By Worcester P. Bong
 

Back in 1955, due to the notoriety of the “World’s Oldest Rodeo,” Prescott was one of the top ten western cities under consideration for the National Cowboy Hall of Fame Museum.

The March 2, 1955, Prescott Evening Courier announced that Prescott was selected in the top ten from forty-six cities that had applied. Other cities selected were Canyon, Texas; Cheyenne, Wyoming; Colorado Springs, Colorado; Dodge City, Kansas; Las Vegas, New Mexico; Miles City, Montana; North Platte, Nebraska; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; and Rapid City, South Dakota. Starting mid-March, the site selection committee toured each city. Five cities would be chosen and given one more opportunity to present their reasons to become the permanent museum site. The Prescott Hall of Fame committee announced they would show three potential sites: two near the airport and one north of Watson Lake. The tour would also visit the Sharlot Hall Museum, the proposed temporary site while the permanent Hall of Fame Museum was being built.

By Mick Woodcock
 

General William Tecumseh Sherman visited Prescott in 1878. He arrived at Fort Whipple about 4 PM on Wednesday, September 18 and was whisked off to a dinner at Dr. McKee’s, which included about a dozen guests. The next morning was spent on an informal inspection of the post, including a visit to the post hospital and a ride into Prescott to visit the town and the surrounding area. That evening was the military reception at the Fort, held in the almost completed building that was to be the commanding officer’s quarters for the Department of Arizona. According to the Weekly Arizona Miner for September 20, 1878, “All the rooms were handsomely decorated with evergreens, flowers and bunting.” The newspaper labeled it “…a perfect success.”

Friday was a full day of public appearances. The General made a short address to the students at the Prescott Free Academy, and this was accompanied by a program of student activities and speeches by other dignitaries. Sherman then received the public at the new courthouse from 12 noon until 2 PM, with all invited to come and pay their respects. The evening culminated with a grand ball and reception. The September 20, 1878 edition of the Weekly Arizona Miner called it, “The greatest social event that ever occurred in Arizona was that which took place at the new theatre Friday evening in honor of Generals Sherman and McCook.” Military dignitaries arrived at 9 PM and festivities included speeches, supper and dancing.

By Mick Woodcock
 

William Tecumseh Sherman is best known as a Union general during the American Civil War. His major claim to fame was making good on his statement to "make Georgia howl" by marching from Atlanta to Savannah, living off the land and generally leaving the inhabitants of that part of the south an estimated $100 million in property destruction.

When Ulysses S. Grant took office as President in 1869, Sherman was appointed Commanding General of the Army. As such, he oversaw the Army’s part in bringing peace to the American West as well as preparing the Army for the next conflict with a foreign power, should that become necessary.

Sherman visited Prescott in 1878.

By Bob Harner

The January 2, 1895, edition of the Arizona Weekly Journal-Miner featured this notice: “If you fail to attend Putnam’s lectures, you will always regret it. Such treats of reasoning of eloquence of Encyclopedic knowledge, don’t come our way every day.”

The lecturer was Samuel Porter Putnam, a leading advocate for the Freethought movement. A former Unitarian minister, Putnam founded the Freethought Federation of America (which later merged with the American Secular Union) in 1892. Freethought philosophy held that people should rely on their own human reasoning rather than on religious doctrines and beliefs. Putnam frequently traveled the country, delivering lectures and promoting the creation of local Freethought Federation chapters.

By Barbara Patton

This week’s article continues a look back at some of the early women settlers in Prescott. One of them was Mary Catherine Leib Brooks.
 

Mary Catherine, a small, refined lady, arrived with her husband, Dr. Charles Leib, in Central Arizona in late 1863. Dr. Leib was attached to the first military party at Fort Whipple. Mary was a devoted wife to accompany her husband to such a remote outpost, especially since she was likely the only woman in a group of military men.
 

By Barbara Patton

Women settlers started arriving in Prescott in early 1864. Mary Ramos was perhaps the earliest. Her name is associated with this region's first log cabin, “Ft. Misery,” which rests today at the Sharlot Hall Museum.

Originally from Austin, TX, she came to Arizona in 1861 and moved to Prescott in 1864, where she went by the name Mary Brown. She soon purchased the log cabin store built by Manuel Yrissari and turned it into a small boarding house. For $25 a week, she provided meals, including goat's milk for coffee. The building also became a gathering place for early miners, was sometimes used as a church and, when needed, a court room.

By Jenny Pederson

The Bradshaw Mountains of Central Arizona contain many treasures. Among them is an oasis which features outstretched saguaros, an array of desert flowers, palms, a creek, and geothermal spring waters.

Used by the Yavapai for millenia, the area with the geothermal springs was part of a homestead claim filed by Civil War veteran George Monroe in 1873. Making the claim with three partners, he and his partners subsequently set up a tent camp and established a stagecoach stop. By 1877, the medicinal and health benefits of “taking the waters” were already known.

By Shellane Dannatt
 

Native American baskets are woven with more than willow and sumac- they are also woven with the tribal beliefs of the weaver. 
 

Baskets were used by most early inhabitants of North America, with the oldest basket found in the Southwest dating to about 8,000 years ago. Ancestral Puebloan sites (forerunners of today’s Pueblo Indians) contained ancient woven baskets.
 

By Parker Anderson

Historians generally accept (albeit hesitantly) that Raymond Hatfield Gardner was an Army scout during the Indian Wars. Beyond that, nothing about his life has been conclusively verified.  His genealogy has never been successfully traced, and his flamboyant stories have never been verified. It’s not even established that Raymond Gardner was his real name. Even the birthdate on his tombstone came from his own statements.
 

By Worcester P. Bong

Driving on Interstate 17 and State Route 69 between Phoenix and Prescott routinely takes less than two hours. Today’s travelers don’t realize the backbone of these two highways was a stagecoach route known as Black Canyon Highway, which officially became a state highway in 1936, designated as Arizona State Route 69 (SR 69).