A Brief History of Mesa, Arizona

Diversity in Mesa’s Early History

The present day Salt River Pima-Maricopa, descendents of the Hohokam, were in the Valley long before the Mormons arrived. Earlier mention was made of the canals and their friendship with Daniel Webster Jones. Anna Moore Shaw has written A Pima Past, which describes their culture and social life.

The first African-American family, the McPhersons, arrived in 1905. Dr. James Livingston, a Black veterinarian came before 1910; other African-Americans who arrived before 1920 were the Kemp, Moore, Hall, McKelvy, and Ferguson families.

Chinese and Japanese immigrants were farmers and business owners in Mesa, mostly arriving about 1910. Willie Wong, the mayor of Mesa from 1992-1996 and the first Asian-American mayor of a major city, is the descendent of such a family. The Lees, Yees, and Homs were other Chinese families here near the turn of the century. Early Japanese included the Ikeda, Ishikawa, Okazaki, Horiba, Sugino and Nishida families.

Hispanics were in the area at least by the early 1890's; the Aros, Candelaria, Castro, Garcia, Rivera and (Police Chief) Mendoza families were residents.