Coming up next on the special edition of Arizon celebrating America's 250th anniversary.

A valley Doctor keeps an eye on history with a rare collection of centur old newspapers.

Also tonight, a historian of indigenous people in the U.S.

Mexico borderlands considers the founding fathers o and a mobile museum recently tra to state in celebration of America's milestone anniversary.

Those stories and more on this special edition of Arizona Horizon.

Arizona Horizon is made possible by contributions from the Friends of Arizona PBS, members of your public television statio Good evening, and welcome to this special edition of Arizona Horizon.

I'm Ted Simo We celebrate America's 250th bir and we start with a Valley eye doctor who's keeping an eye with some rare first drafts of newspapers that date back centuries.

The collection includes a number of news accoun involving Revolutionary War even as well as a copy of the Declaration of Independen that's older than what's on disp at the National Archives.

We spoke with doctor Frank Caserta in celebration of Good to see you.

Doctor.

Thank you.

Ted, thanks for havin This is fantastic stuff.

You collect historical newspaper What in the world got you started in this?

15 years ago, I was trying to find a gift for And he's always watching the new reading the news.

And I happen to just come across an original 1865 New York Times reporting the assassination of President Lincoln, who was still alive at the time the newspaper was printed.

We found that fascinating, and it just set me on the path of collecting over the next 15 y How does one collect these thing Is there a market for them?

How does it.

Oh, yes, they're definitely is.

So there are dealers online who sell these.

You can get them There are many auction houses like Christie's and Sotheby's and Bonhams etc.

people have estate sales and sell these things.

I even have patients who come to my office and give them to me because they know I have an inte Reelecting.

Yeah.

Isn't that int Yeah.

I want to get to some of the visuals here and take a look at some of these because we got we got four that are fascinating The first one is the Battle of Lexington and Concord.

I mean, this this is from like two different vantage points.

Correct.

Absolutely.

So the American Revolution began 19th, 1775, with the Battle of Lexington and But how exactly did it start?

And who fired the first shot?

Even today, historians are not sure about th But before the smoke had even cleared, both the patriots who favored independence and those who were loyal to King the third raced to get their version of events o first, each accusing the other side of starting the hostilities and each trying to win the public support to their point of view.

So the May 13th Pennsylvania Led on the left here contains 21 sig affidavits in which eyewitnesses to the battle swore that the British fired the first without any provocation on the part of the colonists and, of course, General Gage.

Thomas Gage, the British commander in chief.

He claimed that, of course it was the colonists who fought first.

The second newspaper on the righ the June 7th, 1775 Connecticut J is quite rare in being one of the few newspape that finally printed Gage's version of events, but unfortunately for the Britis it came out significantly later than the earlier reports that already inflamed the population against the Briti and the earlier reports.

I think they had a quote from from a Redcoat throw down your arms, you villains, you rebels!

I mean, that's a quote.

Absolutely.

Yes.

You get a lot of quotes.

I'll bet you that is fantastic.

All right.

I want to get to the next one.

And this is this is Washington crossing the from the Continental Journal and Weekly Advertiser.

Yeah.

So this is one of my favorites that this particular newspaper is the only one I have ever foun or even heard of in 15 years of collecting that Prince Washington's own account of crossing the Delaware to attack the Hessians.

In fact, he describes it in great detail in a letter that he wrote the very next day, in which he explains that he was going to.

He hoped to get the crossing completed by midnight with all his men in the cannons, and then marched the nine miles in the freezing darkness to Trenton, and surprised the Hessians with an attack at 5:00.

But nothing in war ever goes as planned, right?

And he tells us on the front pag that, in fact, there was so much ice in the riv that they fell four hours behind schedule, nearly costing him the elements of surprise and the that proved to be the turning point in the war.

And it's all right there in news It is.

That is fantastic.

Okay, let's keep it moving.

Battle of Yorktown, 1781.

And that looks like a banner hea Did we see many of those back in those days?

No, in fact, hardly ever.

And this may even be the first.

So following that event, one week later, the first three newspapers to ev that news, to break that news were three newspapers in Philadelphia who all came out on the same day the October 24th, 1784.

Freeman's Journal is the most dramatic of those, and it may actually be the first headline in American history.

Isn't that interesting?

I love.

Right under the under the head s They're open to all parties, but influenced by none.

Yes.

Now banner headlines as we know them didn't actually start until about the 1 when Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst, who owned compe New York newspapers, began using and other aspects of yellow jour to attract readers and outsell each other.

Now, the Freeman's Journal here, real quickly, is was this a newspaper?

Was it a news pamphlet?

I mean, it absolutely is.

A is a newspaper with four pages And, you know, back then the newspapers were a lot smalle Paper was a very scarce and expensive commodity.

So it took a monumental event li to inspire and justify the use of that much space on the front pag Speaking of monumental events, and I mentioned this in the intr You got a declaration of indepen that's older than what you see in Washington at the archives.

I actually have five copies of The Gracious, but this is the oldest one.

And so on the night of July 4th, the Continental Congress asked their official printer, John Dunlap, to print 200 broadside copies of the declarat 26 of those still exist, 25 are in institutions.

Only one is in private hands.

But just 72 hours later, he printed on the front page of his newspaper.

And on page three is a call to the first public reading ever of the declaration, which was to be held that date.

Independence Hall then called the state House under the Liberty Bell, and this was hand delivered to this printer by Jef and Adams.

Correct.

I you know, I've tried to pin do exactly who it was.

And there's a little bit of ques about that, a little bit of what might have Jefferson.

It might have been Ad I'm not entirely sure as to who did it, but he was the official printer of the Continental Congress.

John Dunlap was the printer.

Yeah.

And yes, he was the offici He was their printer.

You know, this is this.

I could see where this collectin would be really something, but i Do you have a white whale?

Is there something that you really, really want that you haven't got yet that I I could I could probably list quite a few.

One would be, for example, the September 1787 first printing of the US Constitution, also in the Pennsylvania Packet, the same newspaper.

Yes, that one I haven't been able to find.

But I do have others with the Constitution on the fro Later you've got the Titanic Pearl Har Germany surrendering in 1945, ci Every event in American history that you can think of.

I probably have something that you have time to work on.

I including mine, because you are my eye doctor.

I just want to make sure everyone knows that and clear th Thank you so much.

Thanks.

Thank you for coming.

And this is absolutely fascinati We really appreciate it.

Thank you.

Ted.

You bet.

The autumn were mostly farmers.

We don't have like, a war societ We had to transition into having a war society because of the enemies that were attacking us.

That's a new thing that came to us with the America So this is a traditional work cl that's made out of Ironwood.

If you know Ironwood, it's a very strong woo This is one of the old weapons.

And this was used by the bravest because it's hand-to-hand.

It's close combat with the with the shield and a w And so there's a whole ceremony warfare to take care of yourself And that's one of the things that was lacki the American time, is we lost that ceremony to take ca that came back from war.

So we have a lot of men, even in the modern wars, where we're trying to regain a ceremony to take care of them, you know, clean them from what they've don and have them be good in the community again.

As Americans celebrate the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United St some in Arizona are questioning just who the true Founding Fathers are in this state, and how those Founding fathers should be recognized.

We learn more from Morris Cranda an associate professor of histor at ASU and a citizen of the Yavapai Apa nation of Camp Birdie.

When I say the word, the phrase founding fathers, what does that mean to you?

So a few weeks ago, I was in Philadelphia for a history conference.

And that kind of question is eas You just look around and historic buildings everywher especially the old part of town, Benjamin Franklin's gray or walked by it.

But in a place like Arizona, we're thinking about 250 years since the founding, what Founding fathers means.

And, you know, the sort of maybe the joke answer would be nothing in Arizona.

But the reality is those were important times here in Arizona as well, even if it was not part of the United States.

And so we have to turn our gaze when a different colonial power was nominally in charge in Arizo and that was Spain.

Yes.

And maybe think about Spanish individuals associated with the Spanish military and go and the Catholic Church, and then on the other side, indi founding fathers.

And so when we kind of expand our gaze a little bit, we come up with a different idea of who the founders of Arizona might be, who was here as far as indigenous people, who was here, how many folks wer Was it stable?

Was it migration?

What was going on in 1776 around Everybody who's here now was her This is.

Arizona's been an indigenous hom since time immemorial, we would say, since before recorded memory.

And so we had Apache peoples.

We had Yavapai peoples, Havasupai wallabies, hopis, autu atoms, posh, all of these tribal who are here now.

We're here at that time, and the vast majority of Arizona was indigenous territory.

The Spanish line of settlement did not go farther north than Tu It ended at Tucson.

And so we think about it that wa Only the extreme south of Arizona was in outside and only nominally so.

Even there, you know, we think about democracy a lot with America.

250.

The relationship between indigenous people and democracy, consensus, democracy, representation, these sorts of things, what was happening then and post-colonial, did it c Did it talk to us about.

Yeah, y Democracy, I think, has been a term that's sort of been been monopol We think of it in terms of voting and elections and that kind of thing.

Indigenous communities historically have been very demo Governing is done through consen Town councils of community elders and stakeholders within indigenous communities get together and discuss issues, and only take a decision when consensus is reached.

I mean, that's very democratic in principle.

Those communities that were controlled by Spanish authorities, mission communities primarily located by Spanish missions, they had systems of government that were instituted there by Sp And they said, you need to have a town council with elected officers with what's called like a gobern a governor and town council members within that comm And so they had what we might call elections or a form of election.

Although the Spaniards allowed a pretty high degree of adaptati by those indigenous communities, so often community leaders would just choose the officers so they weren't elections in the sense of casting a ballot or raising y So.

So there are different forms of democracy, even in the late 18th century Ar that we think of the concept of citizenship.

What was that like in 1776?

Was it a complex kind of thing, or was it kind of You figured out you were here.

You were there.

We're not togeth How did that work?

Yeah, I mean, community membership and what we might call citizensh with an indigenous community.

You were a citizen or you were a member of that com by virtue of your relations, who your parents were.

You were a member of a clan, typically, and a family, and then a larger community grou But but when Spain comes in, they have different views of cit and who belongs.

And sometimes that had to do with military service.

People who served in the Spanish military were considered citizens of Spain.

But then there was also the subject relationship.

So the king back in Spain, back in Madrid, had his subjects in the Americas and indigenous people found their way into that relati in different ways.

Ultimately, Spain declares indigenous peoples citizens of S Yes.

And then Mexico continues that t But but there are different laye And also to be a citizen in a place like Arizona, which is the far flung northern frontier of the Spanish dominion.

It doesn't mean the same thing as being a citizen in a place like Mexico City or Madrid or Ba Last question I could talk to you all day abou This is really fascinating stuff For those celebrating 250 years of the United States.

What do you want them to remembe Especially those of us who are o Arizona was a place of turmoil during the second half of the 18th century, and 17 Doesn't really mean as much in Arizona as it would in the United States to the east But things are happening.

The Presidio of Tucson is established, right?

1775 but there are indigenous re against Spanish authority.

1751 There's the Jesuit expulsio Spain decides the Jesuit order is not loyal and expels them.

And then the.

The mission at Yuma is destroyed by indigenous people in 1781.

And so there's a lot going on, a lot of turmoil.

This is just fascinating.

Maurice Crandall again, American Council of Learned Soci teaches here at ASU.

Thank you so much for joining us This is a fascinating discussion I really appreciate it.

Absolute Thank you.

You I'm Miles O'Brien and I'm searching for solutions.

Can we adapt?

Yes.

There is no c Let's make the bold thinkers.

With a resolved assault coming in August to Arizona PBS.

We.

In the 1770s, when the American Revolution rumbled thousands of miles away, the Healy River flowed wide and strong through what we now call Arizona.

For the ultimate autumn, the river people.

The healer was Generations of alchemist autumn farmers built to intricate network of irrigation canals, including their ancestors.

The whole gum they harvested from fertile rive and fished in its waters.

The river wasn't just a source o it was central to ceremony, trade and identity.

But over the next century, change came swiftly.

As settlers arrived in the 1800s, upstream dams and diversions began to slow the flow.

Much of the Healy's water was cleaned before it could reach the autumn's fiel The once thriving agricultural system of the river people suffered devastating loss Through the 20th century.

Deliver was reshaped by reservoirs, canals and legal battles over water rights.

Today, the Gila still flows, but differently.

Decades of advocacy has restored some water to the autumn, allowing them to revive traditional crops and cultural p The river remains a reminder of resilience, adapta and the deep ties between water and people in the desert.

From a lifeline in 1770s to a contested resource in modern Arizona, the hero River story is more than geography.

It's a testament to survival.

And for the river people, it slow, carries the past, nourishes the present, and shapes the future.

A mobile exhibition recently crossed the state in celebration of America's 250th anniversary.

The Road to 250 Traveling Museum was designed to help generate enthusiasm and civic pr by bringing history and civic reflection to communities across Arizona.

We spoke with museum docent Steve and Laura Tarek, the executive director of the Arizona America 250 Commission.

Laura, I'm going to start with y the America 250 Commission.

What So, governor appointed commission housed out of the secretary of State's office.

And we have the honor of coordinating and planning statewide public programing in honor of the semi centennial.

Our 250th.

Yeah, yeah.

All right.

Steve.

And now the road to 250 travelin You get to define that.

I do.

So we put together a basically a mobile tour, which the centerpiece was the Arizona Liberty Bell tha sitting out at the Capitol right in a newest state right now.

And so, yeah, literally got to travel with that bell across across the whole sta How big was it a big truck.

Was it a what kind of.

Yeah, it was a tractor trailer.

Yeah.

It was really.

And it actually there we go.

Now we're saying yeah.

Yes.

It actually expanded to.

So there we go.

Yeah.

That was and you traveled all ov All right Laura, this thing, does this thing ever break down?

I mean, did you.

It did not brea Look at it.

Didn't break down.

W I will tell a funny story that when we hit 100 in March, we gave those air compressors, the AC unit, a run for their mon so I'll bet.

And there's the Liberty Bell aga And this was from February throu Correct?

All right.

Laura, what?

How did you get decide what to put in there with national history.

State history, the whole nine.

How do you condense Arizona and American history?

You know, it's a unique challeng We worked with the Arizona Historical Society, the Arizona memory project, museum professionals, other stakeholders to really put something forward that would be inviting and reflective and invite pride in Arizona.

And we were just so thrilled with the response and the panels, videos.

You have interactive stuff in th Well, we had one side was dedicated to the national kind of story, and the other side was the Arizo On one side, we had an area where people can about moments that made them as Arizonans or A And we've got we got the best responses from people across the state.

Talk more about those responses.

What did you hear?

We heard just a lot of a lot of pride in our country, a pride in being Arizona and really loving our climate.

That was that was another one.

Just just pride in being an Amer and which was so refreshing to m And again, Laura, this is like making the m accessible, like hands on one on to everyone in the state.

That's the goal here.

That was really important to Sec Fontes, chair of our commission, that this is something that, you you don't just come to the state to see.

This is something that comes to no matter where you are in the s there's something to celebrate.

There's a way to get involved.

And we were so proud to be able to take this.

And there was like history and storytelling as well.

How did that work?

Well, I think, you know, one of the things with Steve men the moments that made us.

We also had our dear America Love Arizona postcards o where people could share a refle of what they love about our state, their their thoughts on the semi centennial.

And we have those displayed at the state capitol, state park just all over the place.

And we've archived some permanen in the Arizona memory project.

And those stories are so meaning People talking about long histories of military servi and what brought them out to Arizona or family legacies here, or what they hope for the future And those are magical cards to r when you when you travel throughout the s and you hit a certain county.

Was there a did you go to a particular place Did you have something focused and targeted?

It all depended, but we were at libraries a lot.

We were at, I don't know, convention type pl It's just all dependent on the c Downtown.

Tombstone.

That was a That was incredible.

Tombstone.

Yeah.

That thing in downtown Tucson.

T I mean, holy smokes, it was very dirty after.

Yeah, but when it still stick with you on this one, when you first started, what did you expect and did what you expect occur?

Yeah, I, I expected it to be pop just because of what was in it.

It was, you know, I was fortunate enough to be part of the team that put stuff inside of it.

And so I think that that was a really kind of a call to people to come you know, in every county was di Every every city had their own c and their their own ways of doing things and coming back I feel so much more American.

I guess it's the way to say it.

Yes.

It was a great experience.

What about your expectations, La Well, I really hoped that people would get excited about i and see themselves in it.

That was one of our most importa is that this is something that all Arizo can see themselves in and want to be a part of.

And those were some of the really special moments in the tr when someone would come in and have a personal story, like on the on the military panel, we talked about USS Arizona and someone coming in and saying you know, my grandfather served or I have a family connection to Those moments were so connected and so powerful.

So I would say, honestly, it exceeded my expecta I mean, we just had such positive feedba and especially bringing it to co across Arizona.

You know, we heard the most wonderful thin from our host sites.

You know, well, we never get things like t or thank you so much for bringing it here.

That was so special.

That's grea That's true.

Hey, last question here, Steve, the mobile museum now will ever be mobile again.

That's a great question.

That's probably more for for Lau Parts of it will.

Parts of it will.

We're working on sending those panels around to the entire statewide library so that it can live on.

All right, you guys, congratulat I sound like you had a great tim And a lot of good was done.

Amazing time.

Good to have you both here.

Thank you for joining.

Thank you And that is it for now.

I'm Ted Simons, thank you so much for joining us on this special edition of Arizona Horizon.

You have a great evening.