Compiled by Kathy Krause from various Days Past articles written by Nancy Kirkpatrick Wright

The following article is a compilaiton that has been revised and updated by Kathy Krause.  All articles were originally written by Nancy Kirkpatrick Wright.

Eight years ago, on Tuesday morning, June 8, 2004, the bright planet Venus moved in front of our sun - a transit of Venus - and millions watched through strong filters as a small black dot moved across the sun.

By Carol Powell

Louis Clair Miller was an ex-constable and himself a troublemaker in Prescott who was jailed for forging a check in 1897. In last week's Days Past, I began the final chapter of his life story.

By Carol Powell

Nearly nine years ago, Dec. 14, 2003, my first entry in Sharlot Hall Museum's Days Past was published. I had posted information on the Internet seeking help with my husband's genealogy and, to my surprise, I had two replies. Both thought my husband's ancestors were interesting enough to publish stories about them. One was the Genealogical Society's Copper State Journal. In its July 2003 issue, they ran my article, "Just a Railroadin' Family."

By Dr. Ken Edwards

Morris Goldwater lived in Prescott from 1876 until his death in 1939 at the age of 87. During that period, he rose to be arguably the most prominent and important man in town. In 1964, at the time of the Prescott Centennial, he was voted the City's "Man of the Century." His father, Michael, also served briefly as mayor. Morris' accomplishments are impressive. In addition to operating one of the most important stores in town, he served as mayor for a total of twenty years - over a forty-eight year period, from 1879 to 1927. He was also a bank president of Commercial Trust and Savings Bank for a number of years. He was an active Mason, and the 1907 cornerstone on the Masonic Temple on Cortez Street honors his dedication to the order.

By Dr. Ken Edwards

Brothers Michael and Joseph Goldwater (along with Michael's son, Morris) rented the newly built Howey Hall on the southeast corner of Cortez and Goodwin streets to establish their first J. Goldwater & Bro. mercantile store in Prescott in late 1876. Within three years, they were prosperous enough to build their own store on the southeast corner of Cortez and Union streets less than a block away. In 1880, Michael and Joseph dissolved their nearly three decade partnership and the store was given a new name: Michael Goldwater and Son. The son, of course, was Morris.

By Dr. Ken Edwards

Brothers Michel and Joseph Goldwater escaped from Poland during the Russian persecution of Jews and immigrated to California in 1852. Their first business venture was a saloon in Sonora. When it failed, they moved to Los Angeles where they found their niche in the mercantile business, eventually peddling their goods to the goldfields of southern Arizona Territory.

By Dr. Ken Edwards

His father was a peddler, his brother founded a highly successful department store in Phoenix and his nephew was a famous Arizona senator who ran for president of the United States. But Morris Goldwater established his legacy in Prescott. This is the first of four articles about Morris and his family who played an important part in the early history of Prescott.

By Mary Dahl

Since the rough early days of Prescott when the population was mainly miners and cowboys, whiskey has been a standard characteristic of the city. It's difficult to talk about nearly any event in the city's history without mention of liquor.

By Stan Brown

By 1864, the local native population had mixed feelings about the growing intrusion of miners and ranchers onto the Yavapai and Apache hunting grounds. They were glad to have livestock brought into their territory so they would not have to travel so far to the south in their raids, but they also recognized the threat to their freedom and life style from this growing alien population. The newly settled town of Prescott and the surrounding mining camps felt somewhat secure from Indian attack because of nearby Fort Whipple and its company of troops. But, tensions continued to rise as each side held to its own point of view.

By Stan Brown

Before the founding of Prescott in 1863, Apache raids on ranches and wagon trains occurred in the southern part of what would become the Arizona Territory. Mining between the Gila River and the Mexican border brought new investors and laborers. To protect these settlers, military posts were built and, in 1861, a skirmish at Apache Pass in the Chiricahua Mountains brought Cochise and his warriors into a full scale conflict with the Americans. That same year, the Civil War broke out, and the soldiers left their frontier posts to fight the Confederates back east. The Indians concluded that their intensified raids during the 1850s had finally won them a victory, causing the white men to withdraw. The Apache, Yavapai and Mohave took heart and became more ferocious than ever.