By Kristen Kauffman
In celebration of America’s 250th birthday, Sharlot Hall Museum is drawing attention to Arizona’s involvement in American milestones. Many of our readers know that the histories of Prescott and Tucson are tied to the American Civil War.
Even before the Civil War, there were efforts to establish Arizona as a territory separate from New Mexico. The territorial capital, Santa Fe, was so remote that administration was cumbersome and unreliable. War created an urgency. In April, 1861, the Confederate government declared New Mexico and Arizona to be territories of the Confederacy and sent an invading army. Union forces from California countered the threat, and on May 2, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed the act creating Arizona Territory. To prove that timing is everything, the Joseph R. Walker party discovered gold in the Bradshaw Mountains in 1863. Because Tucson and southern Arizona were known to be sympathetic to the Confederacy, the territory’s first governor, John N. Goodwin, established the new capital at Prescott, adjacent to the gold fields and next door to the Union’s Fort Whipple. In 1867, with the war over, Governor Goodwin’s successor, Richard McCormick, moved the capital south to Tucson, still the territory’s most populous city.
McCormick noted that Tucson had a longer history than Prescott. Indeed, the Presidio San Agustin del Tucson was built by Spanish soldiers after selecting the site on August 20, 1775, establishing Tucson as a city older than the Declaration of Independence. A presidio is a military post or fortified settlement under Spanish control. The Spanish company was led by mercenary Captain Hugh O’Conor, a refugee who fled to Spain from his Catholic persecutors. The Tohono O’odham village of Cuk Son at the San Augustin Mission was nearby, and it is said that the village name and its variants (sometimes Cuk Son, and also Ts-iuk-shan, Tu-uk-so-on, Tuqui Son and S-cuk Son) is how Tucson got its name, which means “at the base of the black mountain” (Sentinel Peak, known as “A” Mountain). When the Presidio San Agustin del Tucson was initially built, it measured 670 feet per side with square towers at the northeast and southwest corners. The main gate was in the center of the west wall, the presidial chapel was along the east wall and the commandant’s house was in the center. Interior walls were lined with homes, stables and warehouses for the soldiers and later for people who sought refuge in the presidio after many raids tried to capture Spanish cattle.
This structure was presided over by the Spanish until the Mexicans gained their independence in 1821, at which time Tucson became part of Sonora, Mexico. The first Americans did not arrive until 1846, when they fought a skirmish in the Mexican-American War (1846-1848). This war gained America most of the New Mexico Territory, which encompassed most of what became Arizona. When America negotiated the Gadsden Purchase (1853-1854) which acquired the remainder of the New Mexico Territory, Tucson had a population of 500 residents.
During the 18th century, many of the original poorly constructed adobe walls of the presidio began crumbling. Many raids and attacks had weakened it, and each assault meant a new 8-to-12-foot wall was erected, usually expanding the presidio’s acreage. Most of the original walls were gone by 1860, and according to an 1883 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map, the maximum size of the presidio grew to 11 acres. The last section of wall to be dismantled was in 1918.
Tucson would only remain the Territorial Capital until 1877, when it returned to Prescott. These two cities are linked not only to each other’s history, but also to America’s history.
“Days Past” is a collaborative project of the Sharlot Hall Museum and the Prescott Corral of Westerners International (www.prescottcorral.org). This and other Days Past articles are also available at www.archives.sharlothallmuseum.org/articles/days-past-articles/1. The public is encouraged to submit proposed articles and inquiries to dayspast@sharlothallmuseum.org Please contact SHM Research Center reference desk at 928-277-2003, or via email at archivesrequest@sharlothallmuseum.org for information or assistance with photo requests.