Winfield Scott (1837-1910) was a major and later a chaplain in the U.S. Army. After recovering from wounds suffered in battle, Maj. Scott began a westward migration from his home in Michigan through Kansas (where a town bears his name), through Colorado and California building churches and meeting houses to meet the needs of the inhabitants. 

Finally arriving in Arizona, Major Scott staked out his homestead in what is presently “Old Town” Scottsdale.  He planted cottonwood trees on his 320 acres and then left to attend to the spiritual needs of army men and their families in the Tucson, Arizona area, where the marauding Apaches were terrorizing ranchers and soldiers. He retired from service in 1898 and took title to the land in Scottsdale in 1891.

He served on the first school board in 1896-97. It was during this time that the school district and the community needed a name and there was “no quibbling among members” that it should be Scottsdale, after the “creator of the colony.”

Major Winfield Scott Chapter

Scottsdale, Arizona

About Major Scott

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Established on October 4, 2008, Major Winfield Scott is the 38th chapter in Arizona.

In 1899, Winfield Scott served in the Arizona Territorial Legislature and was eventually elected Speaker of the House. While serving in the legislature, he lobbied for Arizona’s first anti-gambling legislation and prohibition in the territory. In addition to his political service to the territory, he looked for ways to colonize the area for health reasons, “obtaining testimonial letters from prominent men, particularly those in the medical profession.”

 

Information obtained from “The Authentic History of Scottsdale, Arizona.”