Casa Grande Valley Histories

An Excerpt from 1993 CASA GRANDE VALLEY HISTORIES

Americans greeted 1992, the Quincentennial of Columbus' arrival in the New World, with mixed emotions. Some considered the anniversary reason for celebration, while others felt it commemorated a hostile invasion. Traditionally regarded as the discoverer of the Americas, Columbus is now treated with muted acclaim. Recent study and reflection have prompted scholars to overturn the notion that Columbus "discovered" America.  It is now acknowledged, as it had been for centuries by native Americans, that American Indians had a flourishing civilization in the New World for generations before Columbus' arrival.

So what should be the focus of this five-hundred-year anniversary? While it inevitably brought with it both good and bad, Columbus' arrival in the Americas signified the beginning of European interaction with the continents, and it has been of far-reaching consequence. His voyage served as the catalyst for a European migration pattern that changed the complexion of the Americas forever.

While the Southwestern United States was not directly affected in 1492 by the arrival of the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria, in subsequent centuries it has felt their influence. Arriving in mass as a result of Spain's claim on Central America, conquistadors pushed northward into present-day Arizona, colonizing and Christianizing the Indians as they went. They left behind the Hispanic population in Central America, and a legacy of migration.

The pieces in this journal examine the ramifications of various migrations to the Casa Grande Valley since 1492.

MIGRATIONS THROUGH THE DESERT
A Look at Mexican-American Families in Casa Grande

Sally Zink

This photo essay is a story of personal migration, a movement initiated by the first Europeans who followed Columbus' lead. The Andrades, the Vasquezes, the Cruzs, the Armentas, and countless other families trekked across the southern Arizona desert to begin a new life in the Casa Grande Valley. Their descendants continue to be active entrepreneurs in Casa Grande.

Through the study of changes to the ancient Indian trails, Dobyns traces the impact of the European inundation into North America on the natives of the area. He also discusses the later Anglo-American migration to the area and its effect on the native population.

James Smithwick continues the theme of change through migrations by focusing on the early town of Casa Grande.  He relates Casa Grande's population growth in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century’s to the town's coinciding economic development.  Smithwick describes the growth and change in Casa Grande's industries and how that affected the population of the town.

The photo essay gives a glimpse into the lives and livelihoods of some of the Mexican-American families who migrated from Mexico and established themselves in the Casa Grande Valley in the late nineteenth century. Many of the businesses pictured are still remembered by residents, testifying to the strong foundation these Mexican-American families gave Casa Grande.

The Afterword's description of the cross-cultural exchange between the Pima Indians and Spain offers a unique perspective to this quincentennial discussion. Traveling full circle from the invasion and enslavement in 1492, native Americans are now treated with intellectual and diplomatic equality: it was certainly a proud moment when Gila River Indian Community Governor Thomas R. White could stand before the Queen of Spain as ambassador of the native Americans.

Henry F. Dobyns

This paper localizes. It is written entirely from the perspective of this place called Casa Grande. Because of some of the author's institutional affiliations, and because he has been called upon for advice concerning the Columbian Quincentenary, this paper also takes a Quincentennial perspective. That is, this narrative goes back five hundred years and begins in 1492.

CASA GRANDE, ARIZONA: FROM MINING TO AGRICULTURE
Population Growth and Economic Expansion 1879 to 1940

James M. Smithwick

casa Grande was in 1879 a small railroad stop of live people, three adobe buildings, and a dusty main street located at the far eastern end of the newly built Southern Pacific Railroad line.¹ As these tracks were pushed farther east, Casa Grande remained to become a prosperous transportation, mining, and agricultural center located in central Arizona. Why did this community grow and flourish when so many other similar railroad towns collapsed into the Arizona desert sands? It appears that as the land-based economy founded in mining and agriculture prospered, this community's population expanded to meet new, growing demands and supplies for goods and services.²

Excerpts from 1995 A GLIMPSE OF THE PAST

THE CASA GRANDE VALLEY IN THE 1950’s AS PHOTOGRAPHED BY JIM GORRAIZ

Heather S. Hatch

This photo essay is based on the work of Jim Gorraiz, a professional photographer who operated the Casa Grande Photo Shop.  The Jim Gorraiz Collection is a major asset of the Casa Grande Valley Historical Society which recognizes its value as a historic record of this area.  The collect ion includes approximately 20,000 negatives taken between 1948 and 1975.  The small sample of his photographs taken between 1950 and 1959 document American history with a Southwest perspective unique to the people events, and spirit of the Casa Grande Valley.

Looking back at the 1950’s brings a chuckle to us today.  America may have been a more sociable plan then.  Maybe life was simpler.  Can you imagine the image of a young boy advertising cigarettes or a news item about how much fun you can have looking for uranium in our society today?  Do you remember pouring at a tea, attending a Randall party, planning a handkerchief shows, or shopping for Fluffo and Spry?  Potted meat, Babo, and Cinch Cake are gone and gone are the days when you could get Log Cabin syrup in a Log Cabin can.

Photographs like these left to us by professional photographer Jim Gorraiz, give us an introduction to the past.  They don’t encompass everyone or every element of the 1950’s, but they do seem to reflect an American in a more sociable frame of mind.  In that way they are valuable documents of history.  They give us a glimpse of the past we can use to help frame our future.

Excerpts from 2001 THE BARON OF ARIZONA

Med Nicholson

JAMES ADDISON REAVIS: ARIZONA’S BARON…AND SCOUNDREL

James Addison Reavis’s improbable life began in obscurity and ended in poverty, but in between he touched vast riches and almost pulled off a huge land fraud, sometimes described as the biggest in United States history.  He was called The Baron of Arizona, and not always derisively.

Much earlier than most he saw Arizona Territory’s potential.  Many have speculated that he might today be remembered as one of Arizona’s earliest developers, and might have legitimately amassed the riches he sought, had he stayed on the right side of the law.

Yet despite three book length accounts of the Baron’s life, two scholarly monographs, at least a half dozen national magazine articles, a sympathetic Hollywood movie, a play and a Casa Grande High School pageant, many gaps remain in what we know of the time which Reavis spent here in Arizona.

And the most tantalizing question remains: when finally cornered in a federal lawsuit, had he deluded himself into believing his preposterous tale of a 12 million acre Spanish royal gran that he and his wife offered to court in Santa Fe?