YAVAPAI COUNTY
AZGENWEB
County History
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Yavapai County reflects the history of the old west while presenting the future of the new. Remnants of U.S. Cavalry forts, Indian dwellings, gold rush boomtowns, abandoned mines, Spanish Land Grant ranches, homesteads and vast tracts of uninhabited public lands exist side by side with modern housing developments, industry and business in the mountain heart of Arizona. Traditional cowboys off the range, modern day gold prospectors and those living a rustic lifestyle in the isolated areas of the County rub shoulders with artists, university and college students, a large retirement population and families raising children in the small towns throughout the County. As with much of the southwest, the history of the area predates the formation of the Arizona Territory and of Yavapai county. For millennia the region was home to a series of Pre-Columbian peoples. By 1 AD, the dominant groups in the area were the Hohokam, the Mogollon, and the Ancestral Puebloans (also known as the Anasazi). The Hohokam dominated the center of the area which is now Arizona, the Mogollon the southeast, and the Puebloans the north and northeast. As these cultures disappeared between 1000 and 1400 AD, other Indian groups settled in Arizona. These tribes included the Navajo, Apache, Southern Paiute, Hopi, Yavapai, Akimel O'odham, and the Tohono O'odham. Prehistoric Indian artifacts can be found in ancient Indian Pueblos and mounds throughout the County. The greatest concentration of artifacts are found in the Verde Valley where the Sinagua Indians arrived around 500 A.D. and created dwellings at Tuzigoot and Montezuma’s Castle. Spanish explorers also traveled through Yavapai County. One of the first incursions of the Spanish into this part of the world, Antonio de Espejo visited the Hopi mines in Jerome in May, 1581 looking for gold. They left the next day after finding only copper. Juan de Onate explored the area in 1604 and Friar Francis Garces visited in 1776. As
early as 1847 and l848 Joseph Walker and Jack Ralston,
hunters and trappers, discovered gold upon the Little
Colorado River, a short distance below the falls, but did
not know what it was. In Oregon, in 1856, they saw the same
yellow metal called gold and realized it was the same as
that which they had found along the Little Colorado. Late in
the 50's Ralston died, but Walker and a party, among whom
were George D. Lount, John Dickason, Joseph R. Walker,
Oliver Hallett, Arthur Clothier and Robert Forsythe, left
San Francisco, in 1861, for the Little Colorado River, and
arrived at the spot where some of the party had been before,
but found no gold, as the gravel bed in which the gold had
been found had been washed away by the high water of the
river. The company went to Denver, Colorado, and the next
spring another party was organized that went first to
Albuquerque, New Mexico, and from there to the Gila and San
Francisco Rivers in Arizona. The party divided at, or near,
where afterwards was established Fort Wingate, and the
smaller party went by Santa Rita copper mines, New Mexico,
and Pinos Altos, where they were recruited by Jack Swilling,
W. T. Scott, now of Tucson, and some others, and passed
through Tucson and Pima Villages and on to the Hassayampa
Creek; and in the vicinity of where Prescott now is, made
important gold discoveries. Joseph Walker, Pauline Weaver,
Jack Swilling, Henry Wickenburg, Mr. Peebles and others made
many discoveries of precious metals in the Hassayampa Lynx
Creek, Granite Creek, Big Bug and elsewhere. In 1851, the Oatman family was ambushed by a group of tribal members, possibly Do:lkabaya Yavapai (western band of the Yavapai), though many historians argue that it is impossible to know. Roys Oatman and his wife were killed, along with four of their seven children. The son, Lorenzo, was left for dead but survived, while sisters Olive and Mary Ann were taken as slaves and later sold to the Mojave. The story was widely published, and increased white settlers' fears of attack in Arizona. The Yavapai Wars, or the Tonto Wars, were a series of armed conflicts between the Yavapai and Tonto tribes against the United States in Arizona. The period began no later than 1861, with the arrival of American settlers on Yavapai and Tonto land. (These wars will be presented later on another page at this site. Watch for it on the What's New? page.) In 1862 one of the earliest frontiersmen to explore the area, Paulin de Jesus Guiver (also known as Pauline Weaver), discovered placer gold near La Paz, on the Colorado, northern Arizona, and a rush was made to the new El Dorado. A year later the same man discovered what are still known as the Weaver Mines in Yavapai County, and, soon after, the great find at Antelope Peak was made. These discoveries, of course, attracted miners by the thousand to Yavapai and Mohave counties, and an unexampled period of mining prosperity began in northern Arizona, for the ledges and placers were abundant, easily worked, and rich beyond all precedent.
On February
24, 1863, in the midst of the Civil War, the U.S. Congress
enacted legislation, signed by President Abraham Lincoln,
that created the Arizona Territory. The War was costly to
the federal government and Union leaders were most likely
influenced by the prospect of mineral wealth in the area
that became the Arizona Territory.
President Lincoln
signed the bill that provided for a temporary government for
the Territory of Arizona. In the next month he appointed the
following officers for the territory : The appointments were confirmed by the Senate in the same month. Gurley died before the party started and John N. Goodwin was appointed to take his place. Several
other changes were necessary and the party that finally left
Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, on September 25th was made up of
the following : The
officials, citizens, A loud cheer and escort assembled in
the plaza went up as Secretary McCormick rose to give his
opening address as follows :
The
following were elected. -- Council: Coles Bashford, lawyer;
Francisco S. Leon, farmer; Mark Aldrich, merchant; Patrick
H. Dunne, printer; George H. Leihy, miner; José M. Redondo,
ranchero; King S. Woolsey, farmer; Robert W. Groom, miner;
Henry A. Bigelow, miner. In May, 1863, the first organized body of mining men to put foot in what is now the county of Yavapai was an exploration party of 34 men led by Captain Joseph R. Walker, a mountain man and experienced scout. The company discovered placer gold in the stream beds at the headwaters of the Hassayampa River in the Bradshaw Mountains. One of those tributaries, Lynx Creek, would be the richest streambed in Arizona history, the impetus for an influx of white settlement in the area. The gold finds were just south and east of present-day Prescott. A subsequent discovery of gold in the Antelope Mountains set in motion a chain of events which led to establishment of Fort Whipple along the Granite Creek and the founding, on May 30, 1864, the town of Prescott. Discovery of gold meant hundreds, if not thousands, of White settlements along the Hassayampa and Agua Fria Rivers, the nearby valleys, as well as in Prescott, and Fort Whipple would be built, all by the end of the year, and all in traditional Yavapai territory. The first house on the Prescott town site was the office of the Arizona Miner, later demolished. The publisher was Tisdale A. Hand. In its place was the building of a brick store house now owned by T.G. Loisilon. The first hotel and restaurant was called the Juniper House with George W. Barnard as proprietor. In November, 1863, a party of twenty-four men arrived from Santa Fe, New Mexico. Among them were Ed Peck and Lew Walters, who afterwards became residents of Prescott. As soon as the lumber for sluice-boxes could be whip-sawed out and the sluices gotten ready, members of this party commenced operations upon Granite Creek, washing for gold. This creek, now generally a 'dry' stream, at that time carried considerable water for four or five miles above where Prescott now is, and many men were soon at work washing for the precious gold. Another feature of this stream in those pioneer days, at which persons who have only known it in recent years, may indulge in an incredulous smile upon hearing, is that it afforded a fine variety of mountain trout, which contributed materially to the luxury of many a miner's table, in those days when luxuries were scarce. The waters seem to have withdrawn from the face of civilization, as at this time there is no water in Granite Creek, except when a heavy rain falls, and then only for a few hours. The first store was opened by Manuel Yesera, in the south end of town. Yesera arrived on December 24, 1863 and according to C.B. Gunung, stopped his loaded teams just where Granite Street turns to cross Granite Creek and on that spot erected a two-roomed log house. One room was used as the store, the other as a living room. Judge Howard occupied this house after Yeserea returned to New Mexico and called it Fort Misery. Prescott served as the territorial capital from 1864 to 1867. The troops at Fort Whipple protected the settlers and miners in and around the newly established territorial capital of Prescott. In April 1864, Territorial Secretary Richard McCormick claimed 160 acres on the west side of Granite Creek, calling the property Pinal Ranch. By June, ready for a home with walls and a roof, McCormick and Goodwin contracted to have a log structure built on the property. They hired Samuel E. Blair, Daniel Hatz and John Raible as contractors. On the 30th of May, 1864, a meeting of citizens was held on Granite Creek, a town was located, and named Prescott in honor of the eminent American writer and standard authority upon Aztec and Spanish- American history. The streets of the new city were laid out wide, straight and with the cardinal points of the compass; many of them were named after governors and other prominent men. In August 1864, Arizona's territorial governor John Goodwin and his group of government officials had been living in tents for almost a year. They had traveled into the new Territory the preceding winter looking for a place to found a capital. They chose a spot in the Central Highlands with plenty of timber and water where the town of Prescott had recently been established. The first well-regulated saloon in Prescott was opened by Tom Hodges on Cortez Street who sold drinks and cigars and took "Burros" in payment. The first Sunday School was organized on August 7, 1864 in a log cabin by Rev. H.W. Reed, postmaster and pastor. The first day-school was opened in the fall of 1864 by Alexander Malron but it failed to assume the form and character of a school until taken hold of by Mrs. L.A. Stevens in 1865. Dr. James Garvin was the first Justice of the Peace. Captain Joe Walker and some of his party lived just across the South Granite Street bridge in a log corral with two sides covered and the center left open for a fireplace. The next store started was in a small log cabin on Granite Street where California Jackson lived when he died. Herman Menassee was the next proprietor. He was murdered by a Mexican at his store in Wickenburg some years later. About the same time Barnett and Barth started another store on Montezuma Street. This building was of hewn logs, about twelve by eighteen and was built by Steve Richardson for Secretary McCormick to be used as a printing office. One of the first families to settle on Prescott's Granite Creek was that of Julius Sanders and his wife and daughter. They came in with a pack-train in March 1864. Other families in 1864 were Joseph Ehle and family, Daniel Stevens and family, consisting of a wife and a son and three daughters, T.M. Alexander and wife, with three sons and three daughters, Lewis A. Stevens and wife, John Simmons and wife, with two sons and a daughter, and J.P. Osborn and wife with three sons and four daughters. Mrs. R.C. McCormick, the wife of the Secretary came out in the same year and died in childbirth in 1866 in the old Gubernatorial Mansion. Captain Leib and wife came with the Governor's party a little prior to the others, and located at old Fort Whipple. Mrs. Leib afterward became the wife of Judge Hezkiah Brooks. The first marriage in Prescott was that of John Boggs to a woman from California. The Fish manuscript states that the first marriage was that of John H. Dickson to Mary J. Ehle, which took place on November 17, 1864. Miss Mary Sanders afterward became the wife of Samuel C. Miller in April 1867. Prescott's first boarding house for miners was presided over by "Virgin Mary" who built a log house on Goose Flat. Two goats furnished the milk and the price "Board $25 in gold, per week in advance" hung from the latch string. Shortly afterward a man named Jackson started another boarding house and cut the price to $16 dollars in gold per week. Virgin Mary could furnish goat milk for coffee which was an attraction and to offset this Jackson had a few stewed apples. Virgin Mary was one of two women who lived in Prescott in 1864. Her real name was never known but she was called Virgin Mary because of her charity and benevolence. She died about 1888 on Lynx Creek. Christy and Van Smith erected under contract, the old capitol building in 1864 of logs which stood for many years. Levi Bashford owned the property for more than twenty years. The original Montezuma building was erected in 1864. It was used as a saloon and stood where the Cabinet saloon and the Palace Barbershop were located in later years. About twenty feet in back of the Montezuma the first boot and shoe manufacturing shop was erected. It was built and owned by John Laughlan. William H. Read was the first clergyman to arrive in Prescott. He came with the Governor's party and started a Sunday School for boys until June 14, 1866 which was done by Mrs. Brooks, Mrs. Bashford and Mrs. Turner. D. Henderson and Company had a general merchandise store near the creek. This place was later occupied by Fred Brecht and used for a blacksmith shop. The first adobe building in Prescott was used for a saloon but was later converted into a clothing house by Cook and Bowers. Coles Bashford and Judge Howard were the only lawyers. Michael Wormser erected the first building on what is now the plaza. It was built of adobe and stood near the southwest corner of Goodwin and Montezuma streets. In 1868, Samuel Curtis Rogers built the first one-room schoolhouse in northern Arizona. Rogers used borrowed books and his own library to teach his students. The log building served as Northern Arizona’s first schoolhouse and remained in use until 1873, when it was replaced by a new, larger structure. Prescott's first hotel was started and run by George W. Bernard, now of Tempe, and was known as the Juniper House, deriving its name from the tree under which the cooking and eating was done. It was very handy as a man could load up his plate with grub and go to the shady side of the tree to eat. About the time Bernard opened his establishment, John Roundtree and Dr. Alsap opened the first saloon. That was opened under some large pine trees that grew on the lower end of Goose Flat. It was built of cloth and timber; a small wagon sheet stretched over a pole which rested in the forks of two upright posts. The bar fixtures consisted of one ten gallon keg of whiskey; a half dozen tin cups and a canteen of water. The cups had handles, loose at one end and the loose end formed a hook by which they hung around the chain of the keg when not in use. Yavapai County was home to Arizona’s first territorial capital, with the provisional seat of the territorial government being established at Fort Whipple in 1864 and then several months later moved to Prescott. In 1867, the territorial capital was moved to Tucson and ten years later returned to Prescott. In 1889 the capital was moved to Phoenix, where it remains to this day. The mining industry practically stopped in 1861 when the forces were withdrawn and Arizona was at the mercy of the Indians. Even as late as 1876 only about one-half of the territory was prospected. "This vas due to the hostility of the Indians. In spite of this many mines had reopened in 1876. The County register reports on October1, 1876 give the number of mines in the various counties: Yavapai had 7,298. Named for the Yavapai Natives, Yavapai County was one of four original counties created 21 December 1864 by the Arizona Territory. It originally covered over 65,000 square miles in size and is believed to have been the largest county ever created in the lower 48 States. Yavapai County came to be known as the “Mother of Counties” after being called upon to contribute territory of which to form other counties. Apache, Coconino (1893), Gila, and Navajo (1879) counties were carved from it, plus parts of Greenlee, Graham, Mohave, Maricopa (1871), and Pinal (1875). Today, Yavapai County is 8,125 square miles in size – approximately the same size as the state of Massachusetts. The population of Yavapai, by the census of 1900, was 13,799.
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Arizona Pioneers' Historical Society. The History of Arizona: From the Earliest Times Known to the People of Europe to 1903. The Whitaker & Ray company, 1905. Braatz,
Timothy. Surviving Conquest. University of
Nebraska Press, 2003. ISBN 978-0-8032-2242-7 Journal of the First Legislative Assembly of Arizona, 9-14
Pritzker, Harry. A Native American Encyclopedia:
History, Culture, and Peoples. Oxford University
Press, 2000. ISBN 0-19-513877-5.
Swanton, John Reed. The Indian Tribes of North America,
US Government Printing Office, 1952.
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