSON-WINCHESTER MILLER-HIS Ex-
PERIENCES WITH INDIANS AND RENEGADES-
HISTORY OF TEMPE-EARLY SETTLERS- JAMES T. PRIEST-NIELS PETERSON-NAM- ING OF PHOENIX AND TEMPE-STORY BY MAJ. BEN C. TRUMAN-ESTIMATE OF ARABLE LAND IN TERRITORY-LAND UNDER CULTIVA- TION-MAIZE AND WHEAT RAISED IN 1867- PRICES PAID BY GOVERNMENT FOR PRODUCE.
According to Mr. Neri Osborn, the Phoenix Townsite was located in the following manner : "Bill Osborn and Barnum took out a ditch in 1868, and afterwards took out the ditch known as the Salt River Canal north of Phoenix, which irrigated some of this land from the north, that is, where the present site of the city is. They took the ditch out, but Barnett & Block farmed the land, where the town was first located, at East Phoenix, or Mill City. A man by the name of McKinnie owned it. There were some old ruins there, and McKinnie and Alvaney built a building there, a two-room building, and
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started a saloon and a small eating-house. Old Tom Farley used to run a restaurant there in 1870, and Hancock and Mowry came down from Fort McDowell and started to build a town there. The old foundations are there yet, and Johnnie Moore owned the place right west at the time. He wanted to give them forty acres for a townsite, but father (John P. Osborn), always contended that forty acres was not enough, and told them that three hundred and twenty acres should be set aside for the town- site. In the fall of 1870 a meeting had been called at the foundation of a store which had been laid one and one-half miles east of Phoenix by Jim McKinnie, John Alvaney and Captain Hancock. The meeting was called for a cer- tain Saturday. On the Friday preceding the called meeting, father and I visited the present site of Phoenix to get a load of wood. We found two men quarreling over the quarter sec- tion which lies directly east of Center Street. Father asked the men why one did not take the quarter in dispute, and the other the quarter adjoining to the west. This proposition was refused by both, and it occurred to father that the two quarter sections would make an excel- lent townsite, and, after a little coaxing, the par- ties to the dispute agreed to quit claim their right, title and interest to the quarter section upon the payment of twenty-five dollars to each on the following Monday. At the meeting, the following day, the fifty dollars was raised by popular subscription, and what is now the thickly settled portion of Phoenix, worth mil- lions, was surrendered for a pittance. Mari-
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copa County had not yet been organized. It was a part of Yavapai, and the Probate Judge of that county, transacted the necessary work to make the townsite transfer legal.
"W. B. Hellings located his store and mill on Section 1, because there he could get more ground. He bought in there and started the town which was called East Phoenix, put up a mill and a store, and said he was going to start a town there. Jack Swilling was inter- ested in that section, and he worked very hard to have the county seat given to East Phoenix. At the first county election, in May, 1871, they nominated for sheriff from West Phoenix, Jim Favorite; and for sheriff from West Phoenix, J. G. Chenowith. They had two tickets, East Phoenix and West Phoenix. This election was for county officers. Jack Swilling was married to a Mexican woman, and he had control of the Mexicans, and there were more Mexicans than white men. John Dennis and some of the boys put up a job on Swilling, and switched tickets on him, and all the Mexicans voted for West Phoenix. This decided the election in favor of West Phoenix. The campaign was a bitter one, and toward its close Chenowith, candidate for sheriff of West Phoenix, and Favorite, candi- date for sheriff of East Phoenix, quarreled, and Chenowith killed Favorite. Chenowith was ac- quitted but retired from the race. East Phoenix put up John Moore, and West Phoenix, Tom Barnum, and the latter became the first elected sheriff of Maricopa County. The first inter- ment made in the city of Phoenix was that of a man 'who died with his boots on.' Captain
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HISTORY OF ARIZONA.
Hancock was the first sheriff, but he had been appointed to hold the office until the election was held.
"'Lum' Gray settled here in 1868. Ben Peterson and his wife came in at the same time ; they came together, Mrs. Peterson and Mrs. Gray. I think they were the two first white women here. Barnum came at the same time that Peterson did. Mrs. Barnum, my sister, came in 1869, at the same time my father and Bill Osborn, Alsap, McKinnie, and others came in. That was in the spring of 1869. When I came in in 1869, there was 'Lum' Gray, his wife, Ben Peterson and wife, Rogers and wife, and Mrs. Barnum. They were the only white women in the valley ; only four of them. Right after we came in, old 'Coho' Young and his family moved in. Then that fall the Murrays came; Old Man Murray and seven daughters; his wife was dead, and the daughters were all grown up."
After the purchase of the two quarter sections of land for the townsite of Phoenix, Captain Hancock surveyed the land, the town was laid off, divided into blocks and lots, and the sell- ing of the same commenced. The Prescott "Miner," in January, 1871, notes the sale of town lots in Phoenix in the preceding Decem- ber, sixty-one lots being sold at an average price of forty-eight dollars each. Judge Berry, of Prescott, bought the first town lot, paying there- for the sum of one hundred and sixteen dollars. This property is now occupied by the Dorris Grocery Store on the southwest corner of First and Washington Streets. By this time, 1871,
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CHARLES TRUMBULL HAYDEN.
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EARLY SETTLEMENTS.
there was quite a population around Phoenix, probably five hundred persons.
This was the beginning of a settlement in the deserts of Arizona which, at this writing, 1918, has developed into a city of 30,000 people, with all modern improvements, paved streets, elec- tric lights, electric cars, large business houses, and banks with deposits aggregating over ten millions of dollars, in the heart of a valley where two hundred thousand acres of land are under cultivation, with annual products approximat- ing twenty millions of dollars, and which is only the beginning of, perhaps, one of the richest and most prosperous communities under the Ameri- can flag.
A settlement was also started on the south side of the river at what was then known as Hayden's Ferry. The first canal taken out there was projected by Swilling and his asso- ciates, and was completed about the year 1869. Charles Trumbull Hayden located there about the year 1870; also Captain Sharp, Winchester Miller, Niels Peterson, and other pioneers of the South Side.
Captain Sharp afterwards moved from Tempe to Alhambra, about three miles from Phoenix, where he died a few years ago. I have been unable to learn anything of his early life. I knew him personally, however. He was an industrious farmer and a good citizen.
Charles Trumbull Hayden, a biography of whom is given in Volume II, was the founder of Tempe, where his son, Carl Hayden, the first representative in Congress of the State of Ari- zona, was born. Mr. Hayden established the
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first ferry there, and also the first mercantile business. He was known as the "Father of Tempe."
In a letter written by Charles Trumbull Hay- den, under date of Feby. 8th, 1898, to Joseph Fish, Mr. Hayden, speaking of the time he was Probate Judge says :
"I was the first Probate Judge in Tucson, A. T., under the laws of New Mexico that were extended over this Territory on its formation. They gave the Probate Judge limited civil and criminal jurisdiction, and in the year I occu- pied the bench, there was no case of death, not a civil case, and only one criminal case before the court, and that crime was committed by a citizen of Sonora. The five hundred Mexicans that constituted nearly all of the population of Tucson, like the American population upon the very extreme frontier, settled their own dis- putes without the aid of the courts."
Winchester Miller, who was located at Tempe when Charles Trumbull Hayden arrived there, was, according to the Fish manuscript, a native of Ohio, coming to Arizona in 1870, and locating at Tempe, where he died in November, 1893. Of him it is said, in the Arizona "Republican" of Dec. 25th, 1901:
"The early settlers of Tempe in opening up this Territory were called upon not only to en- dure many hardships but face the greatest dangers as well. Perhaps one of the bravest and most respected of these old timers was Win- chester Miller. Miller was a man possessed with a nerve of iron and did not know the mean- ing of fear. He used to relate an exciting
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episode that occurred back in the 70's or there- abouts, when he held the office of sheriff. We give it herewith as he told it to a friend of his. It is claimed to be an absolute fact :
"In executing the duties of his office at one time it unfortunately became necessary for Winchester to hang two Indians. While un- doubtedly it was an unpleasant job Miller went about the business and stretched the redskins' necks in the most approved fashion. When he had finished they were good Indians and all they needed was a pair of wings each.
"He was living on the ranch now owned by Mons Ellingson. One day not long after he had given the two Indians their quietus, as Miller was standing in the yard near his house, his quick eye noted rising in the distance a great cloud of dust rapidly approaching. It did not require a second glance for him to realize that a band of painted bloodthirsty savages were swooping down upon him to avenge the death of their two brethren. Stepping into his house the nervy pioneer took his rifle from its peg, buckled on two cartridge belts, stuck in a couple of six shooters and a knife, and returned to the yard. Fortunately there was a fence about his house, behind which he took his stand.
"All this took but a short time, but when Miller reached the fence the savages were in full view, coming pellmell, yelling in their eager- ness and excitement in anticipation of plenty of loot, incendiarism and scalps. On they came, a horde of 250, not observing Winchester Miller behind the fence until they bumped up against the end of his gun. As soon as they were in
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speaking distance Winchester bellowed at the top of his lungs, 'Now is a good time to begin the shooting!'
"The redskins were taken by surprise and halted in confusion a short distance away. Ac- customed to fighting in ambush the boldness of the man disconcerted them. The moment one started forward he was met with the cold muzzle of Winchester's gun. He watched every move and instantly checked the slightest show of ad- vance, meanwhile constantly pouring at them at the top of his voice a string of epithets defy- ing them to advance. Drawing off to a safe distance they dismounted, formed a circle, seated Indian fashion, and held a powwow, or council of war.
"They had come fully prepared for butchery, carrying the different implements of battle known to savages-rifles, tomahawks, bows and arrows, spears, clubs, anything they could get hold of. The fierce tribal hatred of their race was boiling in their veins. The powwow was of short duration. They again decided the white man must die. Springing onto their ponies once more, they came howling toward the house. "'G-d d-n you, come on, you dirty devils!' shouted old Winchester, at the top of his voice. 'I know you'll get me, but I'll fix a lot of you before you nail me!'
"The Indians stopped. One of them at- tempted to circle around to the rear of the house.
"'Get back there or I'll bore a hole through you,' shouted Winchester as he took aim at the savage.
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"Another started to dismount from his pony, but in an instant he was an object of interest to Winchester's gun. He concluded that his pony's back was safer than the ground and crawled back. For two days and nights, strange as it may seem, Winchester Miller stood off the band of savages who had come there with the express purpose of scalping him, burning the building to the ground and carrying off all movable property. Miller stood at his post with- out food or water until finally the Indians dis- persed, either through fear of admiration for the man's dauntless courage.
"Ever afterwards both Indians and Mexicans held Winchester Miller in great respect.
"An illustration of his remarkable person- ality was given at one time in more recent years when a number of Indians and Mexicans had gathered near the old Hayden mill. They had imbibed too freely of a quantity of bad whisky ; were fighting among themselves and had reached such a state of frenzy that they constituted a dangerous element to the community.
"An officer was dispatched to arrest them. Winchester was not sheriff then. The mob simply laughed at the officer and dared him to arrest them if he could. He returned and re- ported the state of affairs. Some one suggested, 'Send for Winchester Miller.'
"No sooner said than done. Two or three went out to his house and explained the situa- tion and asked him if he would not come down and see what he could do. 'Sure,' replied Win- chester. Buckling on a six-shooter he set out
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for the mill, As soon as he was near enough he bellowed at the top of his voice:
"'Get out of here, you dirty devils!'
"Without waiting a second, upon recognizing his voice, the drunken mob scrambled and fell all over each other in their haste to get out of the way. By the time Winchester Miller had reached the spot not an Indian or Mexican was in sight."
In the same paper is a short history of Tempe by Frederick C. Wright, Editor and Manager Tempe Department of the Arizona "Republi- can," which I here reproduce :
"Tempe, a Greek word meaning 'beautiful valley,' is a town of about 1190 inhabitants situated on the south bank of the Salt River nine miles east and but a short distance south of Phoenix, the capital of Arizona Territory.
"It is beautifully located in the heart of the richest and most productive farming section in the Salt River valley.
"Just thirty years ago, in October, 1871, the first white man, Charles T. Hayden, located on the present site of the town of Tempe and took up a quarter section of land extending as far south as the present site of the post office. It was then called Hayden's Ferry.
"At that time the country round about pre- sented an unbroken expanse of desert waste and sage brush.
"It took the dauntless courage and untiring energy of a brave pioneer to cope with seem- ingly unsurmountable difficulties to reclaim and upbuild an arid waste such as these early settlers encountered.
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"Mr. Hayden erected a small pole shanty about 14x16 feet, upon the spot now occupied by the old Hayden house. This shanty was used as a store and was the only structure in this locality for some time, with the exception of an old adobe building on section 17, built shortly after, on what was known as the Pacho ranch. It was built by a man named Mendosa. "The Tempe Canal was constructed about 1869 by Jack Swilling, who organized a com- pany for that purpose. He was also the leading spirit in the construction of the Swilling canal, later known as the Salt River canal.
"After Mr. Hayden the first settlers to locate here in the order of their arrival were: Captain Sharp, Winchester Miller, Mr. Vader, John J. Hill, Conrad Meyer, Charles Balzan, J. T. Priest, Niels Peterson, Bob Carley, Charles Beach and others. Nearly all these took up farms in the country near by and were the founders and organizers of the present rich farming section about Tempe.
"J. T. Priest located here in December, 1871, and went to work on the Kirkland and McKin- ney ditch. This ditch was completed in the winter of 1872 and the first grain crops were then planted. In 1873 C. T. Hayden planted the first crop of alfalfa this side of the river on the present site of the Arizona Mercantile Company's store.
"Farms were quickly taken up. In 1871 John J. Hill took a farm where the public school now stands. Carley and Beach located on sec- tion 8, where Joe Wallace now lives. Captain Sharp located upon the ranch now owned by
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Wolf Sachs. In the fall of 1872 Niels Peterson located here and settled upon the ranch his partner, C. M. Hildebrand, had taken up in 1871, where Mr. Peterson now lives.
"In 1873 Mexican, or Old Town, was settled. A man by the name of Kirkland, who lived on the Winchester Miller place, organized an as- sociation known as the 'San Pueblo Town As- sociation.' The first building in San Pueblo was built in 1873 by a man named Sontag, and was an adobe west of the church that now stands on the hill near the railroad.
"The first flour mill in the valley was the Hell- ing mill, later known as the Vail place. The mill was located just east of the present site of the insane asylum, between Tempe and Phoenix.
"The Hayden flour mill was at first but a. small 'coffee-grinder' mill, located upon the present site. The present structure was com- pleted in 1874. Flour was ground out by com- mon mill stones, with a capacity of about 2,000 pounds of flour per day. The mill, run by water, from that day to this has been kept in motion with ten shares of the Kirkland and Mckinney ditch, fifteen shares of which were owned by Mr. Havden.
"A man by the name of Freeman settled upon eighty acres just south of Hayden's quarter section, beginning at Fifth Street. In 1872 J. T. Priest purchased this land and in 1875 sold it to Mr. Hayden."
According to the Fish manuscript, the James T. Priest mentioned in the foregoing was born in Canada September 19th, 1835. He came to Arizona in 1871 and became a permanent resi-
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dent of the Salt River Valley. When the writer came into the valley in 1887, Mr. Priest was a prominent citizen of the South Side, and served for a number of terms as a member of the Board of Supervisors of Maricopa County. He was one of the leading Republicans of the county whose influence was always exercised in behalf of his party.
Niels Peterson, one of the early settlers on the south side of the Salt River, was born in Den- mark on October 21st, 1845. He received a liberal education in the land of his birth, and at the age of sixteen entered upon a seafaring life, which took him to all parts of the world. In 1865 he came to the United States, and sailed out of the port of New York until 1869, when he returned to his native land. In 1870 he again came to the United States, and spent one year in California, from which place he came to Arizona in the summer of 1871, at once set- tling in what is now Tempe. Since that time he has been prominent in that section, and also in the affairs of the Territory, having, at differ- ent times, been president of the Farmers and Merchants' Bank at Tempe, treasurer of the Tempe Irrigating Canal Company, and a mem- ber of the eighteenth Territorial legislature. Mr. Peterson is the owner of a farm of twelve hundred and fifty acres of land, and of one of the finest residences and rural homes in the Salt River Valley. In addition to the offices held by Mr. Peterson enumerated above he has served as a member of the board of trustees of the school district of his neighborhood, and, during the eighties was elected a member of the Maricopa
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county board of supervisors, upon the Demo- cratic ticket, of which party he has always been a stanch adherent. He is a member and trustee of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows at Tempe.
Mr. Peterson has been twice married. His first wife was Isabel Dunphy, of Duluth, Minne- sota, and his second Susanna Decker, of South Montrose, Pennsylvania.
Concerning the naming of Phoenix and Tempe, the following article appeared in 1910 in the "Arizona Republican":
"When A. K. Stacy of Phoenix was in Cali- fornia for a short stay lately, he spent a part of the time most pleasantly at Arrowhead Hot Springs, near San Bernardino, in company with Mr. and Mrs. George F. Gardiner the latter Mr. Stacy's daughter. While the springs were enjoyed for their beauty of environment and for the baths, one of the experiences that will live long in the memory of the visitors was meeting with Major Ben Truman, who is spend- ing a part of the summer at Arrowhead with Mrs. Truman, who happens to be an aunt of Mrs. Frank Ainsworth of Phoenix.
"Though Major Truman had not stopped in the Territory for more than thirty years, he still claims to be an Arizonan by virtue of pioneer experiences. Mr. Stacy soon learned that Major Truman had been special agent of the post office for the Pacific coast department in 1867, and that his jurisdiction embraced Ari- zona, and that he had received instructions to
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