Charles Debrille Poston
| Charles D. Poston | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives from Arizona Territory | |
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In office December 5, 1864 – March 3, 1865 |
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| Preceded by | None (new territory) |
| Succeeded by | John Noble Goodwin |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
April 20, 1825 Elizabethtown, Kentucky |
| Died | June 24, 1902 (aged 77) Phoenix, Arizona Territory |
| Nationality | American |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse(s) | Margaret Haycraft (1848–1884) Martha Tucker (married 1885) |
| Religion | Zoroastrianism |
Charles Debrille Poston (April 20, 1825 – June 24, 1902) was an American explorer, prospector, author, politician, and civil servant. He is referred to as the "Father of Arizona" due to his efforts lobbying for creation of the territory. Poston was also Arizona Territory's first Delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives.
Poston was born near Elizabethtown, Kentucky to Temple and Judith Debrille Poston. His father was a printer and he served as a printer's devil. Poston was orphaned at the age of twelve, and was apprenticed to the local county clerk, Samuel Haycraft. Following his apprenticeship, he moved to Nashville, Tennessee where he clerked for the Tennessee Supreme Court while reading law. Poston married Haycraft's daughter, Margaret, in September 1848 and the couple had a daughter, Sarah Lee Poston, who reached adulthood. Margaret Poston became paralyzed on February 12, 1851, possibly from a stroke while giving birth to a second child, and was cared for by relatives until her death from cancer on February 26, 1884. On July 27, 1885, Poston married former newspaper typesetter Martha "Mattie" Tucker. The couple separated shortly afterwards, but there is no evidence they ever divorced.
Poston traveled to California as part of the Gold Rush and took a clerk position at the San Francisco Customs House in February 1851. Poston was demoted in 1853 and complained that his replacement was a professional gambler and political appointee. While at this job, he became involved with a group of French bankers interested in the lands of the recently negotiated Gadsden Purchase. In late 1853, with the bankers' backing, Poston joined with mining engineer Herman Ehrenberg to organize an expedition into the territory Mexico was expected to sell to the United States. Taking a ship from San Francisco, the two became shipwrecked near the Mexican port of Guaymas. They were then detained temporarily by Mexican authorities as suspected filibusters before heading north to the Gadsden territory. The expedition visited San Xavier del Bac and Ajo, collecting mineral samples along the way, before traveling down the Gila River. At Fort Yuma, a U.S. Army post near the confluence of the Gila and Colorado River, Poston first met the fort's commander Major Samuel P. Heintzelman. While at Fort Yuma Poston surveyed a townsite on the south side of the river a mile below the fort, at Jaeger's Ferry. Poston sold the townsite called Colorado City for $20,000 when he returned to San Francisco.
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