Arizona Highways, February 1977

              (Front cover) Energy isn't all we get from ol'
Sol .... Sunset on Canyon Lake, northwest of
Phoenix.
David Muench
Emery C. Kolb - explorer, photog rapher, pioneer
and gentleman.
From the Editor:
E
."c'
<ii
.'.."J
z>'" -
A piece of the Grand Canyon is gone. On December 11, 95-year-old Emery C.
Kolb died. He probably knew the "Grandest Canyon" better than any other person.
Mr. Kolb came to the Canyon in 1902, and became known the world over as a river
explorer, lecturer and photographer.
In 1911-12, when the Colorado River was untamed by reclamation projects, he
and his brother, Ellsworth, traveled in two boats nearly the length of the river, start­ing
from Green River, Wyoming. The brothers made a motion picture of this early
trip, a film still seen at the Canyon.
The death of Emery (Ellsworth died in 1960) marked the end of the Kolb
Bros. Studio on the South Rim. From a window in the building, the Kolbs photo­graphed
at least 11h million mule riders as they began their trip down the Bright
Angel Trail.
In the early days, Emery would take pictures of the riders as they left the rim,
then race down Bright Angel Trail to Indian Gardens (the nearest water) to a dark­room
and develop the film and make prints. He would race back up to the rim and
have the finished photos waiting for the riders upon their return.
The death of Mr. Kolb marks the end of an eta.
Navajo woven flags are sold: Our Navajo woven U.S. and Arizona flags were
auctioned off December 12. You may recall the U.S. flag, which was the first Indian­made
flag to fly over our nation's Capitol, adorned our July, 1976, cover. Gerald T.
Thomas paid $4,000 for the U.S. flag. The Arizona flag sold for $3,750 to John P.
Wilson. The auction was conducted by Rex Allen, western entertainer and Arizona
native, at the Ashton Gallery in Scottsdale. We are indebted to Bob and Sharon
Ashton, and Rex, for their splendid help. By the way, net proceeds from the sale
(over $5,000) go to the scholarship fund at Navajo Community College.
Next Month: Our entire March issue is devoted to that awesome monument of
rock - Canyon de Chelly (da-shay). Writers will discuss the history of the canyon,
and explain the magnificent "Rock Art" - pictograph and petroglyphs - so abun­dant
there. It is a special issue, with plenty of color. It is a revealing look at this
spectacular Navajo region.
Tom C. Cooper
ARIZONI\ HIGHWAYS
FEBRUARY 1977 VOL. 53, NO. 2
James E. Stevens,
Director of Publications
Tom C. Cooper, Editor
Wesley Holden, A ssociate Editor
Marvin Beck, Circulation Manager
Raul H. Castro, Governor of Arizona
In This Issue
2 Taken With Tokens
A serious collector's romance with the
not-always-genuine tokens of Arizona's
territorial days.
12 The Past Lives in Wickenburg
A fast-paced tour of one of the state's
most interesting museums.
16 Arizona Sunshine
Rhapsody of color in honor of ol' Sol.
3 3 Phantom at the Bottom of
the Canyon
One of the world's most popular
year-round resorts.
39 Hike! You Huskies
Arizona's version of Sgt. Preston of the
Yukon.
42 Purple Mountain Majesty
Mining the Amethyst of the Four Peaks
Arizona
Department of
Transportation
William A. Ordway, Director ® William N. Price, State Engineer
Board Members
Walter A. Nel son, Chairman, Sedona
Len W. Mattice, Vice Chairman , Pima
John Houston , Member, Yuma
Robert M. Bracker, Member, Nogales
Bill Erdmann Member, Casa Grande
Mrs. Ruth Reinhold , Member, Phoenix
Armand P. Ortega, Member, Sanders
Ari zo na Highways i s publis hed monthly by
the Arizona Depa rtmen t of Transportation.
Address : Arizona Highways, 2039 W. Lewis Ave.,
Phoenix, AZ 85009. $8.00 per year in U S. and
possess ions. $9. 00 Canada, Mexico an d
P.U.A.S. countri es, and $10.00 elsewhere; single
copi es one dollar each. Second Class Postage
paid at Phoenix, Arizona, under Act of March 3,
1879. Copyrigh t © 1976 by the Ari zona Depart ­ment
of Transpo rtation.
Al low five weeks for a change of add ress. Send
in the old as well as the new address includi ng
ZIP code. Telephone (602) 258-6641.
Th e edito rs wil l not be responsible for unso­licited
manuscripts, photog raphs, artwork, or
other materials sent for editorial consideration.
1
An Arizona Collector
Taken With Tokens
John T. Hamilton III is a 34-year-old
transplanted New Yorker with a token
interest in Arizona history - and the
token multiplied one thousand six hun­dred
times. He wishes it were an even two
thousand, and maybe it will grow to that,
given his hound-dog pursuit of something
most of the rest of us never heard of - or
didn't think much about even if we had:
the pervasive trade token.
This novel device comes in as varied
sizes, shapes, colors and descriptions as
the mind can conceive. It was the product
of a merchant's needs coupled with imag­ination,
someone's pixie concept in the
remote past ( at least as early as Greek
or ancient Roman days, Hamilton be­lieves),
of how to corner a bigger share
of what trade was going on, or even to tie
it all up. The practice of trade tokening
has continued almost to this day on
pretty much the original pattern: as a
means to stimulate sales in the absence
of cash, and to nourish commeree, pri­marily
one's own commerce.
Kings and emperors, or the secretaries
to their treasure-houses, invented money
and the ruler soon came to have a strangle
hold on that. But the entrepreneur with
the wit, if not quite the power, of his maj­esty's
agents, quickly devised the trade
token as his answer to money. He did it
with sly goals in view, not least of which,
after winning the trade, was to bind the
customer more closely to his shop, a pur­pose
which has lingered to our own day.
"No doubt there were other reasons,
too," muses Hamilton, a Jean, handsome
man, his closely cropped beard slightly
frosted with gray. "The customer gains
2
by Dan L. Thrapp
from the use of trade tokens, too, you
must understand, or their use would
never have lasted so long. He may secure
the financial advantage of buying in
quantity beyond his needs of the moment.
A cigar store might sell its wares at a
nickle apiece or six for a quarter. The
customer could pay a quarter, select a
couple and take four tokens change; he
would have the cigars he needed, could
get them at a lower rate, and the mer­chant
could utilize the extra cash until
the tokens were used up.
"Or suppose a man developed a panic
thirst. In a pre-inflation day he would
buy a drink and hand the barkeep a quar­ter.
The house man either gave him a
dime change, or a token worth 121h
cents, half of the quarter. The customer
accepted the token because that meant
another drink when his thirst returned,
while if he took a dime change it would
have to be supplemented then by a nickle.
Thus the token worked to the advantage
of individuals on both sides of the
counter, providing the customer really
needed the drink, which would be a mat­ter
of opinion."
Tokens thus obtained naturally en­couraged
the man to remain and drink
more at the saloon because he could
trade them nowhere else and anyway he
probably did not wish to take them home
where his wife would find them when she
searched for change in his pockets. If he
had just been paid, and spent enough
tokens in this way, he might become a
saloon nuisance and get bounced, when
he would stagger home through the dark­ness
possibly losing, on his erratic course,
what tokens he still possessed. This could
benefit two parties, the saloon keeper
who would never have to make them
good, and some future token collector,
who, discovering them, could add the
items to his albums or trade them to
someone else, all of this proving once
again that the hoary adage about an ill
wind might be a cliche, but it also is true.
Hamilton, at his rambling Tucson
ranch home, exhibits a seemingly endless
number of album pages with tokens of
every variety neatly mounted upon them.
He believes that their use may have orig­inated
from a shortage of cash, and he
speaks with authority about coins. "I was
very much into co11ecting them," he ad­mits,
"but I found that too much of my
(Right) A veritable treasure trove. Arizona
tokens of the golden age came from every
town and hamlet.
___ [ l - - -
~Hiti#~9.H?h.1l! ' ~ - 'S.~ -'': ~ '\.7',l'S.r)"',:,' ~ ··-~ °',:~'\."' ' / : i\-* ~ i.'1$0"1
SILKWOOD ~ THE ST. ELMO; 1
WIH£S
~ . WHISKY IA,:<". ,.,g',S. ... ,,;',<,'l."A.. A. :,.'v"A"", :<. , 7 , ',(\.,. ... ): L IQUORS
OUR Kleiner & Fawcett AND
SPECIALTY
own money was required. I could never
have afforded to complete my collection
as I wished. It is not that way with trade
tokens. For instance, if only five coins
of a type are known to exist, they are
'rare' and to obtain one takes a mint,
literally. But if five tokens of a type are
known, they are adjudged 'common,' and
they don't cost much. Even if unique, a
token might bring only a couple of
dollars."
While tokens are of some rarity, token
CIGARS
collectors are even more of an endan­gered
species, with probably fewer than
half a dozen specializing, as Hamilton
does, in Arizona tokens, of which 2,000
varieties have been catalogued, though
new ones turn up all the time, not all of
them quite genuine.
"My collection of about 1,600 repre­sents
pieces from only 170 Arizona
towns," Hamilton confides, "which
leaves me plenty to go."
By definition, trade tokens are metal
items used instead of money (their
counterparts of paper or cardboard are
called "scrip," of interest to Hamilton
and collectors like him). The principal
difference between tokens and money
was that tokens had no intrinsic value.
Usually they were honored only by the
merchant by whom they were issued, and
then solely for goods or services. Almost
never were they redeemed in cash.
Tokens were used by almost every saloon
and pool hall, cigar store and gambling
den, bakery and dairy, and by a large
proportion of the general stores, hotels,
ice companies, mines and restaurants,
while Indian traders used them as a mat­ter
of course.
During the Civil War more than
10,000 varieties of tokens were minted
within five years, though apparently none
at that time for Arizona. The earliest
token anyone has found until now within
the state is probably the specimen from
the ghost town of Mineral Park, in
Mohave County. This camp was founded
in 18 70, and the rare token dates from
sometime shortly after that.
Tokens reached Arizona, however,
almost as soon as the merchants, though
in very early days neither they nor cash
was common. Trading meant what the
word implies.
"The golden age for Arizona trade
tokens was from the 1880s to the 1930s,
they came into use as the population
surged, especially along railroad routes,"
Hamilton says. "Their employment
(Above) Paper or cardboard items of early
Arizona are very scarce compared to metal
ones , as the desert soon destroyed them.
The St. Elmo Bar, however, sti ll survives in
Bisbee's Brewery Gulch.
(Left) When Indians road horseback, the trading
post was often the sole source of supplies.
Today, except in isolated areas, the pick-up
truck has decreased the Indian dependence
on traders and trading posts. Some trading
posts were stil l using tokens in the 1960s.
(Right) In early day Arizona, the prosperity of
mining towns was very much intertwined with
railroads. An unprofitable claim cou ld become
worth a fortune with the availability of adequate
rail service.
(Below) Ed Bertram owned seve ral Tucson
saloons around the turn of the century. The one
pictured here is typical of such establ ishments
of the time.
pas a•
Photographs by
Gill Kenny
I
l
5
(Left) Because of its unusual shape, the Palace
Saloon's token, bottqm right in the photo,
earned the nickname - " Palace Guitar Pick."
{Bojtqm) Marie Lelong was one of Tombstone's
more prosperous brothel keepers, as this bank
deposit for $730 shows. Records of 1881
reveal that Wyatt Earp was threatened with a
suit for failing to turn in the fees he collected
from several of the town 's madams.
mainly ceased during the 1930s, although
Indian traders continued to use them
1mtil the 1950s and might still, for all
I know."
It is no simple matter to accuratc:;ly
date a trade token, but approximations
can often be arrived at.
"Tokens usually were made of brass,
a few from pickel, and many from alumi­num,"
he says. "Aluminum was not
commonly used until after 1893, so
toker1s of that metal would be later than
that. If the token bears the legend, say,
'Joe's Pool Hall, Tombstone, A.T.' you
know it was made before 1912, when
Arizona became a state, But you have to
watch for sharpies in this as in any other
field. He adds, "I could write a book
about the incredible lies people tell me:
how they have a pot full of tokens more
than a hundred years old, when their
legends show them to have been issued
by concerns not in existence before 1910,
say. All of which adds to the general
enjoyment - providing the collector is
not token-taken.
"The plagues of the collector are fakes
and fantasies," he says, ruefully. "There
also are counterfeits, or copies of tokens
that actually existed. Luckily there are
not many of these."
But "fantasies" are the product of low­lived
characters who prey upon the lack
of knowledge of the uninformed buyer.
Many of these are dollar-sized brass
discs, crudely made and crudely worded,
frequently the product of crude humor
or supposed-humor. They are turned out
by the thousands. A rule of thumb might
be that if the wordage on a token is "too
good to be true," it probably is not true.
One revealing error the fantasy cre­ators
often make is to assume that the
old-time Westerners were as crude of
speech as we are. That was not often
the case. A bawdily-worded token, you
may be sure, is a baldly-worqed phoney.
Hamilton, emphasizing the prevalence
of such fakery, says he has never seen a
genuine token issued by a bordello - at
least an Arizona bordello - although he
..
has run across countless fakes offering
"an evening with Sadie," or some similar
delight, and this despite the articles and
occasional books that build upon the sup­posed
existence of the general family, if
that be the word, of such slugs.
"Most of those I have seen were put
out by some anonymous swindlers as
gags," he recalls. "Of course there were
plenty of saloon tokens not specifying
what they were for, and most saloons
were connected in some way with bawdy
houses. There is no way to tell how the
token should be spent Maybe some were
accepted by the house next door."
Some tokens in his collection pose
mysteries that may border on this use.
One was from the Red Light Saloon of
Bisbee, but maybe a red light in that day
did not mean what it does in modern
times. Another, used by Sam Abraham's
Clifton hotel and saloon, says it is "good
for a hula hula at the Midway," what­ever
that meant.
In the main the tokens were for very
legitimate purchases. One in Hamilton's
possession, somewhere between a nickle
and a quarter in size and of scalloped
edge, bears the legend on one side:
"Goldwater's. The Best Always. Pres­cott,
Ariz.," and, on the reverse: "Good
7
8
(Left) This collection of tokens includes one
from a Phoeni x cigar store, a Pearce barber
shop, a Bowie restaurant, and saloons in
Clifton, Douglas, and Bouse. The token from
Yuma is still a historical mystery.
(Below) Tokens from the Chloride Bakery
overlay a phoio of that once live ly Arizona
community. Close inspection will reveal the
Chloride Bakery delivery wagon in the bottom
center of the photograph.
Photographs by
Gill Kenny
for any Butterick Pattern or Delineator."
Today's generation may not be
familiar with such honored names, but
their grandmothers knew that when
speaking of dress patterns, when you said
Butterick or Delineator, you'd said it all.
The Goldwaters, progenitors of Senator
Barry Goldwater, aiso had stores at
Ehrenberg, a gold camp on the Colorado
River, and at Bisbee, center of copper
mines near the Mexican border. "I've
never found tokens for either of those
two businesses," acknowledges Hamil-
(Above) The firm of L. Zeckendorf & Co. had
offices in several Arizona towns and was one
of pioneer Tucson's most prominent merchants.
This family eventually went on to parlay their
territorial enterprises into ownership of New
York City's Empire State Building .
(Right) The Drachman fam ily operated a great
many early Tucson enterprises and also had
businesses in Phoenix.
ton, "but they should exist," and hunting
·for them is part of the fun.
A businessman who decided to issue
tokens would get a die made commer­cially
to a design of his own, or that some
salesman persuaded him to use. These
could be of endless variety. Here is one
from the Arizona Bar, round, about the
size of a dime but with a hole in the
center so it could be stacked on a spindle.
Or here is another: an octagonal piece
from Bisbee with a representation of a
mule on one side, mules being closely
identified with the mining operations of
the day.
A business might use a variety of
tokens. One in Springerville is known to
have used 19 different ones. The most
usual cause for variety was tokens worth
different sums.
"The most common face values were
5 cents and 121h cents," says Hamilton.
"Tokens could have the same purchasing
values as coins, up to $5, also frequently
found. And there were others of odd
worth: 21/z cents, for instance, or 61,4,
7V2, 33 Y3, or 40 cents, or $4 or $8.
Many could be used for the purchase of
a specific item, as in the Goldwater
example. A token might be good for orie
drink, a cigar, a quart of milk, a loaf of
bread. One in my collection could be
traded for 50 pounds of ice, another for
'one heist,' which was a drink, or 'one
smile,' a small whiskey bottle containing
2Y2 ounces. Still another is good for a
shave, one for a bath, and several are
valued at one-bit, half of a quarter, or
two-bits." ·
Maverick tokens are less desirable
than others, a "maverick" being akin to
an unbranded steer whose ownership is
ilot clearly evident. "These are tokens
that don't say where the business is
located," Hamilton explains.
For many collectors, of course, the
more bizarre the place the more desirable
its token.
Hamilton him self would dearly love
to obtain tokens from Ruby, Helvetia,
Gunsight, Total Wreck, Quijotoa,
Mascot, Gale yville, Red Rock, R awhide,
Tubae, American Flag or Bumble Bee,
all honored in the state's history
and legend.
Tokens from these places have never
been found, to his knowledge, although
his collection includes them from Para­dise,
next door to Galeyville, and from
Wide Ruins , Wolf Post , Gold Bar, Gold
Road and Gold Dust as well as Hopewell
Tunnel, Kofa, Turkey, Octave , Joseph
City, Copper Hill and Silverbell, Big Bug,
10
Black Diamond, Crown King Canon and
even from Eden, although whether from
the Garden of, is not stated.
"Wind, dust, termites and vandals
have removed almost every trace of the
existence of many former Arizona towns,
and the token from some long-dead
enterprise could be the only surviving
relic," says Hamilton.
As with everything else, token prices
have inflated within the past few years,
but occasionally the price for examples
from a given place will collapse if some­one
finds a lot of them. Oatman offers a
clear instance. A few years ago tokens
from Oatman were rare, only a couple of
varieties being known. Because of its
interesting history, from its 1902 found­ing
through halcyon days of golc:l mining
to its becoming the ghost town featured
in the Cinerama spectacle, "How the
West Was Won," the few tokens from
Oatman were highly prized. But the place
has been heavily dug, more than:25 kinds
of Oatman trade tokens recovered, and
their value as a consequence has plum­meted.
That is one of the hazards a token
trader must face, but since he probably
doesn't have much of a capita} invest­ment
in the first place, he can take such
a debacle philosophically, if he is such a
man as Hamilton.
A real estate broker and Pima County
chairman of the Libertarian P arty,
Hamilton came by his hobby honestly,
but it was kind of a serendipity. At
(Left) Many Arizona min ing companies issued
taker.is. They were often used in the company
stores . The tin y letters under the word "South­west"
on the Douglas token are the mark of
the Los Angeles Rubber Stamp Company; a
concern that made a great many Arizona tokens.
(Below) The I. E. Solomon token is one of the
most significant tokens of the Arizona Territory.
Th e giant Valley National Bank traces its birth
to I. E. Solomon's isolated store, wh i ch func­tioned
as both a saloon and a bank . Th e
token is good for " 1 drink."
Tombstone for another purpose, he
came across a couple of tokens. These
stirred his interest. One thing led to
another. Collecting the interesting pieces
became an avocation crowding out his
pursuit of old coins, as we have seen,
and even of political buttons, of which
he has at least a thousand varieties.
In order to buy and trade he main­tains
contact with a national organization
which ebbs and flows as interest in the
hobby wanes and surges among its 400
or so members.
Nevada tokens are higher in average
value than those of Arizona, perhaps
because more people collect them. Ari­zona
and California rank second and
third; then come Colorado, New Mexico
and Texas and after these other western
states. But in any case their value is
subjective. Most pieces probably are
swapped from collector to collector and
are never sold at all. Common tokens
when they do come on the market ordi­narily
bring from $2 to $5, most are
worth less than $10, and very few bring
as much as $50.
"There are variables that determine
the desirability of a particular token for
me," Hamilton concludes, "but mostly
how much I want it." D D D
Editor's Note: Readers with questions about
trade tokens should not contact the magazine,
but should instead contact Mr. Hamilton, P .O .
Box 6765 , Tucson, AZ. 85733.
(Left) Token varieties were limited only by
the imaginations of those who made them and
the merchants who issued them.
(Below) A great many early merchants issued
tokens, mostly for such "necessities" as
drinks, cigars and bread .
Photographs by
' GIii Kenny
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
We wish to acknowledge the following for their
assistance in the production of Taken With
Tokens: First National Bank, Lewis Douglas
Memorial Office; Old Tucson; Arizona Histori­cal
'society, and Alberto Contreras and Sons,
jewelers.
The Past Lives Again in Wickenburg
Robert W. Jones
Absolutely nothing can beat the fierce
community spirit and civic pride of the
people in a small Western town, espe­cially
when they're desert-bred folk faced
with a di saster. It brings out the best in
them.
Case in point: the new Desert Cabal-
1 eros Western Museum in downtown
Wickenburg, Arizona.
On Dec . 21, 1972, fire destroyed the
original museum along with all the
antique treasures collected during the
dozen years of its existence .
People .were heartbroken, especially
H. K. " Mac" MacLennan , one of the five
original organizers of the Maricopa
County Historical Society, which was
responsible for the museum. But hardly
had the embers cooled when a woman was
already thrusting a check into Mac' s hand
with the directive, "Let's do it again!"
And now they have, only better!
Three years to the day , on December
21, 1975, the new Desert Caballeros
Western Museum opened its doors. The
driving force behind the project? Com­munity
volunteers led by dynamic Harry
Needham, a retired engineer and mer­chant.
They, along with the Senoras de
Socorro, a volunteer ladies auxiliary, and
backed mostly by public subscription and
private donations, reached their goal: to
once again bring people the history of
Wickenburg projected into the future.
12
You begin your trip into history at the
museum entrance. Dominating one wall
is a huge wall tile scene created by the
McKusicks of Globe, Arizona, depicting
prospector Henry Wickenburg of Vulture
gold mining fame. From here you're lead
through eons of regional pre-history with
displays containing fossils of ancient
mammals as well as artifacts of the early
Indian inhabitants.
Later, mining came, which gave birth
to the community. To pay its respects the
museum has created displays containing
reproductions of early area mines , mining
techniques and th e tools of the men who
went down into the earth in search of the
yellow metal.
A gold coin collection plus an actual
mine head frame and hoisting works will
soon be added to complete the exhibit.
And there is much more .
The most unique portion of the mu­seum
is the recreation of the old town of
Wickenburg, which extends up through
two floors . Here building fronts based on
actual town structures have bee n con­structed.
Included are several bars, an
assay office, a newspaper office, a leather
shop and mine supply, a church and the
Hassayampa Hotel ( still in existence)
plus the Brayton Commercial Company.
The latter display, by far the largest, de­picts
the building which formerly stood
on the site of the present-day museum.
Meticulous attention is given to histori­cal
accuracy. Where possible actual
pieces of the period have been used.
The old saddle resting on the rail outside
the leather shop, for example , once be­longed
to Henry Wickenburg.
You'll also find this same kind of atten­tion
to detail in the several rooms on the
main floor, all of which are circa 1900.
Complete in every detail, they include
mannequins in period dress and furnish­ings
with all the accessories necessary to
s how what some of the homes in the
region looked like back at the turn of the
century. A stroll through these rooms
may just bring back memories of having
to take the ice water out from under the
old ice box and bringing in wood for the
iron stove.
But by far the most pleasant surprise is
the art gallery. The quality and extent of
this fine collection is impressive. Supple­mented
by bronzes and paintings from a
host of public and private collections, the
museum's gallery is a collector's treat!
Out of the ashes of the fire were sal­vaged
two fine Frederic Remington
bronzes owned by the Museum . His
"Savage" is an excellent example of his
feeling for the Indian, while "Mountain
Men" is a powerful essay on these early
trailblazers. There is a Charles M. Russell
bronze, as well. He only created 16
pieces in his lifetime. His " Where the
In re-c reatin g th e old town of Wi c ke nburg,
the De sert Caballeros Western Museum has
paid meticulous attention to hi storical
accuracy .
Jeff Kurtzeman
14
(Left) Another true-to-the-period display in
life size extends up through two floors of the
museum.
(Right) Original oil paintings and sculptures in
bronze help capture the elusive spirit of the
great Southwest.
(Below right) Impressive work in basketry and
rugs adds color and beauty to the Indian
Collection.
(Below) Blankets, pottery and jewelry make
up the museum's special display on the art of
Arizona's first people.
Photographs by Jeff Ku rtzeman
Best Riders Quit" was originally a gift to
President Warren Harding in 1923.
Along with his bronzes, the gallery has
an original Remington painting, "The
Mystery of Thunder," on extended loan
from the Rancho de los Caballeros guest
ranch nearby.
Also featured is the work of Lon
Megargee, capturing the humor and feel­ing
in the life of the cowboy. His most
famous painting, "Cowboy's Dream,"
hangs here.
And here too are a number of other
original works, both bronzes and sketches
and paintings, representing a cross sec­tion
or noted Arizona and Western artists.
They range from R. Farrington Elwell to
Hopi artist K. Tuvahoema. All these form
a solid nucleus around which the Trustees
gather on loan bronzes and paintings
from noted collections.
Other displays, which conclude the
tour, recognize the Indian craftsmen of
the West. Pottery by Blue Corn and Mar­garet
Tafoya, Navajo blankets galore, and
fine silver and turquoise jewelry are a re­minder
of the impressive work done by
Arizona's first people.
Future plans include ah extensive pro­gram
of education for young and old
alike, with emphasis on the youth of the
community. Film and slide programs,
already in progress, will be offered once
the new auditorium is finished.
Completing all these final arrange­ments
may take a little more time, but
with a strong volunteer organization like
the Senoras de Socorro and determined
leaders like Harry Needham the old min­ing
community of Wickenburg will have
its museum, one even better than before.
It's a matter of civic pride. D D D
16
A Source of Energy all Winter Long
Arizo1ta St11tslti1te
Solar energy is a very popular topic today, as well it might be, for
we have only to look at diminishing earth resources - then glance at
the sun.
The sun is truly a rampaging power that staggers the imagination.
It is 1,300,000 times larger than earth. Each second, it converts four
million tons of hydrogen into radiant energy, creating more energy in
one second than man has had since the beginning of civilization!
So immense is the sun, that it can go on consuming itself for bil­lions
of years to come, just as it has for four to five billions of years
already.
It takes about eight seconds for sunlight to traverse the 93 million
mile distance between the sun and earth. But before it reaches us, our
protective blanket of atmosphere filters out the dangerous high-energy
rays and allows light and heat to reach us.
It is the sun's radiation which moves our atmosphere and makes
weather and climate; causes ocean water to evaporate and then fall as
rain; gives us most of our useful energy sources through coal, oil, wind
and water power, and produces our · food through sunshine absorbed
by plants.
During the winter months, our sun takes on special meaning to
those living or visiting in Arizona. Arizona sunshine is like a giant mag­net,
pulling people onto golf courses, inviting them to go horseback
riding, to hike, to swim, to play shuffleboard and tennis, and to shop in
bright and interesting stores. Many others are content just to sunbathe
- and act as solar collectors absorbing solar energy.
It's a delightful energy-maker, the Arizona sun, that comes to us
slowly each morning as warm-colored light, moves higher and stronger
in the sky by noon, and finally ends the day on the western horizon in
a magnificent sunset.
Yes, residents and visitors to Arizona in the winter have found a
way of harnessing solar energy. Or is ol' Sol playing a trick on us whereby
we reach down and uncover some "human energy" that had been kept
in cold storage?
-Tom C. Cooper
The solar energy story begins anew each
morning. First light in the Superstition
Mountains.
Douglas Sechrist
(Left) A graceful, lone Canada goose tests
its wings on the sun-warmed air.
Jim Tallon
(Right) A desert chiaroscuro, cholla and
Montezuma Head in Organ Pipe National
Monument.
David Muench
(Below) A silent audience of saguaros enjoy
ol' Sol's energy show. Tucson Mountain Park.
David Muench
(Above) Strokes of sun color bring life to the
land. Sunrise in the Superstitions.
David Muench ·
(Left) The lordly cactus, sun child of the desert.
Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument.
David Muench
(Right) Giant saguaros and jumping cholla
present a verdant desert scene in the San
Pedro Valley near Mammoth.
Josef Muench
(Following panel, Pages 22-23) Riders in the
Sabino Canyon find the perfect mix: warm
sunshine, fresh water and good horses.
Ray Manley
(Far left) A symphony of color in the remote
vastness of the Salt River canyon.
Darwin Van Campen
(Left) Pause in a Monarch's day.
Jim Tallon
(Below) During the winter months the Arizona
sun works like a magnet on visitors
pulling them into the great outdoors.
Ray Manley
t
(Above) Sun living and leisure are full-time jobs
for retired residents at Sun City, Arizona.
Jerry Svendsen
(Right) A sand trap takes its toll at the
Arizona Biltmore course in Phoenix.
Herb and Dorothy Mclaughlin
26
(Left) Bow hunting on Mt. Graham near
Riggs Flat.
Gill Kenny
(Below) A cowboy's day in the sun, the
rodeo at Sonoita.
Gill Kenny
(Following panel, Pages 28-29) A sunlit
Superstition panorama. Great cacti
flank the somber battlements of the
Superstition Range.
David Muench
27
(Left) Sunset on the desert. The end of
another solar day.
Ed Cooper
(Right) Sunset, time for the coyote, who seeks
his energy in a slightly different form.
Jim Tallon
(Below) A final salute to a departing friend .
Saguaro silhouettes on the Apache Trail.
David Muench
IPill®rn ij@Dffi
at the Bottom
of the Canyon
by James Tallon
On the Bright Angel Trail to Phantom Ranch,
South Rim of the Grand Canyon.
Douglas Sechrist
Tucked away deep in the great corru­gated
depths of the Grand Canyon lies
what must be one of America's most
unique and remote resorts.
Hundreds of thousancis of hopeful
travelers from all parts of the workl want
to visit it, perhaps not so much for the
sake of seeing the mile-deep ranch, itself,
but because of its location on the floor of
the "world's most sublime spectacle."
Whatever the reason, this special place
has been unabashedly attracting large
numbers of people since 1903, when
David Rust established the first camp
here for travelers and hunters.
Naturally, he called it Rusts's Camp.
It must have proven a worthwhile in­vestment,
too, because four years later,
in 1907, he undertook to put in a tram­way
across the Colorado River. It
traveled on a single cable 60 feet above
the turbulent Big Red.
After that thing~ remained relatively
unchanged, physically. Even the arrival
of President Theodore Roosevelt in 1913
did little to alter things, except perhaps
the name. It became known as Roose­velt's
Camp for several years after his
visit.
The real change, however, came in
1921, the fateful year in which the area
came to the attention of concessionaire
Fred Harvey. After seeing it - and liking
it ·~ he directed the construction of a
large ranch-type building, to serve as a
hotel, on the site.
Once it was on the drawing boards it
was just a question of what to naine it.
The task fell to Mary Jane Colter,
Harvey's staff architect at the Canyon.
And the name she chose echoed all the
uniquely special qualities · of this place
set deep in the bowels of a magnificent
canyon. She called it Phantom Ranch.
Since that day there have been even
more alterations, mutations and permu­tations
at the ranch. But one thing hasn't
changed at all since 1903, 'and perhaps
never will: the difficulty in getting to it.
Unlike other popular resorts, you can't
reach Phantom Ranch by conventional
ineans - unless you call mule riding or
hiking conventional. And helicopters are
out because National Park regulations
forbid the use of aircraft for visitor
shuttling in the Canyon.
So you'll probably take the popular
mule trip to the ranch. It requires making
reservations in advance and takes two
days, which includes an overnight stay,
part of the package price for the trip.
Hikers pay only for food and lodging.
But despite the sometimes rough
journey, your arrival at the ranch will be
memorable - as will be your stay here.
Situated beside the sparkling clear
waters of Bright Angel Creek, an excel­lent
trout stream, Phantom Ranch
perches on a 14-acre cottonwood~shaded
opening between sheer walls of some of
the oldest reicks in· the world.
Although hardly a ranch in the true
sense of the word, this mule rider and
hiker motel plays the role perfectly. Its
construction is of stone carried from the
bed of the creek and wood brought down
the Kaibab Trail from the canyon rim ori
the backs of mules. Also to come via
rriule power were the stoves, refrigerators
and all of the farniture . .
And don't ask for a double bed. There
aren't any. Since the trail is only about
one mule wide in a lot of places, sirigle
beds were all that could be brought down.
Food is also served in the ranch tra­dition.
You can eat all you want. And
it's "tops," as one saddle-sore mule pas­senger
said recently. "Too bad it's so far
from the highway. It'd make a million!"
When suppe.r's over you might want to
visit another of the ranch's special attrac- ·
tions - the swimming pool.
Set in a cool, green oasis of pomegran­ate,
fig, olive - and, of course, huge
33
100-foot-high cottonwoods, the swim­mirig
pool has become the center of
activity at the ranch. During the summer
when temperatures in the inner gorge hit
120 degrees Fahrenheit you'll find hikers
and mule riders both removing trail dust
with a dip into the pool.
Later, after tall, cool drinks and sup­per,
guests return pool-side, where a
muleskinner may just be ready to tilt back
his big hat and strum a few tunes.
Now, unless you've made reservations
for your mule trip well in advance, forget
it, especially in the summer. There are
only about 55 mules available in peak
season, "and about 555 people a day
usually want to ride them," the trail fore­man
will tell you.
Hikers on the other hand, get a rate
break if too few mules are available, be­cause
this leaves beds open at the ranch.
But unless you're an exceptionally rugged
individual and a seasoned hiker to boot,
you'll find walking to Phantom in the
summer a grueling experience. Along
with the stifling heat, it's a seven-mile
hike down the Kaibab Trail, and eleven
miles via the Bright Angel Trail to Phan­tom
Ranch. You could get in serious
trouble. Many do. And if you have to be
rescued it could inean considerable ,ex­pense
- for you.
Really the best time of year to make
the trip, all things considered, is spring
and fall. Reservations fot mules are easier
to obtain and hiking is much more pleas-
(Right) The mule trains, Phantom Ranch's only
source of supply, makes its way along well
maintained canyon trails.
(Far left) Saddle-sore but not sorry, a group of
canyon visitors on their way to the ranch .
(Left) Beauty surrounds while healthy appetites
get a welcome trail-break.
(Left below) Last chance for a little camaraderie
at the hitching post. The ever-popular canyon
mules are usually booked solid for months in
advance.
Photographs by Jim Tallon
(Below) A Canyon spectacle - sunrise along
Bright Angel Trail, near Indian Gardens.
Douglas Sechrist
35
Hoof beats create a natural sy ncopated rh ythm .
ant. But if you like snow spectacles, well,
then, maybe mid-winter is for you.
You'll find the rim decked with snow
and even more beautiful than the travel
literature descriptions. And mules are
available. Occasionally, though, you may
find the trails closed because of an over­abundance
of the white, fluffy stuff. And
when the trails close, Phantom Ranch
shuts down, too. Such times are rare,
though.
But whatever the time of year, each
A welcom e pitcher of sparkling cold sprin g wat er.
36
season offers its own particular sensory
delights here. And after your first visit
you're bound to come back again, because
like the friendly mules, Phantom Ranch
gets to you. D D D
EDITOR 'S NOTE : For a period of eight years ,
Jim Tallon was a Grand Canyon guide, taking
folks by bus along the rim drives and giving
them facts and figures about this marvel of
nature. Periodically, word would get around
that they needed some help down at Phantom
Ranch. Jim was always among the first to say
. ~· .. .• #
.• ,ir
(Right) Be it ever so humble .. .
" I' ll go!" He developed a closeness for the
ranch, as do thousands of others every year .
One lady, Jim remembers, came to the ranch
for a day and stayed a month . "This is the
place I have been looking for, " she told him ,
and joined in with the workhands who managed
the ranch .
Like so many others who visit Phantom
Ranch she sensed that ultimate i n peace and
beauty here that severs, at least temporarily ,
our connections with the hustle and bustle of
the outside world .
Photographs by Jim Tallon
Not such a bad fella .
_.,. ___ "'It.., .. ~ -
{
Hike! Hike! A dog "musher" calls to his team
on a snowy run in northern Arizona.
Dave Davis
Hike!You Huskies
The old desert trail winds its way
silently around the mesquite and palo
verde trees and stretches out across the
flat land, waiting to be warmed by an
early morning sun.
Close your eyes and you can almost
hear the long ago voices of men working
straining horse and rimle teams through
the ruts , the creak of leather harness and
the crushing grate of iron shod wheel~ .
But on this brisk winter morning no
lumbering vehicles are using the old path.
And instead of the raucous-voiced cuss
of the teamster your ears h ave caught a
new and strange sound.
The sharp command of "Hike! Hike! "
shatters the stillness, as a three-wheel cart
drawn by a barking teah1 of huge sled
dogs rounds the bend and races past a
saguaro cactus.
The Desert Dog Drivers are at it again!
Sled dog racing in Arizona? Yes, and
surprisingly, it isn't new hete. It actually
got its start several years ago when some
meri1bers of the Central Arizona Mala­mute
Association, the Arizona Samoyed
Club, the Siberian Husky Club of Greater
Phoenix and the Southern Arizona Husky
Club of Tucson became interested in sled
racing and training dogs for team com­petition.
Undaunted by the lack of snow in the
Southwest, the dog "mushers" began
training and conditioning their dogs with
by Carol Brown
d esert racing, the animals pulling three­w
heel carts instead of sleds. So popular
did it become that last year members of
a segment of the breed clubs formed their
own group: the Desert Dog Drivers.
In addition to serving as a rallying
point for dog mushers, the club tries to
hold two major racing events each year.
One such race recently sponsored by
the group was a two-day competitive
event held at Mormon Lake, south of
Flagstaff, which attracted teams from
California, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah
and even from as far away as Oregon and
Montana.
In these kinds of races teams start one
at a time at regular intervals. And each
team is timed separately. This helps avoid
a tangl e of teams on the narrow parts of
the trail and allows each team to set its
own pace. The fastest team - not neces­sarily
the first one in - is the winner.
Weight pulling events added to the
variety at Mormon Lake. Tested one at
a time, eac h dog pulled a design a ted
weight 20 feet in 90 seconds. Winners of
these tests of strength sometimes pull
more than 650 lbs. of dead weight.
But even though everyone looks for­ward
to these trips to snow country, they
also know that a goodly portion of time
must be spent in the desert training the
dogs to obey voice commands and to run
well together.
"Mush, you huskies!" that famous cry
of Sgt. Preston of th e Yukon, who thrilled
millions of kiddies on radio and TV with
his half-hour epics of northland daring­do,
is out. Sorry. To modern sled dogs
the command has no meaning at all.
Today these dogs respond to a sharp
forward command , such as " Hike!" and
an order to stop.
The lead dog, th e most important
member of the team, responds to " Gee "
(right) and "Haw" (left) commands,
basing the degree of his turn on the sound
of the driver's voice. Be also learns to
obey "straight" in confusing terrain, and
" no" for any potential wrong turn, in
addition to other specific commands.
But that isn't all he needs to know.
This highly trained animal is also respon­sible
for setting the pace ( over 15 miles
per hour when trail conditions are good)
an d controlling the direction of the team.
Ii1 no uncertain te rms h e can make or
break a race.
Then after a dog is trained to lead he
must be matched with others to form a
tean1. Also no easy chore.
"Dogs are a lot like people. They have
special talents as well as likes and dis­likes
," says niusher Mike. Neel of Phoe­nix.
" It takes quite a bit of experimenting
to find the right combination of dogs who
are willing and able to work well as a
team."
39
Before running in the snow, a hanqcrafted
dog sled gets a critical going-over.
Neel, himself, spent a lot of time train­ing
his Samoyed as a lead dog , and
created a working team by matching her
with two other "Sams."
Traditionally, the breeds sought for
this sport have been the Siberian Husky,
Alaskan Husky, Malamute and Samoyed.
But often other breeds are used, too.
"We have no restrictions on breed~
entered in any of our events," says Carl
Noggle, President of the Desert Pog
Drivers. "Ordinary pet dogs can race as
long as they like to run and are sound.
Some professional teams have even used
Irish Setters, German Shepherds, Coon­hounds,
Labradors and assorted mixes."
But whether or not they have a team
of "Sams" or matched coons, for most
club members sled dog racing has
become a family affair. And almost every
weekend, fall through spring, you'll find
them gathered somewhere in the desert
along with visitors who have come to
watch the training sessions and cheer at
the carting races.
"You don't need to have a purebred
dog to enjoy these events," says Mrs.
Alan Bown of Phoenix. "We'd like to
see more people come out with just their
pets and see if their dogs would like to
run. It's really a lot of fun."
"And it's quite different from the pres­sures
of obedience trials and show ring
40
"Mushers" and enthusiastic spectators
check the lineup before a race.
activities," adds Nancy Thurston, a
Phoenician who raises Siberian Huskies.
Fun it most certainly is, for families
and for dogs, too. But a few members,
such as Carl Anderson and Clyde
McKoy, both of Phoenix, have taken the
sport one step further and entered their
teams in regional competitions out of
state.
"These professional races have differ­ent
categories of competition," says
McKoy. " There are three-dog classes,
which run a two to four-mile course,
a five-dog class on a five to seven-mile
trail and an open dog class in a twenty­five-
mile race. And the prize money can
run anywhere from $500 to $50,000!"
But for those content with simpler
pleasures there are prizes, too, like the
pure enjoyment of raising, training and
running fine sled dogs, the cost for which
can be adjusted to suit most any pocket­book.
Sure, sorrie dog mushers maintain ken­nels
filled with costly canines, but most
are content with much less. Many often
combine the use of dogs and equipment
to save money. And you can make your
own training cart and sled, complete with
steering gear and brakes, for around
$100 to $400. The rest of the expense
comes in the form of harness, le<!shes and
dogs.
And the cost of dogs doesn't have to
take a big bite out of your budget, either.
" A person can start racing with a pair of
mongrels or pay as much as $1500 for
a trained lead dog," says one dog musher.
"But no matter what kind of dogs or
equipment you have," she adds, "you're
faced with one other big expense, too:
And that's your time, because you have
to be willing to put a lot of hours into
training, if you expect to develop a good
team."
Most of the Desert Dog Drivers do
their training during early morning week­end
sessions, both in the Phoenix, and
Tucson area. But some are fortunate
enough to live at the desert's edge where
there is room to run more often. Here
they can maintain a daily training sched­ule,
running a five-dog team for three to
five rriiles each morning before the sun
rises.
This may not always make drivers
giggle with glee. But the dogs themselves
seem happy when in harness. Running
in the desert, they usually fill the air with
excited barking amidst a flurry of tail­wagging.
For even though the trophies may be
won at the big races in the ~now, they
seem to know that it is here - on the
desert trail - that most of the work must
be done.DD D
(Left) The Husky is the traditional breed for
dog sled racing: but there are no restrictions.
(Below) While trophies are won at races in
the snow country, the real work is done here
on the desert trail.
Photographs by Dave Davis
Purple Mountain Majesty
Thirty helicopter minutes east of Phoe­nix
stands the rugged slopes of the tilted­block
Mazatzal Mountajns. Nec1rly 8,000
feet high and _35 miles long, this moun­tain
range · has a southern tip whic5 is
punctuated with foμr identical peaks ~
art unmistakable signature.
Here, at the ~ase of these peaks, nature
chrnie to work ~ne of her whimsical feats
of q-eation. Te~singly she exposed hand­fuls
of beautiful amethyst - hinting at the
bounty that lay beneath the surface. It is
part of this mc1jestic mountain's person­ality.
It is ah inner beauty which, as with
people, you d,i~cover only after knowing
them long and' intimately.
Although usually occurring in cavi­ties
of volcc1qic basalt, amethyst from
the Four Peaks mine is clearly ari excep­tion
to that g~μeralization . These peaks
are of a harq quartzite material and sit
like dunce C\'lf>S upon the crest of the
range whose ~&~e is ancient grey schist.
Rock fortns in this area are so convoluted
find contorted they remind one bf taffy
ready for the pull.
Eons before man arrived in the South­west
hot mineralizing solutions rose
through the discontinuity between the
schist and quartzite. It infiltrated a wedge­shaped
pocket of shattered quartzite,
reduced it to sandstone, and deposited
amethyst witllin the fracture joints. Since
the fissures ran vertically, the amethyst
plates are ot_iented vertically, curving
gently with the surface of the crevice.
Finally, naturi caused the whole area to
be uplifted - a natural setting for these
elegant purple gems:
The southernmost of the Mazatzal's
four peaks is separated from the others
42
by Dr. Otis E Young, Jr.
Prof. of History
Arizona State University
by a steep-sided gulc~. Jim McDaniels,
the original prospector, must have clam­bered
up this precipitous ravine with the
persistence and optimism known only to
his breed. Jim was looking for gold and
was undoubteqly trc1cing the upward
"float" of black iron sand and quartz
pebbles which persisted nearly to the
saddle between the peaks. Such float is
often a signpost of gold and draws
prospectors like a magnet. About four
hundred feet below the peak, McDaniels
found the bed of the gulch literally paved
with purple pebbles. Their point of origin
was a depresston flo~red with soft, broken
sandstone out of which protruded points
and knobs of amethyst plates. But alas,
there were ho gold values. Lacking a
gold mine, Jim McDaniels filed the ame­thystine
showing as his "mineral location."
All this hc1ppened about the turn of the
century. It was not until the 1940's that
the mine wils patented from the mineral
location to private land ownership arid
systematic development work begun. The
Four Peaks mine is still worked by Jim
McDaniels' old-fashioned hand- mining
methods. The most sophisticated tools in
sight ate a pick, shovel, and wheel-bar­row.
(Although ~mall blasts of dynamite
are occasionally used to loosen the
ground.)
It is completely impossible to drive to
the mine, even in a jeep-type vehicle. The
trek by foot is long, dangerous, and
exhausting at the 7,000 ( +) foot eleva­tion.
Workers who live there with their
guard dogs maintain radio communica­tion
with offices in Phoenix. Supplies
must be brought in, and amethyst taken
out, via periodic flights in a jet helicopter.
Amethyst is the most important gem
in the quartz family. It is the stone of
Bacchus, the Greek god of wine, and the
third stone in the third row in the brec1st.:.
plate worn 1:Jy Aaron, high priest of the
Hebrews. Amethyst has been found in
Chaldean Seals, Egyptian carvings, Greek
intaglios and Roman signets. It is set
beside rubies, · sapphires, emeralds and
diamonds in almost every ancient Euro­pean
crown, scepter, orb and sword. The
delicate-hued amethyst is associated with
Aquarius, and is the birthstone for Feb­ruary.
Amethyst is, and always has been,
a prized pos~ession.
The word "amethyst" comes from the
Greek "amethustos," meaning not
drunken. However, suppose one eqlarged
upon that translation and viewed it as
meaning: keeps its owner from becoming
"intoxicated" with worldly things and
fallillg into errors, tempers, and infatua­tions.
Thus representing detachment,
judgment, seif-discipline, and high stand­ards,
it fits the quotation, "By its charm
it giveth good understanding."
According to Business Week: May 3,
1976, "Prices on so-called 'semiprecious'
gems such as amethysts, aquamarines, arid
tourmalines are up 300% in the last five
ydars and apparently are destined to climb
still higher . .. A good amethyst goes for
(Right) Amethyst is becoming increasingly
popular in contemporary jewelry. Thi s one-of­a-
kind necklace, includes: 12 full cut diamonds
totali ng 1.54 carats; 12 sma!I Four Peaks
stones totaling 3.56 carats; and a large mar­quise
of Siberian quality amethyst weighing
7.81 carats. Courtesy, Port of Call, Scottsdale.
Jeff Kurtzeman
(Right) The necklace, from Mexico, is a com­bination
of silver, turquoise and 39 unique
pyramid cut amethysts. The earrings, from India,
show the beauty of amethyst when used with
other stones. From top to. bottom they are:
aquamarine, amethyst, Ceylon sapphire, and
topaz surrounded by diamonds. Courtesy, pri­vate
collection.
Joseph Stacey
Reproduced actual size, the 38 carat, fine qual­ity
Four Peaks amethyst stomach of this gold
owl may be easily removed for closer inspec­tion.
Courtesy private collection.
Jeff Kurtzeman
~,..-"!'- ..-
~ '-~ ..
·,: .
"P - ""'--- .-
"Just like the good ol ' days," the most modern
piece of equipment at the Four Peaks mine is a
wheelbarrow - but this one is rubber tired.
Jeff Kurtzeman
$30 to $50 a carat vs $8 to $12 five years
ago ... Paul Desautels, curator of gems
and minerals at the Smithsonian Institu­tion,
figures that top-quality semiprecious
stones remain a good investment today
since the supply is getting scarcer and the
demand is growing. "
It is not generally known that some of
the finest amethyst in the world comes
from the Maricopa Mining Corporation's
Four Peaks mine. In fact, like the peridot
(ARIZONA HIGHWAYS, February, 1975),
few people realize that there is any ame­thyst
to be found in Arizona at all!
Presently, gem-quality rough stones
come from Brazil, Uruguay, Africa, India,
Ceylon and Madagascar - but the most
coveted stones originally came from Rus­sia.
They were called Siberian amethysts.
Today, "Siberian" denotes the color only
and not the place of origin. The Four
Peaks mine has all grades of amethyst.
The colors range from pink and pale lilac
through violet to rich deep purple shot
with reddish glints. The reddish-purple
variety is the most prized and is recog­nized
as the super-fine Siberian gems.
The regal charm of amethyst is as clear
(Left) Supplies are brought in, and amethyst
taken out. via jet helicopter. Landing on a small
pad on the side of a mountain , even when the
wind Is calm, requires a lot of pil oting skills.
Wes Holden
as the crystal itself. But while standing
at the Four Peaks mine, on ground strewn
with lilac-colored chips, one does not
have to understand geology to appreciate
the natural beauty that is visible in all
directions. Behind this diminutive mining
camp, perched half-way to heaven, Four
Peaks rises sheer against the sky with
patches of green scrub and delicate wild
flowers clinging to the contorted grey
schist. Lying darkly to the north are
seemingly endless mountain ranges. To
the south stands the volcanic dome known
as the Superstitions - its profile looking
like an Edwardian battle-cruiser forever
steaming toward the setting sun. And with
darkness, the lights of Phoenix glisten
with diamond-like brilliance on the west­ern
horizon.
If it were possible for you to visit the
mine, you would now experience a very
special moment. Climbing into the jet
helicopter, your feet would rest on burlap
sacks full of beautiful amethyst rough,
and you would hear the rising whine of
turbine blades as you fastened the safety
belt. With its rotor spinning at full speed,
the craft rises a foot or two, tilts forward,
and goes skimming down the Mazatzal
escarpment in a gigantic roller coaster
glide. To the left, sunlight glints off
Apache, Canyon and Saguaro Lakes. The
Verde River, a streak of emerald green,
slides below. The craft whirs effortlessly
Perched on the sid e of the mountain just
below the peaks , this one room structure
serves as kitchen , bedroom and storage room.
Jeff Kurtzeman
over the mountain foothills surrounding
the Valley of the Sun and you gently come
to rest at Phoenix Sky Harbor, one of
America's busiest international airports.
Looking back across the open expanse
of runways, you can see Four Peaks glow­ing
lavender in the setting sun - and in
your hand you hold a small crystal which
has captured that delicate hue - a secret
shared by the mountain. D D D
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Today, as in its long and picturesque past,
the Four Pea ks mine is protected from van­dalism
by armed guards . Very simply, visitors
are not allowed. Pub licity about i ts purple
stones has been zero; even general knowledge
of its existence (up until now) has been
hushed . We sincerely appreciate, therefore,
the cooperation of Joseph Hyman, President
of Maricopa Mining Corporation, for his assis­tance
in bringing our readers the story of one
of Arizona's most colorful gems.
Or. Otis E Young, Jr., has written several
books , the two most recent being " The Mining
Men," a novel, and " Black Powder and Hand
Steel," a history of the mining frontier. We
acknowledge his interesting and factual work
in preparing this la yma n's view of a very com­ple
x geological wo nder .
For additional reading on the subject of
amethyst, we recommend "Gemstones of
. North America" by John Sinkankas , publ i shed
by Van Nostrand . Re inhold Company.
The jewelry, · except those pieces from pri­vate
collections, are Etruscan Go ld creations
from the Port of Call , Scottsdale.
45
(Above) This massive man's ring is set with a 6.95 carat amethyst
from the Four Peaks mine. Courtesy Port of Call, Scottsdale.
Jeff Kurtzeman
(Right) Set amongst the Four Peaks rough from which they once came,
these two pieces of contemporary jewelry demonstrate the hard-to­photograph
reddish glints of fine quality finished gem stones . Slightly
larger than life size, the top ring actually has .4 carats of diamonds to
go with the 6.85 carat amethyst. The unusually shaped stone, bottom
ring, has 32 carats and is called the "Four Peaks" ring because of the
four diamonds mounted along its outer edge. Courtesy Port of Call,
Scottsdale.
Jeff Kurtzeman
(Below) The desert floor east of Phoenix is warm and inviting,
while the remnants of a w ild storm still blankets Four Peaks.
Dave Davis
by Donald M. Powell
Head, Special Collections,
The University of Arizona Library,
Tucson.
Friars, Soldiers, and Reformers: Hispanic
Arizona and the Sonora Mission Frontier
l.7~7-1856: By John L. Kessell. Univer­sity
of Arizona Press, Tucson 85721,
1976. 347 pp. $14.50, cloth; $8.35,
paper.
Occasionally there comes along a book
for which one can only find admiring
praise. Friars, Soldiers, and R eformers
is such a book.
Using the perennially beleaguered mis­sion
of Tumacacori in Arizona's Santa
Cruz Valley as his focus, John Kessell has
fashioned an absorbing and detailed story
of the Spanish mission frontier from the
time of the Jesuit expulsion to the coming
of the U. S. Army, a period that has been
very largely neglected by students of the
Southwest borderlands.
This period when the Franciscans con­trolled
the missions was a troubled time,
beset within and without. Well meaning
but ill informed reformers - among them
Sonora's first bishop, Antonio de los
Reyes (see Booksh elf, November 1976)
- sought to change mission administra­tion
. They championed civil rights for the
Indians and advocated, not wholly unself­ishly,
relaxation of tight paternalistic con­trol
over activities of their converts that
had proved successful for the Jesuits. Nor
were the missionaries themselves always
fit for the hardships of frontier life; they
sc hemed, the y quarreled, they sinned,
th ey sickened, and they begged to be
returned to the Order's headquarters in
Queretaro. Not all of them, to be sure,
but enough to keep the missions in almost
constant ·state of change.
Outside the missions, increased
Apache marauding decimated the herds
and depopulated such mission visitas as
Soamca, Calabasas and others. The
poorly equipped, badly paid, and often
indifferently led soldiers were little pro­tection
, and the fathers complained that
their conduct set a bad example for the
Indians. Though the Franciscans dreamed
of and planned for missions to the north
on the Gila River there was never money
nor men to let them regain the impetus
that had pushed the Jesuits north nearly
a century earlier. It was, in fact, a time
of gradual, steady decline. Kessell's final
chapter is aptly titled "Hanging On." By
the time the Americans entered southern
Arizona after the Gadsden Purchase the
mis sion system was virtually dead.
Kessell's book is based on far-reaching
and painstaking research into archives at
home and abroad. His organization and
clear readable style should be the envy
of other historians. Friars, Soldiers, and
Ref armers illuminates a murky period of
Arizona's past.
Goodb~e
Garc(a
El di Os
'!h e true and powerf ttl story of one
of ,,Mexico's authentic heroes
Goodby, Garcia, Adi6s. By Don Dedera
and Bob Robles. Northland Press , Flag­s
taff, Arizona 86001, 1976. 131 pp.
$ 9 .50.
Shortly after World War II Lewis W .
Douglas, American ambassador to
Englanq, and British Field Marshal
Montgomery were discussing heroes at
a London dinner. Asked to name his
favorite hero Douglas unhesitatingly said,
" My favorite hero is Jesus Garcia ." This
is his story.
At age 24 J es us Garcfa was a popular
and promising young man in the bustling
copper mining town of N acozari, Sonora,
some 70 miles south of the border towns
of Douglas, Arizona, and Agua Prieta.
From laborer on a section gang he had
risen, by the time he was 20, to the post
of locomotive engineer on the six-mile
narrow gauge railroad that linked Naco­zari
with the mine at Pilc1res.
On the afternoon of November 7,
1907, Garcfa left Nacozari for Pilares
with a locomotive and two cars of dyna­mite.
Sparks from the smokestack ignited
one of the cars . Ordering his crew to
jump to safety Garcfa rounded a hill
away from the town before a tremendous
explosion demolished the train and with
it the heroic engineer. There is no doubt
that his sacrifice saved the town and
many of its inhabitants from being blown
to bits.
There have been few instant heroes,
but Garcia's bravery catapulted him into
national fame. Memorials to his deed
were erected all over Mexico; corridas
were composed in his honor; the name
Jesus Garcia became a household word
south of the border. November 7 is a day
marked throughout Mexico. It is a holi­day
in his native Sonora.
Don Dedera has told this moving story
simply and well. English and a Spanish
translation appear on facing pages so that
the book may be use d as a bilingual text.
There are excellent illustrations and an
appropriately dignified format.
Photographs of the Southwest. By Ansel
Adams. And An Essay o~ the Land. By
Lawrence Clark Powell. New Yark
Graphic Society and Little, Brown Com­pany,
Boston, Massa chuse tts, 1976. 128
pp. $32.50.
A beautiful book of glorious photo­graphs
by one of the greatest artists of the
camera, taken betwee n 1928 and 1968
in various places in Arizona, California,
Colorado , New Mexico, Texas, and Utah.
Once again, if it needs reiteration, this
boo\( proves that in so skilled a hand
black and white ca,n be j~st as eloquent,
perhaps more eloquent, than color. Look,
if you need proof, at the frontispiece of
sunrise over Grand Canyon taken in
1942, or the Spanish Peaks against
sweeping clouds taken in 1951 , or the
white aspen against a dark, brooding
forest, also 1942.
Powell's eloquent essay matches the
look and mood of the prints. There may
not be agreement, as he says, on what
the Southwest is , but you know when
you are there.
Statistical Abstract of Arizona 1976.
Edited by Nat de Gennaro. Division of
Economic and Business R esearch, Col­le
ge of Business and Public Administra­tion
, Uni vers it y of Arizona, Tucson
85721, 1976. 519 pp . $5.00.
A publishing first. There never before
has been such a massing of statistics
about the state. Covers everything from
geography, population and education
through industry, energy, and income to
services. For comparison recent figures
are given with comparative figures from
earlier yea rs. An added bonus in this use­ful
book is the inclusion of comparative
statistics from the bordering states of
New Mexico, California, Nevada, Utah,
and Colorado.
Dull? Not a bit of it! Not just the thing
for the bedside table but it will answer
all sorts of questions a nd just possibly
settle a few family quarrels. And at $5.00
it may be the year's bigges t book bargain.
A limited number were printed of this
trial edition , so hurry and order yours.
47
~
Sincerely
EDITOR. QUESTIONED
Gentlemen :
During the past year it has become
quite obvious to us from th e editor's
letters on page one that your mag az ine
has changed its philosophy. One of th e
main reasons we subscribed to ARI­ZONA
HIGHWAYS in 1973 was the
clear belief in and referenc e to God the
Fathe r a nd His Son , Jesus, ex pressed
often through Joseph Stacey's articles
and commentary. Plainly , Mr. Cooper
does not see fit to continue in thi s tradi­tion.
That, of course, is his preroga tive,
but having just recei ve d your " Christ­mas"
issue, I feel I must write to point out
some things. Christmas is the celebration
of the birthday of Jesus, the Prince of
Peace. The angels ' song of " ... peace
on earth ... " seems to have been inter­pre
ted by your editor in his Christmas
Wish as an absence of noise or, silence.
Actually, a person can be at peace with
God , with himself, and with others in the
noisest of subway stations or freeways.
It is a matter of relationship, not decibel s .
Your Christmas issu e 1973 stated:
"This is the season for looking upward
to the heavens, as did the shepherds
1,973 years ago ," and quoted the Christ­mas
narrative from the Gospel of St.
Luke. The following year "Think Upon
These Things at Christmas" related Ari­zona
to the Holy Land and stated that
Jesus is th e most important figure in the
hi story of mankind. The issue contained
"A Cowboy's Prayer" and a th a nksgi ving
to God, by John F. Kennedy. Last year's
December issue opened with a " Report
from God's Country, Arizona, U.S.A.,"
containing a beautiful poem about God's
love and a photograph with th e caption
" Praise the Lord. "
And then we have this yea r's issue with
a few scattered figures with halos and
wings and statements such as: "Arizona
is a confident land whose greatness comes
from man's labors, as well as from the
land its e lf ," and " ... th e deser t's p eace
passet h all understanding," glorifying
men's efforts and placing our hope in
environmental protection, etc .
Your December, 1973, issue said:
" Our hopes lie in the Light that di sp e rses
the shadow beyond the stars."
How can you call this a Christmas
iss ue when the only things that differen­tiate
it from any other month are th e
48
wreath on the front and the words "Sea­son's
Greet ings"?
A few months ago we decided, regret­full
y, not to renew our subscription -
regretfully, becaus e your magazin e's
photography is gorgeous. The pictures in
the latest is sue have never been more
beautiful. But without the underlying
th eme, which u se d to be present, it lacks
substance and see ms to us quite pagan . I
feel th e Grand Canyon is an apt symbol
for ARIZONA HIGHWAYS, 1976.
It's big, beautiful, awesome, thought­provoking
- and totally empty. l'in
rea ll y sorry, not only because I enjo y the
bea utiful pictures, but because th ere is
now one les s magazin e in America which
openly professes Christian be lief and
values so desperately needed today . P e r­haps
this Jetter will stimulate so me re­evaluation.
I pray th a t it will.
Sincerely,
Micha e l and Cath y Schaller
2022A S. Qenton
San Gabriel, CA
" My own peace I give you, a peace th e
world cannot give ."
John 14:27
Thank you fo r your interesting letter.
Allow me to point out a fe w factual de­tails
about this magazine.
Fir s t: This is a state publicatio n owned
and operated by the State of Arizona. W e
operate from within the Department of
Transpo rtation .
S eco ndly: We are a tourist orientated
magazine published for the sole purpose
of encou ra ging to uri sm into and through
Arizona.
W e are not a reli gious publica tion . In
fact, whenever references to God or Jesus
Christ app ea r on our pages we hear from
those who beli eve that the mention of a
G od violates the mandate of separation
of Chur ch and State. ·
Th e U .S . Postal Service encounters
this same problem: some want re li gious
scenes o n Christmas stamps; others
clearly object to a governmental agency
dabbling in scenes associated with God
or religi on. Y ou can't please eve ryone.
We sele c t ed a theme for the Christmas
1976 edition and set out to de velop it
visually. W e th en sought words that would
fit this theme and add another dim e nsion
to the photo graphy and art. The them e
"Arizona - th e Pea ceful Land" does not
ignore the fiower or influence of God -
in fact, we thought, and still believe, that
God is prese nt in every scene.
D o n't despair - God is everywhere,
but he vacations in Arizona - and when
he is in our n eighb orho od, he always
seems to influence us .
- The Edito r
PAGE OF GLORY
Editor:
. . . congratulations on your superb
Christmas issu e. Each page is an adven­ture.
Every picture a work of art, and a
rare delight.
I consider the Christm as issue, espe­cially,
like rare wine: not to be gulped
down , but tasted , savored and gently
sipped. And, so, I keep the Christmas
Arizona Highw ays on my dresser, and
treat myself to a page of glory per day.
Editor:
John M . Scott, S.J.
Prairie Du Chien, WI
MOST BEAUTIFUL
H ave been a subscdber .to your ele­gant
magazine for many years and· enjoy
eve r y issue. But th e Dece mber, 1916 ,
iss ue is the most bea utiful one ye t.
Congratulations!
Floyd A. Lewis
Blairstown, NJ
(Inside back cover) Although amethyst is very
hard, 7 on the 10 - place Mohs ' scale, it may
nevertheless be faceted, carved and pciiished
any way the lapidary pleases. It has been made
into many things, wine goblets being a favorite.
But perhaps this intricate work of Japanese
sculpture, th ough not of gem quality stone of
course, best exemplifies the delicate beauty of
ca r ved amethyst. Courtesy of Rare A rt s of
Scottsdale.
Joseph Stacey
(Back cover) Ageless and aloof, stately desert
saguaro slow ly mature beneath the frosty calm
of the Fou r Peaks .
Earl Petroff
35mm COLOR SLIDES·
This issue: 35mm sli des in 2" mounts, 1 io 15
slides, 40¢ eac h, 16 to 49 slides, 35¢ each,
50 or more, 3 for $1.00. Allow three weeks for
delivery. Ad dress: Slide Departm ent, Arizo na
Hi g hways, 2039 West Lew is Avenue, Phoenix,
Arizona 85009.
S-147
AQ-1
M0-103
A0-2
A0-3
A0-4
A0-5
SM-47
8-223
DS-272
OP-59
SM-48
OP-60
DS-273
SC-33
SR-48
WL-197
RE-63
TC -467
RE-64
CW-5
SM-49
S-148
WL-198
S-149
GC-330
GC-331
GC-332
M0-104
Sunset on Canyon Lake .... Gov. 1
Military Tokens ................... Gov. 2
Frosty calm of Four Peaks . . ......... Gov. 4
Collector's Trea sure Trove . .. . ..... .... p. 3
" The Palace Guitar Pick" ... .. •. . ... . . p. 6
A variety of tokens .. .. ...... .•• ... ... p. 11
Tokens for necessities ........ , ....... p. 11
First light ............ .. ... . . .. .... .. p. 17
Canada goose .. ... ..... .. ... . •.... .. p. 18
Saguaro Forest .......... .. •.. , . . , .. .. p. 18
Chol la cactus .................•..... . p. 19
Sunrise on Superstitions .... .. .. . ..... p. 20
Sun child ...... .. .... . ... . . . . ..... . . p. 20
Saguaro and Chol la .. . ...... . ..... p. 21
Riders in Sabino Canyon .. . . , . . . . p. 22-23
Salt River Canyon ...... p. 24
Winged Jewels ......... . ...••. , . . . p. 25
Tucson resort ........ .. .......•...... p. 25
Sun living in Sun City .. .... . .. . ...... p. 26
Golf, A riz ona Biltmore ........ p. 26
A cowboy's day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p. 27
Chol la below Superstitions .. • .... p. 28 - 29
Sunset and cactus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p. 30
Coyote at sunset ..... . : .... . •.. .. .... p. 31
Silhouettes on Apache Trail . . , ..•. . ... p . 31
Bright Angel Tra i l . . .. . . . . .. .... . .... p . 32
Mule train .. . .. .. .. .. . .. ..... . .... p . 35
Bright Angel Trail ..... .. .... ........ . p. 35
Four Peaks in winter ..... • .. •. . . •... .. p . 46