Community History

Fort McDowell and San Pablo – the beginnings

It all started in 1865. The United States government built Fort McDowell. Mexican men from Tucson came to help build the fort. The fort was just north of Tempe. It was built as a place for soldiers to stay. Their job was to stop the Apache Indians from fighting and hurting the people in the Valley. The Apaches fought to save their land and their way of life.

 
A map of Arizona in 1865. See that Fort McDowell is just North of the cities of Phoenix and Tempe and that Tucson is southeast.

With the soldiers at the fort, the Apache Indians were less able to raid the Valley. Although some men continued to be killed, it was safer for settlers to move to Tempe. The Mexican men who came to build the fort stayed to help build canals to bring water to the fields.

Many settlers came to Phoenix, north of the Salt River. Other people came to Tempe, south of the Salt River.

From the beginning, more people lived in Phoenix than in Tempe. Phoenix had more businesses. Phoenix became a city before Tempe. As soon as Phoenix became a pretty big city, Tempe was its Suburb, a community located near a large city.