Monti's, a renowned dining establishment with a history spanning over six decades, was famous not only for its delectable steaks and the iconic Fountain Room but also for its haunted history.

Originally part of the historic Hayden House and the birthplace of Arizona Senator Carl Hayden, this establishment had been an integral part of Tempe since 1873. Until its closure in 2014, La Casa Vieja, or "old house" in Spanish, boasted a variety of uniquely named rooms, each with its own resident ghostly presence. 

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On February 19, 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 which gave permission for the War Department to relocate Japanese and Japanese-Americans living in the western United States to concentration camps. In March 1942, with the aid of US Census data and military support, the newly minted War Relocation Authority (WRA) forcibly moved more than 100,000 people into hastily conceived “evacuation” camps.

In Arizona, the hurriedly constructed Poston and Gila River Centers emerged: the Poston camp near the town of Poston in the Colorado River Indian Reservation, and Gila River camps south of Phoenix in the Gila River Indian Community. Built on Native American reservations, without the approval of Tribal Governments, the Gila River camps took only a few months to construct. Although the Gila River Indian Tribal Council rejected the Federal Government’s proposed lease twice, it narrowly approved the contract and the occupation of the land by the WRA camps. The lease agreement indicated that in lieu of payment, the WRA agreed to cultivate 8,500 acres of tribal land--a commitment the WRA never completed. The camps at Gila River came to be known as the Rivers Camps--named after Jim Rivers, the first Akimel O'otham killed in the First World War.

Canal Camp opened in May of 1942. Several hundred uniformly constructed tile roofed wood structures were to be the homes, offices, and entertainment spaces for approximately 14,000 people over the course of the next three years.

No insulation or air cooling units were provided to the majority of the structures, along with rudimentary furnishings. The barracks buildings were 20 x 100 square feet, with each building separated into four apartment rooms, each room large enough to house 3 to 4 people as a family unit.

As the smaller of the two Rivers camps, Canal was only intended to house 5,000 people. As soon as the camp was complete, approximately 6,700 internees were transported by train from the Turlock Assembly Center near San Francisco to the town of Casa Grande. The train cars available were old and frequently had no air conditioning or other comforts. Internees were then crowded into old buses and trucks for the 16-mile trip from the train station to Canal Camp. With only a few vehicles available, multiple round trips had to be made from train to camp, leaving those on the trains under armed military guard during the heat of the day to wait for the last leg of their journey.

Conditions were miserable. Water, gas, and electricity shortages plagued Canal Camp throughout the summer. Dust storms and monsoons were common through the hottest months and the overcrowded population struggled to adapt. Summer daytime temperatures soared, regularly exceeding 100 Fahrenheit through the months of July and August.

With little relief from the scorching heat, some internees dug out cellars under their barracks while others collected scrap materials and built rudimentary evaporative “swamp” coolers they installed onto the buildings. Ice water was supplied from the mess halls through a spigot sticking out of the wall. Ice was in short supply, so mess hall workers would put ice blocks inside the drinking water tank allowing a supply of cool drinking water without risk of the ice being stolen.

Many of the internees were farmers from California. While unfamiliar with the climate and soil of the Arizona desert, they worked with local farmers and learned to grow vegetables. With plenty of open land and access to the Gila River water from a nearby canal (for which the Canal camp is named), a successful agricultural program developed. By mid-1943 local newspapers reported that Rivers camps produced about $1 million worth of food, the majority of which supplied fresh produce to camps throughout the US. As a result of the camp’s farming success, a drying plant was created to preserve excess produce and was added to the list of camp-based industries.

Over the first year, the Rivers camps were praised repeatedly in local papers for their successful industries. The US Navy praised a small plant of 50 men at the camps for their efficient model ship manufacturing plant. Turning out around 100 ships per month, the models were used by the military in training exercises.

Over time, conditions in the camps improved, largely through the coordination and efforts of the internees themselves. With the relative freedom to self-govern inside the camp, block councils were developed to focus on day-to-day issues. A leadership council consisting of one representative from each block also convened for the purpose of working with the administration. Also, administrators of the camp hired internees to organize recreational activities. A library and school provided limited educational opportunities and a movie theater and a baseball diamond provided entertainment and recreation. The community planned festivals and events; they organized church services, theater groups, scout troops, and women’s clubs. Such activities fostered a sense of community for the interned Japanese Americans.

Playing sports became a very important pastime, with baseball being a particular favorite. Kenichi Zenimura, a baseball player who set about building a baseball diamond on a vacant patch of land at the camp, became instrumental in developing a 36 team league in camps throughout the country. His passion for baseball and his influence in the community earned him the title Father of Japanese-American baseball. A memorial to him and the league stands at Nozomi Park in Chandler, AZ.

In 1943, as a response to continued accusations of special treatment by the WRA, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt visited Rivers camps to see the conditions for herself. She found the conditions uncomfortable and commended the internees on their resourcefulness. Not long after her visit, she began campaigning to disband the internment camps as soon as possible. The First Lady’s campaign was not well received by many, including Arizona’s congressional representatives.

Because the Military Zone 1 was designated the coastal states, if released, the internees would be unable to return to their homes. As alternate resettlement plans were discussed many Arizona residents, spurred by prejudice and fear, became distressed over the prospect of Rivers internees settling in Arizona. As a result, an appeal was made to the Undersecretary of War by Senators Carl Hayden, E. W. McFarland, and Representatives John R. Murdock and Richard F. Harless, requesting that Arizona be added to the Military Zone 1, thus blocking Japanese-Americans from settling within the state’s borders, citing a possible risk of violence.

In the end, the camps did not close until after the war was over. By November 16, 1945, all Japanese-Americans who had been incarcerated in the Rivers camps had returned to their home states to rebuild their lives only to find their homes and businesses sold off. The buildings and all reusable materials were removed from the camps, leaving little of value and broken concrete slabs behind, making the sites difficult for the tribes to redevelop. Former internees erected a memorial, but access to the site is limited. As the Gila River Indian Reservation holds sovereignty over the land, permission must be granted before visiting. In 2001 the US Park Service recommended an off-site memorial be erected to commemorate those Japanese-Americans who died in World War II, as well as those who survived the harsh years in captivity in Arizona. An official Federal monument has yet to be built.

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The Hohokam people lived in the Mesa area for nearly 1,500 years. Hohokam, (a Pima Indian word meaning ‘‘those who have disappeared’’), first appeared around 1 CE initially growing beans, squash, corn and cotton serving a very small population of less than one thousand. Around 600 CE, the Hohokam population grew too large for sustainable living. As the population grew further from the river, the Hohokam began to construct canals for irrigation. Using digging sticks, the Native Americans excavated 12 foot deep canals, fanning into a larger network of smaller canals.

Because of their extensive excavation abilities, the Hohokam were considered to be engineering geniuses. Their ability to push water effectively for several 100 miles over a flat desert landscape, while evading hills and valleys complimented their legacy. Creating a stabilized canal system they transported water through minimal changes in elevation and overcame natural ebbs and flows that rivers create. In areas of excessive water(flow), the Hohokam would widen the channel. In areas of inadequate water(ebb), the channel would be narrowed, increasing velocity of water. This increase in velocity, decreased sediment buildup, discharge into fields and evaporation. If they allowed the water to stagnate, those three elements occur.

To maximize potential of water to exit the river into canals, the Hohokam developed several techniques. A weir, or partial dam, forced water into the headgate of the canal, creating maximum force, and more efficiently carrying water to the local farms. The headgates were made out of wood and giant rocks, withstanding the river's immense strength. The Hohokam canal stretched nearly 500 miles and would serve up to 50,000 natives at any given time. There is no universally accepted evidence on why they disappeared, only speculation. The most viable reason was outgrowing their capacity to sustain life in the desert. Especially during periods of environmental stress, all but vanished by 1450.

The Hohokam effort to build irrigation canals became the foundation of economic and urban development of Arizona. Jack Swilling, a Mexican War and Confederate States Army Veteran, headed west in the late 1850s to work as an ox-train teamster. Ten years later, a central Arizona gold rush brought many miners near the Salt River. Needing a constant supply of water, the miners and soldiers observed the landscape. Upon discovering the Hohokam canals, Swilling analyzed their potential and restored them as a viable water delivery source. With sixteen other miners, he received a loan to create ditches, minimizing watershed, to successfully raise wheat, barley and corn. He redirected the delivery of water from the Salt River via the canals and ditches (modern day 32nd Street and Van Buren Street), to sell to miners in Wickenburg and infantry stationed at Ft. McDowell. The Swilling Irrigating Canal Company, as his company came to be called, revitalized the irrigation system and enticed more people to settle in the area. Englishman ‘‘Lord’’ Darrell Duppa, recognized the symbolism of a new agricultural civilization rising from old Hohokam canals. He said: ‘‘A city will rise phoenix-like, new and beautiful, from these ashes of the past,’’ and renamed the new community Phoenix.”

Around the 1880s, Charles T. Hayden, father of Carl, was an early Arizona settler who observed the many farmlands the canals serviced and was also compelled by the success of Swilling Irrigation and Canal Co. On a business venture, Charles was on a freighting trip to Wickenburg when a severe storm and flooding of the Salt River forced him to wait several days. The delay gave opportunity to examine the surrounding land, where he envisioned a thriving agricultural community. As the foundation for the farming was laid out, Charles observed corn and vegetables successfully growing by the Swilling ditch. With an increase in settlers and an entrepreneurial mind, he began to entertain the idea of a gristmill.

Nearing the end of the nineteenth century, local promoters recognized that a more stable water supply was needed to continue population and economic growth. With high variable flows, the Salt River, and many rivers alike, were subject to very low flows followed by substantially large floods. There was also a substantial amount of water loss that was a pressing issue. In 1891, flood waters raged through the heart of the agricultural valley, destroying irrigation headgates and canals. One local resident commented: ‘‘Chocolate in color, hideous in its roaring fury, the torrent spared nothing in its path.’’ The floods were followed by a severe drought between 1898 and 1904, resulting in the loss of thousands of crop acres. Men would patrol the river with rifle in hand, ensuring locals were not taking more than their fair share. But from this environmental near-disaster came a successful regional movement to build an upstream dam to retain, stabilize and protect the area from flooding.

Carl Hayden was directly affected by this flooding and witnessed his father's business take a substantial loss. Fighting for his father's vision, he traveled to Washington to lobby for the Salt River Project as Congress debated the Federal Reclamation Act in 1902. He was Arizona's primary influence on federal policy making in natural resource development, water reclamation, and land-use management. Due to his vision and effort, Carl is considered Arizona's most important individual in reshaping it from a pioneered settlement to a modern urban state.

Tonto Basin became the ideal location for a dam, but securing the finances to build it would prove difficult. Local ranchers and farmers created the Salt River Water Users Association (SRWUA). They pledged their lands as collateral to obtain a loan large enough to allow the building of the Tonto Basin and Roosevelt Dam. In 1902 a National Reclamation Act was passed into law allowing government loans to reclaim the West with irrigation projects. By creating the Theodore Roosevelt Dam and improving existing Hohokam canals, the government sought to improve water retention and delivery velocity of water by modernizing the canals. They did this by laying cement and replacing the head gates with a more reinforced cement delivery.

SRWUA would restore Canals and build dams by the use of hydroelectric generators. The generators allowed the government to slowly pay the local farmers for their investment. In 1917 the operation of the canal system was turned over to the Salt River Water Users Association, later developed into Salt River Project (SRP). The SRP succeeded in supporting a growing population. Receiving government loans, during the next 30 years, SRP would erect the following dams and canals respectively: Mormon Flat Dam in 1925, Mesa Dam in 1927, Stewart Mountain Dam in 1930, Bartlett Dam in 1939, Horseshoe Dam and Sixth Storage Dam, 1946. These dams allowed for maximum water retention and manageable delivery. The canals that SRP created are, The Grand Canal (22.43 miles), Consolidated Canal (18.95 miles), Eastern Canal (14.73 miles), Western Canal (13.61 miles), South Canal (9.91 miles), Tempe Canal (9.76 miles), and New Crosscut Canal (3.4 miles), serving more than six million today.

While the canals were technically created to deliver water to a desert metropolis, they have historically been associated with recreation as well. Being considered a part of Arizona’s social fabric, the canals were popular places for walking, running, biking and horseback riding. Reducing the need for heavy equipment, SRP released white amurs, a kind of Asian carp. This cleaned up the moss and weeds that were associated with dirtying the water with algae. The Arizona Canal, near Scottsdale, displays art, holds special events, and contains pedestrian bridges, landscaped walkways and easy access to canalside shops and restaurants.

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The Hayden House, or La Casa Vieja as it came to be known, is the longest-standing Mexican-adobe structure in Arizona. It was originally constructed in 1873 near the South bend of the Salt River by local Mexican and indigenous craftsmen for Charles Trumbull Hayden. "The original house was a single-story row house constructed of adobe in the Sonoran style," according to the City of Tempe. With an "L" shape, the house fronted Mill Avenue for 80 feet and First Street (now Rio Salado Parkway) for 120 feet.

Charles Hayden settled in Tempe after he relocated his freighting business and implemented plans to build a flour mill. In 1877, Carl Trumbull Hayden was born inside the Hayden House, where he and his two sisters, Sally and Mary, grew up. The Hayden House was refurbished throughout 1876-1883 by adding three more rooms to the west side and a second story of adobe on the north end. Throughout the life of the old house, it has always served as an epicenter for the growing community.

In 1889, when the Hayden family moved to a larger ranch north of the Salt River, they added a wood-framed second floor to the simple adobe structure. The former Hayden residence became a boarding house and general store and remained so for more than thirty-five years. Recognizing the structure's historical importance, Sally and Mary Hayden commissioned what was arguably the first historic restoration and preservation project in Arizona. Hoping to maintain the original adobe design, they hired noted local architect Robert T. Evans, who often worked in building and renovating adobe buildings, to restore the property. The Haydens converted the house into a restaurant that became known as La Casa Vieja: "the old house."

In 1954 Leonard Monti purchased La Casa Vieja from Sally and Mary Hayden, who were forced to sell due to debts accrued during the Great Depression. Leonard Monti understood the importance of the old house to the area and kept the name. The Monti family operated the restaurant from 1956 until 2016. The family honored the house's history and incorporated pictures from 1920 into the menu. Monti also gave historical tours of the Hayden House. The house's location was significant because of the amount of traffic that flowed through Downtown Tempe, where Federal Highways 60-70-80-89 converged to cross the Salt River at the Mill Avenue Bridge. In 1979, La Casa Vieja continued to expand on the southern end of the building. Eventually, though, the interstate highway, suburban expansion, and rising land values in downtown Tempe created economic pressures that led the Monti family to sell La Casa Vieja in 2014.

Current plans call for a new multipurpose office and lifestyle hotel at the location, with plans to save the original Hayden House and incorporate it into the facility.

edited 10/20/2022: js

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Charles Trumbull Hayden came to the western half of the United States in search of economic gain and adventure like the many settlers before him. Shortly after the Gadsden Purchase in the 1850s, Charles Hayden opened a profitable general store in southern Arizona next to the settlement of Tubac. On a freighting business trip from Tucson to Prescott, high water from a heavy storm near the Salt River in present-day Tempe halted Charles' journey for several days. Inspired by the Swilling Irrigation and Canal Company's success and visions of a thriving agricultural community, Charles Hayden decided to set roots and purchase 160 acres of land in the region in 1870. He established a homestead named Hayden's Ferry, which included a grist mill, general store, blacksmith, and ferry.

The ferry was one of the only ways to cross the Salt River for travelers during flood season for a modest price and provided its services until the early 1900s. However, Charles Hayden's ferry was relatively inconsistent, as the dramatic rains of the desert would either bring impassable water rapids or no rain at all. As the owner of a freighting business, Charles Hayden still needed a reliable way to transport his goods, so the ferry remained in service until a better solution came forward. A viable option for crossing the Salt River during floods finally arrived with the creation of the Roosevelt Dam in 1911. The dam brought forth the ability to maintain - and somewhat manage - the rapids of the Salt River and subsequently helped to increase agricultural irrigation control and water retention in the Valley region. In many ways, the creation of this dam was emblematic of the economic, political, and population growth experienced in the area.

In 1911, Governor George W.P. Hunt commissioned the construction of what would be later known as the Ash Bridge as one of the only sources of crossing the Salt River during heavy floods. Using the designs drawn up by Arizona's first territorial engineer, J.B. Girand, work began constructing the bridge immediately. During this construction period, the public remained uneasy about the controversial decision to use a convict labor force to cut costs. Still, Governor Hunt assured the people of Tempe that if even one convict escaped, he would step down as Governor of Arizona. Fortunately for Hunt, there were no successful attempts to flee, and the convicts proved excellent workers in completing the project. In 1913, Ash Bridge was officially open to the public for use as the primary crossing of the Salt River.

While Ash Bridge served as Arizona's first highway bridge to cross the river and a solid passage form for walking pedestrians and wagons, its design was almost immediately outdated due to technological advancements. As automobiles grew heavier and wider, the narrow design effectively made a functional two-lane bridge impossible. This, coupled with a massive flood in 1916, which left the bridge's structural integrity in question, forced town leaders to close the bridge to all but pedestrian traffic. The fledgling city desperately needed a new solution. Within two decades, a push for a much broader and stronger bridge began that would soon leave Ash Bridge as a deteriorating asset to the city.

Around 1928, the most considerable push for a new bridge came from a group of Tempe businessmen who submitted a formal request to the Arizona Highway Commission. In the following year, with the designs drawn up by Arizona bridge engineer Ralph Hoffman, the construction of the Tempe Bridge, now known as the Mill Avenue Bridge, began. The bridge opened to traffic in the summer of 1931 after two years of construction. Two years later, Benjamin Baker Moeur, the 4th Governor of Arizona and prominent physician held and presided over a two-day dedication ceremony. Located in the exact location that Hayden's ferry had operated around 60 years prior, the bridge easily handled two-way automobile traffic - and all of the flooding rain that the Arizona climate could provide.

An essential element of the Mill Avenue Bridge, which contributed to the growth of the city, was the fact that it had now connected the transcontinental highways of the U.S. 60, U.S. 70, and U.S. 80 to Tempe, along with Arizona's only north-south route, U.S. 89. The newly formed interconnectivity of Arizona's highway systems crossing over the Salt River created easier travel opportunities for individuals all over the country, and it was pivotal in the development of the city of Tempe and the surrounding Phoenix Metropolitan Area. However, in the following decades, the single two-lane bridge slowly became inefficient for the population, quickly outgrowing its narrow system. As a result, an additional parallel bridge was completed in 1994 to relieve the increasing traffic.

Since the days of Hayden's Ferry, Tempe's inventiveness has introduced the prosperity Charles Hayden dreamt of during his time at Hayden's Ferry. Hayden opened the door for development and successful commerce in the region with his ferry. Since then, it has only expanded.

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