author
Sylvester Mowry
1830–1871
A restless 19th-century adventurer, he moved from West Point and the U.S. Army into mining, politics, and writing in the American Southwest. His life mixed ambition, controversy, and a lasting role in the early push to establish Arizona Territory.
1 Audiobook
Memoir of the Proposed Territory of Arizona
by Sylvester Mowry
About the author
Born in Providence, Rhode Island, Sylvester Mowry is best remembered as an early promoter of Arizona during its rough territorial years. He graduated from West Point, served as an officer in the U.S. Army, and later left military life to pursue mining and land ventures in the Southwest.
Mowry became closely tied to southern Arizona through the Mowry Mine and through his energetic public writing about the region's future. He argued for the creation and development of Arizona Territory, and his books and articles helped introduce eastern readers to the area's politics, resources, and possibilities.
His career was dramatic as well as influential. During the Civil War he was arrested on suspicion of disloyalty because of alleged Southern sympathies, a charge that added to his already controversial reputation. He died in London in 1871, but his name remained attached to Arizona history as one of the territory's most outspoken and memorable boosters.