THE HISTORY of FLORENCE, ARIZONA 1866-1940 by Ava S
The history of Florence, Arizona, 1866-1940
Item Type text; Thesis-Reproduction (electronic)
Authors Baldwin, Ava S.
Publisher The University of Arizona.
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Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/553570 THE HISTORY OF FLORENCE, ARIZONA 1866-1940
by
Ava S. Baldwin
A T h esis submitted to the faculty of the
Department of History in partial fulfillm ent of
the requirements for the degree of
Master of Arts
in the Graduate College
University of Arizona
1941
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/■ f-/O O f TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE
In tr o d u c tio n ...... , . 1 CHAPTER I . FLORENCE: THE PLACE OF RICH FARMING LANDS . . . 1
The G ila V a lle y ...... 1 Adamsville ,. >...... 1
; Charles Adams erected rflrst::building, 1886 1 Headquarters of the Bichard Brothers : flour m ill . ,...... 12 Promise of a thriving town...... 2
Disintegration of the town ...... 2
Florence - ■ - - - . - '■
First settler,:1866, Charles G. Mason . . 3
Levi Buggies, Indian Agent, 1866-1869 . . 3 The name o f th e town ...... 3 iTown s i t e . . . ; ...... 4
Irrigation ditches, "1869 *...... 5 Mail service introduced. Sept. 1869 • '• . 6 The Grant Stage Lines, 1869-1874 . . . . . 6 Arrival of freight trains ...... 7
Road to In fa n tr y Camp, 1873 ...... 8
Degradations of Pinal Apaches...... 8 Social institutions ...... Catholic Church, . 1870 ...... 9 III
PAGE . :First publicischool. Sept.. 12,«1871 . . • 10 LlUnlted-: States'Federal'': Lana:‘-0f fle e ,. June . 2 , 1873 ...... 10 ' i " ' C : b'i'yir . , • - , . • , . , , ' Growth of the town, 1875 ...... 10 . - ^ ^- i. v *. - '»•;r^r - - v- ** /. - r-': . ~. <•■ '• • -i.* : — . ' ■ • ", - . \ * v * . *• •# fc * ~ i * TtZ. 1 I I . FLORENCE:" INTERESTING CHARACTERS BEFORE 1890 . 12 :: '• Vi' v i 'vr-; ■ ' . ;;c Attractions of the town ...... 1 2 •'r V . ------. , • ' / - ■ r1 * v 4 -o *• + ■ ii -- f \ v * v r. V* • Levi Ruggles, an Indian Agent, 1866 . . . .13 1 * •— -• .-S .» --i ' ‘ ? -«r 4- '• * Peter R. Brady, one of the first citizens . 13 ' ‘ < . ’ ' ' , ' " ,-•? ,'T • •. » •- r * • r\. / , i . ? . - - x • . »; * * ' » * - t x jt « ■- r « * ... A Granville Oury, delegate to Confederate Congress . - ." • ■ ■ .. . . *...... 14 " D^" C. : Steven s" ,vp loh eer' stage" man ...... 14
; '• Grahv ill'e - Wheat, •• • team ster-for* B u tterfield , Stage Line ...... 1 4 ^ . •i f.; -? . ■ • A. J. Doran, Union soldier ...... 15 v.; -:’ •- 7' - - .L =" i ; - ?' H " • i * x •, , - > . * - John W. Walker, Indian trader ...... 16
George A. Brown, Wells Fargo agent ..... 16 i. : ; c li,i 1 . i - - - , . - , ."•••• C h arles D. P o sto n , c o lo r f u l fig u r e ...... 17 Poston's temple to fire worshippers . . . .1 7 i' - v ;! i," . r . » , . * , I'* Work of Poston recognized ...... 17
Richard E. Sloan, last Territorial governor 17
Pete Gabriel, outstanding sheriff ..... 18 Baers oh "Oliver Stratton-, county • supervisor - - and treasurer ...... 18 "C i::i, i - ^ r* 1 :fi i ^ -ii-n Pauline-Cushm anv " Union spy . . . . . » . . 19
III. FLORENCE:1 THE’ "RISE-OF THEf TOWN -- r: - - * - i:
Pinal County', measure to create* county block, = -1871 .,. • . • • • • . - ...... 21 Pinal County created January 26, 1875 • ...... 21 x - • - - * " . »- i - - * -> •> <• ■* -* i. ■ f * ■* ? r * s t i,Z Silver King Mine discovered March 21, 1875 • 22 I l l
PAGE
• Importance of the Silver King ...... -23- Wells Fargo Express Company, -1874 . . . . . 25 Stage robberies .vf.;.: .. . . 25
Scarcity 'of American women 25 Silver King freight train,' I878':.r . . 26 Types of homes: . ' ^ .* . . 28 Homes o f d i s t i n c t i o n . . 28 J - • \r -r % - • 4 • »■ 4 » * • 1 t. -4 * 4i ' V alue o f r e a l e s t a t e ...... 29 ■ c,: n Crv:..;; > . Public schools, 1881 ...... 30
Building of second Catholic Church . . . . . 31 . Saint Theresa' s-Academy, 1882 ...... • 32
Presbyterian Church, 1887 : . 32. • -■ ^ r * »■ * * r - i- % 1 «• - Pete Gabriel kills Joe Phye ...... 32
Peralta Grant "Claimr. .J . .- . . . . .- .- . .* . 34
Magnitude of the claim . "V . . i . . . .♦ .• . 34
Falsity of the grant \ 36 Diversion of water ; . A . .- .- 36 IV. TRANSPORTATION AND IRRIGATION - !"•
The need for railroads . . v ;. . 38 Proposals of various companies to build r a ilr o a d s' ...... 38 Dispute between "Arizona Eastern and s - - * - Phoenix Eastern ...... 39 C »•» - ' * t s -k : - - : ' •"{ r~. ' t ' r - ‘ " - • r Financial difficulties of Arizona Eastern . . 41 Tri-weekly service ...... 41 Rail service discontinued Jan. 31, 1934 . -. . 41 Highways . . -. . ' V V: . :. 42
•• yr . . •. ’ . f V > - - • - . • • . L IV
r \:- r
Cvv:c^j^.: :n-:” JivS :o •"rr.Li:-: . .. .. , , , » page
-’:j-v Change of Bankhead Highway, ...... 42 ; , Highway diventedthy 'Casa-Grande / . 42
"ail--; Irrigation ...... 43 0( - clOrganlzation. of. Florence Canal, ,1888 43
a, Financial'condittesi of.-company. . .. . 43 ri. George Pogue,1 first president of. . ;a company ...... 43 1 -1:;ra-' aal Taunt' Capacity of Florence Canal . . . . ,44 Tvl an-a of ".a. ’ Ta-iu "vv: a :'ar:vaa:v. ; Picture, Florence Canal about ",19.02 . 45 A. F.; Baker attached property of canal . . . . '...... 46 n v : ui:a': : a-r Ccr: , Z ffT . , . , , . . -a Florence Canal became known as San " .T -'l T n: Carlos ...... _ ., ...... 46 Ha .’ . San Carlos. declared a Public Service Corporation ...... ♦ . 4? - Vv ; »'r f •: *'i --- ' :*• . . . Z Priority rights of Indians ..... 48 -■Hr ,1 ---1 tu- u a-:a.::T fo:.’ u-; aicr; H-. , , , f"' Project for reservior at San Carlos. 48 - t -*=>■. r .. • • - j ; ^ *■ T 4- ^ . ■»- ' j-, . . . * ~ - • »L, r -* : *t- -/ '• : ' »* •?' * » M * r \ j 'v „ -- Hayden-Ashurst diversion dam . . . . 49
Indian rights must be considered . . 50
— - -• , ' - «- * v r -»• > * > ' . •„ Presbyterian Church aid Indians in ■ (: a securing water rights . ;. . . . . 51 T! .B ill passed Congress if or San Carlos a Reclamation Project, April 5, ^ ~ .1924 . . . « ...... - 52
0 -:S a n .C a rlo s Dam .named .C o o lid g e Dam • 52 y Graph, iannual :f low (Gila river . . * 53
H,: .P resident Coolldge dedicated dam March 4, 1930 ...... 5 4 ■ C-:.-.;: u:y'V: 1 'cr.'T.:: y^'O :r: , Irrigation.project result of coopera tion between white settlers and ... Indians _ • •• « . • • . . . . . 54 V.
PAGE
V. FLORENCE:-BEGINNING .TO DECLINE ...... 55
Failure of the mines ...... '. . . 55 People "believed decline temporary ..... 55
B u ild in g a c t i v i t y ...... 55 Courthouse ...... 55
V7. G. Smith and Company Store . . . . . 56 Establishment of Pinal County Bank . . . . 56
P in a l Bank and T rust Company ...... 57 Failure of Pinal Bank and Trust Company, 1925 • * • . . . . . • . . • . • . . 57
First National Bank ...... 57 Arizona Cactus Company, 1902 ...... 58 Brick Factory, 1901 ...... 58 Reverted to agriculture ...... 59 Poultry raising ...... 59
War le d to demand fo r c o tto n . . . ,. . ... , 60 Social institutions ...... 60 Churches .:
Presbyterian Church ...... 62 Catholic Church rebuilds,.1911 • • . 62
Christian Church established, 1921. . 63 S ch o o ls . » ...... 63
Comparison, 1906-1914 ...... 63 Florence Union High School . . . . . 63
. Establishment of penitentiary .... .64 Cooperation between penal institution an town ...... 65 Prison self-sustaining ...... 66 VI
PAGE
VI: THE DEPRESSION ...... 6? As rural community, no great effect during early years ...... 6? ; j;.r'7CTJ;-:: Building program of town ...... 67 r:. New Presbyterian Church; .1. ■’.> . . 68
; . ^ School budget reduced :. . : .Lc.; . xi :. ; j-Urc;. 68 1* :r , Red ’Cross ;ald. to school children . .. 68 .. :: Number zof: men on r e l i e f . . v :;'-69
- 'Governm ental aid ito .-combat unemployment - i :69 r :
: , ’ .-Rural resettlement project,:‘1935 . xj.-s. -69 ^
v; ;; : i:; ; Fifty, fam ilies-selected :for resettlem ents:,. ‘70 y Corporation :foraed- to ‘secure "aid -from '; s , governm ent ...... 7 0
Markets for the corporation ...... 70 Rural electrification of the San Carlos ' ; . '• r irrigation ’.district' ." ". . = ', v.. 71 .
r :■ Graph,- Electrical Districts .:o. t. . 72
’ - t ' ■ -■ Building -or hospital: with government funds ^ 72 iry ; ■ Accepted ^depression-in a philosophical V. m a n n e r ...... 73 V " •- ry;-.Vi '■h::vs V II. conclusion"...... 75 ' :.:v vo ^ or : in ,,;; hioi-oy.- y t.; ■ ;. Many changes in the town yet very little : r ■ different population: of 1940 ; . 75 ; ; : 0 A g r ic u ltu r e in 1940. V .' . '. . V . . '. V . 76 .•
New era o f -p r o s p e r ity " ...... ’ V ; .r-v 76 Lo- -o; :'rOvy: o. y ■ ■■ ■; r v ■ 0 ; ' ‘ 0 "o: Vwo.: ry
V. ::y- : ;"o " 0 • : 1 o -‘o.:;; r-.o:r - o y 00^0 0 >:" ; oo o :: yopy u l ' - 0 o'" . " INTRODUCTION : ' - z , ' ' - ; , v:;::.... '' _ L - M
The history of Florence, Arizona, is an account of the settlement of the rich fanns along the 011a river valley in the vicinity of Florence. • In 1866 the town was located
on the southern bank of -the G-ila, 237 miles east of Yuma.
■ The Importance of Florence in'the history of the state is evidenced .by :its location as a junction for the various stage lines.going to Ehernburg, Yuma, Maricopa, Welk, and Tucson; by the many notable people who settled there, Charles D." Poston, Granville Oury, Richard E." Sloan,
Joseph E. Kibby and others. During the 'SO*s Florence' was the center of a great mining activity which brought wealth and fame not only to that vacinlty but to the state; Florence ranked with Tucson, Yuma, and Prescott as one of the important cities of Arizona. • 1 Although many Arizona historians have acknowledged the importance of Florence in the history of the state, there has been very little work done upon the history of the town. In recent years the field has been comparatively neglected. However, the school system of Florence has been developed in two master's thesis at the University of Arizona: A Program of Educational Development for
1 E lliott, Hinton, Hodges and Parish a ll acknowledge the Importance of Florence in the history of the state. 2
Florence Union High School D istrict by Robert Taylor and School Finances In Pinal County by Harry S. Gulbert. In this narrative of Florence from 1866-1940 It has been the purpose of the writer to describe the early ' - 2-V7 settlement, the period of great prosperity and the decline. In order • to accomplish that purpose it has: been" necessary to use general h istories,•records of Pima and Pinal Counties maps of Arizona and Pinal County, government bulletins, - geological surveys , irrigation papers, ' newspapers, period icals, "private letters,T::and interviews." ; r ' ; From the study of the above-material it is apparent that the hopes^of:the -pioneers were not-fulfilled;to a - -'' great -'extent and -the- town of today Is essentially little^ different than the town of 1890.
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l 7-’.7 V ' i r:v'lv h i '■ v i : : ■ ^ " h .1;- op-:r--.unit.: . CHAPTER I v. :t>- th" t i n hcu- ntu:-:' - t f: u l i u- THE GILA VALLEY: THE PLACE OF RICH FARMING LANDS HI- turn '— .thnnn/’1 '••. -'11-Hrorr Hu'-tunuU u-n: -n. 1 -v. ;' 1866 - 1875 Hi ::.yn rtuu., ti'-- H^.rl - : . . in. •: If: fir 1 rl,L^:cn ^
■ t "In: 1866 when: there was etiarcely a' trail other""than - v those used by the Indians, traders^and-trappers, a few of - the-, pioneers of the' Southwest found- their way to the'-beaut 1- ful-valleylof the-Glia river. ‘ Birds and animals, -including w ild: game; • abounded. -Jungles1 of -high grass ^ and m esqulteSf with- a:fringe of ‘ willows'and cottonwoods grew along the ' stream, and*: here the •. Gila was seen at": its best. The: Indians had cultivated and:irrigated.these rich" farming:lands for
c e n t u r ie s . :r>v- .rlnu-r--" L- .• v :nh : -- -v:- . - v . •' r .. \
-rill Two villages grew;simultaneously"oh the banks of the river.: - Therelare claims that the first building was erected at theiold .town o fvAdamsv11le , ‘ - about•three m iles,' west of ■' - 1 Florence.^1 -From-: the, best evidence atlhand, both towns -. were begun-;in .the - same: year, 1866. f During that year . C h a rle s„Adams, lo c a te d a t what was a fter w a r d s Adamsv11l e .
He bu ilt af house, but-what was-.more .important, he dug ant-.-., irrigation;ditch:and irrigated his quarter-section of land. Adamsyille soon became a prosperous, village. In the winter of 1866-67 the first store was opened, and by 1871 the dis trict had become of sufficient importance to have-a"post uf i-.. - —" - * -—. ■ •; —- i i: t- —■* ' : . ■ - . — ■ " ’ '•* : : ". 1 ./ . ’Barnes, W. C.y-Place Names in Arizona, o. 10. • : ^’Farlsh; Thomas .-Arizona- History. MS. Vol. 6, p. 30. 2
office, n William Dupont, was appointed the. first postmaster, t:. - This: thriving village, with Its opportunities for trade with the Pima Indians,^ became the- headquarters'" of xthe Bichard Brothers,^-well-known; business men, of;.‘the- Gila ‘-r.l ValleyAmong: the; early traders;with the Elina"villages, F : they became,: about: the year I865, the owners of; a primitive flour 1 mill; at Casa Blanca. 'This m ill was destroyed by flood during; the, winter of 1868." : Before lts destruction:, dt was used to.; grind corn and grain^furnished by the Plmas. : The ;,
31chards.constructed a new m ill at Adamsvllie- in 1869* which, provided.; with a ll. the modern- machinery; of • that day.-,i,was one of- the. first :flour. m ills, in..the Territory. - Tt: was operated by water power, secured from the Gila river by: an acequla . : . t
or. flume.; The. Pioneer, Flouring Mill; was the -only flour m ill between. Tucson and California- and it supplied grain and flour as far away as Prescott. o - Adamsville gave promise of being a thriving town, but
it gradua1ly d1s1ntegrated. Many of the people became a part of Florence' and: it ,lef t very lit tie evidence of" its*
past; existence^. Old, Mexicans tell of fights, feuds and" " killings in that;town; human 11fa'was ypry "cheap, and.water was considered of far more value than the life of any one man, and caused more' trouble.' than whiskey..? They had no ,
^*The Pima Indian'Villages. are' just outside: the city lim its O ^ ' 11® V y ^ ^ ^ V ^ ■ -V ... / "Stratton, Emerson Oliver, Reminiscences. MS. p. 27* 5" Interview, John White," Secretary to Superintendent of Education, Pinal County. 3
courts nor lawyers at that time "but settled disputes in t h e ir own way. • In the same year that Charles Adams came to Adams- V v l l l e , 1866, C h arles G. Mason* came to th e G ila v a lle y and- built the first house in the present town of Florence. He; was followed the same year by Levi Ruggles. Buggies was ‘ a man of action and great enterprise. He built a house, 8 planted an orchard and laid out the townsite of Florence.
Ruggles was born in Huron County, Ohio, April 27, 1824. He became a carpenter and a part-time school-teacher. He was a Union soldier, and when mustered out of service was appointed Indian Agent in Arizona, holding this office from 1866 until 1 8 6 9 He became one of Florence's most Important citizens; he was credited by some for naming the town. There are several conflicting stories concerning that name. Some attribute it to Governor McCormick for
"The Arizona Republic. March 31, 1924. Rosa Bourne illu strates the cheapness of life by the following story. A : young gentleman escorted a pretty senorlta to a dance. He was killed by her Mexican beau. The corpse was dragged into a corner of the room and the dance continued until near morning. Candles were placed at the head and feet of the dead man, and several men sat up with him. To • while away the time, they played Seven-Up on the stiff bosom of the dead man's shirt, until after sunrise. 7 . - : . ; .. . ' . - ' Mason stayed in Florence a very short time and then moved to - the Salt River Valley. However, he was one of the discoverers of the Silver King Mine. 8 • * Pinal County Recorder, Maps. (Show townsite of Florence, 1881). This is the first recorded townsite of Florence and is based upon the original draft of Ruggles. ^ " E llio t , W.C., History of Arizona Territory, p. 293* 4 5
hia sister, wife or daughter; but others give Ruggles credit for- the name. - He is said to.? hay@: felt -that:, the ; location of - the town in a valley surrounded by mountains , was so sim ilar to Florence, Italy, .- that thevname : suggested itself. The State Historian records.that Governor-Safford named the town for his sister. From the ■ evidence, at. har^i, Ruggles appears to have named it.10 ; --: ' ~ . . j The early pioneers depended .much on agriculture, and soon aseries:of ditches were:made.-along-.the•G lia O n e ofjth e: fir st .ditches .was the/. Chase' and;: Brady Ditch, which was four,or five m iles;in length and, used for running the flour mill; of Peter R. Brady, built in 1869.^ This ditch supplied ■water for about one thousand acres of land. ...
Patrick Holland from Ireland.was.the first white man.to have the, idea .of damming the .river;- he bu ilt , the Holland , ditches which.facilitated the farming of the district. These, first ditches-were .built by small - com can ies of .... farmers, who labored cooperatively to secure a water supply sufficient, for..all., Water for domestic purposes’was .
The Arizona Republic, March,31, 1924. Most of the.writers differ, as to the person who named:the(town, and for whom it was named. Barnes says that it was named by Safford for his sister. Farish believes McCormick named it for hiswwlfe. Many citizens:say that it was Ruggles. . Ruggles had three daughters, Cynthia, Flora and Florence - - - and, it appears from, his. importance in , the town that he may have selected the name' from'.' the' resemblance to Florence," Italy", as* stated,' and in honor o f' his daUgh- . ters, Flora and Florence. ^ ’Stevens', = D.C% , MS. (BenneV and Behnet"Brief for Kibbey") Papers’ pertaining to law suit of George Tobb vs. Pete Avements, "Early Water Rights", Arizona Pioneer Society, Tucson, Arizona. 6
provided by means of deep wells. : Although the greater part of the time was occupied
in-tillin g the:soil, irrigating, and building simple homes,
Florence was gay when a horseback-rider brought the first mallfrom Blue Water Station12 on the main Overland stage service,- formerly the Butterfield Stage.: At Blue Water Station a rider met the stage and received the Florence
m all.: Thomas Ewing,1* the postmaster, received the first mail- with great ceremony: before the citizens of the town
and neighboring^country. This mall service existed for a. year, but was discontinued when James Grant introduced the Grant Stage lines. ' .v _ •
- In 1868 James Grant, a Canadian by birth, a pioneer of California and Arizona, was awarded the contract to
carry the United States mail from San Bermdlnd ivia. La Baz on the Colorado river to Wickenberg, Camp Date Creek, Skull Valley, Prescott, Wickenberg; and from Wickenberg to Tucson by the way of Camp McDowell, Florence and Camp Grant, passing .through what .is now the city of Phoenix.^5 Grant *14
Yz> ■ ~. 1 .. ' ...... ui! " ...... ■ "The Overland Stage le ft Tucson for Yuma by way arranged -fo r a. r i d e r to meet" the: Overland; S ta g e 1.^ -to care rfor; the;:mall until: he. completed hie-line.v: This lin e he; worked out dn great;d e ta il; : He l used : a map to - plan ' thelr y location of his .first;stage stations;and: corralsselecting the places where he! was sure he could se'curevwat e r f or M s etocki and accoraodatIons "fOr hi sT passengers. p; c . .t- I p thl.v:■ When the stage- drove Into, the station ,"most ofr the people had-gathered’ to meet It in order: to secure news from; distant parts of the: country and to see; the; strangers who-arrived. Usually both the eastern and northwestern stages were filled with passengers,' but frequently- the- Calif ornia stage; carried^ more j since many people- who wished, to avoid a; long overland: Journey came by the way; of San Francisco", having sailed: around Cape Horn.1.: ' .v, ' r . r-rv? With the: arrival of- the' stage came great freight.. trains of. twenty to thirty mules, requiring a driver and a r helper to handle them... "It' was: an art - to care for the mules, cookomeals' beside: the road and sleep on the ground; and:it called-for the-most'rugged men. "The 'mule skinner,' as the freighter was called, was:picturesque, in: his red flannel shirt; and he was well stocked with whiskey which he took straight;and did; not limit; the:^ proficient 16 and liberal with, his;profanity. : : : -. - -: - - . - . 16. . r : r ' r-..-t - • 1 i Supra.The above paragraph relates the relationship of the.Overland Stage and the mail- service. Sloan,, Richard-E.. Memories of Arizona' Judge,: p. 32. t P ^ : . •• . . : . - - \ - v : :: ::: . : .r> : : P : : z-:'; a * : : :'- 8 v ' Tbie hee&- Tor roads- became more' apparent wi th' the -use of .vehicles. 'One of the- first- roads but of Florence led 'r to the Infantry Camp. It was built through Mason’s^Valley - to the base of the Pinal flbuntains and'to' the headwaters » of Pinto and Mineral4 Creeksy1 where’ the m ilitary camp was ■ established November 28/: 1870.'-1 It was} located“'approximately thirty-five miles from Florence. - The people reported the road was* a cbmplete success and-’ gave credit to Thomas-- - EwingIt required only five hours to travel twelve m ile s .' :n o r n;v.t -- ■■ i - Road building7 and- other activities of the 'citizens ' were frequently interrupted-by raids from the Pltia 1; Apaches,* *21 who "descended from" the" mountain's Upon- the -settlers along - - : the Gila ^Valley, steallng, burning' and killing; When - ■ r prelfsed' by the troops f rom Infantry Camp, they would vanish into the catTShs. A ll the attempts of General4 George StohOman and his soldiers to control the Indians were futile;' At length, emboldened "by their success, they raided a ranch near Florence and drove away a band of cattle. The men of Florence armed and followed them until, after several V-:"- : - \ f--’ ; ^ I/,' • L-vr„: ■ -nr-u r:' ' vl 1 8 ^ . ' ^ t.:.- " ‘i: Hamersly, Thomas, Revised Outlines and Descriptions o f 4 - 'Military Poets in Arizona"! l872y p. 22io^ r ^ * Ewing, „ .Thomas, . Sugra,.. p. , 6 ,. ,, He was fir s t ,postm aster, an Indian scout, former Union soldier, was killed in a •-; f ight with laasc Thorp lin Florence shortly af ter th e. ... ■ completion of the road in 1871. , on . - -r ' v. " - 7 "The Arizona Citizen. January 28, 1871. ? kTB11'1p>V"W:C.;, o p. c i t .'.' P ~ 262• Th is I Ind la n~ r a id mu s t have-occurred' very early. Elliot gives no date' for the raid but General Stoneman was located at Picket Post from 1870-1071. 9 day's of''patient pursuit, they found a trail which led to a rancheria on an edge known as Tordillo Peak almost direct ly above Stoneman's quarters. The Indians had been able to note a ll of Stoneman’s movements and avoid being captured. Peeling so secure in this fastness, they neglected to post pickets, a,nd the Florentines stole upon them by night and at daybreak attacked the rancheria. which was only a few yards' from the*brow of the bluff overlooking Pickett Post. When the Indians saw they were surrounded, they raised their hands in token of surrender, but the men of Florence refused to accept their surrender and continued to fire upon them. After about two-thirds of the warriors had fallen under the gun-fire, the others threw themselves from the bluffs. Not a warrior was allowed to escape, but the women and children were.turned over to General Stoneman. The harshness of the environment, with the struggles against the Apaches, did not prevent the early citizens of Florence from" realizing the need for churches and schools. A Catholic church was-functioning actively in Florence with in two' years’ after the founding of the town. This early be ginning: was due for the most part to the large number of Mexicans "who- lived in that vicinity. Church services were held every Sunday in Spanish. Father Andes Echalller per formed the first marriage in the church on July 16, 1870, the marriage of John Harris and the daughter of Ignatius Ramirez.22 ^Thls early .church, which' became known as the * • _ .... 22*Church of the Assumption. Records. 1870. Baptisms, Confirmations, arid Marriages. " 10 Assumption Church, was the first in Central Arizona, an .important center from which the priest administered to the towns of Phoenix and Tempe. The establishment of the first public school followed c f 1V :...... y- c f Vr:f"" v:; f V:-.,: v:,' Off : v-: the building of the church. In its very early history, • .Ov-'o ; •. fff 1 ' r. :v: ‘;f''-lVo'f'f.-o; 'o; ol o r ;i Florence was in Pima County. The taxpayers of Florence : Of:-loo o -'O fc fo f o ' o 1 r: .loffO petitioned the Pima County Board of Supervisors that a 71 rs.'.cr . 0 • ".0 lo? ; ' f. o o - fn f]o. io:0 o - school district be formed, and accordingly, the Florence •VOvo ; • ' : •' .• ; ..o,-- ' 0: "O', . O school district was created on December 12, 1871* ^ of.V 0.0:.:: fl'.; OOf'-OOf.-.'... , fooO'‘f 0.- f'o of::oO, Peter R. Brady employed Miss Flora Nesbitt to be the first or- of o Oonf -f •• f f-'-r;; ro - : 0 - ; ;f ;; :.nf . : cf a f if teacher. He admitted that she did not pass the examination, -i :f ; of. - Of O f : vf'f : rf ■ If: f:..o-a ■ J - o-;-o but that he could not have either had he taken it. The v: *oo ra-fa'i.: of - o.-:or-’ -fo a" a J : o;.!..; a i of -0r%,-.f. Florence schools continued as a part of the Pima County ai aura:aa ■ a^a ia ;r a far raa a.: a--; iv;1!--; '■ •-1 school system until the creation of Pinal County in 1875* ■;f a ra fid ffv^rc araaa af af a crarv.": t;.-, • a-a After the creation of Pinal County, Florence was without a i"ivar If l'f T a: aOaraa : f r rf a,: - f > v.a aa arra public school until 1881. In addition to the public school, l a a f , u - a r l i V af-.;- a r-a a air La . aa ; -a a:,a : a i -"-t ' '- a there was a private school in the home of Joseph Collingwood, vflai v -;-: erar af ■ .rvi a, - a: ; ' 'f' - ; ;a-f vf --aa:ea a an early merchant. f f - 'f ar.: i : a . fa a f f ...... f f’-a'a iff - a~f fa ’..-af v a.; The importance of Florence in the early history of the fa a. v:l -fa r l.; ir-a; i■: a." - % ' a., 'a ' fi :• - : • ■ f ■.lafa.-:-a r .a. '- a:a* state was shown by the United States locating the Federal f f-- -r:. fr a aar: r ror: ea fa aafaa' ■. v-anaa .rat ar Land Office there. Notice was served that the United States a - ’- f'a . f ; •: r;- -fffaaf fa;- .. a-a - '".a" ai a : v Land Office would be ready for business June 2, 1873. ^ a a/: '.-.'.Tv iaTa'af a i -a r-aarfe :r:-ra : : r f atTrf *f' fa- t Levi Ruggles became the first registrar of the Land Office. 2 3 . , Abstracts from Board of 'Supervisors^of ' Pima Countyr ..— -Territory of Arizona. Dec.:12, 1872, p. 145. ^ * The Arizona Citizen. May 3, 1873• 25*Land Office Records. (University of Arizona has a few of the early records; they bear President Grant's signature.) 11 His assistant, Martin Styles, who bore the title of ’’receiver,” could hardly write his name. Together these two men issued homesteads over the counter of their humble adobe office. The records of the United States Land Office were kept in this little one-room adobe building until the Land-Office - was moved from Florence to Tucson in 1882. i Florence was growing. In 1875 the settlers in Florence wereimore numerous than those in and about Phoenix.?^ At ", that time the population was estimated to be about five r or six hundred.; Visitors praised its beauty and especially admired the trees which lined;the streets. These trees were supplied with water by,’’zanyas” or artificial streams of running water.. , The demand for wheat'and barley led to the rapid advancement'of the community. Settlers were ' given credit by the merchants who induced them to purchase land. Usually they were able to pay off their Indebtedness with one crop of grain. Between 1866 when Florence was founded,and 1875 when Pinal County was formed, it had grown to a thriving village of approximately six hundred persons. Soldiers•from nearby forts came to spend their money arid to get supplies. It appeared to be a town with a great future, and many interesting .people were attracted there. 26 . . E l l i o t , W.C., on. c it. , p . 264. .. / : ■ 1 ' T-."»; ; " rv;:/\r : ■ - ' -• 5 : ; . • ' • c " ’ r':1: * v. CHAPTER I I ■ - v.:, th - V. fV. .■ :■ V 7 ■ n - - --v.-y:: • .'..'i. -j 7 :.:.; c ;V--■ . INTERESTING CHARACTERS BEFORE 1890 : Like alT western towns Florence had her share of interesting people; In the stream of Incoming settlers there were many odd - characters.-' Among those who‘found ' their way to Florence were ex-soldiers, cowboys, gamblers, freighters, teamsters, and half breeds,;small store keepers, government officials, professional men and health seekers; - Many of - these people were attracted to" the fertile - valley' with its then abundant water supply; others' came -. .- .- when they heard' of'the rich mining discoveries"in-the near by mountains; s till others were attracted to the town be cause It was a stage coach! center for most points iri-the - state; many came-becatise the newness of the place:made it free from restriction and restraint; ' ; ; : .c j-ou:: .’ , 1 In order to understand the town, one must know some thing of the character of the people who settled there, i ri. l ;; Levi Ruggles came to Florence in 1866 as ah .’Irrilian agent."r He was born in Ohio in 1824 and became a carpenter, and later a school teacher. • luring the' war between the states he entered the army as a Union so-ldler. When he was mustered-out of service he .received an .appointment, as Indian agent:in Arizona." ' He served in that capacity until 1869V When the United States establish®! the LaM Offlee in - Florence in 1873, he became registrar and together with 13 Martin- S tiles, his'assistant who: could;neither read nor -write;., issued homestead rights; to pioneers.^ Ruggles laid out :the townsite of, Florence aol some have given him: credit forTtheinamezof :the;town. He served two ; terms in the-r Territorial Legislature. - - • , VAr/i- i..-, . : u;-7 . 7- -Peter.: R; Brady was among the very 1 f irstcc 111 zens of -o- . Florence.-.Herwas-y.horn in Georgetown, D istrietyofr Columbia. His-parents were,immigrants from Ireland. 1 Peter Brady was educated in Georgetown; College^and, the naval:academy.,at Annapolis. , He then - served as a Junior- of fleer on: the:; United States: battleship, Plymouth.■ ; He left -therservice and started westward in 1846. yHe-, came:: to Arizona with- the United States Boundary Commission; and afterwards- settled: in- Tucson.. After aifew .years,he went to-Florence - and became one of.its most active: citizens.' !He was elected to\the. Territorial legis lature- % and :wasjInstrumental in securing' the establishment o f Pinal-j C ounty; he-, was* t h e f i r s t s h e r i f f o f th a t co u n ty , and later- county, treasurer.: : He'was' one of the early I; promoters -of - the public schools in Florence. The Chase, Brady irrigation 1 ditches; were among the very "first to'- bef constructed1: by: white: people lm the Gila; valley; Bradyir. became the owner, of a flour m ill and three large ranches, in: addition ’to-' interests in: the Vekol silver: mine.? ’ . r " ■ V; ;. ^ , .. ■ : ' ______;______: "Rice, M. M., Remlntecences. MS., Arizona Pioneer Historical ^•McClintock,’ James-.::iArlzoha^ The Youngest- State. Vol. 3 ‘ ‘ p. 6 7 0 . . y . y . . 1, , r-. ; 14 Granville H. Oury was:tiorn In Virginia; he came- to Arizonaiabout 1853• He-was very-active In promoting the Confederate cause in Arizona and after Jefferson Davis r::; declared-Arizona a part of-the Confederacy, he* was- chosen as delegate-to the Congress at Richmond, Virginia.' Oury--1' was the first"chief Justice of the district court of Arizona. He was1organizerTdf an exped1tlon1 to j6in Henry Crabb^in Mexico. i Hef later* moved from Florence to -Tucson.^ ’ : "-•'* '' ' ------Among the early arrivals to the Southwest was Daniels 0/ Stevens2- He first came to San Diego, California as a pioneer-stage man^ He established the first daily stage' lin e"between-Fort Worth, Texas and'Yuma, Arizona. In 1878 he'became-proprietor o f"the-Arizona Consolidated'Stage and L ivery Company "and1 made F lo r e n c e h i s home: H e-op erated th e stage line from'Florence to Casa Grandel" After:the rail roads -became prominent features of travel; he * discontinued the stage business but] operated a livery 'stable; v ■ - - : - .Granville Wheat^ came to Arizona from:Kentucky. He :. was2a colorfuliteamster for the Butterfield Stage Line. He was first sheriff of Pima County (Florence was part of Pima County) at:the time of the Camp Grant massacre. In fact he was present-atrthe massacre, and shortly afterwards settledi in ,Florence". He was one of the * first-supervisors !•:: of Pinal County; - : - - ,-r ' ;v..: *. :-r- --- : i - :.e:v 1 on ^ * F a rlsh , J.Ew , A rizon a H isto r y . . Vol.v 2 . ' p. 8 6 . * ' - ^'McCllntock. op. c it. . Vol. 3» p. 565* 15 - : A'.;_ J. -Doran^ "was a pioneer who came ta Arlsopa with the California Column in 1863, and remained after being mustered out of service In the Territory. He became sheriff and later supervisor o f. Pinal County, and- a member, of the. Legislature. He was noted for. his bravery. On one occasion he was on:a stage, between Casa Grande and Florence when It was held up.- Although he was unarmed he grappled with; the robber, while the driver5 of the stage made no effort to assist him.r Finally the robber broke away, leaving Doran master of the.field.; - . ^ : A frequent visitor to ,Florence was John..W. Walker who for. many, years was. an. Indian trader, having a place near the Pima Indian Reservation., He became,.wealthy, through, the; discovery of. the Vekol silver, mine... He had. learned, of the mine through an Indian who* * offered to take him to the place. Walker had scarcely put his location notice when . Peter. R... Brady6 and. John Devine put in an appearance, having in some way. learned^of the discovery. . Walker, though.having a clear right to the property, generously gave Brady and Devine, each ..an .interest which he subsequently bought, for considerable sums. _ .... George A... Brown was sent by Wells Fargo and Company; to be its representative in Florence in 1874 J He was born in New-York but the opportunities of the west drew his attention Sloan, R. E., Memories of an Arizona Judge, p. 35• " 6 • ^ * ' — _ * ' - -*> - * S u p r a .. d. 13. - - - - : _ * Sloan, R.; E., . Memories of an Arizona Judge, p; 35* 16 "to California and from there he came to Florence. George Brown was better known as "By God Brown” because of his continual use of that expletive. Perhaps one of the most colorful figures who came to Florence was Charles D. Poston.8 Poston was born in Hardin County, Kentucky, In 1820, near the birthplace of Abraham lihcoln. He practiced law In Nashville, Tennessee. After the Gadsden Purchase he came to Arizona on a United States Boundary survey. He heard of silver near Tubac, and with his brother located there and engaged in mining. It was due to Poston's efforts that the Enabling Act was passed separating Arizona from New Mexico. In 1864 Poston was elected the first delegate to the United States Congress from Arizona. For a short time he served as advisor to G eneral H eintzelm an in the Union Army. Shortly after the war Poston was sent to India as U nited ' - : ' - - - " , , , ' - . - States consul. While there he became interested in the religion of the Parses or "Fire Worshippers.” This religion made a great impression on Poston and in 1878, after his return to the United States, he came to Florence and began Plans to construct a temple to the sun on the apex of Prim r o se Hill.^ He went so far as to build a road to the top 'E lliott, ... ______ B EillE E li ! 11 his expressed wishes. 17 of the.hill upon which he1planted a:flag bearingla huge . sun; disk upon its:ample; folds. For three.months he:contlnr ouslyy-teptis fire burning as a tribute to-the Sun God. Due to the lack of-funds he had to abandon the idea of build ing- a- temple. -Another- novel idea of: Poston* s was to raise ostriches, near Florence but this did not prove practical. and he;had to abandon the project. During his last years, Poston became a1habitual drunkard; -he;lost most of his money through unfortunate investments;and died-inrPhoenix in comparative want; ; . - ; .---v. - joxj;-r;Ihe: work of Poston was recognized by the Arizona Legis la tu r e and- he was given; the official ;title, Father, of Arizona. o • Richard E. Sloan-who came to Florence in 1884 admitted he came/as a matter - of chance. He-was . in-; sea rch of-som e promising town, in the far west whererhis , legal talents. - ^, might -become appreciated -more; quickly • than in -b is native c -. -. state,-Ohio.Sloan found Florence a very.interesting- place, especially as a: smallr town lawyer - he had- to decide -the legality of the.accpuntaof county officers, a very delicate question when such-characters as Pete'Gabriel, one of the best shots, in the southwest, was involved. . Sloan was : . ——— — ' ' : : "Poston, Charles D. In a series of articles MBuilding a -State Out of Apache Lands.w Overland-ffagazlner^Vol. 29, 1894., Poston recalls his experiences in the early ’/ history of the Territory. Another writing of Postons was in verse. Apache Land. ]L^e • "Infra, p. 29. Richard Sloan’s venture in farming. appointed Territorial Governor of Arizona under President ' ; in Taftand; he -was. the last governor to serve by appointment. Sheriff Pete Gabriel^ came to Arizona; from Ohio. He was noted for his courage and as one of the best'sheriffs in Pinal County; Throughout the Tezvitory he'was famous for his marksmanship and he had several notches on his gun indicating-the number of persons Be had"killed. Pete Gabriel killed his deputy sheriff and former friend in one of the . historic duels of the statei Aftbr- the. death-of -PKyep his friend, he left' Florence and died while oh -a -pros pec ting Journey into the mountains P ?Seversli1 years Taterthe 'place of his'burial was discovered and a monument was erected to him by the people of Florence.' **"*;•; . I : < 5;h-: More than a half century1was spent' in the Southwest by Emerson Oliver StrattbnJ' He was educated 'in California and'spent some time in'Lima, Peru. ' Stratton came to Arizona as a bookkeeper for the Overland Stage Company at Maricopa Wells, and from there to Florence when it was at the height of its mining excitement. Not long after his arrival he was made“under-sheriff; while living in Pinal County he ’ was elected and served"as county supervisor and treasurer. Stratton says, "I made it a point to never assess a poor 12.' Sloan...P. .£. . Memories of an Arizona Judge. ,p. 1-2. w . Ibid.-, p. 44. - - > - - - - 19 prospector. or anyone who couldl not pay their.1 taxes* It1 would only encumher the .lax ro 11»M iv . y Most of , the women: of, Florence were content: to leave public affairs .to: their husbar^ls -and only; a -few- attm cted unusual interest;. - However, Florence had. one woman, of ' national reputation as a former actress and major in they United; States Army, a very - unusual distinctipn* . Pauline- Cushman was born n ear New O rleans and became an a c t r e s s . She was very beautiful, of the creole,type. ..During the -War of the Rebellion she was acting in Nashville, Tennessee and offered her services to the Union forces as a spy.^ Naturally, the southern people did not suspect her and she was able to render valuable services to the Union. She was finally arrested. While preparations were being made to hang her, she was rescued. In consideration of her services. General Garfield conferred on her the rank and title of major.^ She came to Casa Grande to nurse Jerry Fryer through small-pox and remained and married him. When he succeeded Pete Gabriel as sheriff they moved to Florence. She was very generous and kind, especially to prospectors and fed many of them without receiving any monetary reward. But she was not happy in -Florence. Th@- mystery,attached to’her through her services in the war ' ov "Stratton, R. E., Reminiscences,' Arizona: H istorical ; Society, p. 24. - . .. . v' -.y::: -y _ y • : " '■' ^5*This:.was very strange since, she: was born in New Orleans. Neither Sarmento in The Union Snv and Scout nor Moore in Women o f"the War accounts for it satisfactorily. Vt:.- * 16 .Moore, Frank, Women of the War. p.I 61., 20 and her jealousy of her husband caused her to be avoided by the women of the town. She eventually left F lo ren ce • r in and went to San Francisco. These are only a few of the very interesting people who located in Florence prior to 1890. They were attracted there for various reasons.- : Ihbenix had:not'arisen to its importance’/ and as-R/ C; Brown says In his Remln&cehces;^ ’’Tucson was dead/ but Florence was booming in 1877• ThSre was great agricultural activity in the valley and two flour m ills were doing a big business^* *' Then, too/“the Silver " King-mine was running full'blast/^-® : — ^ : r ; * - ' -: i*- v- -V'V 1 - * v • :: .;r - -- - :o' ■■■■'• ■ ; ' •• - j 2 •'* - - T V" ■ , o or;; r. o '.:'i :’r Lh " -w ; - l--! * - .. ; • . * .. * ... ' V 'Oj. :: o - ;; ’ • •:< x;r : i r o r - - ''" ■ ; ' " ' 4 • ^ r: i ; . ■- -• r -: ' - OOO'Ox' ,r0^0:0: O 7.0 TO i j; r-; oo r 1- o-- o : . ::: -O' - ' o r - ; : To: i. r ■ H■;y :c r. v - ■ : ; \ 7 ; "1 , ■- Vn ■- Vi:: .: •: 7;'-y- ooo r- ; ' r-;' < ' ' • '0 O ;; ; r- . ;;V »■ - ... " . Brown, R. C., Reminiscences. MS. Arizona Pioneer Histor- yr leal: Society, p.-4.- - ^ ^ C : : ; ■ i : : ,;:;- - , .* In the Arizona Republican there is a story of doubtful authenticity^but it illustrates the"rough type of charac ter who played an active part in the life of Florence. An ordained m inister, Barney-Regan-by name, co-dlscover • ‘ of Silver. King, also ran a- saloon -in 1872 on -the corner of Fifth and Quartz Streets. Oh Sundays he ceased to v be a saloon keeper and. preached for an:hour: in the saloon then changed back and sold drinks. He killed a man one day and preached his funeral service the next day. ■' ' % - f ::ir . ■ - / .'h-x , , -; :: \ x n ' y CHAPTER I I I . X r:; / * ■/ - > ■ - V-;.; c. . l! v FLORENCE - THE RISE OF THE TOWN j ^ '.-Lx ; vl : -xu i: 'v 1875 - 1890 :.r; Florence was located in -Pina County. 'this-necessitated long/ laborious trips by stage;or horseback to the county seat, Tucson. The people of Florence .saw the advantages, which would be derived-from having.a county seat at Florence. In1 1871,' a' bl 11 was Introduced ; in to th e T erritorial Legis lature to create the County of Pinal.^ This b ill was n, blocked .by' the citizens of .Plea County and what was later Maricopa County. Pima-County objected to the;loss of terri tory with the tradeiwhich the county seat enjoyed ;from:the taxpayers who:v1sited Tucson. v The people of the Salt River vaileyowere anxiousrto.create Maricopa County. A substitute b ill was introduced;to create Maricopa County rather than Pinal. It passed both houses .’unanimously. :: The c r eat lo n of Pina1 County was delayed. ’It was not until-the eighth 2 Legislature . convened that iPlnal’ County was finally organized. The b ill to create the ..county was sponsored by Peter R. Brady in the Tower House of the Legislature aM passed both houses January 26,;1875- 'It created Pinal County out of Maricopa, Pima; and Yavapai Counties/ Florence was made the capital Journal. Sixth Legislature.of Arizona.Territory, p. 255. * Journal. Eighth Legislature of Arizona Territory^ p .'152. 22 city of Pinal County. fh@ county was named-for its pin© " groves or perhaps from the Pinal Apaches;-^ STh© county had an unusual quantity of natural resources in-the’rich farm ing lands and in the mineral wealth of the mountains. : - The famous Silver King Min©: was: discovered only three months' after the county #as created'on March 21; 1875. • .7 The importance of:the Silver King Mine in■the history of mining in the United States and particularly in th© terri tory of Arizona, and more especially its-importance to the community of Florence, lends more than the usua1 interest? to the-details of the discovery and;location of the vein. In fact , the Silver King was’-an outstanding, if hot1 the ' leading factor7- in the reclamation of the Pina l1" region - from the' Apaches.” The Pinal Mountains rose- tb; the- northeast of the1 broad plain of the1 Gila river and stretched northeast-^ ward^ te the'higher-ranges1 of the White Mountains. ^ These mountains'had many irregular outlying masses cut by cartons which led down to the Gila valTeyi- Their extreme ruggedness and impassable nature afforded an excellent refuge and secure hiding place”for the Apaches after meandering’n ' expeditions to the plains.^ : : .r-c trx ;r....- ..Because of. the - Iraiian-attacks. General George -Stoneman 1 i ■ - - - -.7 - - '"r. 7.-! >. v i r: ; r . . moved, his command from Inf an try Camp to, Uie base'pf the .. mountains near the Apache Trail and established a camp* called -.-7 V'-.*- 7; , ' t I; ; 7: 7- = -- .7-. 7' "i'ncv, ■ Bancroft, H. H .Arizona and Hew Mexico., p. 624. , 1 ... * Supra-; For these attacks o f' the Indians and particularly those relating- to Florence, see p. 8. 23 Pickett Post. . He then constructed a mule trail .up theface of the .mountain. One of the soldiers, Tom Sullivan,^ was employed in cutting the trail. ,When returning from his work one evening, he sat down to rest on a projecting rock near r.the camp, an . began p ic k in g up lo o s e - f ragmen ta, of rocks about him. Among these fragments were some small but heavy black -metallic .looking flumps... These, instead of .breaking. „ up when pounded on stones, became flattened,out and some-. -- " > •-.» -■ . • »• - * * . ‘ - - * - V < . . . • . * . A . . *1 *. ... »■ - X ... . . " , what, resembled V1 ead. .He gathered a ,f ew lumps and ..went on. - ■* **- * > V • - u r- • . 1 ** - r • » „ - C V- - <- r e - . " ■ . - - - -■ ' ’wt-l to .camp,without saying,anything.about his discovery to any one. Sullivan's .term.of service expired and he went to the ranch of Charles G. Mason,in the Salt River Valley.^ He showed his metal to Mason, and. left .during the. night without ?Jason's knowledge. No one knew what had become of SuH^van; though some thpught he was killed .by Apaches, but several years later ..he returned to, the Silver King and was Jot. Mason recognized t this metal as silver; and forming a party of men, made several attempts to find the .°n March 21, 1875, Mason,.William H. .Long, Barney. . Reagan, and Isaac Copeland? were successful in locating the site of the discovery approximately 35 miles northeast * Blake ,..W IT 11am JP., The -Silver King Mine of Arizona, p. 9 • (Typewritten copy by W. F. Cabralth from the original edi tlon in the Yale University Library) Arizona University. The - same "Mason "who ..biillt the fir st house in Florence ." ' *A -band of .Indians attacked the prospectors; before they 1- .were driven off Isaac Copeland was killed. To keep his death aisecret from the Indians and to protect their dis covery, his companions buried him in the bake-oven left by Stoneman's Infantry. of Florence In . the Pinal Mountaltisthe . fbnner site of Pickett Poet. ' ^ r . - : ;/ > i--”. Ir' ,1 The locatIon of. the claim was recorded on March 22 i- 1875,® the *day following the discovery,:In the county 9 record a at Florence under the v.naae- of Silver. King.- .The ore ■was very rare ^and rich,' consisting of silver, sulpher and some copper arsenic.: It yielded over $20,000 in silver to the ton. For several years the Silver King lived up to its name and the isliver .taken from the mine was almost pure. The reported value of the mine was so-great that the people were afraid to write of its real value, expecting to be ■ discredited by cynical readers.: Rumors of extraordinary discoveries in the nearby mountains were circulated;in every direction. Enterprising men hurried to the community with out their "fam ilies, "hoping to acquire fortunes quickly.r B ecause th e S ilv e r King Company e s ta b lis h e d many I n t e r e s t s in Florence; the discovery of the mine resulted in a boom for the town; The newspapers carried many advertisements for the .mining company. It owned a dry goods and clothing store. The Silver King Hotel under the proprietorship of Q ; ...... ““...... ~...... "...... '..'.-...,"TU".."1I."...... -...... -...... '.....~..■.... ■ . Record Of Mines (Location Notices) :Vol. 1, p." 1, Office of County Recorder, Pinal County. L";" - - 9 . ... [Barnes, Hinton, and Blake fall to give the reason for , the name. - It could not have been named because of the -purity, of the silver as .that had not been assayed at the time of. the recording of the. name. - -' .r' - , . Blake;- op. clt.. o. 10. : 25 C. H. Beckweth, and a smelter. Ore was brought to the smelter In rawhide bags to be reduced to silver. From these bags the smelter received the name Rawhide. The need for communication from the Silver King Mine led to the establishment of the Silver Klng-Florence-Casa Grande Telegraph Company.^ Through this branch line the mining area could send telegrams over the Western Union at Casa Grande. About the time of the discovery of the Silver King Mine, Wells Fargo Express Company bought the Grant stage l i n e s . ^ George Brown was se n t from San F ra n cisc o .to":.ba the'Express'Agent. In the early mining days, the express company served as a bank where mines deposited their gold or silver dust. The company assumed the obligation until - the ore could be carried to a place of sale or converted into cash. Stage robberies became common occurences, especially between Globe and Florence. One stage robbery of special interest occurred on August 10, 1883.^ The stage left Florence and was robbed about half a mile beyond Riverside. After crossing the 11. " • _ - - ' . Capital stock, $10,000 Aaron Mason, President. Papers, D. C. Stevens. Incorporation of Silver King and Florence Telegraph; Co. 12. Supra. Grant stage, p. 5. 1 3 .„ : Brown, George, Reminiscences. MS. p. 10, Arizona Pioneer Historical Society. Brown, the Wells Fargo Agent, was known as "By God Brown,” recalls the Wells Farge robbery. / I Owe. t^o\e."\e^vAS v^V\v^V\ o>ce 6w& <^w.s 'oe^v^eev^ SvVvjev ^\\W 3w^ ^\a San Pedro River on its way to Qlobei thl W lls fa¥go guard, John- C d llin aw as ‘Instantly- k illed , ."the? stag'd W&e': halted without* any warning whenman with a; Winchester stepped out of the brush bn- dne1 side7 of the road and shot the leader" of the f our-horse team i The robbers o jeered' the " driver to throw but the box of*money which he'did. there was "one' passenger oh the stage, Felix La Slang. The robbers ordered him' to- get but' and bpeh the" box. which" contained' two bags of- ’silver - which were-'being taken to the Pioneer Mining: Company n ear G lob e’. ~ Each bag c o n ta in e d fl,TO O ’ in silver and weighed sixty poundsi " In 'addition there were ;' $720' in gold' frcxD Santa" Rosa, - C alifornia. : A druraer from ' ' Folger',;:Shilling and Company found the robbers had over looked a packaget of currency. This he turned over to George Brown; the agent of Weilb Fargo. The box cbntained $600 in currency. A' posse7 led- by Dan Stevens; the sheriff of-Pinal County, and James Thacker overtook - the robbers ; between Globe and Wilcox. One of them, Joe Tutle; made a complete, confession butr the other robbers; Charles Hurley and Jim C a rp en ter,- f l e d . ' However*, th e w eig h t o f t h e ir lo o t so hindered their flight that they were overtaken by the 7 posse, "and a lll three of -the suspected "-"'outlaws "were k illed without a trial.-: - X. : . Wells..Fargo recovered most of the money from the robbers, but- 11 paid two rewards of $300-each for the capture of these'men. Because of the numerous robberies which were • 28 occuring,the, company found operating expenses very great, : 14 and In 1893 went:out of business.- Stage robberies con- tlnuedcto be a cormon occurence; ; It . required vigorous : : people, to1, meet-the conditions. ' . i. ; ' ' '1 B ecause f r o n t ie r llf e r w a s hard, and b ecau se many men had hurried to the community without their fam ilies when the Silver King Mine was' discovered, there was a scarcity of American women.-Many of the men turned to the Mexican sen- oritas for companionship.^-5 They could keep house, cook, wash clothes> dance and sing. Some of the men married Mexican women. Not only?was there a need for women/ but the rapid influx^-of people led to a demand for dwelling houses. The1Enterprise'urged someone with money to build some com fortable tenement houses;' Most of the buildings of this period were of adobe with dirt floors. The windows were very small; The-adobe houses were cool-in the summer, yet the thick'walls retained the warmth of the sun in the winter. There were no superfluities.: - Expense and the austerity of the land forbade such things. However, there were a few homes of distinction at this time. ' \ . - The home of Colonel Levi Ruggles was a perfect desert paradise; He had a fine variety of grafted trees, a won- derful' orchard of- peaches, almonde>- apricots, plums, quince, 1 "I ) , c r ."-V;-:--" 7- ■: ™ ■■■. v ;- ' 1 '77: c : ::h g14 14. ' ■ ■■; V 7 : 7...;7 ~ 7.7 7/ .. , . 7- .7 : i 7 .. 7 ” L: ' ‘ /- % ' /: ' Brown,- G eorge, o p . c l t ; . p. 12. ■ -7 7_- // 1,7 . -/.^ j;/--/ : /-n r 15 # r-v. / " :• .. • ; ’ v • ' ' Poston, Charles D., MBuilding a State Out of Apache Lands, Overland Monthly.-vVol. 29. p. 404. ^ .- 7 : 7 1 5 .7 7 .. 7 / • , • 7 7 : . 7 v - r/ ' ' 7 ’Hinton, op; clt.. p. 25S. Lists the population-at 1500. 29 pears, olivesy figs, and pomegranates. , It was not possible to. surpass .the fruit "in size* or quality.- Ruggles had in - his- orchard .sixty varieties: of the rose f«nily,: a ll of which grew and: blossomed :fuliy.. He. had a fine vineyard, with hug®-, clusters:Of grapes which grew sixteen inches long and. .in weighed from four or;five -pounds a,bunch. . • . > : - i . ;; Another" estate which attracted the. interest of the ' people of the Southwest was the Ranch: Kenilworth, estab lished by Richard Sloan and Thomas Davis. , It was a large ranch: of more than;.17CX) acres. . Vast: improvements were made in fences.orchards, vineyards; they, built barns, corrals, and-accommodation dwelling houses, as w ell as quarters for employees.; .This ranch was operated altogether, as a gentle men-a farm. : The standard-bred horse was at the height of t his popularity, both- for racing and road purposes. The 1 breeding - of trotting horses, was; :a- prof itable- business.' I n: The: raising of fine- horses became: one of! the profects of Kenilworth until It was destroyed by fire in 1890. The, prosperity; of Florence was• recorded, in-the price; of real; estate. ’ In. no other town.In the Territory was the price iof town lots. higher than it .was -ini Florence. 1. ‘Richard Sloan was born in Ohio, came west hoping to find "• a place where. he -could' advance more ^ rapidly; than- in -• Ohio. He settled in Florence in 1884. He was a Justice of the Supreme Court and the last:,Territorial Governor of Arizona. Thomas Davis was an Englishman born near the home of Sir .. . W alter„Scott..... Together these men,engaged in establishing .-' a.huge estate named..Kenilworth. - 0‘Brown. R;: 0.".. Reminiscences^ MS. Arizona Pioneer H istorical ' Society., Brown invested large sums of money in town lots at" high prices then found them hard to dispose of. 30 There wereJ three flotir m ills lIn: or neapt the town,»a school with one hundred pupils,.a ‘eatholl^.iChurch, several stores and a "brewery, as- weir as the usual miunher of saloons which accompanied most frontier towns. Peter W ill, the proprietor of the-brewery, advertised that he had the finest beer in the -Territory; e w hie he he sold: by the keg, gallon, bo 111 e, tir'glass.o Beer was forwarded to) the. Silver King and other mining? camps;: The brewery was -a,v rendezvous for the ■men". Here they spent hours' playing- poker and wrangling- over.' matt'ers::dfT opinion"^- The men never seemed to ,agree as to any one thing and'the warmest-friends quarrelled the most. Daneingtwas the most enjoyed Of H he'sim ple-frentier:diver sions 'available-" in Florence. A canvas tent was stretched across" the hard dirt f loor andlwaxed" to such a' polish-'that it equalled"the polished hardwood^. To these.dances:went the:towns-people,:miners from the famous Silver King Mine, and cowboys who:would ride as far as thirty miles to be p r e s e n t.^ 9 ^ :• -■/: =-■: 1 The rapid Influx: of people led to the. reestablishment of public schools in 1881.^-.-Following the custom of many communities, the authorities established a separate school for boys; and.girls. Miss Anne.D. Jenners: was employed to teach the girls. She came to Florence as a private tutor in t h e . home o f Joseph; C ollingw ood and l a t e r became" th e - Ba 1 le y . Mary E.'V :Rem 1 h 1 s c e n e e s . MS. A rizon a P io n eer Historical-Society,:;p., ?• : 1 - 20. L. - Supra, p... 10 31 first public-school t^ioher In Pinal County.R* Goodrich, " from* Sah Diego, California;' was engaged -to-teach the" boys. He earned the repmtatloh - of being a’»very good .teacherV-.---;:, '■ r' V .:vX...v-1 ^r,, . ■ J r- " Mucatldhhas alway# been anaotlve part of the work of the Catholic Church; and Florence was no exception. - Work was begun oh a second^Catholic church during the fa ll of 1882 and the members were very anxious to complete the new b u ild in g . Plan's w ars made to "give the- o ld b u ild in g -v to the- Sisters of S t.1 Joseph to be turned•• into a convent. The - progressive non-Catholic citizens were also anxious tO'see this program accomplished. They felt it would beL" a splendid advertisement for the town and- would attract a great1 many families' there. With the cbmihg'of Father : 3 Edward"‘Giard the work was begun on the foundation/ - The - laying of the corner stone in the presence of a large assemblage was impressive. A copy of the Enterprise giving1'an account of the event' was" placed in a Jar, sealed and laid in the corner-stone, ^ the new church was to bear the name of the former building. Church of theAssumption. By'the fa11 of 1883 the buiIding'had been completed and thd M l church' i^^vated;1 it was ready for the Sisters1 to ^ 'Records. Countv School Superintendent, Pinal County, District 1, 1881, b. 10. She received #500 for the yeaiBworkl :.r- r ; : ' ' ' ' ' ' ^ ' Florence Enterprise. October 7. 1882. This copy of the ; paper remained in the Jar until the church was destroyed by: fire.in 1893. When work for rebuilding was begun, it necessitated laying a new foundation. ■•begluvthe ir work.; ;Th0, Academy o f g&lnt ^toeress-. had, an .Initial enrollment of eighty young wceeTt.^ , The, academy adjoined the Church of the. Aseumption. - In addition,-.to the;'building,*; a- recreational,garden, vineyard, alfalfa fie Ids,'.and. orchards were established*?^ : : ' ' ■ t. - 0ther. religloua. groups were. Interested■ In Florence. ,In March, 1887, .the. Reverend I; T. Whittemore visIted Florence to survey the. field , with the, view- of. founding a Presbyterian mission. - He first preached, in ;the courthouse. However, many people- hoped he would- organize; a church and 'erect, a building. He returned to his home In Illinois and received• a commission;'from; the Home M issionary ;Boari;i later returning to Florence as a Home .Missionary, and- en November .4, • 1 8 8 8 the-Presbyterlan Church was founded.2.5 , Amor^ the officers,of the church were R. E. , Sloan and Joseph Kibbey. These men. later became .federal judges and governors of , ;the Territory.;: : r-v. ^ In 1888, when a ll was progressing as usual, there occurred one of Arizona's historic.gun duels. Pete Gabriel was sheriff pf. Pinal County. /Joe, Phy was G abriel's -.friend., and deputy. Just why these: two quarrelled has .been a matter of controversy*; One belief Is that Phy intended to Interview. Sister St. Barbara was one of the Sisters - of St. Joseph, who -opened- the Academy.- -She .was in ------Florence in 1882. At present she is at St. Mary's Convent, Tucson, Arizona. , . - . ; , ^•-Elliott, op. clt. . p. 266. . . . . - -Arizona Republic. November 5, 1938. ; , 33 run for sheriff: when GaW tol’a term iron outiVand’ their-'..i Gabriel had promised to help him. 1 The friendship *a#: broken when Gabrie 1 had rPhy: removed from "offlce because s« of his brutality to a prlsoher*^4. -t. a: : - * r - Gabriel was one of the: finest markroien in the South*- • 1 west. On one occaesion he arrested: a Mexican de&perodo - who was seated on h'ls'horse. - While Gabriel was reaching for the warrant- of arrest, the Mexican suddenly whirled ; his horse arid attempted: to escape. Gabriel fired a single shot at the fleeing prisoner which penetrate the asm*0 ' .1 body and found'- lodgement, in his horse, k illin g them both.^7 " Gabriel, whose com’age was never questioned, avoidM Phy. ; He, knew a; meeting- meant a gun figh t. Bhy* s :hatred, for his :former friend, Imd become an obsession with him. •. It -was he ;who. demanded a settlem ent..; :: , - ■ ■ . . V Gabriel, ;always a .hard drinker, was in Keating-*s,-Saloon. Phy, . learning of h is whereabouts, followed him and entered the saloon, shooting, r : I---: -, 1 V- The first bullet from Phy*s gun struck Gabriel Just below the hear t. ‘ As Gabriel reeled- against - the bar he jerked tils own\8ix-shooter and-.shot Phy through the stomach.- -Phy died sthat night. . Gabriel-recovered and was out Walking the. streets within six weeks. - -- *■>•: V'-:-- - ... r- - " - 4-. V , v — : ____ 1 # g—* - • • • 4 * TZ * - - • -« - * - " : ‘ j! v , ‘ - " ' - - # 1 The other 'versJcn; was that the dispute occurred oyer the wife of one of. the men Involved in the dispute. 1 ; 2*T - - - • *• ' • - '-I -. : "v ,» - . - 3 .. " v.- - - < -• "• ' - * Sloan,. R. E. .3 Memories of an Arizona Judge. p. 45« . Arizona Enterprise. June 9, 1888, carried the testimony of Dr. William Harvery. Up !iv 1 Shortly b@ fora.this - Incident ,'h the-': |)eof>le of central Arizona and Florence, beeame.;greatly".concerned■;b v e r r w :" ■ alleged;land grant which: menaced'the title.to ' their lands;■ This: was th e . P e r a lta Q-rant Claim,• an .attempted - fraud of-a magnitude seldom, if; ever *:equalled. ‘ J. Addison Reavis claimed to be the owner of th@:grant mhlch was:allegM :to1 hayeibeen made in December; 1748j by King^FbmaMo-71-o f: j Spain to, Don Miguel de Peralta de:CardoM and*to comprise some ten m illions of acres of land; The: claim^0 included^ . moBtypf the Salt and G ila-river;valleys', -together with a ll of their water and mining rights;' a tract 236 miles Hohgth and 78 miles wide.v Relying upon the leins of the Treaty o f:Guadalupe-Hidalgo in 1848 and the Gadsden Purchase in I853, in which the United States agreed to recognize a ll former land titles, the Saron formally filed application‘ for a survey and confirmation of the ’.Tilling land grant. He said that Miguel Peralta deeded a ll of this original grant to-George W illing at Wlckenberg, October 20, 1864. OQ....* ...... ' ”.- ...... '...... :.• '..“... :.:... ~.'..".:T...... i:..'.. ‘Johnson, Royal, Adverse Report of the Surveyor General for Arizona upon the Alleged Peralta Grant. 3.9" lbId. .■ p. 2. "The petition of. James Addison Reavls re-, spectfully sets forth: that he is the owner, by purchase from the legal, heirs and representatives of the original grantee a certain tract of land, situated In the terri tory of Arizona; containing 3P0.-square leagues (Castilian or Spanish measurement) granted on the 3rd day of Jan uary, 1758 by the Viceroy of New Spain to Don Miguel PeraltaV Baron of the Coloradoes^ under royal decree of the King of Spain, directing such a grant to be made to • the said Peralta In consideration of- aid, as a reward . for distinguished military service -rendered to the crown in the' War; of-Spain,. as set forth in the title .M - ■ { 51"Ibid.. :p. 4. ' 35 Reavis was able to show a deed to himself from W illing's attorney, dated 1867. It was upoti this dded that he made his claims. ,As there were defects in the title, he decided to strengthen hia:claim. This he did through marriage with a girl, Sofia Mayo, whom he pretended he had accidentally discovered to be the only living descendant of the original, Peralta. To substantiate this claim he produced affidavits, birth certificates, and other written evidence. ' 'i- • The Baron and Baroness established homes near Florence, and also in Washington, St. Louis, and Madrid. Large sums of money were extorted from individual land owners in both the Salt river and Gila valleys, and from the owners of _ mining claims, who paid him money to quiet the titles of their holdings. * ; ‘ • In 1889 Congress passed an act creating the Court of Private Land Claims.^2 The purpose of the actiwas. to pro vide a tribunal that should try to determine; the legality and extent ofrail Spanish and Mexican land-grants in then southwesti This legislation mad® it necessary for Reavis to file a claim with the newly created court. The attorney representing,the United - States in settlement of the claim was Matthew G.: Reynold, a very able lawyer. It had been pointed out by Thomas Weedin^3 that some of the papers ^ _ I b i d . , P - 9 ,. _ -n;:: / : n ' - " ' r r . ■ ^"McCllntock, op. c lt. . Vol. 3, P- 572. Weedin, who establ llshed the Enterprise in Florence in 1881, had actively disputed Reavis1 claims and had shown that the type paper on which they were written was not in existence at the time of the purported dates. 36 filed:showed.evidence in themselves of-having been written at later dates than theypurported. It developed that the official records in Madrid andrMexico Cityhad been tampered with, and;documents removed from the archives•and fraudlent ones substituted,:with-;the assistance undoubtedly of at least'some of - the.off icials who had;these .archives in their charge. -■ -'vov - : . Investigations revealwl that the Baron of the Colorados had been, previous: to- b isarrival’ in Arizona, simply James Addison Reavis, an: obscure horse-car driver in Sti Joseph, Missouri. He had. worked as a subscription solicitor for the San Francisco Examiner, where he had gained information for the fraud, v. .r- -- ■: : ■ .. - Obviously, this was unsettling to the peace of mind of ; the people of Florence and within ;the area of the r ; alleged grant. As long as this land-grant title hovered over that section of the country there was of. necessity a retarded, prosperity. It was a relief to Florence citizens when Reavis was convicted in New Mexico courts and sentenced to six years Imprisonment. After his release, he wrote a confession of his guilt. Another worry to the people of Florence was the diver sion of water along the upper Gila. It has been said that water has caused more trouble in the Gila valley than whiskey. The upper Gila river had a comparatively consis tent flow near the New Mexico line, but not infrequently 37 the river near Florence was dry for several months at a time. There was one fight after another over water. Many of these were legal battles. The people of Graham County and especially the Mormons around Thatcher diverted great quantities of water. This had a disastrous effect on the farmers and.to many of them it meant financial ruin.^ In 1888 the people were beginning to consider, various.ways of securing an adequate constant flow of-water. ; }, These few discouragements did not check the'stream of incoming settlers.: The-population was composed of : cowboys, gamblers, freighters, teamsters, half-breeds, b small storekeepers, off icials^ professional men. The town had acquired a deep sense of pride In:its progress and its citizens. It was a budding:frontier metropolis with its prospering merchants and expanding land and mine owners; and at times it was a gay world marked by light-hearted days of dancing, drinking.and revelry. The future looked hopeful as the 'SO's drew to a close. : W- Brown. R. C .. op. c l t . . o . 10. CHAPTER IV TRANSPORTATION AND IRRIGATION * Throughout the history of the town, the people were ' hot" unmindful of the need for a railroad;- Various proposals were made concerning the different routes. The Southern Pacific had suggested a branch line between Maricopa and Hioehix, from Casa Grande to Florence and the Silver King.1 This would have greatly benefited the farmers and miners. -Proposals also were made to build a north and south railroad from Phoenix- bn to Florence, Tucson, and Galabasas so as to connect the Atlantic and Pacific with the Sonora railroad;2 TMany of the citizens of Florence were opposed : to this branch road. They feared it might lessen their prospects of securing a-main line. . * The Rock Island and Pacific proposed building- a road from Liberal, Kansas, to San Diego by the way of Silver City and Florence. There was a firm Impression that Florence would soon have- a railroad and that this would relieve the pressure which had developed as a result of the mine having closed, and that farmers would be enabled to..ship cattle and grain. . ___ 1. Arizona Enterprise. November 8, 1890. 2•Ibid., November 23, 1900. 39 : However, by.1904 there were two companies that wished to build through the &ila valley, the Arizona Eastern, a branch of the" Southern Pacific, and the Phoenix -Eastern, a branch of the Santa Fe.5 The Phoenix Eastern was incor porated in 1901 for the purpose of constructing and operat ing a railroad from Phoenix to Benson which would eventually be extended to Demlng,: New Mexico, thereby giving it access to the coal mines of western New Mexico. In December, 1903 the Phoenix Eastern Company made surveys which ultim ately resulted in the determination to change a portion of its road, as located and shown upon the original application, from the south side of the Gila river to the north side. By the end of January, 1904 the Phoenix Eastern had completed $2 miles of its road from Phoenix in an easterly direction, and was operating daily freight and passenger trains. On March 14, 1904 the Phoenix Eastern filed an amended location rightrof-way at the Land Office in Tucson. - However, two days l a t e r th e A rizon a E a stern Company was ; incorporated.^, Immediately after its incorporation the Arizona Eastern began surveys of the north bank of the Gila river, over the premises of the right-of-way claimed by the Phoenix Eastern. On March 14, 1904 the Arizona East- .# .. ~ ...... :...... "B r ie f . zFhoenix and E a stern Railway. Company v s . A rizon a Eastern Railway Company. County of Pinal. Arizona . University Law office. ; : -- ^"Articles of Incorporation of Arizona Eastern Railway; Office of Territorial Auditor. . Arizona University Law office. : . - 40 em. filed a profile in the Land Offlew In fuo#on only two hours earlier than the Phoenix Eastern OoahwW fU sd Its amended location,: although the Arlzona Eastern knew the Phoenix Eastern had purchased private lands lying on the right-of-way, constructed an expensIve tunnel and completed a portion of Its tracks.5 , " - ' • v . : It was the Intention of the Santa Fe to have a coast to coast line which would have.been parallel more or less to. the Southern. Pacific.^ : ■ \ ' . : v • - " - = Both railroads pressed their claims to the same right- of-way before the general land office at Washington. This battle continued In the courts for several years to-the disgust of the people.who felt that both roads could use the same right-of-way, and they could thereby have hccess to.two branches. After several years the- dispute ended- with the.Arizona Eastern railroad winning the right-of-way on, the grounds that they had made a survey through the disputed area before the Phoenix Eastern filed its petition to change location; therefore It was the territory of the Arizona Eastern;^ The Arizona Eastern served communities between Phoenix, Florence and-WinksIman and other stations between those two points, a distance of 97*5 m iles, and - ^'Report of the Supreme Court of Territory of Arizona, pp. 434 . ^ - There are many people who believe the Southern Pacific was more anxious t° prevent the construction of a parallel line than to acquire a railroad. ^'Arizona Blade-Tribune. February 2, 1934. 41 connected with the Arlsona Railroad Company at Ray. Although the construction had been delayed, and the town- had access to only a branch line, after due settlements Florence had a railroad. - c / . : It prospered during the years before and through the World War. But the years.following the war it became ; increasingly difficu lt for- the company to meet operating ■ expenses. In 1921 the Arizona Eastern petitioned the State Corporation Commission to allow it to run a tri-weekly schedule "between Phoenix and Winkleman. The people of Florence objected to this type of service not only because it would interfere with the mails but it would be a great. loss to the communities through which it ran. The Blade- Tribune stated it would be deplorable for the county and town to be without a railroad, but the State Corporation Commission allowed the company to run the three-day schedule after it 'proved it was operating on a deficit. The people managedito meet the situation and to care for the mall daily except Sunday through an auto:service which was inaugurated. This car met the Ray, Phoenix stage at •eleven o' clock and secured : the mail. This.three-day week schedule;continued-until January 1, 1934. The depression greatly reduced the revenues and it was impossible to continue. For three years the company had incurred a greater indebtedness. Services were discon tinued between Phoenix, Florence and Winkleman; This was 42 a heavy blow to the community. * ' Not only was the ra il serv&oe aismmtlimed hmt Flor ence was threatened with having the highway between Tucson and Phoenix by the way of Florence changed to go by 6asa Grande. This would eliminate Florence and the Gila Elver bridge. At the completion of the proposed road, it would be a part of the Bankhead highway, a transcontinental system, the first of that kind. It would extend from South Carolina to San Diego, California. The highway which went through Florence had already been labeled No. 80 and was named • Bankhead Highway and the people of Florence were anxious to retain for it this distinction. .However, the motor cars with greater speed capacity had diverted much of the busi ness trade and most of the tourist trade from Florence as it was no longer necessary to find:a lodging place to spend the night when.traveling from Tucson to Phoenix as tourists could easily drive from one of these towns to the other. But regardless of whether they would benefit by the trade involved it was a blow, to the civic pride to be situated off the main highway. .Mayor Keating and other citizens of Florence united to try to prevent the proposed change in the highway. Regardless of the efforts to prevent the - change, by 1925 Florence was off the main highway and the bus was routed through Florence to Phoenix once a day, other wise it. went by Casa Grande. No issue, not even that of the railroads, obscured the necessity of securing an adequate, constant flow of water. 43 i One o f, the very. fir s t tasks of:', the-pl®B@»r' had-"been' to dig Irrigation ditches. " There had been' humeroms irri gation, ditches whieh followed o%t lines of an elaborate and well-executed irrigation system of an unknown race of. Indians j and - in some Instances portions^ of the early' system were utilized^* In 1886 plant were being formulated to . replace, the. early ditehes with ay larsKe cai»l-« - ".y .1 These plane- were being formulated on "paper by A; L. :Pogue in RlchmoM, Indiana-. Although he never visited Arizona he advanced §25,000 of the §100,000 capital sto ck which form ed th e F lo r e n c e Canal Companyv® Pogue' te n t *-*•. . his son, George, to be the - first president of the ctimpafiy. ■Davie Thomas, - brother-in-law of A. L. Pogiie aided lh'advanc ing the money-and the organization of the company. The people of Florence did not-have any money invested-in the company. They paid for the water prlvlieges:provided by the eanal but'the cam 1 ccmpany was fcumulated ahd1 bohtrolied by outside Interests; r-:-r- The entire history of the Florence^Canal Company was turbulant. rIt: was•necessary for the men dIgging the canal to carry their guns with-them to work to protect themselves from la rival;canal company from St. Louis. Through boxing matches ■: and: drinking p arties, George Pogue won the workers away from the S t. tLouis Company and forced them to abandon 0'^' ' , : ' “ ' ' ' ' " :: ' : " ' ^ . '■ :: ’ ' * ■' ...... ■ " - ' ‘Interview. Charles Pogue, son of A.y L. Pogue and third pr e sident of li the Florence Canal rCoapiny. . • ; • 44 their canal. Not long after this difficulty was settled there occurred a flood and the reservoir which was almost completed was washed away. Money was almost exhausted. Charles Pogue who had been sent to replace his brother found it necessary to barter with the people to continue the work. Most of the machinery was in need of repair and there was no money. By applying hay, steers, labor, or food to the water rent he soon had the canal operating and more water flowing than ever before. The canal emerged from the river at a rocky point about a mile and a half below the Box Canon, known as the Buttes. The main canal had a capacity equal to a flow of 400 cubic feet per second and was so constructed that it could be enlarged to a greater capacity. A large storage reservoir was constructed about 15 miles south of Florence at the cost of $100,000 and had a storage capacity of 8,000,000 gallons of water.^ The people were elated over the completion of the canal which carried water forty miles to the south. But it was not long before many defects in the construction of the canal began to be apparent and to make the system more reliable , the necessity to build another reservoir at the Buttes was being discussed. But before the company could make any improvements, it was necessary to adjust its own financial and legal "Irrigation Papers. Twelfth Annual Report. Part 2. U. S. Geological Survey. Survey No. 2, 1897. pp. 306-307. 45 FLORENCE, ARIZONA. The county seat of Pinal, is situated at the junction of the greatest The El Florence agricultural and mineral belts in the world in the matter of has the finest productiveness, and both contribute to her develop Paso and South court house in the ment and prosperity. Her climate is semi- western, and the Territory, good graded tropic in mildness, with an atmosphere Arizona and Gulf of public schools, churches, so dry and pure as to render California lines will be com fine hotel accomodations, long the creation and propa pleted into the town in two distance telephone system, gation of disease years. The present popula telegraph lines, and the germs impos tion of Florence is 1,500. Phoenix and Eastern rail sible. road line, a link in the Ten years hence it will Southern Pacific sys be 50,000. It is the tem,11 and also con- greatest field necting with the Owing to a rare combination of climatic and soil for invest main line of conditions the lands surrounding Florence will produce ment now- the Santa known. Fe. to perfection oranges, lemons, grape fruit, dates, figs, nectar ines, plums, apricots, peaches, prunes, apples, pears, pomegranates, cherries, and all varieties of berries. This land also yields 50 bushels of wheat and 70 bushels of barley or oats to the acre. It also produces seven crops of alfalfa hay each year, and a crop of grain, corn and beans can be grown on the same piece of land in one season. The common varieties of the garden vegetable grow on this land every day in the year. We have two irrigation canals and will soon have the great San Carlos irrigation system under way. ji Briefly described this is the farmer’s paradise. THE LAND OF HEALTH, WEALTH, OPPORTUNITY AND CONTENTMENT. ***** * #LACl IA I About 1902 % . -• S ' :-:S ' ■ ■ \. i : T . " :• % 'x:. f JGL. * 46 d ifficu lties. 'Joseph E; Eibbey: had .been'--seat ""by T: *; A * L*: Pogue; from C enterville, ; Indiana, to act as .1 legal , < - adviser for the company* However;awithput his knowledge of what was taking place# *the ifirm. of 'vA. ’F. , BakerW and ' Company of Phoenix:attaeh#diallntb#iPf#P$rty of>every nature belonging to the canal company# This,fIrm.had , acted as commerclal_and:finapcial:#gemt for the Florence^ :- Canal Company,^cashedrthelr.-checks ,and furnished needed supplies. During this time the account against rthe ;e«*^,ny ran up into thousands of.dollars, notwithstanding easy efforts by Baker and Company-to obtain.a settlement. Finally Baker and: Company took steps they considered best to se* cure themselves'by the attachment of the property*T he ■ history of the,canal company had been one .of uneertalnlty, and many people felt that any change would be better than to continue as they were ido ing^-but ' the company reorganised its.business and offered many opportunities'to the farmers * access to water rights* - :F.lve years time was off ered and persona could pay a fee as lamall as ;.§1.60 per acre. The F lo ren ce Canal Company f i n a l l y s o ld fo r ta x e s w hich amounted The F lo r e n c e C anal Company became known as th e San Carlos Canal and Irrigation Company‘under therl^uferSBip Tg ...■...... - ...... ;._.“ . r:. _...... ;7.... . ~.“...... 7.1C...... 1 ■ Phoenix Herald. March 27. ~ 1893. - ••■■■■*_ '-c‘ ;’ 1 1 . ' • -■ - - . : ' • 1 - - - ' - " » . p " ■: j, ; :■■■;■■; : v . - L. r1.; : * Interview, Charles Pogue, former president of Florence Canal Company. 47 o f ; We f S i Prouty, - F- d. White, and D. C. Stevens# ' they- i Advocated that•by;construction o f.a dam, sufficlOnt water edul'd be stored to" supply the Indians-'-upon the - Pima and % Maricopa'reservation In addition to the 100,000 acres' of public'land, iThe old Florence Canal could berused to carry the water stored:by the San Carlos dam.^5- : <3. p. Hanks, chief clerk of Indian affairs, made It clear to Judge Stevens that before any actlonlcould be taken On the San Carlos Indian Reservation, he must"know if the interests of the: Pima’Indians^ would be safeguarded and what compensation would be made for their lands which would be flooded, r . . The;San Carlos Canal and.Irrigation Company was not a b le to r e a d ju st th e a f f a i r s o f ,t h e F lo r e n c e Canal Company satisfactorily. They could:not enlarge the canal nor in sure an adequate water supply, iThe people complained', that by negligence and refusal to keep the reservoir.and canal in good repair the canal-was filled with silt.; . In:a suit before Judge George W estfall the users demanded that the S&n Carlos show its financial ability and standing, that it give a statement showing the upkeep-expenses of the - irrigation plant, that it be required to put in a good and Judge D. C. Stevens* papers. Letter to Asheley Reavis, ' Esq. from-Dept, of interior. Office of Indian Affairs, C. F. Hanke. Arizona Pioneer Historical Society. House Exc. 521. 62nd Congress, 2nd Session, p. 21. Letters . and -petitions with reference to the rights of the Pima Indians of Arizona to the lands of their reservation and . the necessary water .supply for irrigation. - 4 8 sufficient dam at the Intake of the said canal and repair It to Its original capacity, and that It be required to reimburse the water users who repaired the canal* dam, and reservoir for the years 1913, 1914, 1915 to the sum of §25;615*83. If the defendant could net meet the recom mendations- after a reasonable length of time that the canal should be disfranchised. The law-suit continued for several months, and in February/ 1916, the San Carlos was declared to be a Public Service Corporation^ and as such would be governed by those laws to which it must render adequate service at reasonable rates. The company was given until March 1 to begin repairs and restore the water distributing system. Through the office of Indian Affairs of the Depart* ment of Interior, an appropriation of $250,000 was obtained for a diversion dam across the Gila river, twelve miles east of Florence at the site of the old rock dam of th e Florence canal. Attention has been called to the fact that the Indians claimed priority water rights. The Secretary of Interior ordered an investigation to insure the protection of the Indians. All of these rights were put into one class and given the same priority. Some of the people frankly admitted they were not so interested in the Indians, but it was the only way for them to get government aid. Jack Williams called a meeting of the land ^5"Arizona Blade-Tribune. February 26, 1916. Owners and they deblded■the thdiins were demanding' too Dtieh in asking water for 35,000 acres as thelr eMr® Sf Irrl/gah 1 e •.>••?. lands’ uhderr the - divers ion dam; ^ th is *6uld leave only-25V000-acres•for the white settlers. > Following Williams* statement; -the-people- eacpress^l-.-tMmselvea as -opposed toy the Indians’1 helng allowed' this much Water; whltiJ’ people : f e lt that the-'Indlane‘-were--’get t4ng” thS:--h§bt of the bargain; but in view of the fact’ that they had alreM f " agreed: to a division "of-1 -thd’ water,"they must respect a '^*‘7 tenative agreement and-should W ait-until they knew what ‘ ' the :government intended- to do before - they toStrany1d otten.^ The people of the nation were complaining of unemploy ment in 1921;-and through the-effO ris-of Senator Henry Ashurst the San Carlos project was listed as one of the employment schemes at President Harding’s xmemployoent conference. 1 Ex-soldiers ’were to be given a preference Ih employment; - The project was-to construct a reservoir at San Carlos and a diversion dam on the Gila hear F lorence; and one near Casa Grande; The diversldn dam hear Florence was to be named th e A shurst-H ayden Dam. T his was th e f i r s t im por-- tarit unit of the-San: Carlos project. -The Securing of th e funds to commence this work Was the culmination of-a long struggle for government aid In regard to water. And the construction of the Ashurst-Hayden diversion dam meant that the construction of the San -Carlos dam would, follow . "Arizona Blade-Tribune. February 2, 1918. 60 The- people were . JuMlamt-at the dedication of the dam. Sec re tar y r A Ihe rt Fa11.represented-President Harding:and;c delivered the: principal address. An address by --i-.v. President-Hardir^, which:had been; recorded on avlctrola, was sent to Florence and repnxlueM dtiring the;dedicatory ceremonies.:1! Special trains were run from Phoenix, for W® celebration. Many: notable people at tended the t ceremonies, including Governor Tboma# G am #ell, Governor r •Boylet pf;, Nevada, Governor., Meachen of Neyt leaFieo,. Secretary Albert Fall,.United:State® Indian.Commissioner;;Congressmen Hayden, Ashurst, and: Cameron.!® -. A big free barbecue was arranged, for the people.; u- v ^ v : : f r.!-:; : ■ i The settlers along- therGila river :and especially. ; those around Florence were determined- to; secure necessary -legislation by Congress to enable the reclamation service to carry,out.the general scheme of reclamation of arid lands in the United S tates.. - A committee -ofr the San.Carlos dam- pro ject: wrote - to- governors, in other western states.- to . secure their help in urging: federal!aid for reclamation. Judge Overfeild was. kept in Washington to.look after the in te r e s t of the reclamation;project.- : More frequently- was the ques tion of Indian rights- brought • before the committee*^ -■■> i •’ ; The people of the Presbyterian Church had done a-,gp#at deal’of work among the Indians and had tried to p r o t e c t ff rn I b i d ., May;6 , 1922. , 18. , 4 1 *- “ r ■ : -V -- -..■ . > Ib id . ,- Mav 6 ,- 1922. 51 thelr-water- rightB.1'1 This: had started about 1888 while Reverendil. T. Whlttmore pastor.' He was very anxious m k t the water rights" of ther Indians be respected. Rev. Dirk Lay o f.the Sacatbn"Presbyterian Church continued'##^:- carry on- the work of1 aiding' the* Indians to sectir# th§if*: #ater: rights".: 'Rev'. * Lay * at tended ‘the annual "assembly of the Presbyterian Church when it met in Ohio in 1924, and secured the cooperation of the PresByi#i4ah Church'aM the Christian-Endeavor Association of the nation t© urge Con- gress to pasS a b ill which:woOld as sure'the-IMIans w£te£- which;was = so^ necessary to>th©ir farming and their iiv e li- hood. It- was pointed out that the Pirns were always friend ly to-the white settlers and helped them against ^ the Apaches, and that they had always1 been self-supporting." In order to live they must have water. ::r r^Before the - proposed dam could be b u ilt, It was" " necessary for-the government to acquire ten miles of traCk*^ of"the-Gila Valley; Globe arid -Northern railway, a branch of the1Arizona E astern .In :1910 th# United States G@o* logical Survey had decided the proposed San Carlos das was ' on impracticable. because of various physical defects ... and. ... had allowed"the railroad to build on the level of the river; ^^"Fulton, Richard Ew, L etter;' Secretary to T. J. Marks, former assistant-Sunerintendent of the Arizona Eastern R a ilr o a d . 'V.'"- . v.< v ■... 20. - V i - ^ . r - - ' *" - ’ - : ■" ' ' " ' United States Geological Survey. Surface Water Bu bpI? of the United States. 1910, Vol. 289, PP- 202-203. therefore it was necessary for the government to buy the portion of the line which would be Inundated by:the ■ water in the reservoir. After numerous conferences and threatened suits, the United States paid the Arizona Eastern about $200,000 for the right-of-way and to move the track to.a higher site, six or seven miles east of its former lo c a t io n . On April 5, 1924, the Senate passed a b ill to appro priate §5,500,000 for the San Carlos, and the b ill passed the house with an amendment to which the Senate concurred. - 21 On June 7, 1924, President Coolldge signed the b ill. 22 This ended a water battle which had lasted for 25 years. The final terms gave the white settlers about 60,000 acres of land to be irrigated from the San Carlos, and to the Indians 40,000 acres which would be entitled to water. Shortly after the passage of the San Carlos Reclamation Project, a b ill was introduced into the Senate to name the dam after President Calvin Coolldge. The San Carlos Reclamation project was completed in 1929 and on March 4, 1939, President Coolldge dedicated 2 \ % "Congressional Record. Vol. 65, Part 2, p. 11,200. Washington Printing O ffice, 1925. 2 2 * "irrigation Papers of U. S. Geological Survey, Washing ton, 1897. Investigation started by U. S. Government, 1896, to be determined as to what should be done about Pima Indians to overcome shortage of water caused by white settlers diverting water above Indian Reserva tions. Report of Lippencott of 1899 recommended a dam. Itw i $ r t r st i ti I I I i f si st tir f t i r I I Ii $ i Awual Flow of 6iU River in Acre FceT As Measured at Kcw Sfaf/oni Near Co#l«dje DavnSife. 1136. , Culbert/ Hayri| 5., 3cKool Finance : fn Pinal County j>. 5& the dam as the Coolidge Dam.?^ Even with the completion of the San Carlos Irrigation system, water shortage continued to face the people. The drought of 1939 caused farmers to reduce their crops, and the Secretary of Inter ior issued an: order deferring collection of the charges for water privileges under.:- the;reclamation ' program. •*- * :But even if there were shortages of water; at last Florence felt the supply was as secure as it could possib ly, be made. •; Twenty-five years of effort *hM "■ reEU ltedin the culmination of a water system Operated and controlled by the government, and this signified future security -Of1 the water. This was made possible thru the cooperation of the people of the neighboring towns and thru the unity between the white settlers and the Indians. 23 * The Elec tric Journal. Vol. 27, PP. 92-94. FLORENCE BEGINNING TO DECLINE ' - ' V: _ - - - ' 1890 - 1929 '• Among the early disappointments of the people was th e decline In the mineral output of the nearby mines. In 1890 many of the' miners were leaving. Indicating their lack of confidence - In' the!future of the mines. The Silver King Mine was only working part of the time.*- The other mines "of; the nearby- region were doing no more than a fair busi ness. But many of the people of Florence were Inclined to feel that this was only a temporary decline and they re fused to be discouraged and looked optim istically to the fu tu r e . ' In June of 1890 there was a series of building activity initiated by the "building of the Pinal County courthouse, which was rapidly nearing completion. It covered a plot of ground 108 feet by 116 feetv The rear wing contained the county jail. The new building contained vaults to protect the records; On the second floor were the offices of the county surveyor, probate court. Judges' chamber, grand and petit Jury rooms and a supply room. Since the United States D istrict Court, composed of Gila, Graham,. Report of the Acting Governor of Arizona to the Secretary of the interior. 1889. p. 14. ' .. . / V 56 and Pinal Counties, was held In Florence, the people were anxious to have a building In keeping with the dignity of the courtL The cost was §30,OCX) and at the time of Its completion It was the finest courthouse In the Territory.? :'. Another.fine building which was almost finished was the brick, two-story store of 77. G. Smith and Company. Theicompany carried staple goods of all kinds for the mechanic, the miner, and the occupant of a ranch, as well as dry goods of all kinds, including clothing. One of- the; very important enterprises begun in Florence was the incorporation of the Pinal County Bank under the Territorial laws of November 1889. It was active early inz -1890.3 A general banking business was transacted, including the collection of claims, the negotiating of loans and the issueing of exchange desired. The capital stock of the bank was §50,000; Wm. E. Guild was president; H. B. Tenny. was vice-president.^ Another bank was established in 1912. The Pinal Bank and Trust Company functioned until May 4, 1923. Dugal Stewart was the president; the capital stock amounted to §40,000 - * • *• - • - ‘ t " , . .■> . - - ’ and there was a surplus, of $20,000. However, the bank had *4 — ' ' ‘ ~ ' ' ' ' “ Poole, McFarland H.. A H istorical and Blopcraphlcal Record of the Territory of Arizona, p. 398. - - S t in ls o n , H. C ., and C a r te r , W. N.. (Compilers) Arizona, p. 128. 4 . -. : \ f z. . , ' v-. .; . Tenny was cashier of the Consolidated National Bank of Tucson. This indicated that outside people still had faith in the future of the town. The bank failed very early. ^The exact date could not be found. at least $ 148,914-.035 worSb of loam# which were a total, loss according to the sta.t» examiner. It was soon appar ent that the bank was hopelessly Insolvent and that there was no chance for 11 to reopen with safety for depositors. 3. F. Thum was made special dei^ty superintendent of the bank. Several dividends were paid. One, a twelve per cent dividend, was paid in 1924. But as the bank was unable to meet the conditions for reopening, Florence was without a bank until the, establishment of the First National Bank.. , . The first. National Bank carried on its business In ^ apparently, satisfactory manner and although it was closed In March,.1933, through, an order of President Roosevelt, along w ith.all the banks in the United States» it reopened in a. very short time. However, on December 8, 1933, the people who had business to, transact at the bank were sur prised to find:it closed. A note on the door informed the clients that It was closed by the order of the Comptroller of. Currency a t;Washington, and that C. E. Hull of Phoenix was the receiver.^ . - : . . - The failure of the Pinal County Bank, along with the reduction of the mineral output of the county, led the people to. look.for;other.means of livelihood. The Initia tive of the people of. Florence was directed towards the Arizona Superintendent of Banks Report. 1925* p. 13. 6. Condensed statement of reports of State and National Banks of Arizona, 1932. It listed the stocks, bonds, and other securities at $264,000.01. Deposits and notes due the bank were §301,350,63. cactus plants'wht 7. The F lo r e n c e B rick Company continues to operate as orders are received. ’ the Industry, of Florence had depended on the Silver King and it:had exhausted its supply of silver; the Reymart and other mines were:operating on a greatly reduced scale. Since the original, settlement of Florence was due to her fertile farm lands along;the Gila river, it was natural for the people to turn their attention to farming, and to attempt to make it-more effective; and to place emphasis upon the advantages derived from cooperative farming. . v Poultry-raising received special attention and demon strations were held to instruct the farmers bow to secure the greatest financial returns from chickens. Kany. new and economical discoveries ha poultry feed were tried, and the poultry show was one of the principal features of the County Fair. Later turkey raising "became a very profit able phase of the poultry industry.^because of the ideal climate and the wide range, for the fowl In the alfalfa f 1 e Id s •, . i ' '. - , - ,' ; Another. Incentive to attract the people to greater farming activity was the.United States entry into the World War in 1917. There was a. need for a ll kinds of farming produce, especially hay and grain, and this led, to a huge increase in the area cultivated for that purpose. The lack of laborers and the high prices^ offered the farmers for *Yearbook of the Department of Agriculture. 1918. p. 199. ^"Arizona Year Book, p. 284. This lists the annual income from poultry in 1931, §21,891,64. 60 their crops resulted in many of the farmers' buying expensive machinery to meet the labor shortage and to save time# ;The high prices which the farmers received for their crops and the feeling that even after the- war ended', the countries of Europe would need food for several years, led ■to•this expansion of industry. The demand for cotton clothing and explosives led to experiments in cotton-raising by the Florence farmers, but the cotton was sold unginned as it was not feasible to have a gin"for less than 3000 acres. However, by 1920 the-farmers were receiving §1.00 per pound.N aturally a large acreage of cotton was planted. This led to an incorporation of the cotton growers in Florence with those of Phoenix and Mesa.^ The purpose of this organization . was to raise cotton on an extensive scale. The following year, E.-G. Attaway, president of the Incorporation of Cotton Growers, made arrangements for a five-acre tract south of Main Street and-built a §23*000 oottbh gin. He and his associates financed the project. Cotton became one of the principal crops. ’•Since the founding of " Florence, cattle raising had been an important activity of "the people. The' spread' of — - - ; " - • Arizona Blade-Tribune, April 10, 1920...... 11. E. G.-Attaway of Phoenix, president; J. J.-Fraser of 1; -Mesa, E. G. Cldmens of Mesa,. H. T. Clemens of Florence were responsible for the Incorporation. The incorpor ation failed during the depression in 1930. 61 foot-and-mouth diseases among cattle caused concern to the people In the Florence-Casa Grande valley. The C a ttle- Growers Association -urg«l that any.disease of cattle would affect all;Industries-In the entire state. The cattle grow ers pointed out the fact that cattle raising was the fifth highest source of taxes In Pinal County. Z !:: Along with the interests in farming went a greater demand that the people he assured of a more constant supply of water. Since private initiative to supply the water need had failed, the only way to develop a system that would prove satisfactory was through federal and state control. : The people realised it would take years of con centrated effort to bring this about♦^ One of the most active agents working-to procure this governmental aid to the irrigation was the newspaper. : : Along with the early pioneer, the newspaper had found its way to Florence. The first newspaper under George Taylor had published'only one copy and then discontinued its services. But the Arizona Enterprise^ had labored with other agencies, schools, churches, and citizens -to improve the town. However, the newspapers were continually chang ing hands, names and locations. The Arizona Enterprise, founded in 1881. then the Citizen was moved to Florence . * 12# * Supra. . Irrigation developed in Chapter IV. 13. -' : - ; - .• . - “ ' - -- , r Thomas Weedin who came from Missouri in 1881 established the Arizona Enterprise. - - 62 for a short time emd then returned to Tueion, In 1893 j the Arizona Enterprise was published In Tucson and ceased j to, function In 1894. The Florence Tribune began publica tion In 1892.and continued until 1902, the date of the founding of the Arizona Blade. They united in 1903 and have continued until the present as the Arizona Blade- ' i T rib u n e, a w eek ly . . The various social institutions, such as churches ami schools, were.active in promoting temperance and better ‘ ! conditions.. The Presbyterian Church was working very energetically to secure water rights for the Pima Indians, and the Catholic Church was doing a great work with the ; ; ■Mexicans.: : ...... : The Catholic Church had been destroyed by, fire.^ ■ The members had worshipped In the very old building which had been turned Into a convent and then abandoned. During 1910 and 1911 the members were active In their efforts to rebuild, and the necessary funds finally secured, the task was accomplish®! in: 1911. Father Henry Keltz was responsible" for the rebuilding of the church. These churches were active In the work of aiding the soldiers during the war and in other civil projects. : r 1 4 . An interview with Father Jose#i Dominic Jaque established - - the date of the fire as 1893• An inscription on the church wall gives 1911 as the year of completion of the .... present/ building. The present pastor of the Church of the Assumption, Father Joseph Dominic Jaque, has re worked the old building which was the first church and the convent to be used for a parish hall. ' r T he-Chrlstlim ’ ShtiVeti looked at Florence and decided that' ttils Was' good field for their services. Aecoz^llng- ly , ; they" began to hold: m^tli%fl in homes and In the court house and finally the Arizona State Board of the Christian Church ^sent- Reverend R. E. Dunlap to organize the people Into a* membership. The membership was between sixty and seventy members. -In 192r they began to build a church* l" Much of" the labor on the building was donated, and the church In Phoenix contributed generously to the work. The build ing was dedicated on .November 23, 1921.^^" Not only were the people active in their churches but they were anxious to Improve their school system. In the county the money'expended bn education had Increased from $10,922.19 in 1906 to #119,972.22 in 1914.15 16 17 The Florence Union High'School'wasi organized in 1915 and a plant was constructed. Florence was in the largest high school dis trict in 'the"county and therefore drew a large nwber of students from the surrounding territory. ^ The Board of. Education allowed for future growth of the school and built In excess:of their existing needs. The original plant con- s i s t ed ,o f _ one..main building, a gymnasium and a swimming pool, located on an eighteen-acre tract at the edge of 15*Arizona Blade-Tribune. : November 28. 1921. : ■ . Bi-Annual Report. Superintendent of Public Education, Territory of Arizona, 1907 and State of Arizona,~ 1915- 17*Culbert, Harry'Sneddeh, School Finance in Pinal County, p. 3 2 . " - Florence.-1 Th® i.c^st ,of the tail Ming and grounds was approx imately- |75> 000 aM eas. financed by the sale of six per , cent: bonds ..maturing in ’'20 years.' - fbe-'grounds liave 'been-'"-'': beautifully:flandseaiwl and a large athletic field has been const rue ted V-- in c 1 ud it^" a -baeeba 11 fie ld , a turfed footb all field:, and ligh ts for night 'playing. A large part of this'”- is surrounded by a~ concrete curbed quarter-mile ruimlng track.^iofThei main building is of Spanisb arehitseture and attracts attention for its beauty and uniqueness.^ = During the early history of the Territory and until the capital had :been moved'from Prescott to Phoenix In 1889, Florence- had hoped it might eventually be located there. • In fact, a b ill ime introduced in the eighth legislature at the time Pinal County was created in -1875, to have the capitol moved from Tucson to ’FlorehCeV The central loca tion -In the" state and"the presence of many strong' p oliti cians2^ living: in Florence had given rise to these hopes. Thesei hopes w*ere abandoned, but- Florence did not give up:" ^ thel Idea of having one-Institution at least, and when discussions arose over the ideation of the penitentiary - 18. A large part of the work on the athletic field was given by the C ivil Works Administration and the Emer gency: Relief Administration.J:„ . . •: : : - 19. ■: . - Humphries, Daphane, Cactus Forest, calls attention to the beauty of the- Florence Union High;School:and grounds; 2 0 . Grany H ie , I Oury, Speaker of House* Dilrd Leg is la ture. - " Peter R. Brady, Thooms Weed in, R. E. Sloan, and Joseph Klbbey werej strong politicians from Florence. - v V. . 65 and; the;, difficulty of conveying prisoners to Yuma, Councilman Thomas Weedin and .Representative Wm. E. Guild, both ;fr.o»/Florence, Pinal County, simultaneously Introduced identical.(hi 11® providing; for th® removal of the prison to the vicinity .of* Florence.?^ .A definite site of 160 acres was: presented to the ^Territory as a gift.. c;Tfce prison removal b ill .was imssed with an aypproprlatlon of §120,000 to. be used in the construction of the new buildings. The buildings were completed. early in 1%)9 anl bids were ,being received for furnishing food- .supplies to the pen!tentlsry :on March 1 of, that year.22 v- - : - - - . , :The officers of the penitentiary worked In conjunction with the authorities of Florence for Improvement of the town. .Many of the town proJects,secured prison labor, namely, repair of sewers, work on roads and bridges. . The .orchestra from the. prison participated, in many, events in Florence where the addition of music was beneficial for parades, ball games or celebrations of holidays. The Blade Tribune suggested to the citizens of Florence that they show, their appreciation of the orchestra for participating in these-eyents by attending.the play, ”Ye Prison Minstrels" 2 1 . Kelley, George, Legislative History of Arizona. 1864- 1212,i P. 2^5. . . . . ■ - 2 2 .. Rumors in Florence at the present Indicate that the people had the choice of having either the penitentiary or the university. However,: the record :of ;that"ft'lme .fails' to -mentlbh the possibility “of the univers ity being placed there and it appears that the rumor was without founda t i o n . - . : , . L. X r .1 “ r.‘ '.v:: . 66 to be given at the prison assembly hall, November 1C, 1 9 1 7 .23 However, the prison has been mostly self-sustaining and Florence has not received a great financial benefit from its location there. When the prison discharges an inmate,, he is given #7.50 in clothes from the stores of Florence. Food,, other-than that which was raised on the farms ,.twas bought by competitive bide and usually the large stores in Phoenix submitted the lowest hid. The inmate# of, the institution have raised a garden, supplied their - meat, operated a dairy and cultivated a very good-sized farm.2^ ^ r:* iV; , v.; i ' Through new institutions and industries, Florence endeavored.to regain the place of prominence it held at the beginning of 1890. This the people were never able to accomplish,-blit, they acquired a-greater appreciation of the fertile farm lands along the Gila, and of the value of working together to advance the community. : ? r y v ' ' " ~~r- '...... ■ " """ 1 : ""ir r: i: """ ' ,rn' ' " 1 " " : " In "*" ' "IT: " 1,11 .'An unusual event occurred on Deo. 51, 1917, at the prison. It was"the wedding of Paul Crummey and Kiss Irene Frances Turner of .Phoenix.. The bridal couple came, to Florence to have Rev. Churchill perform the ceremony and found ( .-that he was on duty at the prison. * Rather than wait for him to he released, they decided to be married in the assembly hall and- then go through; the prison as a bridal tour. The marriage took place in the presence of a few inmates and employees of the institution and K a young couple' attending the bride and groom. This was the first wedding to take place in the Arizona State Prison-and perhaps the first in the United States where both the contracting parties were free to go elsewhere. 2 4 . Interview, Alva L. Weaver, Secretary of Prison. r":: t . i. •" •1, r ‘ nv CHAPTER VI 7 %. :;V ■, :7c :'v'„v'i- : : ’ -:n r : : : : '7, THE DEPRESSION r.u p " n L . ' V :::/ ; " - v r 1929 - 1940 ♦ * . y . - • * • 1 « • ■ "• • • «'■*• * ~ - - : ' - ■ ■ . ‘ . * * • »• —• - ’• • *- * v " * " 1 ' - ■■ • • «- r » ■ "w-- • - — ' • — ^ kM' *- . f - * . * ^ - - - t- ^ b:r : The ;early -years :of --til® idepression did-hot affect r-the people of Florence :to any- great -extent, randthe.-eimdi of the stock"market;in New York had very little Immediate In fluence upon: the people of Florence. This was partly due to the ’fact that Florence never really recovered from the - panic of 1893> when: the value ofnsliver declined, and also to:the' fact;that an agricultural community was not depend ent^ -upon Industry, for 'the people:could support themselves even though money was scarce. - - p ' Although the d&presslon was in progress over large areas of* the United States in -1931, the people of"Florence felt"prosperity was just around the corner and they were not afraid toundertake a rather extensive Improvement, pro- gram; :They planned ;- the: ornamental lighting of ' two, streets the paving of Fifth and Main Streets, and a sewerage system rV;: < '■ 7: 'P'p: :-.l <’ \ ' :' : n ' - : - 7 r .1 ;: •: The total expenditure for this program was | 170,693• The- . : 77 •-:1 : b : -rp. v" : v ■;, ' v-"- -- , ' . p:" - ' : - -- r i 7 Interest on the bonds which were.floated to meet this pro gram proved difficult to pay. The tax collections in X;, < .:.7;..’V- L': Vp C? - | . r.7 • : 1, . ™ ~ ... : 7:77r:i„p__..",77 7.7 * 7 - :': * \ : —• Arizona: 1 71 11- ", Blade-Trihuhe 11 ,,:,r7"i 11 ; "7""" " .: February. < - , 6,'1931.: . • ' •- - : - 68 Florence, declined:.2 11 ;r• ■: / - - r.-r :-x ^ -c; :> Not only. was. the town aafetttoiM? M e Improvement ppogr^Q but: the BreebyterMn Ghuroh fe lt *tmt. It needed- a more adequate plant , i The member#; launched a program, for a-larger bulld4ng>- IroMidlng Sunday-school rooms. :However, before the buirldbg was- completed the community began to : • feel the.depression that'had gripped the country, &rA i t .became; increasingly; d ifficu lt to collect some of the •pledges which had been made.^ c ; ' ;' v' ; As Is very often the case, the first apparent acknowl edgement’ of the depression was In; the school budget. In 1931: the budget was .reduced #23,626; over the’ previous year In- Pinal: County,, and; furthen reduction was anticipated.^ i . ;The Red Croesi cooperated: with the: school: nurse in proyld.ing milk for the needy children; and the sewing classes of.rthe-high school remade eastroffr clothing into garments to, fit the children who were in need of school clothes. 2 . Report of State Tax Commission. Vol. 2. p. 14, 1932-1934. The"general county 'taxes decreased from #568,018 in 1931 to #494,328, a,difference of #13,690.in 3 years. Heine Schewel made a motion in the Chamber of Commerce r.rfor: that-.organization' to donate #100 to "each of the cHUrches and #75 to the Boy Scouts. However, the.president ruled ; the motion out: of - ortler. But; a motion to lend the Pres byterian Church #250 until the pledges could be collected o: wage passed. ; i^':-'' . . . v. • v .: . - : 4. The above are newspaper figures. On comparing the expend- 71 tubes" In the Blehnal Report of the Superintendent of Education to; the Governor:of Arizona,71928-30, July 1930- 32, the.reduction was only §17,953,62. What portion of •.this reduction came to Florence I do not know. . T.-vi i ’i. i'- . -:r = : - a :-::n . 69 - Host of these "chiMreti--were from rural homes f the • father'and often the mother worked as laborer# on the ranches." As -prices for farm produce declined, they were either'discharged-or allowed'to remain and help with the' work' forua place ltd stay, hut reeelvwi very little money. In: Decem ber1933,-there were 408 men on the relief payroll from Pinal County; and of that number 51 were from Florence.^ The;; m en vw ere; pa id fifty cents an hour and allowed to work for six hoursvrflve: days- each week, {'Attempts were-mad# to: provide; work of a '.permanent nature.: . ^ Funds- were allotted9 :for repairing the schools and , courthouse^ and large approprlatlonscwereiallotted to the PirnahIndians. ‘Most:important of all,were the funds set asideifor the. Rural-Resettlement Project, In 1935. This project was expected to be very beneficial to Florence, because:iit: wascmade the.headquarters- of the regional super visor, Lee"Ci.r.McCulloghy: and-much of the land selected for the: pro ject wasrln the vicinity of. the city, ... r n ■ • :1.r ~ >The pro ject^ consisted of . approximately 5,000 ; acres of-land; which with a ll the improvements,.was to remain the.property o f:the United States government. Farms were divided into approximately.forty-acres,- and small homes\ . of two' or three bedrooms, Vpath,: kitchen, living room and 5 . Works Progress Administration, Rural Relief in Arizona. J u ^ 30,""1935V' p. " 5: ------...... ' ' ...... — -...... - - Letter, Ralph E. Beaty, manager of Casa Grande Valley Farm s. A4 1 0 0 1 70 screened porches were constructed.' Fruit trees, gardens : aM:shrubs were planted and everything was arranged to give the settlers a new start. . . "The Fara Security Administration selected between 5° and 60 rural fam ilies of the lower Income group. These fam ilies formed a corporation and operated the farms cooper atively The"farm was operated as a unit rather than by individual families;-; - ' . t: ; The corporation borrowed money from the goverment for the purchase;of livestock, machinery, equipment, and operating cap ital,: In 1940 the members of the corporation were drawing approximately ^65 per month for living expenses.^ At the end ofithe year if : the corporation had accumulated a profit a bonus.was paid^ based on the number of hours worked. ' 1 ".-r';: . • The 1 project was divided:into the following enterprises: i - dairy, livestock, poultry, and crop farms. Through their dairy the farmers built up-a-substantial market for their Grade A milk, principally in*Tucson. -Most of the livestock has been shipped to LosAngeles. The.local markets of Florence and Casa Grande have bought most of the excess- - - - poultry and eggs. Cotton has been the cash crop with the exception of a small amount of wheat. ' ; Although the principal purpose in the resettlement 71 project was to Improve the financial status of the persons involved, the educational phase has been secondary, but plans have been made to Improve and develop that phase of O the community life in the future. The United States had begun its program of reclamation through the San Carlos irrigation system, and then extended the program to the resettlement phase of work. It was natural that a demand for rural electrification follow these two programs. On June 12, 1936, a b ill which provided for the establishment of the rural electrification of the San Carlos irrigation and drainage district passed both Q houses of the United States Congress. This was another step in bringing life to the desert. It meant better living conditions in the rural and small homes through the use of electrical appliances at less expensive rates. The electrlfleal program meant Improved means of farming in the Florence area. Not only was the Federal Government generous in its great general schemes to combat unemployment, but the more 8 . ■ ------:------This resettlement project was located about 31' miles south- west of Florence. The name is Casa Grande Farms, Inc. United States Statues at Large. Vol. 49, Part 1, p. 1822. This was a separate b ill from the Rural Electrification B ill of May 30, 1936, which applied to United States and Territories. 10. Yearbook of Agriculture. 1940. "Rural Electrification," by Robert T.Beal. (Rural Electrification Administrator) p. 790-801. Ca v lot lyvio»tioK fvoiet'T EltiTricAl D i\T. V l o . J Ellttri a I Dist ,Vu. 3 Dist No. ^ -A rv) F'Carko couNry Sckoa) Fi nance in P,*af Countij , I *4. 4 73 Individual and stfkllei* projects received large sme Of money;- The government provided sums duplicated for the construction of a county hospital. The construction was to cost #64,000; of this amount the Works Project Admin istration provided $34,000. The Governor's fund provided $20,000 arid the balance' was raised hy a special tax levy irv Pinal County. 'Arrangements were made for the care of the Indigent. - ' Despite the anx3eti.ee which faced the people during the' "depression, they were no greater in many respects tlmn those which faced’ the early pioneer, and those which followed the decline of mining. The citizens of Florence accepted the depression in a philosophical manner; they enjoyed their dances, ball games, barbecues, and the Parada. Cowboys came great distances in 1940, as they had in 1880, to en joy the pleasures of the town and to compete with their friends in the horse-riding contests. Florence continued to be a great cattle area and cattle raising was one of the principal phases of agriculture. In 1940 Pinal County produced 40,000 bales of short staple cotton; 18,000 tons of cottonseed; 20,000 tons of alfalfa; 1,000,000 tons of wheat, and many orchards and garden crops.^ With, the war. in progress., in Europe and plane for training the American youth in m ilitary service "going forward; the Arizona Highways. "Fair Florence,* November, 1940. ' ' 74 opportunities for disposing of large surplus of crops looked favorable. In addition to the prospects of sale, the abundant rainfall during the fa ll and winter months of 1940 assured the farmers of plenty of water for irriga tion of their crops’.- rv-r 2 - : > • ■ „ • 1A fewrof the early ,settlers were living in Florence in 1940. : These 1 settlers were proud of the achievements: ofthelrtown although they^recognlzed its failures. With pleasure.these:early settlers reca lls the days when Florence-ranked with.Tucson, Yuma,-and Prescott as one of the important cities of Arizona.1? - ; . . Ul;.::-: ’'v..::. . r:: 2 2 ■ ^ -ottcvn r:-r2t: A - : ' \ y- ■ • - UU'L-y::-• 2 2 "vv:'; :..y .y,y V ’ V .:y .• i Pr-'-l-'l dA ; r •. :v : : . :V;. /-do or- :-/.^ • ; . :.V : d ■ 1 r ..yn/ /r. y dy; / y 2; V d' . v- • 1.C 2 #. Settlers who told interesting accounts of Florence were: Mrs. Mary E, Colton, one of the first school-teachers * ; of Florence; Mrs. Lola Sweeny Angulo, the daughter of Jim Sweeny who accompanied Maxmllllan to Mexico; and Nott Guild, postmaster and-native resident of Florence; -ri Cn r:%.z /; ".'7; CHAPTER VI -/ ' y: Izc ' I '. ': ; - - - • : - CONCLUSION r. • In looking - back ov®r seventy-five years of history' " ' of !Florenceone marvels at the otenges which have 'Ween placevin- Florenceand yet there aro so sany thing® which have'remained-constant* As one look# to the future of Florence, tone feels that the land is after all the hope of the future as it was of the past. During the early decades the pioneers went about staking .off their ranches; they:were busy •making their 'homes from the very so il they tilled ;:they fashioned crude Irrigation ditches from the pattern left by prehistoric people; life was hard and tur bulent. It had to be lived each day as it was met. Freight was difficu lt to procure and required laborious trips to El Paso or Yuma, and only the brave could over come the obstacles and endure the hardships that the early life in Florence required. The Florence of today includes about 1000 people, its stores, its roads, its buses and its civic institutions. It is served by the Southern Pacific Railroad from Coolldge and by the Greyhound transcontinental stage line service between Tucson and Phoenix via Florence. The city has gas, lights, water, telephones, and practically all modern conveniences. Educational facilities include grade school 76 and the Florence Union High School. It has been the seat of activity of the Catholic Church for many years. Today, three denominations have tDeeh established in the town. Florence has experienced keenly alternating cycles ofrprosperity and depression. Such a period of depression followed the exhaustion of the Silver King Mine. During the World War prlces'for farm produce rose to unprecedented heights and 'Florehce in the national prosperity. . However , these prices could not last. Then came low : or ices . coupled ^i i th : the ; gr eat depress ion of 1929. As i:V' jV* ■: r . ■ U-r- .. ' a result of the present defense program, prices on agri culture .'have, rleehVrfaii^-yih ■flS^PrPlorenoe . stood -.at.- a new era of, prosperity. : « ; V B I B L I O G-R A P H Y A. BOOKS Bancroft, H. H.. Arizona and New Mexico. . San Francisco:. T h e.H isto ry Corapany Pub11s h e r s , 1^89. Barnes, W.; C. , Arizona. Place Names. Tucson, 1935 CulbertHarry S .. School Finance . in Pinal Soynty* Thesis, Educational Department, University of Arizona, 1939. : i -' « v . . . Y r -: ■> Doucette, Forest E. , Arlaona Year Book. 1930-1931. E lliott, W. C.. A History of Arizona Territory. San Fran- -Y: - cisco: E l l i o t t - and- Company-, 1884. Famish, T. E.: History of Arizona. : Vol. 2. San Francisco: The Fllraer Brothers Electrotype Company, 1915. Hamilton. Patrick. The- Resources of Arizona. Sah Francisco: Bancroft.Printers, 1883• : v-Y :,L: Y . Y.wY. [: .. . . Hinton. R.; J.'i ' Hand Book to Arizona. San Francisco: 1878. Humphry, Zephine, Cactus Forest. New York: Dutton and Corapiny,' 1938;...... • - ! : • ■ - . . : Kelley, George, Legislative. History of Arizona. 1864-1912. Phoenix: Manufacturers of: Stationery, 1926. Lockwood, Francis Cummins, Pioneer Days in Arizona. New York: Macmillan Company1932. , ^ ~ ■ McClintock. James H., Arizona. The Youngest State. "Biogra phies" Vol. 3• Clarke Publishing Company, 1916. Moore, Frank. Women of the" War.' Hartford, Connecticut: Scranton, and Company, 1866. Sloan,. Richard; E..., History, of Arizona. Vol& 3 and 4. Phoenix: Record; Publishing Company, 1930. Sloan, Richard E.-. Memories of an.Arizona Judge. Stanford University ^ Stanford Publishing Company, 1932. Taylor, Robert, A Program of Educational Development for Florence Union High School D istrict. Thesis, Educa tional Department, University of Arizona, Tucson, 1936. 2 :b . interview s Angulo, Mrs. Lola Sweeny, daughter of Jim Sweeny, who ..., accompanied" M axallllan to Mexico. Barbara, Slater Saint, formerly.at Saint Theresa Academy, Saint Mary* s' Convent i l^ aon ,. Arixona.'. ; ^ : . Colton,, Mrs. Maryl.E., ‘one of the early school teachers of Florence;'; ' Guild, Nott, postmaster at;Florence. Jacque, Father. Joseph .Dominic, .Church, of Assumption, Florence. Thum, B." F . , S e c r e ta r y o f Commerce', F lo r e n c e , A rizon a. Weaver, Alva; L. ,; Secretary of State Prison, Florence, Arizona. White, John, Secretary of School Superintendent, Florence. • - C. LETTERS AND PRIVATE PAPERS Jacque, Father Joseph Dominic. Relating to Assumption Church• Beaty, 1 Ralph E., M anagerCasa Grande Valley Farms, Inc. Summary o f ,r e s e t t le m e n t work in G ila V a lle y by Farm Security Administration. Fulton, Richard,EiSecretary to Clerk of Pinal County Superior Court. Stevens, D. ■ C., Papers;, titles,""deeds, maps and records. Arizona Pioneer H istorical Society. Shelley, James, D istrict Manager, Farm Security Administra t io n . Summary o f th e r e s e ttle m e n t p h a se. D. : .MAGAZINES Beachamp, Marshall. "Fair Florence.** Arizona Highways. November, 1940,. p. 16. Poston, Charles D., "Building a State in Apache Land,M Overland Monthly. October, 1894, p. 4. The Electric Journal.' (n.h.) "Coolldge Dam Helps Revive Dust", Pittsburg, Pennsylvania: Electric Journal Publishing Company, January, 1930. 3 E. MANUSCRIPTS Bailey, Mary E.V'Reminiscences* Arizona Pioneer Historical Society, Tucson, Arizona. Blake, William P ., The Silver King Mine in Arizona. Type- : w r itte n jc o p y :.byy-W.VGi;• Oabraith;.fromr o r ig in a l e d it io n in the Yale University Library. University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona.. Brown. George; Reminiscences. Arizona Pioneer Historical Socii&y, Tucson, Arizona. Brown,;R. C;, Reminiscences. MS. Arizona Pioneer Histor ical Society, Tucson, Arizona. Bugg, John J .. Pinal County. Arlzom. Superintendent of Education, Pinal County. Parrish, T. E., Arizona History. Arizona University, Tucson, Arizona;^..v:. - a. ■ - . - , . Fish, Joseph, Arizona History. Arizona Pioneer Historical x:j Society, .Tucson, Arizona. Luttrell, Estelle, Newspapers. Unpublished, University of Arizona, , Tucson, .Arizona.; McClintock, James H., Radio Talks on Arizona. University i; of Arizona,"Tucson, Arizona. Pierson, Louisa Grant, Grant Stage Lines. Arizona Pioneer Historical Society, Tucson, Arizona. Poston, Charles D., Learning and Religion. University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona. Rice, Michael M., Reminiscences. Arizona Pioneer Historical Society, Tucson, Arizona.- • , . . Stratton, Emerson Oliver, Reminiscences. Arizona Pioneer : : Historical Society, Tucson, Arizona. F. MAPS Arizona Eastern Railway. Southern Pacific Bulletin. 1926. Arizona Pioneer H istorical Society, Tucson, Arizona. Map of Arizona, Arizona Highways. November, 1940. " Kelley, R. p,, Butterfield Stage and Mall, I860. This same route was used by the Overland Stage. 4 ••• ^r- V - •••'■. : ’ f; ^ e . ' m m m m m ; ■ . :' " >>-■, IV; : V; . Arlzom VSlade;.; Florence. ^rlkoM.. - .i • f.v.V.-- July: 15, ; 1900 /: ■ V :: ’ - n ‘ ’ -, ' - :;' November 23, 1900. :• r. Arizona^ Blade-Tribune.vFlorence* Arizona. March- 29, 1902; :.on * : : ' : v. : • x , .1 f: ;, • r. December 13, 1902. Special: Edition;: 1903. - • • June 4, 1904, 1 ; , : ■ . - Arizona:Enterprise. Florence; Arizona. ' November 9, : 1889. -■ ■■ •' ■' v: February 15, 1890. J cl. n Nov ember 8 , ■ -1890; -; V; ; v . V.X.:... : June 13, I89I. • - V - r ;/ •' : December 31, 1891. ' ,': n October 19 ,j 1893. V .'V: v . : ■ ; • .Vv.: ?h Arizona Daily Star. Tucson, Arizona. iX':- ■■ v:. "’ '; .: l ■ ••• . : Vr \ . Dally Evening Tribune. Florence, Arizona. :- : December 16; 1893. ■ ; * v ; - ; 1 V;;-:' fr" - : ..iv;? ■ Florence Tribune'. Florence, Arizona. ^ January. 10; 1892. V - ; v - . ■ ' ...... 1 V-r , ....." "V Phoenix-'Herald. Phoenix, Arizona. :.Xu -Maroh .:2X;.: j. V:v..XV.. ■;VXV ; _ . V • • . (^r.r'OFFICIALtREPQRTS AND BULLETINS ■ r: !'• i = y : " - _ , : '' ' - Ap;r 1 cuItural- Year -Book;- Uhl ted ‘ State'g . 1940.. Department of Agriculture, Washington, 1941. American Newspaper Guide7 1821-1932. New York: Wilson and Company, 19367 Union list of newspapers. Biennial Report of Superintendent of Public Education. Territory of Arizona, 1907, State of Arizona, 1915. Church of Assumption, Records. Baptisms, confirmations, and marriages. Florence, Arizona, 1870. Clark, AIvan, Dams. Bibliography. Fort Belvolr, Virginia, 1936. 5 Congressional Record. 74th Congress, 2nd Session, Vol. 80, Part Washington: Government Printing Office, 1936. Governor's Reports to Secretary of Interior. 1889-1890. Washington: Government Printing O ffice, 1897• Hamersley, Thomas, (Editor) Revised Outlines and Descriptions of M ilitary Posts and Stations In Arizona, February, 1872. Washington: Government Printing O ffice, 1881. House Executive Document. 62nd Congress. Washington: Government Printing O ffice, 1913• Irrigation Papers. United States Geological Survey No. 2. Washington: Government Printing O ffice, 1897• Johnson, Royal Adverse, Report of the Surveyor General for Arizona upon Allied Peralta Grant. Journal. Sixth and Eighth Legislature of Arizona Territory. 1871 and 187S. Tucson: Arizona Citizen, 1876. Pima County, Abstracts. Board of Supervisors. 1872. Arizona Pioneer H istorical Society. Pinal County, School Superintendents. D istrict 1. 1881. 1915. and 1940. Florence, Arizona. Pinal County, Board of Supervisor's Reports. 1881. 1887. and 1890. University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona. Southern Pacific Railway Bulletin. 1926-1928. State Tax Commission. Vol. 11-14, 1931-1934. Phoenix, 1936. Supreme Court Report. Territory of Arizona. Vol. 9, 1904-1906. San Francisco: Bancroft Company, 1907. Supreme Court Report. United States. Vol. 207, New York: Banks Law Publishing Company, 1908.