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.

By Gretchen Hough Eastman

Last Sunday’s article discussed the women who started the Territorial Women’s Memorial Rose Garden, located on the Sharlot Hall Museum campus.  This week, four of the pioneer women’s stories are featured, representing the hundreds of women who are honored in the Rose Garden.

By Brenda Taylor

Later this month, the Sharlot Hall Museum will host a panel discussion regarding the Territorial Women’s Memorial Rose Garden and unveil its new exhibit, The Rose Garden Discovery Kiosk.  This exhibit will usher the Museum into the 21^st century using a touch screen computer that will display hundreds of Arizona women’s biographies who prepared the way for others to homestead, work and just live life in the “wild west” territory.

By Mick Woodcock

The opening of the Central Mountains of Arizona to Anglo settlement was set against the backdrop of the American Civil War.  This conflict hastened the exploration of the Territory as the need for gold to finance the war effort sent prospectors into the most inhospitable regions of the West, including Arizona above the Gila River.

By Al Bates

Editor’s Note:  An earlier version of the following was published as a Days Past article in December 2005.

Usually when we think of Christmastime in Territorial Prescott we have images of jolly families with little children warm and snugly gathered around a candle-lit tree after enjoying the fruits of their mama’s kitchen efforts.  But there was an earlier time when Prescott was barely a town and was peopled by a predominance of single men-especially when the miners came to town.

By Murray Smolens 

Richard Elihu Sloan is not exactly a household name today in Arizona, but he was well known and highly regarded a century ago.  As the last territorial governor, longest-serving member of the Arizona Supreme Court, and later a U.S. District Court Justice, he was a major player in shaping the legal system and the cause of Arizona statehood.  His 15-year residence in Prescott and his appointment of Sharlot Hall as territorial historian makes him of particular interest in the annals of local history as well.

By Ray Carlson

On April 24, 1869, the Prescott newspaper, the Weekly Arizona Miner, noted that Anson P.K. Safford “from California” was appointed Governor.  “Nobody here seems to know Mr. Safford, nor do our people seem to care who or what he is. In fact, after our experience with Goodwin and McCormick [Arizona's first two Governors], we can stand almost any kind of man for Governor.”  Actually, Safford was from Nevada (though he did live in California from 1850 until 1862), but it took over a year before the newspaper corrected its statement.

By Elisabeth Ruffner

Before Prescott’s Santa Claus arrived by helicopter, he rode into downtown Prescott on a gleaming red fire truck.  His visit on the Plaza in 1952 was promoted by The Prescott Chamber of Commerce as an ongoing gesture of goodwill for the region. The Yavapai County Courthouse Plaza has been the center of business, charitable, cultural, government and social life since the founding of Prescott as the Territorial Capital in 1864.

By Al Bates

Members of Arizona’s First Territorial Legislature, which met in late 1864, were collectively saluted for their teamwork and considerable accomplishments in establishing a firm foundation for future development.  By contrast, after the Second Legislature met a year later, only one legislator was singled out for any honors.