George W. Atkinson
Arizona, The Youngest State, 1913, pg 110

George W. Atkinson, a resident of Tucson was one of the 
pioneer cattle men of Arizona.  His birth occurred in 
Peoria, Illinois on the 14th of December 1844, his parents 
being John and Sarah (Largent) Atkinson, the father a 
native of Yorkshire England and the mother of Virginia.  
The latter died in Illinois in 1846, and about 1818 the 
father married Sarah Davis.  They continued to reside in 
Illinois until the spring of 1860 when the family started 
across the country with a wagon and team for Colorado, a 
distance of a thousand miles.  From there they went to St. 
Joseph Missouri and on the Atchison Kansas where they 
crossed the Missouri River.  They crossed the Big Blue and 
the Little Blue Rivers and traveled up the east side of the 
Platte River to Fort Kearney, reaching their destination--
the city of Denver--on the 1st of May 1860.

George W. Atkinson was a youth of sixteen when he 
accompanied his father on his removal to Colorado.  
Such education he received was obtained in the public 
schools of his native state and after locating in Denver 
he learned the brick makers trade under his father.  
Subsequently he became a member of the firm of Atkinson 
and Baker, but in February 1868 he entered the employ of 
the Union Pacific Railroad Company and for three years 
was a member of the construction crew.  In the summer of 
1877 he made a trip to Deadwood South Dakota but in the 
autumn of the same year came to Globe Arizona.  There he 
established a brick yard being the first man in the 
state to employ native clay in that industry.  On 
January 1, 1879 he removed to Calabasas, then Pima 
but now Santa Cruz County where he erected a hotel, 
constructed from brick manufactured from Arizona 
clay.  While engaged in building he settled on a 
cattle ranch in the vicinity of the town and turned 
his attention to stock raising and farming.  He put 
in a pumping plant to irrigate, obtaining water 
from the Santa Cruz and Sonora Rivers.  Owing to the 
decision of the U.S. Supreme Court rendered in favor 
of the Baca claimants to the Baca Float No. 3 where 
Mr. Atkinson's ranch was located, he disposed of his 
cattle selling three thousand fifty head for ninety-nine 
thousand and twenty five dollars.  He is now living 
retired in Tucson.

Of his many experiences on the frontier Mr. Atkinson relates 
many unusual experiences.  In Colorado in 1864 he joined 
Tyler's Rangers and had his first experience in Indian 
warfare.  The next year he was again called out to assist 
in quelling an uprising among the Indians and was present 
at the massacre of Sand Creek.  During his early ranching 
days in Arizona he had difficulty with both the Mexicans 
and the Indians and on several occasions barely escaped 
with his life.  from 1895 to 1897 he was a member of the 
firm of L. Zeckendorf and Company who handled about forty 
thousand head of cattle, theirs being one of the largest 
ranches in this section.  One day in 1879 Mr. Atkinson 
went to the ranch of P. Kitchen, located five miles 
south of Calabasas, and on his return tip was waylaid 
by five Mexicans who relieved him of his saddle and 
forty dollars as well as his overcoat.  He came to 
Tucson, supplied himself with another gun, ammunition 
and money, and two weeks later had a similar 
experience.   On this occasion the outlaws took him 
prisoner escorting him to his ranch house where they 
compelled him to cook their dinner and then demanded 
five hundred dollars.  Refusing to comply with their 
terms they slipped a noose around his neck, pulled 
him up a few times and finally released him upon the 
payment of thirty dollars.  Two weeks later the 
entire gang was arrested near Magdalena Mexico and 
in their possession was found Mr. Atkinson's saddle 
and overcoat.

Mr. Atkinson married Miss Julia Jordan in 1882 and they 
had no children but adopted two sons, Samuel and Joseph 
D.  Mrs. Atkinson passed away in 1907 and in 1908 he 
married Miss Catherine Deegan, a native of Ireland and 
they have become the parents of three daughters and one 
son, Dora, Georgia, George W. Jr and Ione.


USGenWeb Project NOTICE: 
In keeping with our policy of providing free information on 
the internet, data may be used by non-commercial entities, as
long as this message remains on all copied material. These 
electronic pages may not be reproduced in any format for
profit, nor for commercial presentation by any other organization. 

Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for 
purposes other than as stated above, must obtain express written
permission from the author, or the submitter and from the 
listed USGenWeb Project archivist.