totaled $423 ,000,000, nineteen ing 1951-52, with favorable prices 162,000 acres; and Cochise, 32,950 times that of 1932, and $44,000,000 during the 1951 fall lettuce season acres. Once that old debbil Colo­ greater than in 1951. W ho says Ari­ r esulting in the increased value of rado Ribber is allowed to flow mer­ zona is all desert and scenery? Old these crops. That, translated into rily through the center of the state, King Cotton was the leader with a salad, is a lot of salad. and we don't have to depend so crop of $208,000,000. No wonder Approximately 1,300,000 acres much on the crazy rains that seldom folks around Eloy, one of our big were in crops in Arizona during come, we'll really be in as a farming cotton farming centers, refer to the 1952, an increase of 18 per cent state. FARMING BUSINESS: From the Cadillac as the Eloy Jalopy. Cattle over 1951. Maricopa County, the Agricultural Experiment Station, and calves sold in Arizona last year second richest agricultural county SUNNY ROAD SOUTH: We University of Arizona, we have re­ were valued at $81,000,000, which, in the United States, totaled 560,- learn that work is progressing on ceived the following interesting sta­ translated into beef steak, is a lot 000 acres under cultivation with the great International Highway tistics about Arizona's farming: in of beef steak. Vegetable crops re­ other leading farm counties as fol­ from Nogales to Guadalajara, state 1952 Arizona's cash farm income turned $62,200,000 to Arizona dur- lows: Pinal, 315,500 acres; Yuma, of Jalisco, Mexico. When the road is completed, w hich should be toward the end of 1954, we pre­ dict 300,000 cars a year will clear Nogales, making it by far the busi­ est international port-of-entry in the country. Right now the road is paved a short distance south of Navajoa, in Sonora, some 42 2 miles south of the border. The road is also paved from Mazatlan, on the Pacific in Sinaloa, northward to Culiacan, the state's capital city, and south of Guadalajara. The bad part re­ maining is between Navajoa and Culiacan, about 35 0 miles. YVh ile the road is used these days, we would not recommend it for other than the rugged driver in the rugged car. Our amiable host of the historic Hotel Belmar in Mazatlan, a charming gentleman by the name of Jack Verrey, predicts that the completion of the road is going to cause an unprecedented travel boom along Mexico's west coast. Even now Mazatlan is crowded with visitors, for the fishing is good and the living is easy. Hermosillo and Guaymas, in Sonora, joined to the border with a fine paved road (and one that is kept in repair) are en­ joying busy travel seasons and have, in the past four years, developed accommodations to care for the visitors. Nothing like good roads to make folks know each other better and become friendlier.

ROAD SIGNS: N ot only has the road development program on Mex­ ico's west coast attracted Ameri­ cans southward but it has also brought our Mexican friends north­ ward to the extent that on the highway from Nogales to Tucson road signs are now in Spanish as well as English. And always re­ member "Despacio" means "Slow."

N EW CITY N OTE: We men­ tioned last month in this corner that a new city of San Manuel, to people 7,000 souls, is to be built by D el Webb in connection with a "We're New" BOB TAYLOR $ 100,000,000 mining development at San Manuel mine. We are pleased OPPOSITE PAGE FRONT COVER to report further it is not going to be a hodge-podge mining camp. "HORSE COUNTRY" BY BOB MARKOW. "WATER SYMPHONY" BY ALLENS. REED. Seward Mott of Washington, D.C., The photographer took this picture near Sedona From the deepest bass of the largest falls to the nationally known city planner, has in July on a trip north. The horses, placidly highest treble ripple each cluster of West Clear been hired to plan a truly model munching the short grass, seemed to emphasize the Creek cascades is an organ of musical beauty to the community. What a challenge a quietness and peace of the scene. The horses paid eye as well as to the ear. Camera data: Speed completely new community will be no attention to the photographer; result: an un­ Graphic on tripod, 4x5 Ektachrome, 1/ 5oth second for a builder and a planner. Time posed picture. at f.8. Photo taken from rock in midstream. will tell the story. OF HIDDEN PLACES

We think these pages wm be of irnte.rest to those who, g·oai: and deep sea diver but you'H be amply .repaid for your likg e to et off the main roads, follow fancy's bidding t o, effo rt:s" H ere fa scenic beauty that wm be a challenge to hidden places, explore for themselves what i.s so·se questered the photographer and the.re are a few wise old trnut in and tantalizing just ove.r the hlU or just around the bend of the deeper w ater holes that will prove worthy op,p«ments the lonely and infrequently used road. T ravel for these for the most skilled fisherman. people becomes an adventure. We think it w ould be hard to If you like to travel around and see what is happening find a place in the W est of ours which has never been in what has been described as this amazing Arizona, you'll visited before. We are always on the watch for such places be surprised at the developments in Mohave V alley, along and hope to make them known as they, in turn, are made the Colorado, in Mohave County. W ith the Colorado finally known to us. We deal this month wi.th subjects known to gend ed by dams (latest Davis) agriculttura! devefopments · some but unknown to many. ff we can guide a few people in the valiey are ocrupying the attention of many of the to these places their enjoyment in visiting them wm be fine folks in that neck of the woods. ample compensation to us for getting the material together. Early in May, if you're down in s011:nthem Arizom, We have from time to time presented various pictorial inquire of the N ogales Chamber of Commerce w hen the studies of Oak Creek Canyon country, but we'll bet not one Sonoita Q uarter H orse Show will be held and then follow of a hundred people visiting that enchanted area has evel!!i the road toward Patagonia and then to Sonoita and set in heard of West Clear Creek, a subject with which we are with the folks for a spell. T he country is real pleasant and much concerned this issue. N o wide and smooth highway the event .i.tself is real .informal, truly a w estern evel!!!t in leads to West O ear Creek. It is at the end of a rugged trip, the finest sense of the wo.rd, and y l(J)u'H see some of the and if you propose to explore its path from the Rim to the finest horseflesh in the country Ol!!i display. T ake your fonch Verde you have to have some of the qualities of a mountain and water and make yrnillrnelwes at home • . • R...C

L E G END RADO OPENS FA.RMING AREA IN M OHAVE COUNTY. " WATER S YM PHONY" . FRONT C OVER P HOTOGRAPHER ALLEN R EED CAPTURES THE THE FrnsT S ix-G u N M AN • • . 36 SPARKLE OF A SPOT ON W EST CLEAR CREEK. HISTORICAL ACCOUNT OF ARMY OFFICER'S INSPIRATION TO INVENTOR OF REVOLVER. So NOITA Q UARTER H oRsE SHow • 4 H ERE'S A REAL WESTERN SHOW PUT ON BY Y OURS SINCERELY . REAL COW FOLKS IN A WESTERN SETTING. V oL. XXIX No. 4 APRIL 1953 A COLUMN OF POETRY WITH SOME LETTERS DEVOTED TO SUBJECTS OF TIMELY INTEREST. ARIZONA'S FRESH W ATER SWAM P . 8 RAYM O N D C A R LSON , E d it o r W HERE THE COLORADO IS SLUGGISH YOU'LL ARIZONA H IGHWAYS is published monthly by the G EORG E M . A VEY, Art Editor FIND ANAR EA FULL OF NATURE'S CREATURES. Arizona Highway Department a few miles north of the confluence of the G ila and Salt in Ari­ H O WARD P YLE BARBECUE BILL . I 2 Governor of A rizona zona. A ddress: ARIZONA HIGHWAYS, Phoenix, AN OLDTIMER WITH KNOW-HOW SHOWS Arizona. $3.00 per year i n U.S. and possessions; ARIZONA HIGHWAY C O MMISSION US HOW TO GET BEST RESULTS FROM BAR­ $3.50 elsewhere; 35 cents each. Entered as sec­ BECUE PIT. C. A. C alhoun, Chairman . . . Mesa ond-class matter N ov. 5, 1941 at P ost Office in Phoenix, under Act of M arch 3, 1879. C opy­ John M. Scott, Vice-Chairman . Show Low L ITTLE CREEK W ITH B IG M AGIC • 16 righted, 1953, by Arizona H ighway Department. Fred D. Schemmer, Member . Prescott A VISIT TO W EST CLEAR CREEK TAKES us Frank E . Moore, Member . • D ouglas TO A PLACE FULL OF SPORT AND BEAUTY. Allow five weeks for change of a ddresses. Be Duff, Member . . . Tucson Grover J . sure to send in t he old as well as new address. Patrick C . Downey, S ecretary . Phoenix MOHAVE VALLEY • 2 3

R . C. P erkins, State H wy. E ngr. . Phoenix STABLE WATER SUPPLY FROM THE COLO- ~ 115

"My, what a wonderful w orld!" BOB TAYLOR some classes can be run off before the sun sinks behind the country. It is all fun for the spectators. towering Santa Rita mountains to the west. The youngsters When the judging starts things simmer down-after a come out first-the skittish fillies and the capering horse fashion-and the critical and horse-wise audience starts colts. The classes are graduated by age with the stallions and assessing the judge's verdicts as he places the winners mature mares on exhibition in the late afternoon. The man­ through five positions. The Stetson-hatted kibitzers, many of ners of these older horses are somewhat more sedate as them squatting on their bootheels inside the arena, are a befits their age, though it may be that their reflexes are just hard bunch to please and an impossible audience to fool. dulled by the day-long uproar that was only fairly started They soon decide one way or the other if they and the when their sons and daughters came into the arena earlier. judge see eye to eye. It is a diverse group and includes every­ Because, while the Sonoita show is a classic, its classicism body-internationally known diplomats with ranches in the derives from other than tweeds, tittering and temperamental vicinity, Air Force Staff generals, range-riding cowboys, horseflesh. and their families, who work on outfits that have been By the time the first class is ready to start, or at least in the same ownership for several generations, cowboys by the time the announcer says it's ready to start, the kids who work on outfits where the owners don't show up are running all over, some of them galloping around the from one roundup to another, ranchers who do all their own outfield on horseback. Horses are being led back and forth work and men and women in a hundred other trades and to the stall and corral area, or to the watering tank. The professions, all of whom like to race, ride, raise or work stallions are bellowing, mares whinnying and the colts are Quarter Horses. kicking up their heels. Late arriving trucks drive up in a The present day Sonoita show has developed over the cloud of dust and at about that time a horse or two generally years and started out as a country fair. It was back in the gets loose, or some roping calves decide to take out cross days when William Howard Taft was president and Arizona

Expert horsemen chase a fast calf. A prize wi11ner at the So77oita sho-w

i a ter Hrrse Show

BY R. G. SCHAUS

PHOTOGRAPHS BY THE AUTHOR

T he Sonoita Quarter Horse Show is held each spring, calves are on the ground, branded, doctored and dehorned, early in May, just as the surrounding rangelands of Santa the next thing on the agenda is Sonoita. Cruz County are at their verdant peak. Entries are drawn For a number of the spectators, and exhibitors, too, from many well-known Quarter Horse stables, ranches and that takes some doing, some planning, because Sonoita, as farms in Arizona, and usually a few good horses from Cali­ newcomers invariably put it, is out in the middle of nowhere. fornia and New Mexico make the long trek by trailer to try It is located 50 miles southeast of Tucson and 30 miles east for Sonoita ribbons and trophies. They are highly prized in of Nogales, off the beaten track, and it consists of a school, the "short horse" world. several gas stations and a rodeo arena, clustered around the The Sonoita show is the oldest such funci6n in the point where two country roads cross. The scenery is magnifi­ Southwest cow country, one of the reasons it is held in such cent-the wide-open spaces at their quiet and expansive veneration by cowboys and ranchers. They may be tough, best. May the planner lose his saddle and the heels off hard-boiled, boisterous or self-effacing and quiet spoken but his boots who ever decrees that this spacious country shall they all have one trait in common-a deep respect for tradi­ be the newest route east-or west-or north-or south! tion and horses. And tradition decrees that after the spring The show starts promptly at 9 a.m. so that all 20

PAGE FOUR • ARIZONA HIGHvVAYS APRIL 19 5 3 Youngsters take part in the show. A family lunch between "events"

Good stock enlivens Sonoita competition. was m the throes of becoming the last state to enter the been gradually dropped. Besides the halter classes, in which Union. Farmers, misguided by lurid posters which promised the deciding factor is conformation, that is, the horses' build rich agricultural rewards from the bottomlands along the and musculature, there are a number of performance events rivers of Arizona's southern valleys, had taken up home­ -a stake race (around a series of upright stakes about 30 steads which they soon put under the plow. Eventually most feet apart) to determine reining ability and dextrous speed, of this land reverted back to rangeland, as dry farming was and a cutting horse contest in which the horse is gently not practical in this rain-shy state. Ironically, many of these eased into a herd of steers, "works" out a selected animal same areas are now being converted to irrigated pasture and to the side and then keeps him from returning to the herd. grain land through the use of big electrically powered pumps, There is still another reason for the continued popular­ the land yielding rich crops. ity of the Sonoita show and the regional support it gets. But the annual fair at Sonoita which these early farmers That is the emphasis and interest in the four children's had started was continued and served as a popular get­ classes. Many of the youngsters from the southern range together, even as now. It often required, in those motorless cattle country learn to ride a horse shortly after they learn days, an organized family camping expedition of two or to walk. With some it is a simultaneous proceeding. Every­ three days. Everyone within range attended. There were one knows the entries, their folks, and, in many cases, their horse races which were apt to be anywhere from 300 yards to grandparents. So the interest is keen and the competition two miles long, roping and riding contests and impromptu rugged. The judge has an unenviable job. trades and sales. Draft and harness horses, long gone now, The long day ends with the award of the huge breeder's were in high favor. And the baby show was one of the big trophy. Winning it is based on points accumulated in the features of the day. Several of the members of the commit­ various conformation classes. After that the crowd starts to tee which runs the show today were entries in this event leave. The horses are put into trailers and trucks for the when they were babies. long trip home which may be anywhere up to 300 miles For the last 16 years it has been a Quarter Horse show away. The kids fall asleep from sheer exhaustion and an­ for the cowman's horse, and the classes for other breeds have other Sonoita show is history to be long discussed.

PAGE SIX • ARIZONA HIGHWAYS • APRIL 1953 swamp, remaining overnight and making our way out the Needles flood dike disappeared in the distance. The river lower end near Topock the following day. began to change as it entered narrow avenues of giant cat­ All this sounds comparatively simple, but our designa­ tails and bulrushes-this was the swamp! tion of a time and date of first meeting was no small chore. Our courses varied for no apparent reason, first through It amounted to predetermining an actual time of arrival after a confined channel lined with swamp grass, then into an open starting some 200 miles upstream. This may appear to be a area seemingly surrounded by huge tules. The current, that case for the slide rule-you travel so fast, the river travels had been allowing us to quietly drift along, suddenly became so fast, therefore you arrive at such and such a time. On of age and threw us forward into a narrow channel broken ordinary rivers this might be the case, but not so on the into sections by dead tree stumps; it was an obstacle course Monarch of the West. The Colorado River goes through and the chase was on. two dams between Pierce Ferry and the Topock Swamp. At first, the speed would be noticed as you watched the Portages must be made and other factors taken into con­ tules slip by, then the faint noise of a miniature rapid rush­ sideration. The slight fact that you are windbound on an ing by a half-submerged snag became a roar to be left isolated island in the middle of a canyon entrance means behind, it all happened so fast. Suddenly you were warned night paddling if you are to keep your schedule. All this to duck-instinctively you flattened out in the boat and a adds to the pitch of excitement as the river rounds each new branch of a dead tree swept past your head. There was no curve. time for cold sweat; it was all over in a few seconds, but you On the designated day we met Gale Monson and the realized if the warning had not been heeded a portion of three of us drifted out into the smooth running river. It your anatomy would have been draped unceremoniously hardly seemed possible that soon our little boat would be over a very dead branch of what was once a substantial tree. lost in a maze of confusing passageways. Any illusion of Again the boat drifted lazily, bulrushes seemed to close the characteristically wide river became visionary as the in and darken the sky above, straight ahead there was no

Stands of tules make confusing channels.

Evening in the Topock Swamp Arizona's Fresh Water Swamp BY ALAN C. MACAULEY

PHOTOGRAPHS BY JAN T. i\IACAULEY

n the heart of the western Arizona desert mous with such undesirable factors as stagnant water, yet near T opock, the Colorado River forms here was a swamp being constantly fed with fresh water. one of its most unusual phenomena-a fresh Our curiosity was aroused to a new high. \\ ater swamp! We were making a photographic story of the Colorado vVhen two people start paddling down River country for television release-the Topock Swamp the Colorado River in a kayak-type, 1 7 ½­ was part of the river-so how could we get our material? foot folding boat loaded with food sup­ Our problem was presented to the Fish and Wildlife Serv­ plies, camping gear, and 104 pounds of photographic equip­ ice, a division of the U. S. Department of the Interior, which ment:.._something is bound to happen, and usually does. My controls this area. Gale Monson, Havasu Lake National vVild­ wife and I didn't bargain for a swamp in the middle of ,1 life Refuge manager, knows the swamp like a book and desert. Nevertheless we were confronted with crossing the eliminated most of our problems by offering to take us on Topock Swamp. one of his regular patrols. This 1 5-mile swampy stretch of river seemingly had A definite date was set and the three of us were to no particular channel or series of channels. No maps were meet at a designated spot on the river above Needles, Cali­ adequate and local authorities advised a portage to eliminate fornia. The trip called for crossing the river to the Arizona the possibility of danger. In our minds a swamp was synony- side and following a general course into the heart of the

PAGE EIGHT ARIZONA HIGH,v A YS APRIL 19 5 3 Bird lovers ·will find tbe Topock ... ••. Swamp rich in many species of birds.

opening unless you knew the right channel, but our com­ plenty of large mouth bass and catfish are yours for the ask­ left without a boat on that grassy piece of ground midst the arrangement for the young birds. Most nests ranged from panion knew the answers and it was interesting t_o see his ing-but turtle hunting draws the curiosity of the visiting towering tules and cattails. Without a boat, the chances of two to ten feet off the water surface. Here the birds could be activities. Things an ordinary person would miss never river sportsman. These soft shell turtles can be found on the reaching the main shore of the river were slim, and even taught to swim and fish right off their front porch. It is escape the casual eye of a trained wildlife observer-the sand bars. You can just barely see the outline of his shell with a boat it would be more than difficult to get out of the little wonder this half-mile square area has such a concentra­ number of birds in a flock-the direction of flight-the and a round bump of sand may well be your turtle. A sharp swamp as the majority of apparently clear channels are tion of feathered life. species of birds, or perhaps the observance of a bird not plunge of a boat oar or a stick will answer the question, dead end. Though the water continues through the massive As we progressed the swamp began to change form, the common to the local bird colonies. A representative of the but be sure you know which way he is going, as there is growth, it would be difficult to navigate the area without tules became less lofty, the water grass grew higher, and the Fish and Wildlife Service must constantly note items that nothing faster. If you can catch him he may weigh 15 to 20 local assistance. water began to flow more easily instead of being compressed would seem unusual, but which add to the everyday life of pounds, and you will feast on seven different flavors of meat, Sleep came in a hurry, and before we knew it morning into swift narrow channels. We began to feel as though we the trained observer. that is, if he doesn't sample you first, in which case you will had broken across the top of the high green growth. The were flowing from one small lake to another. As time passed, the swamp became more interestin~·; soon learn to respect his long tapered head and the sharp river passing our camping spot had raised in the night and Time was closing in on us and a luncheon was impro­ tales of wild hogs were given serious thought when the air jaws that are encased therein. we had a bare two or three inches of space before we would vised while the boat was tied to an overhanging branch was disturbed with the sound of thrashing water. Around Late afternoon shadows forewarned us. We should be be flooded out of our temporary home. The three of us were which provided the necessary shade for comfort. We were one corner we were startled by the sight of six wild horses. making camp. It seemed to us an impossible assignment in all reunited for breakfast. We agreed the river never had been on the edge of the swamp area and had drifted some 15 miles Our boat, drifting with the current, had allowed us to this water. A few small islands had been seen, but the thought this high. through this maze of giant swamp growth. approach unnoticed; it wasn't long before our presence was of an actual sleeping place on those pieces of misplaced Things were packed in the boat and we were off again, The entire Topock Swamp is still young, being the detected and the explosion of a bomb would sound like water-soaked earth appeared more than remote. It wasn't winding our way by devious routes into what had been de­ indirect result of Parker Dam construction in 1938. The child's play compared to the noise created by ~ild horses until we were rushing down a current stream about 50 feet scribed as an extraordinary bird colony. One of the high­ filling of Parker Dam reservoir, known as Lake Havasu, running madly in four to five feet of water. Addmg to the wide that we saw the plot of ground destined to be our lights of the trip occurred when we left an enclosed passage caused the river to slow down in the Topock region, allow­ confusion, all tried to leave the area through a six-foot open­ camping ground for the night. The current was in an eight­ between high tule growths and broke into a wide open area ing silt to be deposited in greater quantities than previously. ing in the cattails-we heard the noise of violent water ~pla~h­ knot sweep by our abode when we hit the backwater at the of apparently calm wa_ter and dead trees containing hundreds This raised the water level sufficiently to allow a substantial end of this so-called island and our craft rammed the wet ing for many minutes after they had left-finally it di~d of young birds. Birds, in the early stages of life, should be amount of water to be retained in the vicinity between mud. The boat stuck fast in the cattails and was secured in down in the distance. All these horses have owners, or did comparatively small, but some of these young herons had Needles and Topock. have at one time. The swamp offers good foraging ground a hurry. · wing spreads of more than five feet. The Great Blue Heron, During recent years the construction of a man-made and stray farm horses soon band together learning the ways The piece of land rightfully could be called an island, common to all sections of the Colorado River, is a huge bird, channel in this area has forced additional water into this of the wilderness. as it was surrounded by water. On one side the water was being the largest wading bird in the western United States. wide flat section of land, taking the Colorado River away The Topock Swamp is known for its animal life. In coursing by at a mad pace; on the opposite side, it was drifting Besides the herons we found the Snowy and American Egret, from its normal course and sending it into the swamp. Thus addition to the wild horses, as well as wild cattle, you are placidly through the 15-foot cattails. The other sides were as well as the Double-crested Cormorant. These birds seem you have a fresh water swamp with current ranging from apt to find beavers, muskrats, raccoons, coyotes and m~ny insignificant as the plot of ground was egg shaped, being to colonize together in this certain section of the swamp eight to nine knots in the swift narrow channels, and one others. During the fall of the year, duck and goose huntmg approximately 15 feet long and 8 feet wide. Since this provid­ where the grotesque trees make perfect supports for the to two knots in the more quiet areas. This swamp has is unparalleled; even frog hunting turns out to be a ~av?rite ed only sufficient space for two air mattresses, our companion dead twigs used in making their nests. These trees were late evening sport on the edges of the swamp. Fishmg- left for another spot nearby. It was a peculiar sensation being become the primary nesting place for river birds and action located in four to five feet of water, making a perfect food is being taken to assure its permanent existence.

PAGE TEN ARIZONA HIGHW' AYS • APRIL 1953 neck meat off a mountain range bull if you know how." little creative cooking and improve on Farrow if you can ... We assured him we owed a dinner to at least fifty First, make a marinade ( which Webster defines as a casual classmates, business acquaintances and people down brine or pickle in which meat is soaked, often before cook­ the street, and we'd like to know how. Then we grabbed ing, to enrich its flavor). This can be something far beyond Bets and Dick Greening and their cameras and our own a prosaic pickle; it can be a true work of epicurean art. notebooks and followed Barbecue Bill's every move as he Farrow's consisted of:

prepared a feast fit for Pecos Bill himself. Here's how it's 1 qt. tarragon vinegar done. 1 qt. cider vinegar The equipment consists of any backyard barbecue out­ 1 qt. salad oil fit which provides a means for cooking over the coals-not ½ gal. Burgundy on a solid plate or grill. Lacking such, you can get a few 2 tablespoons oregano 2 tablespoons cumin bricks and build one easily. Just lay up a brick rectangle 2 tablespoons cardamon approximately twice as long as it is wide, say four feet long 4 tablespoons salt by two feet wide. Leave a few open spaces in the bottom 2 tablespoons black pepper courses for draft. When walls are about six inches high, lay 6 cloves garlic, chopped pipe or heavy industrial wire cloth or other suitable material 2 large onions, chopped on them to make a grate strong enough to hold the fire­ Mix all of the above in an earthenware crock large wood. Then build the walls another six inches-and you enough to hold both the marinade and the meat. It doesn't have it made. have to be earthenware, but it sure adds to the atmosphere. Now, lay a half-inch pipe or rod lengthwise across the The meat, as noted, can be almost anything edible. A pit for a brace. Over this, lay a piece of industrial wire few disks of marrow bone add something to the flavor; but screen with ½ or ¼ inch mesh to hold the food. Allow plate bones, like shoulder, take up room. Thus, it's neater enough overhang so it won't buckle under the weight of to use boned chunks, preferably single portion size. Provide the food and drop the whole feast into the coals. No sauce about ½ pound boned meat per hungry person. Cut fowl yet concocted makes ashes and embers very edible. into usual frying pieces. Amateur or stone mason-you can do this in one after­ Immerse the meat in the marinade, stirring the latter noon's work. as you do so the spices will be evenly distributed throughout. Now comes the chefing-your opportunity to do a Be sure the liquid covers all the meat, for this marination not

Uniform diameter of firewood assures uniform embers. When embers are ready, pieces of fowl or meat go on grill.

Bill Farrow (right), Barbecue Bill himself, uses a section of 1 ½ -inch pipe coils for the grate of his pit. Here, with Ed Peplow, he is beginning to fire up for a choice barbecue. Barbecue Bill

BY BONNIE AND ED PEPLOW PHOTOGRAPHY BY BETS AND DICK GREENING

re you wondering what to do with that side the answers to the above puzzles. of elk meat in your locker? Are you befud­ What's more, he proved to us that Western barbecues dled by a haunch of bear or a lot of old are not necessarily dry and tasteless; that venison, elk, wild buffalo steaks? duck and other trophies of the hunt need not be too gamy Or, for that matter, are you sometimes to suit milady's taste; that barbecues don't have to be com­ 1\ at a loss as to how: (a) to make the family posed at least fifty percent of charred remains, fifty of food; food allowance cover a meat feed for forty; and that outdoor cooking really can be one of life's finer or (b) to make use of the odd, tough cuts of beef you epicurean pleasures. occasionally can buy at the butcher's for something less than While the delicacies he dished up to us were elk and the national debt? mallard duck, Bill told us, "You can take some of the cheap­ So were we, until we cornered Bill Farrow, the best est old cutter-and-canner cow meat and tired old roosters Western cook who ever barbecued anything. Bill, who oper­ and fix 'em this way and deal out a meal fit for a king. Of ates a freezer plant in Cottonwood, Arizona, and cooks as a course, good meat makes it better; but you can still win the hobby of the fine art class, not only told us but showed us chuckwagon cooking championship of your county with

PAGE TWELVE ARIZO N A HIGHWAYS APRIL 1953 Hot coals on lid, and then you have golden brown biscuits. Corn must be turned several times to gain best results. Bill uses a sixth seuse to get the biscuit dough ready. Dutch o·ven is pre-heated in fire pit for biscuit making.

Meanwhile, stretch the industrial wire screen over the ?o law a~ai?~t taking a bisc~it out ~f the oven and breaking and ,vire handle. A 16-inch diameter oven holds about 1 5 only flavors but also tenderizes. Set the crock aside in a cool top of the pit. It is preferable to use two pieces so you can ~t to ~ee 1f 1~ s done, or cuttmg a piece of beef to see if it's biscuits at once. The biscuits take about 30 minutes to cook, but not cold place. It might be advisable to set it to leeward, remove one and put the corn into the embers in the fire bed. JUSt_ r~ght. Simply wear a very judicious expression if you for Marna has been known to claim (totally unreasonably, so you can gauge cooking capacity in proportion to the Place the hunks of meat and the pieces of fowl on the ~o 1t m_ front of your gu~s~s; mak~ a production out of get­ of course!) that it smells like vinegar. crowd. screen right out of the marinade. Be sure to put the fowl tmg thmgs plumb dee-hc10us, Bill says, and they'll think The length of time the meat is left in the marinade vVe've gone to some painstaking research to discover skin-side down to start so the skin will be crisp and the you're wonderful. depends on the meat. The tenderer the cut, the shorter the the exact proportions used by cowboy cooks in their biscuit juices will stay in during the early cooking. . Of course, the piece de resistance-or as they say in time. For good, properly aged elk, venison or beef T-bones, recipes. When they make biscuits, they just take flour, salt, Start cooking the fowl, especially wild duck, about 15 Anzona, the boots and saddle of the whole deal-is the 24 hours is about right. For cutter-and-canner stuff, 48 hours baking powder, shortening and either milk or water and uo to 20 minutes before such meat as beef, elk or venison. sauce. You'll be happy to know you've got this almost made ought to do the job. A little extra time doesn't hurt any­ ahead by instinct. However, for your guidance, here is the While connoisseurs insist wild duck should be eaten rare, already. Simply combine: · thing; but too brief marination misses badly. You will later approximate recipe via which Farrow manipulated (we use most people prefer their fowl thoroughly done. need some marinade for the sauce. Any marinade that is the word advisedly) his golden brown wonders: 4 cups marinade Just before time to put the red meat on, raise one end left over after soaking the meat and making the sauce can 46 ounces tomato juice 6 cups flour of the screen so you can put the corn in the fire chamber. be bottled, tightly stoppered, and kept indefinitely. r tablespoon prepared mustard 3 teaspoons salt The corn, of course, should be country fresh. Open the husk You'll need good hardwood fuel. Hickory is excellent; 3 large onions, chopped 4 ½ teaspoons baking powder at the end and remove some silk and also any corn worms; 6 green chilis, chopped apple wood is superb, and, if you can get it, genuine West­ ¾ cup shortening cut off any undesirable part of tip of ear; fold husks back Bring to a boil, then simmer on the screen over coals to be used ern mesquite is truly muy bueno, amigo. However, oak, Add diluted evaporated milk sufficient to make batter that is over ear securely and place ear in the coals. Pile ear upon as below. beech, ash or whatever will do, as well as charcoal. Make workable, i.e., that can be pinched off as illustrated without sticking ear in the coals, raking aside very live coals and leaving As_ meat ~ooks (i.e., fowl and red meat), occasionally sure the wood is of fairly uniform diameter so it will burn to the hands. Work all of above ingredients together on a board with the hands. Yuh're a dude if yuh use tools! mostly cooler ones. It will take the corn 30 to 45 minutes ~wab pieces with sauce. Make an applicator by tying or wir­ ~own to coals all at the same time. Outsized pieces con­ to cook, during which time ears should be turned and shifted mg several ~olds of clean ( Mama likes it better that way) tmue to flame after the rest has burned down to glowino· The Dutch oven should be pre-heated in the pit. Put cloth to a stick, such as a length of old broom handle. Paint coals, making it necessary either to let the coals cool off about ¼ to ½ inch of melted shortening in bottom, then in the pile occasionally to assure equal cooking of all ears. Then put the red meat on the upper screen, above the the meat frequently and liberally with sauce as cooking waiting for the flames to die or else to put the meat over put on the lid, set it in the coals in pit and shovel hot coals coals. Arrange pieces close together, so they will act as a proceeds; but keep enough sauce so that it can be served the open flame, thus charring and spoiling some pieces. onto the lid. Leave it for 1 5 to 30 minutes to get good as gravy when the meal finally is dealt out. Fill the fire pit with wood, covering every bit of the a_nd hot. Remove with ganch hook (as illustrated), remove sort of blanket to retain the heat in the pit. Don't turn the grate evenly. As it gets burning well, add more wood, lid. meat for at least fifteen minutes, unless you want it rare. "Of course," Bill said, "some folks dislike washing dishes enough to make a bed of coals about three inches deep, the Pinch off hunks of dough about one-third the size of a Generally this sort of meat is preferred cooked to a medium so much they use paper plates for a meal like this. Please top of which will then be about three inches below the cooked biscuit. Dip them in hot grease in oven, then lay brown throughout its thickness, even by he-men who like don't make that mistake! Man, this meat juice and sauce meat while it is cooking. If your grate is too coarse, the very them in oven, greased side up. Be sure they get well and steak rare enough to hear the steer bawl. Turn meat once are so good you'll miss one of the best parts of the whole fine ashes of hardwood will sift through to the floor of the evenly greased so they'll come out an even golden brown and cook fifteen minutes more. It should then be ready to thing if you let all that juice and sauce soak into a paper plate rather than soaking it up in a biscuit. pit, lowering the fire level and the cooking temperature­ all o':'er. Whe1;1 you have i:he bottom of the oven filled, put serve. a point to remember in building the pit. the lid on a~am, set ov~n up close to hot pit, load coals on NOTE: These times are approximate. Don't forget, '.'Etiquette? List~n, ~ard, it might not be polite indoors; you're not dealing with a modern cookstove covered with but 1t was Pecos Bill himself who dreamed up this feast If you want cowboy biscuits with your barbecue-and the top agam and wait. After about 1 5 minutes, take a it won't be complete or authentic without them-you will look, for the temperature of the oven and of the coals gadgets that can do everything except wash dishes. You and wrote all the rules for how to enjoy it. He said it need at least one Dutch oven. As known in the West, a determines how fast the biscuits cook. They're done when must govern cooking times by the heat of your pit. If was right as rain to do it that way, and that's good enough Dutch oven is a heavy cast-iron vessel with a concave lid they're brown and well risen. you're in doubt the first couple of times you try it, there's for me."

PAGE FOURTEEN ARIZONA H IGH'\1/AYS APRIL 1953 West Clear Creek Canyon, a jagged gash in the Coconino National Forest t it

BY CHARLES M. l\iIORGAN

PHOTOGRAPHY BY ALLEN C. REED

1ture has been kind to Arizona. There's mysterious shadows of night and chases the depressing · something here for everyone to enjoy. gloom from the world. Some people may choose the desert or the And so it is with water. Its long absence makes each mountains. Still others become sun wor­ reappearance a momentous occurrence. There's romance in shippers or cacti enthusiasts. But the thing the way carpet? of spring flowers blossom inches behind the I like best about this golden, carefree land melting snow. When the desert blooms, as it does after is the water-not the abundance, but the lack of it. The very absence of moisture brings an incompa­ COLOR STUDIES OF WEST CLEAR CREEK BY ALLEN C. rable contrast to the landscape. REED. The photographer traveled West Clear Creek Canyon from its beginning to its junction with the Verde River. In tl~ese Contrast is also the spice of living. Laughter sounds color studies you will visit the seldom-seen innermost corridors happiest after tears. Joy seems fullest after sorrow. The sun­ of this hidden Arizona stream. A 4x5 Crown Graphic camera was rise displays its golden magic only because it steals into the used for all color with Ektachrome film and Ektar lens.

PAGE SIXTEEN • ARIZONA HIGHWAYS APRIL 1953 Resting in placid pine-bordered pools, hugging the red cliffs, winding between narrow canyon walls and

cascading down picturesque rocky steps, West Clear Creek presen'ts an ever-changing variety of enchanting moods. For the more hardy fishermen who work their way down to these hidden waters, this is a scenic paradise

lost in an almost inaccessible canyon rwbere spring-fed, silent narrows off er the challenge of scrappy trout. winter's moisture or summer's rains, the bleak expanse of that rises high on the Mogollon Plateau and rushes furiously sand and rubble becomes aglow with fleeting life and beauty through the 35-odd miles of its life to end in the Verde River a thousandfold more impressive than the most carefully below Camp Verde. Here's a creek, a canyon, and a wild _tended flower garden. Go without it long enough, and forest region without competition anywhere in Arizona moisture becomes more va luable than gold. Wait long for recreation, relaxation, and just plain outdoor pleasure. enough for its life-giving impetus to growing things, and Wonderful in the late spring when tiny violets and 'wild just plain water becomes one of the big things in this world. blackberries fill the shady canyons with fragrance and color, If this water rises high in the hills, dances merrily down it's even better in cool midsummer when the lowlands are through mountain meadows and forest glades, surely that's hot. But autumn is the best season along West Clear Creek. not commonplace. If it inquisitively loiters beneath a tower­ The cottonwoods, sycamores, willows and hardwoods are ing pine to mirror the stately strut of a pompous old turkey aflame with color. The forest floor is dry and travel is easy. gobbler or the shy glances of a spotted fawn, then it isn't The cloudless sky is at its rarest, bluest blue, and jackets just ordinary wet water. feel good around the cheerful blaze of the campfire. And if this same rivulet suddenly calls in a jillion other For a primitive woodland trip, there's no other spot tiny trickles to create a boisterous rushing brooklet and quite like West Clear Creek. And the fishing? Suspense lifts plunges daringly into a tremendous canyon, races past som­ the heart in anticipation. Suppose we wait to hear those good ber rock cathedrals and pinnacles, gurgles impishly at a fat fish stories? brown bear or taunts a slinking lion, and splashes prankishly Truthfull y, West Clear Creek should be divided into an about the knees of a great bull elk, clearly, then, this water upper and a lower part for accuracy. First, there's the moun­ has personality and a purpose. tain brooklet, the beginning, where it lacks the character If, in addition, this mountain stream, now a strapping, and force of its later self. It's a timid, struggling little fellow brawling, swift-flowing torrent, hugs huge trout in its deep at the start. Then there's the lower valley stream where it pools, hides the wary mallard and canvasback, ruffles the swells out importantly, gathers airs and personality, and happy beaver's luxuriant coat, and skips joyously along to marches along confidently, but still with a lilt and a dancing grow corn, beans and alfalfa- well, now, that's a story worth rhythm to its motion. This little creek is full of ballet tricks knowing anywhere. and gymnastics to the very end. It's all just another way of saying the three words in Up there above 7000 feet it's really two creeks-Wil­ West Clear Creek, that sprightly Arizona mountain stream low and Clover-nice, fresh growing names. They hint at the little rivulet's green future. Soon they merge and become "RED BOXES" BY ALLEN C. REED (page 22). West Clear Creek passes between many narrow sheer gorges referred to as boxes, where the real Clear Creek. But sometimes they're there, some­ the water is still and black with depth. To pass through with heavy times not, depending upon nature's whims and bounty of equipment and supplies a small raft is necessary. moisture. Yet even when surface water fai ls, and Willow "ROARING WATER" BY ALLEN C. REED (page 23). The fisher­ and Clover are dead and choked with dust, the main stream man seems quite insignificant and small next to a surging West Clear still runs. Seeps of ground water trickle from seams and Creek cascade. crevices in the great canyon walls. The springs feed middle OPPOSITE PAGE Clear Creek their life-giving moisture and it lives forever. "RIVER FROM THE RIM" BY ALLEN C. REED. West Clear After a brief, rollicking jaunt along, gratefull y receiv­ Creek's outer canyon ,videns at the lower end but the deep inner ing the cool waters of Tom's Creek, Hicks and Duncan gorge walls press close to the mass of green stream-supported foliage. This view looks across the Bull Pen Ranch and still further away Canyon, and Pivot Rock Canyon, this brash mountain against the sky can be seen the Black Hills on the far side of the youngster quickly dives into a narrow, steep canyon and Verde Valley. acquires adult dimensions. From there until it joins the Verde

PAGE T\VENTY-FIVE • ARIZONA HIGHWAYS • APRIL 1953 Upper West Clear Creek is stocked ,with trout by aerial tra111 and hardy fish er111en climb dmvn to favorite pools.

River some 30 miles away, it capers merrily past landmarks E njoying the excellent corn the settlers grew, the Indians colorful to see and hear. gathered at night and ate all the corn that had ripened dur­ Twenty Seven Mile Lake lies off to the south with ing the day. Rifle fire was no stranger to Clear Creek as the Buckhorn Mountain on the north. Meadow Canyon comes pioneers battled Indian depredations. in and then the stream hurries through Bull Hole, Maverick A few years later a band of ragged prospectors, who Basin, Indian F lat, Devil's Windpipe, and reaches Bull Pen. had been waylaid by Indians, staggered down Clear Creek From there it's but a brief twist and turn past Cactus Moun­ to the safety of Camp Verde. Fearsome and unkempt-look­ tain, Wingfield and Clear Creek mesas, and on to the vener­ ing from days of hardship afoot on the trail, they weren't able Verde. recognized until gunfire had pelted the unfortunate adven­ It's a short happy life, but it's overflowing with ro­ turers. mance, rhythm and gaiety. It bubbles over with good cheer, James H. Strahan, an early pioneer in the region, tells as it rightfully should, with that unbelievable blue sky above, a humorous incident occurring on Clear Creek. Ed Boblett, the heady fragrance of fir, spruce, pine and juniper about, Joe Melvin and Poker Johnson, all original settlers, had gone and endless adventures with man, beast and nature ahead. with a party to gather the delicious wild grapes which grew Clear Creek has the best of it on all counts. profusely along the rushing little stream. Someone brought As for adventure, there's been plenty. In the spring of news of Lincoln's assassination. Joe Melvin, a staunch oppo­ 1865, when the first Verde Valley settlers came from Pres­ nent of The Great Emancipator, jumped up dancing, clicked cott, they chose Clear Creek mouth (then called Clear Fork) his heels hilariously and declared it was the best thing that for the location of a fort and dwellings. A home and farm ever happened to the country. Ed Boblett would hear no developed by Dr. J. M. Swetnam, located between Clear criticism of the President. A lively encounter followed, with Creek and the Verde River, later called the Shield Ranch, Joe Melvin being forced to eat Clear Creek sand. was the first permanent homesite at Camp Verde. The Years later, in 1 899, the killing of Clint Wingfield Apaches were numerous and troublesome in the early days. and Mack Rogers by a strange gunman aroused the Clear

The angler's reward is isolated sections of stream with scrappy trout and a nice string to take home. Creek community. For nearly two months a continuous In any case it's quite an accomplishment for anyone to be posse trailed the killer who had escaped up Clear Creek on proud of. an unshod horse. Mingling with a band of wild mustangs, For non-fishermen, a trip to the rim to see the amazing the outlaw concealed his trail, the posse lost the direction ingenuity of the aerial fish tram is a lesson in conservation completely, and Clear Creek filed another secret away in its and devotion to an idea. A half-hour spent gazing into the rock-bound canyons. depths of the steep-walled canyon, puzzling out the queer The names Bull Pen, now the site of a picturesque geological tricks which have tied knots in the rock strata, ranch, and Bull Hole, farther upstream, have a whimsical or just sitting cozily under a giant juniper along the rim and origin. In the 1 890s, Ike Jones had a ranch in the lower savoring the primitive wildness of the place, is worth a ton canyon and had built a sturdy corral safely to hold the ranch of milk shakes, hot fudge sundaes and a year of cinema bulls. Promptly thereafter, the place became Bull Pen, as romancing. Clear Creek Canyon and rim will carry its it's called today. incomparable appeal right into your soul if you'll only give Upstream, a heavy bull once wandered down into the it the chance. sheer-walled canyon and was unable to get out. Searching On an average trip, a passing side-show of the major cowboys finally located the forlorn critter and after much game animals and birds will parade alongside your car at unsuccessful labor concluded there was an easier way to easy photographing distance. The north rim route to the get the animal out. They butchered the bull, made jerky of tram goes through some of the best elk, turkey and antelope his fat haunches and easily transported the meat up to the range in Arizona. rim. Bull Hole then became another colorful name from The road to West Clear Creek Canyon on the Mogollon Arizona's past with a strange but true origin. Plateau isn't too difficult for any passenger car handled with Today its varicolored and eventful history rides lightly average caution and skill. There are no difficult grades, no on the dancing waves of Clear Creek. Nothing dramatic has frightening drops or tortuous curves. The entire nine miles happened on its verdant banks in years unless you'd count from the excellent gravel road is level or gently rolling the agonized bawling of a pudgy bear cub, stung unmerci­ through gigantic pines and junipers. High crowns in the fully by the bees whose honey he'd tried to steal. road and the several rough, rocky stretches are the only Important events along the canyon nowadays mostly hazards. I've taken friends in the lowest-slung city-type concern fish-flashing, gamy rainbow and brown trout, to passenger cars in to the canyon with absolutely no trouble. be specific. Time was when the cool depths and animated The visitors' log book near the tram engine house bears this rapids teemed with natives, those husky, blue-spotted battlers out. There, travelers from nearly every state and several of earlier times. Informed anglers count 1934 as the last year foreign countries have registered and expressed their joy of successful native trout fishing in Clear Creek. There­ and pleasure at the scenic beauty of the place. after lean times fell upon the picturesque, steep-walled Many have caught their share of big trout, too, and have stream. There were few fishermen and no fish. Clear Creek proudly said so in the log. Others have commented on the seemed destined to a fishless future. But Nature hadn't difficulty of the trail down, or the fact that they made a counted upon the ingenuity of Arizona sportsmen, or their different descent to the creek in the canyon floor. persistence before difficult odds. Visitors eager to see West Clear Creek and willing to Alex Fields and Harry Metz, Jerome members of the have the thrill of pioneering in this too comfortably modern Arizona Game Protective Association, had hunted the elk, world should take the Long Valley-Pine highway from ' deer, antelope, turkey and bear which filled the forest Flagstaff, or the Stoneman Lake road from near Cotton­ adjacent to the upper creek. Invariably, they'd gaze into that wood. Both are adequate gravel roads, regularly and fully fascinating canyon and lament the lack of trout there or maintained. The Flagstaff road is paved to Mormon Lake. the means of getting down to catch them if any should be From there to the Stoneman Lake junction, and on to the available. With engineering purpose from his training as a West Clear Creek turn-off, it's a superior, wide, graveled geologist, Metz devised an aerial tram from data supplied by surface. Fields, the woodsman who as a boy had grown up in the vast Approximately 1 2 miles south of the Stoneman Lake Mogollon Rim country. junction, on the way to Long Valley, a sign on the west side Eventually plans were blueprinted, materials and help of the road points to the Fish Tram road. Over most of its were gathered, and the dream became reality. Most of the nine miles this is a good ranch road and is passable at all times. dangerous and difficult labor of installing the tram was Inquiry at the first ranch will correct visitors who wander furnished by Verde Vall ey sportsmen, members of the state from the well-traveled track. Farther along this road, and game protective organization. Alex Fields almost single­ about three miles from the rim, is Walker's summer ranch. If handedly constructed the half-mile of forest road from the needed, assistance from there to the tram is available. Burnt Ridge forest trail to the rim. Soon the aerial rainbow The lower canyon is easily reached on an excellent circuit was speeding lively hatchery trout from the state highway from Camp Verde. Just north of the Clear Creek trucks down to the cool shady depths of Clear Creek, one­ bridge a well-marked road turns northeast off the pavement fifth of a mile below the rim. and leads to Bull Pen ranch, where West Clear Creek leaves Those cagey, rainbow-hued beauties are a thousand feet the protective canyon walls of the Mogollon Plateau and en- below the longest cast any angler will ever make. To reach . ters the Verde Valley. Complete tourist accommodations are them, the sportsman must hike a half-mile down a safe but available at Camp Verde, Cottonwood or Flagstaff. Non­ arduous trail from the rim to the thickly wooded canyon resident 5-day fishing licenses may also be obtained there at floor. For the sedentary citizens this isn't easy. Yet spry a cost of $5.00. Visitors may then leave any of these jump­ high school girls, ten-year-old boys, and 70-year-old out­ off towns in the early morning for the upper canyon and doorsrnen make the trip dm1·n and hack ,vith no complaint. enjoy a full day of fishing, sight-seeing or photography.

PAGE TWENTY-EIGHT ARIZONA HIGHWAYS APRlL 1953 Vpper West Cle,1r IC}ree Bullhead, A rizona, w hich was born during t he construction of Davis Da1n, looks to Mohave V alley for an assured future. l ncreasing popularity of Lake M ohave and Colorado R iver for fishe r777e'l7 m akes Bullhead an important sports t07.Vn. Mo av Valley BY GENE SEGERBLOM

P HOTOGRAPHS BY CLIFF SEGER.BLOM

,:1",., / ':,, A -~ Dig things are in store for T he consistent floo ding of the area left rich river silt sections. And within another six months or a y ear, much of But l ife \ 1 as too rugged, trying to raise a few crops along a ') the Mohave V alley area in on t he floor of the vall ey, m aking it one of the most fertile the valley's good land will be under cultivation. river \\·hich never flowed down the same channel twice. < northwestern Arizona. And valieys in the s tate. A nd with the control of the river early The b ig job, of course, is clearing the land of the tam­ After spending its fury in the spring and floo ding the land, < ~ if all of the development in 1935 w hen t he cany on-wall diversion tunnels at Hoover arack, arrowwood and other vegetation. T he anchor chain the river often dried up during the summer months. Crops . -) presently planned for t he Dam were closed, farmers again set about c ultivating the salvaged from the battleship M ary land is pulled between two withered a nd d ied w hen the river ran too low to i rrigate ( ,) area goes through, Arizona land. N ow they claim that the worst land in Mohave is of the largest type caterpillar tractors to uproot the brush. the fields. The Indians drifted away and, at the present time, ) will _have a va_ll ey as pro­ like t he best in Imperial and similar valleys. Then it is burned, staked and removed. T hen the grade is there are only about a half d ozen left in the valley. ARIZ, } ductia ve as ny 111 the W est. One o f t he best advantages of the land i s that it h as not cut or fiJled to level the ground for planting. T ypical of the pioneer families in the area is the Sota not have to be rebuilt. It is , · /;, Mohave Vall ey takes in been w orked before and does W hen the va lley begins to produce, local residents family. Frank Sota, ·who had come to the U nited States new land, not worn out. ·Torock __ ,j-9 about 50,000 acres of land predict that it will be the biggest development in Moh~ve from Spain in 1898, settled in the valley in 1915 when most ';~/) between the Colorado River Doing a lot of the actual development of the valley is .y County and wilI bring in more revenue than mining br of the residents w ere Indians. H is chi ldren, Raymond, Frank, on t he west a nd t he Black the Mohave Valley Farms Development Company. T he < ~-It\ ) cattle. Mohave County will be known for its farming rather Lewis, Henry, T ommy, Delphia and Julia, all attended the ·v ·•• ' .,, •v "/ Mountains o n the east. T he company went to work last year after leasing the land from . ""'v than mining, for which i t first became famous. 1\Iohave I ndian reservation school. T he main ranch or city of Bullhead marks its northern boundary and Topock t he Indians, w ho control every other section, and the old The first inhabitants of the valley were the Mohave " home" ranch of t he family is in the center of the va lJ ey marks its so uthern. Cotton Land Company. T he land is leased for $ 1 o an acre bered about 2,50 0. T hey did a little farm­ and is still operating. T heir summer home w as inland on T here have bee n r anches here for years. Some of the for a period o f ten years. The company holds an option to Indians ,vho num wild hogs. T here was an Indian higher ground, as the rising waters of the river ran right earliest settlers in Mohave County farmed in the area, but buy, with the rent to be a pplied to the purchase price. ing and had wild horses and h was through the "home" ranch each summer. Part of the two­ the unpredictable Colorado harassed them. A lmost every Although i t is still in the pioneering stages, the com­ school at Fort 1\-iohave along the river bank whic r ranch house is still standing, but has not year floods swept down the river, destroying farms. Other pany has scheduled planting of peas, lettuce, alfalfa, melons attended by all of the children in the v alley . T oday only story adobe summe years, the river dried to a trickle running too low to be and cotton. Most of the brush has been burned and removed the concrete foundations of the school remain standing. been used for y ears. go, s ons diverted into the irrigation ditches or channels. and t he ground leveled. Planting has been done in some Mohave County seat ·was first set up here at Fort Mohave. Although the elder Sota died several y ears a

PAGE T H IRTY A R IZONA HIGHWAYS APR I L 1953 Davis Dam, an earth and rock-fill structure, has added further control to the Colorado River. Davis City, community for federal employees of Davis Dam, is a short distance upstream from Bullhead.

Raymond, Frank and Lewis are mainstays of the valley Lewis Sota and Bob Lacey. They have a number of head of water from the river and wells were drilled inland; Cotton tivation of alfalfa, cotton and sudan grass. today. Raymond operates a dairy farm along the river at the beef cattle as well as keeping cattle on pasture for others. and alfalfa were cultivated with enough success to show Along the river, especially in the area just below Bull­ north end of the valley with some 7 5 head of cattle. With The Sota brothers hold quite a bit of acreage which if that the land was excellent. head, are many individual holdings, some as small as an acre the help of his wife, Lola, daughter, Mary Margaret, and developed would be very productive. However, the cost of This was before any control work on the river had with lovely winter homes where residents of colder climate~ son, Raymond Jr., he ships more than 200 gallons of milk getting the land ready for farming is high, $ 1 50 an acre, taken place. After years of almost futile effort to cope with come to spend the mild winters. The weather here is won­ daily to Las Vegas and Kingman. He also has some cotton while the cost of farming is only about $ rno an acre. Valley the unharnessed Colorado, the experiment was abandoned. derful in the spring and fall with the temperatures never too land on the "home" ranch. residents hope to interest development companies in getting Again in 1935 another section of the Big Bend ranch cold in the winter. Summer, of course, is hot, but the Frank Sota, along with his mother, operates the "home" the land in shape and then local ranchers will do the actual was cleared and used as demonstration acreage. Although ranchers don't mind as long as there is plenty of water. The ranch in the center of the valley. Here corn, cotton and farming. highly successful, the rampaging Colorado put off any elevation along the river is about 400 feet. sudan grass, which is used for dai1:y feed, are the chief prod­ Other large holdings in the area are the Hancock, Lang­ further development. There are several fishing camps which get a big play ucts. This is true on most of the already developed land in ford, Big Bend and Chesney ranches. Some of the first devel­ Now with the river controlled with Hoover, Davis and the tourist business will increase once word gets around the valley. opment in the valley was done back in 19ro on the Big and Parker dams, thus eliminating yearly periods of flood about the excellent trout fishing. The last or "end" ranch in the valley is operated by Bend Ranch. Channels and levees were constructed to divert and drought, the Big Bend ranch is going ahead with its cul- Until 1942, residents of the valley traveled to Oatman,

Many acres of rich, virgin land in the Mohave Valley are still to be developed. The Sota home ranch, opened in 1915, is one of the large fa rming operations in Mohave Valley.

PAGE THIRTY-T"VVO ARIZONA HIGHWAYS APRIL 1953 Residents of Mohave Valley Water is plentiful in valley. Elem entary school, Bullhead Looking across to Nevada Valley residents enjoy fishing. Fishing from Rainbow Haven camp

some 1 2 miles back in the Black Mountains, for their sup­ its potential resource as the backbone of the community. vide excellent places for spawns. From the time these trout also is administered from authorities in Kingman as are all plies. At that time Oatman, a gold mining town, had a And they predict that the 1 2 miles of Colorado River below get of size, there will be no better fishing anywhere. to,vns in Mohave County. However, it has its own deputy bustling population of 1 500. Then the mines shut down and Davis Dam will be the greatest fishing and recreation spot Citizens have been active in other directions, too. The sheriff and justice of the peace. Oatman went out of business. But with the closing of Oatman of the whole Southwest. Mohave Improvement District and the Rural Electrification Bullhead's new elementary school was dedicated in came the birth of Bullhead, at the north end of the valley. Now that most of the lower Colorado has been con­ Association have done much toward improving the roads May. This school, which is the newest and most modern It was a construction camp which sprang up with the build­ verted into placid lakes behind reclamation dams, the 12- and supplying electricity throughout the valley. Valley peo­ structure in town, houses the first eight grades. Students ing of Davis Dam. Although the population has fallen from mile stretch here is about the only place of open river left ple hope to be able to use the Bureau of Reclamation's above this are taken by bus to Kingman where they attend some 1 500 residents during actual construction of the dam, that is not controlled by the Government. bridge over the Colorado down by Needles, thus saving many the Mohave County Union High School. the 350 persons now living in Bullhead are there to stay. The river has been stocked with about 400,000 trout by miles of travel. They have plans for building the approach There are three churches in Bullhead and there are Almost everyone in town belongs to the chamber of the Arizona and Nevada fish and wildlife commissions. to the bridge on the Arizona side if permitted to use the three other denomination churches in nearby Davis, the commerce, headed by Bud Williams, one of the first resi­ These trout will be nine or tert inches this winter, making bridge. Although there is a ferry across here at the south end closed town for employes of the dam. dents of the town. It is probably the most active chamber of good trout fishing. And it is open season the year round, too. of the valley, its use is limited. Business opportunities are unlimited here. Bullhead is commerce in the country, serving as the unofficial governing For the next couple of years, it is planned to do more Kingman, Mohave County seat, is the chief shopping expected to grow to be one of the largest agricultural and body of the town. Members look to the Mohave Valley with stocking of the river. The silt sandbars in the river will pro- center for things that cannot be purchased locally. Bullhead recreational centers in this section of the Colorado River.

Dairy industry is one of the V alley's important sources of revenue. Retired winter residents, w ith sn1all acreage, enjoy Valley's climate.

PAGE THIRTY-FOUR • ARIZONA HIGHWAYS • APRIL 1953 attacked twice in rapid succession to draw their adversaries' the job, General Taylor dispatched him with orders to find single-shot rifle and single-shot pistol fire. Then swiftly a Samuel Colt and do everything possible in Washington for third wave to cut the white man down w hile he was reload­ expediting immediate production of I ooo revolvers. ing. This strategy had worked well against the invaders' Now the chain of events in the Colt-Walker relation­ guns. ship was nearing its climaxing link. Now it was that Samuel But this time the Indians were torn by a sudden, shock­ Walker re-entered the Colt destiny in 1846 to provide the ing surprise ·whose echo rolled across the plains like prairie turning point assuring the future of a name vvhich thence­ thunder. A bewildering fury of flashing quick death-volley forth would fig ht with U nited States military forces in every after volley-from the hands of a foe who a moment before war from 1847 to the present day. the savages believed almost helpless. When the last shot From the east bank of the Rio Grande to Washington had been fired, more than half of the arrogant Comanche and Ne,1· York was a long journey in 1846. By the time Sam w ar party lay dead or wounded, and the rest had fled in vValker, now a captain, had begun negotiations with Sam panic. Casualties among the Rangers were slight. Colt, General Taylor had long since fought the battles of T his obscure, unsung battle was the decisive turning Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma and was deep into Mexico. point against the plains Indians in the settlers' inevitable vValker's intervention came at a time when the future migration to the west. It marked the beginning of the end of the Colt revolver had never looked darker. Samuel Colt's fo r the redman's sway over his homeland. And the Colt first company w as bankrupt. He had no factory, no machin­ revolver-with Samuel Walker again in its vanguard of fire­ ery. When Captain ~ Talker first made contact with him by had been the determining factor. correspondence from Washington the inventor did not have The same fateful inAuences which crossed the life one Colt r evolver, nor could he lay hands on a single speci­ paths of the two Sams were still at work ·when, in the spring men to use as a guide. of 1846, Sam Walker joined the newly formed U.S. Mounted But picture Sam Colt's elation! Suddenly , after ten Samuel Colt, inventor of Rifles in the army of Brevet Brigadier General Zachary years of bitter failure to get Ordnance Department recogni­ the f an1ous revolver Taylor, encamped on the southeast border of what was now tion of his gun, he is sought out and asked to furnish a the State of Texas. thousand revolvers to the army! Moreover, he is given vir­ Seasoned plains fighting men, many of them Rangers tual promise of an order for another two thousand later. w ho had made careers of battling for Texas freedom, made And one man, more than any other except Colt himself, had up the regiment commanded by the veteran Ranger John made this possible: Samuel H. Walker. Coffee f-Iays, now a colonel. No one knew better than Vivid memory of the Nueces River engagement w ith vValker and Hays that Colt revolvers were urgently needed the Comanches might well have influenced Walker to rec­ now by every man in the Rifles. "Old Rough and Ready" ommend a six-shot capacity as one of the first specifications Zachary T aylor knew it too. for the re-created Colt revolving pistol. An added shot he First Six-Gun Man And so, because Sam vValker was clearly the man for apiece for the Rangers in that crucial fight could have been

The celebrated 1847 ·walker Colt, calibre .44- first Colt six-shot re'volver, shown with po'Lvder and ball fiask BY CHESTER NEWTON HESS

amuel Colt, inventor of the first successful certainly the most important individual in Colt's life. r evolver, started manufacture of his initial Though they were not to meet until December of 1846, the model- the Paterson 5-shot cap-and-ball lives and fortunes of the two men in the intervening years -in 183 6 in a small factory at Paterson, were bound together by a common tie. New Jersey. Repeated attempts by Colt to Samuel Hamilton Walker, born 18 17 in Prince George interest the Ordnance Department in the County, Maryland, was three years younger than Samuel weapon for army use met with fai lure. Colt of Connecticut. Love of warlike adventure and the W hen the Seminole Indian War broke out in Florida, excitement of peril on frontier horizons burned fiercely in resourceful Sam Colt saw an opportunity to prove his revolv­ the heart of Sam Walker and was never quenched in ·life. ing pistol in the toughest test of all-action on the firing line. From Florida he went to Texas, and at 27 was already With typical initiative, the y outhful Yankee arms maker famous as a Ranger of the Lone Star Republic when some (he was only 24 at the time) took fifty of his new revolvers of the Paterson .40 calibre revolvers w hich Colt had placed and an equal number of repeating rifles to Florida and con­ in the Texas Navy came into the Rangers' hands in the sum­ vinced Colonel William S. Harney that the guns w ere mer of 1844. thoroughly practical. He sold them all on the spot. His experience with the Seminoles had convinced This w as the introduction to combat of a hand firearm Walker that Colt revolving pistols were the lawmen's only that was to be a dominant factor in U.S. fighting history for hope of controlling the Comanche warrior-master of horse­ almost three-quarters of a century . But even more significant, back warfare. Shortly after receiving the new guns, Walker it was the beginning of perhaps the most important chapter and fourteen other Rangers under the command of Major of all in the epic book of Colt. John Coffee Hays encountered a party of eighty Comanche With the army in Florida, while Samuel Colt was there braves near the Nueces River in the Pedernales country. with his new guns, was a young man who was to become Confident in their five-to-one strength the Comanches P HOTOGRAPH CO URTESY OF JOl-l:-J FLUCK

PAGE THIRTY - SIX ARIZONA HIGHWAYS APRIL 1953 more, that the result was an unqualified success. As it was, vValker was in its time the ideal weapon for the horseback c.\ tensions of delivery dates became necessary and many fighter. Its minimum of simple working parts, and the ease foccors, including government inspection of the arms, caused w ith w hich barrel and cylinder could be removed for clean- maddening delays. ing ( or for quickly substituting another loaded cylinder in The beginning of Samuel Colt's letter1 of January 18, an emergency), early established the preference and affec- 18-J.7, from New York to vValker in vVas hington provides tion men were to hold for its descendants in the many years ::n insight into the Yankee industrialist's nature, as well following. :,s some of his first problems: Sam vValker's instructions to Colt subsequent to the To Capt S.H. Walker original agreement were that he "number the pistols accord- J\1 y Dear Capt ing to Companies, by pairs, numbering each part alike from \ . our letter has just but reached me I having I to 2 20, provided the law passes, authorisina the increase been absent from the citv on the business of the as anticipated to that number, you will also s~mp them by 1000 pistol & I am hapey' to be able to say to you letters in their alphabetical order, stamping the letter C., on that I ha ve about fifty men engaged to work on the first two hundred and twenty as the letter of my com- the(m) & I shall put on every man I can hire at pany . ..." Of the total of 1100 Colts known to have been any prise to get them off in ti1i1e. I am paying now made at Whitneyville, about a hundred are accounted for for good hands as high as three & fore dollars today. The one we examined bore the mark, "C Com."- a day to intice them away from other establishments Samuel Walker's own company. & every man understands that the work is all to be Despite Colt's plea for Walker to stay until production completed in fore months & some of thc:m work as and mechanical difficulties were ironed out, the co-designer late as 1 1 & 1 2 oClock at night for which I pay of the revolver taking shape at Whitneyville was already them ex try. overdue in his further assignment to recruit men for the It is an everlasting job to get up the tools for regiment in his home state of Maryland, and secure horses, a new modle pistol every thing has to be made a sa ddles and other equipment for the Mounted Rifles. new & costs like the old scrach. I shalnot save one Sam Walker was deeply disappointed that at least one dollar out of the contract for I ooo but for this I pair of the new repeating pistols had not been completed care nothing If I can only get them off in time for and put in his hands before he had to leave for his other Uniform of the U. S. Mounted Rifi es Ca pt. Samuel H. W alker, " The First Six-Gun Man" y ou to use them in the Mexican vVar-being duties. In almost every letter he wrote to Colt, as he went confident that you will get me more orders- . . . from Washington to Baltimore, then to Kentucky and Ne,v The percussion cap-and-ball gun which emerged from Orleans, Walker pleaded with the arms maker· to exhaust the \Nalker-Colt inspiration naturally bore a strong generic every means in order to send him one or two of the guns he resemblance to the early weapon that had come from the needed so badly as evidence to his superiors that the mis- the margin between defeat and victory in the odds against pistols & I doubt not you would find sale for a Paterson plant almost ten years before. But it was a sweeping sion was bearing fruit. It was in a letter to Sam Colt written them that day. large number at this time improvement in every respect. The new revolver was a big, aboard a steamer to New Orleans that Walker called him In a letter1 to Colt on November 30, 1846, just prior to Yours very respY heavy gun with more accuracy. and killinab power than its "Peace Maker." their joint designing of the new revolver, Walker revealed S H WALKER, Cap0 ., predecessor. The calibre was increased to .44 and the barrel But the weeks and the months passed, with still no that he undoubtedly had definite improvements in mind: Mounted Riflemen U.S.A. length to nine inches. The handle was larger and shaped for revolvers reaching the regiment. Meanwhile Captain Walk- Mr Sam1 Colt Samuel Walker's own ideas, born of first-hand experi­ better ~Tasping. On the Paterson Colt the trigger dropped er had returned to Mexico, and the war went on, battle upon Sir; ence in battle, w ere accepted with respect by Samuel Colt. down from the frame when the hammer was cocked. The battle. At length his company was assigned to help protect In compliance with your request I take great In the few days of the year remaining after their first meet­ new gun had a regular trigger with a square-backed solid General Winfield Scott's supply line from Vera Cruz to pleasure in giving you my opinion of your revolv­ ing in New York on December 20, the two had worked out brass guard. An improved ramrod lever was attached under Mexico City. This put them directly into the fighting around ing patent arms. the principal design details of the revolver, and a wooden the barrel for driving the lead balls into the six cylinder Puebla. The pistols which you made for the Texas pilot model was ready for the first steps in determining chambers. vValker had specified that the gun was to handle On October 5, 1847, Walker wrote from Perote to his Navy have been in use by the Rangers for three materials to be required. On January 4, 1847, Walker and either round balls, fifty to a pound, or _"elongated balls," brother in Maryland, telling of the long wait and desperate years, and I can say with confidence that it is the Colt signed the contract for the thousand guns. Secretary of th ~rty to a pound. Col.~, had trouble adaptmg the ramrod to need for the revolvers. The Ordnance Department had noti- only good improvement that I have seen. The War William L. Marcy approved it January 6. The base smt bot_h types of b,,)ets b~~ ~~1,gqJy_e,s! Jlw,, p.i:oJ~J~~QJ.,...,,,~:~~tiecfh,hi1ITLm:..d, r;;qate 9 ~ July 8 that his company's Colts had Texans who have learned their value by practical price agreed to was $2 5 per revolver. vV1th each r 1Q1v.41;.,.w.as llf)plie,d,,~ g.ilded :r:p etal po}¾der, i , n· §flip,p.,e d to'tTua,-Cruz. They were still undelivered for experience, their confidence in them is unbound­ Thus was conceived the first Colt six-shot revolver­ and ball fla sk wi h ,tt ingen-ieus p · · w:lmo n rea on. ed, so much so that they are willing to engage four the justly celebrated Walker Colt, forerunner in the evolu­ adjustable for charge strengths. Also ,:t t1 e end Walker added that he had just times their number. ... I can safely say that you tion of the far better known Peacemaker to come. driver and a cap nipple wrench. Samuel Colt got three red p new revolvers, sent to him direct by deserve a large share of the credit for our success. Now Captain Walker returned to Washington, leaving dollars for each set of these accessories, or a total of $28,000 Without your Pistols we would not have had the Colt on his own to start production. With characteristic for the I ooo revolvers and extras. This was close to his r 9, Captain Walker and his confidence to have undertaken such daring adven­ dispatch and resourcefulness Sam Colt already had actual cost. However, in his agreement with Whitney he had ·11 force in the advance on tures. Was it necessary I could give you many approached Eli Whitney Jr. to make some of the parts and stipulated that the special machinery built to handle the job 1y appeared and Captain instances of the most satisfactory results. With p~rform asse°:bly ope:ations at his rifle armory in Whitney­ was to be returned to him on completion of the first order. improvements I think they can be rendered the ville, Connecticut. This arrangement was made, and explains Colt moved this equipment into his new factory at Hart­ There are three versi happened in the fight­ most perfect weapon in the World for light why the Walker Colt is also referred to as the "Whitneyville ford, w here the .44 Dragoon model of 1848 was the first ing that followed. One , rted it was a sniper's mounted troops which' is the most efficient troops Walker." to be made. shot in the back. Anoth of a guerrilla lance. that' can be placed upon our extensive Frontier to But the manufacture in quantity of a precision firearm On the cylinder of the vValker Colt was impressed the Some said it was a thrO\: ever the instrument of release, now the final irony . keep the various w arlike tribes of Indians & having inter~hang:eable parts, with the limited tooling and scene of a small body of cavalry engaging a larger force of marauding Mexicans in subjection. The people scarce labor m skilled crafts, was a problem of first magni­ Indians. This was in tribute to Walker's Ranger exploits; In his first battle with the revolver he had so largely created . .. with the brave fallen hand still clasped 'round throughout Texas are anxious to procure your tude. It is to the credit of Colt's driving tenacity and but of course it was politic under the circumstances to illustrate U.S. mounted troops. the handle of good New England walnut ... 1 unswerving singleness of purpose that the job was ever Quotations of text from the letters of Samuel Colt and Samuel H. Though heavier than any succeeding Colt model, the Samuel Hamilton Walker lay dead in the alien dust. Walker by permission of T he Connecticut Historical Society. completed in time to satisfy the terms of the contract. Still

PAGE THIRTY - EIG HT • ARIZONA HIGHWAYS • APRIL 195 3 ONE LANGUAGE OPPOSITE PAGE • "OX BOW HILL" BY WILLIS PETERSON. One makes the long climb up Ox Bow Hill, in northern Gila County, leaving Tonto Basin and approaching the pine vV ho can ass ured!y say, as waters merge, country of Payson. Hereabouts are cattle ranches and small mining \ Vhich stra nd was ocean, w hi ch \\':ls - pliant operations. This area figured in cattle feuds and Indian depradations in the rSSo's and 189o's. river? The God-tide in its deep, compulsive s urge BACK COVER • "ALONG THE APACHE TRAIL" BY HULBERT BURROUGHS. The ,\ lakes any water, small or large, a giver. scene photographed is along the Apache Trail between Canyon Lake and Apache Lake. The T he globul e dew holds ir id escent fla me, photographer u sed a 4x5 Speed Graphic, 90mm Schneider lens, Polascreen filter, Ektachrome T he brook r e-echoes fa intly sea's old story. fil m, ½ th second at f. IO. The foliage and the cliffs gleamed bright in the early April sunlight. T he needle s ti tch, as showers of April came, Is fa bri c of the w,n crfa ll 's fi erce glory. Dew, ra infall. torrent, r i,·er, ocean- each Forms syllables of elemcnrnl speech. YOURS SINCERELY . E LINOR L ENNEN 11 CHUCK'S COVER: • FEBRUA: THE PAll\JTE D D ESERT . . . Chuck A bbott's front cover on your Febru­ . .. In February issue of your magazine you Exciting colors shi mmer and sing, ary issue was a s trikingly beautiful photograph, ask, "What the heck does February mean?" A nd the wild w in d i s on the w ing superbly reproduced by your color printers. I February is from the Latin word "februa" Beating the bright a nd g il ded air would be interested in seeing a photograph of w hich signified the festivals of purification, Against a world that is curve d an d bare. the entire plant, because I imagine all the blos- w hich were celebrated in ancient Rome during this month. A bove the desert the w hite clouds make Perhaps Jerry McLain's explanation of the G reat horses' tails in t he big w in d's wake; name "Palomino" is correct. I do not know, but A nd pock-marked, flat-topped mes,1s stand here is another poss ibility: in those early days As fortresses in the polished sa nd. of Spanish conquest, the ring-neck dove was The dry creeks s pread out wide and glow very plentiful. That dove is a light tan color­ Like s ilver belts of the Nanjo, might be called golden-and it has a w hite neck. And deep and ancient canyons run The Spanish name for it is "paloma." The young Past ribl>oned cliffs before the s un . dove is "palomino." Is it possible the horse was ,-\ nd on the desert's fa rthest r im so called on account of· the color resembling Translucent turquoise mou nt:1in s swim that of the dove? iVl ysterious, unanchored, high I think Mr. Wayland's horse is the most Between the ga ud}• ea rth and sky. beautiful one I have ever seen; and there are a lot of beautiful Palominos here in California, SY 1. \"I•\ L EW IS KIN NEY too. E. B. Mathers DE.S FRT SU~SE.T Gardena, California lt looked as though an artist's pa in ts \ Vere s pilled across the skv, • Mr. Mat/Jers brings up an interesting possi­ A nd mingling with the gathering mists, bility in explaining t/Je " palomino." Refuse d t o set and drv. Dripping kaleidoscopic· hu es • NO EXAGGERATION: T hrouo- h outstretched cacti hands, . .. It's a little late, perhaps, to be handing out F ind ing a restin g place at Li st compliments on your luscious Christmas num­ In greed,· desert sands. ber, but I can't help adding my mite of applause DELL AvoN to the congratulations you must have been re­ ceiving. Your holi day issues have generally been soms of the hedgehog W ANDERLUST were not shown on your admirable, but 1952 is really tops to-date. We cover. \Vhere blows the lonely tumbleweed, can't seem to get through looking at it. Our James F. Johnson Government office, a Naval activity, has a large vVith no blazed trail to follow? Evansville, Indiana Compan ioned b y the w anton win d, art division, and the artists are particularly • Photographer Abbott's February cover took Rac ing with the swall ow 1 vocal in your praise. All agree they have never in most of the blossoms but not all. Here is a E M ILY I. ALLEMAN seen more exquisite color photography. snaps/Jot of the entire plant. The most amazing Our family is the better prepared to appre­ thing about the plant, according to Chuck, was C ITY LI G HTS ciate H 1GHWAYS, w hich we have been reading that it •was found on the Sycamore R im, be­ and admiring for several years, since it was our C itv lights arc bril li ants tween TVilliams and Prescott, at an altitude of privilege to spend a month in Arizona last sum­ Jn ·the "jet black c hain of ni ght. some 6,000 feet-fugitive from the desert, so to mer. \Ve saw about as much as could be seen in A nd al ways, through the darkness, speak. that time, and now, ,vhen friends say, "but those As I watch their sparkle bright, colors-are they true to life?" .. . we can T hey seem to me a R osary­ • GETTING AROUND: truthfully reply, "Yes, that's how things look in Each li ght a bead for pra . .. Thought you might be interested to know yer Arizona- the colors are not exaggerated." T hat holds the hope of h app in ess the scope of your magazine's circulation. Imagine Incidentally, we gained a new respect for your For peopl e li v in g t here . my surprise this morning, w hen walking dow n splendid highway HA RRI ETT F. CimGAR the "Avenida Jose Antonio" here in Barcelona, system. In many places w here Spain, to see a copy of AmzoNA HIGH WAYS on we toured, we passed road gangs working on the the newsstand. It was like greeting an old friend, highways, or building 11ew ones. In view of YOU '-1"G D RE M viER this activ since Phoenix has been my home since 1940. ity, the number of detours encountered Close to the door of rny hogan, was amazingly low. All in all, our visit to Ari­ a cactus fl owers; Eugene W. Marsh Phoenix, Arizona zona was a revelation. I wonder how many peo­ the petals are pink shell s ple realize w hat a wealth of scenic charm is • Thanks to the go tossed on t he shore of my la nd od offices of our '1.uholesale packed in your colorful state! representative, Independent News Company of by the g reat w hite c loud wa,·es Hansen T. Husted New York, ARIZONA HIGHWAYS is getting of the blue s ky lake. New York, New York around the world as well as the good old U.S.A. I d o not touch their pink b rightness We have newsstand outlets in such distant for they rest on needled fi ngers, places as Rio de Janeiro, V enezuela, Buenos • Ours is a colorful state. Each year bigger and but I watch the wind Aires, British Honduras, Okinawa, Peru, Cristo­ better bighways are being built to make our li ft the petals bal, Canal Zone, Costa Rica, Virgin Islands. scenic places more easily available to travelers. into the sky lake, and I am l~nelv for the fl owers· I cannot hold LORRAINE BABBITT PAGE FORTY • ARIZONA HIGHWAYS • APRIL 1953