Letters & E-mail

Arizona Oddities, Attractions and Pleasures {taking the off-ramp} The Last Ride of a Cowboy Hero

Payson old-timers still know the cowboy song about Billy Vanero. In July 1882, he rode through Mogollon Rim country warning ranchers that renegade Apaches were storming up Cherry Creek toward Payson, then Green Valley. As the story goes, this brave boy left a note in his own blood, telling settlers of the danger. But did Billy really exist?

Most believe the story grew out of a poem-"The Last Ride of Paul Venarez," by Eben Rexford-published in Youth's Companion magazine on December 29, 1881. It describes the heroic ride of Venarez to warn the town of Crawford -no state named-that Indians were coming. The poem's publication, seven months before a raid that preceded the last battle between the Tonto Apaches and the U.S. Army, probably inspired Arizona cowboys to modify its story. The Arizona song follows Rexford nearly word for word, except the warriors became Apaches and the rider became Billy, who heard the fearsome news "in an Arizona town one day." Also, Crawford became "the cow ranch," Billy's ultimate destination and the home of his sweetheart. The story ends with Billy dying of wounds inflicted during his ride and being buried on the ranch.

Some people speculate that if Billy were real, the cow ranch he determined to reach was the spread of William Burch, one of Payson's first settlers in 1877. The song, a cowboy classic, is known throughout the West.

Historical Riches at Wells Fargo Museum

Through the timbered entrance to a short length of mine shaft lie riches from Arizona's storied mountains: amethyst, silver and one of the state's largest gold nuggets ever prospected that still exist. Such cargo once shared space with 16 passengers, a driver and shotgun guard, on Wells Fargo stagecoaches that linked the Territory to commerce in the East. Visitors to the Wells Fargo History Museum in downtown Phoenix can check out an authentic 1868 stagecoach, an audiotape of stagecoach sounds and a narrative describing a cross-country journey.

Visitors also are welcome to send frivolous messages to each other from the museum's express office by telegraph to the railroad station.

Much of the museum's display comes from Loring's Bazar, a Wells Fargo office established by George Loring on the dirt streets of 1877 Phoenix, spittin' distance from the museum's location.

Information: (602) 378-1852.

Stanton Still Boasts a Touch of Wild West

The town of Stanton got its start on Antelope Creek as part of the 1863 Rich Hill gold strike. Three of its buildings-an 11-room hotel, stage stop and dance hall-still stand between Congress and Yarnell on County Road 109, 50 miles northwest of Phoenix.

Today, the Lost Dutchman Mining Association owns the town and runs an RV park there. But Stanton had a different owner in the late 1950s-Saturday Evening Post magazine.

The publication bought the 10-acre site with plans to restore it for promotional purposes, possibly featuring fictional Wild West shark Bret Maverick.

Stanton certainly had Wild West credentials. As the Prescott paper reported in 1892, its population liked to "drink blood, Eat fried rattlesnakes and fight mountain lions" to pass the time. But the Post's plans fell through, and the magazine gave Stanton away in a jingle contest. The winner, a New York woman, had no idea what to do with a beat-up ghost town and sold it.

Visitors must check in at the park office.

Information: (928) 427-9908.

THIS MONTH IN ARIZONA

Ten newspapers are published in Arizona, two of which are in Spanish, with seven debuting in the last three years.

Wells, Fargo & Co. estimates Arizona's gross annual mining output at $8,183,743, or $149,221,815 in today's money.

Miners in Arizona earn an average of $4 per day, while miners in Germany garner a mere 40 cents.

1897 The federal government gives more than $1,700 to Arizona Territory to reimburse it for keeping federal prisoners in local jails until their trials.

The Vulture Mine near Wickenburg is sold at a sheriff's sale for $1,500 to an Ohio businessman. The mine is one of the heaviest gold producers in the Southwest.

1898 Hay sells for $7 per ton in Glendale, but costs $20 per ton if bought in Clifton.

1905 The Yuma Prison holds a record number 347 convicts.