TAKING THE OFF-RAMP

Plea for good hunting? A pardon for the animals killed? A sacred prayer ritual?

No one knows the reason behind the pictures pecked into the reddish-brown cliffs at Tucson's Picture Rocks—or even their exact date. Current research indicates that members of the Hohokam tribe left these particular petroglyphs about 1,500 years ago. Whatever their purpose, the inscriptions of animals, dancing figures and geometric designs are a fascinating legacy from an earlier time, a legacy that transcends the noise of traffic passing a few hundred feet away.

From the intersection of Silverbell and Ina roads, go west to Wade Road. From there, it's less than a mile to Picture Rocks Retreat Center. Petroglyph viewers are welcome anytime; use the second driveway. From there, it's a short walk down the marked path and along the creek bed to the rock cliffs.

The petroglyphs are on property owned by the retreat center, and visitors are asked to respect the area and not climb on the rocks.

Information: (520) 744-3400.

Picture Rocks Still Sending Messages Kaleidoscopic Works of Art

From birthday-party favors to high-dollar objets d'art, kaleidoscopes tickle the fancy with their colorful geometry. Jerome resident Mary Willis, a collector of kaleidoscopes from childhood, took her love of these funky tubes and created a store dedicated to their changeable nature. Her Jerome store, Nellie Bly Kaleidoscopes and Art Glass, named after the noted 19th-century American journalist, features pieces by nearly 100 of the world's top kaleidoscope artists. Scottish scientist Sir David Brewster invented the kaleidoscope in 1816 while conducting experiments on light polarity.

But things have come a long way since then. An optical device, the kaleidoscope creates a variety of images using angled mirrors and colored objects such as beads, glass, pieces of plastic or mixtures of oil and water lodged between two transparent discs. Turning the kaleidoscope causes a tumbling motion that shifts the pattern seen through the eyepiece, creating a waterfall of multihued light. With more than 300 kaleidoscopes in stock, ranging from $4 children's toys to high-end collector's items priced at several thousand dollars, Nellie Bly offers something for everyone. You'll find wooden scopes, brass beauties and slumped glass cylinders-all filled with intriguing designs. And if you hanker to build your own, pick up a kaleidoscope kit. Classes, seminars and discussions by the artists add to the fun. Information: (928) 634-0255; www.nbscopes.com.

Real (Estate) Deals

The Prescott Miner of December 7, 1870, ran the following advertisement: “GREAT SALE OF LOTS AT PHOENIX, ARIZONA on the 23rd and 24th of December,” resulting in the sale of 61 lots at the average price of $48 each. Judge William Berry of Prescott purchased the first lot for $116— the entire southwest corner of First and Washington streets.

THIS MONTH IN ARIZONA

1862 The town of La Paz is founded after mountain man Paulino Weaver strikes gold on the Colorado River. Eventually $8 million in gold dust will leave La Paz before the town dies, only 10 years later.

1875 In the community of Maricopa, officials report that Indians are stealing livestock from freighters and reselling the animals for $2 to $8 a head.

1879 The Territorial Legislature provides for a $31,250 lottery, but postal authorities refuse to allow any part of it in the mail.

1887 Angry citizens kick in Flagstaff jail doors and kill two prisoners being held on murder charges.

1895 Train robbers hold up a Southern Pacific train. They blast the strongbox and blow Mexican silver pesos all over the surrounding desert.

1907 Public gambling is outlawed, leaving saloons around the state a little quieter.

Have Slides, Will Travel

FRIENDS RUN AWAY when you bring out your vacation slides? In Tucson, a ready-made audience awaits.Every Thursday afternoon during January and February, up to 70 people arrive for vacation slide shows at the Wilmot branch of the Tucson Public Library System. The "Armchair Adventures" program has run for more than a decade. Information: (520) 791-4627.

Picture It: Le Fevre Overlook

Whether you're a kid with a plastic Pokemon camera or a professional with a 4x5 view camera, one of the best geologically gripping photo ops

A Pretty Penny

The weight alone could knock you to your knees. In the early 1960s, when copper was king in Arizona, Tucson designer and dress shop owner Cele Peterson created the Copper Dress. Layers of copper leaves cut from a woven copper mesh covered the bodice and taffeta underskirt. To hold the leaves in place, staples had to be used, as the mesh would cut any thread. The person modeling the creation faced the same fate - so ignoring glamor, she wore Levi's under the dress. Now in the collection of the Arizona Historical Society in Tucson, the Copper Dress was presented at the first Copper Bowl game in 1989, carrying $35,000 worth of insurance. Copper ruled in style that day. Information: (520) 628-5774.

Anywhere in the West awaits on the edge of the Kaibab Plateau. In far northern Arizona, go about 8 miles north of the crossroads outpost of Jacob Lake on U.S. Route 89A to Le Fevre Overlook. From the rustic stone-andtimber roadside shelter there, you have a glorious view eastward of the stunning Grand Staircase extending from Arizona's northern reaches into southeastern Utah. The formation was named for the stairstep escarpments that rise one after another-the Chocolate Cliffs, Vermilion Cliffs, White Cliffs of Zion National Park and the Pink Cliffs of Bryce Canyon"a vertical mile of rainbow strata" piled up before you, wrote historian Gregory Crampton. The dramatic vista appears even more stunning when summer storm cells sweep across the sagebrush valley in front of the cliffs. For more information about the region's wonders, stop in at the U.S. Forest Service visitors center at Jacob Lake. Information: (928) 643-7298.

Boy Scout Museum Displays a Lifer's Legacy

Eighty-four years after Otis Holden Chidester became a Boy Scout on September 8, 1912, he ranked as the nation's oldest scout in active service. Chidester taught at the Arizona State School for the Deaf and Blind from 1937 to 1940, and then at Tucson High School. In 1984, after serving as the Catalina Council historian for 34 years, he established the Boy Scout Museum of Southern Arizona in his home. Chidester's museum remains his legacy to citizens and scouts of all ages. The collection includes artwork, photos, patches, badges and uniforms. Museum volunteers continue to collect, preserve and exhibit Boy Scout memorabilia, with an emphasis on scouting in southern Arizona and the Southwest. Private tours are available and visitors are welcome. The Otis H. Chidester Boy Scout Museum of Southern Arizona is located at 1937 E. Blacklidge Drive in Tucson. Information: (520) 795-9484; www.azscoutmuseum.com.

Sculptures Sprout in Cornville

As the dirt road makes the curve, ghostly figures appear across a hill overlooking the Verde Valley. Sunlight plays off human forms in spirited poses, like frozen dancers, each offering a silent gesture of welcome to visitors. Apparitions aside, folks can hardly believe their eyes when they come upon this gathering of life-size sculptures created by renowned Arizona artist John Waddell.

Waddell, 81, known for sculptures that grace Phoenix's Herberger Theater, Civic Plaza and the garden at the Unitarian Universalist Church, works daily alongside his wife, Ruth, in their countryside complex producing life-size bronze figures. For the last 32 years, the prolific artists have made their home on 25 acres near Cornville. About 50 sculptures adorn the grounds around their house, studio and foundry.

The Waddells have opened their garden, studio and foundry to the public, inviting visitors to view their creative process in progress - from start to finish. Both artists work in varying stages of production, from sketching models to the final pouring of the bronze, which visitors may observe at the foundry by appointment.

The Waddells' newest sculptures are installed at Sedona's Cultural Park, just 10 miles from the artists' studio. There, 14 pieces, in groups titled "Paradise Lost," "Circle of Womanhood" and "Celebration," stand against Sedona's red rock backdrop.

Call for directions and reservations to tour the Waddells' sculpture facilities and garden. Information: (928) 634-4941. Sedona's Cultural Park: (800) 780-ARTS.

LIFE IN ARIZONA 1 8 7 6 - 1 8 8 0 WALTER REED SOLDIER-SURGEON

The man who confirmed the link between yellow fever and a species of mosquito cut his surgical teeth in Arizona. First Lt. Walter Reed served in the Territory from 1876 to 1880 at three forts during the Apache Wars: Fort Yuma, Fort Lowell and Fort Apache.

At then-Camp Lowell, 7 miles east of Tucson at that time, Reed had a new hospital and the old complaints of dysentery and diarrhea. He also treated men with malaria. Linking the fever to cold outdoor temperatures, Reed wanted reveille moved from a Chilly 5 A.M. to a later, warmer hour as a preventive measure. "He almost got it right," states Reed scholar Michael Fink of Scottsdale. The temperature did matter... to the mosquitoes. The species responsible for malaria thrived and bit in the predawn cold.

Wednesdays through Saturdays, you may visit the remnants of the fort and hospital where Reed took his first steps toward making history, at Fort Lowell Park, 2900 N. Craycroft Road in Tucson.

Information: (520) 885-3832.

Tombstone Epitaph Marks History

In Tombstone, look for the cottonwood tree hanging over the board sidewalk on the west side of Fifth Street between Fremont and Allen streets. Locals call it the hanging tree, although no one ever swung from it. But it's a good marker if you're trying to find The Tombstone Epitaph. The newspaper's office is adjacent to the tree, as it has been since 1927. Step inside and see the original press used to print the first issue, May 1, 1880. Copies of the paper's account of the O.K. Corral fight are on sale, too. In the back room, a display by the U.S. Postal Service and the Smithsonian Institution honors Epitaph founder John Clum for starting the postal system in Alaska.

After dropping out of Rutgers divinity school in New Jersey, Clum headed west to Arizona and became powerful as a Tombstone publisher. As a Republican, he allied with the Earp brothers against the Democrats at the rival Daily Nugget. The editorial bickering got personal. The Nugget once cracked that Clum, who was bald, probably got that way by pulling his silk shirt over his head too quickly.

The Epitaph office is open seven days a week. Information: (520) 457-2211.

Question of the Month

Of Arizona's 15 counties, how many do not have an Indian reservation?

Only Cochise, Greenlee and Santa Cruz counties in southeast Arizona have no Indian land within their borders. After negotiations with the Apache leader Cochise in 1872, the federal government established a reservation for the Chiracahua Apaches in what is now Cochise County. Despite official promises, the reservation was later closed.