Tucson
The presidio of Tubac was established along the Santa Cruz River in 1751. This frontier
fortress housed a garrison of Spanish soldiers to protect the missions and settlements in
the area. In 1775, the garrison was moved north, and the new presidio of Tucson was built.
A small civilian settlement was started next to the presidio. Soon the adobe-walled
fortress was surrounded by a community of farmers, ranchers, craftsmen, and laborers. The
soldiers were kept quite busy defending the town against frequent Apache raids.
There was a brief period of peace with the Apaches, but when the Mexican government
withdrew military support from the northern region in the 1820s, Apaches again waged a
bitter war across Sonora. The Santa Cruz Valley had grown become a prosperous center of
trade, farming, and ranching, but Apache raids eventually caused many people to flee to
the south. In 1850, there were less than a thousand Mexicans in the Tucson area. Most of
those had taken refuge within the presidio walls. The village of Tubac was completely
deserted, and haciendas on the San Pedro River and Babocomari Creek were abandoned.
The United
States acquired Tucson with the Gadsden Purchase. On January 1, 1856, the U.S. Army
formally took possession of the presidio of Tucson as Adjutant Inspector Ignacio Pesqueira
directed the transfer of the Mexican soldiers and their families from Tucson to Imuris.
The civilian residents of Tucson each faced an important personal decision: they could
stay and become U.S. citizens, or they could move south and try to reestablish their
homes, farms, and businesses in Mexican territory. Some chose to retain their Mexican
nationality, and left with the soldiers, but many decided to stay in Tucson.
By mid-1856, there were only about three hundred Hispanic residents remaining in
Tucson. When Charles D. Poston and Samuel P. Heintzelman started developing silver mines
near Tubac, the region was quickly repopulated as former residents returned to work for
the Sonora Exploring and Mining Company. An "American" town was built on the
site between 1858 and 1860. Within a few years, the population of the Tucson-Tubac area
had grown to nearly two thousand.
By the 1880s, Tucson was a growing prosperous commercial center serving all
areas of Arizona Territory. Prominent Hispanic residents of Tucson in the early
territorial period included brothers Juan and Jesus Maria Elias
who both served as legislators, businessmen such as Leopoldo Carrillo,
Manuel H. Amado, and Ramon Pacheco,
and freighters with ranching interests, such as Mariano G. Samaniego,
Estevan Ochoa, and Yjinio
Aguirre. For a more detailed history of Tucson's Mexican American community,
see Thomas Sheridan's Los Tucsonenses (University of Arizona Press,
1986).
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