The Women Who Civilized Prescott

Despite being the Territorial Capital at the close of the 19th Century, Prescott still clung to many aspects of a rough mining town, and the educated wives of the politicians wanted to make it more civilized.

So in 1895, they formed a group dedicated to making Prescott a city where families could thrive. Originally, it was simply called the Prescott Women’s Club, but since many other groups with that title were solely focused on women’s suffrage, they soon changed the name to the Monday Club. It is still the oldest women’s organization in Arizona.

The Odd Jobs of Prescott's First Reverend

Rev. HW Read was Agent for the Duke's and Co. stage.

For Reverend William H Read, ministering in the Central Arizona wilderness in 1864 was challenging. There weren’t many anglos to begin with and even fewer were interested in religion. As a result, Read needed to to take regular employment and the jobs he worked were civic in nature.

Read was Postmaster of Tucson before coming to Prescott in 1864. The Arizona Miner reported that he had “received orders from the Post Office Department, authorizing him to establish an office at the capital wherever it may be.” He arrived in Prescott with the Governor’s party and was the first clergyman to lay eyes on the fledgling camp. 

Mail-Order Brides of Yesteryear

Perhaps it was because their hearts were extra-lonely. Perhaps it was because they were caught up in the romance of Western novels. Perhaps it was both. But some women were determined to find themselves a rugged, handsome, Western man.

In 1879 No One Died of Old Age

If one were to think that the Arizona 1880 Mortality Schedule for deaths in 1879 was as dry a source as the Arizona desert just before the monsoons, he’d be right! But when one extracts the data for Yavapai County, the way of death in 1879 paints a poignant picture of a most difficult way of life.

Indian Wars Dispirited Early Thanksgiving Celebrations

The first Thanksgiving Day, November 9th, 1866, was a solemn one in Prescott. Some were thankful that the Union had been preserved, while others that the killing and destruction had finally ceased.

It was “the first time a day of Thanksgiving [had] been set apart in this territory,” the newspaper reported, and was “duly respected” with a community remembrance. However, the annual festivity would soon slip into neglect in Prescott and elsewhere in Arizona.

Arizona's First Carnegie Library

One cannot tell the story of Arizona's first Carnegie library without telling of the organization that birthed it. It was a group of Prescott pioneer women who became known as The Monday Club.

1864: Prescott's First Christmas

Winter began early in 1864, "and by the middle of December the trails were mostly snowed under and lost--all but those often traveled which led to the placer gold mines on Lynx Creek, or to Walnut Grove and the camps on the Hassayampa."

In what would be a rare "white" Christmas, "the snow lay white over the hills; the tops of the high peaks were crystal white and cold; and the pine and cedar and juniper trees were sparkling like trees on a Christmas card."

There were roughly 200-300 anglos around the Prescott area and the few houses that did exist in the tiny burg happily opened their doors to all that arrived.

Brave Woman Fights Off Indians in Granite Dells

It was September 1867. Lewis A. Stevens must have been anxious about leaving his wife at their ranch in the Granite Dells (then known as Point of Rocks). He was required to go to Prescott to serve in the 4th Territorial Legislature, and Indians had been raiding all around the vicinity recently.

As he passed by Fort Whipple (now the VA) on the way to Prescott, he hoped that its proximity to his ranch might be a deterrent to an Indian raid.

It would not...

The Pioneer Ranch Mom

The pioneer ranching mother was one of the true unsung heroes of the West. Her lot was an especially hard one; not only because of a lack of conveniences, but because her toils were a necessity in order to survive.

1915: Prohibition Threatens to Close Prescott's Library

As the New Year dawned in 1915, everyone knew the saloons of Whiskey Row would be closed, but realization quickly set in that Prescott's library would be next.

Voter-initiated Prohibition just went into effect in Arizona. But the drying up of legal liquor also meant the drying up of city tax revenues on the sales and licensing of alcohol. This led the town fathers to make some tough decisions and severe cuts to public services.

The library, for example, required an annual budget of $600 ($24,000 in today's dollars), and the money was simply not going to be raised by the city in 1915 to keep the institution open.

WHAT TO DO?