The Swilling Legacy

Author(s): Earl Zarbin

Year: 1978

Summary

Each year thousands of people come to the Salt River Valley, some to visit and some to live. They see a thriving, growing community. But like many who have spent most, or all, of their lives there, they don't know much about the Valley's origins or how it developed.

The men and women who built the Valley were like today's people. They were trying to improve their own condition. In doing that, they contributed to the well-being of one another. Jack Swilling was one of them.

Swilling organized the first modern irrigating canal company more than a century ago. Water was then, and is today, the essential element around which everything in the Valley is built. Yet, many important decisions about water remain to be made today and will need to be made in the future. Knowing something about how we got where we are today may contribute to making the right decisions tomorrow.

Earl Zarbin's interest in the water history of the Salt River Valley and his research into the subject led to the articles in this booklet. They were first published in The Arizona Republic, where he worked for 30 years before early retirement at the end of 1988.

Cite this Record

The Swilling Legacy. Earl Zarbin. Tempe, AZ: Salt River Project with permission of Phoenix Newspapers, Inc., The Arizona Republic and The Phoenix Gazette. 1978 ( tDAR id: 402839) ; doi:10.6067/XCV8402839

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

Keywords

Culture
African American • Apache • Chileno • Euroamerican • Historic • Historic Native American • Maricopa • Mexican • Mimbres • Pima • Yavapai

Investigation Types
Historic Background Research

General
A. Angles • Aaron Barnett • Abraham H. Peeples • Ammi M. White • Andrew Kirby • Andrew Starar • Arizona Guard • Arizona History • Arizona Miner • B. W. Hardy • Basin Mine • Berry Swilling • California Column • Capt. Joseph R. Walker • Capt. Sherod Hunter • Capt. William McCleave • Cavalry • Charles C. Clusker • Charles E. Gate • Charles E. McClintock • Charles Trumbull Hayden • Col. Jacob Snively • Col. James H. Carleton • Col. L. G. Taylor • Confederate Soldier • Crime History • Curtain-Chase Mill • Daniel C. Thorne • Darrell Duppa • Farmer • Frank M. Chapman • Frank Morehouse • Fred Henry • G. W. Wilson • Gambling House • Gavilan • Gen. Scott • George Monroe • George W. Swilling • Georgia Swilling • Gila Rangers • Gov. A. P. K. Safford • Grant's Flour Mill • Hardy Irrigating Canal Co. • Hayden Milling and Farming Ditch Co. • Henry Wickenburg • Informative • Ira Buffum • J. Y. T. Smith • Jack Swilling • Jacob Starar • James McCullen • James Smith • John Lassen • John Smith • John T. Alsap • John Y. T. Smith • Joseph H. Davis • Justice of the Peace • King S. Woolsey • Louis J. F. Jaeger • Ludvic Vandermark • Mail Rider • Maj. J. W. Evans • Mangas Coloradas • Margaret Swilling • Mariana • Maricopa Canal Company • Maricopa County Democratic Convention • Massacre • Matilda Swilling • Miller Ditch • Mill Manager • Mill Owner • Miner • Musician • Overland Mail Company • Phoenix Daily Herald • Phoenix Ditch Co. • Pioneer • Planters Irrigation Co. • Postmaster • Printer • Private • Prospector • Pueblo Viejo Ditch Co. • Richard C. McCormick • Rio Abajo Press • Robbery • Robert W. Groom • Salt River Herald • Samuel J. Hensley, Jr. • Sheriff George A. Mowry • Soldier • Swilling Ditch • Swilling Irrigation and Canal Company • Swilling Mine • T. M. Bronson • Teamster • Tempe Irrigating Canal Co. • Thomas Barnum • Thomas McGoldrick • Tip Top Mine • Town Ditch • Trinidad Escalante • Trinidad Swilling • U. S. Army • Union Soldier • Vulture Mine • Walker Party • Wells, Fargo & Co. • William B. Hellings • William F. Scott • William Kilgore • William Linchan Show More

Geographic Keywords
Agua Fria River • Alabama (State / Territory) • Arizona (State / Territory) • Arkansas (State / Territory) • Black Canyon • Black Canyon Creek • Bloody Tanks • Bradshaw Mountains • Camp Goodwin • Camp Verde • Chiricahua Mountains • Colorado River • East Phoenix • El Picacho • Fort Belknap, TX • Fort McDowell • Fort Whipple • Georgia (State / Territory) • Gila (County) • Gila City • Gila River • Gillett, AZ • Hassayampa River • Humbug District • Lehi • Lynx Creek • Maricopa (County) • Maryville, AZ • Mesa, AZ • Mesilla, New Mexico Territory • Mexico • Miami, AZ • Mill City • Mobile, AL • Montezuma Canal • New Mexico (State / Territory) • New Mexico Territory • New River • Phoenix, AZ • Phoenix Precinct • Phoenix Settlement • Pima (County) • Pinal (County) • Pinos Altos, New Mexico Territory • Pioneer Mining District • Prescott, AZ • Rich Hill • Rio Grande • Salt Canal • Salt River • Salt River Valley • Salt River Valley Canal • San Francisco River • Santa Cruz River • South Carolina (State / Territory) • Sun City, AZ • Tempe, AZ • Tempe Canal • Territory of Arizona • Texas (State / Territory) • Tip Top, AZ • Tucson, AZ • Verde River • Weaver Creek • Wheatfields • White Mountains • White Picacho • Wickenburg, AZ • Yavapai (County) • Yuma, AZ Show More

Temporal Keywords
1830s • 1840s • 1850s • 1860s • 1870s • 19th Century • Civil War • Historic • Mexican-American War

Temporal Coverage

Calendar Date: 1830 to 1878 (Years of life of Jack Swilling.)

Spatial Coverage

min long: -115.195; min lat: 31.279 ; max long: -105.535; max lat: 35.125 ;

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Salt River Project Cultural Resource Manager

Contributor(s): Kearney Egerton; Arizona Historical Foundation Charles Trumbull Hayden University Library

File Information

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