A reunion of Arizona ‘pioneers’
In early April 1924, Arizona “pioneers” gathered over two days in Phoenix for a nostalgia-filled “reunion” event sponsored by The Arizona Republican, as this news outlet was then called.
“Arizona pioneers grew young again when they gathered in Phoenix yesterday,” The Republican reported on April 9 about the Fourth Annual Pioneers Reunion. “Dignified dowagers and serious-minded men forgot the weight of many years and danced the old-time steps to the strains of music produced by a modern orchestra with as much zest and enthusiasm as they ever did in the days of their youth.”
To be considered a “pioneer” in 1924, according to The Republican, a settler had to have lived in the state for 35 years or more — 1889 or earlier. The event was not inclusive of Indigenous people. That’s clear from a 10-page special section The Republican published after the event’s first day. It is filled with tales of Native Americans and white settlers interacting, all presented from the settlers’ perspectives.
More than 1,000 people registered for the 1924 reunion. The earliest pioneer at the event was Asa Wills, of Phoenix, who had lived in the area since 1845.
Reuniongoers registered with The Republican at its offices, which were in the Heard Building on Central Avenue at Adams Street. More than 1,000 people registered for the 1924 reunion. The earliest pioneer at the event was Asa Wills, of Phoenix, who had lived in the area since 1845. The second-earliest there was Tom Sims, of Prescott, an 1860 pioneer. Many of the registered pioneers established Arizona residency sometime in the 1870s.
Setting off from The Republican offices, the pioneers paraded down Central Avenue until they hit the banks of the Salt River. Where there are now industrial parks and a stretch of Interstate 17, there was Riverside Park at the time.
“Hundreds of residents of the city generously donated the use of their cars for conveying the pioneers to and from Riverside,” according to The Republican.
Pioneers enjoyed musical entertainment and “old-fashioned Down South” barbecue, according to a contemporary account in The Republican. Square dancing brought many folks out of their seats. “Old-timers who dance only once a year were as nimble as youths,” The Republican reported.
There was also plenty of time for storytelling. On the second day of the reunion, pioneers met at the Columbia Theater on Adams Street at First Avenue to hear pioneer anecdotes, musical acts and remarks from Col. James H. McClintock, a Rough Rider for whom Tempe’s McClintock High School is named. The Republican billed McClintock as Arizona’s “former state historian.”
“One of the pioneers whom he mentioned in terms of highest praise was Joe Drew, who, he said, erected a tall pole and hung a lighted lantern at its top to guide the desert traveler to his place during the night. This, he said, was called ‘the lighthouse in the desert,’ ” The Republican recorded McClintock as saying.