Fairbanks Arizona 1890 - Originally the location of a Native American village known as Santa Cruz in the 18th century, the area was later settled around the time the railroad came through in 1881, and developed further when the local railroad station was built in 1882. It was originally known as Junction City, then Kendall, then Fairbanks, and was formally founded as Fairbank on May 16, 1883 on the same day that the local Post Office opened.
Due to its proximity to Tombstone, and the fact that it boasted the nearest railroad station to what was one of the largest cities in the western United States, Fairbank acted as a way point between Tombstone and the rest of the country, bringing supplies into the bustling town, and also acting as the departure point for the ore pulled from Tombstone's silver mines on its way to the mills in Contention City and Charleston. Fairbank was also home to a stage coach station on the Butterfield Overland Mail line which opened in 1885. At its height in the mid-1880s, the town housed approximately 100 residents, and boasted a steam quartz mill, a general store, a butcher shop, a restaurant, a saloon, a Wells Fargo office, the railroad depot, and a stage coach station.
When the Tombstone mines closed after flooding in 1886, Fairbank's prominence declined as the nearby mills shutdown, and the rail depot it offered became increasingly unnecessary. Subsequent droughts drove away area farmers and ranchers, further isolating the town. Fairbank was reprieved from a possible extinction when the railroad linked nearby Bisbee to Fairbank's train depot in 1889, making Fairbank an important leg in the transit of copper mined from the highly-productive Copper Queen Mine. However, the flooding of the San Pedro River in September 1890 caused significant property damage, thinning down the population further.
Due to its proximity to Tombstone, and the fact that it boasted the nearest railroad station to what was one of the largest cities in the western United States, Fairbank acted as a way point between Tombstone and the rest of the country, bringing supplies into the bustling town, and also acting as the departure point for the ore pulled from Tombstone's silver mines on its way to the mills in Contention City and Charleston. Fairbank was also home to a stage coach station on the Butterfield Overland Mail line which opened in 1885. At its height in the mid-1880s, the town housed approximately 100 residents, and boasted a steam quartz mill, a general store, a butcher shop, a restaurant, a saloon, a Wells Fargo office, the railroad depot, and a stage coach station.
When the Tombstone mines closed after flooding in 1886, Fairbank's prominence declined as the nearby mills shutdown, and the rail depot it offered became increasingly unnecessary. Subsequent droughts drove away area farmers and ranchers, further isolating the town. Fairbank was reprieved from a possible extinction when the railroad linked nearby Bisbee to Fairbank's train depot in 1889, making Fairbank an important leg in the transit of copper mined from the highly-productive Copper Queen Mine. However, the flooding of the San Pedro River in September 1890 caused significant property damage, thinning down the population further.
Slices Of Historical Arizona Life ..... view more
Historical Arizona Notable Events In April
- May 1, 1856 the first camels arrived in Texas to embark on the famous Camel Survey across northern Arizona to mark the path for the future Santa Fe Railroad and Route 66.
- May 5, 1866 Congress, succumbing to pressure from of Nevada, took Pah Ute County away from Arizona and awarded it to the more politically-potent silver state. It became known as the “Lost Pah Ute County.
- May 11, 1889 a band of masked men ambushed Major J.W. Wham and his military escort carrying a $26,000 Army payroll in near Safford. Several local cattlemen were arrested and tried but were found not guilty.
- May 15, 1922 the last train robbery in Arizona occurred when three men using a Nash touring car instead of horses attempted to rob a train near Tucson It went bad for the robbers when the messenger opened fire with his shotgun, hitting one. The others jumped into the Nash and sped away. There were five men in on the job, including a goat rancher. All were caught except one who escaped to Mexico.
- May 19, 1892 a stagecoach line was established from Flagstaff to the Grand Canyon.
- May 22, 1882 a saloon fire destroys the business section of Tombstone again.
- May 25, 1881 the notorious outlaw Curly Bill Brocius was shot in the cheek by a cowboy named Jim Wallace in the outlaw town of Galeyville. The bullet struck Curly Bill in the cheek, went through and came out the other side of his mouth, taking some teeth. It looked for a while like the outlaw king was going to die and his friends made plans to string up Wallace but Curly Bill managed to survive.
- May 30, 1864 the territorial government moved the capital from Fort Whipple to Granite Creek and the citizens rename it Prescott.
Historical Arizona News & Newspapers .... read more news
Geronimo's band with their stolen stock arrived at San Carlos on the 20th. They still refuse to give up the stock or pay any duties. - The Arizona Sentinel. Yuma, March 29, 1884\
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Killing At Hat Camp -- Tombstone, March 22. From the driver of the Bisbee stage it is learned that a homicide occurred at Hat camp this morning at three o'clock. At that time Deputy Sheriff William Daniel, who was sleeping in his saloon, was awakened by a noise of some one in the house. Watching, he saw a man with his boots off cautiously approach the safe and attempt to open it. Calling to him, the man started to run toward the rear door of the saloon by which he had entered, when Daniels discharged the contents of his shotgun, containing 19 buckshot, into him. The man fell dead and upon inspection, it showed him to be a miner named John Hiles. -- Arizona Weekly Citizen. Tucson, March 29, 1884
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Arizona Copper Mines -- The copper mine of Arizona are at present returning larger profits upon the capital employed than is made in any other investment. The use of copper in the art and the varied industries of the country is increasing. Most Arizona copper properties are far from railroad communication, and, notwithstanding the heavy expense of reduction, they are paying large dividends where energetically worked. Mining and Scientific Press. -- The Arizona Sentinel. Yuma, March 31, 1883
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General Crook -- Unless Gen. Crook asserts him self very quickly he will very soon lose his old-time prestige as an Indian fighter. There is some thing very melancholy about the perennial helplessness of the United States troops in Arizona. In the Huachuca mountains, on the line of travel between Arizona and Sonora on the very road where the latest massacres have occurred there are six companies States cavalry. It would really looks as if these gentlemen are principally engaged in picking their teeth, rather than in fighting. One of the ugly features of the United States forces in Arizona, of late years, has been their unwillingness to come up with the savages. They show a somewhat unchivalry impulse to be a day or so behind the red-handed marauders. Unless Gen. Crook makes his presence felt, very shortly and very decisively, we shall look upon him as a man who has survived his usefulness. Los Angeles Herald. -- It does seem that General Crook Is a little slow in taking the field, and in placing his men. We do not hold that General Crook is responsible for the murders committed in this and Cochise county at the inception of the present outbreak, for they were committed by renegades from Sonora, and possibly some from the White mountains: but whether some one is not to blame for their continued onslaughts upon defenseless settlers is a question that seems to require an answer. Citizen. -- The Arizona Sentinel. Yuma, March 31, 1883
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