By Rob Bates

There is a small cloth patch in the collection of the Sharlot Hall Museum in Prescott. It is circular in shape; pine trees grace the edges and mountains fill the center. The letters CCC sweep across the top.

This small patch tells the story of where the CCC did most of its work – in the mountains, within the green places of the United States, - and did so in cooperation with the U.S. Forest Service. One of these places to fit this description was, of course, the surrounding area of Prescott.

By Terry Munderloh

The Homestead Act of 1862 gave the privilege of obtaining a quarter section (160 acres) of land, free of charge, to any person who was head of a family or was at least 21 years old and a U.S. citizen, or had filed declaration to become such.

In the Sept. 21, 1864 edition of the Journal-Miner, the following notice dated Aug. 15, 1864, was published: “Know all men of these presents that the undersigned have this day taken up and squatted on the tract of land situated at and near the old site of Fort Whipple, consisting of about 500 acres.” The notice was signed by Postle, Brown & Co.

By Nancy Burgess

In the early 1900s, much of the railroad grant land in the Chino Valley area was sold to the Arizona Land and Irrigation Company.

The company applied for and received water rights along Granite and Willow creeks.

By Jay Eby

In the Territory of Arizona in 1900, I am sure the citizenry were just as expectant, just as sure something new and better would happen as we enter 2001.  Maybe, this would the year, 1900, that Arizona would become a State.  But, this was not to be; not for another 12 years. 

By Mick Woodcock

In 1863, Christmas was new to the list of celebrations for most people in the United States.  Popularized in part by the drawings of Santa Claus and Christmas done by Thomas Nast for Harpers Weekly magazine, much of the tradition as we know it today was in place by the time of the founding of Prescott.  That Christmas was remembered and recorded by a number of people.  No doubt the fact that this was the formation year of the Territory of Arizona had much to do with that.

By Jody Drake

On January 22, 1925, the Electoral College received votes from its electors.  Among those present, carrying the Republican votes for Coolidge, was "the lady from Arizona," Prescott's own Sharlot M. Hall.  As we look back at this we perceive it to be a history making event as well as big news, but in fact on that date in 1925, The Prescott Journal Miner headline read "Red Rock Postmaster Shot To Death at His Desk".  No mention of Miss Hall and her journey to Washington.

By Dorothy Chafin

(Dorothy Chafin has recently written a multi-part account of her life. We will be publishing pieces of that over the next few months) 

My family moved back to Arizona during the year I was attending the University of Denver; they moved to Prescott and the Grounds family moved back to the Kingman area.  I've been forever grateful that we came back to Prescott rather than the Mohave County location.  My family moved away, little by little, but I had no desire to leave.

By Ken Edwards

When the Civil War broke out, Weaver went back to Yuma to sign on as a Union scout. In March 1862, he assisted General Carleton's California Column in routing the Confederates from Arizona and New Mexico.

George Oaks, a member of the California Volunteers, described Weaver as follows: "He had come to Arizona about thirty years before and knew the country and the Indians well. He was pretty much of an Indian, himself, and liked to scout far ahead of us. He had been so much alone that his speech was part English, part Spanish. . . .

By Ken Edwards

(The first of two parts on the life of Pauline Weaver, "First Citizen of Prescott") 

Few people know much more about Pauline Weaver than is contained in the short memorial on his headstone on the grounds of the Sharlot Hall Museum.  Who was Weaver and why is he of such importance in the history of Prescott and the Territory of Arizona?  His life story is recounted in the excellent 1993, booklet by Jim Byrkit and Bruce Hooper: "THE STORY OF PAULINE WEAVER Arizona's Foremost Mountain Man.  Trapper, Gold-Seeker, Scout, Pioneer".  The following material is mostly based on that publication.

By Pat Kilkenney

Yup, there really was a Fort Whipple in Virginia; although most tourists to the Nation's Capitol know it as Fort Myer and Arlington National Cemetery.  How it came to be is an interesting "side-bar" of Civil War History; and not one of the finer moments of our Government's history!