First Arizona National Guard

John D. Walker joined the California Volunteers in 1861 at the start of the Civil War. The military made him a captain and put him in charge of a wagon train that accompanied General Carleton’s Army to New Mexico in 1862. Captain Walker hauled supplies all over Arizona to military camps and forts at the time they were still under construction.  After the war he mustered out of the military, moved in with the Pimas along the Gila River and became a farmer. 

During the Civil War, the Apache attacks were brutal and rampant in the Arizona territory. After the war, Walker and others assisted in recruiting men for the Arizona Volunteer Infantry. The Arizona Volunteer Infantry (precursor to the Arizona National Guard) included mostly Maricopa and Pima Native Americans and their two chiefs, Azul and Chivaria. Their purpose was to restore order to the Arizona Territory. 

A group of 350 volunteers were gathered or “mustered in” for service at Maricopa Wells on Sept. 2, 1865, and thus became the first Battalion of Arizona Volunteers.

These volunteers spent a year chasing the Apaches all over the territory. They proved their valor in battle after battle. After the war was over, they retired with honor and as heroes. To honor these Arizona Volunteers, in the fall of 1866, the Third Arizona Territorial Legislature passed a memorial to their outstanding service.  

In a proclamation signed by former Arizona Governor Dan E. Garvey, the outstanding service of Chiefs Chivaria and Azul was considered a point of pride in Arizona’s history. “Arizonans are proud of the loyalty and service which our Indians have given and will always give to the state and to the nation.”  Chief Juan Chivaria led Company B with 94 Maricopa volunteers, and Pima Chief Antonio Azul led 88 Pimas in Company C. Descendents of these brave warriors kept the State Proclamations, dating back to the 1940s and commemorating the service of Companies B and C as Arizona’s First National Guardsmen, alive for many years with a reenactment of the “mustering-in” ceremonies in 1865 at Maricopa Wells. 

Next Factoid:  John D. Walker’s connection with a silver mining town with a library and no bars.

Submitted photo

Editor’s note:  Maricopa factoids are a regular feature on InMaricopa.com. They are provided by the Maricopa Historical Society, a branch of the Friends of the Maricopa Public Library. Most of the photos and information come from “Reflections of a Desert Town” by author and historical society chairperson Patricia Brock.