CONTEXT
INTRODUCTION The purpose of this section is to provide a historic overview of
Eagar’s history so that the Town’s [Top] [Table
of Contents] Eagar is located west of the intersection of Highway 180 and State
Road 260 in the White The Town is approximately 18 miles east of the New Mexico State Line and is almost equidistant from Albuquerque, New Mexico and Phoenix, Arizona. It is considered part of Apache County's Round Valley. The Town is bordered by Springerville on the north and northeast. West of Eagar is Greer, Sunrise Ski Resort (22 miles to the west), and the resort towns of Pinetop-Lakeside (47 miles to the west) and Show Low (47 miles west). The Apache National Forest is to the south and the Fort Apache Indian Reservation to the west and southwest. Eagar lies at the juncture between the high pines and high desert. Surrounding Eagar are multiple natural resources and tourist attractions. The Becker Lake State Wildlife Area, Big Lake, Nelson Reservoir, Crescent Lake, and Lyman Lake State Park are all within 1/2 hour drive of Town. The 10,912 foot Escudilla Mountain and many peaks over 9,000 feet are located to the south. Cultural resources such as Casa Malpais are also in the immediate Vicinity. The planning area for Eagar is a 12+- square mile area
encompassing approximately 7,036 acres [Top] [Table
of Contents] Native Americans and Spaniards As in most of northern Arizona, Native Americans were the first
inhabitants of The land was well watered, having timber and game in abundance. Plenty of clay
for pottery and As far as recorded history goes, the Spanish were the first
settlers in Round Valley, or Valley Henry Springer, a trader from Albuquerque, New Mexico, opened a
store in 1875, across from the Julius Becker also came to the valley in 1875, followed soon
after by his brother Gustav. They The early pioneers farmed, raised dairy cows, made cheese and butter, traded produce and game, and lived off the land. In March of 1878 the first Mormon wagons from Utah reached the valley. They were soon followed by others and in 1878 the first Mormon ward was established as Round Valley Ward, Little Colorado Stake, Jacob Hamblin as presiding Elder. In 1879 the Mormons in the lower end of the valley were organized into the Alma Ward and William Walter Eagar and family arrived at Christmas time 1879. In 1880, the ward was renamed to Omer. This ward was laid out according to Mormon plan into blocks and lots. Its streets were plotted and surveyed with the Main Street running north from the present site ofthe Springerville public school to the bluff north of Nutrioso Creek. In the meantime, the Mormons in the upper end of the valley had also organized into a ward known as the Amity Ward. It was also laid out into blocks, lots and streets, and surveyed. Its location was east of what is know today as the Milky Way Ranch (Irvine and Eagar, 1999). The largely uninhabited Round Valley was also an ideal refuge for outlaws who were being driven from adjoining states. Prominent among these gangs were the Cavanaugh, also known as Snider gang, nine of whom were killed in a fight among themselves on the hill back of what is now the Eagar cemetery. The Clantons, whose feud with Wyatt Earp made Tombstone famous, lived in this section, homesteading in several places adjoining the valley (Irvine and Eagar, 1999) By 1885 the town site of the Omer Ward was in dispute as well as
some of the lands belonging to The Eagar brothers, Joel, John and Will, together with the
Robertsons, had taken up homesteads As the Mormons in Springerville were having increasing trouble
with land jumpers, church In 1898, a post office was established with Emma J. Udall as
the first postmaster. Soon after the Development in Eagar continued to focus on Main Street, which
became United States 260, the In addition to the two town sites of Eagar and Springerville,
two other projects of the early settlers [Top] [Table
of Contents] The Round Valley Light and Power Company, owned by Mr. And Mrs.
Alvin Becker brought A hospital was built in cooperation with surrounding
communities. The hospital served for some The 26 Bar Ranch is located on the west side of Eagar. With the
exception of pasture land, the The Town of Eagar was incorporated in February, 1948, with a
population of 641. Seventy-five [Top] [Table of Contents] Proposition to Merge Eagar and Springerville In 1988, a Town hall meeting for the Round Valley recommended that
the two towns of In 1988, a Town hall meeting for the Round Valley recommended that the two towns of Springerville and Eagar merge. This idea came from the notion that the two communities had unique assets that would complement each other. Springerville had almost all of the businesses in the area and Eagar had the residential neighborhoods. This situation remains much the same today. Eagar, with an estimated population of 4,000, was twice the size of Springerville, and yet, according to 1983 figures, Springerville had four times more sales-tax revenue than its counterpart. The former State Office of Economic Development regarded Round Valley as one entity and wanted to do a master plan for the area in 1983, but the communities did not want to endorse this effort. The two communities decided to build separate facilities. In 1989, the concept of merging the communities was finally dismissed (Arizona Republic, 1989). Two annexations to the town were completed in 1998. The west annexation is approximately 1,280 acres, and is zoned for agricultural use with an industrial district. The east annexation is approximately 640 acres, and is zoned for commercial, multi-family and mobile home residential land uses. [Top] [Table
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Copyright © 2005 The Town of Eagar, Arizona |