Key Concepts

• Railroads are a foundational part of Santa Cruz County’s history and are the basis for its initial founding and economic development
• The U.S. Government bought what are now Santa Cruz County, Southern Arizona, and Southern New Mexico through the 1853-1854 Gadsden Purchase from Mexico to construct railroads between California and the U.S. South
• Rivalry between the Southern Pacific Railroad Company (building east from Southern California) and the Santa Fe Railroad Company (building west from the Midwest) led to the Santa Fe RR building the first U.S.-Mexico railway crossing through Nogales
• The Nogales border crossing made the “Southern Pacific de México” or “Ferrocarril del Pacifico” an important trade and cultural corridor between the U.S. and the Mexican West Coast

Key Terms

• Gadsden (or Mesilla) Purchase (1853-1854) – the U.S. purchase of land from Mexico which includes what is now Southern New Mexico and Arizona, and all of present-day Santa Cruz County
• Surveyor – a professional who makes precise measurements of land
• Investor – a person who provides money to a project in the hope of future profit
• Southern Pacific Railroad Company – now known as Union Pacific, was one of the most important railway companies in the U.S. West and built the first railroads into Arizona from 1877-1880
• Atchinson, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad Company – also known as the “Santa Fe Railway,” the ATSF was the Southern Pacific’s rival and built the first U.S.-Mexico rail line via Nogales to profit from Mexican trade
• Stock – an investment representing partial ownership in a company which is used to raise funds for the company
• New Mexico and Arizona Railroad – built by the Santa Fe Railway Company from 1880-1882 from Benson, Arizona, via Patagonia and Rio Rico to Nogales, Arizona, as the U.S. portion of the first U.S.-Mexico railroad; the Rio Rico-Benson portion of the route is now abandoned
• Sonoran Railway – built by the Santa Fe Railway Company from 1880-1882 from the Port of Guaymas, Sonora, via Hermosillo to Nogales, Arizona, as the Mexican portion of the first U.S.-Mexico railroad; most of this route is still in daily use
• Southern Pacific de México – the U.S.-owned subsidiary of the Southern Pacific in Mexico which constructed the first railway linking Nogales with Guadalajara; the Mexican Government took over its Mexican rail lines in 1951; passenger service ended in 1998 and today the rail line is owned by Ferromex.

Introduction

Railroads have a special place in the history of Arizona’s Santa Cruz County. The construction of the first international railroad between the United States and Mexico crossed the border at Nogales and tied both countries together in the 1880s. The railroad’s presence made it possible for the movement of people and goods to and from Santa Cruz County from Mexico and the United States. This movement of peoples gave this area the population and economic activity it needed for the Arizona Territorial Legislature to create Santa Cruz County in 1899 (separating it from the southern corner of Pima County). The county’s railway network expanded in the following decades, but the rise of automobiles as the preferred way of transportation led to the decline of train service, with passenger service in the county finally ending in 1962. In the ups and downs of this story it is key how railroads have been a significant part of Santa Cruz County’s history.

Railroads Bring Santa Cruz County into the United States

Before the first international railroad between Mexico and the United States was constructed via Nogales, the area which became Santa Cruz County was already an important (although much less trafficked) corridor for human movement. Indeed, ancient indigenous peoples like the Hohokam of Arizona and the Trincheras people of Sonora, Mexico, traveled on foot following waterways like the Santa Cruz River and even the Nogales Wash. Although the Nogales Wash is heavily contaminated and dangerous today because of the trash and sewage in it (primarily flowing from Nogales, Sonora), before the 1900s this waterway was an important stream flowing south to north. Formed in the hills of what is now the Nuevo Nogales neighborhood of Nogales, Sonora, the Nogales Wash (Arroyo Los Nogales) created the natural pass where the border crossing and the downtown of both cities are located today.

Although difficult to tell today because of how buildings, the railroad, and streets block the view (and because the Arroyo Los Nogales runs underground in this part of the two cities), the natural pass between Ambos Nogales was the easiest path for moving along this area. The availability of water made it safer for indigenous people like the Hohokam and Trincheras to travel north and south either into what is now Arizona or the Sonora gulf coast. Archaeological evidence has shown how the Hohokam and Trincheras people followed the Nogales Wash corridor where the present-day railroad between the two cities crosses today. The railroad would later follow other historic footpaths used by indigenous peoples. Many of these corridors following the Nogales Wash, Sonoita Creek, and the Santa Cruz River were then used by Spanish and Mexican settlers from the 1690s to 1880s.

Railroads are a major reason that our border community exists today. After the U.S. conquered California and New Mexico during the 1846-1848 U.S.-Mexico War, the U.S. government wanted to create a railroad network connecting the East Coast with the West Coast. The land the U.S. took from Mexico, however, did not allow for a convenient route to California from the southern slave states, angering many politicians from the U.S. South. As a response, the U.S. pressured Mexico into selling it more land in the 1853-1854 Gadsden/Mesilla Purchase, the sale of land which included what is now Southern New Mexico and Arizona, including all of present-day Santa Cruz County. Surveyors, professionals who make precise measurements of land, soon came to Southern Arizona seeking the best routes for constructing railroads which might connect this region with major U.S. cities.

Several decades passed between the 1850s and 1880s before any construction began, but the discovery of silver and copper in the area made many investors, persons who provide money to a project in the hope of future profit, excited about the possibilities. U.S.-Mexican railway? Choo choo!

Railroads in Arizona and Santa Cruz County finally became possible only after the U.S. railway network reached the U.S. West. In 1869 the first transcontinental railroad linking the Midwest with Northern California was completed with a famous golden spike ceremony at Promontory Point, Utah. By 1876 the Southern Pacific Railroad Company extended train service into Los Angeles, opening what was at that time a small pueblito of mainly Mexican vaquero families into a major industrial city. The Southern Pacific Railroad, now known as Union Pacific, was one of the most important railway companies in the U.S. West and built the first railroads into Arizona.

With the support of rich investors and labor of Chinese, Irish, and Mexican workers, the Southern Pacific Railroad extended its train network east from Los Angeles across the desert into Arizona from 1877-1880. From Yuma, the Southern Pacific followed indigenous footpaths along the Gila River and then southward via the Santa Cruz River. The railroad reached Tucson on March 20, 1880. The Southern Pacific kept pushing east, creating more transcontinental railroad connections in 1881 at Deming, New Mexico and Sierra Blanca, Texas. Both new transcontinental connections had silver spike ceremonies. Arizona was now connected to the U.S. railway network.

Investors in a rival rail company, the Atchinson, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway (ATSF or Santa Fe Railroad), wanted to beat the Southern Pacific’s profits by building a railway connection between Mexico and the United States. The Santa Fe Railroad investors, mainly based all the way back east in Boston, issued stocks inviting other investors to give the company their money in the hope that the eventual U.S.-Mexican railroad would make them rich.

Although the Southern Pacific beat them to Arizona, the Santa Fe Railroad in two parts to build their U.S.-Mexico train line from 1880-1882. The New Mexico and Arizona Railroad began constructing southward from Benson and followed the San Pedro River, Sonoita Creek, the Santa Cruz River, and finally the Nogales Wash to reach Nogales. On the Mexican side, the Sonoran Railway worked northward from the Port of Guaymas via Hermosillo, Magdalena, and finally into Nogales. Many Mexican sonorenses benefitted from the jobs this project created and the technology it brought into Sonora. Engineer Ray Morley supervised much of this work on both sides of the border, which is why Nogales’s oldest street is named after him.

It was a great event when the United States and Mexico were brought together by a railroad for the first time during an October 25, 1882, ceremony right at the border. A silver spike was driven into the ground, symbolizing the official completion of the first cross-border U.S.-Mexican railroad. The train’s arrival led to significant economic development around Nogales. Mining and agricultural operations benefitted from the access the train gave local people to markets in Tucson and El Paso.

Railroad Golden Years and Decline

Railroads had ups and downs in the following decades. Although the Santa Fe Railroad company hoped it could beat the Southern Pacific Railroad, the Boston investors did not make the money they thought they would. They finally decided to just sell their Arizona-Sonora train lines to their Southern Pacific rivals. The Santa Fe Railroad still exists today as the Burlington, Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) Railroad. The Southern Pacific kept growing and even built a new, more direct rail line in 1910 between Nogales and Tucson following the Santa Cruz River. It also built the historic train depot in Patagonia which still stands today.

Most notably in this golden age, was the Southern Pacific’s expansion into Northwestern Mexico. The “SP” was one of the few U.S. railroads allowed to operate in Mexico and constructed the celebrated “Ferrocarril del Pacífico” between Nogales and Guadalajara. Many of the train stations the Southern Pacific de México company built from 1905-1927, such as the historic stations in Magdalena and Guaymas, Sonora, remain but are in danger of being destroyed if local residents and officials do not protect these treasures.

As the gateway to Mexico, Nogales helped make the “Southern Pacific de México” route an important economic and cultural link between the two countries. During the Mexican Revolution of the 1910s, countless mexicanos immigrated to the United States via this railroad fleeing violence. In times of peace, the railroad deepened the two countries’ connections. Mexican families continued immigrating north (many continuing on the Southern Pacific towards Los Angeles) in hopes of better jobs. Many Mexican American families in California trace their entry into the U.S. via this train and the Nogales border crossing.

On the other hand, for many White Americans, the “Southern Pacific de México” was a breathtaking way of experiencing Mexico because of the scenic train’s journey along deserts, the Mexican West Coast in Sonora and Sinaloa, followed by the incredible mountains of Nayarit and Jalisco. From Guadalajara, U.S. tourists could catch a separate train to finish their journey to Mexico City. The importation of fruit and vegetable produce from Mexico, one of Santa Cruz County’s most significant economic activities today, began during the 1910s along the Southern Pacific de México. This was first made possible by refrigerated trains which were prominently advertised by the railroad.

The rise of automobiles ended the golden age of trains in Santa Cruz County. Cars, buses, and trucks made the movement of people and goods independent of scheduled trains, especially after the 1940s. The occasional damage to the historic Nogales-Patagonia-Benson train line by summer rains eventually led to its official abandonment by the Southern Pacific between Rio Rico and Patagonia in 1929 (although several old bridges survive near Lake Patagonia and Highway 82).

Passenger service to Nogales, Arizona, also ended in 1951 and its historic Spanish Mission Revival train depot was demolished to expand the U.S. Port of Entry in 1962. Part of the reason the Southern Pacific Railroad ended passenger services to Nogales, Arizona, was that it sold the Mexican portion of the company to the Mexican Government in 1951 and was cutting back on routes to smaller cities in Arizona like Nogales and Douglas.

Santa Cruz County’s passenger trains ended in 1962 when the Southern Pacific abandoned the Patagonia-Benson line. The Patagonia Depot was almost demolished to build Highway 82 after the railroad’s closure. Passenger service to Nogales, Sonora, along Mexico’s Ferrocarril del Pacífico ended in 1998 after the Mexican Government discontinued public support of passenger trains across the country.