Seems there were two first U.S. flags to fly over Tucson. According to history reports, the first U.S. flag to fly in Tucson was unfurled by a young Mormon soldier on Dec. 16, 1846. The second first flag unfurled followed the Gadsden Purchase in 1853.
The site of the first flag flying was a Mexican garrison in the Old Pueblo and the soldier raising Old Glory was part of the Mormon Battalion. The battalion was en route from Council Bluffs to San Diego during the war with Mexico.
Approaching Tucson, the 448 soldiers of the battalion encountered a force of 200 Mexicans in the Spanish fort here. Col. Philip St. George Cooke ordered its surrender. But, no battle ensued, the Mexican garrison simply evacuated the walled adobe village they occupied. The American flag was removed when the Mormon soldiers left.
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1961 Jack Sheaffer photo
Bill J. Hogan placed a flag on the monument, assisted by his brother Tom.
In 1920, a stone monument with a commemorative plaque was placed on the site by the Daughters of the American Revolution. The location of the marker was in the northeast corner of the El Presidio Park.
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1958 Star illustration
The flag and its makeshift standard.
Following the U.S. acquisition of this area in the Gadsden Treaty of 1853, the Stars and Stripes were flown over a Tucson that now was part of the United States. Again, according to legend that first flag was hoisted up on a improvised flagpole made of two ocotillo branches spliced together.
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