Monthly Archives: April 2014

How Creating Prescott Required a War and a Large Land Purchase – Part 2

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This article is one of a series that will appear in this space during this year on historic events relating to the Arizona Territory’s Sesquicentennial and the founding and establishment of Prescott as the Territory’s first capital.

By Al Bates 

When most of what is now Arizona came into the United States following the Mexican War, the area above the Gila River was an isolated, unsettled western outpost of New Mexico Territory with no separate identity and of little perceived value.  It was only after the Gadsden Purchase of land below the Gila River that the idea of a separate political entity named Arizona emerged.

In 1853 the new American president, Franklin Pierce, dispatched James Gadsden, a southern railroad man, to Mexico as United States Minister with instructions to settle all issues left over from the Mexican War.  However, Gadsden’s most essential mission was to obtain sufficient land for the building of a transcontinental railroad on a route below the Gila River.

The ceding of Baja California to the US was quickly off the table and the Mexican government held firm to the position that their territory must continue to include a land route to Baja.  This removed any possibility for an American port at the Gulf of California, but had no impact on the goal of providing for the southern railroad route.  A draft signed on December 30, 1853, by Gadsden and the Mexican negotiators was submitted to the
U. S. Congress for ratification; but the negotiations were not yet over.

The final boundary line evolved as it did to fill two desires.  The stepped section to the east was intended to bring the heavily used Gila Trail within the US and the diagonal section to the west was in response to Mexico’s request that the border be far enough above the Colorado River delta for the building of a bridge linking Baja California to Mexico.

The purchase became effective at the end of June 1854, although it took almost two years for the boundary to be surveyed and marked and for the United States Army to take formal possession.

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James Gadsden was sent by President Franklin Pierce to secure land for the transcontinental railroad route below the Gila River. Americans residing in the Gadsden Purchase area began clamoring for the establishment of a separate territory (Map courtesy of Andrew Wallace).

The Gadsden Purchase was not universally applauded.  One California newspaper correspondent wrote that it was “a barren, deserted, dreary waste—a desert—useful only as a dwelling place for the coyote, the owl, the rattle-snake, and the prairie dog.”

But when American settlers began arriving in the Gadsden Purchase they found more than an inhospitable waste populated by cactus and lethal critters.  They found opportunities in mining, farming and ranching.  This despite the growing menace of the Apache tribes and the activities of a lawless element that was enabled by a lack of law enforcement.

In the words of one early settler, they had “no laws for our guidance, no courts, [and] no officers to preserve the peace.”  American settlers in the Gadsden Purchase—including those former Mexican citizens who chose to become Americans—began clamoring for the establishment of a separate territory, with its capital located at either Tucson or Mesilla.

The first important use of the name “Arizona” was in an 1856 memorial to Congress advocating a separate government for the Gadsden Purchase to be named Arizona Territory.  This was only the first of several attempts to urge the process along, including at one point creating a provisional government with a full slate of territorial officers.

Then in 1861 the “Arizonans” rejected the United States and tried to attach themselves to the newly formed Confederate States of America, and on February 14, 1862, the Rebel government in Virginia recognized Arizona as a Confederate Territory using a horizontal split of New Mexico Territory for the dividing line.

That did not last for long, for once the few Confederate soldiers in “Arizona” were flushed out by the “Column from California,” General James Carleton declared himself military governor of Arizona Territory using a boundary definition still being considered by Congress.

Congress had been considering the creation of an Arizona Territory since 1856, considering a variety of configurations for the new territory.  Finally, they came to an agreement, and on February 24, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Organic Act that split Arizona from New Mexico along the now familiar vertical line—leaving the Mesilla Valley behind.

The stage now was set for something unanticipated that would enable the creation of a brand-new outpost in the new territory’s central mountain wilderness and cause a drastic change in the early history of Arizona Territory—the discovery of gold on the Hassayampa River.

Days Past is a collaborative project of the Sharlot Hall Museum and the Prescott Corral of Westerners, International (www.prescottcorral.org). This and other Days Past articles are also available at www.sharlot.org/library-archives/days-past. The public is encouraged to submit articles for consideration.  Please contact SHM Library & Archives reference desk at 928-445-3122 Ext. 14, or via email at dayspastprescott@gmail.com for information.

How Creating Prescott Required a War and a Large Land Purchase – Part 1

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This article is one of a series that will appear in this space during this year on historic events relating to the Arizona Territory’s Sesquicentennial and the founding and establishment of Prescott as the Territory’s first capital.

By Al Bates

Before there could be a Prescott there had to be an “Arizona,” and that required both a war and a large land purchase

President James K. Polk presided over the final land acquisitions that satisfied America’s “manifest destiny” making the United States a bi-coastal giant.  In his single term as president, he settled the boundaries for our Pacific Northwest by negotiation with England.  Then he created the American Southwest by setting in motion a monumental land grab from Mexico.

The Mexican-American War began in 1846 as a dispute over location of the Texas border with Mexico—Americans wanted the border at the Rio Grande River, the Mexicans thought it should be much further east.  President Polk guaranteed war by sending American troops into the disputed area, and Mexican troops obligingly attacked.

When the American response to the Mexican attack climaxed with the capture of Mexico City, the Mexican government conceded that, indeed, the Texas border would be at the Rio Grande.  But then the American negotiators dropped the other shoe: We also wanted California and the lands between there and Texas for which we would pay them ten million dollars.

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James K. Polk, the president who created the American Southwest.

The Mexicans, unhappily, had to cede territory to the United States that became the states of California, Nevada, Utah, and the Territory of New Mexico which then included most of today’s Arizona.

The original instructions to American negotiators for setting terms to end the war were to set the Texas border at the Rio Grande River and to establish the remainder of the southern border for the United States at the 32nd parallel (a few miles below Tucson) to provide room for a transcontinental railroad corridor.

Although the Mexican government did agree to set the Texas border at the Rio Grande, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo established the border with New Mexico Territory well above the 32nd parallel, using the Gila River as a major dividing point.  Even so, Mexico ceded a gigantic chunk of its lands, to the United States for peace and a paltry sum of money.  However, defects in the boundary settlement quickly brought the treaty under fire from both sides.

The boundary location was at issue because the map used in the treaty negotiations was highly inaccurate and left the exact border position open to interpretation.  Attempts at a compromise were rejected by the United States Congress, leading to saber rattling on both sides and a second war appeared imminent unless these issues could be resolved peaceably.

This brings us to a short but important digression into the origin of the name “Arizona.”  This has been the topic of speculation for many decades with most attempts to place its origins in the Spanish and Pima-Papago languages.  Some of the theories include: Arizuma from the Aztec by way of the Spanish; Arizonac and Ali Sonac from the Pimas; Aleh zone from the Papago; and Zona Arida from the Spanish.  Probably the worst pseudo origin was in English, claiming it stood for “Arid Zone.”

It was not until recent years that serious study was done by researcher and author Don Garate, who came up with the most probable origin.  He has demonstrated that the name comes from the unique Basque language of northern Spain and southern France.  Spanish Basques and their descendents were prominent in settling many areas of New Spain, and one familiar example of their presence is the de Anza family.  Garate has shown that the name Arizona stems from a 1736 surface silver find called Planchas de Plata located west of Nogales, Arizona, and just south of the current international boundary.  The findings included “balls and slabs of silver, one of over 2500 pounds.”  The silver find was located near a ranch settled by Spanish Basques who had named the ranch “Arizona” derived from “aritz ona” for “the good oak” in their unique Basque language.

The name soon became used for surrounding region as well and would later become the common name for the Gadsden Purchase.

Next week we will look further at how the Gadsden Purchase helped make creation of Arizona—and then Prescott—possible.

Days Past is a collaborative project of the Sharlot Hall Museum and the Prescott Corral of Westerners, International (www.prescottcorral.org). This and other Days Past articles are also available at www.sharlot.org/library-archives/days-past. The public is encouraged to submit articles for consideration.  Please contact SHM Library & Archives reference desk at 928-445-3122 Ext. 14, or via email at dayspastprescott@gmail.com for information.

 

 

 

The Opium Dens of Territorial Prescott

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By Dr. Rhonda T. Davis

Users described opium as the perfect drug.  Westerners often called it the celestial drug and hailed it as a cure-all.  In small doses added to a cup of tea, opium combatted the many pains that plagued people who lived with irregular medical treatment on the frontier.  In medium doses, it was effective in easing insomnia.  Opium was used by frontier households as a tranquilizer, analgesic, to treat fatigue, depression, the ague, and malaria.  A wide range of patent medications including laudanum contained opium.

The opium smoked in Prescott’s opium dens, however, was used for recreational purposes.  At higher doses, opium produces euphoria and a sense of peace.  The Chinese in Territorial Prescott enjoyed the same amusements as other frontiersmen including drinking, gambling, prostitutes, and opium smoking.  The opium dens in Prescott were located at Chinese owned businesses.  The most basic equipment used by opium smokers was a Yen Tshung (pipe), Yen Dong (a spirit lamp), and Noen Kun Yen (a box of opium paste).  Other items commonly provided in the opium dens included sponges, bowls, and head rests.  There were a large number of opium artifacts found in the 2006 archeological excavation of Prescott’s Chinatown; in fact, so many that it appears Prescott had a higher than usual percentage of opium users.

While many non-Chinese Prescottonians joined their Chinese neighbors in a friendly smoke of opium, and as much as people enjoyed an alcoholic drink, others ascribed depravity, sloth, and immorality to opium use.  The fact that men and women smoked opium together was shocking to the more refined of the Prescott establishment, as well as the Temperance League, missionaries and moral reformers.  These good people had already succeeded in making it illegal for women to drink alcohol in public, but opium was harder to regulate.  It was legal even though many considered it immoral.

Most of Prescott’s opium dens were located along Granite Street.  One of the most popular opium dens was at the corner of Goodwin and Granite and was open around the clock.  Men and women from all walks of life frequented the opium dens.  The mixing of prostitutes and miners was less of a problem than was the mixing of otherwise respectable men and women in this regard.  Opium pipes were the most common way to smoke opium.  These pipes were elaborately fashioned from wood, ivory, jade, silver, cloisonné, and porcelain.

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Chinese man in Prescott with newspaper, tea, and opium pipe, December 1878 (Photo Courtesy Sharlot Hall Museum – Call Number: PO-2030p).

Many non-Chinese people assumed that most or all Chinese were opium addicts.  In fact, opium users were in the minority among the Chinese.  Because the Chinese used long pipes to smoke tobacco, regular smokers were often mistaken for opium users.  The characterization of Chinese as carousing, gambling, and smoking opium gained popularity as the Chinese population increased.  Moreover, the frontier really was a rough place in those decades.  An excavation of Prescott’s Chinatown reveals massive quantities of alcohol containers along with opium paraphernalia.

Opium was a serious business that became a serious problem.  In 1908, President Roosevelt bowed to pressure from Chinese officials to stop US importation of opium.  On February 9, 1909, Congress passed the Opium Exclusion Act that outlawed opium for smoking purposes and caused years of violent Tong battles, an unprecedented crime wave, and corruption as the drug went underground.  Opium dens vanished from Prescott as they did from other Chinatowns around the west.

Rhonda Davis, PhD.,  has researched the Chinese diaspora in Arizona extensively at the National Archives.  Her main field of expertise is the Qing Dynasty.  Dr. Davis will be presenting some of her archival research, including photographs of Prescott’s Chinese Pioneers, at the Sharlot Hall Museum Library & Archives at 2:00 pm on Saturday, April 19th 2014.  This presentation is free and open to the public.  Dr.  Davis is a National Merit Scholar; she holds degrees from San Diego State University, California State University, Los Angeles, USC, OSU, and Mecheng College in China.  She is certified in Ethics by the National Science Foundation and National Institute for Health.

Days Past is a collaborative project of the Sharlot Hall Museum and the Prescott Corral of Westerners, International (www.prescottcorral.org). This and other Days Past articles are also available at www.sharlot.org/library-archives/days-past. The public is encouraged to submit articles for consideration.  Please contact SHM Library & Archives reference desk at 928-445-3122 Ext. 14, or via email at dayspastprescott@gmail.com for information.

The Governor Travels South and a Census Is Taken

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This article is one of a series that will appear in this space during this year on historic events relating to the Arizona Territory’s Sesquicentennial and the founding and establishment of Prescott as the Territory’s first capital.

By Al Bates

By early April of 1864 Governor John Goodwin was on the road again; this time headed to southern Arizona to visit the Tucson and Tubac areas.

Before departing for points south, the governor (and Secretary Richard McCormick) had completed two necessary tasks preceding the elections of the territorial legislators and the representative to Congress.  First was to create the three judicial districts that also would serve as the original legislative districts.  Second was to establish the ground rules for the special census that, among other things, would determine how many councilmen and representatives each district would have in the bicameral legislature.

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This map shows Arizona Territory’s three original districts. Prescott was part of district 3, the largest district (Map Courtesy of Author).

Just below the community of Weaver (sometimes called Weaverville or Antelope) the governor encountered a party headed for Fort Whipple that included Indian Agent Charles Poston and Judge Joseph Allyn who were being escorted by 60 Maricopa and Pima Indians led by Chiefs Juan Cheveria and Juan Manuel.  The news that the governor shared with Poston and Allyn was bad.

Half the population had left to avoid starvation and death (the estimated population of Weaver had dropped from 400 to 100).  Fort Whipple was thronged with fugitives; and there wasn’t an animal fit to use left in the country. King S. Woolsey was leaving with 100 men on a second expedition against the Apaches.

After stopping at Weaver—where Maricopa Chief Cheveria was celebrated as a hero for his role in the Bloody Tanks affair—Poston and his Indian escort abandoned a plan to visit the Hopi villages and instead headed to a hoped-for rendezvous with Woolsey to help on his new anti-Apache campaign.  Allyn and two companions continued on to Fort Whipple, “. . . a melancholy journey, past burned and deserted cabins.”

Governor Goodwin continued to southern Arizona where he would remain for almost two months while Arizona citizens waited to hear which location the governor would choose for the first legislature.  Would-be politicians waited to learn what openings for which they might vie.

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While territorial governor John Goodwin traveled to southern Arizona, territorial citizens waited to hear which location the governor would choose for the first legislature (Photo Courtesy Sharlot Hall Museum Call Number: PO-418p).

During the governor’s absence from central Arizona during April and most of May 1864, the taking of the special census was the most noteworthy event.  Territorial Marshal Milton Duffield led the effort.  He chose to cover the first (southern) district himself, and appointed Charles A. Phillips to the second (western) district, and “Minister/Postmaster” Hyrum Read to the third (northern) district.

There was a profound ethnic bias to the census since Indians—even friendly tribes—were excluded.  An analysis of the census shows the total non-Indian population of Arizona as 4573, slightly higher than an abstract of the results used by the governor in allocating seats in the legislature.

The third district headcount—including some late entries—was 1088 and was centered about the area that would soon become Prescott.  The population was heavily male, with the 49 women and girls outnumbered 22 to one.  Single women outnumbered the married ones and there was a scattering of children.  There were 19 married couples, one pair being spliced by the Rev. Reed while taking the census.

Race and ethnicity was ignored by the census, but in the third district over half the women and 300 of the men were born in Mexico, or places that had been part of Mexico until 1848.  About half of those counted were born in the United States, but 24 other nations of origin were identified.  Almost 200 of the men were married to women left behind in the “states” or in native lands, some never seeing those spouses again.  There are accounts of early arrivals conveniently forgetting their marriage vows and finding new wives locally.

The list of occupations given to the census taker ranged from the whimsical “bummer” and “whatever” to a wide list of serious occupations, although miner, soldier and laborer were the three most common.  There was one “whiskey seller” and one minister/postmaster.  Seventeen of the single ladies listed their occupation as “mistress” which is open to interpretation.

Of political importance, the census answered the question of how power in the first territorial legislature would be divided.  The southern district (Tucson mainly) was assigned just over half the seats, ensuring that the two most powerful offices, the Council President and the House Speaker would go to men from Tucson.

Days Past is a collaborative project of the Sharlot Hall Museum and the Prescott Corral of Westerners International (www.prescottcorral.org). This and other Days Past articles are also available at www.sharlot.org/library-archives/days-past. The public is encouraged to submit articles for consideration.  Please contact SHM Library & Archives reference desk at 928-445-3122 Ext. 14, or via email at dayspastprescott@gmail.com for information.