Safford, Anson Peasley K. (b. ca. 1828-1891) [Autobiographical account of Safford, Governor of Arizona] [Incomplete]
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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC02666 Author/Creator: Safford, Anson Peasley K. (b. ca. 1828-1891) Place Written: s.l. Type: Manuscript document Date: circa 1871 Pagination: 5 p. ; 31.7 x 19.5 cm. Order a Copy
Cites his birth as 1828 in Hyde Park, Vermont, to Joseph W. Safford and Dyanthia P. Little. Reports on his early childhood, including a move to Illinois. States that after his parents' deaths, he placed his little sister in school and sought his fortune gold mining in California, where he studied extensively in his spare time and was elected to the legislature of California in 1857. After working as a politician and business man, he pursued his fortune in the Nevada silver mines. Reports being appointed United States Surveyor General for Nevada in 1869, and Governor of the Arizona Territory in 1869. Relates that he found Arizona "Statutes Confused and Ambiguous and every man Construing and acting upon the law according to his own judgement." Records addressing law issues and Indian hostilities while governing Arizona. After visiting all tribes who agreed to meet him, Safford writes "While I so not believe any high order of intelligence or usefulness will ever be obtained from any of the Indian tribes, still I believe they could be made, with honest management, for more useful and happy than they have been, and much of the ill feeling between them and Whites, could be prevented." Describes attempting to control Apaches by "using one portion of the tribe against the other." Relates that he led an expedition to explore the mining potential of Arizona. Expresses his wish to establish a free school in every neighborhood in the territory.
Safford served as Arizona governor 1869-1877.
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