Spring PETRIFIED FOREST: A Playground for Wildlife Baseball’s Back!

arizonahighways.com march 2003 MARCH 2003

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COVER NATURE 55 GENE PERRET’S WIT STOP 6 14 If you’d like a good Surprise, drive northwest of Survival in the Grasslands A Bevy of Blooms Phoenix — and don’t ask Why. Preserving masked bobwhite quail and and Butterflies pronghorn antelope also rebuilds the habitat 44 HUMOR at Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge. Delicate-winged beauties and dazzling floral displays await at the Phoenix Desert Botanical 2 LETTERS AND E-MAIL Garden’s Butterfly Pavilion. 22 PORTFOLIO 46 DESTINATION Arizona’s in Love with INDIANS Lowell Observatory 18 Visitors get telescope time, too, at this noted Baseball Spring Training Butterfly Myths institution, home to 27 full-time astronomers doing pioneering research. The Cactus League’s 10 major league teams The gentle, fluttering insects take on varied have a devoted following, including visitors symbolic roles in many Indian cultures. 3 TAKING THE OFF-RAMP from out of state. Explore Arizona oddities, attractions and pleasures. HISTORY TRAVEL 32 54 EXPERIENCE ARIZONA 38 Hike a Historic Trail Go on a hike or pan for gold in Apache Junction to Life in a Stony Landscape Retrace the southern Arizona route of Spain’s commemorate treasure hunting in the Superstition Come spring, the Petrified Forest National Juan Bautista de Anza, who led the 18th-century Mountains; help the Tohono O’odham Indians celebrate Park is abuzz with critters and new plants. colonization of San Francisco. their heritage and see their arts and crafts in Ajo; and enjoy the re-enactment of mountain man skills in Oatman.

49 ALONG THE WAY Hal Empie, Arizona’s much-admired pharmacist-artist, helped us see the humor in our lives and the beauty in our land.

50 BACK ROAD ADVENTURE [this page] Evening sunlight Six Mile Crossing at Burro Creek filtered through clouds washes The rough, primitive backcountry route will take you to the Pinaleno Mountains with abundant riparian discoveries. muted lavender tones in southeastern Arizona’s Coronado National Forest. 56 HIKE OF THE MONTH david w. lazaroff Sterling Pass Trail Grand Canyon [front cover] Following spring National Park Sterling Pass Trail in Oak rains at the Buenos Aires Lowell Observatory National Wildlife Refuge in Creek Canyon is steep, Burro southern Arizona, summer Creek Petrified Forest tough and swathed in Oak Creek National Park poppies abound in grassland history of a cowboy rustler Canyon below distant Baboquivari Peak. SURPRISE See story, page 6. jack dykinga and counterfeiter. [back cover] They look like a PHOENIX jumble of logs in a streambed, but you can’t burn these TUCSON specimens of petrified wood at Blue Mesa in the Petrified Forest Buenos Aires Natl. TUBAC POINTS OF Wildlife Refuge National Park in northeastern INTEREST Tumacacori Natl. Arizona. See story, page 38. FEATURED IN Historical Park THIS ISSUE larry ulrich and e-mail takingthe

MARCH 2003 VOL. 79, NO. 3 Arizona oddities, attractions and pleasures Publisher WIN HOLDEN

Editor ROBERT J. EARLY off-ramp Senior Editor BETH DEVENY Managing Editor RANDY SUMMERLIN Research Editor MARY PRATT Great Staff filled the theater many times with audiences for Editorial Administrator CONNIE BOCH and included THIS MONTH IN Administrative Assistant NIKKI KIMBEL My October issue arrived, as usual a joy with its her dance revues. In 1937, her “Ritzi-Rhythms” representations Director of Photography PETER ENSENBERGER ARIZONA superb photography and fascinating stories and sold out two nights and turned away more than Photography Editor RICHARD MAACK of Arizona’s rich legends from cover to cover. “This Month In 200. The Douglas Arts and Humanities Association Indian heritage: a Art Director MARY WINKELMAN VELGOS Arizona” and “Question of the Month” are nuggets deserves applause for restoring this treasure. Deputy Art Director BARBARA GLYNN DENNEY black arrowhead ARIZONA STATE ARCHIVES STATE ARIZONA Tucson opens its of interesting information. Also, thanks for Cindy Hayostek’s article about Deputy Art Director BILLIE JO BISHOP bearing a white 1872 Associate Art Director BETH ANDERSON first permanent I was impressed with your title of the article John Slaughter and his ranch. Cindy is a Art Assistant PAULY HELLER swastika in its center. public school. Map Designer KEVIN KIBSEY On the Road Again, Students’ “Sealed Secret.” The eye-catching arrangement of knowledgeable source of Cochise County history. The swastika, known as a parents donate the letters is an example of super artistry and Leona Bond Bell, Redmond, WA Arizona Highways Books “whirling log,” was widely used by switches and ® Without Swastikas deserves extra credit from every reader. Your fine WitWorks Books Navajo, Hopi, Pima and other urge the teachers Editor BOB ALBANO not to spare magazine is truly blessed with a very special staff. Paria Canyon Associate Editor EVELYN HOWELL hen Arizona’s old State Arizona Indian tribes in their rugs, the rod. Associate Editor PK PERKIN McMAHON Barbara Leavitt, Woburn, MA Last September I was gathering gear and supplies Highway Commission baskets, pottery and Thank you for noticing. Art Director Mary Velgos for an upcoming backpack trip when the October Production Director CINDY MACKEY introduced silver work. The Production Coordinator KIM ENSENBERGER W designed the layout. issue of Arizona Highways arrived. A glance at the Promotions Art Director RONDA JOHNSON its first numbered ancient symbol 1872Tucson citizens lynch four cover immediately caught my attention because Webmaster VICKY SNOW highway system in signified well-being, 4 IN TERMINAL PENCIL, ON DISPLAY ACRYLIC/COLORED MIROCHA, PAUL outlaws in front Ned White Remembered the lead article was about my destination, Paria Marketing Director 1927, travelers drove prosperity and of the jailhouse. Thank you for the story about Ned White, the bard Canyon. Ruth Rudner’s account of her hike was PATRICIA POWERS-ZERMEÑO on little more than friendship. of Brewery Gulch (“Taking the Off-ramp,” October refreshing and held my interest by telling of the Circulation Director LEE FRANKLIN dirt tracks that made Sometime in the Sky Harbor: ’02). His parents, Annie and Patrick, were at Fort beauty and awe she felt in the canyon. Finance Director ROBERT M. STEELE up 17 state routes early 1940s, Arizona Have Art, Will Fly 1888Three Vulture McDowell in the 1870s and ranched on the west My trip is finished now, and although I didn’t totaling 1,954 miles. highway officials Mine guards Fulfillment Director VALERIE J. BECKETT are stopped bank of the Verde River north of the Army fort and happen to get stuck in quicksand, I can empathize Early road maps prudently removed ow that travelers are spending FOR CUSTOMER INQUIRIES and killed on the road to one mile east of my home. In 1880 the Army with her lament about wet feet. OR TO ORDER BY PHONE: and state highway MUSEUM HEARD 1920, NAVAJO, KLAH, HOSTEEN the swastika from more time than ever waiting Phoenix. A bar burned their home for unknown reasons. My photos will never stand up to a comparison Call toll-free: (800) 543-5432 markers didn’t always highway signs for airplanes, Phoenix Sky In the Phoenix area or outside the U.S., N of gold is Ned was born at Camp Russell, Wyoming. He was with David Muench’s, but they will serve to Call (602) 712-2000 jibe, leaving motorists after Adolph Hitler Harbor International Airport offers stolen. Calamity Jane’s godson. He was also a deputy sheriff enhance my memories of one of the most beautiful Or visit us online at: to wonder where they and the Nazi party a diversion that involves neither arizonahighways.com in Tombstone only a few years after Wyatt Earp. and spectacular places I have ever visited. had taken a wrong turn. sullied this once-revered shopping nor sipping. The Sky For Corporate or Trade Sales Robert Mason, Rio Verde Barbara Pattee, Colorado Springs, CO Call (602) 712-2050 According to a 1927 Arizona symbol. Members of the Navajo, Harbor Art Program ranks among 1898The General Land Office rules E-MAIL “LETTERS TO THE EDITOR”: Highways article explaining the Apache, Hopi and Papago (now the largest American airport art that cutting More on Moore Austrian Travelers [email protected] numbering system, the state route Tohono O’odham) tribes renounced exhibits, totaling more than 200 mesquite on government I have heard of “editorial license,” but you went Fans of Arizona Highways are even to be found in Regular Mail: markers, framed in the shape of the its use in their blankets, baskets, permanent works and 15 exhibition Editor property is one step too far. The picture accompanying the tiny Austria. I’ve subscribed to your magazine 2039 W. Lewis Ave. state, announced the route number art objects and clothing. spaces. Its centerpiece, the Terminal illegal. One article about Les Moore (“Taking the Off-ramp,” for about four years. The first few copies we got Phoenix, AZ 85009 4 gallery, displays a changing week later they reverse the October ’02) shows that the last line is “NO MORE”; were the reason why we decided to travel your Governor Janet Napolitano selection of Arizona art and artifacts. decision, Director, Department of Transportation your text says “NO MOORE.” Naughty, naughty! country. In summer 1999, we spent five incredibly Shows have included exhibits declaring that Victor M. Mendez Bed and Make Your Own #@&% Breakfast mesquite is W. A. “Bill” Marsh, Boise, ID gorgeous (though hot!!) weeks in the Southwest, ARIZONA TRANSPORTATION BOARD from 28 state parks, as well as Chairman Katie Dusenberry, Tucson not actually Oh, my. Or is it Ooh, my? The poor old editor, and since then we’ve been dreaming of going back Vice Chairman Ingo Radicke, Globe elvan Hayward jokes that into restoration work. As a result, work by nationally known artists wood. apparently, is not very good with his ooos. one day. So thanks to your great magazine, we Members Dallas “Rusty” Gant, Wickenburg her historic inn can be the inn gained a spot on the with regional connections, such as Richard “Dick” Hileman, Lake Havasu City had the best holiday ever! Bill Jeffers, Holbrook called a “bed and make your National Register of Historic Places, landscape photographer Mark Joe Lane, Phoenix D Four convicts Chiricahua Apaches Elfriede Miller, Salzburg, Austria own (expletive) breakfast.” Guests becoming the first building in Klett and light-and-space master James W. Martin, Willcox 1903 escape from Upon reflection of Cindy Hayostek’s “Destination” at Delvan’s Drawing Room in tiny Miami to obtain this designation. James Turrell. Passengers in the Yuma Territorial about the John Slaughter Ranch in the October Oatman Burros INTERNATIONAL REGIONAL MAGAZINE ASSOCIATION downtown Miami, east of Phoenix, Information: (928) 473-9045. other two terminals can have an art Prison and 2001, 2000, 1998, 1992, 1990 Magazine of the Year seize a yacht 2002 issue, I must say that when I take my boys After four previous visits to your wonderful state, WESTERN PUBLICATIONS ASSOCIATION aren’t even insulted. “They experience at smaller 2001 Best Travel & In-transit Magazine on the Colorado on our yearly trip to Cochise County, my thoughts my husband and I decided we had to see the 2000, 1999, 1998, 1997, 1995, 1993, 1992 love it; it makes them laugh,” displays — Barry River. They lean more toward the hearty native peoples of the burros of Oatman. Best Regional & State Magazine says the artist with an irreverent Goldwater’s photography go aground on SOCIETY OF AMERICAN TRAVEL WRITERS FOUNDATION a sandbar and land. Imagine being driven from the Chiricahua We left Nevada and came through Bullhead City. 2000, 1997 Gold Awards sense of humor who’d rather and a retrospective of are caught in Mountains to the San Carlos Reservation, then one Many miles later, going up, down, around and back Best Monthly Travel Magazine be behind an easel than a flight attendant costumes the desert. of the most inhospitable places in the Territory. again, we came to Oatman — and saw absolutely Arizona Highways® (ISSN 0004-1521) is published frying pan. That’s fine with were recent exhibits. The monthly by the Arizona Department of Transportation. Not much to do in San Carlos in 1876. nothing. Buildings were closed, no people were in Subscription price: $24 a year in the U.S., $34 in Canada, customers, who save a bundle airport also displays $37 elsewhere outside the U.S. Single copy: $3.99 U.S. The world learns Chris Zervas, Newark, DE sight and not a burro anywhere. There was much Send subscription correspon­ dence­ and change of address on room rates and help permanent installations 1922 information to Arizona High­ways, 2039 W. Lewis Ave., that amateur evidence they’d been there, but where were they? Phoenix, AZ 85009. Periodical postage paid at Phoenix, themselves to a well-stocked throughout the airport, astronomer AZ and at additional mailing office. POST­MASTER: send In the Spotlight It was Sunday. Maybe they were in church. address changes to Arizona Highways, 2039 W. Lewis kitchen. such as Terminal 4’s giant Clyde Tombaugh Ave., Phoenix, AZ 85009. Copyright­ © 2003 by the Ari-­ has discovered In “Ghosts Need Friends, Too” (“Taking the Off- Zada Hoag, Haines City, FL zona Department of Trans­por­tation. Repro­duc­tion in Since purchasing the 1917 thumblike ceramic the planet whole or in part with­­out permission is prohibited. The ramp,” October ’02), the picture of the orb in the We are told that the shops in Oatman close at about magazine does not accept and is not responsible for un-­ bar and miners’ boardinghouse sculptures, called dangos Pluto at Lowell basement of the Grand Theatre is undoubtedly a 4:30 or 5 p.m. — and even the burros leave for the solicited ma­terials provided for editorial con­sideration. Observatory in in 1996, Hayward has (“dumplings”), by Japanese Flagstaff.

spotlight “ghost.” My mother, Irma Dalton Bond, night. Sorry you missed them. Produced in the USA poured her creative energy BETH ANDERSON artist Jun Kaneko.

2 MARCH 2003 arizonahighways.com ARIZONA HIGHWAYS 3 off-ramptakingthe

convinced him he should of them, except the Indians, who Live the Apaches will surrender. said they saw one now and then, lead visitors The files also contain a very few, and didn’t know what Apache Way through an Question letter written in 1927 by they were.” for Two Days evening of of the Gatewood’s wife to her traditional native Month son, Charles Jr. She ou sit on the ground, a life. You’ll learn describes spotting a The Gem From rough spun blanket padding how to make Who first kangaroo as she drove Ythe earth. Smoke from a arrowheads Q referred to among the low hills west of Outer Space or fire billows into your face and and arrows, U.S. Route 66, LINDA LONGMIRE Fort Apache: Middle Earth blocks the crisp starlight. Drums participate in which cut across “Going down one little eridot, known as the extraterrestrial start to thump as you take a bite ring-tossing, Arizona, as “The valley, a black kangaroo thing P gem because some peridot has of frybread. A dance begins. eat a traditional Mother Road?” emerged ahead of us and hopped hitched flights to Earth within A primal ballet, steeped in ritual, meal of frybread, ? at right angles across in front of JEFF SCOVIL meteorites, is more commonly takes you back to the pre- venison and John us, in a leisurely way, never found in volcanic rock. The European era of the land. The beat corn, and Steinbeck DAVID H. SMITH DAVID A Kangaroos noticing us. It was small — four gem form of the mineral quickens, feet shuffle in broken witness the popularized in Arizona? or five feet at most — jet black olivine, it is mined on steps and the Apache Crown your veins to enjoy this experience. ancient Apache Crown Dance. In Route 66 in his all over, with all the kangaroo the San Carlos Apache Dance takes flight. Dennis Bregar, owner of Trail the morning, you’ll mount up and 1939 novel The reposterous, you say. But a characteristics, pouch, long Reservation, which Apache blood doesn’t have to lace Blazers Adventures, offers head back to town. Grapes of Wrath, letter found in the Gatewood strong hind legs, short arms produces most of the wilderness trailrides in Greer from “These people [the Apaches] are set during the P Collection at the Arizona held in front and [it] hopped world’s peridot. Iron April through September. The who they say they are,” Bregar Great Depression. Historical Society’s Tucson library just like the real thing. creates the stone’s color, rides end at the stretched-and- declares. “They’re fourth- and fifth- “66 is the path of Worse raises that intriguing possibility. “We saw it close and for some which ranges from light tanned hides of wickiups, your generation seers and storytellers.” a people in flight, Than The collection contains the time, as it crossed and went yellowish green to lodging for the night. Information: (866) 615-1900, or refugees from dust papers of Charles Gatewood, the between two of those bewildering vivid Once there, White Mountain trailblazersadventures.com. and shrinking Throwing brave lieutenant who rode into round foothills. We inquired all green. land, from the It Out Geronimo’s camp in 1886 and about and no one had ever heard thunder of tractors With the Catch Bisbee historic tours offered by the Bisbee and . . . from the Bathwater Trolley Car Company. twisting winds that The modern versions of howl up out of LIFE IN ARIZONA 1886-1944 by Bus Tour FROM AN Bisbee’s trolley cars, comfortable Texas, from the ADVERTISEMENT n March 12, 1908, the buses reminiscently painted, floods that bring in The Arizona Daily “Copper Capital of the leave five times daily, Friday no richness to the

Last of the LONGMIRE LINDA Star, July 29, 1897, Tucson Owls O World” opened the rails of through Monday, and follow much land and steal praising the virtues the new Warren-Bisbee Railway, of the original trolley’s tracks. what little richness of a new type of solitary owl adorns the ornate facade of Pick a Piece of Pie becoming Arizona’s only true Some of the historic places seen is there. 66 is the infant’s feeding A the old mansion in downtown Tucson. at Palominas Post interurban railway. Designed and on the narrated tours include mother road, the bottle: This symbolic feathered fellow of the night operated by the Calumet and Brewery Gulch, the town’s once- road of flight.” “When the baby had once been the icon of a group of Tucson fter a hard day of bird-watching, Arizona Mining Company, the notorious row of bars is done drinking, it gentlemen. Bachelors, every one of them, they A horseback riding or hiking in the electric trolley transported miners and brothels; must be unscrewed also ran the town — politics, business, real Huachuca Mountains near Sierra Vista, the 4 miles from the state’s first the Bisbee and put in a cold estate. In 1886, they formed a brotherhood head to the Palominas Trading Post and planned community of Warren to Mining and place under a tap. that became the Owls Club. Country Diner on State Route 92. It’s a the mines in Bisbee. Historical If the baby does Members, given to fine dining, good parties casual, comfortable place, with rusted “For five cents a day, you could Museum, not thrive on fresh and the single life, lived in a number of houses antique tools on display and an ancient ride the rails,” says Boyd Nicholl, America’s milk, it should be before the final nest with the owl in front. philodendron whose 15-foot tendrils curator at the Bisbee Mining first rural boiled.” By 1902, death and marriage started a wrap around the walls. Regular customers and Historical Museum. “Before affiliate

ARIZONA HISTORICAL SOCIETY, TUCSON SOCIETY, HISTORICAL ARIZONA decline in the club’s population. One bring their newspapers and think nothing the railway, there was little of the [above] The Beuhman gentleman, Leo Goldschmidt, became sole of getting their own coffee refills. transportation available, so people Smithsonian Studio snapped the proprietor and resident in 1912. To keep him Burgers and breakfasts both come tended to live where they worked. Institution; Owls Club’s young company, he invited in family, including . . . highly recommended, as does the The trolley changed all that.” the Copper aristocrats. Leo pan-fried cod special on Fridays and Goldschmidt stands at GASP . . . female relatives. He died in 1944 In 1928, the trolley was Queen Hotel, built CONTRIBUTORS far right. at 91, being the last Owls Club member. The Saturdays. discontinued to make way for a in 1902 by the Copper Queen LORI K. BAKER [right] Renowned clubhouse became a business office, but one But here’s the real attraction: Be sure bus line. Warren has long since Mining Company; Warren LEO W. BANKS Chicago architect old plaster owl still stands guard. to save room, a lot of room, for dessert, been gobbled up by Bisbee’s Ballpark, the oldest ballpark in SALLY BENFORD Henry Trost designed To take a look, drive past 378 N. Main St., and allow plenty of time for difficult growth. Only a few pieces of track Arizona; and Lavender Pit, a RYAN BROTMAN the club’s second WYNNE BROWN

mansion, built in 1902. a few blocks north of Tucson Museum of Art decisions. Fifteen varieties of homemade remain embedded in the dusty yawning 900-foot open-pit mine. CAR COMPANY TROLLEY BISBEE NIKKI KIMBEL and Historic Block. pies are served every week. streets, but visitors still can Information: (520) 940-7212 MELISSA MORRISON Information: (520) 366-5529. discover Bisbee’s raucous past on or online, www.bisbeetrolley.com. KATHLEEN WALKER

4 MARCH 2003 arizonahighways.com arizonahighways.com ARIZONA HIGHWAYS 5 Bobwhite quail, Pronghorn Antelope andBuenos their Grassland Aires N aHabitattiona l Wildlife Refuge struggle bravely for Life Surviving Against Bobwhite Quail, Pronghorn Antelope and Their Grassland Habitat Struggle Bravely for Life the Text by PETER ALESHIRE Photographs by JACK DYKINGA

stood irresolute before the locked and hoping the setting sun would break gate in the dark of a monsoon night. With through clouds on the horizon to illuminate Odds the gate lock’s keypad unaccountably miss- the thunderheads reflected in the pond’s sur- ing, I wondered if Buenos Aires National face. Unlike Dykinga, I was spared the iWildlife Refuge Manager Wayne Shifflett was tyranny of lugging a 4x5 landscape camera messing with me. as I inhaled the fragrant, ozone-tinged air and I’d already spent a storm-tossed day on wished a bobwhite quail would pick that the grassy 118,000-acre refuge — established moment to flush out of the waving grass. 60 miles southwest of Tucson to preserve the But the sun never found Dykinga’s thun- habitat of the masked bobwhite quail, the derhead, the quail never flushed and the pronghorn antelope and other grassland- storm gathered overhead — reminding me dependent species. I marveled at the profuse to seek shelter for the night. Which brings summer poppies, the wealth of birds and the us back to that locked gate. Insisting that I undulating grass. should not miss visiting Brown Canyon with In 18 years, this federal refuge has salvaged its ranch house converted into a 16-bed a remnant of the glorious grasslands that Environmental Education Center, Shifflett covered much of southeast Arizona before a had instructed me to drive up the 5 miles of century of intense grazing, invading non- narrow dirt road off State Route 286 in the native grasses and suppressed wildfires left the ground nearly bare. Oak and sycamore trees grace Brown Canyon, which is located To Tucson Baboquivari Peak n at the northern end of the refuge. Grass- o y y Br n own Ca e lands dominate the refuge, but the area also l Environmental l Education Center a includes the bird-thronged solace of Arivaca v

Creek and Arivaca Cienega. Brown Canyon 286 r a cuts toward Baboquivari Peak, which the t l Tohono O’odham Indians believe forms the A broken umbilical cord between heaven and Arivaca A Road r iv Earth and where the Creator, I’itoi, still lives. a ca To I-19 C re At day’s end, photographer Jack Dykinga Headquarters e k Arivaca Cienega and I had stood staring at the stormy sunset Arivaca

reflected in the pond where Shifflett plans to Antelope ARIZO Drive NA establish threatened Chiricahua leopard frogs. MEXIC O BUENOS AIRES KEVIN KIBSEY Dykinga stood in the pond fretting, muttering Sasabe NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE [left] Innocently white but poisonous, a sacred datura rises above a profusion of morning glory blooms in Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge southwest of Tucson. [top] The refuge’s reclaimed desert grasslands provide habitat for masked bobwhite quail, including this youngster, hatched at the onsite breeding facility. arizonahighways.com ARIZONA HIGHWAYS 7 [left] Under a cloudy evening sky, arrowhead plants dark, key in the code to education center — a splendid two-story ranch house protrude from the Buenos Aires refuge’s pond, where open the gate, and drive with a huge kitchen and a stone fireplace — to stare slack- managers hope to establish threatened Chiricahua another 3 or 4 miles up to jawed at Baboquivari Peak, draped in cloud drifts. Birds leopard frogs. [above] Shy, white-faced pronghorns bound across the center. Brown Canyon in the oaks and sycamores cheered the dawn. So I wan- grassland dotted with mesquite at the refuge. is open to the public for dered for half a mile up the creek, bordered with purple guided tours and seminars morning glories sparkling with morning dew. only, but since the center was unoccupied, I was granted Then I hurried back to the refuge headquarters, deter- the special privilege of spending the night there in splen- mined to see both pronghorns and masked bobwhite did solitude. quail — two reasons we relented from a century of Except I couldn’t find the keypad. I finally located a destroying the grasslands that once covered much of locked box on the backside of the gate and decided that southeast Arizona. Shifflett must have neglected to give me the key to open Back at headquarters, I found Dykinga lounging tri- the keypad box. I felt sure he was sitting snug in his lit- umphantly, having taken a dawn shot of heavenly light tle house by the refuge headquarters, chuckling. rays slanting down through the clouds to illuminate the I pondered the sky, a patchwork of clouds, stars and pond’s surface. moon: perfect night for a walk unless the monsoon I explained about the locked gate and the rock and the resumed. So I grabbed my duster, my camera, my tooth- lions and jaguars and bears. Shifflett explained the keypad paste and some matches and headed up the road. was on the backside of the other post. Several miles later, I remembered the jaguars, which Dykinga, recently back from photographing grizzlies reminded me of the mountain lions, which reminded me in Alaska, just smiled. of the bears that frequent the refuge. Oh my. “So what were you gonna do with the rock?” he asked A jaguar was treed and photographed near Brown politely. “Knock yourself out?” Canyon in recent years — a heartening sign. Some experts Shifflett found this very funny. speculate that the rarely seen jaguars may have been liv- Once they quit laughing, I figured it was time to get ing in the area all along — but only recently noticed. Of going if I hoped to catch sight of a pronghorn — not to course, the jaguars have to coexist with mountain lions mention a bobwhite. But I really just wanted to explore and black bears, which love oak woodlands. this last, best patch of Sonoran grasslands, a refuge for Suddenly, I felt like a link in the food chain. the pronghorns, four types of quail and a species count But I bravely reminded myself that I’m a tool-using ani- that includes more than 500 birds, 58 mammals, 42 rep- mal, big-brained and all. So I picked up a hunk of sharp- tiles, 11 amphibians and more than 600 plants. edged quartz, figuring I could whack a mountain lion pretty For the grassland revival, we can thank the masked hard on the head if we got to arguing dinner arrangements. bobwhite quail — once common, then lost, then redis- Of course, I saw no sign of lions, jaguars or bears. covered in the dwindling Sonoran grasslands in Mexico. I got my reward the next morning for enduring this The bobwhite, a droll flurry of brick-red feathers in the “dangerous” trek, when I emerged onto the porch of the waving fields of poppies and grass, still struggles — but arizonahighways.com ARIZONA HIGHWAYS 9 in trying to save the bird, we recovered the grassland. suppression in the past 18 years have dramatically increased The refuge draws a modest 35,000 visitors a year, native grasses in the refuge, slowed erosion and boosted mostly day-trippers and bird-watchers from Tucson. The numbers of key plant and animal species. However, efforts spring-fed cienega near the historic, quirky town of Ari- to bring back both pronghorns and bobwhite quail vaca remains the most-visited site on the refuge, a birders’ demonstrate the difficulty of rebuilding populations of wonderland of marshes and cottonwoods, with a mean- declining species. dering boardwalk offering glimpses of a large variety of The Buenos Aires refuge remains the birds — including the rare yellow-billed cuckoo. Many only place in North America where you visitors wander across the grasslands in hopes of seeing a can find four quail species — Gambel’s, pronghorn, which the Apaches called the “One Who Is scaled, Montezuma and masked bob- Becoming” because its ghostlike face and unearthly speed white. The masked bobwhite depends made it seem part spirit, part animal. most heavily on thick, continuous grass- The refuge runs northerly about 24 miles from the lands for its survival, perhaps because Mexican border through the Altar Valley along State Route it eats smaller seeds, feeds its young 286, an area where giant ground sloths, camels, huge exclusively on summer grasshoppers bison, horses, beavers, mammoths and saber-toothed and relies on camouflage protection in tigers wandered during the last Ice Age. Prehistoric the deep grass when threatened. hunters, and later the Hohokam, left traces in the valley. Despite the return of the grassland, Apaches arrived in the 1500s and 1600s to hunt the reintroduced bobwhites still struggle because they pronghorns, driving the farming-based Tohono O’odham lack survival skills. Surviving in a world of sudden back toward the Baboquivari Mountains. storms, sporadic freezes, intermittent droughts, hungry The number of cattle in the southeast Arizona grass- coyotes, patrolling hawks and slithering snakes requires lands rose from perhaps 5,000 in 1870 to 1.5 million in training by attentive ­parents. The refuge’s bobwhite breed- 1890. Periodic droughts prompted the starving cattle to ing facility has released 22,000 captive-bred birds into eat everything in sight, dramatically altering the grass- lands. Droughts in the 1890s, 1920s and 1950s left piles [top] On the refuge, Arivaca Creek and the trees along its banks, such as an old-growth cottonwood (above, with Refuge of cattle bones and converted most of the rolling grass- Manager Wayne Shifflett) attract a variety of birds, including lands into mesquite-dominated desert. Instead of nour- tropical kingbirds, nesting gray hawks, ferruginous pygmy- ishing fields of grass across the Altar Valley, storm runoff owls, rose-throated becards, vermilion flycatchers and yellow- scoured out a 20-foot-deep, 1,400-foot-wide, 40-mile billed cuckoos. [right] Bees pollinate velvet mesquite trees’ yellow flowers, long arroyo down the middle of the Altar Valley. which will ripen into seed pods and serve as food for coyotes The exclusion of cattle and the lack of grassfire and other desert animals.

10 MARCH 2003 arizonahighways.com [opposite page] Deer and rodents feed on the yellow fruit that form from barrel cacti’s flowers. [left] The rare yellow-billed cuckoo is just one of many birds visitors may spot at the refuge. tom vezo

the wild. However, the bobwhite population hovers at locating the keypad on the gatepost. So I returned to 200 to 300 and has been dwindling in the face of ongo- Antelope Drive, paying special attention to the patches ing drought, probably because the young birds don’t of wickedly thorned acacia that the quail favor. Over- have wary, wild-reared parents. Quail captured in Mex- head, the monsoon gathered for an afternoon assault. I ico and released on the refuge fare better, but over- spied a flutter in a patch of acacia. As I rolled to a stop, grazing and drought in Mexico have nearly wiped out a quail ex­ploded from the bush — flying low over the the wild populations there, making it hard to find wild windswept grass. He might have had a bobwhite’s red- birds to transplant. dish tinge and a dark head, but he might have been a Efforts to reintroduce pronghorns also have struggled. scaled quail. So I hopped out of the car and followed Ice Age survivors, pronghorns rely on binocular vision him toward the crest of a long hill. and spectacular speed for safety. With the largest eyes I moved through the grass, through the poppies, proportionately of any mammal — equivalent to 8-power through the morning glories, stirring rustles of grasshop- binoculars with nearly a 360-degree field of vision — pers at every step. The approaching black monsoon they can spot a human or predator sneaking up from 4 cloud dropped to the horizon ahead, although I was in miles away. They can run for long distances at 40 miles brilliant sun. Then the haunting song of a horned lark per hour and sprint at 70 miles per hour — taking 27- transfixed me. Baboquivari Peak dominated the far hori- foot-long strides to land on exquisitely evolved pads of zon, concealing the jaguars and mountain lions of my cartilage in their feet. imagination. In that moment, in the line of the moun- Pronghorns burn oxygen three times as fast as most tain, the approach of the storm, the waver of the grass, animals, thanks to a huge heart and a windpipe more than the call of the lark — I understood why the Creator twice as big as a human’s. Although they resemble African lived here. antelope, they’re actually in their own scientific family — Continuing toward the hidden quail, I came to the hill’s with unique pronged horns that shed crest. Perhaps 100 yards away, I saw six pronghorns. The Location: Approximately 170 their sheathes each year. big-horned male lifted his ghostly face to study me. I froze, miles southwest of Phoenix. The animals thrived for 40 million my heart brimming, ruffled by the wind. One of the Getting There: From Phoenix, years before Europeans arrived in youngsters bolted and the male raced after him, with his drive south on Interstate 10 through Tucson to State Route North America. But long-range rifles impossible 27-foot strides — as One Who Is Becoming 86, or Ajo Way. Go west to enabled hunters to slaughter them by the wind, the storm, the grass, the sun. The other females Three Points, then south on State Route 286 the wagonload; at one point, four trotted after them. for 38 miles to refuge headquarters. pronghorns sold for a mere quarter. I watched them disappear over the hill, into the storm, Information and trails are located near Arivaca and can be reached by taking A North American pronghorn pop- into the jags of lightning now threading through the Interstate 19 south from Tucson to the ulation estimated in the tens of mil- blackness. Amado/Arivaca exits. Exit west, turn right at lions plunged to 30,000 by 1920 — Somewhere in the waving grass, the bobwhite crouched, the T, and then left onto Arivaca Road. and to 650 in Arizona. Thanks to con- frozen, invisible, as I stood frozen, watching the storm Proceed west for 20 miles to Arivaca. Refuge trails are located both east and west of servation efforts, about a million bear down. town. pronghorns now wander the nation’s It did not matter any more whether I saw him, so long Weather: March average high, 69.7°; average grasslands — including a herd of about as I knew he was there, somewhere, blended with the low, 40.2º. 60 at Buenos Aires. Patient refuge vis- grass. It was enough that he had given me the great gift Hours: Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center, 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., every day; itors can usually glimpse a small herd of that single moment, as he had given us all this sacred Arivaca information station, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., as by taking the 12-mile Antelope Drive, place, on the edge of the storm. volunteers are available. which starts near the visitors center Event: Centennial celebration of the wildlife Peter Aleshire of Phoenix says that although spring and winter are the refuge system, March 15, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; and ends just north of Sasabe. Biolo- most popular seasons for visiting Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge, he guided tours, displays, speaker and art gists are uncertain why the herd hasn’t loves best to go in August when the monsoons sweep through Altar Valley show, bluegrass music. For tours, call (520) grown much in recent years. and swirl around Baboquivari Peak. 823-4251. During my visit, spotting the For Tucson-based photographer Jack Dykinga, this was a return visit to Travel Advisory: Refuge roads are always the refuge. Over the years, he’s climbed Baboquivari Peak dozens of times. open. Please close gates behind you. pronghorn­ herd or the bobwhite The explosion of summer poppies during this trip was something he’s never Additional Information: Buenos Aires quail coveys proved as tough as seen before. National Wildlife Refuge, (520) 823–4251. arizonahighways.com ARIZONA HIGHWAYS 13 Phoenix’s Desert Botanical Garden all aflutter with floral and insect color bloPhoenix’so Desert Botanicalmi Garden n’ with hat looks like a showy orange flower dangling from a shrub wsuddenly soars into the air. Like a reckless hang glider, it zigzags past spectators, then flies aloft, nearly skim- Text by LORI K. BAKER ming the tops of their heads. With its bril- bu Photographs bytt DAVID H. SMITHerflies liant pumpkin orange 3-inch wingspan outstretched to glide, the flying “flower” at last reveals its true identity: a Julia but- terfly from the woodlands of southern Texas and Florida. At the Desert Botanical Garden’s Butterfly Pavilion in Phoenix, the Julia adds its bright hue to nearly a thousand lepidoptera decked out in almost all colors of the rainbow. In a mesh-enclosed habitat festooned with exotic add fun and adventure to the Desert Botan- 11. It’s one of a growing number of butterfly greenery, cooling mist systems and ponds ical Garden — spanning 145 acres, 47 of houses springing up across the United States. afloat with lily pads, butterflies soar, court, which are open for exploration — and it’s Butterfly World at Coconut Creek, Florida, bask in the sun or sip flower nectar. abloom in dazzling color during the spring. opened in 1988, and at least a dozen others Some, like the low-flying zebra longwing, At the entrance, brilliant yellow-flowered followed, including the Cecil B. Day But- Florida’s state butterfly with striking yellow orchid vines intertwine the rusted entry arbor terfly Center at Georgia’s Callaway Gardens; stripes on black, entertain like circus per- dome, and paloverde trees line the path. the Cockrell Butterfly Center in Houston formers. They often light on children’s out- Fairy duster bushes and their fuzzy bright and the Sophia M. Sachs Butterfly House in stretched hands or heads. Laughing in delight, red flowers buzz with bees, and African aloe Chesterfield, Missouri. a 6-year-old boy exclaimed, “I’ve been here plants spiked with reddish-orange blooms The centers grant seldom-seen glimpses three times, and the same zebra keeps land- beckon hummingbirds. Amid stately cen- of dazzling creatures becoming increasingly ing on me. He must really like me!” turies-old saguaros, it’s the “youngsters” who rare, endangered or even extinct through Even 6-year-olds can master the art of but- steal the show on the Harriet K. Maxwell terfly attraction: Wear a colorful shirt, and a Desert Wildflower Trail: desert marigolds, butterfly might mistake you for a flowered poppies, bluebells and zinnias. They line a [above] A giant shrub. Dab on anything with a sweet fra- 2-acre interpretive loop walk showcasing swallowtail hangs on a wildflower inside grance, and you’re butterfly bait. One man blossoms from the four North American the Butterfly Pavilion briefly wore a giant swallowtail emblazoned deserts, with an emphasis on the local Sono- at the Desert Botanical across his balding forehead, all because his ran Desert. Garden in Phoenix. few wisps of hair were pasted in place with Still, nothing can top the magic and charm [right] A zebra longwing allows a close-up an alluringly fragranced hair gel. of the Butterfly Pavilion, now in its second view for a curious visitor Serendipitous encounters with butterflies season and running from March 15 to May to the Butterfly Pavilion.

14 MARCH 2003 arizonahighways.com to create a beautiful butterfly.” With patience and good timing, visitors can witness an adult butterfly drowsily breaking out of its pupa shell. It emerges with small, shriveled wings and an over- sized body. It quickly pumps fluid into the veins of its wings, which expand like an inflatable life raft. Within about a half-hour, [left] An aloe bed in full bloom its exoskeleton hardens and the wings adorns the Desert Discovery Trail become rigid. As many as 30 take this bold at the Desert Botanical Garden. step into butterflyhood in a day; “sometimes [above] A variety of chrysalides, butterfly cocoons, hang glued to glass they pop like popcorn,” McGinn said. shelves inside the emergence chamber. The Desert Botanical Garden prefers to hatch butterflies from the pupa stage. “They are healthier and live longer that way,” would be there naturally with a little bit of McGinn said. glue,” she said, repeating the process until Still, even the longest-lived butterflies nearly 50 chrysalides were hung. spend ephemeral lives among the flowers; The chrysalides arrive twice a week via most last no more than two weeks. To keep over­night delivery. They’re shipped by breed-­ the Butterfly Pavilion well populated, the ramada with a rusted woven-metal roof [above] The specialized garden ers such as The Butterfly Farmers, located garden also receives overnight deliveries of shades a bubbling fountain and concrete inside the Butterfly Pavilion provides an ideal habitat for on a 5-acre spread near Fort Myers, Florida, about 400 live butterflies every two weeks benches. The entrance path, lined with butterflies, and the folks widespread pesticide use and natural habi- daisies. As afternoon edged to sunset, but- where 5,000 to 6,000 caterpillars munch from butterfly farmers. Like the shipments bunch grasses rippling in the breeze, leads watching the butterflies seem tat destruction. “Visitors often reminisce terfly bedtime, several clung to the mesh their way through foliage and flowers each of chrysalides, the boxes are cold-packed to to a monumental spiraling agave terrace to like it, too. about how they’d seen fields of butterflies enclosure and closed their wings to roost, day until they bloat to maximum size, shed keep the butterflies dormant. Inside, small made of stone and filled with century plants. when growing up, but no longer,” said Elaine the butterfly’s version of sleep, until mid- their last larval skin and morph into glassine envelopes each hold a butterfly, its Underneath the shady canopy of the new McGinn, Desert Botanical Garden’s director morning. chrysalides. Then they’re ready for shipping wings closed and perfectly still. Steele Entry Plaza, benches and a drinking whose trunks glisten with inky sap that of exhibits At the pavilion exit, signs warned of to zoos and botanical gardens. One Friday afternoon, McGinn brought fountain lure visitors to stop and linger amid Indian artists once used for paint. Visitors can spot many indigenous Arizona “hitchhikers” that might still be along for Breeders carefully line up the precious two boxes to the pavilion, where she handed a mix of smooth desert spoons, round During the spring, the wildflower trail species among the ranks at the pavilion. One the ride. Garden volunteers checked visi- cargo in rows between cotton batting like visitors envelopes to open and free the but- golden barrel cacti, branching cholla cacti loops through a wash of colors — yellow afternoon, a giant swallowtail fanned its dis- tors’ clothing on the way out, to ensure there newborn babes in a nursery. They enclose a terflies that had warmed up and were ready and knobby totem pole cacti. brittlebush, blushingly pink penstemons and tinctive two-toned wings — brownish-black were no escapees. newspaper-wrapped cold pack, the kind to fly. A vacationing retired couple from Min- Inside the garden, the new Boppart Court- blue desert lupines — that reveal the beauty and yellow-spotted above, cream-colored Outside, children and adults stood trans- kids use in their lunchboxes, to keep the nesota laughed as white-speckled queens yard, dappled with shade from paloverde and diversity of North American desert wild- below — and sipped nectar from a golden fixed in front of the glass-enclosed emer- box a chilly 40 degrees. Such cold temp­­ soared out as soon as they opened the trees and creosote bushes, borders the Desert flowers. The meandering trail leads past sep- columbine flower. Rich mahogany brown, gence chamber, waiting expectantly to see er­a­tures are like chrysalis cryonics — the envelopes. Meanwhile, Julias lazily perched Studies Center’s four new buildings: the Nina arate gardens in natural settings: a boulder white-spotted queens fluttered by, patrolling the transformation of a caterpillar into a but- butter­­­flies don’t spring to life again until on their hands and arms like dreamers Pulliam Research and Horticulture Center, outcropping, desert floor and shady stream- the airspace in search of mates. Nearby, bril- terfly. Here chrysalides, or butterfly cocoons, temperatures warm up. Every box contains reluctant to wake up. “This is the highlight which houses a new library, herbarium and side habitat. An open-air pavilion provides liant yellow cloudless sulphurs “puddled” dangle from glass shelves like earrings at a between three and 10 different species — of our trip to Arizona,” the woman told two laboratories; the William J. and Barbara an idyllic resting spot with a view of the sur- — gathered around wet mud — sipping jewelry store counter. each with distinctive chrysalides — depend- McGinn with a broad grin. B. Weisz Learning Center with large out- rounding Papago Park’s red buttes and roll­ nutrients through their long, coiled tubes Inside the chamber, butterfly consultant ing on availability. This up-close-and-personal interaction door and indoor classroom space; Dorrance ing hills just outside the garden. called proboscises. Ann Taylor dotted a shelf’s underside with Taylor picked up a chrysalis that looked with butterflies represents just part of what Hall, an elegant reception­ hall flanked by a Even an arid Sonoran Desert spring pres- Meanwhile, queens and look-alike vice­ a hot glue gun and attached another chry­ like Egyptian jade adorned with a band of the garden has to offer. Visitors also attend patio and gallery; and the Marley Education ents a bounty of blossoms, whether as wild­ roys, both with lacy orange and black pat- sa­lis. In their natural habitat, caterpillars golden specks. “This is absolutely jewel-like. classes on butterfly gardening and ento- & Volunteer Building. An exit path winds flowers dotting the landscape like dabs of terning, basked on rocks with their wings find a safe location to pupate (change into Wouldn’t you love to have a pair of earrings mologist-led talks on butterflies and moths. past the sunken spiral garden filled with an artist’s brilliant paints or a floating bou- outstretched. Butterflies from other regions a chrysalis). Using silk produced by silk like this?” she said.“It’s a miraculous meta- To attract butterflies in their own gardens, agaves, desert spoons, desert milkweed and quet of butterflies flitting through the crisp — zebra longwings, malachites and white glands, they spin a self-enclosing mat and morphosis, that this chrysalis will become a they can buy flowering shrubs at the annual swaying deer grasses. Near the exit, plants air — a reminder of the annual renewal of peacocks — flitted among purple trailing lan- attach themselves to plants with silken butterfly with a 3-inch wingspan. It’s hard to spring and fall plant sales. and garden-themed gifts stock the new gar- life. tanas, firecracker penstemons and blackfoot threads. “We’re just replacing the silk that believe that inside are all the things necessary Inspired by the wonder and fascination den shop. for these fragile insects, many people reflect Amid all the new, old favorites remain in After Lori K. Baker of Mesa learned about the plight of butterflies caused by widespread pesticide use, she for the first time on ecological concerns, the Desert Botanical Garden, which opened began buying only organic produce. such as changing their use of pesticides and in 1939 to exhibit, conserve and showcase The journey that butterflies take on their way to supplementing lost habitats with their own arid-land plants of the world. Today it release in the pavilion fascinates David H. Smith of Phoenix. He enjoyed watching children’s faces as they landscaping. ­“We create an environment houses the world’s largest and most diverse discovered the world of butterflies. that makes people stop and think,” said collection of succulent plants in an outdoor McGinn. “By coming to the exhibit, visitors setting. Many can be seen from the one- Location: The Desert Botanical will hopefully realize there’s a delicate bal- third-mile Desert Discovery Trail, which Garden is in east Phoenix’s Papago Park at 1201 N. Galvin Parkway, about ance between plants, wildlife and people.” winds past some of the garden’s oldest plant- a half-mile north of the Phoenix Zoo. Beyond the spacious 36-by-80-foot sanc- ings, including an old man cactus, Cephalo- Hours, Dates: Open daily; October to tuary for butterflies, the rest of the gardens cereus senilis, whose wispy spines look like April, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.; May to September, 7 a.m. to recently underwent its own dramatic $17- a white beard; saguaro “hotels” housing star- 8 p.m. Closed December 25 and July 4. Fees: $7.50, adults; $3.50, ages 5 to 12. million metamorphosis. lings and finches living in holes originally Additional Information: Desert Botanical Garden, At the garden’s gateway, a hogan-shaped carved by woodpeckers; and mesquite trees, Careful hands open a glassine envelope Warmed up and ready to fly, a zebra longwing Visitors get to participate in the release of (480) 941-1225 or www.dbg.org. that protects the cold and dormant butterfly wastes no time in fluttering away. butterflies from the envelopes in which they during shipping. are shipped. arizonahighways.com ARIZONA HIGHWAYS 17 Butterfly Silent, Butterfly Beautiful and other Indian myths

ccording to Tohono O’odham Indian stories, the Creator with a smile, the Creator tossed a bit of her melody into sat one bright summer day under a pine tree watching the mix. a group of laughing children at play. A brown pup Brimming with happiness, he walked to the children and romped through a riot of wildflowers. The sun blazed offered them the bulging sack. The girl with black hair Ain a blue sky dotted with wispy, white clouds. A songbird landed opened the magic bag, and out flew thousands of butterflies in the branches overhead, loosing a shower of pine needles. in every color ever created. Enchanted, the girl said she The Creator watched the play of shadow and sunlight and had never seen anything so beautiful. The other children falling yellow leaves fluttering here and there in the late agreed, and the Creator was glad. summer breeze, and as he watched these things, he grew sad. The children danced with joy under the quivering wings Soon these children will grow old, he thought. And that puppy of these new, fanciful creatures. Then one with wings the will become a tired, mangy dog. And the flowers will die and color of a summer sky landed on the Creator’s head and snow will cover the land. began to sing a beautiful song. The other butterflies joined The Creator became so sad at these thoughts that he in, and the children stopped to listen to the chirping melody. vowed to preserve the afternoon for the months ahead. “All The songbird flew down to perch on the Creator’s these colors should be caught forever,” he said to the shoulder. “When you created the birds, you gave us each songbird that watched him from overhead. “I will make our own song. Now you have passed mine around to these something to gladden my heart, something for these children new playthings of yours,” she scolded. “Isn’t it enough to enjoy.” that they have all of the colors of the rainbow?” He took out his magic bag, and in it he put the black The Creator thought a moment and said, “You are right. from a laughing girl’s hair, the brown of the pup’s floppy ears, I should not have taken what was yours.” the yellow of the fluttering leaves, a bit of blue sky and a And he took away the song from the butterflies, which touch of white from a passing cloud. He added green continued to dance over the children’s heads. from the pine tree and the orange, purple and red from the “They are beautiful even so,” the Creator said. flowers. Overhead, the songbird sang her merry tune, and And that is why butterflies are silent today.

TEXT BY CARRIE M. MINER ILLUSTRATIONS BY DUGALD STERMER

18 MARCH 2003 arizonahighways.com arizonahighways.com ARIZONA HIGHWAYS 19 HE DELIGHTFUL TOHONO butterflies portend the coming of rain. When their goddess Itzpapalotl (Obsidian Butter- O’odham version of the creation they spot approaching butterflies, Yaquis fly) as a strong and ferocious being with but- of butterflies is one of myriad but- throw white corn kernels or dried leaves in terfly wings and large claws on her hands terfly tales told throughout the the air and sing a rain song. and feet. TSouthwest and beyond. The butterfly has Several Arizona Indian cultures drew sim- symbolized the human soul since antiquity. White butterflies, they say, ilar, disquieting morals from the butterfly’s Ancient Greeks called them psyche — mean- in a row are flying. seemingly demented zigzagging flight. The ing “the soul.” Over there, I, where the flower-covered Zuni sacred butterfly is believed to make Of course, butterflies actually flitted onto sun comes out, people crazy, especially young girls who will the scene long before people started making they are emerging, follow the yellow butterfly wherever it may up myths to account for them. Butterflies all through the wilderness world, lead. This belief is similar to the story of the emerged about 35 million years ago. Today, in a row they are flying. Apache Bear Dance, in which butterflies there are nearly 17,500 known spe­cies of White butterflies, they say, entice girls into the underworld. The Tewas butterflies in the world ranging in size from in a row are flying. also warn against the temptation repre- the Queen Alexandria’s birdwing, with a sented by this colorful insect in a tale of a wingspan of 11 inches, to the dimin­utive The best time to seek butterflies in the girl ignoring her work to follow a beautiful Western pygmy blue, which spreads out to Southwest is in the rainy season between butterfly up a mountain. On reaching the less than a half-inch. July and September, when the adults breed. top, the butterfly turns into a wicked boy, Butterflies live on nearly every part of the Chances of finding butterflies increase in who then tosses the girl down to her death. globe, except Antarctica and the oceans. They areas where two habitats overlap. Some of the The Navajos use the symbolism of but- grace flowery fields, stream banks, deserts, best, easily accessible butterfly-watching terflies to warn against vanity, temptation hillsides, meadows, forest glades and alpine spots include Sabino Canyon in the Santa and foolishness in the story of “The Two tundra. They play a crucial role in the ecosys­ ­ Catalina Mountains north of Tucson, Madera Maidens and the White Butterfly,” from ­tem as pollinators and in the human imagina­ and Florida canyons in the Santa Rita Moun- Navajo Indian Myths, by Aileen O’Bryan, tion as symbols of creativity, rebirth and joy. tains south of Tucson, and Ramsey and Gar- Dover Publications, New York, 1993. When More than 300 species of butterflies — den canyons in the diverse Huachuca range the hero of the tale catches the wicked 45 percent of the total found in the United near Sierra Vista. White Butterfly, he splits open the enemy’s States — live in Arizona. The Tohono O’odham In eastern Arizona, the Chemehuevi Indi- head with an ax, and thousands of butter- people, once known as the Papagos, focused ans, also known as the Southern Paiutes, flies escape from the mortal wound. The on the sheer beauty of these insects, as some often use stylized butterfly motifs in the wise hero pulls one of the butterflies out of 240 species inhabit their southern Arizona designs of their highly prized baskets. the air and insists that it tell the others they homeland. The highest concentration of spe­ The Hopis of northern Arizona often use can no longer enter the brain of man. cies in Arizona resides in the south­eastern butterfly symbols. Ancient Hopi pottery “You will be of little use to the people,” portion of the state — in Santa Cruz, Cochise shows this affinity, as do the three Hopi he says in the story. “Only when they catch and Pima counties. With biological links to kachinas with butterfly origins — Poli Sio you and put your pollen on their legs and the Sierra Madre Occidental range and the Hemis Kachina (Zuni Hemis Butterfly arms and say, ‘May I run swiftly, may my tropics in Mexico, this region’s varied plant­ Kachina), Poli Taka (Butterfly Man) and Poli days be long, may I be strong in arm.’” life and climate account for its richly diverse Mana (Butterfly Girl). In the spring, Apaches sing a sorrowful butterfly population. The Yaqui people, The Aztecs of Mexico portrayed the but­ song of the Flower Maiden, which details the another Southwestern desert tribe, believe terfly with a menacing aspect. They represented creation of the butterfly. Their story follows.

from maiden to butterfly, in search of love n the first days of the people, many warriors sought die,” said the Sky Father. “But with them I also touched the favor of the beautiful Flower Maiden. But of many others and in sorrow, I covered all of their bloodied them all, she loved only two — Hidden Love and bodies with soil and grass.” Iron Courage. They each contended for her love, but Flower Maiden lamented, “Then I shall never find them.” Inot even the Sky Father could help her make the choice. Her sorrow so grieved the Sky Father that he ordered Then fate stepped in, and both warriors were called to a the ground to yield flowers in the colors and patterns of great battle against invaders coming from the north. each fallen warrior’s shield to aid Flower Maiden in her Flower Maiden bid them each goodbye with a heavy lonely search. And when he realized she could not find heart. Many months passed as she waited for her warriors the battlefield on which her beloved warriors had died in to return, but when the war party rode back into camp, a single lifetime, he turned her into a beautiful butterfly neither of her loved ones returned with the victorious. so that each spring her spirit could wander among the Flower Maiden, who had lost any chance of happiness, flowers in search of her loved ones. And perhaps one took her tears and set out to find the bodies of the day she will find them. warriors she still loved even in death. She searched the hills and plains for years, grieving deeply. When she could As a child, Glendale resident Carrie Miner loved to sit still and watch find neither of her beloved warriors, she pleaded with the butterflies skipping along, and even now she claims them as her favorite Sky Father. “Please help me find their resting place,” she insect. Dugald Stermer of San Francisco found that using colored pencils on cried. “Please help me find their lost souls.” black watercolor paper was the perfect medium to connect his artistic style “It was not my wish that your promised ones should with the intrinsic delicate beauty of butterflies.

20 MARCH 2003 arizonahighways.com [above] Sunshine, hot dogs and a leisurely afternoon at the ballpark — like this scene from last year’s game at Tucson Electric Park between the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Anaheim Angels— mean spring training is back for another season. kerrick james baseball by jim marshall

PLAY BALL!By Jeb J. Rosebrook FANS WHO LOVE SPRING TRAINING FIND BLISS IN ARIZONA

AH, SPRINGTIME — TIME FOR BASEBALL IN ARIZONA. Hot dogs, peanuts, cold drinks and emerald-green grass. Sunshine on a cloudless, warm Arizona afternoon, a lucky-day bargain outfield seat for $1. Bustling shops stocked with team ball caps, T-shirts and autographed bats, jewelry vendors and automobile raffles, then silence and reverence as our national anthem is played, and the joy of young and old voices singing “Take Me Out to the Ball Game.” Friends are with friends and strangers become friends, a time when we discover and rediscover baseball in Arizona. It’s spring 2002, and the Boys of Spring are trying to become the Boys of Summer. “Spring training in Florida is fine,” writes political columnist and baseball author George Will in Newsweek magazine, “but in Arizona it is bliss.” Springtime fans dream that this will be the year their team will win a division, win a pennant, reach the World Series, clinch the championship. “Which way to the ballpark?” a young couple in tank tops and shorts, driving a rented top-down convertible, ask a passerby on a Scottsdale street. They have pale northern Cal- ifornia skin — but not for long. Under brilliant sunshine, they’re about to share their excitement and anticipation of base- ball like the nearly 1 million fans who will watch spring training in Arizona’s Cactus League, the 10 major league teams holding spring training in the Grand Canyon State. Northern California fans, like the couple asking directions, come to see Barry Bonds and the San Francisco Giants, who will open their spring training season before a capacity crowd of [opposite page, above] Steve Finley, center fielder for the 2001 more than 11,000 fans at Scottsdale Stadium. world champion Diamondbacks, Enthusiastic crowds will greet the Anaheim Angels in Tempe Diablo Stadium, the Mil- takes time to build rapport with waukee Brewers at Maryvale Baseball Park, the Oakland Athletics at Phoenix’s Municipal Sta- the fans. kerrick james dium, and the Seattle Mariners and San Diego Padres at the Peoria Sports Complex. The [opposite page, below] For a baseball fan, what’s better Chicago Cubs, whose seasonal return to Arizona has been a baseball ritual for more than 50 than an autographed years, will bring sellout crowds of more than 12,000 to HoHoKam Park in Mesa. ball? ken ross In Tucson, the Colorado Rockies train and play at the Old Pueblo’s venerable Hi Corbett [above] Chicago Cubs Field, while the Chicago White Sox and Arizona Diamondbacks occupy the more modern 2002 batboy Ryan Baughman plays major confines of 5-year-old Tucson Electric Park. leaguer for the camera. “This is our first year for spring training,” retirees from Santa Rosa, California, tell those david zickl who share their picnic table prior to a Giants-Diamondbacks game in Scottsdale. They autographed baseballs by choose burritos over hot dogs. “A friend buys up the entire home schedule, then sells off carltons’ photographic inc.

24 MARCH 2003 arizonahighways.com arizonahighways.com ARIZONA HIGHWAYS 25 a week of games to friends, keeping one for himself. That way, we all get a week here.” Neither has been to a game at the Giants’ new Pacific Bell Park in San Francisco, but as for spring training in Arizona, they’re sold on it. “We love it. We’ll be back next year.” “We’re originally from Portland,” a Seattle Mariners fan chimes in. “We retired here.” He hopes this is the year the Mariners will take themselves to the World Series. Over at Phoenix’s Municipal Stadium, the Oakland A’s have their minds on the same goal. On a warm, sunny day, as the A’s take on the Milwaukee Brewers, a family’s three gen- erations sit together. A mother holds her youngest, a protective blanket shielding the baby from the sun. By the third inning, a young man and woman take the seats next to them, introducing themselves as visiting from Denver and Cleveland. They’ve made Arizona their

[above] Delino DeShields of the spring baseball destination, not to follow one team but to enjoy all the teams. “We wanted Chicago Cubs awaits his turn in to go to the Cubs game in Mesa, but it was sold out, so we came here,” they say. the batting cage. david zickl Nearby, a fan drops an easy catch of a foul ball. “Error!” kids someone from the crowd. [opposite page, above] The In Scottsdale, four young men, who plan their annual reunion around baseball spring Diamondbacks’ Craig Counsell limbers up before a spring game. training, talk up two attractive women. “He’s from Atlanta, they’re from Charlotte, I’m from kerrick james Pittsburgh,” one says. “We usually go to Florida. This year we decided to come to Arizona.” [opposite page, below] At the moment, it seems incidental that the Giants are playing the Arizona Diamondbacks. National League During spring training games, fans exchange their stories and dreams of their youth. batting champion Barry Bonds of the In Tucson, a man, shirtless in the sun, watches his White Sox struggle against the Angels, San Francisco recalling, “I danced on top of the dugout with the Sox mascot at the old Comiskey Park.” Giants emerges A week earlier, in Maryvale, a retired banker recounted his dream of becoming a big from a slide after stealing second leaguer. “One day when I was 12, my sister asked me if I still had that dream. I said, ‘Yes. base. kerrick james Why do you ask?’ ‘Because,’ she told me, ‘you aren’t any good.’” In the background, the public address announcer takes time between innings to inform 7,081 spectators, “We’re due for a sunny high of 71 today. In Milwaukee, the temperature is 41.” Spring training is a time when every boy or girl dreams of going home with a major-league

26 MARCH 2003 arizonahighways.com arizonahighways.com ARIZONA HIGHWAYS 27 ball as a keepsake. Gloves on small hands poise hopefully to catch a foul ball. When the umpire behind third base at Tucson’s Electric Park scoops up a foul, young fans plead for him to throw the ball in their direction. The ump smiles and tells them to “Sit!” They do. He walks to the stands and gently hands the ball to the youngest child. When it comes to the Chicago Cubs, the fans’ love and loyalty have no limits. On a day when the temperature unseasonably rises into the low 90s, the Cubs take on the San Diego Padres at HoHoKam Park. About 12,500 fans chant “Sammmyyyyy” each time Sammy Sosa comes to the plate. Perennial fan Ronnie “Woo Woo” Wickers, in his Cubs uniform, walks around the park as he has done every spring since 1969, cheering on Cubs fans. In uni- son, they chant back, “Woo Woo!” When Sosa flies out, a fan remarks, “His [long] fly ball outs are better to watch than most guys’ hits.” When the Padres stage a four-run rally to come within one run of the Cubs, the [opposite page, above] Fans applaud a crowd becomes quiet. Is this the way it will be — again — this year? Perhaps. Yet the Cubs base hit in a Seattle Mariners and hang on to win 10-9. Milwaukee Brewers game at Maryvale Park in west Phoenix. jim marshall Ballpark scenes become baseball memories forever, as if in a Norman Rockwell painting. [opposite page, below] The improved In Tucson, groundskeepers carefully water down the infield. During pregame warm-up, a chance of catching a foul ball is one of catcher pauses to chat with a friend in the stands. Players stretch and run in the outfield, the advantages of the smaller-than- major-league spring training while others patiently sign autographs. Coaches, who never run, saunter among their stretch- ballparks, as Jard Jackson hopes ing players as a recorded Garth Brooks sings “The Dream” over the public address system. to find out. chris holford After the national anthem, a youngster throws out the first pitch. [above] Beer vendor Mark There is the unmistakable crack of the bat, the home-run swing. One by Sosa, over the Carlson’s job at HoHoKam Park in Mesa takes him out to the ball 400-foot mark in Maryvale’s right-center field, lands far up into the hillside lawn among game on a sunny weekday sunbathing spectators. Marveling, one man tells another, “That may be the longest home run afternoon, while most fans must I’ve ever seen.” take a day off from work. david zickl Close by, a mother holds her daughter on her lap, clasping and waving their hands

28 MARCH 2003 arizonahighways.com arizonahighways.com ARIZONA HIGHWAYS 29 [opposite page] The morning sun begins to awaken Scottsdale Stadium. ken ross [above] HoHoKam Park groundskeepers Dick Vaske together. “Home run!” the mother tells the small girl, creating her first baseball memory. (left) and Samuel “Home run! Circle the bases! Circle the bases!” Eatman make sure A boy, perhaps 9 or 10, wearing a Giants T-shirt and cap and with glove in hand, chases the playing field morning shadows outside Scottsdale Stadium, where men and boys play catch, and park- is carpetlike. david zickl ing lots fill while fans gather to barbecue beside a motor home. It’s not quite 10:30 on a Saturday morning — still two and a half hours before game time. No one wants to miss anything in this annual Arizona springtime baseball celebration. No fan wants it to end.

Jeb J. Rosebrook of Scottsdale saw his first spring training game in Phoenix in 1951, with a guy named DiMaggio in center field and a rookie named Mantle in right — a lasting baseball memory.

30 MARCH 2003 arizonahighways.com arizonahighways.com ARIZONA HIGHWAYS 31 Anza National Historic Trail bonds arizonans to colonists of San Francisco TUMACACORI

MISSIONto TUBACtext by sam negri photographs by patrick fischer

[left] Mesquite trees frame the remains of the 17th-century church at Tumacacori National Historical Park south of Tucson. Established in 1691, San Jose de Tumacacori is one of Arizona’s oldest missions. [this page] The Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail meanders from Tumacacori to Tubac near the quiet flow of the Santa Cruz River. n a steamy morning 214 years after the death of a legendary Spanish explorer, I set out to retrace his footsteps on the southern Arizona portion of the Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail, named after him. The 4.5-mile route o runs parallel to the Santa Cruz River between Tubac in the church, but the displayed skeleton was some and Tumacacori, some 40 miles south of Tucson. other Spanish colonial soldier. In subsequent years, I Rains have drenched the surrounding hills, and I find found myself at Fronteras, Sonora, where Anza was the trail this morning damp but not muddy, a ribbon of born, then at Tubac, where he was commander of the adobe brown that begins near some crude archae­­o­ presidio. Years later, I visited Fort Point in San Fran- logical remnants at Tubac. The trail winds through a cisco, near the entrance to the Golden Gate Bridge, rich green meadow and over small embankments dot- where Anza ended his most important journey with ted with colorful daisies and desert paintbrush before the founding of San Francisco. arriving at Tumacacori National Historical Park. The I pause on one of the trailside benches that volun- complete national Anza trail spans some 1,200 miles, teers have erected and reflect for a moment on this but Arizona’s most notable and hikable segment man that I have been following for so many years. I stretches from Tubac to Tumacacori. knew Anza had fought Apaches in the Tubac area, had

[below] Groves of Arizona As I set out, I’m mindful that over the previous 30 written his dispassionate but thoughtful reports from ash and mesquite shade years I’ve spent an unusually large amount of time a camp or a tent in this picturesque valley, and had the Anza Trail. tracking Anza’s life from his death backward to his delivered babies on his expedition from Tubac to San [below right] Markers birth. It began the day I saw what was purported to Francisco. His footprints are all over northern Mex- ensure that hikers can easily follow the be his skeleton on display in a church at Arizpe, Sonora, ico, southern Arizona, New Mexico and California, 4.5-mile trail. Mexico. I later learned that Anza was, indeed, buried and yet, just like this trail under my feet, he is not well known. In Tucson, where I live, Anza is best known as the name of a drive-in movie theater. In October 1775, Anza left Tubac with a large group of settlers and livestock, determined to reach the remote outpost of San Francisco and establish a Span- ish colony there. That group arrived near today’s Fort Point and formed the nucleus that eventually grew into the present metropolis. Anza had recruited the colonists from among the poor of Mexico and led them north through the tiny village of Tumacacori,

long before there was a mission church there, and on sung partly in Spanish, English, Pima, the language of [above] Shallow waters of to Tubac, where the final preparations were made a local Indian tribe, and occasionally in Yaqui, the lan-­ the Santa Cruz River flow beneath canopies before leaving for California. Tumacacori, a leafy oasis guage­­ of Indians from northern Mexico and Arizona. of cottonwood, willow of mesquite and cottonwood trees, lies along the Santa The priest and his congregation dress like 18th-cen- and Arizona ash trees. Cruz River. tury Spanish settlers. Most of the year, the nave of the mission remains Years ago, when the Anza National Historic Trail hollow as a bell except for the visitors who stop at was dedicated by the National Park Service, I met one Tumacacori National Historical Park, created to pro- of these costumed participants, Donald Garate. He tect remains of the mission church. During the sum- works as an interpretive specialist at Tumacacori Nat­ mer, nothing much happens in this part of Arizona, ional Historical Park. Like Anza, Garate is half Basque, some 20 miles north of the Mexican border. Then, in and he sports a handlebar mustache that any colonial September, you can feel a distinct drop in the evening Spaniard might have found pretty dapper. In most of temperatures. Soon afterward, as the honeyed light of the historic re-enactments each October for the last October arrives, the change becomes obvious and the 10 years, Garate has played the role of Anza, wearing clock seems to stop. The rustic tranquility that sur- an old-fashioned white shirt and a flat-topped black rounds the place drops away and is replaced with a hat, a red sash tied around his waist and a blue cape burst of song and a remarkable procession that com- draped over his shoulders. He carries a sword that he memorates Anza’s historic expedition. borrows from the Coronado Memorial and a leather Tubac’s Anza Days, a festive re-enactment, celebrates scabbard he made to sheath it. the start of Anza’s journey. Tumacacori’s barren mis- Resplendent in his costume on the morning of Tum- sion church, though no longer affiliated with any reli- ­acacori’s­ multilingual Mass, Garate mounts his horse gious order, comes alive with the echoes of a Mass at the head of the line of “settlers” and “foot soldiers”

arizonahighways.com arizonahighways.com ARIZONA HIGHWAYS 35 uprising of over a thousand Papagos [now known as [left] On Sunday, the the O’odham]. After launching various campaigns to public is invited to subjugate them, I attacked them personally on May attend the Anza Days Mass in the old church at 10, 1760, and took the lives of Ciprian, their captain, Tumacacori National and nine others. All of the others then capitulated. . . .” Historical Park. The bloodshed did not bring him as much fame as the two expeditions he led that resulted in the found- ing of San Francisco. The first trip started in January 1774. Anza’s party, including two priests, a California guide, a courier and 20 volunteer soldiers, left Tubac to seek an overland route to California through the harsh desert terrain that is now southern Arizona and northern Mexico. In the 1770s, the Spaniards had five missions and two presidios scattered from Mexico to Monterey, but military and civilian settlement in California had stalled. The problem was one of supply. Everything needed at the missions near Los Angeles came by ship from the Mexican port of San Blas. The boats were small and the winds, which blew southward along the Pacific Coast, made the trip north difficult. If an overland route could be found between the Tubac area and the California coast, the government reasoned they could steadily expand New Spain’s northern frontier. Cattle, horses and agricultural prod- ucts, readily available in Sonora, could be delivered to Location: the new settlements more quickly by land than by sea. had already been promoted to lieutenant colonel. Approxim­ ately­ Anza’s first expedition to California did not include The Spanish authorities were now eager for Anza 160 miles any civilian colonists. Francisco Tomas Garces, an to launch a second trip to California, this one with south of adventurous traveler who was also the priest at Mis- the colonists. Anza gathered the civilian volunteers in Phoenix. Getting There: From sion San Xavier del Bac north of Tubac, told Anza they Culiacan, Sinaloa, gave them guns and new clothes, Phoenix drive south on could follow the Santa Cruz River north from Tubac taught them how to shoot and led them all to Tubac, Interstate 10 to Interstate [above] From left to right, and clip-clops north to the Tubac Presidio, the actual link to a time when Arizona was not yet a named place to Tucson and northwest to its confluence with the the final assembly area for the trip to California’s Mon- 19, then south on I-19 to Exit 34, for Tubac, or Exit Marko Gallardo, Steve Soli final staging area for Anza’s journey. on any map. Gila River. Then they could follow the Gila to the Col- terey Peninsula. and Don Garate wait next 29 for Tumacacori. to Tumacacori before the This section of the popular trail begins across the The route’s story begins with the arrival of Fernando orado River and California. On October 23, 1775, they were ready to leave, Days/Hours: Juan Bautista ride to Tubac, kicking off road from the Tumacacori post office, a stone’s throw Cortez in the heart of the Aztec empire, and his con- Garate said that on the first expedition, Anza didn’t including the chaplain, Pedro Font, a finicky friar who de Anza National Historic the Anza Days celebration. north of the mission. The trail, on an easement across quest of Teno­ ­chtitlan (present-day Mexico City) in 1521. take that route. Apaches had stolen most of his fresh lamented the gap between his crude surroundings and Trail is always open to hikers and is accessible private property, crisscrosses the Santa Cruz River over As the Spaniards pushed farther north, the more horses at Tubac, so he and his soldiers set off to find the finer things of life. Font even brought along his from both locations. At a series of small wooden bridges. During the summer vulnerable they became to the harsh landscape and replacements in Mexico’s Altar Valley. They went south harp and complained that Anza wouldn’t let him Tumacacori, the trailhead months, floods sometimes wash out these bridges, but the violence of the native people. Eventually, to pro- as far as Caborca without having much luck and then play it as often as he would have liked. Authenticity is north of the mission they’re soon replaced or repaired. The trail meanders tect settlers and the missionaries who were prosely- proceeded on their California trek, heading north- being essential to any re-enactment, Garate one year at the park boundary. At Tubac, it is just south among shady cottonwood trees and across exposed tizing in this region, the Spaniards sent soldiers to westward from Caborca and crossing what is now recruited David Shaul, a visiting professor at the Uni- of the presidio park. fields to Tubac Presidio State Historic Park, a recon- establish a network of presidios, or forts. Among these known as El Camino del Diablo (“devil’s highway,” versity of Arizona who plays the harp. Shaul, who Tumacacori­ National struction of the fort commanded by Anza. The soldiers was Anza’s father, also named Juan Bautista, so named for the hundreds of travelers who died along normally dabbles in linguistics, dressed in a friar’s Historical Park and Tubac Tubac Presidio State route is nearly flat and easy to walk. But, as the who was captain of the presidio at Fronteras, Sonora, its waterless miles) to the Colorado River. frock and picked at the harp strings as he rode the Presidio State Historic Park Historic Park are open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; participants in the Anza Day festivities about 30 miles south of today’s Douglas, Arizona. At the river, they encountered the Yuma Indians, trail. Shaul and a small group of musicians and singers closed Christmas Day. Tubac know, this trail also holds an The younger Anza, portrayed in the commemora- whose help was essential in fording the wide and now provide music for the Mass at Tumacacori Mission Historic Park is open on almost palpable tive festivities, was born at or near Fronteras in 1735. unpredictable stream. The party continued west to preceding the trek to Tubac. Thanksgiving. S Fees: Tumacacori, $2 per Tubac a While he was still a toddler, his father was killed in San Gabriel Mission, near present-day Los Angeles, Everyone in the parade stops in Tubac to enjoy the n t individual or $4 per family; a an Apache attack. The younger Anza grew up with then turned north to Monterey, near San Francisco. food and frolic that marks the town’s annual Anza Tubac, $3, adults; To Tucson Cr uz an intimate knowledge of the sparsely set- Having established that it was possible to travel from Days. The real procession departed Tubac in October $1, children 7-14. Ri Exit 34 ve tled countryside, became an army lieu- Tubac to the San Francisco area on land, Anza returned and arrived in San Francisco in April 1776, happy to Events: Tubac’s Anza Days r re-enactment, October 12. tenant when he was 20 and was made to the confluence of the Gila and Colorado rivers. This have merely survived. Understanding the compelling Travel Advisory: Always commander of the San Ignacio time he avoided El Camino Diablo and took the shorter need for survival, I complete my unhurried walk down carry plenty of water Presidio at Tubac when he was route east along the Gila River to the vicinity of present- part of Anza’s trail in about four hours and head for the when hiking. 25. Seven years after he took day Gila Bend and then headed southeast to his pre- first restaurant I can find. Additional Information: Tumacacori National command, Anza wrote a per- sidio at Tubac, returning May 26, 1775. Tumacacori National Historical Park, (520) Historical Park sonal report that sheds some Six months later, after a brief temporary assign- Sam Negri of Tucson writes frequently about historic events along 398-2341, Tumacacori, 19 light on his activities: ment to a different presidio, Anza was summoned to Arizona’s sparsely populated border with Mexico. He also wrote www.nps.gov/tuma; Tubac “When I took over my present Mexico City to report on his California expedition. “Along the Way” in this issue. Presidio State Historic Park, Tucsonan Patrick Fischer found that photographing the elaborately (520) 398-2252, Tubac, command in 1760, my section of Word of the success of his remarkable journey had costumed Anza Days celebrants was like stepping back into the www.pr.state.az.us/

Juan Bautista de Anza To Nogales the frontier was faced with an KEVIN KIBSEY preceded him, however, and before he arrived, Anza 18th century. parkhtml/tubac. National Historic Trail Exit 29 arizonahighways.com arizonahighways.com ARIZONA HIGHWAYS 37 Living things STIR ANEW in a

petrifiedLAND National park’s wildlife flourishes in stony ancient forests

etrified Forest National Park stands as a remarkable monu- planet — and that look as if dinosaurs could be at home among ment to the Triassic Period, when, 250 million years ago, them even today. Pancestral reptiles emerged to become the kings of beasts. Pre- Winter weather in the rugged northern Arizona area known as the serving one of the world’s largest and most accessible repositories Colorado Plateau can be as austere as the land. In that season, stiff of dinosaur bones and of giant trees that long ago turned to yellow, winds, cold rains, snow flurries and temperatures in the 20s and pink, purple and green stone, the mile-high park takes in arid, below combine to keep rangers close to the fire and visitors few, while sparsely vegetated landscapes of weathered rock and multicolored animals disappear from view, winging away to warmer wintering sand, places well suited for a science-fiction film set on some distant grounds or burrowing to comfortable hibernation underground. Come spring, Petrified Forest takes on a much different aspect —

[above] Saltbush seedlings demonstrate for, though dedicated to the remnants of a remote past, it remains their power to survive in the parched in every way a living park. Its forests, grasslands, desert plains and earth of the Petrified Forest National Park stream and river valleys shelter hundreds of plant, bird, mammal, in northeastern Arizona. george h.h. huey reptile and insect species, some of them not often seen elsewhere. [left] Thriving throughout desert and mountain areas of Arizona, the collared And all of those creatures and plants, it seems, greet the new season lizard feeds on a variety of insects as well as with exuberant growth and an extraordinary amount of hustle and smaller lizards. paul and joyce berquist bustle, making the park a prime destination for wildlife watchers [opposite page] Silica from volcanic ash dissolved and wildflower enthusiasts as well as dinosaur buffs. in groundwater soaked into fallen prehistoric trees, crystallized as quartz and transformed the logs from A typical spring day at the 93,533-acre park dawns cool, reminding wood to stone. george h.h. huey the visitor of winter’s recent departure. As it climbs in the sky,

BY GREGORY McNAMEE though, the sun drives away the chill, accompanied by ever warmer Long Logs, near the southern entrance to the park, and at News- breezes that stir the blooming evening primroses, Indian paintbrush, paper Rock, which stands at the center of the park and commands mariposa lilies, sunflowers, snakeweed, rabbit brush, buckwheat, a fine view of the Puerco River valley and the oddly shaped rock peppergrass and salt bush that line the park’s roads and trails. formations called The Tepees. Extensively studied by wildlife biol- The animals begin stirring, too, and, as the warmth comes to the ogists, these prairie dogs are inquisitive and even friendly, and most land, you’re likely to find a roadrunner waiting to race, a turkey seem to have no particular fear of humans, but visitors are warned vulture floating lazily along on thermal winds, a tarantula scurrying not to feed or touch them or any wildlife in the park, to avoid the across the ancient ocean transmission of disease from floor, and perhaps even a Find a PRAIRIE DOG, and a one species to the other and porcupine stretching out its to help ensure that the ani- spiny back and pondering GOLDEN EAGLE likely lurks nearby . . . mals do not become depen- the day’s agenda. dent on humans and lose In all but deep winter, the ability to fend for them- Gunnison’s prairie dog (Cyno- selves. mys gunnisoni) — one of five Find a prairie dog, and a prairie dog species in the golden eagle likely lurks United States — emerges as nearby, hoping to find a one of Petrified Forest’s most convenient meal. Fearsome visible denizens, though its from a small rodent’s point population has been dimin- of view and impressive by ished due to the ravages of any measure, with their 8- bubonic plague in decades foot wingspans and sharp past. Prairie dogs number talons, the eagles patrol the few enough just about every­ ground throughout the where in their formerly park, but they’re especially broad range, but within the numerous at Long Logs and national park they find hos- Newspaper Rock. Joining pitality in a natural grass- the eagles are other skilled land unbroken by fences hunters; in the morning and and undisturbed by grazing, evening, prime time for a place that’s ideally suited chasing game, the sky comes to their kind. alive with American kestrels, Weighing 2 to 4 pounds, prairie falcons and red-tailed a good size as these little hawks, while the ground rodents go, the C. gunnisoni empties of all but the most take their hibernation seri- incautious mice, pocket ously, disappearing below gophers, kangaroo rats, ground at the first sign of white-tailed antelope squir- cold weather and there rels, cottontail rabbits and going about the business of prairie dogs. producing the next year’s A less vigorous hunter, batch of young. In early the raven makes its home spring, when the pups, just throughout the park as well. weeks old, emerge from In spring, it seems, these underground with their par- noisy birds become even ents, their colonies become more vocal, squawking clam­- antic playgrounds full of [opposite page] Ribbons of runoff following a orously as if to announce the thunderstorm define the contours of the Painted “little heads popping up Desert below Blue Mesa. season — but, more likely, everywhere, busily going [top] Centuries after their habitation of the area, to demand food from visi- from mound to mound,” as the ancient Puebloans continue to tell their tors, both scarce in the lean months of winter. It’s no acci- former park Chief of Inter- secrets through the petroglyphs they left behind. dent that these highly intelligent, social birds gather at just the both by george h.h. huey pretation Tessy Shirakawa [right] To avoid becoming dinner for one of its spots where humans do, at roadside picnic tables and park- puts it. many predators, a Gunnison’s prairie dog must ing lots leading to heavily visited places such as the Agate Of the six established remain ever vigilant. john cancalosi Bridge and Crystal Forest. It may take a heart as hard as pet- colonies within the national [above] Brilliant in late afternoon, wilted by rified wood to refuse their croaked entreaties for food, but morning, clusters of desert four o’clock blooms park, three are easily acces- briefly delight the eye. george h.h. huey don’t feel sorry for them: With spring’s arrival of new insects, sible by visitors from the the birds do not lack for meals. main road. The first, and largest colony, lives just off Exit 311 on Other avian species add their songs, whistles and wingbeats to Interstate 40, at the park’s northern entrance. The colony numbers the air: here a northern mockingbird, there a bluebird, a brightly a few hundred individuals, though just how many depends on the colored western tanager or kingbird, or a chattering house finch. severity of winter and other environmental factors. Seasoned bird-watchers will have added these species to their life Other prairie dog colonies, also called coteries, lie just beyond lists long ago, but Petrified Forest draws plenty of birders just the same, arizonahighways.com ARIZONA HIGHWAYS 41 for here spring also finds a dazzling parade of migratory species year-round park employees passing through the park. Birds such as Virginia rails, herons, egrets, have yet to see” the very geese, ibises and even pelicans make their way to better-watered uncommon Taxidea taxus, and greener places far away. says Chief of Resource Man- Year-round residents, the deerlike pronghorns, often (but mis- agement Karen Beppler- takenly) called “antelope,” feed on sagebrush and grasses that grow Dorn. Still, good things abundantly on the plain alongside the Puerco River. If you catch come to those who wait, and sight of a pale blur against the multicolored rocks of the park, park rang­ers say you might chances are good that you’re seeing a pronghorn. With a distinc- spot one of these slow-mov- tive white rump and curled horns, Antilocapra americana clocks in as the fastest land animal in North America, with speeds up to 70 miles an hour and covering the ground in 27-foot leaps at full run. Whether on the go or at rest, pronghorns are easy to pick out in the park’s open terrain. Look for them browsing along the railroad track that crosses the northern end of the park — or, if it’s raining or windy, in the gullies and washes that comb the river valley, where they like to shelter. Lithodendron Wash, which branches off from the north- western end of the park, proves a good place to find them in such [above] The most common toad weather. Smaller herds graze below in the Petrified Forest, the Great Plains toad, like other Blue Mesa and Agate Mesa farther amphibians, does not drink down the road. water, but absorbs moisture As befits a place famous for its through a patch of skin on its long-ago population of dinosaurs, abdomen. [far right] Sunset light Petrified Forest has a varied popula­ enhances the stratified colors tion of reptiles, and spring finds them of the Painted Desert’s Chinle emerging from dens and burrows to Formation, sometimes greet the warming sun. Collared liz­ described as a multilayered cake. both by george h.h. huey ards scamper about everywhere you [right] Although both male look; side-blotched lizards race along and female pronghorns grow ancient fallen logs; and striped whip- and later shed horns every tails, seemingly as fast as prong­ year, females’ horns are rarely longer than their ears. horns, add another blur to the view. paul and joyce berquist The kingsnake, with its alternat- ing bands of black and white, light brown or yellow, sometimes goes ing animals near Blue Mesa, in pursuit of another inhabitant, the Western rattlesnake. The where several sight­ings have kingsnake seems to think nothing of its fellow snake’s venom and will been recorded in the last few enjoy a meal of rattler when the opportunity presents itself. If you’re years. Badgers also have been patient and lucky, you may see one more of the park’s venomous seen occasionally at News­ reptiles, the shy and altogether rare Hopi rattlesnake, a sensitive paper Rock and along the species in more ways than one — so do be sure to give it a wide berth. Painted Desert rim just out- Rare, too, remains the badger, a creature honored in Zuni, Navajo side the north visitors center. and Hopi art but not often seen in the wild. “Even most full-time, When night falls and most human visitors leave,

Location: Approximately 250 miles northeast of Phoenix. Petrified Forest becomes “so Getting There: From Phoenix, take Interstate 17 north to quiet you can hear the grass grow — and can hear every bark and in caves, rock overhangs and even the garages of park employees, closely, and you may just hear the keening of Triassic ghosts as Flagstaff. There follow Interstate 40 east to Exit 311, about yip a coyote makes,” says ­Shirakawa. Skinny and hungry after the the California myotis, small-footed myotis, pallid and Western pip- well, longing for the days when dinosaurs ruled this land. 24 miles east of Holbrook. The park entrance and visitors center long winter, coyotes are abundant indeed, as are the black-tailed istrelle species live in the park year-round. They join the occasional additional reading: In the best-selling guidebook Travel Arizona are just to the north of I-40; the 28-mile road through the park begins there and ends at the southern entrance off U.S. Route 180. jackrabbits after which they chase. Plentiful, too, are the Western little brown, hoary, Brazilian free-tailed and silver-haired varieties, II, seasoned travel writers and Arizona Highways photographic con- Travel Advisory: Both park entrances have shops offering food, drink and spotted and the striped skunks, shy of humans and well equipped all of which feast on insects that rise from trees and grasses as the tributors describe where and how to create unique Arizona adven- other items. Elsewhere the park has no services, so carry water and snack food. to ward off danger with their awful perfume. The nighttime sky is ground cools. tures. To order ($15.95), call (800) 543-5432; or order online at Wear sturdy shoes for walking along the park trails. Please note that federal the province of horned and long-eared owls, which take over the Spring in Petrified Forest — a fine season in an unforgettable arizonahighways.com. law prohibits collecting plants, rocks, fossils and petrified wood and feeding or transporting wildlife. work of patrolling the air from the now-resting hawks and eagles, place, a time announced by a tuneful symphony of whirring wings, Gregory McNamee is the author of Blue Mountains Far Away: Journeys into the Additional Information: Petrified Forest National Park, (928) 524-6228. and of bats, which greet the spring in astonishing numbers. Nesting of canine howls, of hooting owls and barking prairie dogs. Listen American Wilderness and 20 other books. He lives in Tucson.

42 MARCH 2003 arizonahighways.com arizonahighways.com ARIZONA HIGHWAYS 43 “I love you more today than yesterday, but not as much as tomorrow. Which, if my math is correct, gives me tonight off.“ *

EARLY-DAY ARIZONA ou, there, in the overalls,” shouted the cross- ‘ ‘Yexamining lawyer. “How much are you paid for telling untruths?” “Less than you are,” retorted the witness, “or you’d be in overalls, too.” Jerome News, August 12, 1911

football team’s chief “No point in disturbing the cream; quarterback “ineligible just run this to the bottom and drink for cheating.” The coach all you want.” came in, furious, and Forrest G. Wilkerson demanded I reinstate his Safford quarterback. “Sorry, I think he LIZARD TRAINING cheated on the exam,” I n one of our family campouts in the said. “My Phi Beta Kappa Ohigh desert country of northern student is seated right Arizona, the grown-ups relaxed after beside your football supper to watch the sunset while the player. The Phi Beta children ran around exploring. My Kappa got the first nine 4-year-old grandson, Robby, came questions correct, and running up to us, hands outstretched, on the 10th one he squealing with excitement. wrote, ‘I do not know. ’ “Look, I caught a lizard!” He showed “Your quarterback got us his striped prize and ran off again to the first nine questions join the other children. Several minutes NONLEGAL ADVICE correct, but on the 10th one he wrote, later he was back, empty-handed, to s a frequent traveler to the United ‘I don’t know either. ’” announce with shining eyes that he had AStates, I had become accustomed Roger W. Axford, Ph.d. trained his lizard. “Really!” I said. “How to the slower driving speeds you enjoy, Tempe did you do that?” compared with British and European “Well,” Robby said with proud motorists. However, a few years ago TIME MANAGEMENT satisfaction, “I put him on the ground Unusual when speed limits were liberalized in grew up up on a working cattle and watch him, and whatever he does, Perspective the United States, I became confused Iranch in southeastern Arizona that’s just what I want him to do.” By Linda Perret as motorists were blatantly ignoring during the Depression years of the Linda Huntzinger the posted speed signs. 1930s. With three uncles in the same Provo, UT mong the In a diner in Sierra Vista, I met two business, I noticed at an early age how TO SUBMIT HUMOR world’s traffic policemen and sought to clarify they all usually made their work easier Send your jokes and humorous Arizona anecdotes to largest just what the speed limits were. The by trying different ways of doing things. Humor, Arizona Highways, 2039 W. Lewis Ave., Phoenix, AZ A 85009 or e-mail us at [email protected]. We’ll telescopes is one reply was simple: “Sir, if a lot of cars Mosby Wilkerson, the oldest of the pay $50 for each item used. Please include your name, located in the city are overtaking you, then you’re driving four brothers, had just installed a address and telephone number with each submission. of Sells, which too slow but, if you are overtaking a lot new propane-powered Servel It doesn't matter if you're an accomplished hiker or an aspiring beginner; means people as of cars, then you are driving too fast.” refrigerator, and he was telling me this book describes a trail, a path or a trek for you. Shop with us online at far away as Page Lawrie King how cold it kept the milk from their Reader’s Corner arizonahighways.com, and we'll help you prepare for the journey of a lifetime. ARIZONA HIKING better remember Knaresborough, England, Jersey cow. When he offered me a Urban Trails, Easy Paths & to draw their United Kingdom drink, I expected him to skim the I always make a wish when I see a Overnight Treks blinds. cream and pour the milk in two falling star. Of course, the wish is by Arizona Highways Contributors 4 EASY WAYS TO ORDER 1 CAUGHT CHEATING glasses. Instead, he reached in the usually that it doesn’t fall on me. 160 pages. 7 ⁄2" x 10". Softcover. Full-color photography. was teaching a class in Social Issues cupboard for two lengths of hollow Send us your jokes about meteors Log on to arizonahighways.com A H K S 2 $ 1 6 . 9 5 in Education. I had declared the macaroni, handed me one and said, I ISBN 1-893860-79-5 and shooting stars, and we’ll pay 1 Call toll-free 1-800-543-5432 you $50 for each one we publish. (in the Phoenix area or outside the U.S., call 602-712-2000) * From the Witworks® humor book Marriage Is Forever . . . Some Days Longer by Gene Fax2 your order to Perret. To order, call toll-free (800) 543-5432, or visit arizonahighways.com. 602-254-4505 3 Mail the attached order card 44 MARCH 2003 INC. PHOTOGRAPHIC CARLTONS’ 4 a woman asks about the “red shift.” Terms like “LONEOS,” “Kuiper Belt,” “Io” and “interferometer” bounce by SALLY BENFORD / photographs by DAVID H. SMITH around the room. It’s enough to make destination a mere terrestrial’s head spin. When a New Jersey couple admit they didn’t know that Clyde Tombaugh discovered the planet Pluto here in 1930, public program assistant David Portree PERCIVAL LOWELL NEVER CONSIDERED 1966, Lowell Observatory was registered as a explains they will see Tombaugh’s LOWELL himself a dreamer. A stargazer, perhaps, but National Historic Landmark. Today, professional 13-inch Pluto Discovery Telescope. OBSERVATORY never a dreamer. and amateur stargazers go to the observatory, Portree details astronomer V.M. In the summer of 1894, Lowell thought he one of the world’s largest, privately operated, Slipher’s spiral nebulae discoveries, in Flagstaff had proof that intelligent life existed on Mars. nonprofit astronomical research observatories. current star clusters and comet The Harvard-educated mathematician, who Lowell’s 24-inch Clark refractor telescope, observations. He also describes the Embodies hailed from Boston blue-blooded society, spent which he used for his Mars observations, now Lowell Observatory Near Earth the Legacy of night after night perched on a lonely serves as an instrument for public viewing. Object Search (LONEOS), in which ponderosa pine-studded mesa above Flagstaff, Even in the 21st century, Lowell seems to astronomers travel 15 miles southeast Arizona’s gazing through a telescope at Mars, taking oversee the operation as he peers from a large of Flagstaff to the observatory’s notes and making calculations. By the end of painting that hangs in the observatory’s Steele Anderson Mesa site to look for VISIONARY summer, Lowell decided he had enough Visitor Center lobby. Hand on hip and staring asteroids that veer close to Earth. ASTRONOMER information to publish his findings. straight into the future, Lowell stands amid Then the tour group heads Lowell never proved his theory of life on modern-day and historical space observational outdoors for a short climb up a paved Mars, but such theories sparked a firestorm devices. The center serves as the entry point path leading to the 40-foot dome that of controversy about Martians, adding a for all observatory programs, telescopes and holds the historic Clark telescope. fascination with space to the developing literary exhibits. People come to learn the observatory’s Along the way, Portree tells visitors genre of science fiction. Author H.G. Wells history and for a chance to look through that Lowell died in 1916 and had his published his novel War of the Worlds in 1898 Lowell’s telescopes. remains buried here on Mars Hill in a amid the debate over Lowell’s writings, but no As the two-hour walking tour begins, granite mausoleum covered in cobalt doubt Lowell’s greatest legacy lies in the visitors file into Giclas Lecture Hall for a short blue glass tiles. Flagstaff observatory that bears his name. In presentation about the man who started it Inside the Clark telescope dome, all and how the observatory’s Portree pulls the 107-year-old 27 full-time astronomers telescope in a semicircle, continue to conduct research. demonstrating how it moves the same In the group of about 30, as it did in Lowell’s day— manually. Pointing out historical trivia, he shows the group the dustcovers for the 6-inch and 12-inch lenses. “When Lowell died in 1916, he left his entire estate to his widow, Constance Savage Lowell,” Portree explains. “Constance didn’t want to [above] With the spend her money on lens covers, so the Clark telescope by her dustcover for the 6-inch lens is a saucepan side, Haley Landau explains the history stolen from the kitchen of the observatory’s of the huge telescope second director, V.M. Slipher. Likewise, a frying built in 1896. pan covers the 12-inch lens. Slipher’s wife was [left] The walls of an old stone water tank a little upset over the misappropriation of her remain near the Clark cooking utensils.” telescope dome. The 8-ton dome is made of native ponderosa pine. The dome rotates with the help of three electric motors and 24 Ford pickup truck tires

[left] Percival from 1954. The Slipher Building and Rotunda Lowell’s mausoleum Library holds Lowell’s private book collection overlooks Flagstaff and studies of Mars, Slipher’s spectrograph and from the Mars Hill information about how NASA used the campus of the Lowell Observatory. observatory to map the moon for the Apollo [above] Susie Lemont Space Program. peers through the Outside, the Pluto Walk, a 350-foot paved miles. Signs illustrate the planets’ distances and eyepiece of the Clark path, heads to the Pluto Discovery Telescope. sizes in relationship to the sun. The Pluto Walk telescope. The walk represents a scale model of the Earth’s begins at our sun and ends at the Pluto Dome solar system, where 1 inch equals 1 million with the sign for the ninth planet, Pluto. Inside,

arizonahighways.com arizonahighways.com ARIZONA HIGHWAYS 47 along the

Portree explains Tombaugh’s Greek cultures. This night the astronomers have Pluto discovery. chosen a galactic star cluster called M5 located Back at the visitor center, 25,000 light years from Earth. He explains that by SAM NEGRI the “Tools of the the light seen through the telescope lens left M5 way Astronomer” exhibit approximately 25,000 years ago. presents the equipment “Who knows what it looks like today,” Hill and techniques of modern says. One can only imagine. astronomers and also Lowell may not have considered himself provides information on a dreamer, but no doubt he had vision: astronomy careers and “Imagination is as vital to any advance in science LAST MARCH, HAL EMPIE, Empie painted landscapes, which he later hobbies. A gift shop as learning and precision. . . . Let me warn you HAL EMPIE, Arizona’s acclaimed framed and displayed over the soda fountain. focuses on science-related to beware of two opposite errors: of letting Small-town pharmacist-artist whose Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, items, including an your imagination soar unballasted by facts, but career spanned most of the who grew up on a ranch on the outskirts of impressive collection of on the other hand of shackling it so solidly Artist With a 20th century, faced the Duncan, remembered Empie and his store in astronomy books. that it loses all incentive to rise.” easel in his Tubac, the foreword she wrote for Arizona’s Hal Empie, [above] Visitors to Big-time Lowell Observatory may Perhaps the most popular attraction of There’s no doubt that Percival Lowell had a Arizona, studio, daubing a biography written by Evelyn S. Cooper. climb the ladder and Lowell Observatory comes at night, when hand in some of man’s most significant Following his brush at a painting that “Among my fondest memories of ‘going to gaze into the night sky visitors line up for a chance to look through the discoveries about our universe during the was about two-thirds town,’” O’Connor wrote, “were the inevitable through the historic Clark telescope. Night tours are held year- last 100 years. And from Mars to M5, Lowell done. That night, his daughter Ann Groves stops at the Art Gallery Drug to see Hal, and Clark telescope. round, weather permitting. According to public would expect today’s dreamers and stargazers stopped by to hear him describe in detail his often Louise [Empie’s wife], to feel their warmth programs director Jeff Hall, astronomers pick to keep looking for whatever’s out there. His plans for the next day. The notion that there and hospitality, to have a root beer float seated out the most interesting celestial objects for observatory offers us the chance. would always be a next day seemed a natural at the soda fountain, and to look at the many public viewing, which can range from planets, extension of Empie’s wit and optimism, but the Empie paintings displayed on the walls of the Location: Lowell Observatory, 1400 Mars like Mars, Jupiter and Saturn, to the moon, star Hill Road, Flagstaff. painting he was working on was never drugstore. The colors glowed. The scenes of clusters or other nebulae. Hours: November to March, daily, noon to completed. The morning after his daughter local areas were dramatically depicted. On the “We keep the telescopes open for as long as 5 p.m.; April to October, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. stopped in to say goodnight, Empie way out, if we had a little money left, we would people want to stand in line,” Hall says. Evening programs: November to March, collapsed and died. buy one of Hal Empie’s amusing Kartoon Kards.” Friday and Saturday, 7:30 p.m.; April to Before folks meander up the path to the May, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, 7:30 It was March 26, 2002 — his 93rd Empie’s cartoons for many years were as telescopes, amateur astronomer Michael Hill p.m.; June to August, Monday through Saturday, 8 p.m.; birthday. much his trademark as were his oil paintings. presents information on the current night sky. September to October, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, Hal Empie — his full name was In his cartoons he had great fun spoofing He explains how to find constellations, how to 7:30 p.m. Hart Haller Empie — was a major cowboys, horses, cows, tourists and anything Fees: $4, adults; $3.50, seniors and college students; spot satellites moving across the sky and the role $2, ages 5 to 17; free, under 5. contributor to the early issues of else that could be loosely associated with heavenly objects played in Indian and ancient Additional Information: (928) 774-2096; www.lowell.edu. Arizona Highways, and his Arizona’s flora and fauna. On November 3, illustrations helped develop the 2000, he wrote a note to Cooper, who was at OTHER POINTS OF INTEREST IN FLAGSTAFF magazine’s international renown. work on his biography. He included his “self- He was born near Safford three portrait,” a cartoon character wearing a All area codes are 928 artifacts, showing how they worked Old Main Art Gallery On the archaeological concepts, skills and and played; Flagstaff, 526-3367. Northern Arizona University practices through a variety of years before Arizona became a state. cowboy hat with a hole in the crown. Empie, Museum of Northern Arizona See campus, Old Main houses galleries activities at the Elden Pueblo; Like many others in Territorial using his own spellings, wrote, “Because I have regional art celebrating the cultures Wupatki National Monument featuring historic furniture, of Hopi, Navajo, Zuni and ancient Once home to ancestral Puebloan Flagstaff, 527-3475. Arizona, Empie’s family lived for russeled cows in my spare time, the sheriff silverworks and art, plus a collection people. Discover northern Arizona’s people, four ancient pueblos sit atop The Arboretum at Flagstaff With several years in a little adobe house often decorated my sombrero with bullet of contemporary art; Flagstaff, dinosaurs, geology, fossils and a mesa; Flagstaff, 679-2365. 200 acres at an elevation of 7,150 523-3471. with a hard-packed dirt floor. holes.” As an afterthought he wrote, “I am not native plants, as well as the history feet, the botanical garden offers a Growing up in modest circumstances serving time at present.” of the Colorado Plateau; Flagstaff, Elden Pueblo Archaeological Project wildflower meadow and the aromatic 774-5213. The project offers programs in scent of herbs and nature trails; in a rural community apparently In the 1930s, Arizona Highways editors Flagstaff, 774-1442. contributed to his powerful work wanted to break up long columns of type, so Riordan Mansion State Historic Park The home of two pioneering Arizona Snowbowl Go to ethic and his intuitive sense of the they turned to cartoonists to liven the pages. Flagstaff families features Arts-and- ski in mid-December to look and feel of the Arizona Hal Empie’s cartoons did just that. Crafts-style architecture and more mid-April; off-season, landscape. He started drawing and In the days before interstate highways, ride the scenic skyride than 30 rooms filled with original painting when he was very young, Empie’s drugstore in Duncan was on the main artifacts; Flagstaff, 779-4395. up the mountain for a breathtaking view; eventually polished his technique and road between El Paso and Phoenix. His Sunset Crater Volcano National Flagstaff, 779-1951; “Rattle again, Pete, an’ if he don’t developed an unmistakable style. His postcards sold for a nickel, and they went like Monument Trails and scenic vistas snow report, 779-4577. jump this time, let ’em have it.” allow visitors to see the 900-year- only formal training consisted of two hotcakes. For his first card, he drew a man old volcanic crater up close. See how Arizona Historical three-week seminars offered by Frederic Taubes, running across the desert with a rattlesnake the volcano created “rivers” of Society Pioneer Museum Changing exhibits depict an artist and prolific author of how-to books. hooked to the back of his pants. Empie’s black, hardened lava and surrounded At 20 years old, Empie worked as both a caption read, “Duncan, Arizona. Just rattlin’ the area with ash and cinders; the history of Flagstaff, Flagstaff, 526-0502. including pharmacist and an artist. The Arizona through.” displays on Historical Foundation says he was the youngest Empie’s reservoir of stories was bottomless. Walnut Canyon National logging, livestock, [ clockwise from left] The plaza in the heart of licensed pharmacist in Arizona history. In For all his success, Empie never became Monument Hike down a downtown Flagstaff is a favorite gathering spot for railroads and paved trail in this gorge residents and visitors. Old Main Art Gallery more. Standing 1937, he purchased his pharmacy in Duncan, pompous. He said the greatest compliment to view cliff dwellings displayed the stone sculptures of minimalist Robert exhibits feature on the Arizona-New Mexico border east of he ever received came from a 5-year-old boy nearly a thousand Siracusa in a visiting exhibit. The stone pueblos at U.S. Route 66 and Safford, later calling it Art Gallery Drug. The who was watching him paint. years old. The visitors Wupatki National Monument were homes to the Arizona Rough center museum houses Indians and later to the first park caretakers. Riders; Flagstaff, name made sense. His drugstore was also his “Mister,” the boy said, “you sure stay in your the ancient residents’ 774-6272. studio. Between filling prescriptions, lines good!”

48 MARCH 2003 arizonahighways.com arizonahighways.com ARIZONA HIGHWAYS 49 adventure backroadby TOM CARPENTER / photographs by RANDY PRENTICE

LIKE MOST FOLKS WHO LOVE ARIZONA, A 29-mile Drive I have a soft spot for hard places. I offer no to and From apologies for this affection. I’ve learned that even the most forbidding landscape holds Six Mile Crossing beauty at its core. Appearances, particularly in the Arizona desert, are meant to deceive. Seen on BURRO CREEK from the highway through the shimmering Reveals Diverse heat, the terrain does not beckon many. Those who are drawn off the pavement and into WILDLIFE the distance, however, always discover some thing, some place of beauty that changes forever their perceptions. Six Mile Crossing on Burro Creek is such a place. On a good Arizona map, trace down the line in northwest Arizona that separates Yavapai and Mohave counties. Where that boundary line intersects Burro Creek, you’ll find Six Mile Crossing. Burro Creek is a perennial stream that begins in the rocky southern reaches below Mount Hope [above] Cottonwood on the 100,000- and willow trees shade acre Spanish land grant, pebbly Burro Creek Crossing Road at Six Luis Maria Baca Grant Mile Crossing in the Float No. 5, south Upper Burro Creek of Seligman, in Yavapai Wilderness in west central Arizona. County. The creek flows [left] A half-moon southerly unchecked hovers over a towering for 40 miles, then joins saguaro cactus and a the Big Sandy River massive granite boulder in the Upper Burro above the townsite Creek Wilderness. of Signal in southern [right] Marsh grass Mohave County. For and willow trees 9 miles, the creek flows surrounding a reflective pool deny their desert through the heart of the surroundings in a 27,440-acre Upper Burro portrait of daybreak Creek Wilderness. near Six Mile Crossing. To reach Six Mile Crossing, drive approximately 118 miles northwest from Phoenix on U.S. Route 93. At Milepost 132, a dirt road turns to the right with a sign that reads “Burro Creek Crossing Road,” which

50 MARCH 2003 arizonahighways.com arizonahighways.com ARIZONA HIGHWAYS 51 from Burro Creek Crossing Road is safer and more scenic. Another sign greets you as you turn off the highway asphalt, and it quickens the pulse. “Primitive Road. Use at your own risk. This surface is not regularly maintained. Rough Road next 14 miles.” It’s a clean and smooth dirt road. Any high-clearance vehicle should have no problem making the trip in about 40 minutes at a leisurely pace, unless it has rained recently. With rain, the road gets sticky in some spots, sloppy in others. Other times it can be rough. Volcanic activity defined much of the area’s landscape 7 million years ago. Scientists describe the resulting jumble of metamorphic and sedimentary rock formations as “complicated geology.” Cowboys just call it rough country. The elevation at Milepost 132 is 2,600 feet. The dirt road climbs for the first 7.5 miles to an elevation of 3,400 feet near a basaltic formation called Red Knob. There the road branches. The route heading north goes to a place called Sycamore Camp at the edge of the

Upper Burro [above] Stark and Creek Wilderness. cross with caution.” One can only admire stream attracts all the life that abides here. imposing, Hells Half Take the east the perceived necessity of such a sign so far For hiking upstream, you’ll want to wear Acre looms beyond fork, which from pavement. river sandals. The creek’s braided channel runs a stretch of rugged [top] Streambed desert terrain. moisture supports continues toward the crossing. You pick up the subtle scent of water before through the banks of cottonwood and willow riparian trees such as The narrow road cuts into the hillside the tops of dozens of cottonwood trees that trees, so you’ll get your feet wet eventually. If cottonwoods and and winds down through paloverde shade the creek become visible around the last you spend the night, don’t sleep directly on willows along the course of Burro Creek. and mesquite trees; saguaro, cholla and bend. There are several places to camp near the ground. Ants run rampant, so watch where [above] Protected by prickly pear cacti; thorny wands of the crossing, but none have improvements, you put your feet and hands. the Bureau of Land ocotillo; spiky yuccas and grasses such such as portable toilets. Return to the highway along the same route. Management, wild burros Getting There: Drive is another name for Six as bush muhly and black grama. Take it You can see the tailings dam of the Phelps Whether you go for a day of birding and a in the Upper Burro approximately 118 miles Mile Crossing Road, as it Creek Wilderness are slow and watch for approaching dust. Dodge-Bagdad copper mine approximately picnic or for a long weekend campout, Six Mile northwest from Phoenix on appears on some maps. periodically relocated Somebody may have to back up on 8 miles away, but in the environmental parlance Crossing on Burro Creek will remind you of U.S. Route 93. At Milepost or put up for adoption 132, turn right on a dirt This is as good a narrow parts of the road if you encounter of our times, the dam’s visual impact is minimal. what it is you love about Arizona. to control the region’s road signed “Burro Creek time as any to confess travelers heading the other way. You may spot other small mining efforts along ecological balance. Crossing Road,” also known To Kingman ignorance about the [left] Its colors The massive flat-topped mountain a the way to the crossing, but these were as Six Mile Crossing Road. origin of the name Six deepened by the setting couple of miles to the west is called Hells abandoned due to their unprofitable yields. UPPER BURRO CREEK Warning: Back road travel can be WILDERNESS sun, Red Knob reigns hazardous if you are not prepared for the Mile Crossing. My Half Acre. With annual precipitation of Since the 1870s, cattlemen who lived along over a field of saguaro, unexpected. Whether traveling in the reliable references for less than 10 inches and daily temperatures Burro Creek have worked their tough cow Wikieup k prickly pear and cholla e e desert or in the high country, be aware of r name origins are mum cacti, ocotillos and an regularly above 100 degrees, it may not ponies up and down the rough terrain, moving C weather and road conditions, and make Burro Creek on the matter. imposing granitic rock technically be hell’s half-acre, but I bet their herds with the seasons. As a result of the o r sure you and your vehicle are in top Crossing Road r formation near Burro u shape. Carry plenty of water. Don’t travel From the dirt turnoff, you can see it from there. riparian improvement project underway at B Creek Crossing Road. Milepost 132 alone, and let someone at home know the distance to the Around every turn, the landscape the crossing — a joint project with the Bureau H START HERE e Red Knob H ll where you’re going and when you plan to a s crossing is 14.5 miles. widens into open space, revealing terrain of Land Management, the Arizona State lf r 93 A Six Mile return. Odometer readings in the story e cre Bagdad v Crossing may vary by vehicle. Another route to the crossing is the sandy unchanged except by nature and time. Land Department, the Byner Cattle Company i Signal R Additional Information: Bureau of Land track behind Nothing, Arizona, but that route Archaeological findings — grinding stones and the Phelps Dodge-Bagdad Copper 96 y Management Kingman Resource Area, d Burro Creek is too soft for anything but a four-wheel-drive and projectile points — suggest that Indians Corporation — there are no cattle in the area. n a (928) 692-4400. S Recreation Area vehicle. And although it looks shorter on the lived in the Burro Creek vicinity, probably Wildlife abounds here. Mosquitofish and 97 ig map, the sand track is not graded, and Bureau during seasonal migrations, beginning as longfin dace swim in the pools. From javelinas B Nothing of Land Management recommends the longer early as A.D. 600. to herons, toads to soft-shelled turtles, raptors To Wickenburg route for travel to Six Mile Crossing. The trip “One lane cattle guard ahead. Bicycles to rattlesnakes, this perennial and ancient KEVIN KIBSEY

52 MARCH 2003 arizonahighways.com arizonahighways.com ARIZONA HIGHWAYS 53 experience

Festivals,arizona powwows and get-togethers / by CARRIE M. MINER

Searching for Gold SOME FRIENDS OF MINE LIVE NEAR PHOENIX for three years running. It’s the home of March 9; Apache Junction Drive on the northwestern edge of the Valley of the the West Valley Art Museum, whose five exhibit Deep within the craggy Superstition NORTHWEST Sun. Recently, I bought them a gift and was halls display artworks from around the world. Mountains east of Apache Junction, legend having it sent directly from the store. The clerk Soon a new ballpark will be spring training tells that a rich vein of gold awaits rediscovery. of Phoenix asked, “To whom is this package to be sent?” headquarters for Major League Baseball’s Kansas The forbidding Superstitions reportedly I didn’t answer immediately. Questions City Royals and Texas Rangers. That’s certainly conceal the famous Lost Dutchman Mine, and You’re in for phrased in correct (I think) grammatical form amounting to something. named for two Germans, or “Deutschmen,” a BIG SURPRISE rattle me a bit. Recovering, I gave her the name In truth, Surprise, Arizona, borrowed its name which locals confused to mean Dutch. In of my friends. from Surprise, Nebraska. In 1937, the Arizona

the 1870s, German prospectors Jacob Waltz H. SMITH DAVID “And what address do you want it sent to?” town’s founder, Homer C. Ludden, named it after and Jacob Weiser supposedly made a The Hoop Dance Thank goodness, she came down to my his hometown in the Cornhusker State. So sensational gold strike somewhere in the Men of the Mountains is among the grammatical level by using a preposition residents should be proud of the name of their performances at the depths of the mountain range. Weiser March 14-16; Oatman to end a sentence with. community — and grateful. It might just as easily Heard Museum suffered an untimely end, some say at Between 1800 and Guild’s Indian Fair I gave her the street address. have been called Luddenberg or Homerville. MARK LARSON Waltz’s hand, others suggest an Apache 1850, rugged and Market. “What city?” she asked. Of course, now the question is how or Photograph a Lush Oasis ambush. Waltz visited the mine every so mountain men I said, “Surprise.” why was Surprise, Nebraska, called Surprise? in the Desert often, but hid his route from anyone who braved the wild frontier to explore and She said, “Oh, of course, Frankly, I think people just wanted a town Join Friends of Arizona tried to trail him. When he died, he left only exploit the West’s great abundance. These sir. We won’t breathe a named Surprise because they thought it would Highways on an adventure a cryptic comment to guide future seekers. hardy characters often wore clothing made word of this until the be fun. What sort of mischief can you have in Havasu Canyon, a branch The Dons of Arizona, a nonprofit group of animal skins, such as the buckskin suit, package is delivered. with a town named Upper Darby, for instance, of the Grand Canyon that is interested in Southwestern history and lore, because when fabric shredded in the outback, But I must know or Conshocken? But Surprise presents some home to three spectacular waterfalls. Our explorations of Havasu, spins this and other treasure stories during skins were the only ready replacement. Every the name of the city interesting possibilities. Navajo and Mooney falls will reward us the 69th Annual Lost Dutchman Gold Mine spring, these solitary trappers would emerge to deliver it to.” You can start your own community newspaper with stunning views of tranquil turquoise Superstition Mountain Trek. Featured events from the lonely wilderness to trade their furs “Surprise,” I said. and call it Surprise Edition. pools and give us plenty of chances to include guided hikes of various lengths, and socialize at planned gatherings. She said, “I don’t If you sent a city delegation of residents to relax in an idyllic setting. Everywhere you turn there are chances to take wonderful gold panning, Indian arts, live entertainment, Re-enactment buffs come together for a want a surprise. I a convention of some sort or another, you’d RICK BUR photographs, whether you're making a barbecue and craft demonstrations. weekend of 1840s fun at the Mountain Men RESS just want you to tell probably become known as “The Surprise Party.” images from the unusual colors of the Information: (602) 258-6016. Rendezvous in the old mining town of me what city to Suppose you were a dedicated scientist living water, the exotic rock formations or of the Oatman, nestled in the bleakly picturesque send it to.” and working in this town, and you discovered creeks and caves that surround the falls. Arizona Highways photographer Kerrick O’odham Desert Heritage Black Mountains. The three-day event “Surprise,” I a new element to add to the periodic table. As James brings energy and enthusiasm to March 15; Ajo features black-powder shoots, campfire repeated. the discoverer, you would earn the right to this excursion, so bring your swimsuit and In remote southern Arizona, a quiet Indian stories, re-enactments of primitive camps, She said, “Sir, name this element. You could call it . . . that’s come play in the water May 22-26. tribe, the Tohono O’odham, or “desert people,” knife-throwing contests and craft exhibits at ­people are waiting. I right . . . the element of surprise. For more information or a free workshop brochure, please contact lives among jagged lava mountains and Trader’s Row. Information: (928) 768-6222. don’t really have time If you opened a mortuary in the town, it Friends of Arizona Highways at (602) arroyos choked with dusty sagebrush. Once to play games. Now what city, please?” would be a clever idea to call it “Surprise 712-2004, toll-free at (888) 790-7042 called the Papagos, a Spanish name meaning I said, “The name of the city is Surprise.” Endings.” You probably shouldn’t pay too much or visit their Web site at Other Events www.friendsofazhighways.com. the “bean eaters,” they grew crops to take Buckeye Bluegrass Review; February 28, March 1-2; She said, “Next.” for the sign, though, because it most likely advantage of the heavy floods following­ Buckeye; (623) 386-2727. Bluegrass bands, jam sessions, I said, “No, wait . . .” won’t be there long. It won’t attract much new OTHER PHOTOGRAPHY WORKSHOPS ­summer thunderstorms. The tribe would arts and crafts and children’s activities. Let me interrupt here to tell you that business and certainly no repeat business. June 23-29 “sing down” the rains from torrid summer Heard Museum Guild’s Indian Fair and Market; March Surprise is the name of a lovely, active But see how much fun the name Surprise From the bucolic Valley to the 1-2; Phoenix; (602) 252-8840. Indian arts and crafts, picturesque High Country, capture skies to nourish indigenous crops of beans, ethnic food and entertainment. community in Arizona. It’s located about 20 can be? the essence of Yosemite National Park squash and corn. In their constant search for Glencroft’s Benefit Quilt Auction; March 7-8; Glendale; miles northwest of Phoenix. Sure, it is an Anyway, back to the gift I was sending to my with Lewis Kemper water and food, the Tohono O’odhams also (623) 847-3004. Show and auction of quilts, antiques unusual name for a city, but an innocuous one. friends who live there. June 25-29 culled wild grass seeds, roasted cactus stems and collectibles. I hate to think what sort of exchanges I would I finally convinced the clerk that the actual An expert Nikon instructor teaches Penzoil Copper World Indy 200 Weekend; March 21-23; us about digital photography in the and harvested saguaro cactus fruit. Avondale; (602) 252-2227. Indy Racing League competition. have had with that store clerk if the founding name of the city was Surprise. magnificent Grand Tetons Tribal members gather at Organ Pipe Antique Car Show; March 15; Mesa; (480) 644-2760. fathers had named it “None of Your Business, She said, “My, that’s a strange name for a city, July 19-24 Cactus National Monument to celebrate their Model A Fords from 1928 to 1931. Arizona,” or “I’ll Tell You When I’m Good and isn’t it? Now how about this other package?” Longtime Colorado resident Jim Founder’s Day; March 15-16; Marana; (520) 682-4314. heritage at the 13th Annual O’odham Day In the book Marriage is Forever, Ready to Tell You, Arizona.” I said, “I’ll just take that one with me.” Steinberg shows us the best spots Live entertainment, parade and games. Some Days Longer, author Gene Perret to find wildflowers in the area around Celebration. Activities include demonstrations Arizona Flywheeler’s 18th Annual Show; March 22-23; Why the unusual name? One story has it that You see, I also purchased something for notes, “We were made for each other. Ouray of O’odham basket weaving and traditional Cottonwood; (928) 282-7626. Antique engine and tractor when the town was first developed, someone friends of mine who live in Why, Arizona. You’re a great cook and I’m a great uses of desert plants, pottery, storytelling, displays, tractor pull, arts and crafts and entertainment. took a look at it and said, “I’d be surprised if this That’s right, the community of Why. However, Verde River Canoe Challenge; March 29; Camp Verde; eater.” To order this book ($6.95 plus arts and crafts booths and live (928) 567-0535. Celebration of the Verde River and plus shipping and handling) or other place ever amounted to anything.” That story’s considering the problems I had with this ­entertainment. Information: (520) 387-7661. a canoe launch. Perret humor books, call toll-free untrue. clerk over Surprise, if my friends in Why (800) 543-5432. In Phoenix, Besides, the place has amounted to some- want their gift, they’re going to have to come call (602) 712-2000. Or use Note: Dates and activities could change. Before planning to attend events, phone for fees and to confirm days and times. arizonahighways.com. thing. It has been Arizona’s fastest growing city and pick it up.

54 MARCH 2003 arizonahighways.com arizonahighways.com ARIZONA HIGHWAYS 55 Vultee Arch Manzanita ng Cyn. Campground Sterli TRAILHEAD O of the month a k

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89A STEEP AND DEMANDING, THE 179 Sterling Pass Trail 2.4-mile-long Sterling Pass Trail To Phoenix KEVIN KIBSEY in OAK CREEK marks a historic route up a beautiful side shenanigans. In the summer, a canyon of Oak Creek Canyon. The path’s rich ponderosa pine forest shades much of the CANYON background relates a shadowy side of Sedona’s trail as it climbs between red rock walls. In the past and takes its name from the crook who fall, the canyon fills with a passionate display of Echoes Footsteps lived and made mischief at the bottom of it. fiery colors from bigtooth maple trees. of a Notorious The original Indian route probably was a The trail begins as a mad dash up a short, pleasant place until a man named Sterling but steep, forested wall of Oak Creek Canyon. RUSTLER AND moved into the area. History doesn’t reveal his The path settles down to a more sensible climb first name, but his last name appears all over as it heads to a slick-rock pour-off, contours its COUNTERFEITER Oak Creek Canyon landmarks. edge, then enters a captivating forest. Sterling had a home in Sterling Canyon (near The moist environment cradled between red the fish hatchery in rock walls, which rise several hundred feet, northern Oak Creek nurtures a timberland of hardwoods and giant Canyon) where he ponderosa pines above a spread of bracken ferns. Though still on the uphill, the trail [left] Early morning wends docilely through this pretty forest. light sharpens the By mile one, the path turns austere as it starts rough, jagged features a steep, rugged climb out of the drainage, rising of sandstone bluffs below Sterling Pass in above the pines into the sunshine. The trail Oak Creek Canyon becomes more demanding the higher it climbs, near Sedona. but the panoramic views become more exquisite. [opposite page] As An overlook gives hikers a chance to catch testimony to nature’s adaptability, a growth- their breath and study the Coconino sandstone stunted pine tree formations jutting from the canyon walls. survives on its At Sterling Pass, hikers will have climbed microsite atop a almost 1,200 feet elevation in 1.7 miles. They freestanding sandstone block can catch their breath again when they follow a surrounded by forest path on the right to another overlook, where below Sterling Pass. the stunning views — Dry Creek canyon system on the west and Oak Creek Canyon to the counterfeited east — might take their breath away again. money. Just a little From Sterling Pass, hikers may return to the farther south, he trailhead for a shorter day hike or continue on had a second home the trail. The path zigzags through the pines in another lovely down the other side of the pass into Sterling Location: Approximately spot, also named Sterling Canyon, on the north Canyon, the rustler’s southern homestead, 120 miles north of Phoenix. side of Sterling Pass near Vultee Arch (formerly dropping 800 feet in three-fourths of a mile to Getting There: From the called Sterling Arch until Gerald Vultee’s plane the Vultee Arch Trail. intersection of State Route 89A and State Route 179, go crashed on the canyon’s north slope in 1938, Hikers can take the short spur trail to Vultee north on State 89A, and drive killing him and his wife). Arch and then return the way they came. But 6.2 miles to the trailhead Sterling also stole cattle. After butchering if they find any stray currency on the trail, on the west side of the road, 200 yards north of the Manzanita Campground. a stolen cow in the northern Sterling Canyon, they’d better make sure it’s authentic before Travel Advisory: A Red Rock Pass is he would haul it to his other home. Local spending it. required when parking on national forest homesteaders, searching for their chattel, lands for recreation in Red Rock Country. followed Sterling’s tracks as he traveled from For families, novices and experts, Arizona Purchase passes at the Gateway Visitor Hiking: Urban Trails, Easy Paths & Overnight Centers, on the Internet and at a variety one canyon to the next. They caught him Treks features a trail mix ranging from of local vendors and self-pay stations. with his hands full of counterfeit money and urban-area preserves to the Grand Canyon. Additional Information: Coconino rustled beef, tried him and threw him in the The softcover book brims with how-to and National Forest, Red Rock Ranger District, penitentiary. where-to-go information on more than 70 (928) 282-4119; www.redrockcountry.com. hikes, plus 120 color photos. To order The tawdry Sterling picked one of the nicest ($16.95 plus shipping and handling), call canyons in the Oak Creek drainage for his (800) 543-5432. Or use arizonahighways.com.

56 MARCH 2003 arizonahighways.com