Of Mohave County...

Northwest Arizona is a land of pine forested mountains, deep canyons, fertile river valleys, and high cactus covered deserts.  It is rich in a variety of minerals: gold, silver, copper, molybdenum, turquoise and other gemstones.  The region is inhabited by shy bighorn sheep and deer, snakes, scorpions and tarantulas as well as quail and cactus wrens, antelope, coyotes and the inevitable jack rabbits.

The history of the area is as varied.  It was peopled originally by "The Forgotten Ones" and of late by the Mohave, Hualapai, Chemehuevi, Havasupai and Paiute Indians.  It attracted soldiers, missionaries, steam boaters, ranchers, railroaders, miners, merchants, schoolteachers and all of the others who helped to settle the area.

Fleet-footed Mohave Indians blazed trails or followed the ones left by their ancestors or animals.  Missionaries and Spanish soldiers searched for souls to save or gold to mine.  Wagon trains rolled through, filled with people seeking land or a new way of life.  Herds of cattle were driven through to feed the military or the new settlers.  All of these people left their footprints in time and changed the face of the land.

Named for the Mojave Natives, Arizona's first Territorial Assembly created Mohave County in 1864 as one of the four original counties.  Pah-Ute County was created from it in 1865 and was merged back into Mohave County in 1871 when much of its territory was ceded to Nevada in 1866. The county's present boundaries were established in 1881. The county is also notable for being home to a large polygamous Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints sect located in Colorado City.

Mohave County has had five county seats: Mohave City (1864–1867), Hardyville (1867–1873), Cerbat (1873–1877), Mineral Park (1877–1887), and Kingman (1887–present).

The county has a total area of 13,461 square miles, of which 13,311 square miles is land and 150 square miles is water. It is the second-largest county by area in Arizona and the fifth-largest in the contiguous United States.

This county consists of two sections divided by the Grand Canyon, with no direct land communication between them. The northern section, smaller and less populated, forms the western part of the Arizona Strip, bordering Utah and Nevada. The larger southern section borders Nevada and California across the Colorado River, which forms most of the county's western boundary. The southern section includes Kingman, the county seat, and other cities, as well as part of the Mojave Desert.

In Addition______________
 

I am M.D. Monk, your interim coordinator for Mohave County.   If you have anything to contribute, any suggestions for inclusion on the site, or simply want to send a friendly greeting, just email me!  We'd like to hear from you.

NOTE:  I do not live in Arizona but will try to help out the best I can by providing information and adding new information as it becomes available.

If you would like to adopt a county, please write contacting one of the names below: 

 Colleen Pustola, Contributors & The AZGenWeb Project. All Rights Reserved.