Later, other people such as the Apache and the Spanish Conquistadors inhabited the area and at times, tensions ran very high among the diverse groups. Unfortunately, this led to violence and bloodshed, climaxing in 1871. 50 miles north of Oro Valley, a faction of the local Apache tribe was essentially massacred by a group of vigilantes comprised of six Americans, 48 Mexicans and 94 members of the Tohono O'odham tribe. The vigilantes stationed runners in Oro Valley to stop anyone from warning the Apaches. It is estimated that somewhere around 125 people were killed, and only 8 were not women or children. Several other children were captured and sold into slavery in Mexico.
In 1874 George Pusch, a German immigrant from Frankfurt established a steam pump powered cattle ranch off what is now Oracle Road in Oro Valley. Although he and his family never formally resided on the property, the impact of his unique ranch and subsequent contributions to the area (including serving as a state legislator) were great. In honor of those contributions, three peaks in the Catalina Mountains highly visible from Oro Valley were named Pusch Ridge.
Settlers arrived with gusto all through the early 1900s, fueled by the opportunity to acquire a homestead. Many of those homesteads were later purchased by rich ranchers, many from back East. Gold rushers also swarmed the area inspired by local legends that were heightened when Harold Bell Wright’s book “The Mine with the Iron Door” was published in 1923 and then a silent film the subsequent year.