Editing Holbrook, Arizona (section)

=== U.S. settlements ===
After the [[Mexican–American War]] ended in 1848 the area was ceded to the United States. From 1851 to 1857 the U.S. Army sent three expeditions along the 35th parallel, the third led by Lt. Beale who created a {{convert|10|ft|0}} wide wagon road.  The area was known as [[Navajo Springs, Arizona|Navajo Springs]], after a spring a dozen miles northeast of Holbrook. Soon afterwards a store and saloon were established at the confluence of the [[Rio Puerco]] and Little Colorado Rivers two miles east of Holbrook, and the area became known as Horsehead Crossing.

In 1876, [[Mormon]]s emigrated from Utah and began settlements near Horsehead Crossing on both the Little Colorado and Rio Puerco rivers. During 1881 and 1882, railroad tracks were laid down and a railroad station was built to supply wood and water and to freight supplies south to [[Fort Apache, Arizona|Fort Apache]]. The community was then named Holbrook after the first engineer of the [[Atlantic and Pacific Railroad]]. The railroad sold a million acres to a Boston investment group which established the [[Aztec Land & Cattle Company|Aztec Land and Cattle Company]], better known as the [[Hashknife Outfit]]. It leased another million acres of government land and became one of the largest cattle ranches to ever exist. Holbrook became its headquarters and quickly grew into a cow-town.