Significant Pioneer - Women of Arizona 1860 - 1912
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SIGNIFICANT PIONEER - WOMEN OF ARIZONA 1860 - 1912 A research project by I Carole DeCosmo - ARIZONA STATE ·usRARY : ARCHIVES & PUBLIC RECORDS - JUN 2 l 2011 Funded in part by the Bert Fireman Research Grant from - \. The Arizona Historical Foundation at Arizona State University · Table of Contents Forward 1 Acknowledgements 2 Introduction 3 Significant Pioneer Women of Arizona 6 The Ladies of the Clubs 31 Clark Collection 42 Bibliography 127 Index 131 Census 135 Forward I became interested in the pioneer women of Arizona doing research for the video "Arizona Quilts Pieces of Time" for Arizona Quilt Project. Going through archives in the states museums like the Sharlott Hall Museum, Arizona Historical Society Museum and the Arizona Historical Foundation I found the stories of women that had made a difference in the social and cultural foundations of Arizona - women that I had never heard of. There were single working mothers, Angela Hutchinson Hammer and Sarah Dall Weech, and educators like Angeline Brigham Mitchell Brown and Mary Bernard Aquirre. Each in a different sections of Arizona were busy making a difference as the state grew. When I received the Bert Fireman Research Grant from the Arizona Historical Foundation I began to delve deeper. I set my research area from 1860 to 1912. This space of time took Arizona from being a part of the Territory of New Mexico to statehood. I found many fascinating women and the selection process was difficult because some of these women had become very real to me through thenf stories. I found many that made a difference, but were outside the research period. The research project is divided into three sections: Significant Pioneer Arizona Women; The Ethel Maddock Clark Collection; and The Ladies of the Club. Each woman included in each section was selected because their story is a part of the warp and woof of the fabric of Arizona. Included in the Appendix is an excerpt of the 1860 census. It is interesting to see where the settlers were and where they came from. The Index of Women gives their names, where they settled and the museum where I found information about them. I hope that the reader enjoys reading about these extraordinary ladies that came to the last frontier in the United States, looked around and set to work to make it a better place to live. 1 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This research could never have begun without the help of The Bert Fireman Research Grant from the Arizona Historical Foundation at Arizona State University and their patience at the time it took me to complete the work. I also want to thank Carole Miller, a lifelong friend, who spent vacation time checking dates in a research library; Cindy Hayostek, Cochise County Historical and Archeological Society; Tom Vaughn, Bisbee Mining and Historical Museum; Rosemary Clark, Desert Caballeros Western Museum; Evelyn Lessler, Pimeria Alta Historical Society; Cherrel Weech, Eastern Arizona Museum and Historical Society; Ellen Clark, Willcox Chamber of Commerce and Agriculture; and Rick Lilje grin. A special thank you to Daffy Tabor, Phoenix Museum of History, who discovered the Ethyl Maddock Clark research papers and Jean Maddock Clark who gave me the permission to use her mothers work before her death. Special recognition to Eth¢ Maddock Clark, whose passion for history preserved a special piece of Arizona History. 2 INTRODUCTION Arizona in the 1860's was a part of the New Mexico Territory. When the 1860 Census was taken in the Territory of New Mexico, County of Arizona, the Aggregate Population was 6,485. (see Decennial Census 1860) That included 743 white females, 6 colored females and 1,938 Free Indians. The population was mainly south of the Gila River to the Mexican Border. The census, of course, counted only the "Free Indians" since the Apache and other hostiles objected to the census takers. Many of the women were wives and daughters of military men stationed at the many posts across the County of Arizona to try to control the Indians. Most were housewives although there were a few business women, milliners, laundresses and ladies of the evening plying their trades. Given the modes of travel at the time it is interesting to note the original home of many of the women: Ireland, Austria, Germany, Chile and Venezuela were just a few. The start of the Civil War caused the United States government to recall the majority of the troops from the territory to fight in the easL When this happened the Apaches took advantage of the exposed position of the pioneer settlers and the majority of the Anglo's either left or sent their families to the east to safety. Virginia Culin Roberts, in the Spring, 1982 Journal of Arizona History, tells us about the few (Akes, Penning tons, Kirkland, Wadsworth and Page) who stayed with their families on ranches along the Santa Cruz River. (see 1860 Territorial Map of Arizona) The true pioneer period started after the Civil War. Arizona bad become a state, but was still a man's territory. Mining, ranching, and the military were still the principal occupations for residents. Commercial activity was confined to the region south of the Gila River, except for a few scattered mines and nearby army posts. By the 1870 census the population had grown to 9,.658 over SO% of them in Pima County -3,244 in Tucson; Yavapai County with 2,142. The majority of the women were Hispanic and Indian, but the anglo women were coming with their families and the frontier was beginning to have a new look. These women were better educated and accustomed to more cultural amenities. They were also self sufficient, after taking care of the farms, ranches and families while their husbands were fighting in the Civil War. A few Indians made them nervous but did not scare them off. The 1880's changed the nature of Arizona. The steady growth of mining from placer to lode, saw the growth of substantial communities where mills were being established. With the growth of jobs came families, and with the families came schools and churches. During this same period the Mormon movement, which had begun along the Little Colorado River in the 1870's, stepped up. These pioneers established solid, substantial, family orientated communities. With the arrival of the railroad Arizona swept into the Territorial Development period in the 1890's with strong agrarian growth. Geronimo had been subdued for the last time, and for the first time, a period of peace and prosperity existed. The capital was moved from Prescott to Phoenix, and Maricopa County was beginning to become an attractive agricultural center, good for farming families. By the turn of the century the three C's, cotton, cattle and copper, dominated the economy, the culture remained agrarian. and the fight for statehood gained support. Women were always a strong influence in the forming of the state. In Cochise County, Jennie Elliot, who had come to Bisbee with her husband, ran a variety of boarding houses. In 1904 she became the first woman lobbyist in the Territorial Legislature. In 1905, eight years before women gained the right to vote in Arizona, they were voting in Bisbee. Deputy District Attorney F. J. Flanigan stated, "I am of the opinion that all actual taxpayers in the district are entitled to vote, and that any woman who possess the requirements is also entitled to vote, she being a taxpayer." This opinion was made regarding a school bond election in Cochise County. The bond passed overwhelmingly due to women voters, including many teachers. Bisbee and Cochise County have a history of many firsts for women in Arizona. Nellie Cashman and Louise Fiske were the first women to file a mining claim, on November 28, 1878. Sarah Herring became the first woman in the Territory of Arizona to pass the bar exams on January 15, 1893. As Arizona approached statehood suffrage for women became a rallying point for women all over the state. Frances Williard Mllllds and Rachel Allen Berry led the fight in the northern part of the state. Rosa Goodrich Boido, M.D. and Dr. Clara M. Schell were part of the group in Tucson, and when Arizona was admitted to the Union on February 14, 1912, it was a new era for Arizona and for women. - 0 .:i::::::1;~~==:i::, Kitchen Ranch 1 Ji'l~~!--~~fJ!tti:ll · h rahall Significant Pioneer Women of Arizona The only course toward the greatest ideals of human development is by the road of absolute freedom .•. and unswerving personal responsibility.•. for both men and women, in every phase of life in home and outside world alike. I believe that woman's first duty is to herself... and that she must be free to find her own way toward the greatest good and most harmonious development without any purely arbitrary man-made restriction. 6 wealthy Mexican trader, in 1862. They were married on August 21, 1862. The couple traveled extensively in the east: Chi~go, New York, Philadelphia and Baltimore, visiting family before leaving in September, 1863 for Sante Fe. Toe affluence of the Aguirres was apparent, they traveled in a train of 1? w~gons l~aded with 10,000 pounds of freight. By 1864, Epifamo Agmrrre owned the "bulk of the government contracts for freighting along the Sante Fe trail between the Colorado and Missouri Rivers", supplying Army posts throughout the Southwest Mary traveled extensively with EpifanJo in the seven years before his death, having three sori: Pedro, Epifanio and Stephen, during the time. Epifania was killed MARYBERNARDAGUffiRE by Apache Indians in January, 1870 near Sasabe, Arizona.