PHOENIX (AP) - Sunday, May 20
On this date in 1862, the advance guard of the California Column reached Tucson under the command of Lt. Col. Joseph West and established Camp Lowell.
On this date in 1862, Congress passed the Homestead Act, giving free land to citizens who could qualify for ownership by living on the land.
On this date in 1910, The Arizona Daily Star announced that incorporation papers were to be filed by a company of local promoters who planned to build a resort in Madera Canyon in the Santa Rita Mountains.
Monday, May 21
On this date in 1931, border patrolmen discovered the skeleton of a 25,000-year-old mammoth near Hereford.
On this date in 1954, Dean Byron Cummings, professor of archaeology at the University of Arizona and the first white man to see Rainbow Bridge, died.
Tuesday, May 22
On this date in 1894, Dr. A.E. Douglass selected a site in Flagstaff for the Lowell Observatory.
On this date in 1923, four people died in an explosion at the Apache Powder Plant at Benson.
On this date in 1925, an 80-foot, solid copper flagpole, donated by Inspiration Consolidated Copper Co., was erected in front of the American Legion building in Miami.
On this date in 1925, a wolf-like pack of 15 or 20 wild dogs killed livestock and terrorized children in the Silverbell Road area near Tucson.
On this date in 1925, citizens of Bisbee formed the Bisbee Volunteer Forest Fire Fighting Corps which was to consist of 13 groups of four men each, trained in firefighting.
Wednesday, May 23
On this date in 1868, Col. Christopher “Kit” Carson, who directed the campaign against the Navajos which resulted in their surrender and the exile of about half the tribe to Fort Sumner between 1864 and 1868, died at Fort Lyon, Colorado, just nine days before the June 1 signing of the treaty which allowed the Navajos to return to their homeland.
On this date in 1919, the secretary of the Arizona Livestock Board reported that Cochise County was swarming with cattle rustlers.
On this date in 1927, one person died and several were injured when two Santa Fe trains crashed near Flagstaff.
Thursday, May 24
On this date in 1869, John Wesley Powell and his party began their historic exploration of the Colorado River.
On this date in 1915, Arizona and California celebrated the opening of the new “Ocean to Ocean” highway bridge at Yuma.
On this date in 1925, R.J. Jones of Phoenix, who owned a 160-acre (65-hectare) tract of land located a mile and a half from the Casa Grande ruins, announced that the land would be subdivided and a new town called Coolidge would be built.
On this date in 1930, the State of Arizona presented a bronze statue of John Campbell Greenway to Statuary Hall in Washington, D.C.
On this date in 2013, a federal judge rules that the office of Joe Arpaio, the self-proclaimed America’s toughest sheriff, systematically racially profiled Latinos in its trademark immigration patrols. The decision marks the first finding by a court that the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office racially profiles people.
Friday, May 25
On this date in 1892, the Arizona Medical Association was organized in Phoenix. It was incorporated on June 16, 1950.
On this date in 1929, Yuma Mesa Grapefruit Co. announced it would erect a $25,000 packing house in Yuma and the Bomberger Seed Co. would construct a $10,000 warehouse and seed laboratory.
Saturday May 26
On this date in 1881, the first telephone office was established in Tucson.
On this date in 1894, the city of Flagstaff was incorporated.
On this date in 1909, the Pima County Court dismissed a 22-year-old murder indictment against Geronimo.
On this date in 1910, the Pima County Board of Supervisors said it would not license saloons in mining camps that had no police force.
On this date in 1915, the first furnace was put into operation at the Clarkdale Smelter to smelt the ore from the United Verde mines at Jerome.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.