The Ehle Family and the Montezuma Hotel

The Ehle Family and the Montezuma Hotel. . Joseph and Margaret Ehle arrived in Prescott, Arizona Territory, on July 13, 1864 with their children, John Henry, Mary Jane, Amy E., Olive Joan, Sarah F. and Margaret Viola. Mr. Ehle helped to build the log Governor's Mansion (now part of Sharlot Hall Museum). The Ehle were the first settlers in the area to have domesticated honeybees and chickens, and Mrs. Ehle's yellow cat was worth her weight in gold, as her kittens sold for an ounce of gold, over twenty dollars apiece. Mrs. Ehle, known as "Grandmother Ehle", also brought the first sewing machine to Prescott. Their daughter, Mary Jane, was Prescott's first bride, marrying John Dickson at the Governor's Mansion with Governor Goodwin officiating., The Ehles built a log house at the southwest corner of Goodwin and Marina Streets. In the fall of 1868, they opened the Montezuma Hotel at the northwest corner of Willis and Montezuma streets where the Coronado Apartments, which were apparently built between 1910 and 1924, are today. The Arizona Miner reported on October 10, 1868 that "[t]his hotel is now in full blast and is crowded with guests. Mr. Ehle sets a first-class table." By 1869, they had built a residence next door at 214 North Montezuma Street. The house presently at this location was built between 1890 and 1895. Mrs. Ehle died there in 1905. Joseph Ehle died in 1912 in California at the age of 98. Both are buried at the Masonic Cemetery in Prescott.