 Frontier Fighters, Frontier Fighters, who made of our Western Frontiers Frontiers of Destiny. In 1869, there came to President Grant a man intimate with the West, trained in public affairs. His name, Anson P.K. Safford, said President Grant to his visitor. Safford? I can't think of any man to whom I'd rather give an office than you. Well, Mr. President, then why don't you do it? The office for you is the governorship of Arizona. There's a great opportunity there for a man with vision, Mr. President. Yes, but to what extent would such a lawless element obey the wishes of a man five feet six inches tall? Mr. President, I think it was Bobby Burns who said a man's a man for all of that. Besides, I had 19 years of rough pioneer experience in California and Nevada. Safford, what would you do if a man six foot three disputed your authority? Well, I'd insist on his respect for my order. Then if I didn't get it, I'd knock respect into him. And if I had to stand on a chair to land a punch on his chin... Safford, the President of the United States is happy to shake hands with and bid Godspeed to the new governor of the territory of Arizona. The little governor, as Safford was immediately dubbed, arrived in Tucson, Arizona in 1869 to administer law, order, and justice over 70 million acres infested by desperados and unruly Indians with the inherent enemies of a steadily advancing civilization. Gathering about him officers of the government, the governor held a meeting in the old Steinfeld Building on the corner of Myers and McCormick streets. As your attorney general, Mr. Governor, I say that there is nothing in Arizona at the present time except chaos. As Lieutenant Governor, it's my unhappy duty to inform you that civil officers are neglecting their sworn duty. Citizens are refusing to pay taxes. The legislature that sat just before you came into office was illegally called for its last session. And that's a pretty dark picture, gentlemen. I understand also that the territory is destitute of a school system. Transportation costs are out of the reach of the majority and the railroad is 2,000 miles away. And the few rooms in this old Steinfeld Building are not only the governor's mansion but also the offices of the surveyor general and state library. Well, gentlemen, if I didn't have something of the pioneer spirit in me, I'd go back to the president's grant and tell him he'd handed me a junior. But I know this. I've been made governor of a territory amazingly rich in natural resources. Yes, Mr. Governor, but how are you going to bring order out of chaos? Well, thought of poverty. There's no legislature due to be elected for months. And meanwhile, things are going from bad to worse. I'm not going to wait months for things to go from bad to worse. I'm leaving for Washington, D.C. in the morning. Yes, but there's no money in the treasury. I'll go at my own expense. I'm going enlist the help of the president and Congress. By their act, there'll be an immediate election of the legislature. And I shall ask for unlimited authority. And when I come to Arizona this time, instead of being dubbed little governor, I'm going to be called a fighting governor. President Grant admired the fighting spirit of the little governor, and true to Stafford's prediction, Congress did give him unlimited powers. When Stafford arrived back in Arizona, a new legislature was elected. Additional power voted to the governor, promised them action, and action they got. Hey, look, look, a proclamation by the governor of Arizona. Every outlaw coming into Tucson from Sonora will be given 24 hours to leave town. If found anywhere within the limits of the city, he will be promptly collared and hanged. Signed APK Stafford. Well, it looks like a little governor means business. As governor of the state of Arizona, I say to you, the gentleman of the legislature, that everything will be done to encourage immigration into this territory. The area of Arizona is three times that of the state of New York. The territory can accommodate millions of people if millions are ever to come. And we, the present citizens of Arizona, must make our state offer manifold opportunities for the generations of tomorrow. But to achieve this, we must start preparing today. The legislature applauded Governor Stafford, but did everything except profit by his example. There's was a plan of watchful waiting. Stafford's a plan of action. However, thanks to Stafford's tremendous driving energy, little by little the apaches were subdued. The gamblers and bad men brought under control. The territory made safe for immigration, but only a few hundred people came into Arizona. Said the lieutenant governor. Stafford, pioneers are not all men, many of them are wives and mothers. What inducement is there for them in Arizona? A territory with no public school. Arizona should have a fine public school system with equal rights for all. Mexican and American. You'll have to go before the legislature for such an appropriation and you won't get it. Because most of them are satisfied with their own ignorance. I'm not going to have my program blocked by anyone. I'll give the legislature a chance to share in the glory. And if they refuse it, they'll never have another. You're attempting to put over a new and radical thing. A plan of action in the land of Manana. As a duly elected legislator, I object to your plan. First thing you know, Mr. Governor, you'll be having us empty the treasury in behalf of your wild scheme. I would never permit the treasury to be emptied in behalf of wild schemes. But I would gladly sanction the treasury's purse being turned inside out in behalf of the public goods. Unless we have public schools, the mothers of tomorrow's generation will not permit their children to be born in this territory. No mother will permit her child to be born in ignorance, which next to poverty is the worst curse to afflict our civilization. I think the governor should be asked to sit down. I think the governor should be asked to sit down. Now, in a moment, I have little more to say, except to give you a solemn warning, that if you, the supposed sworn representatives of the people, refuse to pass a measure which offers them the light of learning, then I must serve my God in my conscience and take the measure to the people themselves. I'll let the people decide for themselves whether or not they want public schools and also whether or not they want their present members of the legislature elected again. Great to the people of the territory went APK Safford, the little governor. He himself financed the trip which took many weeks. And despite the dangers of Indian attacks, he carried on an education crusade from town to town, from house to house. That's the governor riding in a town now. Come on, everybody, let's give him a big welcome. This is the governor on the shoulder. Speak, speak, Mr. Governor, speak. I'll be glad to talk if you just set me down somewhere. Thanks for this wonderful welcome. I've ridden hundreds of miles to tell you what I think Arizona needs. The new legislates, I reckon. We ought to kick the whole caboodle of them out. Oh, please, sir, you ought to see, see, they should be kicked out. I think you'd be interested to know that in the territory of Arizona, there are 1,923 children of school age and no schools for them to attend. I firmly believe in education because the principles of it are right. I believe in free public schools for rich and poor alike. For Mexicans as well as American children. I believe that an educated ballot is a safer guarantee of the prosperity and the perpetuity of civil, Mr. Governor. But ain't you using too high a pollutant word for just us clean folks? Navy, all right. Well, what I'm driving at is this. If you people want your children to know how to read and write, to have good minds and sound bodies, to make Arizona a territory we're all to be proud to live in, to have people eager to come into because of all the advantages we can offer, then let us have the things that'll attract them here. And you won't get people to leave their homes in other states to cast their lock with thousands of ignoramuses. Now you're talking Thai language, Mr. Governor. And I know what you're driving at. When that first schoolhouse is put up, I'm joining it. And I'm willing to start in grade one if I have to. I ain't never learned to read or write. My father and mom couldn't either. And I think the Governor's speaking with a straight tongue as the Indians would say. And I believe him and say, God bless him. I reckon I got the English all mixed up, but I've been speaking from my heart. Neighbor, when we get our first schools, they'll be in Tucson. That's a long way from here. But if you ever come to the capitol, I'll see you get an education. You live in my house and I'll teach you myself. I've been traveling up and down the length and breadth of this state for weeks. And on all sides, I've only been met with the greatest kindness and enthusiasm. People not only want public schools, but they want the best of everything for Arizona. And above all, they want her to be the kind of a territory that someday will soon be a state. A state that promises a future for every man, woman and child who will come to her. From any part of the whole United States. Let us someday soon be able to say of Arizona, yes, she has taken her place as one of the brightest stars in the crown of our great republic. Thanks to APK Safford, every good thing did come to Arizona. And today she has indeed taken her place as a bright star in the crown of our great republic. And all historians agree that Mr. Safford, the little governor of Arizona, was indeed a frontier fighter.