Page:History of Public School Education in Arizona.djvu/23

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THE BEGINNING OF PUBLIC SCHOOL LEGISLATION.
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lation in the face of a constant struggle with the worst Indians on the continent. But a brighter day was about to dawn for Arizona.

The first period of effort had now passed without tangible results. In his summary for the period McCrea remarks:

In the first period 1864–1869 the people of the Territory were engaged in a fierce struggle for the possession of the land. The great mineral wealth of the Territory was becoming known, though other occupations than mining and freighting were developed slowly and under great difficulties. Neither life nor property was safe. While such industrial conditions continued, stability and thrift were largely lacking in the population, and the necessity of educating their children appealed to them but slightly. The chief men of the Territory wanted to see those institutions founded which would help to make the possession of the Territory secure, and which would aid in attracting to it a more intelligent and stable population.[1]


  1. McCrea, loc. cit., p. 74.