A Short History of Graham County

Stroll along a stream emerging from one of Graham County's many mountain ranges and you are likely, along the way, to step on fragments of pottery or perhaps spot a metate or an arrowhead.

Such Indian artifacts are found in the homes and around the yards of Graham County's farmers and ranchers and are also possessed by its novice archaeologists, Sunday picnickers and winter visitors.

One San Jose area farmer, Guillermo Alvillar, decorates a corner of his living room with ancient relics. The Dwight Abrams of Safford, escapees from Kansas weather, have had family fun locating Indian ruins and carefully working them. Recently, close by his home, Dwight found nine pottery items.

Not far from Guillermo's home is a noted Indian ruin known as Pueblo Viejo (Old Town), which early gave its name to the now Safford, or Gila Valley. An indefatigable traveler, Arizona Territorial Governor A. P. K. Safford, first investigated this widely known ruin in 1872 and described it the following year: "It must have been one of the largest as well as the finest cities of the time before the Apaches or some other race killed or drove away the inhabitants of this section of the country." Also impressed by man's antiquity in the present-day Gra-ham County area was A. B. Gray and members of his 1851 survey party. Gray, on an 1855 map, not only identified the Gila Valley as "Aztec Valley" but in addition commented, "Broken pottery and remains of settlements were found." Gray was not alone when he erroneously linked the Gila Valley ruins to the Aztec race instead of to the Hohokams or even older Indian cultures who dug canals, lived in adequate houses and traded with their neighbors.

Still in evidence today in Graham County are the labors of the people known as Basketmaker-Pueblo, collectively called the Anasazi culture or "the ancient ones."

Some twenty spectacular cliff dwellings of the Pueblo period are located in the rugged Bonita Canyon area northeast of Safford. Only a few corncobs may now be found, as these varied ruins have been robbed many times during past years.

Hidden in Turkey Creek Canyon, a side canyon to the Aravaipa Canyon, is a small, well-preserved home of the mortarminded Pueblos, who are credited with constructing America's first penthouses.

More of the Pueblos' handiwork may be found at Point of Pines, an oft-investigated communal-type ruin on the San Carlos Indian Reservation near Graham County's northern border.

Indeed, travel far and wide in Graham County and one finds witness to its first inhabitants: pictographs on a large rock in the Artesia region, a smoke-blackened cave in the Nantes Mountains, and the large, immovable rocks of the Parks Lake area, with their mortars used in grinding seeds, corn and berries.

BY WILLIAM R. RIDGEWAY

Lost men in tattered clothing, men in shining armor searching for gold and glory, and men in grey robes carrying the Cross hoping to save souls were some of the participants in a powerful and far-ranging pageant that inaugurated Graham Country's historic era.

First scene of this colorful enactment shows Alvar Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca, Castillo, Dorantes and his slave Estevan reaching Mexico after experiencing many hardships, serving as slaves, acting as medicine men and demonstrating a tremendous will to survive. Lost in the Florida everglades while members of the ill-fated Spanish expedition under Panfilo de Narvaez, the four showed resourcefulness and courage during their landwater journey to civilization and safety. And, too, they showed they possessed vivid imaginations when they told tales of a land to the north abounding in gold, silver, turquoise and other riches.

Such tales fired the minds of the Spaniards, who were very much aware of great wealth gained in the Mexico and Peru conquests. Their enthusiasm to share in the new El Dorado led to a 1539 Spanish version of the "gold rush," with Marcos de Niza, a Franciscan friar, leading the way.

An able, astute Viceroy Mendoza had wisely selected the Friar to lead a small exploring party to confirm or deny stories told by Cabeza de Vaca. There is controversy as to the Friar's veracity and as to the route his party followed during the journey to Cibola or Zuñi Villages of northwestern New Mexico, but authorities such as Herbert Bolton believe Fray Marcos and his entourage passed through present-day Graham County and perhaps viewed a ruin called Chichilticale (Red House). Possibly it could have been the one later named Pueblo Viejo.

If Bolton and other scholars correctly traced the Friar's trail to Cibola, Estevan, who scouted ahead of the main party,, would be the first member of the Negro race to set foot on now Graham County land, and members of the Fray Marcos group would be the first white men to visit this same area.

From afar, Fray Marcos did view Cibola, where Estevan lost his life to the natives because of offensive actions, and on his return to Mexico not only confirmed but magnified the Cabeza de Vaca party's stories. Regardless of whether the Friar was a "lying monk" or a mistaken one, his glowing description of Cibola was directly responsible for the impressive 1540 expedition led by Francisco Vasquez de Coronado. Most students now agree this expedition crossed present-day Graham County during its northward trip, and Chichilticale would be a key landmark in making this judgment.

Due to the fact present Graham County area was located in the heart of Arizona Apacheria, a veritable no-man's-land to the Spaniards because of the fierce Apaches, records of Spanish visitations to this remote area are comparatively few. One rare record - a 1784 journal concerns a Spanish military expedition intended to search out and punish the Indian foe. Led by Pedro de Allande, the detachment scouted the Aravaipa (Aribaypa) Canyon, the Gila Valley and Pinaleno Mountains (Sierra La Florida). The name Florida was applied to the Gila Valley and Pinaleno Range over a long period of time.

A previous Apache-hunting foray into now Graham County, as disclosed by the journal, was led by a Captain Azuela, and likely similar but unrecorded excursions were made, as evidenced by the 1914 find of an obviously Spanish sword on the banks of the Gila River below Duncan. Both sides of the sword's blade has strips of inlaid gold; also, finely engraven on the blade are the Roman Cross and the Knight Templar Plume. Joe Place of Duncan, finder of the sword, still possesses it.

Love of adventure and search for the beaver combined to bring the first United States citizens the mountain men to present-day Graham County.

Mainly unwashed and highly skilled in the art of survival, these courageous, hardy individuals scouted ahead for civilization and made possible or at least speeded up western expansion.

They were a ubiquitous lot whose trapping activities especially during 1825-1830 took them into every nook and cranny of the Far West, not excluding Graham County.

Notables among this buckskin-clad trapping and trading fraternity as related to Graham County history would be Sylvester Pattie and his son, James O. Pattie, William Wolfskill, Pegleg Smith, George Yount and the Frenchmen Le Due and Miguel Robidoux.

Young Pattie in 1831 published a book, probably with Timothy Flint's help, entitled Pattie's Personal Narrative. This western classic contains much suspect material, but nevertheless presents a precious picture of the mountain men roaming the wilds of the West, trapping, hunting, fighting Indians and grizzlies and drinking the waters of the "Helay" River.

Troubles between the United States and Mexico, which had been brewing for years, finally spilled over into bloody war, declared May 11, 1846.

Action south of the border, as a result of this declaration, saw General Taylor triumphant at Buena Vista, Colonel Doniphan slugging it out at Sacramento and the storming of Chapultepec. Fast-moving events to the north included the formation of the "Army of the West" with Colonel (later General) Stephan Watts Kearny commanding. One of the army's divi sions under Colonel Doniphan fought Navajos in New Mexico and invaded Mexico while the Mormon Battalion and a force led by Kearny headed west to attempt to wrest New Mexico and California from Mexican control.

Meeting the famous frontiersman Kit Carson October 6, 1846, on the Rio Grande below Socorro, New Mexico, Kearny gained information which caused him to reduce his five-company force to two companies, or about one hundred men. Then Carson, who was carrying premature news to Washington of California's surrender to Commodore Stockton and John C. Fremont, was ordered to release his dispatches to another messenger for delivery and aid mountain-man Antoine Robidoux guide Kearny's dragoons to California. Invaluable records of this probing march kept by Major W. H. Emory and Captain H. S. Turner provide such details as the wagons' inability to traverse the rugged terrain, Apache Chief Mangas Colorada's visit at the Santa Rita Mines, referring to Duncan Valley's prominent landmark as "Steeplerock," and difficulties in the Gila River box-canyon area above Sanchez before the command's entry into the Gila Valley on October 28, 1846.

From Emory's remarkable record Notes of a Military Reconnoissance it is known that Kearny's small force camped at the upper end of the Gila Valley where Indian ruins (Chichilticale?) received attention. Next day the command and its howitzers moved down the valley some twenty-one miles. Emory's report, published in 1848, includes a drawing of Mt. Graham and four times refers to this high peak of the Pinaleno range as "Mt. Graham" and twice refers to "Mt. Turnbull" in the Santa Teresa range. There is no certainty as to the origin of these names, but in all likelihood they were intended to honor Lieutenant Colonel James D. Graham of the Corps of Topographical Engineers and William Turnbull, a noted engineer.

After Mexico's surrender and the signing of the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, United States and Mexican survey parties were actively engaged in establishing boundary lines. Much controversy arose due to different interpretations of Distrunell's map, giving rise to sharp and bitter exchanges between members of the United States Boundary Commission. Because the judgments of professionals Lieutenant Colonel J. D. Graham, A. B. Gray and A. M. Whipple prevailed over that of Boundary Commissioner John Bartlett, thousands of acres of land including now Graham County land were assigned to the United States rather than Mexico.

With the Gila and San Simon Rivers serving as boundaries, the Graham County area was divided between Mexico and the United States for more than five years, or until the December 30, 1853, Gadsden Treaty established the present boundary.

Even though the Civil War's main theater was far removed from the Southwest, some of its blood and part of its dramatic events spilled into the Rio Grande Valley, Apache Pass, Picacho Pass and other points, including Graham County.

As related to Graham County, the war's most important phase was the establishment of Camp (later Fort) Goodwin, near today's Geronimo. After the Confederate foe was conquered and driven from the Southwest, the California Volunteers, commanded by Colonel (later General) J. H. Carleton, turned their attention and guns on the hostile Apaches and other Indian tribes.

Named for Arizona's first territorial governor, John Goodwin, the short-lived post (1864-71) gave birth to many of Graham County's firsts: 1, first 4th of July celebration; 2, first road construction; 3, first white man's canal and farm; 4, first white man's building; 5, first census in 1870, 200 civilians; 6, shared honors with Safford and Camp Grant for the establishment of the first post office, Now a stillness reigns where once teamsters cursed, officers shouted commands, and drums rolled.

While chasing Apaches in 1871, General George Crook and his small command rested alongside a swift-running stream now called Post Creek. It was then that the no-fuss, no-finery general made the decision to move Camp Grant on the San Pedro River to its present location at the south base of the Pinaleno Range.

Serving as sentinels, Fort Goodwin, Fort Grant and Fort Thomas blunted fears of Apache depredations and made possible the settlement and development of now Graham County land.

Farming white man style commenced in 1866 near Fort Thomas with the digging of the Hooker-Hines Canal. At the Gila Valley's head, Tucson men and money in 1872 developed the Montezuma Canal, and in the same year Henry Hooker located his magnificent Sierra Bonita Ranch in the bluetinted reaches of the Sulphur Springs Valley.

From this seed, farms and ranches soon dotted Graham County, whose beef, hay, grain and produce found their way to Clifton, Bisbee, Globe and other market places. An activity in the Clifton-Morenci region on the part of the Lesinsky's, William Church and James Colquhoun fused copper and courage to create a mining empire which still prospers.

Located far from their county seats in Tucson and St. Johns, the people of Metcalf, Duncan, Pima and neighboring towns made a series of moves which resulted in the creation of Graham County, March 10, 1881. Leaders in this founding were George H. Stevens, Peter Bolan and J. K. Rogers, who has often been called the "Father of Graham County." The original Graham County, carved from Pima and Apache Counties, embraced present-day Greenlee County, which broke away from its parent county January 1, 1911.

The new county's first officials were appointed by Territorial Governor John C. Fremont, and its first courthouse and jail (both adobe) were located in Safford, which was designated the county seat. Safford, as the result of sharp politics, lost its seat of power in 1883 to Solomonville and regained this political plum in 1915.

Long, dry and commanding a magnificent view of the Sulphur Springs Valley, Camp (later Fort) Grant witnessed its cavalrymen ride forth to battle, heard the newborn cries of William Smedberg and Jonathan Wainwright, both of whom became World War II heroes, entertained Owen Wister, the author of The Virginian, and provided the setting for the March 3, 1882, eerie hanging of four traitorous Apache scouts.

Long ago Fort Grant's dead were removed to Arlington National Cemetery, and in 1905 the haunting notes of taps floated over the parade ground for the last time.

During 1913 the Industrial School left its two-story rock home in Benson and occupied the post named for President Grant. Several of the military-era buildings still stand and are utilized by the Arizona State Industrial School, considered a model institution for corrective education of young boys.

Fear of an Apache outbreak from the San Carlos Indian Reservation was very much on Josh Bailey's mind when he wrote and circulated a petition requesting the military to locate a post in the Gila Valley.

This petition sponsored by the "Father of Safford" was instrumental in the establishment of Camp Thomas in 1876, a short distance west of the present community of Fort Thomas.

Progress from tents to comfortable adobe buildings constructed by soldiers was rapid. Water from springs filled canteens, and trusty mounts drank from the Gila. A large adobe building served as a hospital and helped to form the square or parade ground. A target range, adobe stalls for horses and mules and a cemetery were part of the post's makeup.

Soldiers from Camp (later Fort) Thomas sallied forth to the fray on many occasions and found their foe at such places as Battle Mountain, west of Fort Grant. This October, 1881, battle was a bloody one with dead and wounded on both sides.With only the Apache Kid and a few other recalcitrant Apaches occasionally giving trouble, Fort Thomas in 1892 passed into history, thus ending an early chapter in Graham County's military history.