Territorial Tubac: Origins
Post Gadsden Purchase: Tubac, Arizona
A Personality
Charles Debrille Poston (1825 – 1902) was a Kentucky-born man who seized opportunities in the ever-alluring California Gold Rush era. Leveraging his experience in the San Francisco customs house (a global intelligence center in its day), he learned about Arizona and its mineral wealth. He would go on to explore the Arizona-Sonora borderlands region to verify these claims and soon witnessed Arizona transform into an American Territory.
A Mining Company
Taking advantage of this new political situation, he went on to found the Sonora Exploring and Mining Company, a venture focused on unearthing riches within the Santa Rita Mountains. One of the financial backers and board members was Samuel Colt of the revolver fame. Poston decided to locate company headquarters strategically in Tubac in between the Santa Ritas and mining operations in Arivaca. From the 1850s to the beginning of the Civil War, the company carried out extensive mining extracting silver.
Early Arizona Leadership
However, Poston's endeavors were not confined solely to the realm of commerce. His leadership and dedication also led him to serve as a delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives, where he passionately advocated for Arizona Territory's interests during his term from 1864 to 1865.
Poston's tireless efforts earned him the well-deserved title of the "Father of Arizona," a tribute to his instrumental role in lobbying for the recognition of the Arizona Territory. Charles died in Phoenix in 1902 and is buried in Florence, Arizona. His legacy remains intertwined with the early history and development of this region.
This quote records the community’s US beginnings and offers a rare window into the world of early Territorial Tubac :
"Arriving in the Valley of the Santa Cruz, we found the old town of Tubac abandoned by its Mexican garrison and the population which had Tubac - 14 been dependent upon them for protection against the Apache Indians, the most fierce and barbarous tribe of which we have any account...
As the houses in Tubac were in a tolerably good state of preservation, we occupied them for headquarters during the ensuing winter, and passed the time in exploring the surrounding country for silver mines…
In the course of a few months, several hundred people had gathered around Tubac and engaged in planting; the mines developed wonderful richness; and traders from Sonora, New Mexico, and California came to supply all our wants. . . ."
- Charles D. Poston, Tubac 1854
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Sources:
Browne, John Ross. Adventures in the Apache Country: A Tour Through Arizona and Sonora, with Notes on the Silver Regions of Nevada. United Kingdom: Harper & Brothers, 1869.
“Charles D. Poston, Delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives from Arizona Territory (1864-1865) .” Charles D. Poston. National Archives and Records Administration. Accessed October 26, 2021. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hon._Charles_D._Poston,_Ariz_-_NARA_-_527367.jpg.
Gadsden Purchase. Encyclopædia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/event/Gadsden-Purchase#/media/1/223349/161030. Accessed October 25, 2021.
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Take the fast track to understand Tubac, Arizona in person on Borderlandia’s Tubac’s Heritage Tour.
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