BLUE RIVER, A PLACE TO REST MIND AND BODY

arizonahighways.com SEPTEMBER 2003 SEPTEMBER 2003

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55 GENE PERRET’S WIT STOP Despite our author’s fun with the names of rock formations, his hat is off to Sedona’s natural beauty.

44 HUMOR 2 LETTERS AND E-MAIL 46 DESTINATION Tonto Natural Bridge The power of moving water formed this massive travertine bridge, which arches over seasonal Pine Creek near Payson.

3 TAKING THE OFF-RAMP COVER/PORTFOLIO 24 Explore Arizona oddities, attractions and pleasures. The Secrets of 54 EXPERIENCE ARIZONA Sedona’s Red Rocks Enjoy concerts at the Grand Canyon’s South Rim; learn A distinctive landscape captivates visitors with about railroad history at a commemoration in Williams; its primitive raw beauty. get in tune with the seasons and the lore of the autumnal equinox at Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff; and see the diversity of Hopi artwork in Sedona. MOUNTAINS 6 49 ALONG THE WAY Kofa Country Camelback Cemetery is a restful place where untold The Kofa Mountains hold forth as mighty stories from the past lie in peace. neighbors to Yuma and the Colorado River in Arizona’s stark, extreme-desert southwestern TRAVEL 50 BACK ROAD ADVENTURE corner. 40 Point of Pines Stress Relief on ‘The Blue’ A fall trip to Point of Pines on the San Carlos Apache [this page] Ponderosa pine trees Reservation yields the sounds of bugling elk and ARCHAEOLOGY Breathe in the air, take in the scenery and relax beside misty Woods Canyon Lake to the max on the Blue River in east-central in the Apache-Sitgreaves sightings of waterbirds. 14 National Forests dwarf Arizona. The Hidden Hohokam fishermen eager to try their luck 56 HIKE OF THE MONTH at sunrise. nick berezenko Under the hills and modern structures of [front cover] Aglow in the light Sandys Canyon Trail urban Phoenix lie the relics of an ancient FOCUS ON NATURE of sunset, Sedona’s Cathedral Sandys Canyon Trail winds Indian community, a lost civilization that Rock towers over Lower Oak 3 miles round-trip into 38 Creek at Red Rock Crossing. See once thrived along the canals. Sharp-eyed Hunting Spider story, page 24. Walnut Creek south Grand Canyon The green lynx spider uses its keen eyesight robert g. mcdonald of Flagstaff and meets National Park [back cover] Brian Beck of the Arizona Trail. MUSEUMS to stalk prey. Tucson rests in the cool spray Museum of Northern and lush greenery near Waterfall Arizona (Flagstaff) Sandys Canyon 18 Trail at Tonto Natural Bridge. Red Rock Celebrating 75 Years Country Tonto Natural See story, page 46. Bridge In Flagstaff, there’s pride in keeping a regional nick berezenko Point of sense of place alive as the Museum of Northern Pines Blue Range Kofa PHOENIX Primitive Area Arizona observes a milestone birthday. POINTS OF Mountains INTEREST FEATURED IN THIS ISSUE TUCSON and e-mail takingthe

SEPTEMBER 2003 VOL. 79, NO. 9

Publisher WIN HOLDEN Arizona oddities, attractions and pleasures Editor ROBERT J. EARLY Senior Editor BETH DEVENY off-ramp Managing Editor RANDY SUMMERLIN Research Editor MARY PRATT Editorial Administrator CONNIE BOCH GARDEN TERA’S Administrative Assistant NIKKI KIMBEL Accurate Photographs back to the Hopi Indians approximately 15 pounds Historic District. THIS MONTH IN Director of Photography PETER ENSENBERGER If I had not personally seen the grandeur of the of the red iron carbonate mud used in tribal Photography Editor RICHARD MAACK Designed in and ARIZONA Southwest, I would have thought your religious ceremonies. Art Director MARY WINKELMAN VELGOS around a yellow photographs were somehow enhanced to bring Stephen J. Pavlak, Atascadero, CA Deputy Art Director BARBARA GLYNN DENNEY 1914 bungalow, the Deputy Art Director BILLIE JO BISHOP out color and detail. Your photographers are garden shop caters to desert Art Assistant PAULY HELLER The U.S. Army indeed to be commended. Loyal Reader Map Designer KEVIN KIBSEY Downtown dwellers wanting to add color to 1867 delivers the first Your stories are likewise superb. The article As we prepare for retirement and a very fixed Arizona Highways Books their lives. Tera’s Garden boasts triweekly mail ® Desert Bounty from the East to ”Frontier Medicine” (April ’03) was interesting. income, we want your staff to know you’ll be the WitWorks Books plants from the world’s deserts as Editor BOB ALBANO Tucson. We have come a long way in 50 or so years. “last to go!” Book and record clubs all take a back Associate Editor EVELYN HOWELL reating beauty in the well as local species and a bounty Associate Editor PK PERKIN McMAHON Ann M. Gregg, Quartz Hill, CA seat to your publication, which I’ve been reading heart of the city.” This of native wildflower seeds. “Plants for about 60 years. Production Director CINDY MACKEY is the mission of that are in harmony with the A Territorial Production Coordinator KIM ENSENBERGER “ 1870 C militia led by State Mammal E.A. Dewveall, Phoenix Promotions Art Director RONDA JOHNSON Tera Vessels, Arizona master surroundings” is how Vessels Webmaster VICKY SNOW Gov. A.P.K. I read with interest Gene Perret’s humorous gardener and creator of describes them. ­Safford returns ”A Tall Tail Tale” (“Wit Stop,” April ‘03) about Vacation Guide Marketing Director Tera’s Garden, located in Information: (602) 253-4744; from the PATRICIA POWERS-ZERMEÑO the Arizona state mammal, the ringtail, or I would like to say how much we enjoy Arizona downtown Phoenix’s Roosevelt www.terasgarden.net. mountains after NEWT GLASS a 26-day hunt cacomistle. Old-timers (like me) from Arizona Highways magazine. We are planning to take our Circulation Director HOLLY CARNAHAN for Apaches have never heard of a cacomistle. We called this vacation in Arizona this year. We feel the magazine Finance Director ROBERT M. STEELE between the Santa Cruz and animal, as Mr. Perret mentioned, a miner’s cat is very informative, and our vacation will be much Fulfillment Director VALERIE J. BECKETT the Indian Wars, mining, cowboys, San Pedro rivers. or a ringtail. more interesting because of it. Information Technology Manager Western Bookshop, archaeology, anthropology, lawmen, The militia did CINDY BORMANIS not spot a Donald J. Justesen, Price, UT Mary Maarsen-Keim, The Netherlands desperados, women of the West single Apache. FOR CUSTOMER INQUIRIES a Thriving Tradition and the Civil War. OR TO ORDER BY PHONE: Playing With Fire Gene Perret’s “Wit Stop” about the state mammal Ghost Town Call toll-free: (800) 543-5432 ookstore owner Aaron Information: (480) 945-8811; made us remember the old days. I have read Arizona Highways for many years and In the Phoenix area or outside the U.S., Cohen sells stories about www.guidon.com. ewt Grover continues to Call (602) 712-2000 1890Police are called We lived on Sabino Canyon Road in particularly enjoyed the April 2003 issue’s Western America and the ignore good advice: “Don’t to restore order Or visit us online at: B after a Tucson in 1948. We often put out food for spotlight on the Ruby Road drive in “Back Road arizonahighways.com Civil War, but this word warrior play with fire.” Almost any Democratic For Corporate or Trade Sales N animals. One day my mother and I saw a Adventure.” I had to chuckle, though, when also has a few of his own tales to day of the week, you can find him Territorial Call (602) 712-2050 Move Over, cacomistle in our back yard. We didn’t know you described the ghost town of Ruby as “quietly tell. Cohen and his wife, Ruth, surrounded by flames and furnaces Convention E-MAIL “LETTERS TO THE EDITOR”: Elephants meeting gets what it was. My mother went to the library and decaying” in the hills of the Coronado National [email protected] opened Guidon Books on Old at Newt Glass, his Scottsdale “hot out of hand in finally, after some research, identified the animal. Forest. Just what sort of noise does decay Regular Mail: Main Street in Scottsdale, against he next time you call your neighbor shop,” creating handblown glass Phoenix. I guess the animal’s population has really usually make? Editor the advice of neighboring retailers. Ta birdbrain he may thank you. products. His chandeliers, wall 2039 W. Lewis Ave. increased in the last 55 years to make it the Bruce Tennant, Long Beach, CA Phoenix, AZ 85009 The retailers said a Western Scientists are learning that the Clark’s sconces and pendant lights state mammal. nutcracker may have one of the most decorate some of the state’s top Adobe Governor Janet Napolitano 1894 buildings in Barbra Sedory, La Grange, IL Reading With Dad Director, Department of Transportation amazing memories in the animal nightclubs and dining spots, Willcox I am 11 years old and enjoy reading Arizona Victor M. Mendez kingdom. and collectors nationwide own crumble after a cloudburst on Visiting Sipapu Highways with my dad. Every time we get your ARIZONA TRANSPORTATION BOARD The gray-and-black crow cousins his works. Chairman Ingo Radicke, Globe Mount Graham Your article “Searching for Sipapu” (April ’03) magazine, he flips through the pages and points Vice Chairman Bill Jeffers, Holbrook labor from August to December “Throughout history, people in the Pinaleno brought back memories of my second trip to the out places that he has visited. Thank you for Members Dallas “Rusty” Gant, Wickenburg collecting 30,000 pine seeds. That have been fascinated with glass,” Mountains Richard “Dick” Hileman, Lake Havasu City sweeps the area, Little Colorado River canyon. I spent two weeks in bringing a little bit of Arizona to me. James W. Martin, Willcox would be impressive enough. But then, explains Grover. “It has a magical leaving behind June 1968 as a University of Southern California Brianna Puetz, Shelton, WA Joe Lane, Phoenix outperforming their squirrel and mystical quality because it is 2 feet of water. S.L. Schorr, Tucson geology student assisting Professor Vern Taylor competitors, the individual members transparent.” INTERNATIONAL REGIONAL MAGAZINE ASSOCIATION perform geochemical tests to study the nature of Appreciating Home 2001, 2000, 1998, 1992, 1990 Magazine of the Year LINDA LONGMIRE of the corvid family bury their Watching glassblowing is like Extreme wind the water and to determine the origin of the I am a native Arizonan, currently in my first year WESTERN PUBLICATIONS ASSOCIATION bookstore booty in thousands of caches over attending the theater, and Grover 1898 unroofs houses travertine dams from Blue Spring to the confluence of college in Massachusetts. Though I’ve enjoyed 2002 Best Overall Consumer Publication situated in the hundreds of square miles. That enjoys the role of performer. Just and kills one 2002, 2001 Best Travel & In-transit Magazine person of the Colorado River. getting to know New England, after weeks of snow, 2000, 1999, 1998, 1997, 1995, 1993, 1992 swanky business district would would be even more impressive, call ahead to reserve seats and see in Casa Grande. From the flanks of the 30-by-90-foot mound- rain and below-40 temperatures, I was feeling Best Regional & State Magazine never survive — a relic of the Old but for a grand the artist create spheres SOCIETY OF AMERICAN TRAVEL WRITERS FOUNDATION shaped Sipapu Spring, we collected and brought particularly homesick. I had never before read 2000, 1997 Gold Awards West set in the midst of posh art finale, the avian of soft glass by blowing Best Monthly Travel Magazine Arizona Highways, but your magazine caught my galleries and highbrow boutiques. prodigies retrieve air through a tube into 1905Williamson and eye and gave me a much-needed dose of the Arizona Highways® (ISSN 0004-1521) is published Ludicrous. Outlandish. That was more than 90 percent of molten glass. Special Skull Valley monthly by the Arizona Department of Transportation. residents watch Check Us Out Online Southwest. Subscription price: $24 a year in the U.S., $34 in Canada, 39 years ago. their subsurface tools and graceful $37 elsewhere outside the U.S. Single copy: $3.99 U.S. helplessly as The April 2003 issue is filled with amazing Send subscription correspon­ dence­ and change of address Cohen, a collector in his own sustenance during movements sculpt cattle, chickens Arizonahighways.com, our increasingly popular Web site, information to Arizona High­ways, 2039 W. Lewis Ave., and sheep are has been revamped to provide readers with more information. pictures and stories. Now I can show my friends Phoenix, AZ 85009. Periodical postage paid at Phoenix, right, provides a definitive selection their springtime nesting forms into astonishing Each month the Web site will carry original stories, AZ and at additional mailing office. POST­MASTER: send washed away my wonderful home! Thank you for reminding address changes to Arizona Highways, 2039 W. Lewis of new and out-of-print titles from season — often from shapes. by a violent photographs and columns to supplement what runs in the Ave., Phoenix, AZ 85009. Copyright­ © 2003 by the Ari­ magazine. me that I’m from one of the most beautiful places zona Department of Trans­por­tation. Repro­duc­tion in which to choose. Bibliophiles will beneath many feet of Information: rainstorm on So check us out. Like the poor old editor, we think you’ll whole or in part with­­out permission is prohibited. The Granite on Earth. find tomes on the Mexican snow before it thaws. EARLE A. ROBINSON (480) 948-3185; be pleased. magazine does not accept and is not responsible for un-­ Mountain. Courtney Wright, Wellesley, MA solicited ma­terials provided for editorial con­sideration. Revolution, Indian tribes and www.newtglass.com. Produced in the USA

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

place to stay while exploring the ­Butterfly avian wonderland. Chuparosa Inn, This Old House at the base of Mount Wrightson he Phoenix Historic Districts Kisses

on Madera Creek, combines Coalition has published a SOCIETY/TUCSON HISTORICAL ARIZONA ver been rustic elegance with cozy charm. Tself-guided driving tour of courted by Three suites — the Hummingbird the 25 historic View from Waterman Ormsby made that trip E a butterfly? Suite, the Bird Nest and the neighborhoods in the the Butterfield on the Butterfield, staying sane Spend a summer Cowboy Room — include private city with an enough to write what he saw as day in the Dry JOHN BECKETT baths and kitchenettes. A gourmet explanation of the he first Butterfield stage they approached Tucson in time Lake Hills area, breakfast greets guests in the architectural styles and bounced its way across for sunset. just north of Bed, Breakfast morning. Hiking trails lead their relationship to TArizona in 1858. For $200, “The heavy clouds lower over Flagstaff, and through the rich riparian habitat the eras in which each passengers bought 24 grueling the mountain tops, tinged with the you might get and Birds where bird lovers can catch a was built. The days and nights of travel on the rays of the sun, in all the colors of your chance. Touting irdwatchers flock to Madera glimpse of the more than 200 bird publication won the southern route from St. Louis to the rainbow. . . .” He needed that The ponderosa pine Tucson Canyon in southern Arizona species. Arizona Heritage San Francisco. The trip included a kind of vision. He and the Butterfield trees that grow there are Back in 1887, Bfor some of the best birding Information: (520) 393-7370; Preservation Honor wild-eyed ride through Apache still had another 1,163 miles to go. the favorite food of the pine LONGMIRE LINDA potential travelers in the United States. There’s a new www.chuparosainn.com. Award in 2000. Pass and the area of Dragoon For a view of the Butterfield white butterfly (Neophasia to the Arizona The Phoenix Visitor and Springs, 70 miles east of Tucson route, visit Fort Bowie National menapia). The species usually Question Territory asked the Convention Bureau and most and known for untimely deaths. Historic Site. Turn south at Bowie emerges from late June to of the Arizona Daily antique shops in the city carry the Rides like this could send some Exit 362 from Interstate 10 and September and is best identified Month LIFE IN ARIZONA 1990s Citizen, a Tucson free brochure, “Historic passengers screaming into the follow the signs. The trail to the by its high, floating flight. newspaper, for Michael Moore, Neighborhoods of Phoenix.” night in a form of a breakdown fort crosses the route of the Mountain bikers on Shultz Creek Where are information Information: (602) 256-7177; called “stage craziness.” Reporter Butterfield stage. Trail, west of Dry Lake, attest to Q caminos, on that the Whirlybird Hero www.loveurbanliving.com. another unique characteristic of calles and frontier city. ne of the most daring and escape, but only one hiker was the butterfly: its landing behavior. avenidas nearly as A healthy Oheroic chapters in Grand washed into the Colorado River. While taking a breather, riders common as roads, environment Canyon history remains little One woman, who left the stream Bisbee Cooks Up Regional Flavor have watched as the tiny winged streets? and took the top known — the epic flight of as Moore hovered Soap Creek Nudes ocated in a former miner’s produce like tomatoes, beans, corn creatures drift down and perch on avenues? position in the helicopter pilot Michael overhead, returned ill McBurney, owner of Fly cabin, the Bisbee Cooking or herbs to prepare their meals. just the white areas of their paper’s idea of Moore. A commercial to the Shop & Guides at Lee’s LSchool offers classes Or Saul might pair meals helmets, gloves and clothing. These selling points. pilot, Moore was making Ferry Lodge on the Arizona for hobbyists or with Cochise County Arizona butterfly expert Richard thoroughfares LINDA LONGMIRE LINDA B A “There are no a routine flight in Havasu Strip, remembers how one of his wannabe chefs. wines. Other classes A. Bailowitz says the insects are run through many distinctively local Canyon in 1997 commercial fishing trips — among Instructor and owner showcase Creole, likely searching for love. To a male Arizona towns. diseases,” the when he spotted a the first offered in the Grand Helen Saul, a Cajun seafood and butterfly soaring overhead, any Because southern newspaper flash flood Canyon over 20 years ago — longtime caterer and Southwest cooking glimpse of white down below Arizona was proudly informed roaring down the turned provocative. As the boat chef who studied styles. At the end of represents a prospective mate. claimed by Spain all would-be Canyon’s headed to Soap Creek Rapids, Mile under domestic and all classes, students Butterflies also are attracted and then by Mexico visitors. upper 11 on a river runner’s map, one of international chefs, will enjoy a sit-down meal. to the salts of perspiration, which before it became “The air is reaches. He the passengers commented on the sometimes infuse local tastes Information: (520) 432- explains the pine white’s part of the United

neither bracing nor realized the flood KEVIN KIBSEY area’s remoteness. into her classes. 3882; www.geocities.com/ preference for sweaty mountain States, Spanish depressing,” they would surely McBurney recalls, “Just as he Students might pick local bisbeecookingschool. bikers. words are assured all. They did catch dozens of tranquil asked what we do around here for sprinkled into

warn of occasional hikers and sunbathers blue-green excitement besides go fishing, we LONGMIRE LINDA the vernacular. sandstorms from when it reached the junction waters after he moved came to the beach at Soap Creek. Arizona folks often the California with the Colorado River. on down the Canyon, only to be Normally the place Ever Heard of an Observatory have addresses deserts, but also Moore hurtled down the caught moments later by the is pretty deserted. such as Avenida noted that building Canyon at a decidedly dangerous leading edge of the flood. But that day, Without a Telescope? del Sol (Avenue of a shelter would and illegal altitude ahead of the At the mouth of the Canyon, there he Harquahala Peak the raw data collected and the Sun). be inexpensive flood. Every time he saw a group river guides quickly moved happened to Smithsonian Observatory performed mathematical when using adobe of hikers and swimmers, he several of the tied-off rafts and be about 20 Tnorthwest of Phoenix in the calculations that were sent to a or brick. hovered upstream and, using got all their clients to high nude people Harquahala Mountains, built in Washington, D.C., weather CONTRIBUTORS On such slim frantic hand gestures, urged them ground. The floodwaters rose camping there. 1920 by the Smithsonian center. AMY ABRAMS pickings, a city and to climb up the walls of the to 10 feet in the stream’s Well, his eyes Astrophysical Observatory to The forecast for this project PETER ALESHIRE SARA COOPER a tourist industry Canyon. He reached the river just narrow mouth. nearly popped as record solar activity, had no may not have been entirely MICHAEL HAMMETT can be built. barely ahead of the flood, having In the end, Moore’s daring we passed the telescope. Instead, a theodolite sunny — it only lasted five years. CHRISTINE MAXA warned dozens of hikers. flight may have saved dozens of nudes. I guess it measured the sun’s altitude above Protected by the Archaeological CARRIE M. MINER TERI NIESCHULZ A few people were caught in lives and averted one of the worst was enough the horizon while other delicate Resources Protection Act of MARY PRATT the flood as they scrambled to disasters in Canyon history. excitement devices measured its energy. 1979, the buildings still stand CAROLYN SOSTROM KATHLEEN WALKER for him.” Scientists meticulously recorded atop the tallest peak in the area. PRENTICE RANDY

4 SEPTEMBER 2003 arizonahighways.com arizonahighways.com ARIZONA HIGHWAYS 5 YOUYOU CANCaN AlMOST SMELL The Stone-dry Kofa Mountains THE Rise Near the Colorado River WATERWATER TEXT BY ROSE HOUK PHOTOGRAPHS BY MICHAEL COLLIER THE MOUNTAINS’ RUGGED, snaggletoothed crests offer no soft edges, no invitation to saunter in nonexistent sylvan glades. Entry into them is formidable, save for the occasional burro or sheep trail or bushwhack up a dead-end wash.

rizona is a land of extremes, they the refuge now, but after several days of camp- in nonexistent sylvan glades. Entry into say, and nowhere are those ing and poking around old ghost towns, we them is formidable,­ save for the occasional extremes more pronounced had yet to see one. Now on our way home, burro or sheep trail or bushwhack up a than in the state’s southwest we crawled through McPherson Pass, test- dead-end wash. corner. In this far reach, ing the four-wheel drive on our truck. I had As Martin Litton wrote in a 1951 issue of Awithin 15 miles of each other rise the sun- just commented that our trip would be Arizona Highways, he’d take an “outlander struck face of the Kofa Mountains and the complete if we saw a sheep. At times, wish- guest” to the Kofa Mountain area first. “I’d satin-soft waters of the Colorado River, the ing can make it so. A minute later, as we give you your big dose of desert all at once. starkest desert in the country and the South- topped out at the pass, I glanced up on the I wouldn’t lead up to it gradually. I wouldn’t west’s mother stream. ridgeline and spied a bighorn ram, glorious fool around with the small fry at all. I’d take The sighting of a waterbird one January horns nearly a full three-quarter curl. He you straight to the King.” The “King” is the morning vividly illustrated this disparity looked down at us as if to say I’m allowing King of Arizona Mine, whose initials KOFA of moisture. Michael Collier and I were out you the privilege of looking at me. We piled gave the mountains their name. in our little fishing boat on Martinez Lake out of the truck and watched him step gin- on the Colorado. Michael killed the motor gerly over the rocks, hoping he wouldn’t In 1862, discoveries of gold and silver and rowed quietly into a marshy cove, spook before we’d gotten our fill of admir- unleashed the great Colorado River Rush. crammed with American coots mewing like ing him. A herd of prospectors and miners thun- kittens as they paddled around. Handsome Bearing witness to these two dered into the Kofa country, [preceding panel, pages 6 in gray, black and white, these birds look creatures reinforces the con- and 7] The rocky bajada in congregating in rough-and- like they’re dressed for a formal dinner. A tradictory nature of the Kofa the left foreground is a tumble mining camps and double-crested cormorant perched on a snag, ­country. The austere mountains sloping transitional area towns like La Paz, Red Cloud, flaring its wings to dry the feathers. A congre-­ rise up out of the desert with- between the steep Fortuna, Clip, the North Star mountains and flat valley gation of white pelicans held close to shore, out preface, their burnt ochre floor. This bajada lies at and, of course, around the King turning their backs on us as we entered their color bespeaking an explosive the foot of Signal Peak in of Arizona. personal space. volcanic origin. The highest the Kofa Mountains. According to historian Frank [opposite page] A barrel A large bird, gliding fast toward us, cap- peak reaches only about 4,800 cactus glows as the last Love, more than $4 million tured our attention. By the size and light feet, and they are bereft of light of sunset washes up worth of gold — the most pro- color, we first thought it was an osprey. The water, except for ephemeral against the Castle Dome duced in Yuma County — was bird’s presence rattled the calm of the coots, tinajas (intermittent waterholes) Mountains. removed from the King of Ari- [below] People have but they weren’t the object of its attention. and artificial tanks built by managed to carve a living zona Mine between 1897 and In one clean, swift plunge, the big bird dove hunters to lure the sheep. The from this arid land for 1920. Mining was low-tech in into the water, nailed a small silver fish, then mountains’ rugged, snaggle- centuries. Quechan Indians the early days: rawhide ore it skimmed away low over the surface, gob- toothed crests offer no soft farmed, fished and hunted buckets and candles wired to along the Colorado River, bling its catch en route. edges, no invitation to saunter and they left this rock art miners’ hats. Payment was in Through binoculars, I noted the forked to mark their passage. token or scrip, accepted only tail and cayenne-colored bill of the bird. at company stores and saloons. Michael guessed it was a tern. Checking the Camp housing was in such short supply that bird list and my field guide, I discovered men were charged to sleep on the ground. that the size and bill color suggested a Many miners built their own homes, like Caspian tern, a winter migrant to the lower “Brass Band” Bill Smith’s stick-and-mud Colorado from northern climes. The biolo- house at the Kofa mine camp. At its peak, gist at the Imperial National Wildlife Refuge some 750 people called the Kofa camp home, confirmed that terns had been reported in while Castle Dome City, at its heyday in the the area. neighboring mountains, had as many people That spellbinding sighting contrasted as Yuma. strikingly with one made another winter In 1899, the Kofa camp was going full day, up in the Castle Dome Mountains south-­ blast. An elementary school for 16 students west of the Kofa Mountains. Bighorn sheep was to open the following year. One report are the trademark animals of the Castle noted that the general manager “hires mostly Domes and the Kofas, and are the main rea- Cornish miners from Cornwall, England. son these ranges were incorporated into the They have brought their families with them, Kofa National Wildlife Refuge in 1939. so Kofa tends to be a quieter mining town

ILLUSTRATION BY KEVIN KIBSEY BY ILLUSTRATION An estimated 800 desert bighorns inhabit (Text continued on page 13)

arizonahighways.com ARIZONA HIGHWAYS 9

TODAY, THE REMAINS of the . . . mines at the south end of the range consist mostly of crumbling buildings, tailings piles, mounds of broken crockery and blue glass, and rusted tin cans, plus signs on private property warning “Stay on Designated Roads” and “Danger Cyanide.”

(Continued from page 9) the steamboats out of business, but in not than usual.” But by 1907, the King of Arizona too many years the automobile would Mine was on a downhill slide. The ore supercede the railroads as a primary mode played out, and the mine shut down for of human transportation. good in 1910. By the early 1900s, automobiles were Today, the remains of the Kofa and cruising along the southern Ocean-to- neighboring North Star and Polaris mines Ocean Highway (now Interstate 8 in Ari- at the south end of the range consist mostly zona), and in 1915 a new steel highway of crumbling buildings, tailings piles, bridge was completed across the Colorado mounds of broken crockery and blue glass, River at Yuma. But just to the west loomed and rusted tin cans, plus signs on private California’s Algodones Dunes, an obstacle property warning “Stay on Designated that had stymied travelers even before the Roads” and “Danger Cyanide.” time of Model T Fords. To surmount the The sound of the wind rules the place. obstacle, 10 miles of wooden planks were laid through the dunes — a portable road The center of civilization in this area — that could be picked up and relocated as for miners, steamboat captains, freighters, the sands blew over it. railroaders, soldiers, entrepreneurs, Span­ The lower Colorado’s seasonal flooding iards and Indians alike — was Yuma Cross- rampages created additional problems for ing, just below the confluence of the Gila Yuma. In 1909, Laguna Dam was built River and the Colorado River. upstream, launching the federal govern- Here the Colorado could be [preceding panel, pages ment’s era of “reclamation” of the desert, forded. Local Quechan Indi- 10 and 11] The Colorado crossing into the 1800s — until followed by Imperial and Hoover dams. ans had been using the cross- River cuts through the soldiers arrived during the United The Colorado is tamed and easily crossed Trigo and Chocolate ing for a long time before any mountains as it rolls States’ war with Mexico. In 1847, these days. But birds still flock to the river, Euro-Americans arrived on through the Imperial Philip St. George Cooke and his and you can almost smell the water from the scene. National Wildlife Refuge. Mormon Battalion came down the the stone-dry Kofa Mountains. Caspian In 1700, the Indians helped [opposite page] For eons, Gila and crossed the Col­orado terns and bighorn sheep bear witness that the Colorado River has Father Eusebio Francisco Kino, carried sand to the head River near Yuma. At the end of the wildness remains in this land. the Spanish priest-explorer, of the Sea of Cortes. war, forty-niners flowed through cross the Colorado in a basket Much of this has blown this natural funnel, ferried across Rose Houk is from the flatlands originally, and now makes her home in Flagstaff. Arizona’s stunning mounted on a raft. San Fran- back up into the Gran the river by the Quechans and the Desierto and Algodones mountains fill her with awe. cisco’s founder, Juan Bautista Dunes south and west of soldiers. Further attempts to seize Exploring the Kofa and Castle Dome de Anza, likewise benefitted Yuma. The wind the ferry operations from the mountains was a labor of love for from the Indians’ assistance constantly reshapes the Quechans were unsuccessful, until Michael Collier, who lives in Flagstaff. dunes in ever-changing when he was bound for Cali- 1852. In that year, Maj. Samuel P. Editor’s Note: This article is patterns. fornia from Arizona. While [above] California fan Heintzelman occupied the cross- an excerpt from a chapter in these encounters were amica- palms are Arizona ing and set up Fort Yuma on the the book The Mountains Know ble, the arrival of Fray Tomas natives that have California side of the river. Two Arizona: Images of the Land and retreated to isolated Garces turned disastrous. In canyons of the Kofas, years later, Charles D. Poston and Stories of Its ­People, just released 1779, Garces convinced Span- where small seeps Herman Ehrenberg established by Arizona Highways Books. ish authorities to establish a sustain them in an Colorado City (later Arizona City, Author Rose Houk and pho­­­ mission at Yuma. Settlers soon otherwise untenable then Yuma). tographer Michael Collier­ use 10 mountain landscape. followed and built villages Stagecoaches soon were ferry- ranges as platforms from which to present along the river. The initial ing across the Colorado at Yuma. ­Arizona and tell stories of its people and his- friendliness of the Indians turned to hostil- A reporter for an eastern newspaper wrote, tory. For two years, the pair traveled from their ity as the Spaniards began irrigating and “This is the hottest place in the world; so hot home in Flagstaff, putting more than 30,000 putting their animals out to graze on the in the summertime that the wings melt off miles on their camper truck, fondly named best farm- and pasturelands. In a surprise the mosquitoes.” Despite bad press, Yuma “The Exploratorium.” The complete results of attack on the morning of July 17, 1781, the persisted as a key link in human movement their travels and research can be seen in the Quechans killed more than a hundred across the formidable desert. By 1877, the special money-saving introductory offer on Spaniards, including Fray Garces. Southern Pacific Railroad bridged the river page 45.

ILLUSTRATION BY KEVIN KIBSEY BY ILLUSTRATION The Quechans controlled the strategic and charged across Arizona. Railroads put

arizonahighways.com ARIZONA HIGHWAYS 13 HOHOKAM pAst HIDDEN BY THE RISE OF A MODERN PHOENIX by CRAIG CHILDS

Cars stampeded by my shoulder as I rode my bike in the narrow strip of asphalt between traffic and some built regally atop high, handmade earthen mounds with bulldozers. Wright wore jeans, a T-shirt and a John Deere baseball gutter. I tried to pay attention to them, while at the same time notic- walled, interior courtyards. cap. We stood in the scarce shade of a palm tree, and he pointed ing a slight rise in the Phoenix topography around me. A hill lay I was born here, in Tempe actually, and have long wondered what around, telling me of an excavation he had performed. Before con- buried beneath the street. I pulled into a parking lot and unfolded lies beneath. I figured a bicycle was the best way to move through struction crews arrived, he had worked with a team digging at the a map across the handlebars. Just as I thought, the map showed a the city, feeling every shift in the landscape even as transit buses surface of an abandoned lot. First he found the remains of home- pueblo that once stood here, a remnant of a lost civilization putting belched exhaust around me. I took a few notes, folded the map and less camps dating back 20 years or so. Below that were the bits a bump in the middle of the city. I came to Phoenix to find this swerved back into traffic. and pieces of a Hispanic barrio, and below that a Hohokam jar, ancient, buried civilization. Seven hundred years below shopping The next stop was near Arizona State University where apartments malls and apartment complexes lies the Hohokam culture. About were under construction atop a Hohokam burial site. I locked my [above] Consulting with anthropologists and archaeologists, artist Michael A. Hampshire rendered a Hohokam community as it may 600 miles of irrigation canals once streamed across the Phoenix bike in front of a bar and walked over to the construction site where have existed in A.D. 1300 on the platform mound at Pueblo Grande Basin where communities had developed into elaborate pueblos, I met Tom Wright, an archaeologist who had dug there before the Archaeological Park in Phoenix.

14 SEPTEMBER 2003 arizonahighways.com arizonahighways.com ARIZONA HIGHWAYS 15 to a fenced-off area of several acres. him, dismounted and asked if he were Within the fence stood a high mound managing this headgate. He regarded of land streaked with bike tracks me from a distance, but eventually where kids for the last few decades warmed up to me in conversation. He had been stunt-riding. The only iden- introduced himself as Jim Elliot, an 18- tifying features of the mound were year employee with SRP. Explaining that trenches dug at ongoing excavations. he was in charge of the west-flowing Beneath these scant diggings lies one canal here, he told me that it runs 30 of the three largest Hohokam sites of miles through Tempe and Phoenix, its time. It was pleasing to see the finally delivering its last drops onto marks of children atop this mound, farmland on the Maricopa Reservation. a sign that life goes on in this city, He had worked on some of the early the same as it might have been 700 canal digs for SRP in the company of years ago. men who had worked on even earlier From there I followed a large irri- ditches using horse-drawn plows. gation canal, its olive waters graced by When I asked him about Hohokam mammoth fish. Opening the map, I material he told me that they were dig- found myself next to, if not on top of, ging their city canals right inside the- a Hohokam ballcourt — a rounded, Hohokam canals. About 4 feet down, flat-floored feature similar in many they kept running into bits and pieces ways to the ballcourts of the Mayans. of artifacts. I glanced from the map into the canal, “One guy found a pot, perfect condition,”­ he said. “And there first minute found scratches of Hohokam designs barely lingering on Hohokam canals used to run along there, watching the fish sweep like zeppe­ was this ball of clay, bright red thing.” He formed a ball with his a rock outcrop: a few deeply etched circles and an interlocking pat- lins among the wreckage of urban hands to show me. “Somebody had it for making a pot, I figure. Just tern of coils, a few animal figures. I climbed to a higher outcropping exactly where the modern canals now lie. refuse: the skeleton of a bicycle, innu- bright, bright red, and still wet down in the ground. You could see mea­sled with small carved circles, similarly of Hohokam origin. This has long been an important place. merable traffic cones, chairs, a desk, a where somebody had held it, finger imprints, like somebody had Much of the rock art had been long ago obliterated by Saturday- trash can. These modern artifacts were it in their hands yesterday.” night partygoers, but enough remained that I could see the origi- squat like a mush­room, likely filled with a human cremation. half-consumed by the greenish clay of canal dust and algae. Archae- They did, I thought. Just yesterday. nal designs. I climbed still higher, finding 700-year-old pieces of “We have an arrangement with the Pima Tribe,” Wright said. “No ology, I thought, is a constant process. broken pottery spilled down the slopes. photographs, only sketches. No brushing the dirt off to see if there The canal led me onward to an enormous city cemetery perched T hat night I checked into a motel and pulled my bike One thing about the flatness of Phoenix: on even the smallest are paintings. No removal of its contents. We will catalog it, study on a terrace overlooking northern Phoenix and barren desert moun- inside. The first thing I saw was a garish Southwestern print hung soapbox of a hill, the entire city becomes visible. As I climbed to it for a bit, then give it to the Pima who will rebury it themselves.” tains farther off. The cemetery had not been built here out of hap- on the wall over the bed. It was cheap, with pink and lusterless the summit and sat there, I could see it all. Much like the Hohokam The Pimas trace their ancestry to the Hohokam, so they often han- penstance. It was placed at the edge of one of the few expansive turquoise, a generic landscape with distant buttes. It featured a fore- settlements that predate it, Phoenix has no particular center, nobody dle the repatriation of Hohokam burial artifacts. views in the Phoenix Basin, likely where Mormons originally buried ground assemblage of pots: a painted, two-necked pot vaguely but governing the vectors of growth, allowing it to spread without end. The pot was found at the last moment of the dig, as Wright was their dead, and where settling Hispanics dug graves even earlier. I not quite styled after modern Hopi work from northern Arizona, a Night came and I watched the city erupt into lights. From my running out of funding for the excavation and as construction crews checked the map and indeed, found numerous large Hohokam reddish buff pot typical of rural Mexico in the early 1900s and a vantage, Phoenix was a dazzling narrative, its network of lights relay- geared up to build the apartments. Working 10 hours a day in 110- buildings lined up for the view. Hohokam canals used to run along painted Zuni pot typical in certain places in New Mexico. The cul- ing stories as far north, west and south as I could see. Office towers,­ degree weather, his crew had come across the remnants of an ancient there, exactly where the modern canals now lie. This has long been tural affiliations seemed somewhat ludicrous for this motel room. baseball diamonds, shopping malls and the artistic loop and flow community. He pointed to the boundaries he imagined of this com- an important place. Even the “cactus” in the painting was actually a cactuslike spurge from of neighborhoods radiated brilliantly from one cul-de-sac to the munity, under an asphalt street and a set of abandoned rail tracks, and I kept with the modern canal, leaving the cemetery, riding farther Africa, not something that would grow in the Southwest. next. The air carried a steady drone as if the city were a machine. under a three-story apartment building shaded by eucalyptus trees. to the east. I came to a man fishing, and when I stopped, he explained I stood for a few minutes studying the painting, fearing for our What happened to the people who lived here before? Stories from From where we stood, he pointed all around to locations of platform how the largest bass were often caught in the wreckage of shopping knowledge of landscape and heritage. But it was only cheap art, modern Hopi in northern Arizona and O’odham people from ­central mounds, one under a trailer park, and another beneath a fraternity carts. He laughed, “This? This is urban fishing. I go to get a license probably chosen by unknowing motel operators and representing, and southern parts of the state tell of warfare and seasons of drought house. Everywhere beneath us were the leavings of the Hohokam. and they just laugh at me. People come get their dinners out of here. if anything, the diversity of cultures that has converged on this place. followed by unendurable floods that destroyed the irrigation canals. Pimas, I see them, old men out fishing, got their lawn chairs, fish- I remembered that among the traditional styles of Hohokam pot- Archaeologists have found matching data in the ground: Hohokam I cut across parking lots, through alleys, up and down ing all day for supper.” tery found in the Phoenix area, there also appeared ceramics from canals no longer used, headgates and pueblos abandoned, tools left neighborhood streets, the map flagging under my arm. I had com- As I left him, I wondered if it had been the same for the Hohokam, far away. At a single excavated site, 272 pottery specimens showed in the fields. piled this map based on conversations with others interested in if people have always come to the urban canals to catch fish. At a par- up that were not from the area; the majority of them were ancient The name “Hohokam” is a Pima Indian word meaning “entirely archaeology, and days of sorting through archived maps of the city ticular Hohokam site excavated in Phoenix, fish accounted for over Puebloan (a contemporary but different culture) in origin from no used up,” the first syllable repeated to emphasize its thoroughness. dating to the late 1800s. On it was an over­view of Hohokam sites a quarter of all animal bones excavated. Waterfowl, mud turtles and closer than the northern part of Arizona, and some from far to the The next civilization to come after them named itself “Phoenix,” an that had once been visible, and arteries of abandoned canals, plus a muskrats also appeared in the archaeological record. No doubt, the south in present-day Chihuahua, Mexico. People have long been image borrowed from Arabic mythology, a giant desert bird that grid of modern city streets so that I could find my way. I drifted canals offered more than just water for corn and cotton. traveling through this region, setting up shop here, introducing new lives for centuries, then at old age, burns itself on a funeral pyre, around a gar­bage truck and stopped when I was out of its path, A Salt River Project truck came by looking important, as embla- styles, buying motels. rising from the smoke and ashes, again young and vivid, ready to live opening the map again to see where I was. zoned and siren-bound as a police vehicle. It stopped at the mechan- In the morning I left the motel and biked again through the city. until time again to burn. The map told me that a block to my right, in a residential neigh- ical compound of a giant headgate, and a man got out. I biked up to I made numerous stops through the day: interviewing a developer I thought of this bird, its giant, colorful wings spreading across the borhood, there had once been a large compound of Hohokam who was building a subdivision atop a large Hohokam site; spend- desert. What will this city be called if it someday consumes itself in

buildings surrounded by a low adobe wall. To the other side was a [above] A network of Hohokam canals, constructed at various times ing a couple hours with the city archaeologist who has been cata­ -­ its own flames? Maybe the Pima Indians who today still live at the platform mound now called Mesa Grande, and I biked over to it between A.D. 50 and 1450, supported farming throughout the loging rock art sites throughout the city; and sitting beneath a freeway out­skirts of the city will again call it Hohokam, the name for a ­people through traffic, passing the city’s oddities of automatic car washes and Phoenix valley. overpass to sketch a large piece of roadside artwork designed to look of much fanfare who come and go swiftly. convenience stores. [opposite page] Young men make spears and atlatls, which were used to like a figure on a painted bowl 900 years old. increase the power and accuracy of thrown spears. With a handspindle and Craig Childs usually avoids cities in his travels, but made an exception for this I maneuvered the bike around a hospital where a fire engine whorl, a Hohokam woman, right, spins cotton grown in village farms as a Just before sunset, I locked my bike below one of the many moun- story. He has written eight books about the natural history of the Southwest, including pulled out and turned down the street, then between trash Dumpsters man weaves her threads into textiles on a backstrap loom. tains standing out of the city. I followed a trail going up and within the The Desert Cries, published by Arizona Highways Books. He lives in western Colorado.

16 SEPTEMBER 2003 arizonahighways.com arizonahighways.com ARIZONA HIGHWAYS 17 text by Kathleen Bryant photography by David H. Smith

ind stirs the tall ponderosa pine trees, charging the air with scent. A quiet corner of Flagstaff between celebratingCelebrating a sense a Sense of placeof Place Schultz Creek and Rio de Flag was not so differ- ent three-quarters of a century ago, when a young artist from Philadelphia made it her special place, putting down Wher paintbrush every evening to watch the sunset splash its color The of onto the San Francisco Peaks. Mary-Russell Ferrell was raised in Phila­delphia’s polite circles, educated to hold her own in elegant parlors. But in her early 20s, Museum she fell in love with the Southwest, spending summers in bloomers or breeches, explor­ing mountainsides and Indian ruins with her hus- band Harold Colton, a zoology professor who taught at the Uni- versity of Pennsylvania. Most summers they lived in a tent among the pine trees, adopt- ing this wild country northwest of Flagstaff as their own. Here, Northern on more than a hundred acres, Harold and Mary-Russell founded the Museum of North­ern Arizona, an organization focusing on the people and environment of the Colorado Plateau. The museum celebrates its 75th anniversary this year, continu- ing a tradition of discovery and passion for place that began with the Coltons and others like them. However, “museum” is Arizona entirely too tame a word to describe the Coltons’ legacy. It was [far left and right] Dr. Harold Colton and his wife Mary-Russell Colton co-founded the Museum of Northern Arizona with a mission to explore and explain the Colorado Plateau and to encourage appreciation of its unique beauty and character. Mary-Russell, an artist from Pennsylvania, organized exhibitions of Indian potters’ work, emphasizing the art she recognized in their utilitarian Turns ceramics. Today the museum houses nearly 5 million objects in its anthropology, biology, fine arts and geology collections. [inset above left] Since its inception, the museum has showcased Indian fine arts, like these Navajo rugs. [above] The Babbitt Gallery exhibit, “Histories in Clay: 1800 Years of 75 Native Ceramic Artistry,” includes black-on-white Chaco vessels. a time when adventure claimed its own. [above] The creekside entrance of the museum peeks out between In the late 1920s, Flagstaff’s 5,000 resi- ponderosa pine trees, as seen from across Rio de Flag. [below] Construction of museum buildings was completed in 1936. The dents were justifiably proud of their com- land was donated by Mary-Russell Colton. munity. Though in many ways a frontier town, Flagstaff boasted a teacher’s college treasures within the state. In (now Northern Arizona University), a forest 1924, Clarke began display- experiment station and Lowell Observa­tory. ing artifacts in a corner of Each summer locals watched, fuming, as the Woman’s Club on Aspen “outlanders” stepped off Santa Fe Railway Avenue in downtown.­ The trains, vanished into the backcountry and Coltons donated display returned “laden with loot that they had dug cases for the collection. from the earth or bought from the Indians, In 1926, the Colton fam- [above] Providing a window to past cultures, potsherds and whole local prehistoric culture. to be shipped off to Eastern destinations,” ily relocated­ to Flagstaff,­ and vessels are treasured and studied by archaeologists. ­Hargrave’s services and lab [below right] The Museum Shop offers authentic Indian crafts, according to anthropologist Watson Smith, community interest in the like this polychrome olla made by Joseph Cerno from Acoma space were donated by the who wrote about the museum’s beginnings museum began to develop. Pueblo, New Mexico. museum to assist the work when it celebrated its golden anniversary. Mary-Russell’s letter to the of astronomer A.E. Douglas Many locals felt that northern Arizona’s irre- editor of the Coco­nino Sun ground to manufactured items. It strength- and of Emil Haury, who would eventually placeable past was departing along with the was a call to action: “Flagstaff ened the relationship between the museum become one of Arizona’s most important “carpetbaggers.” has at last an opportunity to and the reservation. Much to the Coltons’ archaeologists. Their work led to a master The Coltons themselves collected over a show the effete East that she relief, it also captivated a curious public. tree-ring chronology for the ancestral Pueb­ decade of summers, but their genuine inter- has taste and vision.” The show’s popularity led to additional exhi- loan world. est in the land made them stewards, not Flagstaff took up the chal- bitions in later years, focusing on Navajo, One of the institution’s first scientists, carpetbaggers. Their passion for ancient arti- ­lenge. Bylaws for the North- Zuni, Pai and Hispanic traditions. Lionel F. Brady, known as “Major,” was a facts began during a picnic, when their 2- ern Arizona Society of Science and Art were the entire building. The support was a man- In the early decades of statehood, Ari- schoolmaster and a friend of the Charles year-old son, Ferrell, found a potsherd. After developed at the close of 1927. The follow­ date for the museum’s goals: “to collect and zona’s prehistoric past was uncovered by Darwin family. While wandering at Sunset that, they dedicated their summers to sur- ing spring, the society chose board mem- preserve objects of art and scientific inter- venerable organizations such as the Smith- Crater northeast of Flagstaff, Brady found veying and mapping sites throughout the bers, with Harold Colton as director. The est; to protect historic and prehistoric sites, sonian Institution, the National Geographic potsherds that eventually proved area. By the time they settled permanently in board took over the museum’s operations, works of art, scenic places, and wild life Society and Harvard University. In 1930, people lived at the crater before, a stone bungalow northwest of town, beginning with a few specimens, some ref- from needless destruction; to provide facil- the museum joined the fray, eventually sur- during and after its eruption, Harold had already published five articles erence books, a staff of two or three and an ities for research, and to offer opportunities veying and recording more than 10,000 adapting to the changing envi- on Southwest­ern archaeology and helped “anonymous” gift (clearly from the Coltons) for aesthetic enjoyment.” sites. Summers were spent in the field, with ronment. (Ironically, the discovery to establish the Wupatki pueblos northeast of $2,500. In September 1928, the Museum As curator of art, Mary-Russell worked the museum’s white-and-blue flag fluttering might not have been made at all if of Flagstaff as a national monument. of Northern Arizona opened officially. Dr. tirelessly to create one such opportunity, the above tent camps by day and archaeologists not for the efforts of Harold and other His co-sponsor for that executive order was Byron Cummings, the dean of Arizona arch- museum’s first Hopi Craftsman Exhibition in gathering around the campfire each night concerned locals who prevented a Flagstaff postal worker and archaeology buff, ­aeology — quite the adventurer himself at 1930. She traveled to the Mesas, encouraging to compare notes. movie company from dynamiting the J.C. Clarke. The Coltons met him one sum- age 68 — was speaker. artists to contribute work and convincing Back in the museum’s lab, Harold and crater in the late 1920s for a scene in a film.) mer after traveling to Wupatki in “El Fordo,” a The speech must have been inspiring. By many to come to Flagstaff for live demon- assistant director Lynn Hargrave developed Major Brady also invented gadgets and Model T truck outfitted for adventure with a the following spring, the museum’s collec- strations. The first exhibition succeeded on a system still in use today for identifying gear to make research trips easier, includ- canvas tent. The men wrote back and forth, tion of donated artifacts had spread beyond several levels: It helped foster traditional Southwestern pottery types. Harold later ing a sun-based compass for use near mag- sharing their wish to keep northern Arizona’s a corner of the Woman’s Club to encompass Hopi arts and crafts, which were fast losing recognized the Sinagua Indians as a distinct netic anomalies. His interests expanded to

20 SEPTEMBER 2003 arizonahighways.com arizonahighways.com ARIZONA HIGHWAYS 21 [above] Housed in the Archaeology Gallery, the museum’s award-winning exhibit “Native Peoples of the Colorado Plateau” represents archaeological studies of 12,000 years of life in the region. [left] Displayed in the Babbitt Gallery, this large Hopi bowl with a shalako design was made around 1930.

entrance of the museum. The building’s his- museum’s entry. Harold looks scholarly, toric architecture will be preserved, along Mary-Russell elegantly casual. But with a lit- with the forested setting that Mary-Russell tle imagination, you can envision them loved so well. The Coltons’ nearby residence, camped out in the surrounding forest, called a “showplace of the West” when it Harold’s lanky frame stooped to study a pot- [above] Authentic Navajo rugs woven in traditional patterns and colors was built in 1929, is available for retreats and sherd, Mary-Russell in flannel shirt and delight visitors to the Museum Shop, which prides itself on offering from the Hopi village of Awatovi, which was special events. bloomers with sketchpad in hand. top-quality merchandise. abandoned after the 1680 Pueblo Revolt. Summertime heritage programs feature Their spirit of adventure survives through [left] Pausing during a 1942 expedition are Katharine Bartlett (left), Mary-Russell and Harold. The murals had been excavated by Harvard artwork, traditional dances and live demon- the Museum of Northern Arizona’s fasci- [below] Yucca fibers encase a corrugated Mesa Verde bowl. University in the 1930s and returned to strations, expanding on the legacy of the nating halls and beyond. northern Arizona. first craft exhibits. From May through Sep­ Bridging the past and the future, the cen- tember,­ activities spill onto the museum’s paleontology when he led less than a decade, the museum had grown turies-old kiva murals inspired one of the flagstone courtyard and sometimes beyond. Editor’s Note: The Museum of Northern the expedition that uncovered beyond a few artifacts donated by local citi- museum’s most innovative exhibits, a Last year, a Hopi woman guided a group of Arizona is located 3 miles north of down- Ari­zona’s first Pleistocene zens to an influential institution of science media-based interactive interpretation of a visitors on a botanical walk through the rocky town Flagstaff on U.S. Route 180. It is open sloth skeleton, Paramylodon and art. modern mural by artists Michael Kabotie canyon of Rio de Flag, pausing to explain daily, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., except Thanksgiv- harlani, affectionately dubbed Then came World War II and, with it, the and Delbridge Honanie. A related traveling how plants are used for food, dye and ing, Christmas and New Year’s Day. Admis- “Owen.” Brady meticulously end of the Depression-era relief projects that exhibit called “The Magic of the Painted medicine. sion is $5 for adults and $2 for children reconstructed Owen in the had provided extra hands for fieldwork and Room” will bring this ancient tradition of Exploration, discovery and learning how ages 7 to 17. museum’s annex, a storefront construction. Most of the museum’s pro- the Colorado Plateau to the world in upcom­- people adapted to place — all cherished Permanent exhibits focus on the land in the Monte Vista Hotel, to grams, including the annual Hopi show, were ing years. museum traditions — continue on museum- and people of the Colorado Plateau region. the fascinated interest of those suspended until after the war. The remain- The museum’s “reinvigorated” paleontol- guided ventures that include hiking, back- Heritage programs featuring native art and who passed by the plate-glass ing four employees worked in back rooms ogy program continues the tradition of field- packing, river rafting, kayaking, camping, live demonstrations take place May through window where they could see wearing coats and galoshes in order to con- work. Recently, museum paleontologists biking and driving tours. Participants expe- September. the Major at work, his ever- serve heat. discovered a therizinosaur (“scythe dino­ rience firsthand the natural beauty and cul- Educational workshops include hands- present pipe dangling from his mouth. One affected program was the Hopi Silver saur”) near Big Water, Utah, one of the first tures of the Colorado Plateau, guided by on activities for all ages. The museum leads The museum, on the verge of outgrowing Project. In 1938, Mary-Russell had suggested found in North America. This birdlike crea- scientists, writers and artists who share a a wide range of guided outdoor tours, from the Woman’s Club and annex, began the that Hopi silversmiths try using traditional ture is named for the long, sicklelike claws passion for place that inspires others. river rafting to auto trips. Customized tours search for a new location. Mary-Russell designs seen in pottery and basketry. The on its front feet, though weighing in at close In the inaugural issue of Plateau Journal, are available. donated 29 acres of land across Fort Valley idea didn’t take off until returning Hopi war to 2,000 pounds, the therizinosaur proba- the museum’s membership publication, For the latest information on educational Road from the Colton home, and Harold veterans adopted the overlay style. The new bly never took flight. As scientists continue Edward Abbey, the late author and environ-­ programs, trips and current exhibits, phone funded construction. The new exhibit hall style and bold designs were a huge hit at to work on the animal’s fossilized skeleton, mental activist, wrote, “Any scientist worth (928) 774-5213 or visit the museum’s Web opened to the public in May 1936. Its lichen- the 1949 Hopi Craftsman Exhibition. the museum will display other recent finds, listening to must be something of a poet. site, www.musnaz.org. covered malpais stone and pine timbers har- The Coltons reduced their duties during including sea turtles, a giant ray and ple­ He must possess the ability to communi- monized with the surrounding ponderosa the 1950s, though they continued to donate sio­saurs, fierce predators of the inland sea cate to the rest of us his sense of love and Though she’s very fond of her computer, Kathleen forest. The hall forms the heart of the pre- land, and the museum continued to expand that covered the Colorado Plateau during wonder at what his work discovers.” Bryant of Sedona wishes she’d been an archaeologist in 1930s Arizona. She also wrote the following story. sent museum complex, 3 miles northwest of its activities and structure. One new exhibit the Cretaceous period 90 million years ago. The Coltons certainly would have been David H. Smith of Phoenix found it intriguing to get a downtown Flagstaff along the Rio de Flag. In was a replica kiva built to display murals Future plans include remodeling the main pleased. Today their portraits hang near the behind-the-scenes perspective on museum archives.

22 SEPTEMBER 2003 arizonahighways.com arizonahighways.com ARIZONA HIGHWAYS 23 by Kathleen Bryant

24 SEPTEMBER 2003 arizonahighways.com arizonahighways.com ARIZONA HIGHWAYS 25 NOT MANY YEARS AGO, RED ROCK COUNTRY IN CENTRAL ARIZONA the meandering West Fork of Oak Creek or was familiar to only a few who reveled in could resist the whimsy of places named among the dazzling spires of Boynton its mild winters, hidden canyons and dra- Rabbit Ears or Merry-Go-Round, or the Canyon, it’s possible to find peace, to con- matically sculpted rocks. Today, however, it majesty and mystery of a Cathedral Rock? nect with nature and to reconnect with one- seems everyone knows about Sedona and the Or the simple power of raw beauty? In any self. After all, to really know a place requires red rocks. case, the secret is out. understanding and intimacy — not just of a [preceding panel, pages 24 and 25] Cathedral Rock spills its sunset palette onto lower Oak Creek at Red Rock Crossing near Sedona. robert g. mcdonald On any given day, the area has as many Or is it? After all, how can anyone ever place but also of your place within it. To [above left] Shafts of light from the setting sun streak past Capitol Butte in a visitors as residents, who number more than truly know a place so complex? paraphrase John Muir — the naturalist, con- Sedona mountainscape dominated by Mitten Ridge (center). 10,000. Answering the seductive call of red This jewel within jewels lies between the servationist and founder of the Sierra Club [above] An 800-year-old pueblo at Palatki ruins perches on a cliff northwest of sandstone, dozens of sightseers clamber up Verde Valley, Sycamore Canyon and the — how better to find oneself than by get- Sedona. both by larry lindahl the irresistible slickrock slopes of Bell Rock Mogollon Rim, two hours north of Phoenix. ting lost in the beauty of canyons, mesas, each afternoon. Hundreds more snap pho- Though only 500 square miles in size, Red forests and creeks? tos of red rocks shaped like castles, critters Rock Country is big enough to take your Much of Red Rock Country is public and kitchen implements. And every couple breath away. Steal your heart. Capture your land, part of the Coconino National Forest, of months or so, one or two need to be imagination. And, just when you think you three wilderness areas and two state parks. Nplucked from Capitol Butte or have cactus know it, surprise you again and again, as Canyons extend like fingers from the spines plucked from them at the local clinic. yet another secret is revealed. Mogollon Rim, which forms the southern It’s the red rocks, some people say. Who Even on the most popular of trails, along edge of the Colorado Plateau. One, the

26 SEPTEMBER 2003 arizonahighways.com arizonahighways.com ARIZONA HIGHWAYS 27 [left] Upstream from Sedona, the swimming hole at Grasshopper Point tempts visitors with the promise of a frigid dip in Oak Creek. randy prentice

canyon of Oak Creek, cuts through a 2,500- foot geological layer cake on its 12-mile length, revealing the power and majesty of a living, changing Earth. For more than 300 million years, this land has been shaped by oceans, deserts, swamps and volcanic flows. Most of the area’s castlelike buttes and spires are carved from the Schnebly Hill For- mation, a 700-foot-thick series of four mud­ stone, sandstone and limestone members, subunits of the formation, in shades of dark red, orange and gray. The gray Fort Apache limestone member forms a hard cap that pro­- tects lower, softer layers of rock, leav­ing nat- ural forces to weather shapes that tease the imagination. Coconino sandstone, formed from ancient windblown sand dunes, rises above the red- dish layers in tilted stacks of buff and gold, topping the taller landforms like Capitol Butte and Munds Mountain. The tallest form, Wilson Mountain, is crowned with basalt laid down by a volcanic eruption 8 million years ago. Fissures, seams and seeps in the sand- stone layers sometimes slough off slabs of rock, forming chimneys, sharp corners, flat faces — even arches, such as Devils Bridge. This complex landscape remains a work in progress, as anyone who’s hiked past the recent rockfall in Fay Canyon can attest. Here, car-sized chunks of stone have buried shrubs, trees and part of the hiking trail. Hidden canyons and sunny slopes create a range of microclimates within eight differ­ ent plant communities. More than 500 types of plants live from the desert grassland below Bell Rock to the pine-fir forest atop 7,000-foot Wilson Mountain. The crystalline spring-fed waters of Oak Creek create a lush riparian area of wondrous variety, where blackberry bushes and golden colum­bines (Text continued on page 32)

28 SEPTEMBER 2003 arizonahighways.com arizonahighways.com ARIZONA HIGHWAYS 29 Getting to know Red Rock Country isn’t necessarily about putting in miles. It’s more about collecting moments.

[above] A common buckeye butterfly alights on a Columbia monkshood, apparently unconcerned that the plant is extremely poisonous to livestock and humans. [right] During summer, the mounds of white watercress flourishing in Oak Creek’s cool water are covered with tiny white flowers. both by larry lindahl

30 SEPTEMBER 2003 arizonahighways.com arizonahighways.com ARIZONA HIGHWAYS 31 (Continued from page 29) quail call the dry desert grassland home. Red Rock-Secret Mountain wilderness areas. then break into brilliant sunsets with occa- warning buzz — a Western rattlesnake. This tangle beneath the spreading branches of Coyotes, supremely adaptive, feel at home But getting to know Red Rock Country sional rainbows. Winter snows make a fresh list does not include the things that can be Arizona sycamores. Piñon-juniper wood- everywhere, forest and city, serenading the isn’t necessarily about putting in miles. It’s surface for cottontails, quail and coyotes experienced on nearly every summer out- land predominates in high, dry Red Rock sunset or the sirens of emergency vehicles. more about collecting moments — the to write their stories, as tattered veils of ing: the sweet scent of a late-blooming [above] Cutleaf coneflowers, one of Arizona’s Country, with an understory chaparral of Shy mammals, such as mountain lions and sweetness of a summer sunrise, when the clouds and fog weave between the rocks. cliffrose, ravens quorking loudly as they species of Rudbeckia, thrive in the rich, moist soil found along mountain streams such as manzanita, catclaw and other pricklies that black bears, are rarely seen, though sharp- air still feels cool but warm light slowly drips Knowing Red Rock Country requires play catch-me along cliffs, fresh scrapes where the West Fork of Oak Creek. persuades hikers to stay on trails. eyed hikers often observe signs of their down mountaintops. Or the piercing beauty accepting that nothing is the same today as javelinas searched for roots the night before, randy prentice Wildlife varies with the terrain, includ- passing in backcountry areas like Dry of a star-studded night sky, with only an owl’s it was before, and that true intimacy takes weirdly twisted cypress trees, balancing [above right] Southwest of Flagstaff, the ing some 35 different types of snakes, lizards Creek Basin. haunting call to steal into the silence. And time and attention. rocks and a variety of other sights, sounds 55,937-acre Sycamore Canyon Wilderness provides desert riparian habitat for black and amphibians; 20 or more varieties of fish; Red Rock Country rates as a hiker’s par- then there is the magic created by weather, Of course, a little luck never hurts. On a and smells that prove how alive the forest bears, mountain lions and ringtail cats. 55 kinds of mammals;­ 180 birds; and thou- adise. Maintained forest-system trails num- nature’s alchemist. single brief hike on Jim Thompson Trail, is even in summer’s dead heat. george h.h. huey sands of insects and invertebrates. Raucous ber more than 60 and cover 160-plus miles, Snowmelt in the early months of spring skirting the edge of Uptown Sedona, my Long before such things as computers Steller’s jays haunt the ponderosa forest of ranging from short-but-sweet Allen’s Bend, sends musical cascades of water down sheer husband and I saw a brilliant blue-green and cars, grocery stores and movies dis- upper Oak Creek Canyon, while their scrub a half-mile stroll along Oak Creek, to the sandstone cliffs. Purple and white carpets collared lizard sunning itself on a chunk of tracted humans, we knew — really knew — jay cousins fly around town. Ringtails, mer- 5-mile climb up Wilson Mountain. Another of owls clover and cream cups turn to undu- lime­stone, a short-horned lizard doing its this land. gansers, great blue herons and other ripar- 50 or so trails pass through the “neighbor- lating fields of gold as summer winds sear best to appear invisible on the rust-colored More than 6,000 rock art images at Red ian animal species can be spotted along Oak woods” near Sedona or head deep into the native grasses. Monsoon thunderstorms sand, a tarantula creeping for its burrow Cliffs, a string of alcoves near the Sinagua Creek, but rattlesnakes, jackrabbits and Munds Mountain, Sycamore Canyon or change dry washes into rock-banging rivers, and — nearly lost in the twilight but for a (Text continued on page 36)

32 SEPTEMBER 2003 arizonahighways.com arizonahighways.com ARIZONA HIGHWAYS 33 [left] Bigtooth maple trees display Red Rock Country’s autumn colors. robert g. mcdonald [above] Scarlet foliage adorns a bigtooth maple tree while fallen leaves announce summer’s end along Oak Creek’s West Fork. randy prentice

34 SEPTEMBER 2003 arizonahighways.com arizonahighways.com ARIZONA HIGHWAYS 35 (Continued from page 33) corn and other crops by ingeniously hoard- the creek or grazed cattle, herding them up the finest examples of “red rock territo- the ethic of traveling lightly. For me, this Indian cliff dwelling called Palatki, stand as ing and diverting rainwater. For them, sur- to higher elevations in dry summer months. rial” architecture is the museum operated small canyon holds the essence of Red Rock proof that people have been drawn to the vival required knowledge of the land. Some settlers lived in tent houses before by the Sedona Historical Society, once the Country — sweeping benches of reddish red rocks for centuries, even millennia. Lay- The Yavapai Indians arrived in 1300. building small log or stone cabins. The first home of the Jordan family, who helped stone, moist stands of cypress, pygmy ­ered underneath historic Yavapai Indian Their legends tell of Skatakaamcha, the two-story frame house belonged to Sedona turned this rocky dry outpost into a com- forests of juniper and manzanita, ruins and [above] Near Red Canyon in the Coconino charcoal drawings of elk and deer are first Yavapai man, who came to know this Schnebly, a kindly woman whose name munity. It’s a good place to learn about the rock art, mountain lion tracks and bear National Forest west of Sedona, late-afternoon sunlight brightens a meadow blanketed with humanlike­ figures made by the Sinagua land in all its guises, gentle and fierce. graces the town and whose door was always long relationship between humans and this scat, and that ineffable something that owl clover stretching toward a red sandstone people, and even older markings left by Raised in Boynton Canyon, he entered a open to travelers. You could say she was the place called Red Rock Country. restores the spirit. hillside. robert g. mcdonald archaic hunter-gatherers, precious links to rocky crevice crawling with rattlesnakes mother of Red Rock Country hospitality. But, for those of us who yearn to know Pockets like this exist throughout the [above right] An Engelmann’s prickly pear the ancient past. Recent archaeological evi- and survived to become the people’s first Small-town charm still shines through more about the land and ourselves, there red rocks, some well known, some I hope cactus dominates a hilltop overlooking Sycamore Canyon in the Sycamore Canyon Wilderness dence suggests that paleoindians may have shaman. At Bell Rock, he slew the giant the community’s increasing sophistication. are the forests and trails and canyons. I call yet to discover. Still others I hope will always northwest of Sedona. george h.h. huey roamed through Red Rock Country in monster bird that killed his mother. When A half-dozen resorts, countless tour compa­ one “Deer Print Canyon” for the ephemeral elude me, for who wants to know every- search of game more than 8,000 years ago. he visited his father, the sun, he descended nies and numerous cultural organizations pool at its head, shaped like a deer’s hoof, 5 thing, when mystery is part of the allure and The Sinagua, who occupied the area from back to Earth by holding onto a rainbow. offer everything from horseback rides to feet across. From it, water pours into a slot the journey is an end in itself? roughly A.D. 650 to 1400, tucked their J.J. Thompson settled in this rough, “vortex tours” to art festivals. Though the city overgrown with sycamores. masonry rooms into alcoves in nearly every roadless country in 1876, after the Army of Sedona has grown rapidly, several his- I return here once or twice a year, reluc- Kathleen Bryant’s favorite way to learn about Red Rock Country is “feet first,” hiking among red rock canyon. They harvested wild plants had forced the Yavapai to leave. He and toric structures still stand, built of board tant to leave a trace by coming more often, the area’s canyons and cliffs. She also wrote the for food, fiber and medicine, but also raised others who came later raised fruit along and batten and, of course, stone. One of hopeful that others who know of it share preceding story.

36 SEPTEMBER 2003 arizonahighways.com arizonahighways.com ARIZONA HIGHWAYS 37 SHARP- EYED HUNTER ON THE greenPROWL lynx

spiderText by TOM DOLLAR Photographs by MARTY CORDANO

he word spider derives from an Old catch prey, so their eyes tend to [above] Wandering a couple of inches. But it is not English word meaning “to spin,” and be relatively small. Wandering spiders, like this green likely to respond much until that lynx devouring a so we tend to think of all spiders as spiders, on the other hand, housefly, have dropped distance is halved. Thus, the web spinners. Ingeniously designed, with fairly large eyes, rely on web spinning as a female green lynx we observed often incredibly complex, spider- keen eye­­sight to spot prey and means of snaring prey, in Cordano’s garden did not webs become shelters, egg sacs or stalk it before moving in for the in favor of going out react to his finger sliding toward on ambush patrol. snares to entrap and kill prey. There are sheet kill. Within this category, I’m [opposite page] her along the leaf until it came twebs, with mooring lines that deflect flying drawn to some small, agile, within 6 inches. If the finger Scientists believe the insects onto the webs’ center, or trap lines sharp-eyed daytime hunters, green lynx may have had been, say, a grass­hopper, that secure a prey insect by a single filament the jumping spiders and lynx evolved from a web- the green lynx may have begun spinning ancestor. until its helpless flailing entangles it hope- spiders, particularly the beauti- to stalk her prey. And had she lessly in the main frame. fully colored, slender green lynx spider. been able to sneak within a quarter inch of There are funnel webs, purse webs and One afternoon not long ago, I saw one it, she would have pounced upon it quickly, orb webs; webs of sticky silk or woolly fuzz, on a bush in photographer Marty Cordano’s lynxlike. equally lethal in snaring and holding prey; garden. Actually, I didn’t see it. Cordano saw After the catch, the green lynx quickly sub- and webs so messily scrambled they appear it and tried to direct my eyes to it, but I still ­dues its prey with a bite of immobilizing to have been spun by slightly addled spiders. couldn’t see it. So Cordano moved his index venom. Then it regurgitates some digestive Yet, many spiders do not spin webs to finger very slowly along a bright green leaf fluid and injects it into the grasshopper. These snare prey. Burrowing spiders dig narrow to within perhaps 6 inches of the spider’s juices liquify the prey insect’s insides, which tunnels capped with thin lids, then lie in position. “Now do you see it?” he asked. the green lynx then sucks out, a process that wait for small prey to blunder fatally near Finally, the little spider flinched and I did may continue for several hours. Gradually, the trapdoor. Equipped with supersensitive see it, but it wasn’t easy, as it nearly perfectly the grasshopper is reduced to a husk. hearing, some burrowing spiders can detect blended with the background foliage. The Cordano ran his forefinger right up next an insect walking on the ground above, and spider’s head moved slightly in order to face to her and gently poked at her. Normally the rush out to seize the prey. Other spiders, Cordano’s finger. Cordano waggled his finger.­ spider would have fled, leaping from leaf to such as the crab spider that conceals itself The green spider sidled back on its eight legs leaf. “I’ll bet she’s guarding an egg sac some- behind my bathroom mirror, wait in ambush and, standing firm on its leafy perch, fixed where nearby,” Cordano said. to pounce upon their prey. the object in its path with its two main We turned over a few leaves and, sure I love spiders. I love their stealth, the intri­­ headlamp-style eyes. enough, found a wheat-colored egg sac cacy of their webs, the stronger-than-steel The slender, oval-shaped spider, not much lashed to the underside of a leaf with silken resilience of their silk, the variety of their more than three-quarters of an inch long, threads. This maze of lines running to adja- size, shape and coloration. Among my favor­ was bright green with rows of tiny red spots cent leaves represents the only spinning ites are the wandering spiders, the hunters — on its abdomen and thorax. done by the green lynx. When the young especially green lynx spiders. Hunters don’t This green lynx spider’s most arresting hatch, they will remain within this silky build webs to snare prey. Water spiders are feature was its eyes, which eventually fixed refuge until they are old enough to fend for wandering spiders, as are the wolf, crab and upon me as steadfastly in my direction as themselves and stalk their own prey. the Apache jumping spiders, small bright- my gaze upon it. Appropriately, the name of orange spiders with green jaws that hunt the spider family that the green lynx belongs Tom Dollar of Tucson says he celebrates “the love of among leaves of desert plants. to is Oxyopidae, Latin for “sharp-eyed.” spiders . . . and the glory of everything,” quoting Wilbur Night-hunting spiders and those that trap The green lynx, in its miniature world, the Pig in Charlotte’s Web. Marty Cordano of Bisbee was fascinated by the green prey in webs, trapdoors or similar pitfalls has the vision equivalent of a hawk. It can lynx spider’s challenge to be a single parent to large depend on touch, not vision, to sense and detect prey up to a foot away, give or take numbers of babies.

38 SEPTEMBER 2003 arizonahighways.com hold my breath, not wanting to break the spell. Just across the narrow Blue River, a bull elk, his neck arched with a heavy rack of antlers, steps daintily through the high grass. A floating Imat of yellow flowers has turned the Blue nice loop trip starts at Alpine, goes south on River gold, and as the elk reaches for a bite of U.S. Route 191 (the Coronado Trail), turns flowers, he catches sight of me and trots off. east on Forest Service Road 567 (Red Hill “Ahhhh,” I exhale. Just what I came to Road), drops down to cross the Blue River find: wind in the pines, beautiful scenes, no and intersect­ with Forest Service Road 281, traffic noise — Mother Nature’s perfect pre- winds back up north on FR 281 to intersect scription for stress relief. When the back of with U.S. Route 180 and turns back west to my neck feels like a bunch of Boy Scout Alpine, a distance of about 48 miles. knots, I know it’s time to head down to the Just getting to the Blue soothes me. We Blue for the cure. Called simply “The Blue” pass through thick groves of ponderosa pine, BLUE by locals, the Blue Range Primitive Area spruce and fir trees, and I start to relax. This along the Arizona-New Mexico border is area remains so isolated that endangered both a location and a state of mind. A perfect Mexican gray wolves have been reintroduced place to beat cityitis. here. I’d love to see a wolf, but I know my I am here for the cure along with my sis- chances are slim to none. I’ll probably not see RIVER ter, Eileen, and her husband, Bob Myers. a bear or a mountain lion, either, but both spe- We planned to meet up with photographer ­cies roam the Blue along with deer, coyotes, Bernadette Heath and her grandson, Mark elk and, in the lower areas, bighorn sheep. Downey, at the Blue Crossing Campground. On the way down we can’t resist stopping My neighbor, Jerry Fails, would be along in a grove of old pine trees. The mature pine later with horses, his version of stress relief. trees have a malt-shop smell, either choco- The 173,762-acre Blue primitive area, late, vanilla, butterscotch or strawberry, and GET- one of the least-known regions in the state, Eileen and I are both tree sniffers, a habit lies at the eastern end of the massive Mogol- that drives our husbands crazy. We poke lon Rim. With elevations ranging from 4,500 our noses deep into the yellow-brown bark to 9,100 feet, rugged terrain and distance­ of an old ponderosa pine and pronounce it from major cities keep this “vanilla.” AWAYA good cure for cityitis area sparsely populated. On the horizon, rain clouds gather. It’s too I don’t need four-wheel early in the summer for monsoon storms, Text by JANET WEBB FARNSWORTH drive and a pack mule to get down on the but everyone wants “prayer rain,” an unex- Photographs by BERNADETTE HEATH Blue; a passenger car can travel the gravel pected storm that comes in answer to a road in good weather. But the road splashes cattle­man’s prayer. right through Blue River, so a high-clearance Steep and winding with narrow one-lane vehicle is necessary during wet seasons. A bridges, FR 567 isn’t a fast road, but we aren’t in a hurry. Rounding a curve, we see miles of open country, ridge after ridge of mountains lacking any sign of civilization. The trees change to juniper and piñon, and earth turns from dark brown to deep red, the source of the Red Hill road name. Rock formations stand eroded into odd-shaped statues; one reminds me of Abraham Lincoln’s­ profile. Steadily dropping in elevation, we reach Blue Crossing Campground, finding Heath and 7-year-old Mark already there. Mark is anxious to show us around. When I spot the elk and the yellow flow- ers, I know this trip is just what I need to unwind. Summer temperatures hover above

[left] Mark Downey, 7, befriends a Black Angus calf and a hound dog in a pastoral moment along the Blue River in eastern Arizona. [right] The languid pools and aquatic vegetation of the Blue provide habitat for the Gila chub, which feeds on smaller fish, algae and insects.

40 SEPTEMBER 2003 arizonahighways.com 100 degrees in Phoenix, yet we’re the only own ranch, and I enjoy listening to all her campers in the campground, a testament to stories. the Blue’s seclusion. This pleasant camp- Awtrey remembers going to school in the ground sits along the riverbank with tables, one-room schoolhouse. Blue isn’t really a firepits, rest rooms and camping shelters. “town,” just a string of ranches along the The vege­tation is lush, thick with grape­ river, so the schoolhouse was the “commu- vines and cottonwood, box elder and wil- nity center.” It burned down in 1987, but low trees. Birds scold me from the trees, was rebuilt and still serves as the town’s and a squirrel eyes me curiously before it meeting place. Awtrey is a member of the gives me a wide berth. I spot some fish in Cowbelles, a cattle industry women’s group the creek. They’re so tiny I don’t really that sponsors potluck dinners and service notice them until they move. A ranger in projects. Alpine told me, “Yes, you can fish in Blue Life can be a challenge in a remote place River, but it’s not the best place.” I wonder such as this. Awtrey and Orn are seldom if he was talking about those tiny fish. To snowbound, but river flooding poses a young Mark, though, a fish is a fish, and problem. In 1972, a flood took out the road

[left] Though a single blossom measures a mere 3/4 inch across, water buttercups form dense beds that seem to carpet the surface of the Blue River. [top] Flourishing in the stream banks’ sandy soil, vibrant butterfly weeds host caterpillars and feed several species of butterflies with their nectar. [above] Yellow columbines silently trumpet their colorful presence in Arizona’s riparian areas. [right] Ponderosa pine and juniper trees cling precariously to the rocky cliffs beside the Blue River, while scrub oak and willows establish firmer footholds below.

moving in and everyone gets along.” if the fish have grown overnight. Fails is back down switchbacks to the horse trailer, of pine needles and black malapai boulders Leaving Awtrey and Orn to their rocking sore and bruised from getting bucked off a Heath tends to lean away from the sharp glisten from last night’s rain. chairs, we ride along the Blue River for sev- horse the weekend before, but he climbs drop-off, pulling the saddle off center. That’s Relaxing under a pine tree, listening for eral miles before dark. Campbell Blue Creek back on Dollar, the horse that threw him, all right, though, because when we turn a thunder and watching Fails feed his apple coming from the west and the Dry Blue to explore the Blue with us. I’m riding corner, she automatically leans to the other core to Dollar, life’s problems seem far away. Creek coming from New Mexico join as the Charge, and Heath is on Buck, a name not side, straightening her saddle. Yes, a leisurely trip down the Blue to enjoy visit to the grocery store requires a 100-mile round-trip, Blue River, emptying into the San Francisco particularly reassuring to her. Back in camp we enjoy a brief rainstorm, a serene, beautiful river and some quiet time and mail is delivered only three times a week. River north of Clifton. Only in the desert The narrow Foote Creek Trail has room then are back outside watching Eileen grill is the best medicine­ I know for a bad case of A Southwest would this small creek be called for just one horse and starts out by switch- hamburgers. Why does everything taste so good city life. he tries catching them with his hands. and the powerline. A generator, brought in a river. Where the energetic beavers haven’t backing steeply out of the river bottom. The when you’re out in the forest? We spend the cool Although Janet Webb Farnsworth lives in the small A wooden gate at the end of the camp- by helicopter, helped the tiny community created ponds, I can jump across it or wade forest smells fresh after last night’s gentle evening letting Fails beat us all in dominoes town of Snowflake, she says cityitis hits there, too. She ground leads to a rock-art site. Petroglyphs until the powerlines could be fixed. They through about 6 inches of water. prayer rain, and the creak of saddles and and listening to the wind in the pines. escapes to the Blue whenever she can. of deer, bear feet, circles and other symbols both laugh about the old phone system, The road winds back and forth across the the clattering of horses’ hooves over the rocks The next morning, Fails wants to explore Queen Creek resident Bernadette Heath thinks living are pecked into volcanic boulders. An inter- claiming it was temperamental on cloudy creek. At one crossing, we stop and let Mark make for a pleasant day. the Tutt Creek Trail, while Mark tries more by the Blue is life as it should be. pretive sign explains that the figures are 700 days. It’s been replaced, and now the Blue make friends with a Black Angus calf, a We find Foote Creek full of large cobble- “fishing.” We run into Dennis Stacy, a cow- Location: Directly east of Phoenix to 900 years old and were probably made even has access to the Internet. There are still­ hound dog and a cat that have come out to stones worn smooth from tumbling through boy whose family has been ranching on the near the Arizona-New Mexico border, by the prehistoric Mogollon Culture. The trials, though. A visit to the grocery store inspect us. Farther downriver, green banks floodwaters. A bashful creek, the Foote some- Blue since 1902. He’s rounding up cattle but travel distance is approximately exact meaning and purpose of the designs requires a 100-mile round-trip, and mail is are replaced by canyon walls, and we flush times hides completely, then peeks out and since he’s going in our direction, we tag 260 miles north and east of Phoenix. Getting There: From Phoenix, take are unknown, but archaeologists believe delivered only three times a week. Churches out quail, scare a javelina and watch a toad through small potholes before darting back along talking rancher talk. How’s the grass? State Route 87, driving northeast. In they probably represent clan symbols, cer- are lacking along the Blue, but the scenery bury itself in the dark earth. There’s more underground. What tank’s dry? How’s the calf crop? Payson, turn east on State Route 260, emonial signs or hunting scenes. reflects God’s handiwork. to explore, but we need to return to camp Along the creek bottom, the trail becomes We split off from Stacy, promising to drive traveling along the Mogollon Rim to Show Low. Take U.S. Route 60 east from Show Low to After we settle in, I want to go visit Rose Both women claim to love their privacy before dark. lost among the rocks and we can’t find the back any stray cattle we find, but his dog Springerville, then U.S. Route 191 south to Alpine. Awtrey and Kit Orn, two women who know and solitude, but they also have fun sitting The whinny of horses wakes me the next cairn trail markers. With thunderclouds stays with us. Obviously, the dog figures we For an alternate route from Phoenix, take U.S. 60 the area well. Awtrey grew up around here on the porch and conversing when some- morning. Jerry Fails has arrived, and he’s looming on the horizon, we decide to turn need a guide, and he’s taken on the job. east to Miami and Globe; go northeast on 60 at and formerly worked for Orn’s parents, Bill one happens to come by. Awtrey says, “There promised Heath and me a horseback ride back and try another trail tomorrow. The Clouds form again today, casting random Globe to Show Low and then east to Springerville; turn south on U.S. 191 to Alpine. and ­Barbara Quinsler, when they bought a are only about three or four true ranches left along the Foote Creek Trail. Bob, Eileen and horses seem to know we are returning to shadow patterns on mauve cliffs. New spring Additional Information: Apache-Sitgreaves National ranch on the Blue. Now, Awtrey owns her along the Blue, but a few other people are Mark are going to do some hiking and see camp and quicken their steps. As we zigzag grass pokes through a golden brown blanket Forests, Alpine Ranger District, (928) 339-4384.

42 SEPTEMBER 2003 arizonahighways.com arizonahighways.com ARIZONA HIGHWAYS 43 “A hospital gown . . . the true meaning of southern exposure.“ * Our Newest Book

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A SLENDER WATERFALL PLUNGES NEARLY 200 fast-food outlets of Payson — Tonto Natural children — “some in backpack carriers, others See TONTO feet from the massive rock bridge, splashing into Bridge arches over seasonal Pine Creek, being helped by parents” — and senior visitors NATURAL BRIDGE, the bottom of the canyon. There, sun-kissed perennial springs and beautifully rugged terrain on the trails and making it to the bottom to droplets splatter onto boulders and decorate accessed by staircase trails. look back up at the bridge. the Largest maidenhair ferns with liquid jewels. Columbines The bridge serves as the centerpiece of the Measuring 150 feet wide, 400 feet long and bloom sunny yellow on the hillsides, and 160-acre Tonto Natural Bridge State Park, 183 feet high, the rock span formed over of Its Kind ­dripping springs nourish velvety moss. which also boasts a museum and a gift shop in thousands of years when moving groundwater in the World, If this sounds like a tropical paradise in the a three-story historic lodge that does double and spring water redeposited limestone as middle of the Pacific Ocean, guess again. The duty as a visitors center. Across a grassy picnic travertine, a crystalline form of the rock. Over From High Perches lush oasis awaits below the largest travertine area near the lodge, visitors find the first of the time, the creek worked through the rock, bridge in the world — and it’s much closer to hike trailheads. creating first a “tunnel,” then, ultimately, the or the Canyon Phoenix than to Honolulu. “All four trails below the bridge are steep bridge. Below In a small valley about 100 miles northeast and strenuous,” said John Boeck, the park About 110,000 people visit the park each of Phoenix — and just minutes from the ­ manager. Nevertheless, he added, he’s seen year, and they all come into the valley the same way. The road, paved in 1996 and relieved of some curves and roller-coaster descents — but still a 20-mph ride in spots — makes it easy to get there today, said Boeck. But the going was tough in 1877 when Scotsman David Gowan discovered the bridge while hunting gold and running from Apaches. He stayed in the valley, built a cabin and planted orchards of apricot, peach and apple trees. Years later, ready to move on, he turned the site over to a nephew from England, David Goodfellow. When the Goodfellow family arrived, they had to lower everything they owned into the roadless valley using ropes and burros. But they persevered, and in 1927 built a lodge for visitors. Today the structure is on the National Register of Historic Places, and is open for prearranged group tours. Groups of 12 to 20 can schedule an overnight stay. Plans are under way to renovate the lodge and to offer overnight accommodations to park visitors. Boeck projects a computer tech for Glendale Union High [opposite page] that services will be in place by spring 2004. School District, and his wife, Rosie, a florist at Velvety moss thrives beneath the falls in a The bridge, like the Grand Canyon, can be A.J.’s Fine Foods in Scottsdale, hadn’t known fern grotto at Tonto enjoyed from above, and many people do just much about the bridge beforehand and were Natural Bridge State that. Four topside viewpoints, and a small surprised by the beauty they found. The Park near Payson in natural hole in the bridge itself, offer a look at couple didn’t break a sweat on their initial central Arizona. jerry sieve the wonders below. From above, visitors may hike. “It wasn’t bad,” said Chris, who admitted [above] Formed from even see some of the javelinas, deer, mountain to “not being in the best shape.” I didn’t see eroded crystallized lions, bluebirds, jays and tanagers that live them after they hiked all the trails, but limestone deposits, among the Arizona cypresses, junipers, piñon chances are they finished with a smile. Most Tonto is the world’s largest natural pines, oaks and other trees. hikers do, even if they have to rest a bit on the travertine bridge. But just as visitors to the Grand Canyon way back up. discover a whole other experience when they Boeck thinks the latest addition, the Anna explore its depths, so do those who tackle the Mae Trail, is the easiest. Just 500 feet long, but seriously inclined trails to the world below still steep, it offers the fastest way into the the bridge. canyon. What it doesn’t offer are those steel The last time I hiked there, on a mild cable “railings” that are so helpful on other October day, I saw mostly adults. Chris Coodey, trails, especially on the return climb. Anna

arizonahighways.com ARIZONA HIGHWAYS 47 along the

by LISA SCHNEBLY HEIDINGER Mae leads to views of not past it. To access the bridge, hikers have way caves not seen on the to hop onto and off of wet boulders. other trails, though, One summer, wearing tennis shoes instead and it’s fun to imagine of hiking boots but unconcerned because I which cave David carried a hiking stick to use as a “third Gowan used to hide hand,” I slipped off a rock and sat down in from the Indians the creek with a splash and a yelp. Trust me, YOU CAN VISIT FASCINATING PEOPLE YOU’LL harsher than unmarked graves; someone made pursuing him. there’s no way to pretend you did this on CAMELBACK never meet, just about a mile north of Scottsdale the effort to pay tribute to these people, and The 300-foot-long purpose. Still, being at the bottom of the CEMETERY Fashion Square. There, tucked away near 64th time has taken them off the roster. Waterfall Trail, which waterfall with a neck-craning view of the Street in Paradise Valley, you’ll find the anomaly One marker’s inscription in green paint has I thought was the bridge’s underside made up for the wet Reserves Its of Camelback Cemetery: rustic, spare and washed off; a whole row of white crosses has easiest, doesn’t go to shorts and red face. unpretentious land nestled in a neighborhood blackened, dripping stains where names and the creek but leads to The day I met the Coodeys, I watched SILENT STORIES of very high-end homes. dates must have been. Juan Montiel does have a lovely view of a another couple take a last look down for Posterity For mystery and history, nothing beats a a hand-carved cross, showing he lived until waterfall, a fern through the hole in the bridge. Perhaps they pioneer cemetery. Tubac, Williams and Payson 1969. Another cross has an arm broken off; I grotto, mossy rock were congratulating themselves for making it all have good ones, but the juxtaposition of hope it’s from weathered workmanship rather walls and the pleasant to the wonders below — or maybe they were valet-parking malls and former area residents than from vandalism. sound of dripping vowing that next time they’d wear the right make this plot particularly compelling. There’s no parking lot and no lock on the water everywhere. “It shoes and follow the trails that lead to Cemeteries like these exist for people who prefer gate. Traipsing down the rows always feels a is so-o-o-o beautiful paradise. questions to answers. Peopled with silent bit like trespassing; since I have no relatives down there,” one storytellers, cemeteries let you visit and wonder. or friends here, I’m an uninvited guest. I feel Location: 100 miles northeast of Phoenix; returning hiker 12 miles northwest of Payson. A nearby resident told me the Camelback anyone who comes to pay tribute must be assured me as I Getting There: From Phoenix, take State Cemetery began in 1916, when early welcome. Someone took care to put up and started my descent. Route 87 northeast through Payson. At homeowners needed a place to bury Mexican maintain these monuments; the least we can Gowan Loop Trail 10.5 miles northwest of Payson, turn left servants who died. Since then, it has become do is read them. (west) following the directional sign. travels a half-mile to a Proceed 3.4 miles to the parking areas. desirable real estate. A board decides who Many stories could be told here. The cave and waterfall Hours: Memorial Day to Labor Day, deserves to move in. Those who rate get a final obscure maid now sharing space with observation deck. 8 a.m.–7 p.m.; April, September, October, 8 a.m.–6 p.m.; resting place that feels like the middle of prominent people and religious leaders When I last hiked November to March, 9 a.m.–5 p.m.; closed Christmas Day. nowhere in the city’s center. And the neighbors whose monuments are as impressive as any [above] Steven Fees: Call for current fees. Lachance delights Gowan, a vivid rainbow arched from the Travel Advisory: Call for trailer and motorhome are fascinating. home. Here at Camelback Cemetery, the

in a waterfall waterfall, disappearing into the darkness of restrictions. Wear hiking shoes; take plenty of water. HEIDINGER SCHNEBLY LISA Like Joe “Cheyenne” Kiser, whose monument poor are as interesting as the rich resting shower below the alcove. Mesmerizing. Fit hikers can Pick up a trail map in the visitors center. Heed warning is surrounded by a rusty iron fence with a next to them. yellow-columbine- continue across the creek and beyond. signs. Three of the four viewpoints are wheelchair- bucking bronco welded on — kind of a New I enjoy seeing what was vital enough to covered rocks. accessible. No camping; no dogs on trails. Call ahead Pine Creek Trail, also a half-mile long, is about lodge tours and group overnight stays. Orleans-gone-rodeo look. The statue celebrates people to include in their final signoff. In a developed all the way to the creek bed but Additional Information: (928) 476–4202. his being World Champion Cowboy in 1923; Tucson cemetery, I admire Mrs. Sanders’ the dates show he would have been 27 then. He stone, which says, “I have loved the stars too lies buried next to a couple named Ives, who deeply ever to be fearful of the night.” Puts were about his age. Was he a brother to the wife? death in a nice perspective. THINGS TO DO NEAR PAYSON I wish Elmer Powell, down a few rows, could At Camelback Cemetery, I see servants as Area code is 928; 800 series numbers ruins of unknown origin, circa A.D. tell me some of his stories; he was on the Bataan beloved as masters, unmarked crosses saying are toll-free. 1000–1250, once encompassed 80 Death March during World War II as a prisoner as much in a different way as the polished rooms, a courtyard and plazas. Payson This old lumber and ranching of war. I like reading the stone’s inscription: granite markers. People die, but can still There’s a quarter-mile trail with town is the jumping-off point for interpretive signs through the site. “We miss you, Dad.” And Bess Burkett told her teach something about equality in eternity. year-round outdoor recreation in Tonto National Forest, Payson husband and the world “I Love You” on his I have said that I would like one of two Mogollon Rim Country: hiking, Ranger District; 474–7900. fishing, hunting, camping, sight- headstone; Robert was only 41 when he died. monuments to commemorate my time on seeing and local events; Rim Tonto Creek Fish Hatchery Twenty- Of what, I wonder. Earth: either “Dressed to minimize figure Country Chamber, 474–4515; one miles northeast of Payson via The saddest to me is Laura Dunn Stanley, flaws,” or “Celebrate . . . Remember . . . www.rimcountrychamber.com. State Route 260 and Forest Service who at age 36 died the same day as her 6- Believe.” But it’s interesting to know that I Road 289 (watch for the sign), the Mazatzal Casino Try your luck at the This column was hatchery thrills kids of all ages month-old son, Riley. “Mother and Baby” is might be a different type of story, a thought- casino operated by the Tonto excerpted from because they can take an interpretive incised into the stone. Was it a car accident? starter, in anonymity. Apache Tribe; (800) 777–7529; Lisa Schnebly walk and see hatchery rooms and www.777play.com. Heidinger’s book, Flu? I feel sorry for P.O. Stanley, who outlived Unlike New Orleans, where one gets to trout up close; 478–4200. Chief Yellowhorse his wife and son by almost 50 years. I wonder occupy the traditional burial vault for a year Rim Country Museum Wander through Pine and Strawberry These small Lives On! And Other exhibits of the area and explore how often he came here. and a day, people who were interred at towns, 15 and 19 miles northwest of Stories of Arizona the oldest standing ranger station Payson, offer cabins, antique shops, Places and People, Just as interesting, but more enigmatic, are Camelback Cemetery remain. And while the in the West; 474–3483; home-cooking eateries and events published by Arizona Highways Books. the plots to the west of these. Probably those “dust to dust” part of the journey is clear, it’s www.rimcountrymuseum.org. all year long. The Pine-Strawberry To order this book ($16.95 plus first servants, I’m guessing, but most are equally true that everyone who is still part of [above] Hikers must traverse slippery Shoofly Village Archaeological Site Museum exhibits artifacts of local shipping and handling) call toll-free anonymous by now. Worn away are the names this visible place, who shares either Located on Houston Mesa Road, 2.6 history; Pine-Strawberry Chamber of boulders to pass underneath Tonto (800) 543-5432. In Phoenix or from miles from the intersection of State Commerce; 476–4791; Natural Bridge. outside the U.S., call (602) 712-2000. scratched on concrete covering the graves or biographical information or enigmatic Routes 87 and 260, these Indian www.pinestrawhs.org. Or use arizonahighways.com. carved in splintery wooden crosses. This is silence, is not forgotten.

48 SEPTEMBER 2003 arizonahighways.com arizonahighways.com ARIZONA HIGHWAYS 49 adventure backroadby SAM NEGRI / photographs by MARK LARSON

A FULL MOON HANGS IN LATE SEPTEMBER’S road, and although you can negotiate the whole POINT OF PINES crisp air. The deserts remain warm, but up route with an ordinary sedan, a high-clearance Offers Campers here, at about 6,400 feet on the Natanes vehicle is advisable if you plan to camp. The Plateau, fall has unmistakably arrived. I can tell road through the Point of Pines picnic area a Glimpse by the chorus of elk bugling in the pines and campground is sometimes muddy and outside my camp. badly rutted. of INDIAN I’m at the southwestern edge of Point of The morning after my arrival, I took my HISTORY Pines Lake in a small meadow surrounded by kayak over to the mile-long Point of Pines the remnants of late summer wildflowers and a Lake. I paddled down the middle, scanning the and Unspoiled deep forest of ponderosa pine trees. Earlier this steep embankment on the southern shore. evening, I had headed over to the lake and From the high-water mark stained in the rocks, Scenery watched a great blue heron moon-walking near I could see how much the lake had dropped during the recent long drought. While I was lost in a reverie of missing rain, two great blue herons suddenly rose from a shadow at the edge of my peripheral vision. One swung over my head, arching through a small circle of the sky; the second one banked and moved wider, but both landed in the same pine tree, folding their smoky wings and becoming invisible against the backdrop of the forest. A little after 4 p.m., I walked back to the lake from my campsite expecting to get a closer look at large herons. I was startled by what appeared to be a bald eagle perched on a bare branch at the top of a ponderosa pine on the opposite bank. An Apache man who had been watching his wife fish pointed at the top of the tree. “Eagle,” he said. “I think so,” I replied. “Maybe a hawk,” he said. His young son dashed through the grass shouting, “Eagle, ma! Eagle, ma!” Ma looked at the boy as if to say, “Yes, and there goes any chance I had of catching a fish [above] Long with all that noise.” ponderosa pine tree the opposite bank. A sign nearby warned, But, it turned out not to be an eagle. When shadows stripe the “Bears in the Area,” but all I heard after the sun it moved, I saw its white belly and a line of dirt road through Point of Pines on the went down was the high-pitched call of a bull black feathers extending from its eye to the San Carlos Apache elk looking for love. back of its head, the unmistakable markings Reservation in eastern Point of Pines, a high-country recreational of an osprey. Ospreys migrate through the area Arizona. [opposite page] A great area, sits within the borders of the San Carlos in the fall, and this one was clearly attracted by blue heron surveys Apache Reservation. Created by Congress in the prospect of dining on fish from Point of Point of Pines Lake’s 1897, the reservation covers a little more than Pines Lake. It sat on that bare branch for shoreline, the source 1.8 million acres in central and eastern Arizona roughly 15 minutes, and then swooped of its diet of small fish, insects, snakes and was formerly a division of the White eastward, giving us a good view of its nearly and frogs. Mountain Reservation established in 1871. 6-foot wingspread. The tribal headquarters at San Carlos lies “Beautiful,” remarked the Apache man. roughly 110 miles east of Phoenix and the “Yup,” I said. We were nothing if not same number of miles northeast of Tucson, but articulate. the distance from each city to Point of Pines is Getting to this country up around Point around 178 miles. All but 3 miles of that trip is of Pines is easy. To begin from Phoenix, take on paved roads. The last few miles are gravel U.S. Route 60, the Superstition Freeway, east

50 SEPTEMBER 2003 arizonahighways.com 8 miles northeast of the scenic viewpoint. Warning: Back road Two miles down the dirt road, there’s a cutoff travel can be hazardous if you are not prepared for for Dry Lake, which is not dry at all. However, the unexpected. Whether that road is very rough in places. Avoid it and traveling in the desert or stay on the main dirt road for another mile. in the high country, be That will take you right to the edge of Point aware of weather and road conditions, and make sure you and of Pines Lake. your vehicle are in top shape. Carry You can picnic or fish at the lake (you’ll need plenty of water. Don’t travel alone, and a separate fishing permit), or continue beyond let someone at home know where you’re the day-use area to the campground. going and when you plan to return. Odometer readings in the story may vary If you’re there in early fall, you’ll hear the by vehicle. elk on nippy 40-degree nights announcing Travel Advisory: Permits from the San their biological instinct to mate, an annual Carlos Apache Tribe are required for ritual throughout the pine and spruce forests recreation and fishing on the reservation. Additional Information: San Carlos of central and northern Arizona. Judging from Apache Tribe Recreation and Wildlife, the sign at the lake, you may also see bears. (928) 475-2343. I didn’t encounter any, and that was fine with me.

[above] Clouds TONTO NATIONAL threaten to disrupt the N through Florence Junction and on to Globe, 70 to the left-hand cutoff for Point of Pines. broad grassy area called Antelope Flat and leads FOREST A lake’s placid reflections T A where it connects with U.S. Route 70. When you see the sign to San Carlos on 70, it’s eventually through 6,646-foot-high Barlow Pass. N and the sunlit display E of colorful wildflowers If you’re coming from Tucson, drive north on only 6 more miles to Point of Pines road (a This area is well known as an archaeological 60 S KEVIN KIBSEY at Point of Pines. P Oracle Road, which becomes State Route 77, road sign gives you plenty of warning). The trove once inhabited by Mogollon, Hohokam, SAN CARLOS LA [opposite page] APACHE RESERVATION TE and follow it to its junction with U.S. 70 on the road off the highway is marked on maps as Puebloan and Salado Indians before the Apaches AU Sunlight shimmering A GLOBE nt eastern outskirts of Globe. Indian Route 8 and the one up the mountain arrived sometime after 1450. You can get a Apache Gold el through morning mist op Casino e Point of transforms dewdrops From the junction of 77 and 70, drive east as Indian Route 1000, but the designations glimpse of how the ancient peoples lived. As To Phoenix Point of Pines START HERE San Carlos F Pines Lake into sparkling jewels on 70. You’ll need to buy the tribe’s $7 per day do not appear on any signs. Still, it’s impossible you head up the mountain, stop at the second 8 la t ( RT Dry Lake on pine boughs and 10 recreational-use permit to go to Point of Pines. to get lost if you stay on the paved road until scenic view pullout on the right. Walk up the 00) bracken ferns. 8 You can get it at the Chevron station 5 miles you see a small sign, 51 miles northeast of 70, road about 50 feet and look to the left to see a 77 east of the junction with 77, adjacent to the telling you to turn left on the unpaved route very small cliff dwelling built into the side of San Carlos 70 Reservoir Apache Gold Casino on Highway 70. to the lake. the rocks. Gila River It’s only 23 miles from the junction of 77 and The paved road climbs gradually through a The unpaved road to Point of Pines is To Tucson

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

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

Music With a View THERE AREN’T TOO MANY PLACES IN THE what-a-dumb-question-that-was look. September 5-20; Grand Canyon His Hat’s Off world as beautiful as the Red Rock Country of We took a couple of turns and traveled along In the early 1980s, music aficionados to SEDONA’S Sedona. Enjoying the intriguing colors of the a few dirt roads. Cowboy Tom stopped the Jeep

Robert Bonfiglio and Clare Hoffman hiked STEVENSON DON B. surrounding mountains is like gazing into a and said, “See that rock formation over there?” through the Grand Canyon and decided Left to right, Daniel Intriguing rainbow. Not only can you stare at this gorgeous We all gawked and saw three columns rising up that seeing the stunning spectacle should be Observatory Ching, Clare Hoffman, scenery, you can hike into it, camp there or to the sky. accompanied by the strains of a symphony. before taking a John Largess and Rainbow-colored even take a Jeep tour with a knowledgeable, He said, “That’s known as Three Finger Rock.” Satoko Yamamoto are One of the park rangers agreed, and the tour of this among past performers BEAUTY eloquent guide. I asked, “Why do they call it Three wandering musicians performed an historical landmark. at the Grand Canyon That’s what my wife and I did one day— we Finger Rock?” impromptu concert. Bonfiglio and Hoffman Information: Music Festival. took a Jeep ride. Cowboy Tom volunteered, “Because it looks started the Grand Canyon Music Festival in (928) 774-2096. We gathered with several other tourists near like three fingers.” He had a pat answer for 1984. The festival today features nearly a our assigned Jeep and met Tom, our tour guide. everything. dozen concerts at the Shrine of Ages Artistic Expression He introduced himself to each rider in our Jeep. Then Tom added, “But you know something, amphitheater on the South Rim. September 27-28; Sedona When he came to me, he pointed to the hat I’d that’s the same rock we saw earlier that was Call ahead for a complete schedule The Hopi Indians, dwelling on their just purchased — it had “Sedona” written across called Chimney Rock.” RICHARD MAACK RICHARD of performances. ancestral mesas in northeastern Arizona, are People “oohed” and “aahed.” Photograph the Colorful, Information: (928) 638-9215 or (800) renowned for their colorful kachina dolls. I asked, “Well, which is it? Chimney Rock or Convoluted Corridors 997-8285, www.grandcanyonmusicfest.org. Hopis are also master silversmiths, potters Three Finger Rock?” of Arizona’s Slot Canyons and weavers. Women on Second and Third Cowboy Tom said, “It’s both. From one side Working on the Railroad mesas still weave baskets from natural of town it’s Chimney Rock, and from the other Join Friends of Arizona Highways for a photography September 19-21; Williams desert fibers, which traditionally held side of town it’s Three Finger Rock.” workshop in the dramatic The railroad arrived at this mountain ceremonial ground corn and corn pollen I said, “It’s got to be either one or the other. slot canyons of northern settlement in 1882 and opened up the during sacred Hopi ceremonies. You can’t have a rock with two names.” Arizona where flash floods cattle and lumber trades. Tracks also led the Experience the diversity of Hopi artwork Cowboy Tom said, “Why not? John Wayne have created intriguing sandstone sculptures. Carved into the Colorado 45 miles from the remote town to the Anita at the 3rd Annual Hopi Artists Gathering. it — and said, “You’re had two names. He was also known as Duke.” Plateau near Page, the narrow canyons are Mine at the southern edge of the Grand Featured activities at Tlaquepaque, Sedona’s wearing a hat with a I said, “Yeah, but he didn’t look like John illuminated by delicate shafts of light. Canyon. After the mine played out, the arts and crafts village, include exhibits, woman’s name on it.” Wayne from one side of town and Maureen

This is one of Friends’ most popular W

Santa Fe Railroad used the tracks to haul artist demonstrations, an ethnic fashion O I asked, “What?” O’Hara from the other.” N

workshops, so register soon. Former S

Y Arizona Highways Photography Editor tourists to the South Rim, earning Williams show and lectures on Hopi history and K He said, “This town was Next Cowboy Tom pointed out the famous C I J. Peter Mortimer will lead the September the title “Gateway to the Grand Canyon.” traditions. V named after Sedona Schnebly. Coffee Pot Rock. 23-27 session. Current Photography Learn all about the role of the railroad Information: (928) 282-4838. So you’re wearing a hat with a I asked, “Why is it called Coffee Pot Rock?” Editor Richard Maack will conduct the October 23-27 class. in northern Arizona’s history at the woman’s name on it.” The other tourists kind of groaned and raised For more information or a free workshop 3rd Annual Railroad Days. Events include I wanted to confront Tom physically, but I their eyes heavenward. brochure, contact Friends of Arizona train rides, railway exhibits, railway-related Other Events decided against it. After all, he was carrying a Cowboy Tom said, “Because it looks like a Gary Ladd Photo Exhibit; June 20-September 28; Highways at (602) 712-2004, toll-free at arts and crafts and live entertainment. six-shooter. All I had was a hat with a woman’s coffeepot.” (888) 790-7042 or visit its Web site at Grand Canyon South Rim Village Historic District; (928) www.friendsofazhighways.com. Information: (928) 635-1418 or (800) 638-2771. At Kolb Studio, images from Grand Canyon: name on it. I asked, “What did it look like before it 863-0546. Time Below the Rim, published by Arizona Highways This tour was not starting out well for me. looked like a coffeepot? OTHER PHOTOGRAPHY WORKSHOPS Books, and other work by Gary Ladd. Cowboy Tom began our excursion along the Cowboy Tom said, “It always looked like a “A View from the Mountains” Photo Exhibit; June 28- November 1-5 Seasonal Shift main thoroughfare through Sedona. He coffeepot.” “Fall in the Sky Islands,” a trip to the October 5; Wickenburg; (928) 684-2272. Michael Collier’s Huachuca and Chiricahua mountains September 23; Flagstaff photography from The Mountains Know Arizona: Images of was traveling west along State Route 89A so fast I said, “It couldn’t always look like a coffeepot with Arizona Highways Director of Because the Earth tilts back and forth on its the Land and Stories of Its People, published by Arizona that my hat started traveling east along State because it was there long before coffeepots were Photography Peter Ensenberger axis as it rotates around the sun, there are Highways Books. Route 89A. invented.” Santa Cruz County Fair; September 11-14; Sonoita; November 4-12 only two times each year when the equator “Stop the Jeep,” I said. “My hat blew off.” Cowboy Tom said, “Well, then, I guess way “Copper Canyon” with Jack Dykinga (520) 455-5553. Carnival, 4-H livestock shows, crafts. November 6-9 and November 10-13 lines up with the elliptical orbit — events Mariachi 2003 Festival; September 13; Chandler; Cowboy Tom never even slowed down. He back then it must have looked like something Gene “Zion National Park” with David Muench (480) 782-2683. Mariachi groups and folklorico dance. heralding the seasonal shifts. Each year in Perret’s glanced in the rearview mirror, noticed that my that would one day look like a coffeepot.” November 9-12 Gila Valley Cowboy Poetry and Music Gathering; September, the sun rises and sets over the delightful hat was halfway to Flagstaff by now and said, I asked, “Well what did the people who lived “Flora and Fauna of San Diego” with September 19-21; Safford; (888) 837-1841. Cowboy children’s Jim Steinberg and J. Peter Mortimer Earth’s equator, which makes for an equal poets, storytellers and singers. “So now, you’re not a wearing a hat with a on these lands call it?’ time division of day and night. This Verde River Days; September 27; Cottonwood; (928) book, woman’s name on it.” Tom said, “I never asked them.” Harvey Green the Eating Machine, celestial event marks the first day of fall and 634-7593. Canoe rides, fishing clinic and nature Cowboy Tom pointed out a jutting rock I asked, “Why not?” walks at Dead Horse Ranch State Park. is a humorous look at the eating habits the coming of the long winter nights in the Andy Devine Days Parade; September 27; Kingman; of a boy who doesn’t know when to ahead of us. He said, “See that tall steeple of He said, “Because they left this area around northern hemisphere. (928) 753-6106. Parade honoring actor Andy Devine. keep his mouth shut, and features rock up there? That’s called Chimney Rock.” the year A.D. 1425.” Learn more about the seasons and superb illustrations by Gary Bennett. To I asked, “Why is it called Chimney Rock?” I asked, “Why’d they leave?” Note: Dates and activities could change. Before planning to order this book ($12.95 plus shipping the lore of the Autumnal Equinox at Lowell attend events, phone for fees and to confirm dates and times. and handling) or any of the Perret joke Cowboy Tom said, “Because it looks like a Another passenger said, “Maybe to get away books, call toll-free (800) 543-5432. chimney.” from the annoying tourists who asked moronic For an expanded list of major events in Arizona, visit our Web site at arizonahighways.com. In Phoenix call (602) 712-2000. The others turned and looked at me with a questions.” Or use arizonahighways.com.

54 SEPTEMBER 2003 arizonahighways.com arizonahighways.com ARIZONA HIGHWAYS 55 of the month FLAGSTAFF 40 WALNUT CANYON 40 NATIONAL MONUMENT

Fisher k Point ee by ROSE HOUK / photographs by MARTY CORDANO S Lake Mary Cr a Road n C ut d Waln F a y R n hike s 3 y o 17 n TRAILHEAD

Canyon Vista Marshall Campground Lake Lower THE HARVEST MOON WAS Lake Mary A Fall Stroll expected to rise that night. A COCONINO NATIONAL

few weeks before, I had seen To Phoenix FOREST KEVIN KIBSEY Through Orion already up in the eastern SANDYS CANYON sky. And although I could not actually feel the were called the Sinagua, who lived here a Earth tilting away from the sun, I could sense thousand years ago. The name Sinagua, Retraces the shortening days and changing light. I’d meaning “without water,” says it all. already stacked firewood, cleaned gutters and On the day of this hike, there was not a ANCIENT harvested heads of sunflowers from the garden. soul around. The sound that kept me company It was fall, time to go down into Sandys was the castanets of grasshoppers popping up FOOTPATHS Canyon in the Coconino National Forest just out of the platinum grasses. A few butterflies south of Flagstaff. dipped into purple asters and goldenrods, The Sandys sipping drops of sweetness from those last Canyon Trail hike is snatches of summer. A turkey vulture teetered a 3-mile round-trip on an updraft, and Abert squirrels nibbled that stays on level pinecones to nubbins. ground for the first In the north country of Arizona, autumn half-mile, passing is precarious and unpredictable, a time of big yellow-bellied movement and change. Hawks migrate, bears ponderosa pine search for dens and people scurry to get in one trees with spiraled more outdoor excursion before winter arrives. lightning scars. They The clouds and sun came and went that day, shed their leaves and I was glad I had stuffed my windbreaker this time of year, into my pack at the last moment, just in case. sending down a rain In a mile and a half, the Sandys Canyon Trail of brown needles officially ended where it meets the Arizona with each gust of Trail, the 790-mile route that will eventually wind. Steller’s jays, stitch the state together from south to north. blue as the sky, The Arizona Trail drops in from Marshall Lake flashed through the along peach-colored sandstone cliffs. I tree branches. proceeded down the canyon, through an open The trail skirts a stretch flanked by ponderosa pines and silvered

[above] Fisher Point, massive tumble of with grama grasses. After another half-mile or beyond Sandys Canyon car-sized basalt so, the trail entered a big meadow. Off to my Trail, crests limestone boulders, then swings right at the base of a high cliff is a cave. and sandstone cliffs in around the head of Ahead was a sign that indicated 1.1 miles Coconino National Forest south of Sandys Canyon and to Fisher Point. To reach Fisher Point, follow Flagstaff, and provides steps down into it, the Arizona Trail as it switchbacks up the side views of the western away from the thrum canyon and out onto the point, with splendid end of Walnut Canyon. of the vehicles out on views back down that cliff into Walnut Canyon. [left] Mule deer abound in Coconino the road. This small, The day was getting on, and I chose not to National Forest. intimate side drainage extend my hike. As I retraced my 2-mile route, [opposite page] Fall’s is lined with wine-red my legs began to feel the strain. But on this saffron-colored foliage sumac, burnt orange gentle, serene trail my mind could ramble. I Location: 8 miles south of brightens aspen trees Flagstaff. sandwiched between rosehips and a pocket thought about what it would have been like for Getting There: The Sandys imposing boulders and of golden aspen trees, a Sinaguan woman, walking this same path in Canyon Trail begins at limestone cliffs near shining like a beacon. yucca sandals at this time of year. Surely she Canyon Vista Campground Sandys Canyon Trail. off Lake Mary Road (Forest At the bottom, the would have been even more keenly aware of the Service Road 3). Turn into trail enters Walnut shortening days, worrying about how cold the the campground, go past it Creek. Walnut Canyon National Monument coming winter might be, how much firewood and park in the designated day-use lot. lies a few miles downstream, known for its she would need to gather, where she would get Additional Information: Coconino National Forest, Mormon Lake Ranger small pueblo dwellings built into limestone water and what her family would have to eat District, (928) 774-1147. ledges. The early inhabitants of these homes through the long lean months ahead.

56 SEPTEMBER 2003 arizonahighways.com