LETTERS & E-MAIL

Arizona Oddities, Attractions and Pleasures {taking the off-ramp} Canyon Adventures for Everyone

For 18 years, Ron Clayton, livery manager at the Grand Canyon National Park, has been doing something truly extraordinary - he takes people with severe physical impairments to the Canyon bottom on mules. His visitors include the blind, amputees, paraplegics and even quadriplegics.

"I probably have more expertise getting handicapped people into an extreme environment than anyone in the country," says Clayton, 55, a blacksmith by trade. "I believe I made the first wheelchair tracks into the Canyon. But this isn't about me. It's about the bravery of the people who do this."

The first such trip was made in 1986 by a 9-year-old boy whose adventure was sponsored by the Make-A-Wish Foundation, a nonprofit organization that grants the dreams of terminally ill children. The boy's parents desperately wanted their son to go on the river. Clayton was just as adamant that the boy should not go. He met with the parents and described all that could go wrong while riding a mule almost 8 miles on narrow trails with dramaticdrop-offs. The boy's dad leaned over the table and said, "Ron, my boy has nothing to lose." Says Clayton, "It broke my heart." So he agreed and the trip succeeded. The boy died six months later. "It really opened my eyes," says Clayton. "Prior to that nobody with an impairment went on these trips, mostly because nobody wanted the added liability." The trips come about informally. After a first meeting, Clayton makes the arrangements and leads the mule train. Many of his clients ride secured by ropes to a saddle that Clayton designed and built himself. It has a high back, like a chair, to support the rider.

Journey Along the River of Time

Located in the heart of Fountain Hills, near the junction of the Salt and Verde rivers, The River of Time Museum follows the regional history as determined by the presence of fresh water, essential for settlement in the desert.

An image representing the First Mother of the Yavapai painted against a simulated rock wall and waterfall mark the beginning of the path through the museum. The surface of the red stones seems more real as the sound of flowing water rises from the inanimate falls. A voice invites visitors to begin the journey through the museum exhibits beyond the wall, saying "Your path will lead to the peoples who have walked these lands." Through a collection of displays, history unravels. From the Hohokam to the Yavapai, and the settlers, ranchers and military who have lived here, the museum presents a dynamic portrayal of the region. Information: (480) 837-2612.

Back in the Saddle

The end came in 1942, the final dismount of the U.S. Cavalry. But in Tucson, the memories ride on at the Museum of the Horse Soldier. Thousands of artifacts from the period of history when men and their horses went to war have been amassed by Arizona sculptor Dan Bates.

As a child, Bates saw the movie The Horse Soldiers with John Wayne and admits, "I was gone." The collection began with his need for authentic memorabilia for his sculptures. Uniforms from the familiar "John Wayne dark blue" to 20th-century olive drab, weaponry from shell casing to sabers and saddles from black leather to brown fill the rooms. In this world, men sported horsehair plumes in their helmets and rode on McClellan saddles.

THIS MONTH IN ARIZONA

1854 The Gadsden Purchase is ratified, adding 30,000 square miles to New Mexico and Arizona. The U.S. paid Mexico $10 million for the land.

1860 Tucson citizens meet and create a Territorial constitution.

1871 A group of 140 Anglo, Mexican and Tohono O'odham Indian men (then called Papagos) attack sleeping Aravaipa Apaches near Camp Grant. They massacre women and children, and carry off other children to be sold into slavery in Mexico. The news shocked the nation. Later, a jury acquitted every man involved.

1894 Jerome, the largest mining town in Arizona, suffers a fire that destroys its entire business district.

1898 A mining camp at Congress is destroyed by fire. Two people die.

1906 A huge earthquake and fire in San Francisco prompts Arizona to rush carloads of cattle, refrigerated meats and dairy products to the survivors.