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Safford
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| Safford's Riggs Block stands today, restored. The Coronado Hotel, the two-story building across the street, was razed in the early 1990s. (PHOTO COURTESY / W. Lane Rogers) |
By W. Lane Rogers/for the Range News
This was Safford's principal downtown intersection, Main at Central, photographed about 1904. Note the absence of newfangled horseless carriage; the odd contraptions were slow in coming to Arizona Territory's rural communities. The pyramid-shaped parapet atop the ornate red brick building housing the Cyclone Store tells us that this was the Riggs Block, built in 1901. The smaller sign on the awning advertised "Standard Patters"-clothing patterns, no doubt. A few doors down can be seen two men beside a carriage in front of a nameless saloon. Despite the predominance of a conservative Mormon population, Safford was no stranger to popular vice. Worth noting as well are the power poles jutting above the streets. Unlike many Arizona towns in 1904, Safford boasted electricity.
Joshua E. Bailey and Hiram Kennedy, who came to the territory as soldiers during the Civil War, settled in the Gila Valley in 1872. Other settlers followed and a town site was platted and named for Governor A.P.K. Safford.
D.W. Wickersham, the settlement's first school teacher, arrived in 1876, but Safford did not flourish until after 1880 when Mormons led by Erastus Snow took up residence. Charged with colonizing Arizona Territory, Latter-day Saints under Snow's direction established an impressive number of towns.
Not infrequently, Mormons were confronted with a lustier side of frontier life. W.T. Barney wrote that, "The rustlers gave us quite a bit of trouble, perhaps even more than the Indians."
Isaac P. Robinson offered this 1884 elaboration: "About the only business house was the Glasby building, which had a saloon and store. [The cowboys] would come into the store and take possession. Mr. Glasby would go out and leave it to them. They would shoot up the store, help themselves to what they wanted, pay for everything they had taken, shoot up the town and go on. But I don't want to see any more of it. You haven't the remotest idea what a lot of trouble they made. This was the main route from the north into Mexico and the principal rendezvous for a lot of these rough characters."
In time, the rowdy element found more accommodating climes and Safford positioned itself as the trading center of the Gila Valley.
Joshua E. Bailey and Hiram Kennedy, who came to the territory as soldiers during the Civil War, settled in the Gila Valley in 1872. Other settlers followed and a town site was platted and named for Governor A.P.K. Safford.
D.W. Wickersham, the settlement's first school teacher, arrived in 1876, but Safford did not flourish until after 1880 when Mormons led by Erastus Snow took up residence. Charged with colonizing Arizona Territory, Latter-day Saints under Snow's direction established an impressive number of towns.
Not infrequently, Mormons were confronted with a lustier side of frontier life. W.T. Barney wrote that, "The rustlers gave us quite a bit of trouble, perhaps even more than the Indians."
Isaac P. Robinson offered this 1884 elaboration: "About the only business house was the Glasby building, which had a saloon and store. [The cowboys] would come into the store and take possession. Mr. Glasby would go out and leave it to them. They would shoot up the store, help themselves to what they wanted, pay for everything they had taken, shoot up the town and go on. But I don't want to see any more of it. You haven't the remotest idea what a lot of trouble they made. This was the main route from the north into Mexico and the principal rendezvous for a lot of these rough characters."
In time, the rowdy element found more accommodating climes and Safford positioned itself as the trading center of the Gila Valley.
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| Public Records | Cochise College offices closed Tuesday, Feb. 24 |
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