Tucson Fire Department the First Twenty Years Al Ring Bob Ring
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Tucson Fire Department The First Twenty Years Al Ring Bob Ring 0 TFD: The First Twenty Years: 1881-1900 The Tucson Fire Department began as an Anglo fraternal club, was beset with political arguments about organization and management, experienced several false starts, for 20 years was an all-volunteer organization, suffered from a limited water supply, and struggled to adequately equip itself in tough economic times. The last two decades of the 19th century were a difficult period for Tucson. An economic depression stopped the growth of the town “in its tracks” and while this was going on, the new Tucson Fire Department was suffering its own “hiccups.” For perspective, let’s first talk about what happened in Tucson, and then we’ll talk about the early challenges of the TFD. Tucson Perspective Lawlessness and Violence. In these years, frontier Tucson endured a sustained period of lawlessness including gunfights, and stagecoach and train robberies. Two of the more famous gunfights occurred right on the streets of Tucson. On March 20, 1882, the second anniversary of the railroad’s arrival in Tucson, sometimes lawman Wyatt Earp gunned down Tombstone cowboy Frank Stillwell along the railroad tracks near the Southern Pacific Depot - supposedly in response to Stillwell’s killing of Earp’s brother Morgan.1 Tucson historian C. L. Sonnichsen described another shooting that occurred almost a decade later, “Gentlemen still carried pistols in the early nineties and used them when occasion demanded. The most notorious shooting in Tucson’s history occurred on September 24, 1891, when two of its most prominent citizens engaged in a gun duel at the corner of Pennington and Church streets.” Dr. John C. Handy attacked lawyer Francis J. Heney for representing Handy’s wife in a domestic dispute - with lawyer Heney Tombstone’s Frank Stillwell was gunned down by Wyatt Earp near managing to kill Handy with his own Tucson’s railroad depot in 1882. (Courtesy of Wild West) gun.2 1 During the early 1880s, shootings were not uncommon in the southwest, indeed across the entire U.S. In New Mexico, Sherriff Pat Garrett killed the desperado Billy the Kid in July 1881. In Washington DC, President James Garfield died from an assassin’s bullet in September 1881. The infamous “Gunfight at the OK Corral” occurred in Tombstone in October 1881. And in April 1882, famed outlaw Jesse James was gunned down in Saint Joseph, Missouri. Southeastern Arizona was infested with all sorts of now-notorious scoundrels including Doc Holliday and Johnny Ringo (no relation to authors). 2 Handy was a curious mix of compassion and anger. From 1871 to 1891, he practiced medicine in Tucson, highly 1 Stagecoach and train robberies were also common in the Tucson area. According to the fascinating book, Encyclopedia of Stage Robbery in Arizona, there were 129 stagecoach robberies in Arizona between 1875 and 1903. Eleven of these occurred in Pima County, including two robberies near present day Marana, single robberies near Patagonia and present day Green Valley, and a robbery of the Tucson-Quijotoa stage. The first train robbery occurred in 1887 at the Pantano Station, 28 miles east of Tucson. On the brighter side, thirty-five years of debilitating Indian Well known Dr. John Handy attacked Wars came to a close in the mid-1880s, with Apache leader lawyer Francis Heney on the streets of Tucson in 1891. (Courtesy of Wikimedia) Geronimo’s final surrender.3 In Tucson, Fort Lowell’s important role as a supply center for troops in the field was over. On November 8, 1887 Tucson held a huge parade to pay honor to General Nelson A. Miles to whom Geronimo finally surrendered. Expanding Rail Network. The Southern Pacific Railroad reached Tucson from California on March 20, 1880, and continued building eastward C. S. Fly photographed Geronimo posing with members of his and hooked up on March 8, 1881 with tribe and General George Crook’s staff in 1886. (Courtesy of Wikimedia) an Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe line in regarded as a physician and for his willing service to poor Tucsonans and Apaches. Handy also belonged to many civic organizations and was a charter member and early president of the Society of Arizona Pioneers, which later became the Arizona Historical Society. But Handy also had a dark side and was regarded by some as a dangerous man. While serving as an interpreter of the Apache language for the U.S. Army in 1870, he shot and killed a man in an argument. In 1879 Handy and another doctor got into an argument about how a patient had died. At a hearing to determine the cause of death, the two doctors got into a brawl and had to be restrained. 3 Starting in late 1850s, Geronimo fought against both Mexican and U.S. troops and became famous for his daring exploits and numerous escapes. He was captured in 1877 and sent to the San Carlos Reservation east of Globe. In 1881 Geronimo left the reservation to join other bands to fight the growing number of U.S. troops. He was pursued into Mexico, talked into returning to the reservation in 1884, escaped again in 1885, agreed in a parley to surrender, but broke free once again. On September 4, 1886, Geronimo surrendered for the final time. (For details, see Arizona Reflections - Living History from the Grand Canyon State at ringbrothershistory.com.) 2 New Mexico to complete a transcontinental route. Southern Pacific continued building eastward to make connections to New Orleans by January 1883. Meanwhile in 1881-1882, the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe built a New Mexico & Arizona line from Benson to Nogales, connecting with the Sonora Railroad to the important trade center Guaymas on the Gulf of California. Over the next two decades, connection railways were built in Arizona from the transcontinental route to outlying towns and mines. By 1900 you could take a train from Tucson to Prescott, Phoenix, Nogales, Globe, Tombstone, and Bisbee. This slowly expanding rail network would be critical to Tucson’s long term development. Anglo settlers were now able to reach Tucson in large numbers - precipitating a slow change in Tucson from a Mexican agricultural economy to an Anglo urban center. The railroad brought heavy equipment that enabled efficient mining development in places like Tombstone and Bisbee. Cattle ranching in southeastern Arizona began to expand. And the seeds of newly established “railroad towns” - at Gila Bend, Maricopa, Casa Grande, Benson, and Wilcox - had been planted to ensure future growth and development across southern Arizona. By the 1890s Tucson’s wonderful climate was attracting thousands of health seekers and the area’s desert attractions and good weather began attracting tourists. Economic Difficulties. Ironically, the completion of the transcontinental railroad initially brought grave economic problems to Tucson. For example, after two decades of dominating the southern Arizona (wagon) freighting business, the Tully and Ocha Company quickly found that they couldn’t compete with the railroad. They tried to cut expenses and sold some of their assets to raise capital, but finally were forced out of business in 1884. Historian Sonnichsen described other calamitous effects on Tucson: “Many of the old firms were already in trouble. Stock on hand had to be sold at loss to compete with the cheap new goods brought in by rail. Old customers failed to pay promptly when money was desperately needed, and some did not pay at all. Catastrophe followed. … William Zeckendorf [merchandizer] went into bankruptcy in 1883. Safford, Hudson & Company [bank] failed in 1884. Solomon Warner closed the doors of his mill … in 1881. … The most spectacular of these failures was that of the great house of Lord and Williams [merchandiser and banker] … who fled to Mexico.” Tucson’s financial crisis was made even worse by an overall economic depression in Arizona that lasted a dozen years, from 1884 to 1896. All major industries were affected. Tucson historian David Devine described the effect of decreased mining: “The silver mines of Tombstone, once thought to be the richest in the region, began playing out and then flooded. The result was an economic calamity for Tucson with many of the community’s long-established businesses being forced to shut their doors even as the town’s population began to diminish.” The cattle industry was also hard hit. Heavy rains in the late 1880s, followed by scant rain in the early 1890s, caused ranchers to suffer severe losses on overstocked ranges. 3 “By early 1896,” historian Devine reported, “the Tucson economy was finally beginning to recover from its extended downturn.” Population Dynamics. As historian Sonnichsen noted, “Business was so bad in Arizona [during the 1880s] that the population of Tucson, its largest city, declined in 1890 to a little over 5,000 - down 2,000 from the number recorded in 1880. Tucson was actually for the moment, shrinking.” By 1900 Tucson’s population had recovered to just over 7,500 - a net growth of fewer than 500 people (about seven percent) over two decades.4 City Development. With the pace of growth slowed due to the long economic depression, Tucson still managed to continue its transition towards an American city. The commercial district expanded to the south and eastward along Congress Street, with new residential neighborhoods arising on the fringes. Along with the growing Anglo influence came a change in building styles - from adobe to brick and lumber. Development now followed traditional Anglo patterns, based on a grid concept of expansion - with more multistory commercial buildings, and Bird’s-eye view of Tucson in 1899. Looking southwest towards the houses set back from the street on San Augustine Cathedral.