The Mormon settlement of the Gila Valley was one of the few made without particular and direct instruction from the general Church authorities. It was caused, primarily, by trouble over the land tenure at Forest Dale, in the mountains to the northward, where settlers, at first permitted, even encouraged by the reservation authorities, finally were advised that they were on Indian land and would have to move. The first question before the colonists immediately became where they should find a new abiding place. All of them had come from the northward, seeking a better location than afforded along the Little Colorado River or in the mountain settlements. So there was determination to see what could be found in the way of farming land on the Gila, to the southward. [Illustration: THE TEEPLES HOME, FIRST HOUSE IN PIMA] [Illustration: THE FIRST SCHOOL HOUSE AT SAFFORD] [Illustration: GILA NORMAL COLLEGE AT THATCHER] In February, 1879, an expedition started over the hills to view the valley of the Gila. It included W.R. Teeples, John Wm. Tanner, Ben Pierce and Hyrum Weech. The last-named told that the party looked over the country and finally selected a location for a town. He wrote, "We traveled from one end of the valley to the other on both sides of the river, looking for the best place to take out a ditch, because we had very little means and could not go to large expense. This (near the location of Smithville, later known as Pima) seemed to be about the easiest place on the river to take out water, so we decided on making the location here." The Smithville ditch was on the basis of prior location by Gillespie and was extended to cover the Mormon land in 1880. Somewhat higher was the Central ditch, which had been built several years before as far down as the later site of Thatcher and which was extended above Pima in 1882. Somewhat of a Samaritan was found on the ground in one Markham, from Oregon, from whom were hired a team and wagon and who refused to take any pay. With a pocket compass, Smithville was laid out. The settlement could not be scattered, because Indians and outlaws threatened. Foundations were laid on sixteen corners, each under the name of one of the families expected to come from the north. The pioneer party then made close investigation of the valley, traveling up the Gila into New Mexico, and viewed the country around Clifton and along the Blue and Black Rivers. The whole trip took about a month.