By Al Bates

This article is one of a series that will appear in this space during this year on historic events relating to the Arizona Territory’s Sesquicentennial and the founding and establishment of Prescott as the Territory’s first capital.

Western folklore is a curious thing.  Some pioneer reputations grow and are amplified to heroic status after death.  Other pioneers, if not completely forgotten, often suffer at the hands of writers who repeat—with no attempt at verification—rumor and innuendo that gradually become commonly accepted history.  This story tells what happened to the reputation of one such pioneer.

By Al Bates

This article is one of a series that will appear in this space during this year on historic events relating to the Arizona Territory’s Sesquicentennial and the founding and establishment of Prescott as the Territory’s first capital.

After leaving Navajo Springs, Governor John Goodwin’s party of territorial officials and their military escort followed the Puerco River to the Little Colorado River, then past the Cosino Caves (now Walnut Canyon National Monument) and onward to Volunteer Springs (south of today’s Bellemont).  From there they turned further south, using records from Lt. Amiel Whipple’s 1853 exploration and more recent notes from Surveyor General John Clark (Days Past, August 18) for their guides.

By Sydney B. Brinckerhoff

This article is one of a series that will appear in this space during this year on historic events relating to the Arizona Territory’s Sesquicentennial and the founding and establishment of Prescott as the Territory’s first capital.

Of the many individuals who held political office in the Arizona Territory, few were as influential as Richard Cunningham McCormick, also known as “Slippery Dick.”  He came by this epithet as a result of many years of service to the Territory, years in which he made staunch friends, along with some very vocal and bitter enemies.  Slight of build, delicately featured with a perceptive, expressive face, McCormick may have given the impression that he was a man of thought rather than action. He was urbane, well-lettered, and a stylish dresser.

By Tom Collins

In July 1868 there was big news in Prescott.  The “Camp Whipple Dramatic Association” would perform at Elysian Hall.  “Messrs. O’Neill and Wortman, leading members of the company, wish us to state that no immoral or indecent word or act will be allowed on stage.” The plays were a light farce, “The Lottery Ticket,” and an opera spoof, “Bombastes Furioso.”

By Al Bates

This article is one of a series that will appear in this space during this year and the next on historic events relating to the Arizona Territory’s Sesquicentennial.

Governor John Goodwin and his party left Fort Wingate, New Mexico, on December 20, 1863, after a wait for the heavy wagons to catch up and be readied.  In addition to the two companies of cavalry that served as their escort and their heavy freight wagons, they were accompanied by a number of freight wagons owned by New Mexican merchants and by their “500 steers, that always went ahead opening the road,” according to Captain Rafael Chacón of the escort.

By Jay W. Eby

The Territory of Arizona became a fact when President A. Lincoln signed the bill on February 24, 1863, yet the newly appointed governor and other territorial officers would spend Christmas that year still in New Mexico traveling to the new territory.  But a most distinguished guest, nonetheless, celebrated Christmas in the area that would become Prescott.

By Al Bates

This article is one of a series appearing in this space during this year and the next on historic events relating to the Arizona Territory's Sesquicentennial.

As Arizona Territory's first governor and his official party were slowly crossing northern New Mexico Territory (see Days Past, Dec. 15), they were following in the wake of another combined military and civilian expedition headed to the central Arizona "diggings."

By Al Bates 

This article is one of a series that will appear in this space during this year and the next on historic events relating to the Arizona Territory’s Sesquicentennial.

The next stage of the cross-country trip for Governor John Goodwin’s party of Arizona territorial officials took them quickly from Fort Union to Santa Fe where they began to encounter a series of delays.  And then on to Albuquerque to experience yet more delays.  It was not until December 8, 1863, that they were finally on the way to Fort Wingate, the last lonely outpost of civilization before reaching Fort Whipple—if it would exist and if they could find it, both events expected but not guaranteed.

By John P. Langellier, Ph.D.

For over a century and half the United States Army has had a presence in the Grand Canyon State.  Scores of forts, cantonments, and camps provided military protection, as well as contributing to the local economy and the social life in the areas that surrounded them.  Most of the often-isolated outposts have long since disappeared, but some of the garrisons continue to play a significant role in Arizona to this day.  Fortunately several of these sites have museums where the past comes alive through exhibits and programs.

By Melissa Ruffner 

Nantucket, Massachusetts, was the third richest community in the state in the 1830s.  The China trade brought silks, teas and porcelains.  Whaling produced candles sold internationally as well as whalebone for ladies’ corsets and ambergris to scent lace hankies.  Martha Dunham was born into a well-to-do family on October 21, 1846.  She had extensive educational opportunities and on March 16, 1874, she married “my old friend Jack.”