Sylvester Mowry (January 17, 1833 – October 17, 1871) was an American politician, miner, and land speculator. He is best remembered as an early advocate for the establishment of the
Arizona Territory
The Territory of Arizona (also known as Arizona Territory) was a territory of the United States that existed from February 24, 1863, until February 14, 1912, when the remaining extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the state of ...
. He was also a West Point graduate and officer of the United States Army who was later arrested as a traitor during 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 ...
.
[Sacks (1964)]
Early years
Mowry was born January 17, 1833, in
Providence, Rhode Island
Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts Bay ...
, the son of Charles C. Mowry and Celia E. (Aldrich) Mowry. As a child Mowry was described as big for his age and "inclined to be wild." He entered
West Point
The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known Metonymy, metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a f ...
in 1848 at the age of 16 and graduated in 1852, finishing 16th out of 43 classmates.
Well educated, he spoke
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
and later became the author of the 1863 book ''The Geography and Resources of Arizona and Sonora''.
After graduation from the military academy, Lieutenant Mowry was sent to the West Coast and assigned to the
Pacific Railroad Survey
The Pacific Railroad Surveys (1853–1855) were of a series of explorations of the American West designed to find and document possible routes for a transcontinental railroad across North America. The expeditions included surveyors, scientists, and ...
near the
Columbia River
The Columbia River (Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, C ...
, serving under
Isaac Ingalls Stevens
Isaac Ingalls Stevens (March 25, 1818 – September 1, 1862) was an American military officer and politician who served as governor of the Territory of Washington from 1853 to 1857, and later as its delegate to the United States House of Represen ...
, the governor of Washington Territory and a fellow West Pointer.
[ During the winter of 1854–55 he served under Lieutenant Colonel ]Edward Steptoe
Edward Jenner Steptoe (November 7, 1815 – April 1, 1865) was an officer in the United States Army who served in the Mexican-American War and the Indian Wars. He is primarily remembered for his defeat at the Battle of Pine Creek during the Spok ...
in Utah. Steptoe had been sent to investigate the massacre of John W. Gunnison
John Williams Gunnison (November 11, 1812 – October 26, 1853) was an American military officer and explorer.
Biography
Gunnison was born in Goshen, New Hampshire, in 1812 and attended Hopkinton Academy in Hopkinton, New Hampshire. He grad ...
and his survey party the previous year. While stationed there, Mowry seduced the married niece of Brigham Young
Brigham Young (; June 1, 1801August 29, 1877) was an American religious leader and politician. He was the second President of the Church (LDS Church), president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), from 1847 until his ...
. When Young learned of this, he was furious with Mowry and threatened his life. Steptoe hastily ordered Mowry to leave Utah and lead a detachment of soldiers southwest through the Great Basin
The Great Basin is the largest area of contiguous endorheic basin, endorheic watersheds, those with no outlets, in North America. It spans nearly all of Nevada, much of Utah, and portions of California, Idaho, Oregon, Wyoming, and Baja California ...
to Fort Tejon
Fort Tejon in California is a former United States Army outpost which was intermittently active from June 24, 1854, until September 11, 1864. It is located in the Grapevine Canyon (''La Cañada de las Uvas'') between the San Emigdio Mountains and ...
, California, a difficult journey across 750 miles of desert and mountains.[Bailey (1965)]
Arizona
In August 1855 he was stationed at Fort Yuma
Fort Yuma was a fort in California located in Imperial County, across the Colorado River from Yuma, Arizona. It was on the Butterfield Overland Mail route from 1858 until 1861 and was abandoned May 16, 1883, and transferred to the Department of ...
, a remote outpost on the California side of the Colorado River. While at Fort Yuma, Mowry became interested in the potential mining opportunities in the land acquired from Mexico as part of 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 ...
.[Altshuler (1973a)] In 1856 a convention was held in Tucson to draft a petition asking Congress to separate Arizona from the New Mexico to create a new territory. At that time, Arizona was defined as all the land stretching along the Mexican border between California and Texas below the 34th parallel. Mowry became an enthusiastic proponent of this initiative.[
]
In 1856, Mowry was elected as a delegate to advocate before Congress for the creation of the Arizona Territory
The Territory of Arizona (also known as Arizona Territory) was a territory of the United States that existed from February 24, 1863, until February 14, 1912, when the remaining extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the state of ...
. He was granted leave by the Army but when he arrived in Washington in May 1857, Congress refused to recognize him. Nevertheless, Mowry worked unofficially with members of Congress and also appealed to the public, writing articles for publication and making speeches in support of creating an Arizona Territory. In 1857 he printed a pamphlet titled ''Memoir on the Proposed Territory of Arizona''; it was the first publication dealing solely with Arizona.
He was successfully re-elected to the position of delegate in late 1857 but Congress again failed to recognize him. Mowry eventually resigned his Army commission on July 31, 1858, and continued to push for recognition of an Arizona Territory.[ Returning to Arizona in September 1858, he was re-elected by a near unanimous vote to serve a third term as a delegate to Congress] In 1859 he published the first edition of ''Arizona and Sonora'', describing the "geography, history and resources" of the region. His third and final edition, published in 1864 was significantly expanded in length.
After leaving the Army Mowry traveled regularly between the East Coast and Arizona, involving himself in politics and mining deals. While in Tubac
Tubac is a census-designated place (CDP) in Santa Cruz County, Arizona, United States. The population was 1,191 at the 2010 census. The place name "Tubac" is an English borrowing from a Hispanicized form of the O'odham name ''Cuwak'', which tr ...
on July 8, 1859, he fought a duel with Edward E. Cross, an editor for the ''Weekly Arizonian
''The Weekly Arizonian'' was a newspaper published in Arizona Territory with a checkered existence from 1859 to 1871. It holds a special place in Arizona history as its first printed work, first newspaper and first political organ.
Political ba ...
'' who had questioned the viability of an Arizona state and called the territory worthless. The men were armed with rifles and allowed four shots each. Cross fired his four shots to no effect and Mowry spent three shots but declined to use his final shot. So the duel ended without bloodshed and the two apologized to each other. Mowry subsequently purchased the Arizonian newspaper and relocated it to Tucson where it became a voice for the Democrats in the region.
In 1860 Mowry resigned his position as delegate and accepted an appointment to serve as a Commissioner for the United States to establish an eastern boundary for California. A year later he was removed from the position. During his time as commissioner, Mowry began looking for an opportunity to purchase a silver mine. With the backing of wealthy investors from Rhode Island, Mowry pursued various opportunities until April 1860 when he successfully acquired the Patagonia silver and lead mine just southeast of the Santa Rita Mountains
The Santa Rita Mountains (O'odham language, O'odham: To:wa Kuswo Doʼag), located about 65 km (40 mi) southeast of Tucson, Arizona, extend 42 km (26 mi) from north to south, then trending southeast. They merge again southeastw ...
in southern Arizona. After renaming it the Mowry Mines, he and his brother Charles Mowry began constructing a mill and a smelter for extracting metal from the ore.[Altshuler (1973b)]
Civil War
In early 1861 Mowry was crisscrossing the Territory, holding meetings to promote the Confederate cause.[ Though a northerner from the reliably pro-Union and anti-slavery state of Rhode Island, Mowry was a supporter of both secession and slavery. This attitude was not uncommon in the territory at the time and Mowry may also have been influenced by family members who owned a plantation in South Carolina. In July 1861, soon after the start of the Civil War, American forts in southern Arizona were evacuated as Union troops redeployed to fight the Confederates. Without protection from hostile Indians in the region, many miners abandoned their mines and fled for their safety. Mowry remained however, erecting a stockade in hopes of protecting his mine. He also wrote to government officials pleading for protection from the ]Apaches
The Apache () are a group of culturally related Native American tribes in the Southwestern United States, which include the Chiricahua, Jicarilla, Lipan, Mescalero, Mimbreño, Ndendahe (Bedonkohe or Mogollon and Nednhi or Carrizaleño and ...
and when no help was forthcoming he wrote to Confederate officers with no better results. In desperation he wrote:
Meanwhile, a secessionist convention was held in Arizona to establish the Confederate Arizona
Arizona Territory, Colloquialism, colloquially referred to as Confederate Arizona, was an Constitution of the Confederate States, organized incorporated territory of the Confederate States that existed from August 1, 1861 to May 26, 1865, wh ...
Territory. Mowry was a firm supporter of the new territory, as were many others in Arizona. After several battles between Union and Confederate forces, 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, ...
began their advance across Confederate Arizona in 1862 from Fort Yuma. Led by General James H. Carleton
James Henry Carleton (December 27, 1814 – January 7, 1873) was an officer in the US Army and a Union general during the American Civil War. Carleton is best known as an Indian fighter in the Southwestern United States.
Biography
Carleton wa ...
the Union captured Tucson on May 20, 1862, effectively putting the territory back in Union hands. In an effort to maintain control, Carleton ordered the arrest of several Confederate sympathizers who had remained after the Confederate retreat. On June 13, 1862, Lieutenant Edward Banker Willis
Edward Banker Willis (January 9, 1831 - December 7, 1879) was a United States military officer during the American Civil War. He participated in the Trans-Mississippi Theater, fighting rebels and hostile native Americans in the frontier of Arizo ...
proceeded to arrest Mowry at his mine. He was accused of treason for selling ammunition to rebel forces and sharing military information in letters to various Confederate officials including Jefferson Davis
Jefferson F. Davis (June 3, 1808December 6, 1889) was an American politician who served as the president of the Confederate States from 1861 to 1865. He represented Mississippi in the United States Senate and the House of Representatives as a ...
, Brigadier General Henry Hopkins Sibley and 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 ...
.
Mowry was detained at Fort Yuma while his case was considered by a military commission. The mine was put under receivership and continued operations on behalf of Mowry. Contrary to some of his later assertions, the Army did not confiscate Mowry's mine at this time. By the end of the summer, Confederate forces had retreated to Texas and most of those arrested by Carleton were released on the grounds that they could no longer do any harm. Likewise, Mowry's case was reviewed by a Board of Officers and Mowry was released from custody on November 8, 1862.[
After release, Mowry returned to his mine to find it had been shut down because the operator lacked sufficient funds to pay wages. For the remainder of the war, Mowry traveled between Arizona, San Francisco and New York in a tangled effort to run the mine, raise capital from investors, and seek redress from the government for perceived wrongs. Many of Mowry's statements were contradictory, telling potential investors that the mine was still a lucrative ongoing venture but then complaining that government intervention had cost him dearly. In particular, Mowry was bitterly angry with Carleton, claiming that his arrest was result of a grudge that the general held against him for some past incident. Carleton denied any such grudge and it is unlikely that they had ever met prior to Mowry's arrest in Arizona.][
None of his lawsuits or government petitions ever came to fruition. Finally in November 1864 Mowry sold his mine to a group of San Francisco investors and returned to Arizona to operate it on their behalf.][
]
Later career
After leaving Arizona Mowry spent most of his time in New York City where he was involved in various speculative deals in the mining industry. He enjoyed the prosperous lifestyle of a successful businessman. At some point he became involved with Lillie Hitchcock the daughter of a wealthy doctor in San Francisco. When the doctor learned of Mowry's intent to marry, he forced her to break off their relationship. By the end of the year Lillie went on to marry B.H.Coit and when she died a bequest she left to San Francisco was used by the city to build Coit Tower
Coit Tower is a tower in the Telegraph Hill neighborhood of San Francisco, California, offering panoramic views over the city and the bay. The tower, in the city's Pioneer Park, was built between 1932 and 1933 using Lillie Hitchcock Coit's beq ...
.
In 1870 Mowry returned to Arizona to run again for the position of territorial delegate. When his candidacy failed to gain support, he convinced Peter R. Brady
Peter Rainsford Brady (August 4, 1825 – May 2, 1902) was an American military officer, surveyor and politician. Following a short service in the United States Navy he joined the Texas Rangers, where he served during the Mexican–American War ...
to run in his place. After a bitter campaign Brady's opponent won handily with two-thirds of the vote. Brady blamed Mowry for his defeat, saying that Mowry was a "heavy load" whose "support was a positive damage."[
In June 1871 Mowry became seriously ill while in Washington DC. In September, when he had recovered sufficiently to travel, Mowry went to London to consult a specialist. Shortly after his arrival, his health deteriorated and he became bedridden. An old friend, Charles D. Poston was in London at the time and stayed at his side until his death on October 17, 1871.] The cause of death was reported as Bright's disease
Bright's disease is a historical classification of kidney diseases that are described in modern medicine as acute or chronic nephritis. It was characterized by swelling and the presence of albumin in the urine, and was frequently accompanied b ...
.[Mowry (1878)]
Legacy
Mowry was a controversial figure. During his lifetime he was most recognized for his work as a territorial delegate, bringing national attention to the promise and challenges in the Arizona region. However, public opinion had soured on him by 1870 when one Arizona newspaper commented, "He quit the Territory having sustained his reputation as an egotist, braggart and shameless liar."[ Obituaries written shortly after his death noted his contributions to Arizona but also criticized him for his failure to support the Union during the Civil War. His most enduring legacy is the village that grew up around his silver mine after his death. It was abandoned in the 1930s but the ghost town still bears his name.
]
See also
* Charles D. Poston
Notes
References
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Further reading
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External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Mowry, Sylvester
1830 births
1871 deaths
People from Providence, Rhode Island
People of Arizona in the American Civil War
United States Military Academy alumni
United States Army officers
Arizona folklore
Writers from Arizona
Writers from Rhode Island
Arizona pioneers