Cancelled postal card mailed from Flagstaff, Ariz. on January 18, 1889, although the cancel date is not completely legible. F.F. McMillian arrived in 1876 and built a corral and shack near the present northern city limits because of a fine spring there. A group of scouts awaiting the arrival of settlers camped nearby. They stripped a lofty pine of its branches and bound an American flag to the top on July 4, 1876 in honor of Independence Day. In 1881 postmaster Brannen had been credited with suggesting that the new town on the Atlantic and Pacific railroad be named "Flagstaff" for the flagpole which stood beside the nearby spring. Photo shows a lumber camp near Flagstaff in 1890.
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