By Jay Cravath
This article is a summary of a presentation Jay Cravath will give at the Eleventh Annual Western History Symposium that will be held at the Hassayampa Inn on Saturday, August 2nd. The Symposium is co-sponsored by the Prescott Corral of Westerners and the Sharlot Hall Museum and is open to the public free of charge. For more details, visit the Corral’s website at www.prescottcorral.org or call Fred Veil at 928-443-5580.
An ancient set of Native American paths and the natural flow of the Gila River created a major artery through pioneer Arizona. Born from the rain and snow of the Gila wilderness, this waterway carved a channel through New Mexico and along the southern edges of our state. Its route became known as the California Trail—the southernmost version to hold that moniker.
Petroglyphs of Kokopelli suggest stories of a deformed flute player originating deep in Mexico and wandering along this path. Archaeology of the area suggests significant trading: macaw feathers, turquoise, seashells, corn—items that became adornment and tools of native Arizonans. The Hohokam, meaning “those who have gone” in O’odham (formerly known as Pima), built vast canals to direct water from the river for irrigation. Using simple sticks and baskets, they extended some of these canals up to 26 miles, 14 feet wide and 6 feet deep.
In the 17th century Father Eusebio Kino traveled widely through the region proselytizing, but also sharing his gifts of agriculture and animal husbandry, and in 1691 he visited the O’odham at their request. He and his fellow brother of the cloth, Frey Marcus De Niza, pressed forth on the Gila and trails webbing from it, spreading the gospel with their faith as shields.
Frey Marcus De Niza, pictured here, followed what became known as the California Trail to spread the gospel with his fellow brother of the cloth, Father Eusebio Kino (Illustration Courtesy of Author)
The famous story of Olive Oatman’s captivity begins along the Gila. Her parents belonged to a Mormon sect who saw California as the “intended gathering place” rather than Salt Lake City. Tired of waiting for their travelling companions at Maricopa Wells, the Oatmans continued alone. On their fourth day on the trail to Yuma, a group of Indians stopped them to ask for tobacco. Then without warning, they attacked, killing all except Olive and her sister Mary Ann, and leaving their brother Lorenzo for dead.
The girls were taken to an area around Prescott and treated essentially as slaves. After a year, a Mohave tribe heard of thegirls and bartered for their trade. Olive, 15 at the time, and Mary Ann, 8, became the adopted daughters of the chief Espanesay and his wife Aespaneo. They were facially tattooed in the tradition of the tribe and taught the traditional roles of Mohave women. Mary Ann succumbed to starvation during a drought year, but Olive would later be taken back to Fort Yuma and, after her story became a best selling book, toured the United States telling her remarkable tale.
When John Butterfield established a stage route from St. Louis to San Francisco in 1858, the Butterfield Overland Mail wound through 2800 miles of western territory, hugging the banks of the Gila from New Mexico to Yuma. A correspondent with the New York Herald who took the entire trip—and sent dispatches along the way—remarked that, “Had I not just come out over the route, I would be perfectly willing to go back, but I now know what Hell is like. I’ve just had 24 days of it.”
One of America’s most revered environmentalists, Aldo Leopold, also made his mark on the Gila. In fact, his writing is said to be responsible for the America’s first wilderness preserve: the Gila National Forest, so designated in 1924.
The California Trail was hewn along a river that coursed from mountains through the hottest desert in America, allowing immigrants of all kinds to weather the heat with year-round access to flowing water. This Eden among the sand and cacti of Arizona aided those who felt compelled to press to California, whether for riches of the earth or freedom and adventure.
(“Days Past” is a collaborative project of the Sharlot Hall Museum and the Prescott Corral of Westerners International (www.prescottcorral.org). The public is encouraged to submit articles for Days Past consideration. Please contact SHM Library & Archives Reference Desk at 928-445-3122 Ext. 14, or via email at dayspastprescott@gmail.com for information.)