Arizona state miner., 1927-03-26
SHE WAS FIRST
WHITE WOMAN To
HOMESTEAD HERE
Mrs. Mary c. Nichols of McAllis-
ter Avenue was the First White
Woman to Settle Near Tempe
Permanently-Others Are Dead
or Gone.

Fermanently-Other Are Dead
or Gone.
The distinction of being the first
white woman to settle in the vicinity
of Tempe who has lived here with
out interruption since March, 1876,
belongs to Mrs. Mary C. Nichols,
72, of 1923 McAllister avenue, ac-
cording to information given by
Mrs. Nichols during an interview
yesterday. Mrs. Nichols also has
the distinction Of being in this dis
trict just so years this month.
Mr.. and Mrs. Thompson Walker,
also living on McAllister avenue,
came through here in 1875, but con-
here in the summer of 1876, Mrs.
Nichols said. They then returned
here in the SUNNI of 1876, Mrs.
Nichols having arrived here a few
months previous.
Mrs. Nichols is a typical woman
of the frontier days. In spite of
her 72a years she still is robust and
active; her eyesight is good and
all her faculties are alert. In her
blue eyes still burns the staunch
courage that made possible the
winning Of the land of this section
from the parched reaches and drift
ing sands of the desert.
Seated in front of her home, she
told of early privations; of spend
ing weeks without seeing a white
person except members of her own
family; of cutting and sewing
clothing for the entire family; of
long and weary vigils on the home
stead alone while Mr.. Nichols was
absent at work. Indians were plen-
tiful in this district then. Most of
them were friendly, but one never
knew when to trust the ''scalpers,"
as Mrs. Nichols aptly describes
them. All the scattered buildings
in Tempe were made of mud bricks
when Mrs. Nichols arrived here.
Even in Phoenix there was not
brick wall constructed until about
three years after she and her hus-
band located on 160 acres three and
half miles south of town; later
they acquired 100 acres more.
Mrs. Hancock, sister of C. T.
Hayden, who owned the only store
here at that time and the adobe
flouring mill, had the only school
in Tempe for several years. Chill
dren were taught the major studies
of the lower grades in this school.
It was year before there was a
doctor either here or in Phoenix.
"But, shucks, we didn't need a
doctor then" Mrs. Nichols ex-
planned. "None of us ever got sick
enough to need a doctor until the
country began settling up"
All the trading was done at the
Hayden store for several years.
This was the center of community
activity-the meeting place for Wis
iting and exchange of news for the
pioneer men and women.
Times when the Salt river ragged
over its banks and inundated much
larger sections of this district than
at present under it's partial flood
control were recalled by this hardy
pioneer woman as she reminisced
of the days so years ago, when
Arizona was composed of settle
ments such as Prescott, Tucson,
Tempe, Phoenix and a few others.
= Mrs. Nichols is a loyal patriot
and proud of the part she played
in winning Salt river valley from
the desert. And she is proud that
one of her sons enlisted at the call
to arms in 1917 to protect dem
ocracy. The fighting instinct en-
gendered by long years of enforced
vigilance for self-preservation still
burns strongly in the heart of this
pioneer resident of Tempe.
Mrs. Nichols was born in 1854
at Bastrop, Texas, and attended
school at Kerrville, Texas. Mr..
Nichols was born in Seawillow
creek, Texas, in 1851. They had
two children when they packed
their belongings into a wagon drawn
by two mules and started for the
Far West. Mr.. and Mrs. John
Rumberg and their six children
made the trip at the same time
The party was 81 days on the road
and barely escaped assassination by
Apache Indians at Apache Pass,
having left there only a few days
when the entire white settlement
was wiped out in a general Indian
uprising. Most of the party had
measles during the trip, Mrs. Mich
OILS said.
Mrs. Nichols made one trip to
Los Angeles to see one of her sons.
The coast city was too big for her
and she missed the blue Arizona
sky. Mr.. and Mrs. Nichols sold