MARCH 2004
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Historic DowntownA Grand JollificationThe 1880 arrival of the railroad in Tucson was a much anticipated—but not photographed—eventby Ken Scoville
Building railroads is a business venture that entails a great deal of physical effort in addition to the politics of capital and government. The flat topography from Yuma to Tucson would promote speedy movement of track layers moving east, but a national demand for track brought many delays and concerned correspondence between two of the “Big Four”—Collis P. Huntington and Charles Crocker. Hope that track building would reach Tucson by the fall of 1879 was not rewarded, but prospects turned positive in December of that year. Construction of the ribbon of steel began anew in January of 1880, as did the anticipation in Tucson. Articles in the Star and Citizen jockeyed back and forth about the approach of the iron horse and the rumor mill fed the ideas that the railroad might bypass Tucson or that the rail yard and other important operations might be located south and east of town to be closer to the mines in Tombstone. Finally an article in the Citizen on January 19. 1880, indicated an arrival date of 60 days for the “Chariot of Fire” and the headline gave another indication of the celebratory nature of the coming event – “Toot To-o-ot To-o-o-o-t”. The estimated date of arrival would prove to be very accurate. The anticipation of this event had been simmering in the newspapers for most of 1879. L.C. Hughes, editor of the Star, wrote on May 1, 1879: “The first sound of the locomotive’s whistle will be notice of a new life for our city and its vicinity, and we look forward to the time when the last spike is driven that connects Tucson with the outside world by a band of iron with a degree of pleasure that we cannot describe.” Another step in creating the reality of this event was the disposal of $10,000 in bonds, issued by the City for the construction of a depot and yards required by the Southern Pacific Railroad. The final piece of the puzzle was the execution of a land swap between the City of Tucson and Southern Pacific from land granted in 1877 to an alignment on the northern edge of the metropolis that would be the actual footprint for the track and the depot buildings. Bob Leatherwood was involved in putting this deal together; he was recognized throughout the community for his public service, which included the City Council and enforcement duties as a county sheriff. Leatherwood’s meeting with destiny would begin on January 1, 1880, as the new mayor of Tucson and the inevitable role as master of ceremonies for the entire town’s celebration of celebrations. In timeless fashion, the City Council dragged its feet in planning the celebration, but by February 10 the track crew and construction entourage were about 18 miles from Tucson with work trains almost in sight. Mayor Leatherwood began the effort in earnest with committees dealing with the reception, invitation lists, and even toasts and speeches. The Citizen touted, “Every public-spirited citizen must assuredly recognize the importance of having a grand jollification.” In many ways the celebration began on March 17th with the visual reality of the construction train’s arrival and the word that the first real train with a cargo of dignitaries, including Charles Crocker of the Central Pacific and the President of the Southern Pacific of Arizona, would arrive on the 20th. This day was also the beginning of another tidbit of Arizona folklore with telegrams being sent by Mayor Leatherwood to the President of the United States, the Territorial governor, mayors of the surrounding towns, and most importantly his holiness, the Pope. These telegrams were the formal announcement that Tucson was connected to the rest of the world, including the Christian world. The last thing that any celebration committee wants is guests arriving early but the “Chariot of Fire” arrived at approximately 11:00 a.m. rather than noon. Leatherwood and his reception committee scrambled into action with stirring music provided by the Sixth Cavalry and cannons saluting the arrival. William Oury provided the welcoming speech and Estevan Ochoa spoke and presented to Mr. Crocker a silver spike made from the first bullion from the Tough Nut Mine in Tombstone. It would be difficult to imagine that even one resident of Tucson would have not been in attendance for this rite of passage for the Old Pueblo. The celebration continued with a banquet at Levin’s Park Hall and bombastic oratory and toasts to almost everything including the sunrise. According to Charles Poston’s silver tongue, “We welcome the Railroad as the Messiah of civilization, and we welcome the road builders as the benefactors of mankind.” All the toasts had prepared the attendees for a “grand soiree” with the Star reporting 1,200 Tucsonans dancing till midnight. This was the beginning of a new Old Pueblo and the Arizona folk tale that the Pope responded in a congratulatory manner to the telegram of March 17th but, as the legend goes, wanted to know “Where in hell is Tucson, anyhow?”
Greetings From The Past
“Tucson, with a metropolitan area population of approximately 135,000, is the Division point on the Southern Pacific railroad between Lordsburg, N. M. and Yuma, with shops, Pacific Fruit Express Icing facilities and large rail yards.” |
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ccasionally we all experience significant life events in which we assume that someone has brought a camera, but in the rush of excitement and planning, no pictures end up being taken. On March 20, 1880, the railroad arrived in Tucson, changing the Old Pueblo forever, but apparently no one thought to capture the historic moment on film. Thus, there are no pictures extant today of the ceremonial train’s arrival in the Old Pueblo on that March morning. The missed “Kodak moment” was about the arrival of “civilization” and change that would shape Tucson into an American city far beyond the wildest dreams of anyone who lived through the events that led up to the arrival and the celebration that followed.
