Jack Swilling founded Phoenix, Arizona in 1867 by creating the Swilling Irrigation Canal Company and starting farming. The town was officially recognized in 1868 and named Phoenix by “Lord” Darrell Duppa. Swilling was a gold prospector, mine owner, and Phoenix’s first justice of the peace. He suffered from injuries and addiction to morphine. He married a Mexican woman and had seven children and adopted two Apache orphans.
Long after the ancient Hohokam natives built 135 miles (217 km) of canals to try and bring life to the Arizona desert, Jack Swilling created his oasis where the city of Phoenix now stands. He organized the Swilling Irrigation Canal Company in 1867 and started farming the following year. The area was first called Swilling’s Mill, then Helling Mill, then Mill City. Swilling wanted to name the place Stonewall – he was a big fan of General Stonewall Jackson – while others wanted to call it Pumpkinville, after the wild pumpkins that grow along the Salt River. When an English drifter named “Lord” Darrell Duppa suggested the name Phoenix — “A new city will rise like a phoenix upon the ruins of a former civilization,” he said — the name stuck. The Yavapai County Board of Supervisors officially recognized the new town on May 4, 1868. The first post office opened the following month, with Swilling as postmaster.
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Jack Swilling was a multitasker. The South Carolina native was a gold prospector, mine owner, saloon and dance hall owner, farmer, rancher, politician, and Phoenix’s first justice of the peace. He loved to spin good yarn.
Swilling suffered from bouts of crushing pain resulting from injuries – namely, a fractured skull and a gunshot wound to the back – which he suffered in 1854. He took morphine to kill his pain, which led to problems addiction for the rest of his life.
Jack Swilling married a 17-year-old Mexican woman of Spanish descent in 1864. They had seven children (five girls and two boys) and also adopted two Apache orphans.
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