By Ray Carlson

In March 1871, the Weekly Arizona Miner noted: “Rev. Mr. (Alexander) Gilmore, Chaplain at Fort Whipple, is about to commence instructing the youth of Prescott, some encouragement having already been given him for the carrying out of the laudable object.”  During Prescott’s first five years, at least eight people opened private schools in homes, but none of these schools lasted more than six months.  Sam Rogers built a school and taught for eighteen months, but Rogers, as a father of six, could not survive financially on the fees parents paid. Gilmore in contrast had no family and had housing and financial support from the Army.

By Brad Courtney

In July 1868, Albert Noyes, a transplanted New Englander, began circulating a rumor throughout Prescott. Noyes was the co-owner and operator of the four-year-old town’s first sawmill, the Quartz Mountain Sawmill, and he promised that he was going to build a house of business the likes of which early Prescottonians had never seen.

By Mick Woodcock

As more and more Anglo miners and settlers moved to Arizona, conflict with the local inhabitants was generally inevitable. This constant state of warfare with the various tribal groups caused the Army to send Lieutenant Colonel (later promoted to Brigadier General) George Crook to be commander of the newly created Military Department of Arizona in 1871.

By Mick Woodcock

When Anglos first came to the Prescott area, initial contact with the indigenous people was peaceful enough, but as more miners arrived who shot the Yavapai’s main food supply, the mule deer, things became tense. With an invasion of their homeland and assaults on their families, they fought back in the only way they could. Raids on small groups of men, freight teams and isolated ranches accelerated until no one felt safe, anywhere.

By Marjory J. Sente

Last week’s Days Past told of tribulations with early Prescott mail service as experienced by Margaret McCormick, wife of Governor Richard McCormick.  This week continues those experiences, including the sacking of the postal contractor for non-performance  and an insider’s look at the competition to succeed John N. Goodwin as territorial governor.

By Marjory J. Sente

One of the great annoyances for early Prescott residents was the isolation from friends and relatives “back in the states,” an isolation that was made much worse by inadequate mail service. Surviving letters written by Margaret Griffiths Hunt McCormick, the wife of Richard Cunningham McCormick—the Territory of Arizona’s first secretary and second governor— illustrate the situation and the annoyances felt.

By Allan and Cathie M. Englekirk

In February 1864, Governor Goodwin contacted President Lincoln for authority to recruit volunteer infantry to combat Apaches in the Territory.  After his request was granted, Hiram Storrs Washburn, a merchant from Patagonia, was made a Second Lieutenant (later Captain) and organized recruiting.

By Fred Veil

A name like Cotesworth Pinckney Head evokes images of the Deep South of the 19^th century.  Indeed, this Arizona pioneer did reside in Arkansas for a time during the early years of his adulthood, and was sufficiently sympathetic to the South that he served in the Confederate Army during the Civil War.  He was, however, born and educated in the state of New York, and what possessed him to move south in the late 1850s is a story that has been lost to history.

By Mick Woodcock

What is now the state of Arizona was once a part of Mexico and the central mountain region was basically unexplored, except by a few fur-trapping parties.  It was the home of the Yavapai who lived in small bands due to the scarcity of water.  They would move from camp to camp during the year in order not to exhaust their resources.

By Mary Melcher, Ph.D.

The Sharlot Hall Museum Territorial Women’s Memorial Rose Garden honors women living in Arizona Territory before statehood.  The diverse honorees represent nearly every ethnic culture and occupation.  While the majority married and had children, some remained single; others were divorced or widowed.  Dealing with primitive conditions during the nineteenth century, they worked hard to maintain their homes, ranches and farms while building their communities.  A number of women also worked in the political arena; others were artists, and some worked in business.