By Fred Veil

It is not unusual for bits and pieces of Western lore to find their way into the historical record of the Old West. The story of Kissin’ Jenny, a Prescott prostitute, and the role she purportedly played in influencing the decision of the Fifteenth Legislature of the Arizona Territory to relocate the territorial capital from Prescott to Phoenix in 1889 is a case in point.

By John P. Langellier, Ph.D.

In last Sunday’s article Dr. Langellier told of a young Yavapai boy captured by U.S. Army soldiers, his adoption and education, and the beginnings of his efforts to tell the Indian side of events during the settling of Arizona Territory.

While Burns’s primary objective was to tell the Yavapai version of a history so dominated by white accounts, he broadened his scope to include traditional Indian oral history and ethnological information. Furthermore, he served as a principal informant for scholars who studied the Southeastern Yavapai and the Northeastern and Western Yavapai.

By John P. Langellier, Ph.D.

In December 1872 a young Yavapai named Hoomothya was present as his father, siblings, grandparents, and other members of his extended family were killed by U.S. Army troops with the support of Indian scouts. There, in a remote cave that even today is isolated and difficult to locate, he was orphaned.

By Russ Sherwin

In the latter half of the nineteenth century, one of the best power sources the small farmer had, or could readily obtain, was horses. If he didn’t have his own, he could borrow or rent some for a short period of time. A horse just requires a little water and some hay for fuel and he’s good to go. And it’s generally scalable: Need more power? Get more horses. Then, because of advances in crop processing machinery, a need developed for stationary rotary power. The problem is, how do you turn a walking horse into a rotating shaft?

By Al Bates

In last week’s article we traced Arizona’s early days as a neglected part of New Mexico Territory and how the Gadsden Purchase started the concept of a political subdivision by that name.  This week we look at the shaping of Arizona (literally) by the United States Congress and how its first government was formed.

By Al Bates

Arizona’s path to statehood began 150 years ago today when President Abraham Lincoln signed the Organic Act that separated it from New Mexico Territory and established it as a territory of the United States in its own right.  However this was not the first recognized Arizona Territory, for a previous version existed briefly as a part of the Confederate States of America.  And even before that early residents attempted to establish a “provisional” Arizona Territory.

By Nancy Burgess

The Cactus Derby of 1914 combined all of the drama of today’s Indy 500 along with the elements of a modern mud bog race.  The race was a great and significant event for the drivers, mechanics and machines involved.  The first prize, $2,500, hardly covered the costs of the racers, but the real prize was a highly coveted trophy inscribed “Master Driver of the World.”

By Nancy Burgess

As the automobile was beginning to gain popularity in the early years of the twentieth century, auto racing was evolving into a sport of national significance.  In Arizona, the annual Los Angeles-to-Phoenix Road Race, otherwise known as the “Cactus Derby,” was held each year from 1908 through 1914.  The race gave manufacturers the opportunity to promote their automobiles and related products – everything from tires to magnetos.  It also served to demonstrate the need for a good road between Los Angeles and Phoenix.

By John P. Langellier, Ph.D.

Prescott, named after the author of the epic Conquest of Mexico, can trace more than street names of Cortez, Montezuma and Marina to its storied past.  In fact, the Spanish also came north from Mexico.

By Jan MacKell Collins

Of all of the wild women serenaded by the famous Earp brothers and Doc Holliday, Big Nose Kate was the first to woo the men who would later find fame in Tombstone. Born in Hungary in 1850 as Mary Katharine Haroney, Kate immigrated with her family in 1860. They were living in Iowa when Kate’s parents died in 1866. She and her siblings were sent to a farm, where grueling work conditions enticed Kate to run away. She stowed away on a steamship for New Orleans where she entered the Ursuline Convent.