Arizona republican., 1906-07-28
PIONEER OF PIONEERS
 A. C. WILLIS OF TEMPE
The Han Who Helped Construct the
 First Irrigating Ditch.

There are a great many Old-timers in Arizona whose experience is entitled to some credit; men who have lived here for twenty-five or thirty years. But the real Arizona pioneer belongs to a still earlier class of citizens, men who have lowered around these hills and deserts for fifty or sixty years, and they are becoming quite scarce in the land They can be counted on the two hands. One of these men is A. c. Will lis, a present resident and property owner in Phoenix. though most of his time recently has been spent in Tempe. MT. Willis has been in Arizona longer. perhaps than any other resident of this county and there are few. if any. in any other county, for he dates back to 1S47. He is still a stout and hearty looking man, at times engaged in heavy railroad construction work.
 MT. Willis has a fund of information and personal recolectiOns that would make an interesting book if somebody would take the trouble to write it, for a lot of things have happened in Ari- zOna in the last fifty-nine years. Lo- cally it is interesting to know that he helped dig the first irrigatings ditch that was ever excavated in this valley-the old SwiIling ditch-he being at the time interested with Jack Swilling in various enterprises.
 MT. Willis was persuaded the other day to talk a little about how and when he came to Arizona. He demurred al first, saying he preferred to wait for some convenient time and tell the whole story; but convenient times do not always come, and the few facts he did give will be interesting to those who like to read about the old-timers. His advent into Arizona was like that of most of the earliest settlers, purely incidental and not a planned result. In 1S45 he enlisted in the regular army in Troy, N. Y. He was sent from there to Independence. Mo, and from the latter point was assigned for a little side trip to old Mexico under General Taylor, this country having a little business below the boundary line about that time. At the close of the Mexican war the command to which he belonged was marched back through Arizona and held at the old town of Crittenden for some time That was in the days when Arizona towns were far apart and did not amount to much when they were finally reached. It was in the days when the trip south from Tucson was perilous if one went far enough, a fact which gave rise to
 
 Tumacacori. to Hell"
 MT. Willis time expired. or nearly SO, while at Crittenden. He went to Fort Bliss and re- enlisted. came back to Arizona. and at the expiration of this enlistment re-enlisted again. being finally mustered out at Fort Bliss in 1861. Then he returned to Arizona as teamster for the government not be- ing able to enlist again by reason of his wounds. He plugged around the hills of southern Arizona for a time prospecting. and finally found himself up on the Hassayampa with old Henry ! Wtckenburg and party. He was with Wickenburg on the occasion of the dis ! covery of the Vulture mine. another history making incident in these parts.
 Shortly before that. says MT. Willis. the party of which he was a member had camped on the present site of l Prescott and rested for a couple of days. Among the party was a man named Jack Prescott. and they named 1 the camp after him. and subsequently, 1 the village that grew up. Jack Pres 1 cott. he says. died in Oro Blanco last l year. l The next few years were spent in ! prospecting. freighting and fighting ] Indians. with King Woolsey and other 1 pioneers. and finally MT Willis came | down from Wickenburg with Jack Swilling and helped him take out the i irrigating ditch mentioned above In 1 1868 the Hayden houring mill at Tempe was finished. and the ditch that sup piled it with water.
 Mir. Willis married and raised a large 1 family, there being ten daughters. all ! Of whom have married and moved away and some of whom are dead.