Fort Mojave Industrial School

Following the Civil War, proponents of "cultural equality" championed the creation of so-called Indian schools. At first the schools were placed near reservations, but cultural assimilation was typically unsuccessful. Later schools became boarding schools to which Native American parents were forced to send their children for an education that often amounted to cultural reprogramming. In 1879, the Carlisle Indian School opened in Pennsylvania to serve as the prototype for off-reservation industrial schools. The Fort Mohave School in Arizona was one such school. In 1889, President Harrison selected Thomas J. Morgan to oversee the reformulation of Indian education policy as his new Commissioner of Indian Affairs. Morgan believed that the American public school system had succeeded in absorbing foreign immigrants into the mainstream of American life and saw no reason why the same approach would not work for Native Americans. Under Morgan Congress allocated funds to establish the Fort Mohave Industrial School in 1890 to serve the Walapai and Mohave Indians. "Situated on a granite bluff on the east bank of the Colorado River near the head of the Mojave Valley..." the fort was formally turned over to Morgan's choice for school superintendent, Samuel M. McCowan. An active Republican and experienced educator, McCowan oversaw the opening of the school and remained its supervisor for six years until he moved to the nearby Phoenix Indian School in 1896. Off-reservation Indian boarding schools came under increasing attack by progressives beginning in 1902 when the last such schools were built. Protest continued to build over two decades, and the schools were soon decried by officials, who preferred the expansion of day schools and on-site schools in reservations. It was under their authority that the Fort Mohave Industrial School closed in 1931.

From the description of Fort Mohave Industrial School records. [1890-1893]. (University of Nevada, Las Vegas Libraries). WorldCat record id: 299786008

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