Taking the Off-Ramp

Mainly a War Over Words

"We went to war with Mexico to get Arizona, and now we should go to war with her again and make her take it back."

Canaan in the Desert Prayer Garden

Located at the northern edge of the Phoenix Mountain Preserve, the Canaan in the Desert prayer garden trades a moment of tranquility for the stress of city life.

Members of the Evangelical Sisterhood of Mary maintain the garden, at 9849 N. 40th St. in Phoenix, and welcome visitors from around the world.

A pathway winds its way through the desert garden interspersed with reliefs depicting the stations of Jesus' suffering. Benches under canopies of paloverde trees, in coves of olive trees and near memorials provide places to rest and meditate in this natural desert surrounding dotted with saguaros, chollas and fragrant creosote bushes. Pamphlets provide words of encouragement.

"It's a holy place where the Lord meets people," said Sister Georjean, a member of the Evangelical Sisterhood of Mary. "Peoples' lives are touched in ways in which we have no idea. We always say when we get to heaven, people are going to come up and say to us, 'You have no idea what happened in your prayer garden.'" The garden is open daily from dawn to dusk; admission is free. Information: (602) 996-4040.

Learn to Survive in the Backcountry

Let's say you're hiking in northern Arizona and you become disoriented, losing your way back to the trailhead and your vehicle. With nightfall descending and temperatures plummeting, what do you do to avoid a frigid night of suffering? Before going on a backcountry trek, consider a class from Flagstaff survival trainer Tony Nester. Teaching wilderness survival skills throughout the Southwest for the past 18 years, Nester possesses survival experience in the Mojave, Sonoran and Great Basin deserts of North America. Featured on "NBC News," the Travel Channel, and in Outside magazine, the survival book author has taught courses steeped in Southwest natural history and archaeology.

Nester's 15-year-old Flagstaff company, Ancient Pathways, has taught primitive and modern wilderness programs for the Sierra Club, Ojibwa Indians and the National Park Service.

At his school, you'll gain valuable outdoor skills while exploring ancient ruins and hiking in spectacular canyon country. Information: 928-774-7522; www.apathways.com.

Five Artists at the Grand Canyon

As the transcontinental railroads opened the West to Easterners in the late 1800s, the need to advertise these new routes increased dramatically. William Simpson, advertising director of the Santa Fe Railway, brainstormed the idea of sponsoring well-known artists to paint scenes of its Southwestern route to attract passenger traffic. In 1910, the railway, in a joint effort with the American Lithographic Co., chose five popular artists (Thomas Moran, DeWitt Parshall, Elliott Daingerfield, Frederick Williams and Edward Potthast) to create paintings of the Grand Canyon. Simpson made sure the tour was highly publicized. In a dramatic gesture, on their arrival the artists were led to the edge of the South Rim with their eyes closed so that the grandeur of the Canyon might hit them with full force when they saw it for the first time.

Dining From a Mud Beehive Oven

Aline of horses, their riders silhouetted against a blue velvet sky, threads its way through saguaro cacti to the corral of the White Stallion Ranch west of Tucson. A couple dozen pairs of eyes watch from the guest ranch's living room. Sometimes a cowboy wants to ride, and sometimes he just wants to get to the chow. Although the quiet of the bordering Saguaro National Park makes the blinking lights of the city seem far away, city dwellers can easily drive out for dinner with the cowpokes the real and the pretend ones. On Saturday evenings when the dining room or patio has extra spaces on the board benches, ranch owners Russell and Michael True welcome the public to the 40-yearold tradition started by their father: an Indian oven dinner. The special outdoor mud beehive oven glows with the rosy pink of a desert sunset. Four times as big as the traditional Pueblo Indian ovens, it easily accommodates six trays of bread, 80 pounds of top round and piles of veggies. The ranch welcomes guests September through May. Call ahead to check on space for the Saturday Night Indian Oven Dinner. Information: (520) 297-0252 or toll-free (888) 977-2624; www.wsranch.com.

Question of the Month

What right did Arizona give to women eight years before the U.S. government did?

Women were given the right to vote in November 1912, after a successful petition drive landed the issue on the state ballot, and it was voted into law. While Arizona is the 48th state admitted to the union, it was the eighth to grant women the vote. Colorado led the pack in 1893, followed by Utah and Idaho (1896), Washington (1910), California (1911), Oregon, Kansas and Arizona (1912). In 1920 the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, granting women suffrage, was signed into law.

LIFE IN ARIZONA 1 8 7 0 s RETAINING THE ESTIMABLE MISS BISHOP

Residents of Arizona City must have heaved a collective sigh of relief when the school board hired Miss Frances Bishop in April 1872 to teach the town's children. Not many women who had taught at a New York university in addition to schools in California would relocate willingly to the untamed Arizona Territory. But even the town's history of floods, earthquakes and excruciating summer heat couldn't keep Miss Bishop away. Maybe the board members should have held their breath for a little longer. Although the estimable Miss Bishop turned out to be everything they had hoped for and more, a lack of funds forced the tiny school to close after less than three months. The board hoped to reopen the school four months later, but wondered whether their treasured, but jobless, teacher could afford to wait that long. Less than a month after the school's closing, Arizona City residents found the means of persuading Miss Bishop to stay. They talked her into opening a private school, until the public school could start up again.

CONTRIBUTORS AMY ABRAMS VERA MARIE BADERTSCHER LEO W. BANKS BUZZ BRANDT ALLISON KIEL RAEANN MARSH JUDITH MASON CHRISTINE MAΧΑ LISA NATHAM CHERYL SWEET

happyalley valley in the rincons

A Hidden Paradise Tucked Between High Peaks Text by GREGORY MCNAMEE Photographs by JACK DYKINGA