This memorial is commemorating and honoring the first women settlers in Arizona. It was commissioned by the local chapter of the Daughters of Utah Pioneers. Though it was commission by a Mormon women’s group, it is dedicated to all pioneer women. Strong women who went through a long and hard journey and settled in the harsh desert.
The location at the Wesley Bolin Plaza, next to the Arizona state capital, was chosen by the governor itself in 1968. It is the only memorial dedicated to women at the Wesley Bolin Plaza, out of 30 memorials. Among the memorials in the plaza are – Ten Commandments Memorial, Rev. Doctor Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, Navajo Codetalkers Memorial.
The plaque on the stone pedestal reads –
“Before 1875 hundreds of heroic women came to Arizona from the east and south. From this group came Arizona’s first schoolteachers and the publisher of the first newspaper.
In 1876 a group of pioneer women and their families came from the north, ferried their covered wagons across the Colorado River. With indomitable bravery and strength they helped make the desert blossom into a green oasis. Their descendants pioneered many settlements throughout Arizona. They displayed great courage and self-denial, which is the rich heritage of their posterity.”
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