Topic: Arizona History

The military post established by Melchior Diaz in the Sonora Valley, at or near the Corazones (Ures), having been captured and destroyed by the Indians before Coronado ‘s return, the limits of New Spain remained the same as before his expedition, Culiacan being its farthest northern limit. The discovery of the rich silver mines of Zacatecas was made about the year 1542, which gave an impetus to mining in every part of New Spain, owing to which there was no further attempt made to explore the country discovered by Coronado for forty years, or until about 1580, when Antonio de … Read more

On the first of January, 1848, the United States was in possession of the City of Mexico, the city of Chihuahua, and of the eastern seaports of Mexico, as well as of the territory now forming the States of New Mexico, Arizona and California, together with Lower California. California was the pawn which several European countries claimed and were trying to secure, and England, in particular, had she secured California, in all probability would have held all the coast territory west of the Rocky Mountains, including what is now the States of Utah, Idaho, Washington, Oregon, California and Nevada. She … Read more

The Navajos, when Arizona was taken over from Mexico, were the most populous tribe of Indians. They occupied what is now the northwestern portion of New Mexico, and the northeastern portion of Arizona. For years they had been in a constant state of warfare with the Mexicans, and, to some extent, with the Zunis and Moquis. They were a virile race, further advanced in civilization, and the arts of civilization, than any of the Apache tribes. They were a pastoral people, and to some extent, an agricultural people. Their dwellings then, as now, consisted of rude conical huts of poles, … Read more

In the first volume of this work, the expedition against the Navajos down to December 25th, 1858, when the last treaty was made with them, has been recited. There only remains now to give the history of the expeditions under the directions of General Canby and General Carleton by which the tribe was finally subdued. In 1859, war again broke out, and in 1860, the Navajos attacked Fort Defiance. Finally General Canby made a long campaign against them, leading his troops in person. After General Canby’s campaign against the Navajos, when the soldiers were employed to repel the Texas invasion, … Read more

In relation to the expedition of the California Column up the Gila River, I quote from the “Record of California Men in the War of the Rebellion,” Adjutant General’s Office, 1890: “The troops composing the column were assembled at Fort Yuma in April, and early in that month information was received at that post that the Confederates, under Hunter, were on their way down the Gila, when a reconnoitering party, under Captain William P. Calloway, consisting of his own Company I, First California Infantry, a detachment of Company A, First California Cavalry, under Lieutenant James Barrett of Company A and … Read more

No successive narrative of early Arizona annals is extant. The data we have, which has been collected by Bancroft and others, is incomplete, but enough is known to justify the assertion that the Gila Valley of Arizona was not covered with prosperous Spanish missions and settlements that were abandoned on account of Apache raids. Under the Jesuit rule, only two missions, those of Bac and Guevavi, were established. The rest were rancherias de visita, which received a precarious protection by Tubac presidio, from 1752. Bancroft says: ”The Arizona missions were never more than two, and they were never prosperous. So, … Read more

From the very commencement of the American occupation of Arizona, the Indian began to give trouble. The United States had pledged itself, as has been seen, by the 11th Article of the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, to protect the Mexican border as far as possible from Indian encroachments, and, also, whenever Mexican citizens were made captives by the Indians, the United States was to restore them to their homes. This was rather a mammoth undertaking, for at that time, exclusive of the Navajo nation, which was frequently at war with the whites, and which was a part of the Apache … Read more

The feeling prevailed at this time among the people of Arizona that the only way to effect a permanent peace, was by the slaughter of every Indian capable of bearing arms. Lieutenant Mowry declared that they were as venomous as rattlesnakes and should be treated accordingly. General Carleton issued orders that no buck should be taken prisoner but that the women and children should be spared. On the 14th of January, 1863, according to the Fish manuscript, Captain Shirland was detached, with twenty men of his company, with orders to proceed at once in advance of the main body, and … Read more

During this time many outrages were committed by the Indians upon those emigrating into California, upon what is now Arizona soil, the most notable of which is known as the Oatman Massacre, which occurred at what is now known as “Oatman Flat,” about a hundred miles east of Yuma. Royce Oatman with his wife and seven children left Independence, Missouri, with a company of some fifty persons, in August 1850. Part of the company remained in Tucson, and the rest at the Pima Villages. Oatman left the latter place with his family in February, 1851, to make the trip alone … Read more

Arizona – The name is significant. Its derivation is uncertain; all that is known of it is that in the latter part of the seventeenth century it was given to a range of mountains across the border in Northern Sonora, in what was then known as Pimeria Alta, and there-after was applied to the territory now embraced within the boundaries of the “Baby State.” Its history is in two parts: One, the story of a vanished race, who left behind them a record of achievement in cavate dwellings, the ruins of pueblos, fortifications, abandoned irrigation canals, and hieroglyphics on the … Read more