It may be asked what has such a chapter
heading to do with Old Tucson, and I answer "much every way," for as the
life history of some great man whose individuality and public spirit
have permeated all progressive movements in the country or town where he
lives, so Tucson, being the oldest, largest and most important point in
Arizona, every- thing pertaining to territorial affairs was transacted
by residents, or men coming to, or going from this place as a center of
attraction and effort.
In 1847, by treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo,
all that territory north of the Gila river, now included in Arizona,was
ceded to th United States, while in the years 1853-1854, under the
early administration of President Franklin Pierce, who desired a further
concession from Mexico,' se'dt the Hon. James Gads- den as minister to
that country for this pufpose.
His object was to secure a railroad
route to the Pacific ocean, acquire the ownership of Guaymas, and the
control of the Gulf of California. There were three different
propositions submitted, the first of which, being the most southern, and
granting larger territory, would seem, in looking back now at the
transaction to have been most desirable and valuable to the United
States. This concession, commencing at latitude 30 0 , center of the Rio
Grande, running directly west to Gulf of California, and in- cluding
one-third of the Mekican states of Chihuahua and Sonora and the entire
peninsula of Lower California, north, to line indicated, for
$25,000,000.
The second embraced about the same
territory as the one finally adopted, but with the additional advant-
age of a seaport at the head of the Gulf of Califor- nia for
$15,000,000. But even the last and third pro- position, called the
Skeleton Treaty, caused a great deal of friction in the United States
Senate at $10,000,000,for when urged by some of the broader minded
members the advisability of a port of entry on the Gulf for the United
States, it was answered that "a port at Yuma, on the Colorado river,
would be all sufficient." A big bluff!
However, the real trouble, back of a
seeming penuriousness, was the growing spirit of unrest because the
subject of slavery was even then looming upon the political horizon, and
it was feared that South- ern extension would intensify the brewing
trouble, 'when if it could have been seen that the stupendous problem of
slavery would settle itself in the end, regardless of extension in any
direction, it is likely that our boundary line on the south would have
been quite different from what it is at the present time. Be that as it
may, the transaction brought upon Mr. Gadsden much ridicule for the
purchase of that "worthless desert" as it was termed, unknow- ing of its
rich mineral deposits, agricultural and grazing possibilities. It
resembled the later pur- chase of Alaska for the United States, by Wm.
H. Seward, for $7,000,000,for that piece of "frozen land," regardless of
the fact that the seal fisheries alone were well worth the cost of
purchase, aside from its vast wealth of mineral resources as subse-
quently developed.
There is a trait or principle in human nature that seems to make true those lines,
"All great men have been sneered at, jeered at, Before their deeds were cheered at."
Subsequent to the ratification of the Gadsden Purchase, the territory was attached to the county of Donna Ana, New Mexico.
The Americans who were in Tucson at that
time, and aided in its acquisition, came under employ- ment of
GovernorManuel Gandara, of Sonora, Mexico, and were engaged in ranching,
stock raising and in building houses for the Mexicans, who were
manufacturing blankets by hand. Those pioneers were John W. Davis, John
Clark, Dr. Colton and a few others. The general immigration of Americans
began in 1856, and that year the population of Tucson was about four
hundred, some thirty of whom were Americans, while in 1859 Bishop
Salpointe reported six hundred, an increase of two hundred in three
years, in spite of the Apaches, but the country at large was now waking
up to the importance of Arizona.
In 1855 American troops had taken
possession of Tucson and Tubac. The Mexican colors had been lowered, and
the stars and stripes unfurled to the Arizona breeze.
Besides the few Americans noted, others
whose names are just as familiar were conspicuous in early times. Chas.
D. Poston, whom many of us remember in later years, was one of the first
arrivals in 1856. He came for the purpose of opening up and operating
rich silver m ines. Hon. G. H. Oury; Hon. Wm. S. Oury; Hon. Estevan
Ochoa, from whom we have Ochoa street named; the Pennington family, from
whom also we have Pennington street named; Gen'l Stone, who
immortalized his name in Stone avenue; Dr. C. H. Lord and W. W.
Williams, the latter two of whom engaged in the first banking business
in Tucson; Peter R. Brady, associated in later years in the Pima County
Bank with the Jacobs Brothers; Wm. Kirtland, who first raised the
American flag in Tucson; Hon. Hiram Stevens, who was sent to congress in
1875, and served two terms; Samuel Hughes; Sylvester Mowry, who owned
and worked for many years the Mowry mine, still in operation; John G.
Capron, who with twenty-five other citizens left Tucson on what proved
to be a filibustering trip to the relief of Ex-Governor Crabbe, at the
time of the Crabbe massacre in Old Mexico, and interestingly but
pathetically remarks that, being only a sergeant at that time he had all
the hard work to do"; Solomon Warner, of whom we will speak later;
General Wadsworth; Col. Ed. Cross, editor and duellist; and C. H. Meyer,
from whom we have Meyer street named. Men—brave, daring and
courageous—many who in different ways distinguish- ed themselves, in the
civil war, in public life, or as wealthy and honored citizens.
Many lost their lives in brave and desperate encounters with the Indians, for life in Tucson in those days was no sinecure.
There were often captives to be rescued,
homes and lives of the owners, or those of their neighbors, to be
defended; lasting friendships were formed, and what belonged of
helpfulness to one, his neighbor could count on as his also. The record
of those perilous days cannot be written. In the days of toil and nights
of anxiety no one thought of keeping historical records, and they are
lost in the oblivion and mystery that surrounded life in this
frontierland, but we know enough to believe that the bravery and
hardships of those early settlers would equal the heroism of any age in
the world's history. Not only from Tucson, but from one end of the
territory to the other, their only epitaph the eloquence of bleaching
bones and ruined homes.
In March of 1856 Solomon Warner opened
the first store in Tucson. He brought in thirteen pack mules from
California, laden with merchandise for this purpose, and for many years
much of the necessary supplies for Tucson were brought in that way from
Guaymas and Hermosillo under the protection of troops. These pack mules
were commonly called burros, and must have been a left-over legacy from
the extinct civilization of bygone ages, since I've never heard of their
introduction to Arizona. They seem to have been a native production,
and like Topsy, to have just "growed." The burro is never too early nor
too late in the world's history to be both useful and interesting, and
is so unique in ap- pearance, behavior and characteristics, that he
deserves a chapter by himself, but content myself with the insertion of
the following sympathetic descrip- tion which I found somewhere:
"Burro is the Spanish name for the
animal known in English as the ass. The term itself (burro) is a
corruption from our word borrow. The people were exceedingly poor
(although pious), and the only luxury they could indulge in to any
extent was bor- rowing. But the people had in fact nothing but 'asses
and rosaries,and as they must borrow,the former being constantly in
demand became such common objects of borrowing, that the beast finally
took the name of the custom, and fell heir to its present perverted name
of burro.
"We could wish that a more expressive
and correct term than either burro or ass had been applied to the
animal. As they perambulate our streets daily and hourly, loaded to the
muzzle with their burdens of wood or small boys, with their ears erect
and their countenances suffused with a perfect glow of deep study and
concentrated inquiry into the nature and origin of this world, we have
sometimes thought they deserved a better name. We look among all the
beasts here and we think we find none so useful and worthy of
commendation as the burro. He is so adapted to the wants of the poor.
His original price is small and he costs nothing to keep. Pastures which
from its barrenness, would give a sound horse the staggers, and cure a
mule of kicking, will produce contentment in the bosom of the burro, and
he will grow fat on cold adobe walls, made with straw.
"But the most pleasing feature of this
docile crea- ture is his humility, his meekness and his submis-
siveness. Whether he gets these qualities from the ancestor who bore his
Godlike burden over the spread garments and palm branches into the
high- gates of old Jerusalem, we know not. It may be. And the glorious
fact may have tinged with blissful contentment the blood of all his
race, even unto this day.
It is sometimes said he is stubborn, but
if those who say this could know, as the burro knows, the everlasting
height, and depth and length and breadth of the consummate meanness of
the human race, they might also, after a few centuries of endurance,
exhibit something resembling stubbornness or slight uncertainty in their
actions.
"Besides his cheapness and small
attendant ex- pense, the burro more nearly meets the demands of the poor
than any other animal. He bears his burden on his back. He needs no
gaudy attachmentof chariot, or harness or stable. He rarely strays. He
supplies the poor man's fire. He furnishes his frugal living. After
warming and feeding his task-master he completes his usefulness by
singing that master and his household to sleep. How he will sing! Verily
he lifts up his voice and howls. One burro can rend the air and make
the welkin ring. There is only one thing which the burro cannot do. He
can- not stop braying after he has once commenced until he has finished
the tune. He is all right as long as he totally abstains from braying,
and has the most perfect control of all his faculties.
But let him once cross the Rubicon of
his bray, and nothing short of instant death can help him until he has
finished. We have seen a burro with tears in his eyes, and his whole
form convulsed with a futile endeavor to cut a bray off just one or two
notes short. It was use- less. He can do most anything else. He can wag
one ear at a time. He can wag both ears at once. He can wag his tail and
one ear at a time. He can wag his tail and both ears in unison. He can
wag his tail and not wag either ear. But what satisfaction is there in
all these graceful accomplishments when he can't manage his bray. He is
so ashamed of his weakness that he sometimes gets desperate, and so you
will frequently see him braying and run- ning at the same time. This is
caused by a foolish idea on his part that he may possibly run the end of
the bray down.
"But all in all, the gentle burro has
not his equal among the beasts of the field. His lot is humble, and yet
he has borne a God upon his back. His task is lowly and still so well
performed that if we can all make the same showing at the going down of
our sun, it shall be well with us, notwithstanding what may be the
dictum of stoled priest or high altar, or misinterpretedBook."
It was Solomon Warner also, who later
built and owned the flour mill, the ruins of which are still to be seen
on the west bank of the Santa Cruz river, and in fact, the village at
that time was located in what is now the southwestern part of the
city—as from time immemorial "Old Tucson." One authority claims that it
was situated a half mile further up the river, while another locates it a
mile further up, but the old mill is a pretty fair landmark, as well as
the old mission Escala Pura, in the valley also, on the west bank of
the river. The presidio, or fort, was in the vicinity of Levin's park,
west of the old Zeckendorf store.
These pages are from the book "Old Tucson; a hop, skip and jump" by Estelle M. Buehman available on Amazon.
Local Tucson Books
 "Treasures of the Santa Catalina Mountains,"
by Robert Zucker. The legends and history of the Catalinas– the Tucson
Gold Rush, the Iron Door Mine, Buffalo Bill's mining camp, and the story
of mining the mountains for gold, silver and copper. Read chapters
online, download a free sample PDF of the book and purchase on
Amazon. |
 "Entertaining Tucson Across the Decades,"
by Robert Zucker. Covers the local music and entertainment scene from
the 1950s through the end of the 20th Century. Interviews with local
musicians, original photographs and stories published in local
newspapers. Read chapters online, download a free sample PDF of the book
and purchase on Amazon. |
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