BACK ROAD

Of the place today stands behind a fence on private property, the town's stories lure me up the hill.

Gold fever birthed Greaterville in 1874, and it went through a boom when its peak population reached 500. That didn't last much beyond the mid-1880s. In the rush for metal, miners reportedly panned more than $10 a day in gold. But even when the rush became a trickle, the town hung on and created its share of Western history.

In their book, Ghost Towns of Arizona, James E. and Barbara H. Sherman tell of Mexican miners holding dances in town, and they weren't especially eager to share their girls with cowboys from the nearby Empire Ranch. After riding to Greaterville and finding the dance-hall door bolted, one of the Empire cowboys climbed onto the roof and dropped a fistful of

revolver cartridges down the chimney.

“Minutes later, as the hot cartridges exploded, the scared Mexicans burst out through the doors and windows,” wrote the Shermans. “The Empire boys quickly grabbed the fleeing senoritas, thus acquiring partners for the next dance.” Greaterville, originally called Santa Rita, had saloons, stores, a boardinghouse, post office and a school organized in 1882, the third in Pima County. The town's first jail was a hole in the ground into which the deputy sheriff lowered prisoners by rope. But by 1928, the population had fallen to about 50, and the post office closed in 1946.

After reading the Greaterville stories, it's fun to see where it happened. Up a short foot-trail at the top of the hill, you can stand at the fence and see the old town cemetery. Its headstones represent the lives ended here, in this still beautifully kept southern Arizona ground.

Back on 62, I drive eastward and connect with the Old Sonoita Highway, at 32.6 miles, turn left (north), and soon reach State Route 83 at mile 33. I turn left onto State 83, which skirts along the east side of the Santa Ritas, cutting through pretty hills for 13 miles before reaching Sahuarita Road. This thoroughfare continues west about 20 miles back to 1-19 at mile 64.6.

As you drive, notice the rows of trees on both sides of the road, part of the largest irrigated pecan orchard in the world, measuring 4,700 acres under cultivation, home of the Green Valley Pecan Co. Be sure to stop at The Pecan Store, just short of I-19. It sells 24 different kinds of pecan products, along with blue-corn muffin mix and prickly pear salsa. The item that tempts me-that jalapeño barbecue sauce, made by Arizona Pickle-well, I confess it scares me, too, even though it gets rave reviews. But here's what I'm thinking: I discovered it the same day I made this beautiful, easy drive through Box Canyon, so how can it be bad? Remember the roadrunner? Al VEHICLE REQUIREMENTS: Accessible by regular passenger cars. WARNING: Back road travel can be hazardous if you are not prepared for the unexpected. Whether traveling in the desert or in the high country, be aware of weather and road conditions, and make sure you and your vehicle are in top shape. Carry plenty of water, and let someone know where you're going and when you plan to return. Odometer readings in the story may vary by vehicle. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: Coronado National Forest, Nogales Ranger District, (520) 281-2296.

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The Old West Lives on in Florence, Where Time Stands Still

TIME TENDS TO STAND STILL in Florence, Arizona, especially around the county courthouse. The “clock” atop this twostoried 1891 American-Victorian gem remains forever at 11:44. Without funds to install real clockworks, the builders simply put up four painted metal clock faces marking that time on each of the four sides of the cupola. Few passing by this town approximately halfway between Tucson and Phoenix need to know the time of day in Florence. When they make that drive between the two cities on State Route 79, they choose the scenic desert highway rather than Interstate 10. They may not have the time to make a side trip to a small town and its short Main Street. They don't get to see the adobe homes built in the 1870s and still in use today. They miss the businesses contently housed in the buildings of the 1880s. Without that short detour downtown, they never get to the main street of a town that still carries the look and the structures of the American West's heyday. “Florence is Tombstone without Wyatt Earp,” says longtime resident and author John Swearengin. However, he says, they did have a lawman who would outgun Earp every day of the week, Sheriff Pete Gabriel. After 1875, Florence roared with the mining and freighting prosperity pouring out of the Silver King mine 30 miles to the northeast. Gabriel kept the peace with a gun. However, his most celebrated gunfight took place after he left office. He and Joe Phy, his former chief deputy, turned long-held animosities into bullets in a Florence saloon. Phy died. Gabriel did not and went on with his retirement. A mirror from that saloon fight, complete with bullet hole, now sits in the tiny lobby of Eddie Taylor's Bed and Breakfast Inn. Outside, a plaque from the National Register of Historic Places notes the history of the circa-1875 adobe with the 12-foot ceilings of saguaro ribs and cottonwood vigas. Similar plaques pepper other walls of the town founded in 1866. In fact, more than 128 sites in Florence have earned the National Register listing. In a two-block stretch of Bailey Street, you see at least seven historic structures. They include the 1875 adobe Cosgrove home, catercorner to the 1913 American-Victorian brick house of Joseph