By Marjory J. Sente
Miners wanted to call the townsite Granite City. Others thought Goodwin City was an appropriate name for Arizona's territorial capital. John N. Goodwin was appointed governor of the Arizona Territory after original appointee, John A. Gurley, died in 1863 before the Governor’s Party left Ohio. Some wanted the town named Aztlan in honor of the Aztecs who were thought to have been in the area. Granite Dells, Fleuryville, Gimletville and Audubon were also suggested.
The first printed mention of Prescott as a name for the new town appeared in the May 25, 1864, Arizona Miner. “It is certainly an attractive locality and the name of ‘Prescott’ proposed for the town will be an appropriate commemoration of the great American authority upon Aztec and Spanish-American history.”
A public meeting was held on May 30, 1864, to consider and adopt the best way to dispose of the lots for the proposed townsite. At the gathering, Dr. J.T. Alsap proposed resolutions on forming and naming the town. Reporting on the meeting, the June 22, 1864, Arizona Miner printed the resolutions that passed. The one regarding naming stated, “RESOLVED[sic], That we invite the citizens of the Territory, and those persons who may hereafter become such, to unite with us in establishing a town at this point, the name whereof shall be Prescott, in honor of the eminent American writer and standard authority upon Aztec and Spanish-American history.”
Prescott’s namesake was noted historian, William Hickling Prescott, who had written The History of the Conquest of Mexico. Passing away in 1859, Prescott, who lived in Massachusetts, never set foot in Arizona. Richard C. McCormick, Arizona’s Territorial Secretary, however, likely had included Prescott’s book in the more than 300-volume library that he brought to Arizona. While Dr. Alsap presented the resolutions, McCormick championed Prescott for the name of the territorial capital.
The June 22, 1864, issue of the Arizona Miner, which McCormick owned, was the first edition to list Prescott as its place of publication. Publisher Tisdale A. Hand wrote, “PRESCOTT. As our readers quickly perceive, the Miner of today hails from a new place of publication.”
“Prescott is situated upon Granite Creek, one mile south of the well known Granite Ranch of Sheldon Smith and Forbes, and one and a half miles south of the new site of Fort Whipple,” Hand noted.
He also speculated, “It is destined we think to be the chief town of this part of the Territory, and while we have no official authority for the announcement, we have reason to believe that the Governor will accede to the general desire of the Walker and Weaver mines and of the Colorado River country, and convene the Legislature here.”
Prescott was Arizona’s territorial capital from 1864 to November 1, 1867. It then moved to Tucson for ten years. Again from 1877 to 1889, Prescott was the capital. Then it was moved permanently to Phoenix.
Writing to his friend, Cepheus Brainerd, in New York City, McCormick penned in a letter dated July 11, 1864, “Our new town is progressing finely. You must credit the name and plan . . . to me. Also the picking out of the law of organization and the sale, which few knew of it, being quite new, and by which some $20,000 will be returned to Uncle Sam instead of $1.25 per acre.”
McCormick referred to the March 3, 1863, Act of Congress that raised revenue by the reservation and sale of town sites on public lands. It allowed the President of the United States to reserve from public lands town sites in locations that were key to growth and transportation.
Sign up kids ages 9-12 for Sharlot Hall Museum’s “Surviving Prescott 1864” camp, June 8-12 and/or June 15-19. See sharlothallmuseum.org/camps/
“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.