By Tom Collins

In September 1883, a Prescott newspaper reported sadly that "Hon. A.L. Moeller, one of our oldest citizens, has been in poor health, suffering from indigestion, etc., which has culminated in rendering the subject helplessly insane." Although he had sought medical treatment in San Francisco, it was to no avail and he returned to Prescott in July 1883 "in good spirits, but quite morose." Soon he grew worse, talking wildly upon "all kinds of visionary subjects." His life was nearing its end.

Born in Chambersburg, Pa., around 1826, Andrew Moeller joined the thousands who took part in the California Gold Rush of 1849 and resided there until 1863. He had scarcely earned enough to sustain himself.

According to the first Arizona Territorial Census of 1864, he lived in the San Francisco District of Mohave County. He was still a miner by occupation, having resided in Arizona for two days, with property valued at only $10. He moved to Prescott in 1864 and took a job as the manager of the Quartz Rock Saloon on Granite Creek. Subsequently, he purchased the property and went into business for himself. In merely four years, he acquired a new building for the sum of $8,500 on the southwest corner of Gurley and Montezuma Streets where the Hotel St. Michael now stands. The structure's first floor would be used, according to the Miner, for a billiard and drinking saloon. It is one of the first business buildings pictured in the earliest photograph we have of the town, dated 1868.

The Diana Saloon, as Moeller named it, opened in December 1868 and was touted as "the largest, best-finished and -furnished saloon in the Territory." The patrons indulged heavily in Bucking at Faro (a card game), billiards and booze. It was all bartenders Bill Linn and Joseph Crane could do "to keep the thirsty crowd moistened."

The following year, Moeller branched out into mining. He, along with Theodore W. Boggs, L.C. Gray and others, headed for the Big Bug district in February 1869 to sink a shaft for the Independence, "a lode which from surface indications ought to be very rich. They may also sink on the Deposit, a sister vein" (The Arizona Miner, Feb. 27, 1869). In 1871, he bought all of the interest in the Davis Lode as well as 200 feet of the Pine Tree Lode. Later, Moeller filed a claim for the Dividend Mine.

Following two notorious incidents of murder and mayhem at the Diana Saloon in 1869 and 1870, Moeller completely refurbished his saloon. The Miner reported on March 11, 1871, that the Diana was now "gorgeous, with chaste pictures, beautiful paper, nice paint, fantastic chandeliers, billiard tables, and such. Its proprietor ... and his assistants, Charlie and Joe, know how to treat 'smilers' to 'smiles,' and, so long as men will drink, we know of no better place to drink than at the bar of the Diana."

On Nov. 1, 1872, Moeller entered into a common-law marriage contract with Alice Bouyea, an 18-year-old Texan who kept a Prescott boarding house with her elder sister, Josephine. Alice served as her sister's housekeeper. Andrew and Alice cohabited publicly, having a household together, and adopted a boy (name unknown). Yet in the 1880 Census, Moeller was still listed as a 55-year-old single farmer, living with nephew Charles Spencer, J.M. Dodson, and Phil Richardson. Alice was similarly listed as a single housekeeper living at her sister's boarding house. Their union was, thus, unofficial.

The success of the Diana Saloon, along with Moeller's mining speculations, would soon thrust him into the world of politics as well as make him one of the largest property owners in Prescott.

In Part II next week, A.L. Moeller represents Yavapai County in the Territorial Congress and donates some of his fortune to benefit Prescott. For additional information on the Diana Saloon, see the Days Past article for Aug. 31, 1997, at www.sharlothallmuseum.org/archives/history/dayspast.

Tom Collins, a professor emeritus of theatre, is the author of "Stage-Struck Settlers in the Sun-Kissed Land," a history of the amateur theatre in Territorial Prescott. He is a volunteer in the archives at Sharlot Hall Museum.