Sunday, Jan. 22
On this date in 1864, Gov. John Goodwin and his party of newly appointed Territorial officials arrived at Fort Whipple, where they set up the first temporary capital for the Arizona Territory.
On this date in 1870, the Weekly Arizonan made the somewhat puzzling statement that “business is, today, at a higher ebb than it ever before reached in Tucson.”
On this date in 1903, a head-on collision of the Southern Pacific east and west bound passenger trains at Vail Station killed 22 people and injured 45.
Monday, Jan. 23
On this date in 1874, Gov. Anson P.K. Safford appointed a Territorial Board to arrange for an Arizona exhibit at the Centennial celebration to be held in Philadelphia.
On this date in 1916, a levee on the Colorado River broke, covering Yuma with 4 feet of water.
Tuesday, Jan. 24
On this date in 1887, the first donation to build the Mormon Temple in Mesa was received from Helena Roseberry, a Pima widow.
On this date in 1917, a revolt broke out in the Arizona National Guard encampment at Naco with Company M parading up and down the Company Street, shouting that they wanted to go home.
On this date in 1935, El Capitan Kelly, last of the Yuma Indian war chiefs, died at what was believed to be about 125 years of age.
On this date in 1947, Laura B. Middaugh, who claimed to be the great-great niece of Jacob Walz and to have in her possession authentic maps of the Lost Dutchman Mine, headed into the Superstition Mountains in search of the mine.
Wednesday, Jan. 25
On this date in 1860, the Tucson-Fort Buchanan stage was washed downstream near Tubac in the Santa Cruz River during a violent flood. Horses and baggage were saved, but the mail was delayed for 24 hours.
On this date in 1906, Flagstaff schools were closed because of an earthquake.
On this date in 1934, John Dillinger was captured with three of his gang in a house in Tucson by police who seized handguns, submachine guns and a bulletproof vest.
Thursday, Jan. 26
On this date in 1878, the first newspaper in Phoenix - the Salt River Herald - began publication.
On this date in 1912, Julia Caldwell, an aged homesteader, was badly beaten and driven from her claim near Phoenix by a claim jumper who then hauled away her little cabin.
Friday, Jan. 27
On this date in 1861, the kidnapping of the stepson of John Ward, a Sonoita Valley rancher, took place. The incident led to the “Bascom Affair” in Apache Pass when Lt. Bascom and a detail of 54 men attempted to arrest Cochise, Chiricahua Apache chief, for the kidnapping.
On this date in 1879, the railroad car known as Terminus, which housed a post office and Wells Fargo Station, rolled into Arizona for the first time and followed the construction of the tracks across Arizona for two years from Yuma to New Mexico.
On this date in 1927, 300 Navajo Indian scouts set out on the trail of two men who shot Sheriff A.A. Maxwell of Apache County.
On this date in 1947, Crown Prince Amir Saud of Saudi Arabia toured the Salt River Valley to obtain ideas for the agricultural development of his own country.
Saturday, Jan. 28
On this date in 1874, the town site of Safford was located by C.M. Ritter.
On this date in 1887, the first train robbery in Arizona history took place when two masked men took $20,000 from the Southern Pacific passenger train 17 miles east of Tucson.
On this date in 1889, a bill which moved the territorial capitol from Prescott to Phoenix was signed.
On this date in 1996, the Super Bowl was played for the first time in Arizona at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe.
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