Fredonia developed as a welcome oasis in a parched, rugged land when Mormon pioneers drawn to area springs settled there to begin farming and ranching in 1885. Water was scarce on the Arizona Strip, and cisterns and ditchwater kept the town alive until piped-in water first became available in the 1940's. In 1956, Fredonia became the first incorporated community on the Arizona Strip, and Arland Brooksby was its first mayor. Still thriving after more than one hundred years, Fredonia reflects the strength and resourcefulness of people willing to cope with frontier life. The Paiute name for Fredonia is "Atsika," meaning place where hunters dehorned their deer. In the 1920's, residents undertook an unusual but unsuccessful fundraising effort by raising fawns for the government to restock certain areas; the animals were caught, brought to town, fed canned milk, and later shipped away in padded crates on a large airplane, but they did not survive well after release, and the project ended. The area around Fredonia also became a filming location for western movies and television programs, including Maverick, Death Valley Days, and the 1950's version of Last of the Mohicans.