By Charles Debrille Poston, 1864

(Edited by Parker Anderson)

(Charles D. Poston has been called by many historians as "the Father of Arizona" due to his efforts lobbying for creation of the territory. He was an explorer and prospector in the territory before the arrival of the first governor’s party (December 1863) and was appointed Superintendent of Indian Affairs by President Lincoln. He would also become the Territory of Arizona’s first Delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives (1864-65). In 1864, he wrote a lengthy letter to his friend J. Ross Browne about his tour of the Territory shortly after the Capital was set up in Prescott. The townsite was named Prescott in May of 1864. The letter was published in the Miner on September 21, 1864 and October 5, 1864. Following are excerpts from that letter. -ed).

I wrote you about a month ago from Prescott, the newly founded capital of Arizona. It was so delightful in that region that my visit was very much prolonged. There was much to see and do in that interesting country, and for more than a month I was kept travelling over the mountains and valleys, looking at newly discovered mines.

The granite mountains, covered with great pine forests, give a grandeur and beauty to the country which I have not seen elsewhere. The atmosphere is the perfection of temperature, seldom varying from 75 during my visit. The water is pure, cool, and refreshing, and abounds in every direction.

Here, in what is considered a wilderness, a desert, or what you will, a thousand miles from anywhere, a town is laid out in sight of the Indian fires on the mountains, a number of people gather around in tents, under trees, and in wagons, and commence the business of life with a vigor and confidence which inspires the most inert and timid with a desire to accomplish something.

The Executive Mansion was near by in a tent, but its hospitality was as unbounded as if it were a palace, and its occupant as generous as a prince. These city land sales will continue doubtless until the entire location is sold out, giving settlers all a chance as they may come into the country.

It becomes a pertinent question to ask why the town was located here in this lap of the mountains, so far away from any other place? It is the centre of the great Territory of Arizona, which is yet comparitively unknown, or generally considered a barren strip of land on the south side of the Gila.

(On May 14-15, 20-22, Sharlot Hall Museum’s Blue Rose Theater will recall the first days of Prescott, the Capital of the Territory of Arizona, with the play "The Whiskey Chaplain" by Jody Drake, based on the life of Henry Fleury, who was a member of the first Governor’s party, and who was put in charge of drawing boundary lines and selling the first lots of land. Fleury would later have an impact on the life of Sharlot Hall herself. Call 445-3122 for information and tickets).

Sharlot Hall Museum Photograph Call Number:(po1321p) Reuse only by permission.

Before starting westward in 1863 in order to set up government in the new Arizona Territory, the officials, appointed by President Abraham Lincoln, sat for this portrait. From left to right, seated, are: Associate Justice Joseph P. Allyn; Governor John N. Goodwin; Secretary Richard C. McCormick. Standing: the governor’s private secretary, Henry W. Fleury (not an appointee); U.S. Marshall Milton B. Duffield; Attorney General Alman P. Gage. Other officers, not in the picture were: Chief Justice William F. Turner; Associate William T. Howell; Surveyor General Levi Bashford; Superintendent of Indian Affairs Charles D. Poston.

Sharlot Hall Museum Photograph Call Number:(po2092ph) Reuse only bypermission.

Charles Debrille Poston was born in Kentucky in 1825. This portrait was likely taken around the time of his service as the first delegate to Congress from the Territory of Arizona, 1864-65.

Sharlot Hall Museum Photograph Call Number:(po2092pb) Reuse only bypermission.

Poston in his later years. Although he died in virtual poverty in Phoenix in 1902, during his life he accomplished much. He was an explorer, entrepreneur, politician, Indian agent, author, poet, expert on agriculture and irrigation, a conservationist, was religious and eccentric. He is buried under a pyramid-shaped monument at the summit of Poston’s Butte near Florence, AZ.