Casa Blanca is a
census-designated place
A census-designated place (CDP) is a concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only.
CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counterparts of incorporated places, such ...
(CDP) in
Pinal County
Pinal County is in the central part of the U.S. state of Arizona. According to the 2020 census, the population of the county was 425,264, making it Arizona's third-most populous county. The county seat is Florence. The county was founded in 187 ...
,
Arizona
Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...
, United States, located in the
Gila River Indian Community
The Gila River Indian Community (GRIC) (O'odham language: Keli Akimel Oʼotham, ''meaning "Gila River People"'', Maricopa language: Pee-Posh) is an Indian reservation in the U.S. state of Arizona, lying adjacent to the south side of the city of ...
. The population was 1,388 at the
2010 census.
History
Antebellum Years
Casa Blanca, formerly known to the Mexicans as La Tierra Amontonada (The Land Piled Up), named for the
Hohokam
Hohokam () was a culture in the North American Southwest in what is now part of Arizona, United States, and Sonora, Mexico. It existed between 300 and 1500 AD, with cultural precursors possibly as early as 300 BC. Archaeologists disagree about ...
ruin mound nearby, was one of the
Pima Villages on the
Gila River
The Gila River (; O'odham ima Keli Akimel or simply Akimel, Quechan: Haa Siʼil, Maricopa language: Xiil) is a tributary of the Colorado River flowing through New Mexico and Arizona in the United States. The river drains an arid watershed of n ...
in what was then part of the state of
Sonora, Mexico
Sonora (), officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora ( en, Free and Sovereign State of Sonora), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. The state is divided into 72 municipalities; the ...
. It was encountered by the American expedition of
Stephen W. Kearny in 1846 and later by Americans on their way to California on the
Southern Emigrant Trail
:''The Southern Emigrant Trail should not be confused with the Applegate Trail, which is part of the Northern Emigrant Trails.''
Southern Emigrant Trail, also known as the Gila Trail, the Kearny Trail, Southern Trail and the Butterfield Stage ...
during the
California Gold Rush
The California Gold Rush (1848–1855) was a gold rush that began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The news of gold brought approximately 300,000 people to California fro ...
. Following the
Gadsden Purchase
The Gadsden Purchase ( es, region=MX, la Venta de La Mesilla "The Sale of La Mesilla") is a region of present-day southern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico that the United States acquired from Mexico by the Treaty of Mesilla, which took effe ...
the Pima Villages became part of
New Mexico Territory
The Territory of New Mexico was an organized incorporated territory of the United States from September 9, 1850, until January 6, 1912. It was created from the U.S. provisional government of New Mexico, as a result of ''Santa Fe de Nuevo México ...
. In 1857, the
San Antonio-San Diego Mail Line passed through the village on the way between
Maricopa Wells and
Tucson
, "(at the) base of the black ill
, nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town"
, image_map =
, mapsize = 260px
, map_caption = Interactive map ...
.
In 1858 when Lieutenant
A. B. Chapman, of the 1st Dragoons, took the first census of the Pimas and Maricopas, he found a Pima population of 535; 110 warriors, 425 women and children led by a Captain named Chelan at this village now named Casa Blanca. The next year another ''official'' census was taken by the special Indian Agent that showed Casa Blanca had 491 Pimas, broken down as 50 Aged, 146 Men, 103 Women, 105 Boys, 87 Girls, led by Captain Candela. Also enumerated were 30 cattle and 46 horses. The 1860 Census showed a total Pima population of 323 composed of 71 Male heads of household, 66 Female heads, 82 Male Children 87 female children and 17 Other males and females. It also show they had 164 horses and 102 cattle and 59 farmers tilled 587 acres of improved land.
Casa Blanca became the site of the Casa Blanca Station of the Butterfield Overland Mail in 1858. It was located about 4,200 feet west-northwest of the Casa Blanca ruin mound.
The station agent of Casa Blanca Station,
Silas St. John
Silas or Silvanus (; Koine Greek, Greek: Σίλας/Σιλουανός; fl. 1st century AD) was a leading member of the Early Christian community, who according to the New Testament accompanied Paul the Apostle on his second missionary journey. ...
, also became Special Agent for the Pima and Maricopa Indians on February 18, 1859, and later that year built the Indian Agency buildings for the Pima Villages in the village in 1859. These consisted of two buildings with a picket fence or corral between them. located about 3,500 feet northwest of the ruin mound at Casa Blanca and some 800 feet from the stage station. One, an
adobe
Adobe ( ; ) is a building material made from earth and organic materials. is Spanish for ''mudbrick''. In some English-speaking regions of Spanish heritage, such as the Southwestern United States, the term is used to refer to any kind of e ...
, was a blacksmith shop, the other of
jacal
The jacal (həˈkɑːl; Mexican Spanish from Nahuatl ''xacalli'' contraction of ''xamitl calli''; literally "hut") is an adobe-style housing structure historically found throughout parts of the Southwestern United States and Mexico. This type o ...
construction, was a carpenter shop and agency office.
[Wilson, ''Peoples of the Middle Gila'', 1999, pp. 144, 147 ]
In 1860, the census showed fifteen
European American
European Americans (also referred to as Euro-Americans) are Americans of European ancestry. This term includes people who are descended from the first European settlers in the United States as well as people who are descended from more recent Eu ...
s at Casa Blanca who were part of
Ammi M. White's enterprise there. White, with his half-brother, Cyrus Lennan, and partner E.S. Noyes, established a trading post at Casa Blanca. White & Co. had taken over the buildings of St.John's Indian agency, (after his resignation from that post in late 1859), which included a blacksmith shop, run by Noyes.
White's Mill and the Civil War
White's Mill would be established at Casa Blanca in 1861 to turn the Pima's grain into flour. At the beginning of the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
, Ammi White began stockpiling flour and other food for the
California Column
The California Column was a force of Union volunteers sent to Arizona and New Mexico during the American Civil War. The command marched over from California through Arizona and New Mexico Territory to the Rio Grande and as far east as El Paso, ...
at the mill, which became the target of a raid by the
Arizona Rangers
The Arizona Rangers is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, noncommissioned civilian auxiliary that supports law enforcement in the US, state of Arizona.
In 2002, the modern-day Arizona Rangers were officially recognized by the State of Arizona when the Le ...
a
Confederate Army
The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting ...
detachment sent to occupy southern Arizona. Led by Captain
Sherod Hunter
Sherod Hunter (March 5, 1834 – ?) was the commander of the Confederate unit operating against Union Army forces in present-day Arizona during the American Civil War. He later commanded various Confederate cavalry units elsewhere in the Trans-M ...
, the raid destroyed the mill machinery, captured Ammi White and returned the flour and other food to the Pima. When Captain Hunter impersonated White and his men posed as locals, they also captured
Union Army
During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union (American Civil War), Union of the collective U.S. st ...
Captain
William McCleave
William A. McCleave (1825 – February 3, 1904) was an Irish-born American soldier and officer in the U.S. Army who served in the Indian Wars and the American Civil War.
Biography
William McCleave was born in northern Ireland in 1825. Losing his ...
and his detachment who came to visit the mill.
Once the California Column arrived they found they had to wait to gather up flour and food to continue their march to Tucson and so they built
Fort Barrett
Fort Barrett was a temporary Earthworks (archaeology), earthwork built by the United States Army's California Column in 1862 during the American Civil War. It was located in the Pima Villages two miles from the Gila River nearby Casa Blanca, Arizo ...
around the mill to protect their depot there. After the capture of Tucson the post was abandoned except as a post for
vedettes and express riders. Ammi White was later exchanged, as the Confederate Army retreated from New Mexico Territory, returning to rebuild his mill which, with the increased production of the Pima farmers, helped to feed the Union Army and the local population of the territory during the rest of the war. After White sold the mill and moved away in 1867, it was destroyed in a flood in September 1868. Subsequently, the machinery was salvaged and moved to
Adamsville.
[Wilson, John P., ''Peoples of the Middle Gila: A Documentary History of the Pimas and Maricopas, 1500s–1945'', Las Cruces, N.M., 1999. pp. 162 181–82, 218–19]
Demographics
As of the
census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...
of 2010, there were 1,388 people residing in the CDP. The
population density
Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopul ...
was 87.9 people per square mile. The racial makeup of the CDP was 1.0%
White
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...
, 0.3%
Black
Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...
or
African American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
, 96.0%
Native American, 0.1%
Asian
Asian may refer to:
* Items from or related to the continent of Asia:
** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia
** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia
** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...
, 0.9% from
other races
Other often refers to:
* Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy
Other or The Other may also refer to:
Film and television
* ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack
* ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...
, and 1.6% from two or more races. 13.04% of the population were
Hispanic
The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad.
The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...
or
Latino
Latino or Latinos most often refers to:
* Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America
* Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States
* The people or cultures of Latin America;
** Latin A ...
of any race.
Notes
{{authority control
Census-designated places in Pinal County, Arizona
Butterfield Overland Mail in New Mexico Territory
Gila River Indian Community
Stagecoach stops in the United States