By Marjory J. Sente

Martha Burton Woodhead Williamson, better known as Mrs. M. Burton Williamson, was born in England in 1843. She came to America the next year with her parents and lived in the Midwest. Well educated, she became a newspaper reporter, and in 1882, the associate editor of the Terre Haute Enterprise in Indiana.
 

In 1887 the Williamson family moved to Los Angeles, where Martha became involved in education, natural science, history and women’s rights. A prolific writer and scholar, she was a member of the Southern California Press Association. Her involvement with this organization led to her trip to the Grand Canyon.
 

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By Bob Baker

Dr. Elliott Ladd Coues was truly a “Renaissance” man, serving as an Army doctor, naturalist, historian, ornithologist (study of birds) and author of numerous books in his lifetime.

Born on September 9, 1842, Elliott Ladd Coues graduated from Columbia College, Washington, D.C. in 1863. On March 30, 1864, he was commissioned an Assistant Surgeon in the U.S. Army (equivalent to First Lieutenant). In August 1864 he arrived at Fort Whipple in Prescott in the new Arizona Territory. In their book, Elliott Coues, Naturalist and Frontier Historian, Paul Russell Cutright and Michael J. Brodhead quote Coues’s letter to his mentor Spencer F. Baird, Asst. Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, describing his arrival at Fort Whipple: “I have just arrived here and assumed charge of the Hospital and I am at present busy getting official matters in order, - which will occupy me for a few days. I will then get settled in my tent, - we have nothing else to live in,- and shall try to prosecute Nat. Hist. with the same animus with which I left Washington for this country.”

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By Worcester P. Bong

Did you know many streets at the VA Medical Center of the Northern Arizona VA Health Care System (NAVAHCS) in Prescott are named for important people? Look for these historic streets the next time you visit the Bob Stump VA Medical Center.

For instance, Whipple Parkway  and Fort Whipple are named after Major General Amiel Weeks Whipple, an American military officer and topographical engineer. Working for the US War Department between 1848 and 1854, he surveyed the new U.S. and Mexico boundary and a possible transcontinental railroad route along the 35th parallel from Arkansas to Los Angeles. On May 7, 1863 he was mortally wounded at the Battle of Chancellorsville in Virginia. Whipple is buried at the Proprietors' Cemetery in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

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By Marjory J. Sente

Martha Rebecca Yount, an independent spirit as a youth, became a trail blazer for other women. The daughter of Dr. Clarence and Clara Criley Yount, she was born in Prescott on June 7, 1912 during the first months of Arizona’s statehood.

At an early age, Martha was smitten with horses and became an outstanding equestrian. At the University of Arizona, she joined the Desert Riders, an honorary riding society that rode in parades and competed in horse shows in Tucson and Phoenix. Specializing in English style, Martha rode for local roundups. Cowboys teased her but respected her riding expertise.   

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By Susan Cypert

For Dennis A. Burke, the words “Go West, young man” became the impetus he needed to leave his home and follow his dreams. Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1859, he was the son of Patrick and Mary Ann Burke, immigrants from Galway, Ireland.

To get west, Dennis enlisted in the Army in 1878 and was assigned to Company B, 12th Infantry Regiment during the Indian Wars. He first served at Fort Verde, Arizona Territory, and was promoted to Corporal and then to Sergeant. Before his discharge in 1882, he served at Whipple Barracks in Prescott.

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By Bob Baker

The New Year’s Eve dances (hops) and balls were regularly mentioned or advertised in the Arizona Weekly Miner, Prescott’s local newspaper. The Dec 31, 1874 edition announced the “Odd Fellow’s Ball” on New Year’s Eve would be held at Hatz’ Hall. Each ticket would cost $10 and admit one couple. The paper predicted “Knowing that our Odd Fellows have never yet failed in giving good entertainments, we predict that the coming one will be first class.” On January 4, 1878, the Weekly Arizona Miner reported that “A large number of the residents at Fort Whipple were joined last evening in celebrating the New-year with a hop, at the General Crook Club Rooms…The lunch spread for the occasion was excellent, and the affair, in every particular harmonizing and brilliant.” The Dec 5, 1884 edition advertised a “Masquerade and Fancy Dress Ball” by the Milligan Guards at Howey’s Hall on New Year’s Eve. On Dec 29, 1886, the Arizona Weekly Journal Miner advertised the opening of the new opera house on New Year’s Eve. The opening would include a promenade, concert and ball. On January 5, 1887, the newspaper noted “A ball was given at the Thumb Butte school house on New Year’s Eve.” Again on January 4, 1888, the newspaper reported a “New Year’s dance, Monday night at the Bellevue Hotel.”

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By Marjory J. Sente

For Christmas in 1908 Minnie White received a Christmas-themed penny post card from a W. Johnson. This attractive card, manufactured by Dennson’s, featured a snowy scene with people going to church. At that time, no messages were allowed on the address side of the post card. However, Johnson snuck his or her first initial and name in the upper left corner along with Minnie’s name and address. Mailed in Prescott on December 21, the card reached Harrington, where Miss White lived, two days later. Harrington was a mining town nestled in the Bradshaw Mountains south of Prescott. It was named for George P. Harrington, a mine operator and owner who established the Oro Belle mine and operated the Tiger Mine.

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By Worcester P. Bong

An icon of the past, the 129-foot Mayer stack was built for a smelter plant expansion in Mayer, Arizona. Many articles, including two Days Past articles (Prescott Courier, June 18, 1990; Daily Courier, October 20, 1996), have been written about this stack. This article provides more detail about the stack’s history and current information on its status.

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By Mick Woodcock

As you drive toward Cordes Junction on Arizona Highway 69, the ruins of what was originally King Woolsey’s Agua Frio Ranch are visible on the left as you near the town of Humboldt. What remains of this historic ranch is minimal, only a vague reminder that this was once the first building in the area and was for years a reference point for the Agua Frio Valley, for that is how it was known in those days.

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By Bob Baker

During the 1800s, mules were an essential part of the settlement and development of Prescott - indeed, of the Arizona Territory. Frontiersmen and early prospectors rode saddle mules and carried their provisions and equipment on pack mules. Early settlers used mules to ride, haul supplies, plow fields and transport equipment. Freight and stage lines often used them on their more mountainous routes. The U.S. Army quickly recognized the mules’ adaptability and began using them to ride and in pack trains in mountainous terrain.    

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