Jack Swilling
Encyclopedia
John W. "Jack" Swilling (April 1, 1830 – August 12, 1878) founded the city of Phoenix
, Arizona
, in 1867. Other pioneers and travelers had seen and commented on the ancient Hohokam
canal
s in that area, but it was J. W. Swilling who organized the first successful modern irrigation project in Arizona's Salt River
Valley. The "Swilling Irrigating and Canal Company" started the small farming community of Phoenix that since has grown into a major metropolitan area.
Swilling earlier had an important role in the opening to settlement of the previously unexplored central Arizona highlands in the vicinity of modern-day Prescott, Arizona
. His discoveries resulted in a major gold rush to the new area, and this in turn led to the establishment of Arizona’s first Territorial Capital at the brand-new town of Prescott.
Jack Swilling was a teamster
, prospector
, mine
and mill owner, and a saloon and dance hall owner. He also was a visionary, a canal builder, farmer, rancher, politician, and public servant. Swilling was also a Confederate States Army
minuteman
and a civilian aid to the United States Army
during the American Civil War
. All of this was accomplished while he suffered from periods of excruciating pain resulting from major injuries he suffered in 1854. He took morphine
to assuage the pain, which led to dependency problems for the rest of his life.
, to George Washington Swilling and Margaret Farrar Swilling, the eighth of their 10 children. George Swilling was the son of the plantation manager, while Miss Farrar was the owner’s daughter. Farrar's parents did not approve of the marriage, so the young couple eloped. It took three years for her parents to accept the match. In time, George Swilling became owner of the plantation. When Jack Swilling was 14 the family moved from South Carolina
to Georgia
. Three years later he and an older brother enlisted in a mounted battalion of Georgia volunteers for service during the Mexican–American War
. After the war, the two young men returned to Georgia. Jack Swilling drops out of sight for a time then, although he was reported in Georgia for the Christmas of 1849.
The next recorded events in his life are his marriage at Wetumpka, Alabama
, in 1852 to Mary Jane Gray and the birth of their daughter Elizabeth a year later. Swilling wrote that in 1854 he suffered serious injuries—a broken skull and a bullet lodged in his back—in unstated circumstances. Those injuries plagued him for the rest of his life and led to a dependency on drugs and alcohol. In 1856, on his 26th birthday, something happened to cause him to leave permanently for the West.
There is over a year’s break in the record, but he apparently joined the Leach Wagon Road Company, at Fort Smith, Arkansas
, in the summer of 1857 as a teamster
, probably staying with the slow-moving oxen-drawn wagon train until its arrival a year later at Mesilla
, in Traditional Arizona
which was then part of New Mexico Territory
.
The years between Swilling’s arrival in Arizona in 1858 and the founding of the Phoenix settlement almost a decade later were active and varied ones. Following are some highlights:
After his arrival in Arizona, Swilling moved to southern California, where he joined in a gold rush near Los Angeles
. A few months later he was drawn back to Arizona by the gold rush at Gila City
where he also worked for the Butterfield Overland Mail
Company.
company that was formed for protection from Apache
stock raids on the miners and the stage company. The Gila Rangers with the support of warrior
s from the friendly Maricopa tribe—made a January 1860 expedition to the unexplored Bradshaw Mountains
of central Arizona to “chastise” Apache raiders. That expedition resulted in some noteworthy discoveries: the existence of the Hassayampa River
and traces of mineral riches, including gold, in an area that looked well suited for ranching and farming. However the area was too remote and dangerous for settlers at that time.
Soon afterwards, the Gila City gold deposits ran out and Swilling followed his good friend Colonel
Jacob Snively to Pinos Altos
, where he both mined and ran a saloon and dance hall. When the Union Army
withdrew from New Mexico Territory at the beginning of the Civil War
, the men of Pinos Altos formed a militia company they named the Arizona Guards for defense against Apache attack. By then Confederate Arizona had been established which included all of New Mexico Territory south of the 34th parallel. Swilling was elected second in command of the company, or First Lieutenant, and retained that rank when the Arizona Guards were absorbed into the Confederate Army
. Swilling likely fought at the Battle of Pinos Altos
, a Confederate victory and a battle which killed his commander; Captain
Thomas J. Mastin.
After a time spent defending against Apaches and acting as the de facto
police force for the area around Pinos Altos, he led a portion of the Arizona Guards that reinforced the militia garrison
of Tucson in 1862. Swilling is believed to have commanded a party of rebels who burned Stanwix Station
and skirmished with the Union army. He was involved in the noted incident at Ammi White’s flour mill at the Pima Villages when Union Captain James McCleave was captured.
Following the Capture of Tucson
, Swilling's company retreatred and he became a civilian employee of the United States Army, first as a dispatch rider between General James Carleton’s California Column and Union forces up the Rio Grande
, and later as a scout in an anti-Apache campaign. He was involved in the campaign
to take Mesilla which ended with a Union takeover of Confederate Arizona's capital. Near the end of that employment, he encountered the Joseph R. Walker exploratory party near Pinos Altos when Swilling led the capture of the famous Apache chief Mangas Coloradas
.
mining district was formed just a few miles south of present Prescott
on May 10, 1863. They called it the Pioneer Mining District, and the rules they adopted were the area’s first recorded laws.
Swilling left the Walker party shortly after the formation of the Pioneer Mining District and joined up with the Paulino Weaver/Abraham Peeples exploratory party which arrived in the area shortly after the Walker group. He made a small fortune from the unusual surface gold mine at Rich Hill between Wickenburg
and Prescott. News of his successes spread eastward when two gold samples from Swilling’s claim sent to General Carleton were forwarded for presentation to President Abraham Lincoln
.
Next, he was briefly part owner of a flour mill in Tucson apparently in partnership with his neighbor Charles T. Hayden
. Quickly tiring of Tucson, he returned to Yavapai County where he prospected, owned gold mines and gold milling operations, and farmed. In addition he also was the mail contractor between Prescott and the Pima
villages below the Salt River Valley
on the Gila River
. And then he had the inspiration to form the Swilling Irrigation and Canal Company that would reopen the Salt River Valley to farming.
In the midst of all this activity, Jack Swilling married a young Mexican woman of Spanish heritage named Trinidad Mejia Escalante. They were married on April 11, 1864, at Tucson’s San Agustin Cathedral when Trinidad was about seventeen. Over the next fourteen years they had seven natural children, five girls and two boys, and adopted two Apache orphan
s, a boy and a girl.
On November 16, 1867, he formed the Swilling Irrigating and Canal Company at Wickenburg. Soon after, a small group of men headed by Jack Swilling started construction of the first modern-era irrigation canals in the Salt River Valley. The following summer the first crops of wheat, barley and corn were harvested.
Swilling claimed a quarter section south of what became Van Buren Street between 32nd and 36th Streets for his own farm. He built a nine-room, 4700 square feet (436.6 m²) home there, which became known as Swilling's Castle. His farm was a local showplace, featuring an artificial pond with tame duck
s, a vineyard
and an orchard with a variety of fruit trees.
He was involved in the planning and construction of additional canals, including the first ditch south of the Salt River in partnership with an old acquaintance, and business partner, Charles T. Hayden
, the founder of Tempe, Arizona
and father of long-time Arizona Senator Carl T. Hayden
.
In the early days, Jack Swilling was one of the most prominent leaders of the Phoenix settlement and he was its first postmaster
and first justice of the peace
. However, once Phoenix was well established and the so-called “original townsite” was located over three miles (5 km) to the west of his holdings, he lost interest and moved his growing family back to central Arizona. There he mined, farmed and ranched in and around the area of Black Canyon City
until he became a suspect in a stagecoach robbery near Wickenburg.
While Swilling and two companions were on this journey of Christian charity, three hooded men—one tall, one medium size, and one short—robbed a stagecoach near Wickenburg
. This description matched that of Swilling and his companions and they became suspects in the robbery. His tendency to tell wild tales while drinking also was a factor. A series of legal complications brought him to Yuma where he died in the county jail while awaiting a hearing. The real robbers—led by a man Swilling and others had publicly accused—were identified only after Swilling’s death.
Swilling was buried in a Yuma cemetery before his family could be notified. If there ever was a grave marker it is long gone and the precise location of Jack Swilling’s remains is unknown.
After his death, Swilling’s reputation as a badman grew so fast that by the end of the 19th century a prominent Arizona historian
would write of him as a “typical desperado.” By many accounts he was a joker and yarn spinner and while drinking he spread tall tales about his exploits to all who would listen. That, for example, is one reason he became a suspect in the Wickenburg stage robbery.
Friends remembered Jack Swilling as an honest, hard-working, and generous man always ready to help those in need of a meal or a place to sleep. He was known to put his own life at risk for others, literally riding to the rescue when help was needed in the face of Apache attack.
In the end his use of a combination of narcotic
s and liquor—to relieve the pain caused by old injuries—ruined Jack Swilling’s health and his reputation.
Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populated city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data...
, Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
, in 1867. Other pioneers and travelers had seen and commented on the ancient Hohokam
Hohokam
Hohokam is one of the four major prehistoric archaeological Oasisamerica traditions of what is now the American Southwest. Many local residents put the accent on the first syllable . Variant spellings in current, official usage include Hobokam, Huhugam and Huhukam...
canal
Canal
Canals are man-made channels for water. There are two types of canal:#Waterways: navigable transportation canals used for carrying ships and boats shipping goods and conveying people, further subdivided into two kinds:...
s in that area, but it was J. W. Swilling who organized the first successful modern irrigation project in Arizona's Salt River
Salt River (Arizona)
The Salt River is a stream in the U.S. state of Arizona. It is the largest tributary of the Gila River. The river is about long. Its drainage basin is about large. The longest of the Salt River's many tributaries is the Verde River...
Valley. The "Swilling Irrigating and Canal Company" started the small farming community of Phoenix that since has grown into a major metropolitan area.
Swilling earlier had an important role in the opening to settlement of the previously unexplored central Arizona highlands in the vicinity of modern-day Prescott, Arizona
Prescott, Arizona
Prescott is a city in Yavapai County, Arizona, USA. It was designated "Arizona's Christmas City" by Arizona Governor Rose Mofford in the late 1980s....
. His discoveries resulted in a major gold rush to the new area, and this in turn led to the establishment of Arizona’s first Territorial Capital at the brand-new town of Prescott.
Jack Swilling was a teamster
Teamster
A teamster, in modern American English, is a truck driver. The trade union named after them is the International Brotherhood of Teamsters , one of the largest unions in the United States....
, prospector
Prospecting
Prospecting is the physical search for minerals, fossils, precious metals or mineral specimens, and is also known as fossicking.Prospecting is a small-scale form of mineral exploration which is an organised, large scale effort undertaken by mineral resource companies to find commercially viable ore...
, mine
Mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...
and mill owner, and a saloon and dance hall owner. He also was a visionary, a canal builder, farmer, rancher, politician, and public servant. Swilling was also a Confederate States Army
Confederate States Army
The Confederate States Army was the army of the Confederate States of America while the Confederacy existed during the American Civil War. On February 8, 1861, delegates from the seven Deep South states which had already declared their secession from the United States of America adopted the...
minuteman
Militia
The term militia is commonly used today to refer to a military force composed of ordinary citizens to provide defense, emergency law enforcement, or paramilitary service, in times of emergency without being paid a regular salary or committed to a fixed term of service. It is a polyseme with...
and a civilian aid to the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
during the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
. All of this was accomplished while he suffered from periods of excruciating pain resulting from major injuries he suffered in 1854. He took morphine
Morphine
Morphine is a potent opiate analgesic medication and is considered to be the prototypical opioid. It was first isolated in 1804 by Friedrich Sertürner, first distributed by same in 1817, and first commercially sold by Merck in 1827, which at the time was a single small chemists' shop. It was more...
to assuage the pain, which led to dependency problems for the rest of his life.
Early life
Jack Swilling was born on April 1, 1830, at Red House Plantation, Anderson, South CarolinaAnderson, South Carolina
Anderson is a city in and the county seat of Anderson County, South Carolina, United States. The population was estimated at 26,242 in 2006, and the city was the center of an urbanized area of 70,530...
, to George Washington Swilling and Margaret Farrar Swilling, the eighth of their 10 children. George Swilling was the son of the plantation manager, while Miss Farrar was the owner’s daughter. Farrar's parents did not approve of the marriage, so the young couple eloped. It took three years for her parents to accept the match. In time, George Swilling became owner of the plantation. When Jack Swilling was 14 the family moved from South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
to Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
. Three years later he and an older brother enlisted in a mounted battalion of Georgia volunteers for service during the Mexican–American War
Mexican–American War
The Mexican–American War, also known as the First American Intervention, the Mexican War, or the U.S.–Mexican War, was an armed conflict between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848 in the wake of the 1845 U.S...
. After the war, the two young men returned to Georgia. Jack Swilling drops out of sight for a time then, although he was reported in Georgia for the Christmas of 1849.
The next recorded events in his life are his marriage at Wetumpka, Alabama
Wetumpka, Alabama
Wetumpka is a city in Elmore County, Alabama, United States. At the 2000 census the population was 5,726.The city is the county seat of Elmore County, one of the fastest growing counties in the state....
, in 1852 to Mary Jane Gray and the birth of their daughter Elizabeth a year later. Swilling wrote that in 1854 he suffered serious injuries—a broken skull and a bullet lodged in his back—in unstated circumstances. Those injuries plagued him for the rest of his life and led to a dependency on drugs and alcohol. In 1856, on his 26th birthday, something happened to cause him to leave permanently for the West.
There is over a year’s break in the record, but he apparently joined the Leach Wagon Road Company, at Fort Smith, Arkansas
Fort Smith, Arkansas
Fort Smith is the second-largest city in Arkansas and one of the two county seats of Sebastian County. With a population of 86,209 in 2010, it is the principal city of the Fort Smith, Arkansas-Oklahoma Metropolitan Statistical Area, a region of 298,592 residents which encompasses the Arkansas...
, in the summer of 1857 as a teamster
Teamster
A teamster, in modern American English, is a truck driver. The trade union named after them is the International Brotherhood of Teamsters , one of the largest unions in the United States....
, probably staying with the slow-moving oxen-drawn wagon train until its arrival a year later at Mesilla
Mesilla, New Mexico
Mesilla is a town in Doña Ana County, New Mexico, United States. The population was 2,180 at the 2000 census...
, in Traditional Arizona
Traditional Arizona
Prior to the adoption of its name for a U.S. state, Arizona was traditionally defined as the region south of the Gila River to the present day Mexican border, and east of the Colorado River on the California border to the Rio Grande river, east of the present day Mesilla, New Mexico...
which was then part of New Mexico Territory
New Mexico Territory
thumb|right|240px|Proposed boundaries for State of New Mexico, 1850The Territory of New Mexico was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from September 9, 1850, until January 6, 1912, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of...
.
The years between Swilling’s arrival in Arizona in 1858 and the founding of the Phoenix settlement almost a decade later were active and varied ones. Following are some highlights:
After his arrival in Arizona, Swilling moved to southern California, where he joined in a gold rush near Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
. A few months later he was drawn back to Arizona by the gold rush at Gila City
Gila City, Arizona
Gila City is a ghost town in Yuma County in the U.S. state of Arizona. The town was settled in 1858 in what was then the Arizona Territory.-History:...
where he also worked for the Butterfield Overland Mail
Butterfield Overland Mail
The Butterfield Overland Mail Trail was a stagecoach route in the United States, operating from 1857 to 1861. It was a conduit for the U.S. mail from two eastern termini, Memphis, Tennessee and St. Louis, Missouri, meeting Fort Smith, Arkansas, and continuing through Indian Territory, New Mexico,...
Company.
Apache Wars and the American Civil War
He was elected captain of the Gila Rangers militiaMilitia
The term militia is commonly used today to refer to a military force composed of ordinary citizens to provide defense, emergency law enforcement, or paramilitary service, in times of emergency without being paid a regular salary or committed to a fixed term of service. It is a polyseme with...
company that was formed for protection from Apache
Apache
Apache is the collective term for several culturally related groups of Native Americans in the United States originally from the Southwest United States. These indigenous peoples of North America speak a Southern Athabaskan language, which is related linguistically to the languages of Athabaskan...
stock raids on the miners and the stage company. The Gila Rangers with the support of warrior
Warrior
A warrior is a person skilled in combat or warfare, especially within the context of a tribal or clan-based society that recognizes a separate warrior class.-Warrior classes in tribal culture:...
s from the friendly Maricopa tribe—made a January 1860 expedition to the unexplored Bradshaw Mountains
Bradshaw Mountains
The Bradshaw Mountains are a mountain range in the Sonoran Desert of central Arizona, USA, named for brothers Isaac and William Bradshaw after their death, having been formerly known in English as the Silver Mountain Range.-History:...
of central Arizona to “chastise” Apache raiders. That expedition resulted in some noteworthy discoveries: the existence of the Hassayampa River
Hassayampa River
The Hassayampa River is a mostly underground river, the headwaters of which are just south of Prescott, Arizona, and flows mostly south towards Wickenburg entering the Gila River near Hassayampa, Arizona...
and traces of mineral riches, including gold, in an area that looked well suited for ranching and farming. However the area was too remote and dangerous for settlers at that time.
Soon afterwards, the Gila City gold deposits ran out and Swilling followed his good friend Colonel
Colonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
Jacob Snively to Pinos Altos
Pinos Altos, New Mexico
Pinos Altos, in Grant County, New Mexico, was a mining town, formed in 1860 following the discovery of gold in the nearby Pinos Altos Mountains. The town site is located about five to ten miles north of the present day Silver City, New Mexico...
, where he both mined and ran a saloon and dance hall. When the Union Army
Union Army
The Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...
withdrew from New Mexico Territory at the beginning of the Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, the men of Pinos Altos formed a militia company they named the Arizona Guards for defense against Apache attack. By then Confederate Arizona had been established which included all of New Mexico Territory south of the 34th parallel. Swilling was elected second in command of the company, or First Lieutenant, and retained that rank when the Arizona Guards were absorbed into the Confederate Army
Confederate States Army
The Confederate States Army was the army of the Confederate States of America while the Confederacy existed during the American Civil War. On February 8, 1861, delegates from the seven Deep South states which had already declared their secession from the United States of America adopted the...
. Swilling likely fought at the Battle of Pinos Altos
Battle of Pinos Altos
The Battle of Pinos Altos was a military action of the Apache Wars. It was fought on September 27, 1861 between settlers of Pinos Altos mining town, the Confederate Arizona Guards, and Apache warriors. The town is located about seven miles north of the present day Silver City, New...
, a Confederate victory and a battle which killed his commander; Captain
Captain (OF-2)
The army rank of captain is a commissioned officer rank historically corresponding to command of a company of soldiers. The rank is also used by some air forces and marine forces. Today a captain is typically either the commander or second-in-command of a company or artillery battery...
Thomas J. Mastin.
After a time spent defending against Apaches and acting as the de facto
De facto
De facto is a Latin expression that means "concerning fact." In law, it often means "in practice but not necessarily ordained by law" or "in practice or actuality, but not officially established." It is commonly used in contrast to de jure when referring to matters of law, governance, or...
police force for the area around Pinos Altos, he led a portion of the Arizona Guards that reinforced the militia garrison
Garrison
Garrison is the collective term for a body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it, but now often simply using it as a home base....
of Tucson in 1862. Swilling is believed to have commanded a party of rebels who burned Stanwix Station
Stanwix Station
Stanwix Station, in western Arizona, was a stop on the Butterfield Overland Mail Stagecoach line built in the later 1850s near the Gila River about east of Yuma, Arizona. Originally the station was called Flap Jack Ranch later Grinnell's Ranch or Grinnell's Station...
and skirmished with the Union army. He was involved in the noted incident at Ammi White’s flour mill at the Pima Villages when Union Captain James McCleave was captured.
Following the Capture of Tucson
Capture of Tucson (1862)
The Capture of Tucson was a United States attack on Tucson in Confederate Arizona on May 20, 1862. A Union force of 2,000 took the city from ten Tucson militiamen without a shot fired.-Background:...
, Swilling's company retreatred and he became a civilian employee of the United States Army, first as a dispatch rider between General James Carleton’s California Column and Union forces up the Rio Grande
Rio Grande
The Rio Grande is a river that flows from southwestern Colorado in the United States to the Gulf of Mexico. Along the way it forms part of the Mexico – United States border. Its length varies as its course changes...
, and later as a scout in an anti-Apache campaign. He was involved in the campaign
Second Battle of Mesilla
The Second Battle of Mesilla was an unusual engagement of the American Civil War, it was fought on July 1, 1862 and was the last engagement between Union and Confederate forces in Arizona Territory...
to take Mesilla which ended with a Union takeover of Confederate Arizona's capital. Near the end of that employment, he encountered the Joseph R. Walker exploratory party near Pinos Altos when Swilling led the capture of the famous Apache chief Mangas Coloradas
Mangas Coloradas
Mangas Coloradas, or Dasoda-hae , was an Apache tribal chief and a member of the Eastern Chiricahua nation, whose homeland stretched west from the Rio Grande to include most of what is present-day southwestern New Mexico...
.
Further Prospecting and Marriage
Swilling's war ended there and he convinced Joseph Walker and his group that there was gold in the central highlands of the new Arizona Territory. He then guided them to where the first Yavapai CountyYavapai County, Arizona
-2010:Whereas according to the 2010 U.S. Census Bureau:*89.3% White*0.6% Black*1.7% Native American*0.8% Asian*0.1% Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander*2.5% Two or more races*5.0% Other races*13.6% Hispanic or Latino -2000:...
mining district was formed just a few miles south of present Prescott
Prescott, Arizona
Prescott is a city in Yavapai County, Arizona, USA. It was designated "Arizona's Christmas City" by Arizona Governor Rose Mofford in the late 1980s....
on May 10, 1863. They called it the Pioneer Mining District, and the rules they adopted were the area’s first recorded laws.
Swilling left the Walker party shortly after the formation of the Pioneer Mining District and joined up with the Paulino Weaver/Abraham Peeples exploratory party which arrived in the area shortly after the Walker group. He made a small fortune from the unusual surface gold mine at Rich Hill between Wickenburg
Wickenburg, Arizona
Wickenburg is a town in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States. According to 2006 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the town is 6,423.-Geography:Wickenburg is located at ....
and Prescott. News of his successes spread eastward when two gold samples from Swilling’s claim sent to General Carleton were forwarded for presentation to President Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
.
Next, he was briefly part owner of a flour mill in Tucson apparently in partnership with his neighbor Charles T. Hayden
Charles T. Hayden
Charles Trumbull Hayden was an American businessman and probate judge. His influence was felt in the development of Arizona Territory where he helped found both the city of Tempe and Arizona State University. Hayden is also known as the father of U.S...
. Quickly tiring of Tucson, he returned to Yavapai County where he prospected, owned gold mines and gold milling operations, and farmed. In addition he also was the mail contractor between Prescott and the Pima
Pima
The Pima are a group of American Indians living in an area consisting of what is now central and southern Arizona. The long name, "Akimel O'odham", means "river people". They are closely related to the Tohono O'odham and the Hia C-ed O'odham...
villages below the Salt River Valley
Salt River Valley
The Salt River Valley defines an extensive valley on the Salt River in central Arizona, which contains the Phoenix Metropolitan Area.Although this geographic term still identifies the area, the name "Valley of the Sun" popularly replaced the usage starting in the early 1930s for purposes of...
on the Gila River
Gila River
The Gila River is a tributary of the Colorado River, 650 miles long, in the southwestern states of New Mexico and Arizona.-Description:...
. And then he had the inspiration to form the Swilling Irrigation and Canal Company that would reopen the Salt River Valley to farming.
In the midst of all this activity, Jack Swilling married a young Mexican woman of Spanish heritage named Trinidad Mejia Escalante. They were married on April 11, 1864, at Tucson’s San Agustin Cathedral when Trinidad was about seventeen. Over the next fourteen years they had seven natural children, five girls and two boys, and adopted two Apache orphan
Orphan
An orphan is a child permanently bereaved of or abandoned by his or her parents. In common usage, only a child who has lost both parents is called an orphan...
s, a boy and a girl.
On November 16, 1867, he formed the Swilling Irrigating and Canal Company at Wickenburg. Soon after, a small group of men headed by Jack Swilling started construction of the first modern-era irrigation canals in the Salt River Valley. The following summer the first crops of wheat, barley and corn were harvested.
Swilling claimed a quarter section south of what became Van Buren Street between 32nd and 36th Streets for his own farm. He built a nine-room, 4700 square feet (436.6 m²) home there, which became known as Swilling's Castle. His farm was a local showplace, featuring an artificial pond with tame duck
Duck
Duck is the common name for a large number of species in the Anatidae family of birds, which also includes swans and geese. The ducks are divided among several subfamilies in the Anatidae family; they do not represent a monophyletic group but a form taxon, since swans and geese are not considered...
s, a vineyard
Vineyard
A vineyard is a plantation of grape-bearing vines, grown mainly for winemaking, but also raisins, table grapes and non-alcoholic grape juice...
and an orchard with a variety of fruit trees.
He was involved in the planning and construction of additional canals, including the first ditch south of the Salt River in partnership with an old acquaintance, and business partner, Charles T. Hayden
Charles T. Hayden
Charles Trumbull Hayden was an American businessman and probate judge. His influence was felt in the development of Arizona Territory where he helped found both the city of Tempe and Arizona State University. Hayden is also known as the father of U.S...
, the founder of Tempe, Arizona
Tempe, Arizona
Tempe is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, USA, with the Census Bureau reporting a 2010 population of 161,719. The city is named after the Vale of Tempe in Greece. Tempe is located in the East Valley section of metropolitan Phoenix; it is bordered by Phoenix and Guadalupe on the west, Scottsdale...
and father of long-time Arizona Senator Carl T. Hayden
Carl T. Hayden
Carl Trumbull Hayden was an American politician and the first United States Senator to serve seven terms. Serving as Arizona's first Representative for eight terms before entering the Senate, Hayden held the record for longest-serving member of the United States Congress from 1958 until 2009...
.
In the early days, Jack Swilling was one of the most prominent leaders of the Phoenix settlement and he was its first postmaster
Postmaster
A postmaster is the head of an individual post office. Postmistress is not used anymore in the United States, as the "master" component of the word refers to a person of authority and has no gender quality...
and first justice of the peace
Justice of the Peace
A justice of the peace is a puisne judicial officer elected or appointed by means of a commission to keep the peace. Depending on the jurisdiction, they might dispense summary justice or merely deal with local administrative applications in common law jurisdictions...
. However, once Phoenix was well established and the so-called “original townsite” was located over three miles (5 km) to the west of his holdings, he lost interest and moved his growing family back to central Arizona. There he mined, farmed and ranched in and around the area of Black Canyon City
Black Canyon City, Arizona
Black Canyon City is a census-designated place in Yavapai County, Arizona, United States. The population was 2,697 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Black Canyon City is located at , at an elevation of 1,975 feet ....
until he became a suspect in a stagecoach robbery near Wickenburg.
Death
By the spring of 1878, he and his family were living in the small mining community of Gillette, a few miles south of today’s Black Canyon City. His health was failing, and his drinking had become a problem. Trinidad Swilling suggested that he go on a trip to recover and rebury the remains of their old friend, Colonel Jacob Snively, who had been murdered by Apaches in a wilderness area called White Picacho.While Swilling and two companions were on this journey of Christian charity, three hooded men—one tall, one medium size, and one short—robbed a stagecoach near Wickenburg
Wickenburg, Arizona
Wickenburg is a town in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States. According to 2006 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the town is 6,423.-Geography:Wickenburg is located at ....
. This description matched that of Swilling and his companions and they became suspects in the robbery. His tendency to tell wild tales while drinking also was a factor. A series of legal complications brought him to Yuma where he died in the county jail while awaiting a hearing. The real robbers—led by a man Swilling and others had publicly accused—were identified only after Swilling’s death.
Swilling was buried in a Yuma cemetery before his family could be notified. If there ever was a grave marker it is long gone and the precise location of Jack Swilling’s remains is unknown.
After his death, Swilling’s reputation as a badman grew so fast that by the end of the 19th century a prominent Arizona historian
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
would write of him as a “typical desperado.” By many accounts he was a joker and yarn spinner and while drinking he spread tall tales about his exploits to all who would listen. That, for example, is one reason he became a suspect in the Wickenburg stage robbery.
Friends remembered Jack Swilling as an honest, hard-working, and generous man always ready to help those in need of a meal or a place to sleep. He was known to put his own life at risk for others, literally riding to the rescue when help was needed in the face of Apache attack.
In the end his use of a combination of narcotic
Narcotic
The term narcotic originally referred medically to any psychoactive compound with any sleep-inducing properties. In the United States of America it has since become associated with opioids, commonly morphine and heroin and their derivatives, such as hydrocodone. The term is, today, imprecisely...
s and liquor—to relieve the pain caused by old injuries—ruined Jack Swilling’s health and his reputation.
External links
- Jack Swilling Exhibit, 1992 with historic documents and photos, at Salt River ProjectSalt River ProjectThe Salt River Project is the umbrella name for two separate entities: the Salt River Project Agricultural Improvement and Power District, an agency of the state of Arizona that serves as an electrical utility for the Phoenix metropolitan area, and the Salt River Valley Water Users' Association, a...
- Swilling's cabin in Black Canyon City