Sunday, April 2
On this date in 1819, Mormon missionary Jacob Hamblin, who was also in charge of colonization along the Little Colorado River and served as guide to Maj. John Wesley Powell over the Lee’s Ferry route, was born in Ohio.
On this date in 1919, at 10 a.m., the first car ever to climb Sentinel Peak in Tucson, started its trek upward. The car sustained one blown tire. The headlights were left on to prove the feat to residents, and the car was parked on the peak for two days so people could climb up and see it for themselves.
On this date in 1927, Cochise and Graham County cattlemen ordered their crews to ride armed and to shoot when necessary to prevent rustling.
On this date in 1933, Gov. Benjamin B. Moeur unveiled a monument on the Arizona-New Mexico state line dedicating the Geronimo Trail from Douglas to Cloverdale, New Mexico.
Monday, April 3
On this date in 1904, a leaking gas main exploded in a Prescott saloon and gambling house, injuring four people.
On this date in 1919, Maricopa County, not including the city of Phoenix, stood alone in the rejection of daylight saving time. Other cities and counties gave up the battle and moved their clocks forward an hour, but Maricopa County supervisors insisted there would be no surrender.
On this date in 1927, the Horse Mesa Dam and Power Plant went into operation and began earning $3,200 a day for the Salt River Valley Users Association.
Tuesday, April 4
On this date in 1825, Charles T. Hayden, founder of Tempe and father of Sen. Carl T. Hayden, was born.
On this date in 1917, fire caused by a kerosene lamp destroyed all but two buildings in the mining town of Ajo. Citizens saved a phonograph from a burning store and played “There’ll Be a Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight” as the city burned.
On this date in 1930, the Arizona State School for the Deaf and Blind was closed for lack of funds. The school’s teachers were owed three months’ back pay.
On this date in 1988, Gov. Evan Mecham became the first governor in Arizona history to be removed from office through impeachment. The state Senate convicted Mecham of obstruction of justice and misuse of state funds.
On this date in 1988, Rose Mofford became Arizona’s first woman governor following the impeachment conviction of Gov. Evan Mecham.
Wednesday, April 5
On this date in 1898, the mining camp of Congress was destroyed by fire, resulting in two deaths and $50,000 worth of property damage.
On this date in 1899, the town of Thatcher was incorporated.
On this date in 1910, the Territorial Board of Control accepted bids and ordered construction of the Pioneers’ Home in Prescott.
On this date in 1919, a Victory Fair opened in Tucson to celebrate the end of World War I. A squadron of military airplanes flew from San Diego to present an aerial exhibition, and troops of the 10th Cavalry from Fort Huachuca marched in the parade.
Thursday, April 6
On this date in 1916, Phoenix Union High School and Globe High School were the first in the state to be accepted by the North Central Association of Accredited Schools and Colleges.
On this date in 1920, the funeral of Robert N. Leatherwood was held. Leatherwood was a former mayor of Tucson and Pima County sheriff. He had helped locate mines in the Quijotoa District, operated a livery stable and planted peach and apple orchards in the Catalina Mountains.
On this date in 1920, Mexican strikers abandoned a freight train loaded with tomatoes 25 miles south of Nogales, Mexico, and every truck in the twin towns was requisitioned to salvage the freight and unload it in Nogales, Arizona.
On this date in 1992, Donald Eugene Harding was executed by lethal gas at the state prison in Florence for the 1980 murders of two businessmen in Phoenix. Harding, 43, was the first person executed in the state since Manuel Silvas in 1976 and was the last to be executed while the gas chamber was the official execution method.
Friday, April 7
On this date in 1913, the State Board of Control ordered that Gov. George W.P. Hunt’s official car be taken from him and announced that he could pay his own transportation or walk just like everyone else.
On this date in 1920, The Arizona Daily Star announced that Lee Parker, trapper for the U.S. Biological Survey, had trapped seven mountain lions in the Canelo Hills near Patagonia. On that same day, another trapper shot four lions in the Catalina Mountains.
Saturday, April 8
On this date in 1893, the governor of Arizona Territory commuted the sentences of two editors of Arizona newspapers, convicted of criminal libel, from five days at the Yuma state penitentiary to five days in the Pima County Jail.
On this date in 1910, farmers and stockmen of the Prescott area complained of packs of wild dogs killing livestock. The dogs were said to be descendants of domestic dogs which had run away to live in the mountains around Prescott with the wolves, and were very large and vicious.
On this date in 1914, four troopers of the U.S. 9th Cavalry were wounded on American soil by stray bullets as Sonora state troops and Mexican Federals fought for possession of Naco.
On this date in 1920, the Arizona Livestock Commission warned that stockmen faced a possible loss of more than a million dollars unless the disease of blackleg could be brought under control promptly.
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