DESTINATION

Spinas near the 1880 Jesus Preciado de Luna/ Bernardina Loroña house with its row of pale blue doors cutting into the light adobe walls. Visitors can create their own walking tour, picking up information at the Chamber of Commerce in the 1889 Conrad Brunenkant Building, one of the oldest two-stories in town. They can also get an inside look during the annual Tour of Historic Florence, held the second Saturday in February.

Says Chris Reid, staff member of the Pinal County Historical Museum on Main Street, “If you had only one town to pick [to see the history of Arizona], Florence would be the one.” The museum displays ancient Indian artifacts, cowboy ranching items and remnants from the Old West from the period beginning in the 1870s, when the silver mine paid the bills. For those who prize the unique in home accessories, consider the 1890s furniture made in Florence from the hole-ridden limbs of the cholla cactus and the later creation of saguaro sofas and chairs.

“You had tea and opera,” says Reid of her town, “and you had shootouts and lynchings.” In 1888, a mob hanged two suspected murderers from the rafters of the first Pinal County Courthouse, now the McFarland State Historic Park. The vigilantes returned a second time to this 1878 adobe to take care of another four suspects. This time, the jailer armed the four prisoners and together they held off frontier justice.

Prisons have been a part of Florence since the Territorial prison moved here from Yuma in 1909. Florence also housed about 13,000 Italian and German prisoners of war in a camp built north of town during World War II. A museum at McFarland State Historic Park offers a look at their prison lives.

The Pinal County Historical Museum has a far more grisly prison-related exhibit. The nooses used in executions beginning in 1910 frame the photographs of the person or persons who met their demise at the end of that particular piece of rope. One proved impossible to ignore even in death-Eva Dugan.

In 1930, a bungled hanging decapitated the murderess, sending her head rolling, witnesses running and the State Legislature back to the drawing board. In 1933, they changed the form of state execution to lethal gas, later to lethal injection.

Florence became a far gentler place in 1985, as the contemporary Western town depicted in the movie Murphy's Romance. “What kind of town is it?” asks the new arrival played by Sally Field.

“Oh,” says the pharmacist played by James Garner, “it's small, friendly, nosey.” He then adds, “We've got a man who wears his wife's nightgown. We're mainstream.” They also have those hang 'em high stories, a sky-reaching courthouse with a clock that never runs and street after street of homes and businesses with walls as old and basic as dirt. Welcome to historic Florence, sitting by the Gila River, somewhere between 1866 and whenever.

LOCATION: At the junction of State Routes 79 and 287, about 50 miles southeast of Phoenix. GETTING THERE: From Phoenix take Interstate 10 south to Exit 185, and follow signs. From Mesa, take U.S. Route 60 to Florence Junction, then drive south on State Route 79. From Tucson, drive north approximately 35 miles on Oracle Road to State 79 and on to Florence. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: (520) 868-4382 or (520) 868-5216. EVENTS: Tour of Historic Florence, February 12.

Wabayuma Peak Trail Pays Off in Rough Wilderness Scenery

BELOW Seen from the Wabayuma Peak Trail south of Kingman, the rising sun casts a bronze glow on the sky. [OPPOSITE PAGE] Rugged pine-forested terrain stretches northward from Wabayuma Peak's summit across the Hualapai Mountains toward a hazy horizon.

DON'T TAKE THIS HIKE. Okay, do take this hike, but only if you meet two criteria: You have an insatiable desire to hike in a remote wilderness, and you can make the trip to the trailhead in a high-clearance, four-wheel-drive vehicle. The Wabayuma Peak trail may not be the most demanding you'll ever hike, but either of the two routes to the trailhead may be among the toughest you'll ever drive. Wabayuma Peak, at elevation 7,601 feet, rises about 30 miles southeast of Kingman. The second-highest peak in the Hualapai Mountains, it dominates the 40,000-acre Wabayuma Peak Wilderness. The peak's namesake, Wauba Yuma, was a leader of the Hualapais, a subgroup of the Pai Indians who lived as several migrating bands in the lower Colorado River valley and adjacent lands. His murder in April 1866, at Camp Beale's Springs near Kingman, sparked smoldering tensions into a war that continued through the decade and resulted in the defeat of the Hualapais and their relocation to the Colorado River Indian Reservation near La Paz in 1874.

There are two routes to the trailhead, but the better and slightly easier road lies south of Kingman. The saguaro cacti along this route comprise one of the northernmost stands in Arizona, thanks to a combination of soil, microclimate and the fact that the cactus wren can't digest saguaro seeds it consumes farther south. At the trailhead, elevation 6,047 feet, the rewards of wilderness reveal themselves in instant solitude, birdcalls and the rough expanse ahead. A couple of miles to the west, the granite brow of Wabayuma Peak stands in profile against the azure sky, festooned with oldgrowth ponderosa pine. For the first mile, the 2.5mile trail climbs at a reasonable incline, with occasional steeper sections, through turbinella oak, pointleaf manzanita and scattered piñon-juniper trees. Western tanagers sparkle amongthe leaves, and hawks circle overhead. In addition to the typical inhabitants of the desert-coyote and quail, mule deer and mice-this area is prime habitat for the Hualapai Mexican vole, which has been considered an endangered species since 1987. Voles are small rodents that will fit in the palm of your hand. There are several vole subspecies in Arizona, but the endangered Hualapai Mexican vole lives only in these mountains. Wildlife specialists made mule pack trips into this area in 1992 looking for these little fellas. Watch for small burrows and runways beneath the chaparral and manzanita. If they come out at all, it'll be after dark. It takes about 45 minutes to travel 1 mile and reach the crest, elevation 6,700 feet, of a sharp ridge line and a couple of exceptional campsites, flat and shaded by tall ponderosa pine trees, that overlook the southern end of the mountains. If you're spending the night, camp there. The trail gets tougher quickly. If you're not careful, about a half-mile farther, you'll miss a cairn that directs you toward the summit. If you do miss it, you'll wander north and down slope along an overgrown jeep track through dense chaparral until you realize you've wasted an hour and a half-gallon of water. Read the cairn correctly and a steep climb of approximately 400 yards through thick brush takes you to the summit of Wabayuma Peak, where the western face of the wilderness opens like a forever-joyful heart. Eventually, civilization will beckon. To return to the trailhead, follow the same route back. It will take two hours, and so will the drive back to pavement.

LOCATION: 41 miles south of Kingman. GETTING THERE: Drive 25 miles south of Kingman on Interstate 40. Take Exit 25 near Yucca and follow the signs for the Alamo Road. After approximately 3 miles, take the Boriana Mine Road, and drive northeast for another 10 miles to the wilderness boundary. The trailhead is 3 miles past the Boriana Mine. TRAVEL ADVISORY: Spring and fall are the best seasons to visit, but summer heat at this elevation is tolerable. In winter, the road can be impassable because of limited maintenance. Contact the Bureau of Land Management, Kingman office, for road conditions. The area is remote, so carry ample water. Four-wheel drive and high-clearance vehicles are essential. The road to the trailhead is too rough, steep and narrow to tow a trailer, and the trail is too steep to ride a horse or a mountain bike. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: Bureau of Land Management, Kingman Field Office, (928) 718-3700.