TAKING THE OFF-RAMP

Grazing Goats Galore

More than 400 goats have traveled from Colorado to Arizona three times and it's all work related. The herd, property of Golden Hooves Grazing Service, first started cleaning up the weeds at Central Arizona Project's recharge sites in Phoenix and Tucson in 2003. The experiment proved so successful that CAP plans on bringing the shaggy crew back every six months. After all, why use chemicals when you have a herd of gobbling goats at hand?

Bloody Cabin Along the San Pedro

It is rumored that the essence of 21 murdered miners, desperados and Mexicans still haunt the old Brunckow cabin. Frederick Brunckow, a Germanborn mining engineer, immigrated to the United States in 1850 and worked silver claims along the San Pedro River. He built his infamous adobe dwelling in 1858. The nearby towns of Tombstone, Charleston and Millville had not yet been established. The Apaches were a constant threat in this remote area, but not as big a threat as his own Mexican workers. In 1860 one of the four Anglos working the mine went to Fort Buchanan for supplies. Upon his return, he found the gruesomely murdered bodies of two companions in the cabin. Brunckow's brutally battered body was found at the bottom of a mine shaft. The Mexican laborers and all movable property were missing. This was the beginning of some 21 killings to take place in and around the cabin over the next few decades. The cabin, perched on a knoll, offers a good view in all directions. The location became a favorite haunt for desperados because it was only 23 miles to the U.S. border with Mexico. The melted adobe walls of the cabin can still be seen 200 yards south of the Charleston road and a mile east of the San Pedro River. The cabin is within the federally protected San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area. Information: (520) 439-6400; www.az.blm.gov/nca/spnca/ spmap.htm.

CLIFTON-MORENCI ORPHAN TRAIN DOES A TURNAROUND

The books Foundlings on the Frontier by A. Blake Brophy and The Great Arizona Orphan Abduction by Linda Gordon both tell the story of a 1904 train journey made by 40 Irish orphans from the New York Foundling Hospital to Clifton-Morenci, a predominately Mexican mining camp, where adoptive parents anxiously awaited their arrival. An immigrant priest, recently arrived from France and filling in for the regular pastor, Father Constant Mandin, read a letter from the hospital to his congregation. The letter urged families to adopt the young ones. After the orphans, under age 5, arrived, they were snatched away from their Mexican families-to-be by Anglo vigilantes, furious at this “interracial” transgression. No one could have imagined the furor that followed. The vigilante squad threatened Mandin and local nuns. Finally there were appeals to both the Arizona and the U.S. Supreme Court about the matter. Twenty-one of the children were returned by train, repossessed by the Foundling Hospital, to start again the process of looking for adoptive homes.

Keeping Arizona All to Itself

During a meeting of the U.S. House of Representatives in 1902, Arizona delegate Marcus A. Smith almost died to keep Arizona from merging with New Mexico, according to a Prescott newspaper. While debating statehood for Arizona, New Mexico and Oklahoma, congressman Jesse Overstreet from Indiana offered an amendment that would combine Arizona and New Mexico territories into a state called Montezuma. Smith fought vigorously against Overstreet's amendment. He became so upset at the idea of combining the territories that he suffered a stroke while giving a passionate speech opposing it. Smith survived with the aid of doctors. He recovered to find that his speech and ailment had an effect. Overstreet's amendment lost, 106 to 28, and Arizona became the 48th state on February 14, 1912.

Tucson's Big Red Library Sculpture

Ah, yes, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Since its July 4, 1991, dedication, the monumental sculpture, Sonora, in front of Tucson's main library, has drawn criticism and praise. The massive artwork weighs 32,800 pounds. It's 25 feet high and 43 feet wide, occupying center stage at the Joel D. Valdez Main Library plaza in downtown Tucson. The sculpture's creator, David Black, chose its vibrant red color to enliven the stark white and black of the library and soften the building's sharp angles. Office workers like to eat lunch on its benchlike panels. Others duck under its curves and arches on their way to and from the library. To the sophisticated art lover, the structure is appealing. Modern sculpture is designed to stay fresh and contemporary for decades. Some locals hate it, contending the money it cost could be better spent fixing potholes. Lunch anyone?

Growing Traditions

They say that a true Japanese garden is a work in progress, a reflection of the Japanese respect of nature. Now Arizonans can experience the painstaking beauty of a traditional Japanese Friendship Garden at Margaret T. Hance Park in Central Phoenix. After 16 years of planning and development, the 3.5-acre garden finally opened in November 2002. More than 1,500 tons of rock handpicked from Arizona quarries line the footpaths and waterways, and more than 50 varieties of plants and flowers adorn this vision called Ro Ho En, which was created jointly by the sister cities Phoenix and Himeji, Japan. The garden is open Saturdays, 10 A.M. to 4 P.M. Private tours, school programs and tea ceremonies are available by reservation. Information: (602) 256-3204.

Question of the Month

What is a phytosaur, and what does it have to do with Arizona?

A phytosaur was a crocodilelike reptile that lived only during the Late Triassic period. It ate fish and small creatures that wandered too close to ponds and lakes. Phytosaur fossils have been found at Petrified Forest National Park in northeastern Arizona.

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