Traversing the Arizona Territory
A.E. Douglass' 1894 Expedition to Establish Lowell Observatory
Lowell Observatory, located in Flagstaff, Arizona, has a rich history of astronomical research that dates to its founding in 1894. That year, the wealthy Boston mathematician Percival Lowell sent Harvard assistant Andrew Ellicott (A.E.) Douglass west in search of the ideal site for an observatory. Lowell was interested in continuing the work of Italian astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli, whose Mars observations had captured Lowell's imagination. Douglass received instructions from Harvard astronomer William Pickering on February 28. He left Boston by train for the Arizona Territory with Lowell's six-inch telescope and scientific instruments that he would use to study the atmospheric and astronomical conditions at each site.
William Pickering's instructions to A.E. Douglass, February 28, 1894. Lowell Observatory Archives (LOA).
Scrapbook pages with map of Douglass' trip west. Courtesy University of Arizona Special Collections.
After traveling west by train from Massachusetts, Douglass arrived in Benson on March 7. From there, he took a stagecoach to Tombstone where he visited three sites to evaluate the atmospheric and astronomical conditions.
Tombstone, AZ
Tombstone residents with the six-inch telescope on Reservoir Hill. Courtesy University of Arizona Special Collections.
Douglass returned to Benson on a stagecoach and caught a train to Tucson, where he tested three sites between March 11 and 16.
Tucson, AZ
Detail of illustration with the Tucson sites Douglass tested. Sentinel Peak is better known today as A Mountain and Turtleback Peak is called Tumamoc Hill.
After spending almost a week in Tucson, Douglass took a train to Tempe. He tested two sites there over the course of ten days. One station was located on Tempe Butte, adjacent to the current site of Arizona State University's Sun Devil Stadium.
Tempe, AZ
Tempe Butte. Courtesy University of Arizona Special Collections.
Douglass next took a stagecoach to Prescott, where he stayed from March 28 to April 3.
Prescott, AZ
A stagecoach used by Douglass on his trip. Courtesy University of Arizona Special Collections.
Douglass took a train from Prescott to Ash Fork on April 3 and then another train east to Flagstaff. On April 4, he set up the six-inch telescope on a mesa overlooking the Arizona Lumber and Timber Company. It was the 11th site he had tested on the trip.
Flagstaff, AZ
The Arizona Lumber and Timber Company from Site 11. LOA.
As he did during the length of his trip, Douglass sent frequent letters and telegrams to Lowell while he was testing sites in Flagstaff. He informed him of the weather, seeing conditions, local geography, and other matters such as population, hotels, and transportation.
Site 11 contour map by Douglass. "Obsy" indicates the location where the observatory was built. LOA.
On April 16, Lowell sent a letter to Douglass regarding observations of Gale's Comet. In the second paragraph, he wrote "Your telegram just received decides me; Flagstaff it is, as I shall now telegraph you." He also inquired about "a road or other conveniences."
Letter from Lowell to Douglass announcing "Flagstaff it is." April 16, 1894. LOA.
Telegram from Lowell to Douglass. "Flagstaff. Hurry preparations for domes." April 16, 1894. LOA.
Not long after word got out that Lowell had selected Flagstaff as the site for his observatory, the citizens of Flagstaff sent a letter of support to Douglass in which they pledged the title to ten or fifteen acres of land and "a good wagon road" to the top of the mesa.
Deed issued to Lowell for property to be used as the site for his observatory. LOA.
Telegram from Douglass to Lowell telling him of groundbreaking and land, April 23, 1894. LOA.
Flagstaff Mesa and observatory site looking west, April 30, 1894. LOA.
Description on the back of the photograph of Flagstaff Mesa and observatory site, April 30, 1894. LOA.
After Douglass' two-month journey through the Arizona Territory, he and Lowell finally established the site for the new observatory. Lowell borrowed an 18-inch refractor from John Brashear of Pittsburgh and a 12-inch refractor from the Harvard College Observatory. William Pickering led the effort to construct a dome in Cambridgeport, Massachusetts, and he had the pieces shipped to Flagstaff and assembled on site.
Telescope site, April 30, 1894. LOA.
Dome for the 12 and 18-inch telescopes. LOA.
The two telescopes remained in the dome on Mars Hill until March 1895, when poor observing conditions forced Lowell to cease operations and return the borrowed equipment. The dome served as a temporary home for the 24-inch Clark Telescope when it arrived in 1896 until Stanley and Godfrey Sykes built a new dome, which is still in use today.
24-inch Clark Telescope Dome. LOA.
Douglass at the 24-inch Clark Telescope. LOA.
Sources and Further Reading:
Douglass, A. E. (Andrew Ellicott), 1867-1962. Andrew Ellicott Douglass papers 1867-1962.[http://azarchivesonline.org/xtf/view?docId=ead/uoa/UAAZ072.xml]
"Flagstaff It Is - The Founding of Lowell Observatory." Arizona Memory Project. https://azmemory.azlibrary.gov/nodes/view/372
Schindler, Kevin. The Far End of the Journey: Lowell Observatory's 24-inch Clark Telescope. Flagstaff, AZ: Lowell Observatory, 2015.
"Selections from the Lowell Observatory Archives." Arizona Memory Project. https://azmemory.azlibrary.gov/nodes/view/373
Webb, George Ernest. Tree Rings and Telescopes: The Scientific Career of A.E. Douglass. Tucson: The University of Arizona Press, 1983.
