Jack Swilling

[Nativearizonan]

Here is an interesting bio on a frontiersman in the SW. Born in 1830, he took part in the Mexican-American War and evidently some kind of mix-up in Missouri, then went west to the CA gold rush in 1850, bouncing back to NM territory. He served with the CSA, and was a scout and spy for the USA during the CW. Was a prospector, miner, Indian fighter, farmer, rancher, land developer, Justice of the Peace and died in Yuma Prison after being arrested for stagecoach robbery in 1878.

He was a friend of Pauline Weaver, who was said to have lived at his house at one point. He was involved, and victorious in a Hollywood style shoot out in 1869. He was a scout for the Walker Party and is given credit for one of the richest gold discoveries in AZ. He also organized and helped build the first private irrigation canal in the Phoenix area.

This bio shows how complex the real life personas were during that period.
http://www.apcrp.org/SWILLING, Jack/JACK_OF_ALL_TRADES_MASTER.htm

 

[Nativearizonan]

Although I had heard about Jack Swilling as somewhat of a founding father of the City of Phoenix, I wasn't aware of all that other stuff. I had read Daniel Ellis Connors book on the Walker Party in AZ, but I had forgotten about Swilling in that group. What impressed me most about Swilling, especially where this forum is concerned was the fact the old MM Joe Walker had chosen him as a guide. Then today, I stumbled across this article, with footnotes for the historian crowd, which explains a lot about how and why he was chosen for that job. It is much better written than the previous article, but covers almost totally different times and situations:
http://www.prescottcorral.org/TT2/JackSwilling.pdf

 

[Nativearizonan]

Here is another accomplishment for Jack Swilling, I just ran across. He was the commanding Confederate officer in the "The westernmost skirmish of the American Civil War, which occurred at Stanwix Station, took place on March 29, 1862" according to Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Stanwix_Station