Indigenous History in the Borderlands

Tohono O’odham are associated with the Ak‐Chin Indian Community and the Tohono O’odham Nation, the latter comprised of lands in four places in southwestern Arizona for a total of 2.8 million acres, an area frequently noted as comparable to the state of Connecticut. Tohono O’odham in Sonora, Mexico, live in close to the U.S.‐Mexico border.

Synonymy
“Papago” enters the Spanish language in the eighteenth century and English thereafter. Tohono O’odham – “Desert People” – is the autonym and preferred. See also Goddard, Handbook of North American Indians, v. 10, pp. 134‐35.

Special Collections Materials | Arizona Historical Society Materials

Record of William Henry Corbusier, Colonel, U.S. Army Retired, 1924 (AZ 116)

Contains a a retrospective account of Corbusier's service an order‐of‐battle summary, followed by a largely first‐person narrative that speaks to interactions with Tohono O’odham.

Letterbook of J.H. Stout, 1871-1875 (AZ 119)

Includes correspondence, accounts, record, and observations at the Gila River Indian Agency. Speaks to the Akimel O’odham and Maricopa, the Tohono O’odham, and, incidentally, the Apaches.

Lewis W. Douglas papers, 1859-1974 (AZ 290)

Contains materials that document efforts to add lands to the Tohono O’odham reservation in the early 1930s, to withdraw lands from prospecting, and funding for education and irrigation.

Papers of Clara Fish Roberts, 1892-1905 (AZ 226)

Includes a single painting of a Tohono O’odham home near San Xavier.

Records of the San Xavier Indian Reservation Water Users' Association (AZ 254)

Includes correspondence, minutes, and worksheets for employees, ranging from 1930s to 1945.

Letterbook of Rueben Augustine Wilbur, 1871-1874 (AZ 344)

Contains materials that documents outgoing correspondence as agent to the Tohono O’odham, reports, correspondence.

Stewart L. Udall papers, 1950-2010 (AZ 372)

Includes a miscellany of correspondence dealing with various tribes, including the Tohono O’odham.

Oral History Interview, Mission San Xavier del Bac, with Bernard Fontana, 1959 Jan. 26 (AZ 396)

Contains a transcript of Fontana’s interview with Father Nicholas Perschl, who recounts experiences with the Tohono O’odham; related article in Kiva 24:3 (February 1959).

Jacobo Sedelmayr letters and reports, 1744-1751 (AZ 437)

Includes a 1749 letter which discusses Caborca (Tohono O’odham).

Photograph Album of Activities in Pima County, 1922-1930 (AZ 520)

Contains materials from the University of Arizona Cooperative Extension Service that document projects and efforts throughout Pima County in the 1920s and early 1930s. Includes numerous images of children and adult women, many identified.

Collection Relating to James McCarthy, 1983-1985 (AZ 533)

Contains materials that document James G. Westover’s editorial work on James McCarthy’s memoir, published as A Papago Traveler: The Memories of James McCarthy, University of Arizona Press, 1985.

Memoirs of James McCarthy (AZ 534)

Contains the original manuscripts of McCarthy’s memoir, published as A Papago Traveler: The Memories of James McCarthy, University of Arizona Press, 1985.

Letter, 1938, Dec. 22, Prescott (Ariz.), to Mrs. John W. Mayles, Phoenix (Ariz.), 1938 (AZ 538)

Contains a letter from Mikul G. Levy that recounts a humorous failure to sell accordions to the Tohono O’odham.

Harold Christy Schwalen papers, 1896-1967 (AZ 563)

Includes logs for water wells drilled throughout Arizona's reservations, including the Tohono O’odham reservation, in the early twentieth century.

Reuben Augustine Wilbur, 1867-1897, 1871-1880 (AZ 565)

Contains materials that discuss relationships between the Tohono O’odham and the Apache, including Apache captives following the Camp Grant massacre and Wilbur’s temporary charge of Apache bands. The papers also document Wilbur’s long conflict over his accounts, conflict with Bishop John B. Salpointe, and efforts to locate and return Apache captives.

Correspondence of John Baptiste Salpointe, 1867-1884 (MS 276)

Contains translations of the bishop’s correspondence photocopied from French‐language originals in Lyon, France, archive; correspondence on local tribal affairs, effort to dismiss Indian Agent R. A. Wilbur.

Papers of Chester J. Higman, 1957-1984 (MS 292)

Contains materials that describe Chet Higman’s brief tenure as business manager for Tohono O'odham in the late 1950s and early 1960s, but extensively document tribal politics, business challenges, and Higman's efforts to secure a more sound financial basis for tribal enterprises, especially ranching. Higman's contemporary letters to family and friends describe ongoing developments, while later correspondence with Bernard L. Fontana suggests materials were edited or omitted. Some material on other tribes, notably the Akimel O'odham, Hopi, and Navajo.

Papers of Morris K. Udall, 1920-1995 (MS 325)

Contains materials that document efforts to secure Tohono O’odham water rights and a comprehensive agreement known as the Southern Arizona Water Rights Settlement. Other files address devastating droughts, irrigation, and development.

Gary Paul Nabhan papers (MS 337)

Includes Nabhan’s field notes on Tohono O’odham ethnobotany and agricultural practices, as well as an interview with Tohono O’odham expert agriculturist Laura Kerman.

Papers of Byrd Howell Granger (MS 340)

Includes the folklorist’s notes and manuscripts for her unpublished “Folklore and Legends of the Indians of the Southwest” including drafts of a chapter on Tohono O’odham, Maricopa, and Akimel O’odham folklore.

Tom Miller papers (MS 377)

Includes clippings of Tohono O’odham stories.

Papers of Elliott Arnold, 1920s-1980 (MS 387)

Includes a bound, two‐volume typescript of Charles T. Connell’s account of “The Apache Past and Present” serialized in the Tucson Daily Citizen in 1921, with reference to the Tohono O’odham.

Dennis DeConcini papers, 1944-2003 (MS 399)

Contains materials that concern Tohono O’odham water rights almost exclusively, including hearings, proposed settlements, and legislation. Other materials include appropriations and immigration and border issues.

Raul Castro papers, 1903-2007 (MS 417)

Include correspondence and other matter on Castro’s representation of the tribe on citizenship legislation.

Robert R. Humphrey photograph collection, 1949-1963 (MS 431)

Includes photographs of mid‐twentieth‐century range conditions on the Tohono O’odham reservation, including near San Xavier del Bac Mission.

Henry "Hank" Oyama papers, 1945-2003 (MS 448)

Includes resolutions around English Language Education legislation in Arizona, including resolutions by the Tohono O’odham.

Julian D. Hayden photograph collection, 1934-1942 (MS 456)

Includes images of Tohono O’odham shrines to the dead.

Humane Borders records, 2000-2010 (MS 471)

Includes clippings of stories concerned with the Tohono O’odham and extensive correspondence about support to migrants crossing reservation.

Willis P. Haynes photograph collection, 1886-1900 (MS 484)

Includes a single image purported to show a Tohono O’odham woman carrying hay.

Father Bonaventure Oblasser, O.F.M., papers, 1901-1977 (MS 543)

Contains materials that extensively document Father Oblasser’s time on the Tohono O’odham reservation, including extensive photographs. Also present are the papers of Father Nicholas Perschl, a fellow Franciscan with a long career amongst the Tohono O’odham.

The materials located in this section can be found at the Arizona Historical Society Tucson location, an institution separate from the University of Arizona. There you can find manuscript materials, photographs, oral histories and books that highlight Indigenous life in the U.S./Mexico borderlands. This selection represents only a small fraction of the Arizona Historical Society's materials related to Indigenous life in the borderlands. Please contact their archivists for questions about additional materials.