Early in 1879 John Campbell, a new member, from Texas, built a sawmill, in the Huachuca Mountains, that furnished a diversity of industry, from it much lumber being shipped to Tombstone.
Macdonald was a southern extension of the St. David community on the San Pedro, established in 1882 by Henry J. Horne, Jonathan Hoopes and others, and named in honor of Alexander F. Macdonald, then president of the Maricopa Stake. It was of slow growth, owing to claims upon the lands as constituting a part of the San Juan de las Boquillas y Nogales grant, later rejected. In 1913, nine miles west of St. David, was established the community of Miramonte.
Looking Toward Homes in Mexico
While the Saints were establishing themselves upon the San Pedro and
Gila, the Church authorities by no means had lost sight of the primary
object of the southern migration. January 4, 1883, Apostle Moses
Thatcher, with Elders D. P. Kimball, Teeples, Fuller, Curtis, Trejo and
Martineau, left St. David for an exploring trip into Mexico.
September 13, 1884, another party left St. David to explore the country lying south of the line, along the Babispe River, returning October 7, by way of the San Bernardino ranch, though without finding any locations considered favorable.
In November, 1884, Apostles Brigham Young, Jr., and Heber J. Grant, with a company from St. Joseph Stake, with thirty wagons, went into Sonora, where they were given a hearty welcome by the Yaqui Indians, who expressed hope of a settlement among them.
St. David was the scene of one of the most notable councils of the Church, held in January, 1885, and presided over by none other than President John Taylor, who left Salt Lake City, January 3, and whose party at St. David included also Apostles Joseph F. Smith, Erastus Snow, Brigham Young, Jr., Moses Thatcher and Francis M. Lyman, with other dignitaries of the Church. At St. David were met Jesse N. Smith, Christopher Layton, Alex. F. Macdonald and Lot Smith, presidents of the four Stakes of Arizona. The discussion at this conference appeared to have been mainly upon the Church prosecution, then in full sway, a matter not included within the purview of this work. There was determination to extend the Church settlements farther to the southward. According to Orson F. Whitney:
"In order to provide a place of refuge for such as were being hunted and hounded, President Taylor sent parties into Mexico to arrange for the purchase of land in that country, upon which the fugitive Saints might settle. One of the first sites selected for this purpose was just across the line in the State of Sonora. Elder Christopher Layton made choice of this locality. Other lands were secured in the State of Chihuahua. President Taylor and his party called upon Governor Torres at Hermosillo, the capital of Sonora, and were received by that official with marked courtesy."
Historian Whitney states that the Taylor party then went westward by way of the Salt River Valley settlements to the Pacific Coast. And this office has a record to the effect that, in January, President Taylor visited also the settlements of the Little Colorado section and counseled concerning the disposition of several of the early towns of that locality.
Of Arizona interest is the fact that for two and a half years thereafter, the President of the Mormon Church was in exile, till the date of his death, July 25, 1887, in Kaysville, Utah. Much of the intervening time was spent in Arizona and a part of it in Mexico, in the settlements that had been established as places of refuge. His declining months, however, were spent in Utah, even entire communities guarding well the secret of the presence of their spiritual head.