Category Archives: Local History

A Day Trip Through History: The Santa Cruz River Valley

Tucson Convento & Chapel on the West Bank of the Santa Cruz River.

A Brief History Of The Santa Cruz River Valley From Tucson South To The Mexican Border.  Here you will find the Spanish missions and presidios (forts) of the Pimeria Alta, Land of the Upper Pimas. Today, Interstate 19 makes traveling this 70-mile section of Arizona history an easy day trip. Along the way are several very good restaurants, an extraordinary artist colony, enlightening museums, and ruins much older than our Southern Arizona ghost towns. Personally, I found these places far more interesting once I began to understand their history. For me, timelines help put major historical events in perspective. Perhaps this simple timeline will be helpful to you as well. Notes “Pima” is a general reference to various indigenous peoples who resided along Southern Arizona rivers. At the time the Spanish arrived, the … Akimel O’odham live along the Gila & Salt Rivers near present-day Phoenix; Sobaipuri O’odham live along … Continue reading

Barrio Viejo: Tucson’s Old Neighborhood

Peach w Red Door

Barrio Viejo, the old neighborhood, mainly consists of Tucson’s 19th century homes and commercial buildings. In the 1960′s & ’70′s, much of the old neighborhood was bulldozed to make way for urban redevelopment, including the Tucson Convention Center. Today, most Tucsonans would be happy to bulldoze the Convention Center if it would bring back the heritage that was lost.

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May 1,1782: Apaches Attack Tucson Presidio

Presidio de Tucson reenactment at the partially restored Spanish fort in downtown Tucson.

A Spanish woman living with her family in a fort on the northern frontier of New Spain tells of her terrifying experience during the Second Battle of Tucson. On May 1, 1782, hundreds of Apaches attack the lightly-guarded Presidio San Agustin de Tucson. The civilians and soldiers of the Tucson Presidio are nearly wiped out. Today, you can visit the partially restored Presidio near the Tucson Museum of Art in Downtown Tucson. … Continue reading

The Roads Of Tucson: A Historical Perspective

Tucson Maiden Streetcar

Those of you who have read some of my brief histories on Southern Arizona Guide know that I sometimes refer to Tucson before the coming of the railroad in 1880 as “a dusty little Mexican village”. Even though Tucson legally became an American town with the Gadsden Purchase in 1854, most of the 600 residents [...]

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The Wrath of Cochise, by Terry Mort: A Book Review

General George Armstrong Custer

Most Americans know at least a little about Custer’s Last Stand, also known as the Battle of the Little Bighorn. The incident has an epic quality worthy of Homer’s Illiad or Virgil’s Aeneid. The battle took place on June 25th & 26th, 1876 between the combined forces of the Lakoda, Northern Cheyenne, and Arapaho tribes [...]

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KATIE ELDER, HER TRUE STORY by Maggie Van Ostrand.

Faye Dunaway as Katie Elder in the 1971 movie "Doc".

Katie Elder was more, much more, than the title character in John Wayne’s 1965 western, “The Sons of
Katie Elder,” She was more than the portrayal by Faye Dunaway in the 1971 film “Doc.” Katie Elder was
a real person, whose background was perhaps more plaid than checkered. For one thing, there were all
those names.

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Searching For Hohokam Ruins In Catalina State Park

Susan and Charlea at Romero Ranch Ruins

On a perfect Saturday in February, our friends from New York, Susan & Charlea, went with Ms. Karen, Molly Dog, & me to Catalina State Park in Oro Valley. After paying the $7 entry fee, we found a pleasant picnic area and fortified ourselves before hiking the archeological site on the ridge across the road.

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Boothill Graveyard: Tombstone, AZ

Tombstone Boothill

Visiting Tombstone’s Boothill Graveyard is free. After all, it’s a public cemetery. But it takes considerable willpower not to stop at the gift shop on the way out and buy a souvenir. We have several. Newman (Old Man) Clanton was born in 1816 and was killed by Mexican troops in Arizona Territory on August 13, 1881, about 10 weeks before his youngest son, William (Billy) Clanton would die of wounds sustained in a blaze of gunfire on Freemont Street near the OK Corral in Tombstone; October 26, 1881. Another son, Issac (Ike) Clanton, a mean-spirited, loudmouth cowardly drunk was instrumental in fomenting that gunfight between the Earps (Virgil, Wyatt, Morgan and Doc Holliday) and 3 Cowboys (Frank & Tom McLaury & Billy Clanton). The “Old Man” was, by many accounts, a successful rancher and cattle rustler. It is unlikely he ever met the Earps or Holliday because he had moved … Continue reading

Tucson Arizona: 1887

Downtown Tucson ca 1887

This is the main commercial district of Tucson Arizona in 1887. Here you see Congress Street looking west toward the Santa Cruz River and Sentinel Peak (now A Mountain).

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Earp Vendetta Ride

Wyatt and Doc

The Gunfight at the OK Corral in Tombstone was only the beginning of the murderous conflict between the Earp Brothers and their friends, and the outlaw gang known as ‘The Cowboys’. ‘The Cowboys’ were about two-dozen hard riding, hard drinking ranchers and rustlers, their hired hands and gunslingers. Most notable among them were the Clanton Brothers, Ike and Billy; the McLaury Brothers, Frank and Tom; Johnny Barnes; “Curly Bill” Brocius; Florintino Cruz, aka “Indian Charlie”; Frank Stilwell; and Johnny Ringo. … Continue reading

Fairbank AZ: Ghost Town

Fairbank, AZ Restored Schoolhouse.

Fairbank is a Southern Arizona ghost town, and one of the best preserved, thanks to numerous conservation efforts. It’s located in the San Pedro Riparian Conservation Area about 10 miles west of Tombstone. Here conservation efforts have saved the San Pedro River, a haven for dozens of species of critters and birds.

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The Coronado Expedition: 1540-42.

Coronado Expedition. Painting by Frederick Remington in 1898.

The story of the Coronado Expeditions is one of bravery, perseverance, high adventure, faith, and incredible greed. Between hiking trails and scenic back roads, we can retrace their historic route.

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The Making of the Wyatt Earp Legend

Wyatt Earp

After what became the most famous gunfight in history, Wyatt Earp went on what became known as the Earp Vendetta Ride to avenge the ambush that crippled his older brother, Virgil, and the assassination of his younger brother, Morgan, by a gang of outlaws known as “The Cowboys”.

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The Camp Grant Massacre: Arizona Territory, 1871.

Camp Grant defendants outside the courthouse where they were acquitted.

Today, there’s nothing there. Nothing to suggest what happened in the early morning of April 30, 1871. Nothing to commemorate this blood-soaked ground where 144 people, almost all women and children, lay murdered and mutilated.Camp Grant, named for the famous Civil War general, was an Army post built at the confluence of the Gila and San Pedro Rivers so that U.S. soldiers could protect local settlers and miners who had begun to flood into this area near present-day Winkelman in the late 1860′s. From this vantage point, 70 miles north of Tucson, the Army hoped it would also be in good position to protect the San Pedro River overland freight route that ran from New Mexico to California.

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Miracle On An Orphan Train To Arizona

Street Urchins 02

In late 19th & early 20th century New York, newly arrived Irish Catholics were considered low-class by other ethnically “Anglo-Saxon” groups, such as German, English, & Dutch, who were mostly Protestant.

The Irish

“Low-class” is perhaps too mild a term. The Irish were considered hardly better than Negroes, whom most whites believed were sub-human. Odd as it may seem to us today, the fair-skinned, blonde or red-headed Irish were not considered white in an era when white supremacy was a given.

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The 4 Best Downtown Tucson Museums

Early 20th Century Tucson, AZ

In no particular order, here are our recommendations for The 4 Best Downtown Tucson Museums: (1) Jewish History Museum; (2) Tucson Museum of Art; (3) El Agustin de Tucson Presidio; and (4) Arizona Historical Society Downtown Tucson Museum.

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Bisbee Grand Hotel Bed & Breakfast: A Review.

Bisbee Grand Hotel Front HDR 02 Final

I have had the pleasure of staying in many historical hotels & inns, including European castles. Considering their antiquity, travelers have to decide if the experience of living temporarily in a relic is worth doing without certain modern amenities and putting up with a few quirks & inconveniences.

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