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October 17, 2012 Desert Messenger celebrates the Arizona Centennial with Voices from The Past in Quartzsite, AZ Excerpts from "In the Shadow of Saguaros" by Rosalee Oldham Wheeler Quartzsite's Post Office 1893- 1993 tury of United States Postal Service that began when the ownership of Ty- son's Well & Stage Stop changed from James McMullen to Michael Welz, who fi rst applied for a post offi ce in 1893. On September 21, 1895, the Tyson's In 1993 Quartzsite celebrated a cen- Well Post Offi ce was closed which cre- ated a huge inconvenience for the op- erators and employees of the many mines in the area, making everyone travel to Ehrenberg for mail service. After many complaints the post of¬fi ce was reopened one mile north of Tyson's Well in an adobe structure behind George Ingersol's quartz stamp mill. As postmaster, Ingersol was informed that the name of the post offi ce could no lon- ger be Tyson's Well. The U.S. Postmas- ter General ruled that discon¬tinued names could not be used again and two- word names were discouraged. Ingersol submitted Quartzsite as the new name, which was his alternative to the name of Quartz Site as suggested by 14-year old Angela Gonzales, who later married William Scott. The miners didn't give politics much thought, but politics and the post offi ce did have something in common. Until 1904, the polling place for elections contin- ued to be known as Tyson's Well - Precinct #10, when it was fi - nally changed to the Quartzsite Precinct. The name Quartzsite Post Offi ce did not change again, al¬though its location has changed several times. The post offi ce continued at Inger- www.DesertMessenger.com a post offi ce from his Ehrenberg store. Two years earlier, after the completion of Laguna Dam, his business slowed when the steamboat Searchlight made its last trip on the Colorado River de- livering passengers, supplies, and the U.S. Mail. Sam realized that without river traffi c the future of his business was in doubt, so he decided to move his business to Quartzsite, which was closer to his customers from the area mines. With the help of his wife Elsie and daughter Bessie, their new store was located between Hagley's Hotel & Boarding House and Scott's Grocery Store. With Sam's previous experience he was appointed postmaster. In 1910 a tremen- In 1909 Sam Wilson was operating & Saloon. Not deterred, he built again, this time on higher ground and across the street. sol's mill until 1909, when a more ef- fi cient method of recovering gold was found and the Ingersol's moved. The mill remained at the site on what is now Moon Mountain Road until the 1970s when it was removed to a Je- rome museum. Let's Get Back to Community! Candy Escorza Sheriff VOTE HONESTY-INTEGRITY-LEADERSHIP COMMUNITY ORIENTED I am here for YOU... The Citizens of La Paz County.... Paid for by Committee to Elect Candy Escorza for Sheriff ~ Email: candy.for.sheriff@hotmail.com dous thunderstorm washed away many of the adobe struc- tures near the Ty- son Wash, including Sam Wilson's Store Page 9 At Sam Wilson's passing, Charley Kuehn took over the store and was appointed postmaster in 1911. When World War I broke out, many miners went to war and in the following years the entire country suffered through the Great Depression with Charley Kuehn serving as postmaster until he passed away in 1930. P.E. Woodson, who had served in World War I, came to Quartzsite after the war to recover his health. Through his friend Charley Kuehn he met his wife, Emelia Hagley Moon, Charley's SEE POST OFFICE PAGE 20 Treat your Sweet Main Street Eatery Rockin‛ in Quartzsite! A Celebration of the Arts You're invited to the 4th Annual Rockin' Reveal Artist Reception Saturday, November 3, 2012 at 6pm - 8pm At the "Rock Motel" 100 W. Kuehn, Tyson Wells Show Grounds, Quartzsite, Arizona Sneak Preview of the incredible Rock Art for this year Meet the Artists Hors d‛oeuvres, More Proud Neighbors of Quartzsite (PNQ) PO Box 3185, Quartzsite, AZ 85359 www.ProudNeighbors.com Email: proudneighbors@yahoo.com