Desert Visions and the Making of Phoenix, 1860-2009

3 Shaping the Modern American City: Social Construction

58 Part I There was a time when Arizona was known only for its . . . cowboys, Indians, cactus, and lawlessness, [but] today it is best known for its health-giving climate, for its wondrous scenery, for its mines of wealth, and for its great agricultural valley of the Salt River. It is no longer the frontier—the sweeping wave of civilization has covered it. The cactus has been thrust back, and the plain has been made a garden. . . . Life and property are as safe as in any other part of the Union.1 Similarly, after lauding the physical, cultural, and educational facilities of Phoenix, an ad in a local paper asked whether the reader knew “that we do not carry pistols?” And Valley boosters often invoked an earlier report by New York Tribune editor Whitelaw Reid stating that the Valley was quite civilized and not violent.2 Such efforts were not entirely successful, since this lawless image had been projected countless times in forms like dime novels or traveling Wild West shows, and since publicity for tourism even made some use of the image. The more serious and immediate issues for Phoenicians were the same ones confronting many cities across the nation. A flourishing combination of saloons, gambling, and prostitution challenged the law and affronted the standards of community leaders. Some reformers opposed these vices on moral and religious grounds, condemning the behavior of participants. Others placed more emphasis on the societal consequences, regarding such conduct as socially regressive, as wasteful, perhaps, and certainly as retarding the progress of civilization. Still others feared this might create a bad image of the city, dissuading people from moving there and possibly obstructing statehood.3 Thus, Phoenicians viewed these issues partly in terms of current local conditions: the expansion of vice activities in Phoenix and concerns about external perceptions of their town. National developments, like the appearance of large brewing corporations and their links with local saloons, contributed to the fears. But Phoenicians also shared in the rising national tide of moral qualms about the nature of American society. This encompassed manyissuesinvolvingthefamily,children,andminoritygroups,ithighlighted sexual misconduct, and it concentrated on the evils of liquor and the saloon. The moral reform activities of Phoenicians in the Progressive Era were both consciouslyandunconsciouslyinfluencedbythoselargernationalpatterns,as their largely successful efforts paralleled what was occurring in many different places across the nation.4 The organization of antiliquor and antivice forces in Phoenix began with the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) in 1884 and was Recto 59 extended by the Good Templars and Salvation Army during the next decade. Other groups bolstered this movement. The Fortnightly Club organized in 1900, becoming the Phoenix Women’s Club in 1901, and over the next several decades was active in numerous reform campaigns, including those combating vice. The Anti-Saloon League, which first organized in Arizona in Scottsdale but did not become active until 1909, lobbied local and territorial governments and coordinated the activities of the various antisaloon forces, particularlychurches.Theseantivicecampaignersworkedattheterritorialand especially the local level, and they adopted multiple approaches, attempting to secure legislation, have laws enforced, and persuade voters to act.5 Antivice efforts effectively began in 1900, when the Phoenix Common Council raised the annual saloon license fee from $100 to $200. Pursuing a second track, the following year it banned women from operating, working in, or patronizing saloons, and in subsequent years city ordinances attempted to exclude minors by setting a curfew and by criminalizing the sale of liquor to a minor. In 1906 the council boosted the license fee to a hefty $1,000, and a few years later required that license renewal petitions be supported by a majority of nearby property owners. Earlier territorial legislation had done little, partly because it was unenforced. A weak Sunday closing ordinance was replaced by aclearstatutein1907,whichwasenforced.Evenmoresignificant,in1909both the territorial legislature and the city council passed strict measures banning gambling and excluding women from saloons. This action effectively ended Figure 3.1 The Palace Saloon—one of many on Washington Street. Source: Herb and Dorothy McLaughlin Collection, Arizona State University Libraries. 60 Part I gambling in Phoenix, but while it removed prostitution from saloons, it did not entirely eliminate that practice from the city. A final measure redefining saloons was the 1909 ordinance that prohibited separate rooms in saloons, as well as tables and chairs, and required that any passerby have an uninhibited view inside a saloon (figure...