Matt Riordan

Denis "Matt" Riordan was a truly "larger-than-life" individual who helped shape the early destiny of Flagstaff, Arizona.  How Matt wound up in Flagstaff is a classic tale of The Old West.  At the young age of 33, Matt was put in charge of the entire Navajo Reservation.  During his short tenure in that position, his name came to the attention of Edward Everett Ayer who built the Flagstaff sawmill even before the railroad arrived in 1882.  Ayer called Roirdan to Ayer's Chicago office and offered Matt a job as manager of Ayer's mill.  

"Why, Mr. Ayer," Riordan replied, "I don't know any- 
thing about the lumber business." 

"Well, I'm blamed glad you don't. I've had all the experts 
I want," was the emphatic rejoinder.

And the rest, as they say, is history.  Before Matt left his position with the Navajo Reservation to go to Flagstaff, he wrote a blistering annual report.  It's actually quite surprising that the report was published since it is some of the most utterly damning descriptions of the federal government's treatment of the Navajo.

We were fortunate to be able to find the full text of Matt's report.  (The primary source links are located below the report.)  The words here show the true heart and compassionate spirit of the legendary man who would play such a pivotal role in Flagstaff's early formative years.

This is the actual title of the report from which the above excerpts were taken:

United States. Office of Indian Affairs
Annual report of the commissioner of Indian affairs, for the year 1883 
G.P.O., [1883] 
v. : fold. maps ; 23 cm

Here is a link to the full report:

http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/History.AnnRep83

Here is a link to the section of the report that includes Riordan's narrative.

http://images.library.wisc.edu/History/EFacs/CommRep/AnnRep83/reference/history.annrep83.i0018.pdf

We have created three Google Docs.  The first includes the full text of Ayer's biography that describes Ayer's relationship with Riordan.  It is located here:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1AceuIkSnYMYph0Eh3nB9RhkHtdtGpRJr0iHDfX9jVAU/edit?usp=sharing

And here's a nice 16-page history of the Riordan Family.

http://archive.library.nau.edu/cdm/ref/collection/cpa/id/83484