By Ken Edwards

(This is the first part of a two-part article regarding the history of early automobiles in Yavapai County) 

The Main Circus came to Prescott in November of 1899, arriving by train. Among the attractions was a new-fangled contraption from the east called an automobile. This particular vehicle was powered by an electric storage battery and, the Weekly Journal-Miner reported, "runs perfectly noiseless."

William R. Fitzgerald, who would later become Prescott's police chief, was a young boy in those days. Years later, he recalled the arrival of a one cylinder automobile that accompanied the circus about that time. He said the school bell rang in vain that day, because every child in town followed the horseless carriage around (and gawked at the elephants). The vehicle was called an Olds horseless carriage. It had high wheels and was unable to back from the curb with its small engine. Several men had to push it along Whiskey Row to get it started. 

It was not until more than three years later that the first automobile was purchased by a Yavapai County resident. This vehicle, too, came by train and was delivered at Jerome Junction (now Chino Valley). The purchaser was Walter C. Miller, mayor of Jerome. Miller was manager of the T. F. Miller Company, the largest mercantile store in Jerome. He was also the grandson of William A. Clark, the multi-millionaire owner of the United Verde mine. 

He took delivery of his automobile, another Olds, in late February of 1903. With Dr. Lee. A. Hawkins, Jerome's first dentist, Miller drove the new vehicle to Prescott, where it created quite a sensation. The Arizona Journal-Miner of February 27, 1903, described the auto as "a little beauty, just large enough for two, with pneumatic tires which make it glide along as smooth as a midsummer dream, with just now and then a mosquito to break the monotony. All you have to do is fill the gas tank, give the crank a few turns, there are a few quick short puffs and you are off." 

Miller and Hawkins had one or two slight "accidents" on the way from Prescott to Jerome, but the trip was otherwise uneventful. The first accident occurred in Prescott as they started for home. Hawkins suggested they start out "cowboy style", whereupon the mayor gave it full power. Apparently the five horsepower machine performed an acceptable imitation of a bucking bronco before being brought under control. No details are known about the second accident, except that it occurred near the Nevins ranch and caused an overnight delay. 

A few weeks later, the Jerome Mining News reported that the town had its second automobile (the owner was not named), and quipped that for practical use in the area the cars "oughtobemules." 


In late April 1903, an automobile party arrived in Prescott. The party consisted of F. B. Close and wife and J. B. Seager, of Tucson, and Walter Miller of Jerome. The two cars from Tucson had a "terrible experience" navigating the rugged old Black Canyon stage road. One of the vehicles became disabled and had to be hauled into Mayer on a freight wagon, no doubt drawn by mules. Replacement parts were ordered by telegraph, and it was some time before it became operational again. The autos were of the Oldsmobile make, which was considered to be the best on the market for rough and trying service. It was reported that the autos attracted a great deal of attention in "this little mountain city (Prescott) where automobiles are as scarce as honest politicians." (Haven't we heard a few variations on that line?) 

Mr. Close was apparently an automobile dealer in Tucson, as he had landed orders from two Prescott businessmen for vehicles before he left town. The purchasers were O. A. Hesla and Frank Foster. 

The editor of the Journal-Miner reported that Mr. Close had been good enough to give him a ride in his auto. "The trip extended beyond Whipple and you "auto" have seen the auto skim along over the smooth road. The machine is capable of making thirty five miles per hour and as the road north of town is nice and smooth, Mr. Close let the thing out, just to give the scribe a sensation of high life for a few, brief moments." 

One Prescott newspaper reported that Mayor Miller of Jerome had made a present of an automobile to Mayor Burke of Prescott. The Jerome newspaper made the necessary correction: the word "ride" had been omitted in the item. 

On May 1, 1903, Dr. Hawkins took delivery of his own new automobile, a Franklin, in Jerome. A few days later, he was said to be enjoying himself by studying the workings of the vehicle. Apparently not all went well at first. It was three weeks later that the newspaper reported that Dr. Hawkins and his auto were on friendly terms again. 

It was not long before speed records were being established on the trip from Prescott to Jerome. On June 1, 1903, Walter Miller and E.F. Tarr made the trip in five and a half hours, at an average speed of 11 miles per hour. The route usually followed in those days was by way of the community of Cherry Creek and the Verde Valley; hence the roughly (term used advisedly) sixty miles traveled. 

In the 1903-1904 edition of the Prescott City Directory, Sam'l Hill hardware was listed under "Automobile Dealers" as agent for Olds and Thomas cars. No other dealer or agent was listed, nor has any record of an earlier dealership been found. It was apparently several years before a dealership was anything more than a place where orders were taken for vehicles. On January 1, 1910, Sam'l Hill Hardware suggested that folks read the Ford ad in the Saturday Evening Post and then stop in to see the Ford cars. At the same time, Prescott Garage, agents, advertised the Locomobile, Arizona Special, with 14-inch clearance and 60 actual horsepower. "No hill too steep - No sand too deep." 

In May of 1903, Hill Hardware sold a ten horse-power automobile to one Ira S. Pulliam who intended to put it into passenger or hack service in Prescott. It had a four-passenger capacity besides the "cheffeur" [sic]. Pulliam sold his blacksmith shop to be able to devote his full attention to the bus line as soon as the car arrived. His devotion apparently was not enough. By July 2, Pulliam had sold his automobile to Rudolph Baehr, a house painter and paper hanger, after the machine temporarily went out of commission due to an accident. Pulliam apparently decided not to mess around any more with automobiles. Six months later he moved to Douglas to once again open a horse shoeing and blacksmith shop. 

Next week: A 1904 auto caravan from Prescott to Tucson. 

(Ken Edwards is a tour guide at the Sharlot Hall Museum) 



Sharlot Hall Museum Photograph Call Number: (pb164f44aII18). Reuse only by permission.
Jerome dentist Dr. Lee Hawkins was one of Yavapai County's early foremost auto enthusiast. In 1903 he rode in the very first automobile in the county owned by his friend and Jerome resident, Walter Miller. Here he is shown in his 1907 Ford with his son Myron probably touring .