Sunday, Oct. 25
On this date in 1848, the First Dragoons reached Tucson en route to California.
On this date in 1871, Sylvester Mowry, owner of the Mowry Mine in Patagonia and one of Arizona’s earliest and most enthusiastic boosters, died.
On this date in 1923, a group of New Yorkers, inspired by Harold Bell Wright’s book, “The Mine with the Iron Door,” organized a $100,000 corporation to search for the lost mine in the Catalina Mountains.
On this date in 1928, the Federal Land Office said it would begin to distribute 108 square miles (279 square kilometers) of land near Yuma to veterans who wished to build a home.
Monday, Oct. 26
On this date in 1880, the Arizona Gazette, later renamed the Phoenix Gazette, was established at Phoenix.
On this date in 1881, Wyatt, Virgil and Morgan Earp, with Doc Holliday, fought it out at the OK Corral with the Clantons and the McLowrys. Three men were killed and two were wounded in less than a minute.
On this date in 1925, the first school of aviation opened in Tucson with Clifford Maus as instructor.
Tuesday, Oct. 27
On this date in 1870, Sharlot Hall, writer and historian and founder of the Sharlot Hall Museum in the Old Governor’s Mansion at Prescott, which she had helped preserve and restore, was born.
On this date in 1887, ground was broken in Tucson for the University of Arizona.
On this date in 1922, funeral services were held for James Cooper Goodwin - legislator in the 19th Territorial and Second and Third State Legislatures, former Rough Rider, promoter of canals and railroads in the Mesa-Tempe area, and of farming and mining ventures.
On this date in 1929, in an impressive ceremony in Prescott, the remains of the famous Indian scout Pauline Weaver were reburied on the grounds of the old governor’s mansion after having been brought back from the national ceremony in San Francisco.
Wednesday, Oct. 28
On this date in 1896, the Phoenix City Council decided to levy a fine of $50 or a sentence of 50 days in jail for riding a bicycle faster than 8 mph on the city streets.
On this date in 1922, Gen. John J. Pershing arrived in Arizona and reviewed the 25th Infantry at Camp Stephen D. Little near Nogales, and the 10th Cavalry at Fort Huachuca.
On this date in 1933, Arizona officially switched from hanging to the gas chamber as the means of execution.
Thursday, Oct. 29
On this date in 1922, fire destroyed the pool hall, old stage office, justice building, a restaurant, grocery, dry goods store and barber shop in Winkleman. Two other buildings were dynamited to prevent the spread of flames.
On this date in 1924, federal prohibition agents fought a battle in the Huachuca Mountains with the guards of a pack train loaded with liquor.
Friday, Oct. 30
On this date in 1860, Mark Aldrich, probate judge of Tucson, resigned in disgust when Miller Bartlett killed William Bettie in that city and no citizen entered a complaint about the felony.
On this date in 1876, the Chiricahua Indian Reservation was restored to public domain.
On this date in 1925, one man was killed and three others critically injured when stacks of 100-pound 100 pounds (45-kilogram) bags of sugar fell over on them in a warehouse in Nogales, Arizona.
On this date in 1929, during remodeling of the Law Building on the University of Arizona campus, a “lost room” was discovered. It was speculated that the room had gotten lost in a previous remodeling, 25 years before.
Saturday, Oct. 31
On this date in 1890, Harrison Morton Lavender, mining engineer and Vice President and General Manager of Phelps Dodge Corp. for whom the Lavender Pit at Bisbee is named, was born.
On this date in 1909, Navajo Chief Hashkeneinii, meaning “Angry Warrior,” died after living in the Monument Valley area for years.
On this date in 1918, the Arizona State Fair was canceled because of an epidemic of Spanish Influenza.
On this date in 1929, a suit was filed in federal court in Phoenix on behalf of the Hualapai Indians to regain their rights to the water at Peach Springs from the Santa Fe railroad.
On this date in 1931, the survey of a site for the proposed Glen Canyon Dam was completed.
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