By Mick Woodcock

The opening of the Central Mountains of Arizona to Anglo settlement was set against the backdrop of the American Civil War.  This conflict hastened the exploration of the Territory as the need for gold to finance the war effort sent prospectors into the most inhospitable regions of the West, including Arizona above the Gila River.

By Al Bates

Editor’s Note:  An earlier version of the following was published as a Days Past article in December 2005.

Usually when we think of Christmastime in Territorial Prescott we have images of jolly families with little children warm and snugly gathered around a candle-lit tree after enjoying the fruits of their mama’s kitchen efforts.  But there was an earlier time when Prescott was barely a town and was peopled by a predominance of single men-especially when the miners came to town.

By Murray Smolens 

Richard Elihu Sloan is not exactly a household name today in Arizona, but he was well known and highly regarded a century ago.  As the last territorial governor, longest-serving member of the Arizona Supreme Court, and later a U.S. District Court Justice, he was a major player in shaping the legal system and the cause of Arizona statehood.  His 15-year residence in Prescott and his appointment of Sharlot Hall as territorial historian makes him of particular interest in the annals of local history as well.

By Ray Carlson

On April 24, 1869, the Prescott newspaper, the Weekly Arizona Miner, noted that Anson P.K. Safford “from California” was appointed Governor.  “Nobody here seems to know Mr. Safford, nor do our people seem to care who or what he is. In fact, after our experience with Goodwin and McCormick [Arizona's first two Governors], we can stand almost any kind of man for Governor.”  Actually, Safford was from Nevada (though he did live in California from 1850 until 1862), but it took over a year before the newspaper corrected its statement.

By Elisabeth Ruffner

Before Prescott’s Santa Claus arrived by helicopter, he rode into downtown Prescott on a gleaming red fire truck.  His visit on the Plaza in 1952 was promoted by The Prescott Chamber of Commerce as an ongoing gesture of goodwill for the region. The Yavapai County Courthouse Plaza has been the center of business, charitable, cultural, government and social life since the founding of Prescott as the Territorial Capital in 1864.

By Al Bates

Members of Arizona’s First Territorial Legislature, which met in late 1864, were collectively saluted for their teamwork and considerable accomplishments in establishing a firm foundation for future development.  By contrast, after the Second Legislature met a year later, only one legislator was singled out for any honors.

By Dennis O’Reilly & Brenda Taylor

Photography as we know it today literally burst onto the world scene in 1839. Its invention is attributed to Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre, a painter and maker of dioramas in Paris, France.  Daguerre had invented a photographic process made on silver coated metal plates and developed in vapors of mercury. These photos became known as daguerreotypes.

By Murray Smolens

Governor John Charles Frémont and Territorial Secretary John Jay Gosper were the two top officials of Arizona Territory from 1878 to 1881.  They got off to a poor start, and then things got worse.  Letters from Frémont’s stalwart wife, Jessie, sent their relationship and their careers in Arizona Territory off the proverbial cliff.

By Tom Collins

One of the great “firsts” in the history of the performing arts in Prescott was the visit of Nellie Boyd, queen of melodrama and the first legitimate dramatic actress to grace the boards of the Prescott Theatre on Alarcon Street.  The Nellie Boyd Company, having traveled 140 miles by stage from Phoenix, opened on Christmas Eve 1880 with Fanchon the Cricket and stayed almost through the second week of January 1881.  They gave seven performances per week, packing the house with both worshipful enthusiasts and disrespectful rowdies.

By Mick Woodcock

The area that would become Arizona still was Mexican territory when American trappers began a series of illegal entries in search of beaver pelts.  While Americans could obtain permission to live in the region, Mexican officials would not license them to trap there.  This made the trapping expeditions by American mountain men to the remote Gila, Salt and Colorado Rivers not only dangerous, but illegal and subject to fines and imprisonment as well.