Mormon Settlement in Arizona: A Record of Peaceful Conquest of the DesertMcClintock, James H.
History
Mormon Settlement in Arizona: A Record of Peaceful Conquest of the Desert
McClintock, James H.
Arizona -- History -- To 1950; Latter Day Saints -- Arizona -- History
Taylor was a small settlement on the Little Colorado, about three miles
below the present St. Joseph, and should not be confounded with the
present settlement of the same name near Snowflake. This first Taylor was
established January 22, 1878, by eight families, mainly from Panguitch
and Beaver, Utah. In the United Order they built a dining hall, a
quarter-mile back from the river and organized as a ward, with John
Kartchner at its head. But there was discouragement, not unnaturally,
when the river dam went out for the fifth time. Then, in July, 1878,
members of the settlement departed, going to the present site of
Snowflake on Silver Creek. They included a number of Arkansas immigrants.
There had been little improvement outside of the stockade and dining
hall, and for most of the time the people lived in their wagons.
[Illustration: THE COLORADO FERRY AND RANCH AT THE MOUTH OF THE PARIA
By courtesy of Dr. George Wharton James]
[Illustration: LEE CABIN AT MOEN AVI]
[Illustration: MOEN COPIE WOOLEN MILL. First and Only One in Arizona]
Chapter Fourteen
Travel, Missions and Industries
Passing of the Boston Party
Keen interest in the Southwest was excited early in 1876 by a series of
lectures delivered at New England points by Judge Samuel W. Cozzens,
author of "The Marvellous Country." There was formed the American
Colonization Company, with Cozzens as president. Two companies of men, of
about fifty individuals each, were dispatched from Boston, each man with
equipment weighing about thirty pounds. The destination was a fertile
valley in northeastern Arizona, a land that had been described
eloquently, probably after only casual observation. The end of the Santa
Fe railroad was in northern New Mexico. There the first party purchased
four wagons and a number of mules from a grading contractor, Pat Shanley,
afterward a cattleman in Gila County.
The best story at hand of the Bostonians is from one of them, Horace E.
Mann, who for years has been a prospector and miner and who now is a
resident of Phoenix. He tells that the journey westward was without
particular incident until was reached, about June 15, the actual
destination, the valley of the Little Colorado River, on the route of the
projected Atlantic & Pacific Railroad. The travelers were astonished to
find the country already taken up by a number of companies of Mormon
colonists.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account