The Colorful, Short Life of Mayor Buckey O'Neill

Mayor William Owen "Buckey" O'Neill, 1860-1898

Even renowned Western fiction authors could not dream up a more interesting character than the real-life story of Buckey O'Neill.

Although modern spellings of his nickname drop the "e", William Owens "Buckey" O'Neill was a gambler, lawyer, newspaperman, miner, Sheriff of Yavapai County, Mayor of Prescott, and finally, a Captain in Teddy Roosevelt's Rough Riders.

Buckey got his nickname from his days as a gambler.  He enjoyed the poker game "faro," where going against the odds was called "bucking the tiger."  Buckey had a penchant for going against the odds, but ultimately it would cost him his life at age 38.

Teddy's Rough Riders Originated in Prescott

When news arrived of the explosion and sinking of the USS Maine, William "Buckey" O'Neill was the Mayor of Prescott. Buckey, (that is how O'Neill spelled it,) like most Americans, was infuriated by the disaster and hungry to join the fight.

While discussing the situation with Alexander Brodie and James McClintock, an idea occurred to them to raise a volunteer cavalry from the Arizona territory.  Buckey wanted to raise a regiment of hardcore Arizona frontiersmen. Men who were already able to survive under harsh, dangerous, and deadly conditions would make excellent soldiers.

William "Buckey" O'Neill

They would come to be known as "The Rough Riders." And the men they would recruit would become the origin and core of the First US Volunteer Cavalry, which would win great fame and glory under Teddy Roosevelt in the Spanish-American War.

1928: Famous Record-Breaking Airplane Crashes in Prescott

Less than 12 hours after this picture was taken, the Yankee Doodle would be reduced to "confetti" in the Bradshaw Mountains:

On November 3rd, 1928, the Prescott Evening Courier printed an Associated Press story about a record-holding, Lockheed Vega monoplane named "Yankee Doodle." It would be attempting to break its own non-stop, transcontinental record flying from L.A. to New York, taking off that day. (*1)

The Courier could never have known that later that very night, the Yankee Doodle would crash into the Bradshaw Mountains, desperately searching for the Prescott airport.

The Miller Bros. Saved Prescott From Starvation

Sam and Jake Miller were two of the very first whites to lay eyes on the Prescott area when they arrived with the Walker Party in 1863.  But unlike the other members of that party, the Miller brothers stayed.  Had they not, the history of Prescott would have been much different and much shorter.

Imagine if "Prescott" was remembered only as an attempt to settle the area, an experiment that failed after only one year due to starvation and an Apache blockade of the town.

This could have very well been the case had it not been for the Miller brothers' nerves and the business they started in Prescott's earliest days.

POTUS Visits Prescott, Statehood at Stake

The POTUS (President of the United States), William Howard Taft

It was 5:51pm, October 13th, 1909.

President Taft's special train was "drawn by two engines looking as proud as shining machines of brass and steel can look."  As the train pulled into the Prescott depot,  "there was tremendous cheering while the band up the street vigorously played 'Hail to the Chief.'"

Prescott planned long and hard to make it the perfect visit, and the Queen City of Arizona accomplished just that.

1877: Early Prescott Super Stores

1877 Goldwater "Super Store" was located
where the Prescott City Hall is now.

There was much talk and excitement when Goldwater & Bro. first started building their new store in 1875.  It would take two years to complete the two-story brick building.  But in a time when most business establishments were 500 to 1200 square feet, this new "mammoth" store was 3600 square feet.

Attached was a frame warehouse for bulk items that provided an additional 1200 square feet, making the 4800sf establishment four times bigger than most other stores!

The Goldwaters were successful general store proprietors for 15 years in Arizona before they opened the new store.  The Arizona Weekly Miner of January 19th, 1877, predicted "the future financial success of this enterprising firm."

Indeed, the Goldwaters would operate a store in Prescott for many decades to come.