A Love Letter to a Lovely Lady on Her Hunmdredth Birthday

AYS OF PHOENIX O THE PAST

Phoenix when a small farm village started to grow and gain its proper place in the sun. The photos are from the historical photographic collection of Herb and Dorothy McLaughlin and are but a few of many which will appear in their book "Phoenix 1870-1970" to be published in June of this year of the centennial Phoenix. Arizona

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1870-PHOENIX-1970 Born of natural assets & human energy

The big bird climbed majestically into the desert air, soared over a Saguaro, and winged its way eastward along the path of the Salt River. Men marveled at its flight but the stately cactus did not.The Saguaro had stood silently on its sandy foothill for a long time long enough to remember when only eagles and hawks claimed the heavens instead of metal-winged creatures when only snakes, coyotes, and thick-skinned denizens dominated the land.Since it sprouted little more than a century ago, this Saguaro has surveyed the Salt River Valley and seen another youngster grow. Nourished by the same sun, desert, and water, this youngster was never content to stand still. In its struggling search for success, its silhouette changed many times . . . and always the silent sentinel was there.

It was enjoying a sun-drenched childhood 100 years ago (about half the time it takes a Saguaro cactus to reach maturity) when a group of settlers, engulfed in a cloud of dust and disagreement, arrived at the home of John Moore, a prominent rancher. They were meeting that day, October 20, 1870, to resolve differences and take permanent steps to select a townsite for Phoenix.

A committee consisting of Darrell Duppa, John Moore, and Martin P. Griffin was appointed to choose a site. Their recommendation of “North 1/2 of Section 8, township 1 North, range 3 East,” as the most suitable location was approved at a subsequent mass meeting, as was the suggested name “Phoenix.” These early homesteaders then organized the Salt River Valley Town Association. Upon signing the Articles of Agreement, they placed the community’s guiding reins in the hands of three townsite commissioners: John T. Alsap, James Murphy, and J. P. Perry who, like the staunch wagonmasters of the day, were to attend to the management of townsite business affairs.

Thus the wheels of progress began to turn at a decidedly quicker pace. Although these events marked the achievement of an official Phoenix townsite, movement to establish community life and claim the Salt River Valley as a tribute to man’s ingenuity began with the prehistoric Hohokam Indians about 400 B.C. By developing an intricate network of irrigation canals they were the first to use the water of the Salt River to cultivate the land and make the barren desert fit for human habitation.

Beginnings are never as simple as history books report. Little is said of human hope, toil, and fear. Only successful achievements are noted. Thus, though little is known of the Hohokams, or why they mysteriously vanished, modern mankind did not overlook this legacy of canals. In the late 1860’s, about five hundred years after the disappearance of these Indians, men of vision began to transform the canal remnants into the pulse beat of another community which would become Phoenix.

Two of these visionaries who played a vital role in the development of early Phoenix were John Y. T. Smith andJack Swilling. After Arizona was established as a U.S. Territory in 1863, many men traveled through this land; most came with the U.S. Cavalry which established Ft. McDowell some 30 miles northeast of the Phoenix townsite location in 1864.

The Story Of A Community 100 Years Young With A Future Of Glorious Promise BY CAROL OSMAN BROWN

Historians credit Smith with the first successful business endeavor in the Valley when he set up a small but productive hay camp near the river bottom in 1865. Living in a tent, he harvested the tall Galleta grass (which grew on land which is now Sky Harbor Airport) and hauled it to Ft. McDowell where the Cavalry bought it to feed their horses.

Swilling, an ex-Confederate soldier, pioneer, and adventurer, arrived on the scene the following year and agreed to ride shotgun for Smith and protect his wagons from marauding bands of Apache Indians. During the long hours on the dusty trail he observed the dormant yet impressive ditches of the Hohokam and gave much thought to the challenge of irrigating the Valley. Drumming up enthusiasm, muscle, and support for the venture in Wickenburg, he returned in 1867 with a party of 12 hard-working men with teams which succeeded, after some problems, in enlarging one of the ditches on the north side of the river into a larger canal. By Spring of 1868 the Swilling Ditch Company had extended the Salt River Valley Canal several miles west of the river . . . and water once again began to nourish desert crops. The canal work had attracted more settlers, and in the Winter of 1867-68 a cluster of crude adobe homes and some