On March 23, 1867, a letter from a soldier stationed at Fort Yuma came through the Tucson Post Office. It was addressed to Miss L.A. Tobey: Lydia Anna Tobey, daughter of Samuel Boyd and Sarah Fry Tobey, prominent Quakers in Providence, Rhode Island. The soldier was most likely her brother Thomas, who had been excommunicated years before when he took up arms with the Union army to stop the abhorrent practice of slavery. Now he was in the Arizona Territory, an area that played a small but significant role in the Civil War. Arizona was on the path to the Pacific Ocean, which meant more convenient trade with China. During the war, the South tried (and for a short time, succeeded in) claiming Arizona for itself.
Through this little envelope, the oldest known to have been postmarked at the Tucson post office during the Territorial period, take a trip through time and learn about the major steps towards the annexation of Arizona into the United States.
On view in Slusser Library from March 2020-Summer 2020. Please check the schedule or call ahead to be sure the library is open to patrons.
