The Southwestern U.S. has undergone multiple waves of settlement since Europeans began arriving in North America in 1492. First on the scene were the Spanish conquistadors who arrived in present day Arizona and New Mexico by the mid 1500’s. Spanish missionaries soon followed. Later, with the opening of trade routes, the American notion of Manifest Destiny and the acquisition of territory by the U.S. military, American settlers began to arrive. The stories of these settlers, their settlements, and the routes they traveled can be found in the pages below.
People
Showing results 1-2 of 2
- Saguaro National Park
Levi Manning
- Locations: Saguaro National Park
Levi H. Manning was a successful businessman and one-term mayor of Tucson. He was also the first to build and own a homestead in the Rincon Mountains, in what is now part of Saguaro National Park.
- Chiricahua National Monument
Lillian Erickson Riggs
- Locations: Chiricahua National Monument
Lillian and her husband Ed Riggs managed the Faraway Ranch, now part of Chiricahua National Monument, during its heyday as a guest ranch in the 1920s and 1930s. They also were instrumental in the effort to create Chiricahua National Monument and helped open the area to visitors by constructing riding and hiking trails.
Places
Showing results 1-2 of 2
- Chiricahua National Monument
Faraway Ranch
- Locations: Chiricahua National Monument
Faraway Ranch preserves a story important to women’s history, and to the history of Chiricahua National Monument.
- Saguaro National Park
Manning Cabin
- Locations: Saguaro National Park
The Manning Cabin sits in the Rincon Mountains in Saguaro National Park. Levi H. Manning had the cabin built in 1905 for use as a mountain summer home. It was the first such retreat built in the Rincon Mountains.
Stories
Showing results 1-3 of 3
- Saguaro National Park
Levi Manning and Manning Cabin: Past and Present
- Locations: Saguaro National Park
The Manning Cabin sits in the Rincon Mountains in Saguaro National Park. The cabin belonged to Levi H. Manning, a successful businessman and one-term Mayor of Tucson. Manning had the cabin built in 1905 for use as a mountain summer home. The cabin was a retreat for his family from the heat of Tucson and a place where they could entertain friends. He was the first to build and own such a retreat in the mountains.
- Type: Series
- Locations: Bent's Old Fort National Historic Site, Fort Larned National Historic Site, Fort Union National Monument, Pecos National Historical Park, Santa Fe National Historic Trail
In its day, the Trail served primarily as a commercial highway. The military used the trail to haul freight to supply the southwestern forts. The Trail was also used by stagecoach lines, those seeking gold in California and Colorado, fur trappers, and emigrants. The Trail in effect brought together Spanish and American cultures and. Many interactions, both amicable and contentious, between settlers and soldiers and the Plains Indians also occurred along the Trail.
- Chiricahua National Monument
Series: The Story of Faraway Ranch
- Type: Series
- Locations: Chiricahua National Monument
Lillian, her sister Hildegard, and her mother, Emma Erickson, all played a vital role in the creation and management of Faraway Ranch. Emma initiated the purchase of the original cabin and property. Hildegard started the guest ranching business, and Lillian oversaw the expansion of the business with her husband, Ed Riggs, and continued to manage the ranch by herself after her husband’s death. Faraway Ranch thus preserves an important, non-traditional narrative of women's lives in the West.
Last updated: March 10, 2016