In the mid-19th century, in the remote southwest desert that was Arizona Territory, there were not many ways to earn a fortune. Life was mostly a struggle just to survive, let alone prosper. In the early 1850’s, 10’s of thousands of young men from the eastern United States, Midwest, and … Continue reading
Editor’s Note: at the time of the devastating Southern Arizona Earthquake of 1887, there were only about 90,000 people living in all of Arizona Territory. The following account was written by Henry Bethea for The Copper Chronicles, a joint project of the Bisbee Mining & Historical Museum & Bisbee’s KBRP … Continue reading
I recently read yet another account of the Chiricahua Apache wars with the Republic of Mexico and the United States of America that raged from 1861 to 1886. Geronimo: The Man, His Time, His Place (The Civilization of the American Indian Series) was written by noted Native American historian Angie … Continue reading
The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a National public work relief program. Operating from 1933 to 1942, it was organized to assist unemployed, unmarried men from relief families as part of the New Deal. The CCC provided jobs for these young men, helping families who were having difficulty finding jobs during … Continue reading
Did you ever wonder what was the value of $1,000 U.S. Dollars back through the ages? For example, when partners Ed Schieffelin & his brother Al Schieffelin sold their shares in their Tombstone mines for $600,000 in 1880, how much was that worth in 2017 dollars? I knew the sale … Continue reading
M. Robert Peel Born: Wednesday, May 31, 1854 Died: Saturday, March 25, 1882 (Charleston, Arizona) – gunshot through the heart Interred: Boothill Graveyard, Tombstone, Cochise County, Arizona Occupation: Mineral Surveyor, Mining Engineer Charleston, A.T. (Arizona Territory) was an important Old West town because it was home to the mill workers … Continue reading
I find the history of Tucson fascinating, and enjoy leading our Southern Arizona Guide Tucson History & Libation Tour one Sunday a month. It is much easier to get my mind around all that has happened here over the past many centuries when I can put it all into context. … Continue reading
In the 1880’s through the early 1890’s, Tucson was still a rough, often violent town. Geronimo had surrendered in 1886 and his Chiricahua Apaches hauled off to exile in Florida. But even after the Apache threat was largely history, Tucson and all of Southern Arizona continued to be known for … Continue reading
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.
“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.
Continue readingJohn Slaughter, who was a Confederate soldier, Texas Ranger and Cochise County sheriff, loved this porch. He was sitting there one day with his family when a cloud of dust swirled up from the south. Pancho Villa and his army rode onto Slaughter’s ranch.
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