Civilized Arizona?

Arizona had 1000 people at the Prescott diggings by1864.  Prescott was rough, even as mining camps go.  They prohibited Asians and Mexicans from filing claims, and  working or living in the district. A committee was established to determine who was and who was not a Mexican.  Bigotry was rampant, even in the 20th century.  Prescott prided itself as being the "Only White Man's Town in Arizona".  Without Joseph Walker, the Indian situation worsened and whites suffered from Indian attacks.  The Indians, who were used to someone fair and reasonable like Captain Walker, were lost.

The Arizona Miner, a weekly newspaper established in Prescott in 1864, pretty much told the mood:
"We see no other way than to eliminate the savage race on the Pacific Coast and the sooner the better for this country.  The Indian race has served its day and generation, and will eventually be studied as an extinct species of man, as naturalists now study the dinosaurs." 

What a sad thought that consumed these people - to exterminate a people and their culture because they didn't care to understand or integrate that culture.  What we lost to ignorance can never be regained. Is that what civilization is all about?  Civilized people don't exterminate another people - how is that civilized?  Gheesh...

Next time:  Prescott honors Captain Joe

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Today in History:  On January 27, 1888, the National Geographic Society is founded in Washington, DC for "the increase and diffusion of geographical knowledge."