By Marjory J. Sente

On January 1, 1887, the citizens of Prescott and its leaders were jubilant. The iron horse on that New Year’s Day connected the once-isolated Arizona town with the outside world. Although the Prescott and Arizona Central Railroad (PACR) had a rocky beginning and an even rougher demise, it arrived on time.

By Mick Woodcock

Christmas Day fell on a Wednesday in 1873 in Prescott; the day dawned clear and cool. The snow of the previous week remained only on the hills, and the Weekly Arizona Miner reported that the streets were drying and navigable.

The previous weeks had seen the pages of the Weekly Arizona Miner carrying news of proposed events and advocating for others. As examples: “Prescott Sabbath School people are talking of making a Christmas tree, for the children. Go ahead. We will assist.” and “Christmas Eve would be a good time for a big dance and supper, to which the managers might summons Gen. Crook, who, owing to a retiring disposition, has never yet been in Prescott four hours, or seen one-fourth of its people. Let us be jovial, as the year is kicking the bucket.” Both were in the December 5, 1873, edition of the newspaper.

By Marjory J. Sente

Born in 1862 in New Mexico on the Maxwell Land Grant, Rose Abell Traux lived there with her parents James and Polinah Traux and five siblings until the family moved to Denver in 1867.

Born in 1854 in Cornwall, England, William John “Jack” Martin immigrated to the United States in 1879, working first in Michigan and then living with an uncle in Pennsylvania. He came west to Nevada in 1882. Five years later, Jack arrived in Prescott by way of San Francisco. His move to Arizona initiated a long association with Frank M. Murphy and the local mining industry. He worked initially at the Congress Mine and then Crown King. 

By Worcester P. Bong

In September 1864, when the First Legislature of the new Arizona Territory convened in Prescott, the legislators created Yavapai County, as well as Mohave, Pima and Yuma. These counties were named after prominent Native American tribes in the region. Yavapai (pronounced Yav-uh-pie) was named for a group of Upland Yuman-speaking people. The name derives from Enyaeva meaning “sun” and Pai meaning “people” or “The Sun People”.

By Andrew Somerville

James S. Acker lived when Prescott was, maybe, a little wilder and mysterious. Case in point —someone once threw dynamite at his home. The culprit is unknown to this day. However, Acker’s legacy isn’t as combustible, even if you count the bang he made in the retail world. It’s the support of youth music education and the convivial atmosphere in Prescott each Christmas season during the Acker Night Musical Showcase for which he’s known, but it took the dedication of a different generation to make his legacy real.

By Parker Anderson

Since Prescott was established as the capital of Arizona Territory in 1864, it has observed and celebrated the Christmas season. In the early 20^th century, Sharlot Hall (founder of the museum that bears her name) sought out the last pioneer citizens of territorial Arizona who had been there at the beginning in order to record their memories of what it was like. Some of their recollections touched on the first Christmas celebrations in the newly formed little village of Prescott.

By Kristen Kauffman

Oakdale was a town about six miles south of Prescott along Senator Highway. Settled by miners and prospectors in the Bradshaw Mountains, it became a town in July of 1901, when they established a post office. Two months later, the town changed the name to honor a member of the first Arizona Territorial Legislature, a man who had mined and prospected in the Bradshaws since 1862 –“Colonel” Robert Groom—thus changing the name to Groom Creek.

By Marjory J. Sente

Fred Bert Jones served in WWI, and his daughter Helen volunteered during WWII. These local patriotic African-Americans served in the United States’ military to make the world safe for freedom, despite the segregation and lack of freedom they encountered in their own country. 

When Fred Jones joined the army, he lived in Winslow working as a carpenter for the Santa Fe Railroad. However, he enlisted in Lawrence, Kansas, where his family lived. Jones was a member of Company L of the 805^th Pioneer Infantry, an all colored unit, composed of men mostly from the Kansas City area.

By Worcester P. Bong

November 11^th is celebrated as a day to honor all veterans in the U.S. The holiday is known as Veterans Day here; and globally as Armistice Day. This U.S. holiday has transformed since the November 11, 1918 signing of an armistice to cease WWI fighting in Europe.

Commemorating the first anniversary of the armistice, the Prescott Journal-Miner November 6, 1919 edition reported that Governor Campbell stated “November 11, 1919 is the first anniversary of the most notable event in the world’s history, the signing of the armistice which brought to an end the greatest armed conflict within the knowledge of man and the triumph of the principle of Right over Might.” He declared that November 11^th, 1919 as Armistice Day,      would be a statewide legal holiday. The November 11, 1919 edition of the Prescott Journal-Miner reported that most businesses and other Prescott enterprises observed this state holiday. President Woodrow Wilson addressed the nation with a message about Armistice Day.

By Mick Woodcock

On the morning of November 8, 1918, five motor cars carrying the German delegation to negotiate the end of World War I stopped at a railway car parked on a siding in the Compiegne Forest in France. This was Allied commander Marshal Ferdinand Foch’s personal car and was the scene of three days of discussion between the German delegate and Allied officers. Although Foch is credited with writing most of the surrender terms, he chose not to be present during the negotiation process.