Charles Debrille Poston
Encyclopedia
- For the Louisiana state senator from 1960-1964, see Charles M. PostonCharles M. PostonCharles M. Poston, Sr. , was a railroad employee from Hornbeck, a small town in Vernon Parish in western Louisiana, who served a single term from 1960 to 1964 as a Democratic state senator from what is now District 30...
.
Charles Debrille Poston (April 20, 1825 - June 24, 1902) was an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
explorer, prospector
Prospecting
Prospecting is the physical search for minerals, fossils, precious metals or mineral specimens, and is also known as fossicking.Prospecting is a small-scale form of mineral exploration which is an organised, large scale effort undertaken by mineral resource companies to find commercially viable ore...
, author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
, politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
, and civil servant
Civil service
The term civil service has two distinct meanings:* A branch of governmental service in which individuals are employed on the basis of professional merit as proven by competitive examinations....
. He is referred to as the "Father of Arizona" due to his efforts lobbying for creation of the territory. Poston was also Arizona Territory
Arizona Territory
The Territory of Arizona was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from February 24, 1863 until February 14, 1912, when it was admitted to the Union as the 48th state....
's first Delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives.
Background
Poston was born near Elizabethtown, KentuckyElizabethtown, Kentucky
Elizabethtown is a city in and the county seat of Hardin County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 28,531 at the 2010 census, making it the eleventh-largest city in the state...
to Temple and Judith Debrille Poston. His father was a printer and he served as a printer's devil
Printer's devil
A printer's devil was an apprentice in a printing establishment who performed a number of tasks, such as mixing tubs of ink and fetching type...
. Poston was orphaned at the age of twelve, and was apprenticed
Apprenticeship
Apprenticeship is a system of training a new generation of practitioners of a skill. Apprentices or protégés build their careers from apprenticeships...
to the local county clerk, Samuel Haycraft. Following his apprenticeship, he moved to Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
where he clerked for the Tennessee Supreme Court
Tennessee Supreme Court
The Tennessee Supreme Court is the state supreme court of the state of Tennessee. Cornelia Clark is the current Chief Justice.Unlike other states, in which the state attorney general is directly elected or appointed by the governor or state legislature, the Tennessee Supreme Court appoints the...
while reading law
Reading law
Reading law is the method by which persons in common law countries, particularly the United States, entered the legal profession before the advent of law schools. This usage specifically refers to a means of entering the profession . A small number of U.S...
. Poston married Haycraft's daughter, Margaret, in September 1848 and the couple had a daughter, Sarah Lee Poston. Margaret Poston became paralyzed on February 12, 1851 and was cared for by relatives until her death from cancer on February 26, 1884.
On July 27, 1885, Poston married former newspaper typesetter Martha "Mattie" Tucker. The couple separated shortly afterwards, but there is no evidence they ever divorced.
Early exploration and mining efforts
In 1851, Poston traveled to CaliforniaCalifornia
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
as part of the Gold Rush
California Gold Rush
The California Gold Rush began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The first to hear confirmed information of the gold rush were the people in Oregon, the Sandwich Islands , and Latin America, who were the first to start flocking to...
and took a clerk position at the San Francisco Customs House. While at this
job, he became involved with a group of French bankers interested in the lands of the recently negotiated Gadsden Purchase
Gadsden Purchase
The Gadsden Purchase is a region of present-day southern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico that was purchased by the United States in a treaty signed by James Gadsden, the American ambassador to Mexico at the time, on December 30, 1853. It was then ratified, with changes, by the U.S...
. In late 1853, with the bankers' backing, Poston joined with mining engineer
Mining engineering
Mining engineering is an engineering discipline that involves the practice, the theory, the science, the technology, and application of extracting and processing minerals from a naturally occurring environment. Mining engineering also includes processing minerals for additional value.Mineral...
Herman Ehrenberg
Herman Ehrenberg
Herman Ehrenberg is the namesake of Ehrenberg, Arizona. A native of Germany, Ehrenberg joined the military volunteer unit the New Orleans Greys and fought against Mexico in the Texas Revolution. He was one of few survivors of the Goliad Massacre...
to organize an expedition into the territory Mexico was expected to sell to the United States. Taking a ship from San Francisco, the two became shipwrecked near the Mexican
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
port of Guaymas
Guaymas
Guaymas is a city and municipality located in the southwest part of the state of Sonora in northwestern Mexico. The city is located 117 km south of the state capital of Hermosillo, and 242 miles from the U.S. border, and is the principal port for the state. The municipality is located in the...
. They were then detained temporarily by Mexican authorities as suspected filibusters
Filibuster (military)
A filibuster, or freebooter, is someone who engages in an unauthorized military expedition into a foreign country to foment or support a revolution...
before heading north to the Gadsden territory. The expedition visited San Xavier del Bac and Ajo, collecting mineral samples along the way, before traveling down the Gila River
Gila River
The Gila River is a tributary of the Colorado River, 650 miles long, in the southwestern states of New Mexico and Arizona.-Description:...
. At Fort Yuma
Fort Yuma
Fort Yuma is a fort in California that is located in Imperial County, across the Colorado River from Yuma, Arizona. It was on the Butterfield Overland Mail route from 1858 until 1861 and was abandoned May 16, 1883, and transferred to the Department of the Interior. The Fort Yuma Indian School and a...
, a U.S. Army post near the confluence of the Gila and Colorado River
Colorado River
The Colorado River , is a river in the Southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico, approximately long, draining a part of the arid regions on the western slope of the Rocky Mountains. The watershed of the Colorado River covers in parts of seven U.S. states and two Mexican states...
, Poston first met the fort's commander Major Samuel P. Heintzelman
Samuel P. Heintzelman
Samuel Peter Heintzelman was a United States Army General. He served in the Seminole War, the Mexican-American War, the Yuma War, the Cortina Troubles, and the American Civil War, rising to the command of a corps....
.
After returning to San Francisco, Poston left for the East Coast
East Coast of the United States
The East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, refers to the easternmost coastal states in the United States, which touch the Atlantic Ocean and stretch up to Canada. The term includes the U.S...
in search of capital
Capital (economics)
In economics, capital, capital goods, or real capital refers to already-produced durable goods used in production of goods or services. The capital goods are not significantly consumed, though they may depreciate in the production process...
to fund a mining operation in the newly acquired territory. After several unsuccessful attempts, he was introduced to several Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's...
investors by Heintzelman. On March 24, 1856, US$2 million was secured to found the Sonora Exploring and Mining Company with Heintzelman as company president and Poston as managing supervisor. The company set up headquarters in Tubac, Arizona
Tubac, Arizona
Tubac is a census-designated place in Santa Cruz County, Arizona, United States. The population was 949 at the 2000 census. The place name Tubac is an English borrowing from a Hispanicized form of the O'odham name, which translates into English as "rotten". The original O'odham name is written...
and began mining operations in the nearby Santa Rita Mountains
Santa Rita Mountains
The Santa Rita Mountains, located about 65 km southeast of Tucson, Arizona, extend 42 km from north to south, then trending southeast. They merge again southeastwards into the Patagonia Mountains, trending northwest by southeast...
and elsewhere. Poston served as alcalde
Alcalde
Alcalde , or Alcalde ordinario, is the traditional Spanish municipal magistrate, who had both judicial and administrative functions. An alcalde was, in the absence of a corregidor, the presiding officer of the Castilian cabildo and judge of first instance of a town...
of the settlement and became known as "Colonel" Poston in the town of roughly 800 people. Using the authority granted to him by the government of New Mexico Territory, he printed his own money and officiated over marriages, divorces, and the baptisms of children. This continued until Father Macheboeuf, the vicar
Vicar
In the broadest sense, a vicar is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior . In this sense, the title is comparable to lieutenant...
of Bishop Jean-Baptiste Lamy, was sent from Santa Fe
Santa Fe, New Mexico
Santa Fe is the capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico. It is the fourth-largest city in the state and is the seat of . Santa Fe had a population of 67,947 in the 2010 census...
to investigate the goings-on in Tubac. The validity of the marriages Poston had performed was questioned by the vicar, and a US$700 donation made before Father Macheboeuf sanctified the unions. Charles Poston's brother John Poston was murdered by Mexican outlaws at Cerro Colorado
Cerro Colorado, Arizona
Cerro Colorado is a ghost town in southern Pima County, Arizona. It is located off Arivaca Road, near Arivaca, Arizona. The town is best known for the massacre of mining employees by Mexican outlaws and buried treasure.-History:...
in southern Arizona, the town was established by Charles Poston and his company in the 1850s.
Mining operations produced US$3000 per day in silver until 1861. With the withdrawal of Union troops due to the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, Tubac saw an increase in hostilities from local Apache
Apache
Apache is the collective term for several culturally related groups of Native Americans in the United States originally from the Southwest United States. These indigenous peoples of North America speak a Southern Athabaskan language, which is related linguistically to the languages of Athabaskan...
s and the settlement had to be abandoned.
Arizona Territory
After being forced to leave Tubac due to the Apache siegeSiege of Tubac
The Siege of Tubac was a siege of the Apache Wars, between settlers and militia of Confederate Arizona and Chiricahua Apaches. The battle took place at Tubac in the present day southern Arizona...
, Poston went to Washington D.C. and worked for General Heintzelman as a civilian aide. During this time Heintzelman introduced him to President Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
. Poston in turn used this time to lobby both Lincoln and Congress for creation of an Arizona Territory, advertising the benefits of the area's mineral wealth to the Union
Union (American Civil War)
During the American Civil War, the Union was a name used to refer to the federal government of the United States, which was supported by the twenty free states and five border slave states. It was opposed by 11 southern slave states that had declared a secession to join together to form the...
cause. Toward the end of the process Poston attended an oyster dinner where the slate
Slate (elections)
A slate is a group of candidates that run in multi-seat or multi-position elections on a common platform.The common platform may be because the candidates are all members of a political party, have the same or similar policies, or some other reason....
of territorial positions was divided among lame duck
Lame duck (politics)
A lame duck is an elected official who is approaching the end of his or her tenure, and especially an official whose successor has already been elected.-Description:The status can be due to*having lost a re-election bid...
congressmen and Poston was selected as an Indian Agent for the new territory.
Poston commissioned Tiffany & Co.
Tiffany & Co.
Tiffany & Co. is an American jewelry and silverware company. As part of its branding, the company is strongly associated with its Tiffany Blue , which is a registered trademark.- History :...
to create a US$1500 inkwell
Inkwell
An inkwell is a small jar or container, often made of glass, porcelain, silver, brass, or pewter, used for holding ink in a place convenient for the person who is writing...
from Arizona silver
and presented the inkwell to Lincoln upon signing of the Arizona Organic Act
Arizona Organic Act
The Arizona Organic Act was a United States federal law introduced as H.R. 357 in the 2d session of the 37th Congress on March 12, 1862, by Rep. James M. Ashley of Ohio. The Act provided for the creation of the Arizona Territory by the division of the New Mexico Territory into two territories,...
. On 12 March 1863 Poston was appointed superintendent of Indian affairs. This appointment was followed by his election as Delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives on 18 July 1864. During his term of service, Poston submitted bills aimed at settling private land claims and to establish Indian reservation
Indian reservation
An American Indian reservation is an area of land managed by a Native American tribe under the United States Department of the Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs...
s along the Colorado river. In 1865, Poston chose not to return to Arizona during his run for reelection, and was defeated by John Noble Goodwin
John Noble Goodwin
John Noble Goodwin was a United States attorney and politician who served as the first Governor of Arizona Territory...
. A final run for election to the territorial delegate position failed in 1866.
Conversion to Zoroastrianism
Charles Poston lost wife and daughter. He then travelled to India, where lives a community called Parsees, whose religion is ZoroastrianismZoroastrianism
Zoroastrianism is a religion and philosophy based on the teachings of prophet Zoroaster and was formerly among the world's largest religions. It was probably founded some time before the 6th century BCE in Greater Iran.In Zoroastrianism, the Creator Ahura Mazda is all good, and no evil...
. He converted when he returned in the United States, where he built a Fire Temple
Fire temple
A fire temple in Zoroastrianism is the place of worship for Zoroastrians. Zoroastrians revere fire in any form. In the Zoroastrian religion, fire , together with clean water , are agents of ritual purity...
pyramid-shaped (in Florence, Arizona). He called it "Parsee Hill", and it is now his tomb, and is yet called "Poston's butte".
There is, to this very day, a Zoroastrian community in the Arizona, part immigrants, part converts.
Writing
After losing his position in Congress, Poston opened a law office in Washington D.C.In 1867 he traveled to Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, spending time in both London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. He then returned to Washington and in 1868 published a travel book, Europe in the Summer-Time. This was followed by US Secretary Of State William H. Seward
William H. Seward
William Henry Seward, Sr. was the 12th Governor of New York, United States Senator and the United States Secretary of State under Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson...
commissioning Poston to deliver the Burlingame Treaty
Burlingame Treaty
The Burlingame Treaty, also known as the Burlingame-Seward Treaty of 1868, between the United States and China, amended the Treaty of Tientsin of 1858 and established formal friendly relations between the two countries, with the United States granting China most favored nation status...
to the Emperor of China
Emperor of China
The Emperor of China refers to any sovereign of Imperial China reigning between the founding of Qin Dynasty of China, united by the King of Qin in 221 BCE, and the fall of Yuan Shikai's Empire of China in 1916. When referred to as the Son of Heaven , a title that predates the Qin unification, the...
and to study irrigation and immigration in Asia. After China, Poston continued to India where he developed a fascination with the Parsi people and Zoroastrianism
Zoroastrianism
Zoroastrianism is a religion and philosophy based on the teachings of prophet Zoroaster and was formerly among the world's largest religions. It was probably founded some time before the 6th century BCE in Greater Iran.In Zoroastrianism, the Creator Ahura Mazda is all good, and no evil...
. He reached Egypt by early 1869 and was in Paris by April of that year. After living a year in Paris he moved to London were he spent the next six years. During this time he worked as an editor of a London newspaper, foreign correspondent to the New York Tribune, and as a "counselor-at-law". Poston also wrote several books during this time, publishing The Parsees in 1872, The Sun Worshippers of Asia in 1877, and his poem Apache Land in 1878.
His work, Building a State in Apache Land was published in installments by Overland Monthly between July and October 1894.
Later life
Centennial Exposition
The Centennial International Exhibition of 1876, the first official World's Fair in the United States, was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from May 10 to November 10, 1876, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia. It was officially...
in Philadelphia. Through his acquaintance with John Bigelow
John Bigelow
John Bigelow was an American lawyer and statesman.-Life:Born in Malden-on-Hudson, New York, John Bigelow, Sr.graduated from Union College in 1835 where he was a member of the Sigma Phi Society and the Philomathean Society, and was admitted to the bar in 1838...
, he then became a campaign worker for Samuel J. Tilden
Samuel J. Tilden
Samuel Jones Tilden was the Democratic candidate for the U.S. presidency in the disputed election of 1876, one of the most controversial American elections of the 19th century. He was the 25th Governor of New York...
during the U.S. presidential election of 1876. Poston expected a consul
Consul (representative)
The political title Consul is used for the official representatives of the government of one state in the territory of another, normally acting to assist and protect the citizens of the consul's own country, and to facilitate trade and friendship between the peoples of the two countries...
position in London if Tilden had won the election, but instead was made register of the United States land office at Florence, Arizona
Florence, Arizona
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 17,054 people, 2,226 households, and 1,540 families residing in the town. The population density was 2,056.2 people per square mile . There were 3,216 housing units at an average density of 387.7 per square mile...
from July 1877 till June 1879. During his time in Florence he became interested in building a Parsi fire temple
Fire temple
A fire temple in Zoroastrianism is the place of worship for Zoroastrians. Zoroastrians revere fire in any form. In the Zoroastrian religion, fire , together with clean water , are agents of ritual purity...
on a nearby hill, paying for construction of a road to the summit and petitioning the Shah of Persia
Qajar dynasty
The Qajar dynasty was an Iranian royal family of Turkic descent who ruled Persia from 1785 to 1925....
for funds to build the temple. This unusual interest led to Poston being criticized as a crank and eccentric.
Following his time in Florence he moved to Tucson
Tucson, Arizona
Tucson is a city in and the county seat of Pima County, Arizona, United States. The city is located 118 miles southeast of Phoenix and 60 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border. The 2010 United States Census puts the city's population at 520,116 with a metropolitan area population at 1,020,200...
and supported himself with a variety of positions including lecturer, mining and railroad promoter, and writer. In 1884 he became a consular agent in Nogales
Nogales, Arizona
Nogales is a city in Santa Cruz County, Arizona, United States. The population was 21,017 at the 2010 census. According to 2005 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city is 20,833. The city is the county seat of Santa Cruz County....
followed by an assignment as a civilian military agent in El Paso, Texas
El Paso, Texas
El Paso, is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States, and lies in far West Texas. In the 2010 census, the city had a population of 649,121. It is the sixth largest city in Texas and the 19th largest city in the United States...
in 1887 and as employee of U.S. Geological Survey in 1889.
Poston declined into obscurity until 1897 when Whitelaw Reid
Whitelaw Reid
Whitelaw Reid was a U.S. politician and newspaper editor, as well as the author of a popular history of Ohio in the Civil War.-Early life:...
published an account detailing Poston's situation. As a result, the Arizona Territorial legislature awarded Poston a pension of US$25/month in 1899 and increased this to US$35/month in 1901. Poston died in poverty on June 24, 1902 and was buried in Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populated city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data...
. Poston’s remains were removed from Phoenix and moved to Florence, Arizona
Florence, Arizona
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 17,054 people, 2,226 households, and 1,540 families residing in the town. The population density was 2,056.2 people per square mile . There were 3,216 housing units at an average density of 387.7 per square mile...
, on the 100th anniversary of his birth. His remains were buried on Primrose Hill, renamed "Poston Butte" where he had never completed his “Temple to the Sun”. He was entombed in an official ceremony led by Governor George W. P. Hunt.