Douglas, Arizona
Circa 1935
Douglas, named after mining pioneer James Douglas, is a city in Cochise County, Arizona, United States. Douglas
has a border crossing with Mexico and a history of mining.
The
population was 14,312 at the 2000 census. According to 2008 Census
Bureau estimates, the population of the city is 20,316.
The city of Douglas was established in 1901 when the Phelps Dodge
Company decided to locate a copper smelter on the banks of Whitewater
Draw in southern Cochise County. With its close proximity to the border,
relative lack of law enforcement, and the politically unstable
conditions in Mexico, Douglas quickly gained a reputation as a wide
open, "anything goes" town. The problem was brought under control
through better municipal organization coupled with the efforts of
Captain Tom Rynning and his Arizona Rangers. In 1902, Captain Rynning
moved the headquarters of the Arizona Rangers to Douglas because the
majority of the problems being encountered by his 30 man Ranger force
were in this area. He later stated, "I've been in many a tough town in
my day from Deadwood to Tombstone, but I've never met up with a harder
formation than Douglas was when we made it the Arizona Rangers home
corral there in 1902."
In 1915/1916, Douglas was the scene of bloody fighting involving the
American and Mexican armies and Francisco "Pancho" Villa.
Douglas still maintains a reputation as an
"anything goes" town where the illicit trafficking of illegal aliens and
narcotics is concerned. On May 28, 1924, Congress passed the Labor
Appropriation Act of 1924, officially establishing the U.S. Border
Patrol for the purpose of securing the borders between inspection
stations. They mandated that Douglas be one of the initial locations for
posting the new personnel who were then called Border Patrol Inspectors
rather than Agents. Prior to the establishment of the Patrol, Mounted
Inspectors performed the double duties of manning the Douglas Port of
Entry and "line riding" on horseback.
2024 description
Douglas, a city in Cochise County, Arizona, lies in the Sulphur
Springs Valley and shares a border crossing with Agua Prieta, Mexico.
With a population of 16,531 as of the 2020 Census, Douglas has a rich
history of mining and settlement.
The area was first settled by
the Spanish in the 18th century, with Presidio de San Bernardino
established in 1776 and abandoned in 1780. The U.S. Army later
established Camp San Bernardino nearby in the 19th century, followed by
Camp Douglas in 1910.
Douglas was founded as an American smelter
town, to treat the copper ores of nearby Bisbee, Arizona. The town is
named after mining pioneer Dr. James Douglas and was incorporated in
1905.[5] Two copper smelters operated at the site. The Calumet and
Arizona Company Smelter was built in 1902. The Copper Queen operated in
Douglas from 1904 until 1931, when the Phelps Dodge Corporation
purchased the Calumet and Arizona Company and took over their smelter.
The Calumet and Arizona smelter then became the Douglas Reduction Works.
Douglas was the site of the Phelps-Dodge Corporation Douglas Reduction
Works until its closure in 1987. The smoke stacks of the smelter were
not taken down until January 13, 1991. The town was a site of the
Arizona Copper Mine Strike of 1983.
Douglas has had its share of
notable events, including the fatal shooting of bar owner Lorenzo "Lon"
Bass by Arizona Ranger William W. Webb in 1903. In 1916, Pancho Villa
threatened to attack the town after his defeat at the Second Battle of
Agua Prieta.
In 1926, missing evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson
was found near Agua Prieta and brought to Douglas, sparking significant
media attention and a tourism boom as her story of kidnapping and escape
was investigated.
In 1989, the Sinaloa Cartel built a
drug-smuggling tunnel from Agua Prieta to Douglas, discovered in 1990.
This prompted a shift in cartel operations to other areas like Tijuana
and San Diego. A border wall now physically separates Douglas from Agua
Prieta, constructed under President George W. Bush’s administration.
See also:
• Article ''Burning
the Bodies of Dead Bandits at Columbus, N. M.'
• US Border Station
Douglas
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