Map of Pinedale CDP, Arizona

Pinedale is an unincorporated community in Navajo County, Arizona, United States. The population was 487 at the 2010 census. The elevation is approximately 6,500 ft (2,000 m) and it is part of the Mogollon Rim mountain range.

Pinedale was first known as Mortensen, after Niels Petersen who established a Mormon settlement there in 1879. It was also known as Percheron, for the breed of stallions which Mortensen had brought with him. By 1888, however, the settlement was called Pinedale.

Pinedale CDP overview:
Name:	Pinedale CDP
LSAD Code:	57
LSAD Description:	CDP (suffix)
State:	Arizona
County:	Navajo County
Total Area:	9.68 sq mi (25.07 km²)
Land Area:	9.68 sq mi (25.07 km²)
Water Area:	0.00 sq mi (0.00 km²)
Total Population:	482
Population Density:	49.80/sq mi (19.23/km²)
ZIP code:	85901
Area code:	928
FIPS code:	0455840
Website:	www.pinedaleheritage.org

Online Interactive Map

Click on to view map in "full screen" mode.

Pinedale online map. Source: Basemap layers from Google Map, Open Street Map (OSM), Arcgisonline, Wmflabs. Boundary Data from Database of Global Administrative Areas.

Pinedale location map. Where is Pinedale CDP?

Pinedale location on the U.S. Map. Where is Pinedale CDP. — Pinedale location on the U.S. Map.

Pinedale location on the Arizona map. Where is Pinedale CDP. — Location of Pinedale in Arizona.

History

In 1879, the first permanent settlers, the Petersen and Mortensen families, settled along the “Mortensen Wash” located east of what was known as “Snowflake Camp,” as residents of Snowflake camped out there to harvest timber. The large virgin pine forests in the area furnished lumber to build many homes in Taylor and Snowflake. The original settlement came to be known as “Mortensen”. Most of the early settlers to come here were Mormon pioneers who came from Utah to help settle Arizona, and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints became a central fixture in the community.

Some of the early families to settle here were: Mortensen, Petersen, Brewer, Bryan, Dalton, Lewis, Crandell, Beebee, Burke, Owens, Cheney, Jackson, Webb, Thomas, McClever, Johnson and others. Many descendants of these early pioneers continue to live in Pinedale.

In the fall of 1880, brothers James and Erastus Willard Mortensen (sons of Niels) secured a government contact to grade a railbed for the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad between Joseph City, Arizona and Winslow; and later secured an additional contract to extend the rail bed to Canyon Diablo. They assembled several work teams from the Mortensen settlement as well as the communities of Snowflake and Taylor for the work. While they were away, an Apache uprising was launched in the area in September 1881; most of the families retreated to Snowflake and Taylor for safety until the US Cavalry overcame the Apaches and they returned to the area in October 1881, about the same time that the rail bed grading contracts were completed.

An Indian uprising in 1881 sent most families to Taylor for safety. One band of renegade Apaches destroyed the belongings of Lyman Hancock after he had fled with his family, but the Indian Wars were mostly over. The people came back to Pinedale to stay.

In the latter part of the winter of 1882, brothers James and Willard Mortensen went to Illinois and bought back two Percheron Stallions and three mares with the intention of establishing a breeding farm. In June 1883, the Apaches again broke out, and one of the bands came through in the vicinity of the Mortensen ranch and three head of horses were stolen from a small pasture, including one of the Percheron mares, and other horses were stolen from the range. None were ever recovered. That fall the Mortensens traded what Percheron horses they had left to Miner Prisby for his band of horses and cattle.

Cowboys resented the settlers who fenced off the open range lands. The Aztec Land & Cattle Company, formed in 1884/1885 to raise cattle along much of the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad right-of-way in Arizona, especially caused problems in what came to be known as the Pleasant Valley War. The company regularly led assaults against the local settlers – harassment, driving off livestock, burning down building, and physical violence. Niels Petersen and others were severely beaten. These actions so threatened the settlement that settlers had to regularly carry arms to defend themselves and their families until the hostilities finally came to an end in 1892.

The name of the town was changed to “Pinedale” in 1887.

In 1889, President Wilford Woodruff of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints called several of the Mortensen and Peterson families to relocate to Mexico and establish a Mormon colony later named Colónia Dublán, about 60 miles south of the US border in Chihuahua State.