Editorials

ARIZONA HIGHWAYS

Published in the Interest of Good Roads by the ARIZONA HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT JOHN C. MCPHEE, Editor CIVILIZATION FOLLOWS THE IMPROVED HIGHWAY

Vol. XI JULY, 1935 No. 7

ARIZONA STATE HIGHWAY COMMISSION SHELTON G. DOWELL, Chairman, Douglas J. W. ANGLE, Vice-Chairman, Tucson C. E. ADDAMIS, Commissioner, Phoenix E. C. SEALE, Commissioner, Prescott JACOB BARTH, Commissioner, St. Johns C. C. JARRETT, Secretary, Mesa

GENERAL OFFICE

T. S. O'CONNELL. State Highway Engineer SID SMYTH, Deputy State Engineer D. B. HUTCHINS Vehicle Superintendent R. A. HOFFMAN, Bridge Engineer E. V. MILLER, Engineer of Plans 1. W. POWERS, Engineer of Materials W. L. CARPENTER, Superintendent of Equipment SWAN A. ERICKSON, Engineer Certification Board J. S. MILLS, Engineer of Estimates H. C. HATCHER, Statistical Engineer W. M. MURRAY, Superintendent of Stores M. L. WHEELER. Chief Accountant C. R. McDOWELL, Patrol Superintendent A. C. SIEBOTH. Right-of-Way Agent W. S. FRERICHS, Purchasing Agent

FIELD ENGINEERS

GEORGE B. SHAFFER, District Engineer District No. 1 F. N. GRANT, District Engineer District No. 2 R. C. PERKINS, District Engineer District No. 3 W. R. HUTCHINS, District Engineer District No. 4

PERCY JONES Chief Locating Engineer

Subscription Rates: $1.00 per Year. Single Copy: 10 Cents Advertising Rates on Request Address All Communications to Editor ARIZONA HIGHWAYS Arizona Highway Department Phoenix, Arizona July, 1935 Do not inspire respect. He was believed to take sometimes the form of an old woman who lured young girls and little children into Superstition mountain where they disappeared forever.

Several times the eagle returned to warn the prophet, who, it must be admitted, should have needed no warning, since he was a prophet, and was expected to know what was to come. The third time the eagle came, he sat outside the prophet's house and called out to him: "Take heed: the valleys of the Salt and Gila rivers will soon be under water. Save yourself, even if you do not wish to save others.

Then before the prophet could wink an eye, the eagle rose into the air, and at the same moment the thunder crashed and the lightning flashed, and a great sea of water rolled up over what had been but a minute before the pleasant Salt and Gila plains.

The waters covered everything, including the house where the prophet had lived.

Every living thing perished except one man; Szeukha, the son of the creator, had been saved by floating upon a ball of sweet-smelling resin.

When the waters receded, Szeukha landed upon Superstition mountain, not far from the Salt River. Here he found a cave which he thereafter made his home.

He resolved to kill the eagle, and so he made a ladder from switches tied together with woodbine. Climbing up the escarpment of Superstition mountain, to where the eagle lived, Szeukha killed him. But Szeukha did not go unpunished for this crime; for (Continued on Page 27)

HIGHWAY HEADACHES

A LEGEND OF SUPERSTITION Cover Picture by Norman G. Wallace One day, when the creator of the world was in a creative mood, so say the Pima Indians, he looked out over the great mass of nothingness, and created the land.

Then he assumed the form of a butterfly and flew over the world looking for the best place to create man. Finally he determined upon the Gila valley.

He took some red clay in his hands, and wetting it with his sweat, he made it into a lump. He breathed upon it with his breath and it became filled with life and began to move. At last the lump separated into two parts and became man and woman. The descendants of this couple peopled the Gila and Salt River valleys.

Now the creator had a son, named Szeukha, who lived neighbor to a great prophet, whose name has been forgotten.

One night the prophet was awakened from his sleep by a great noise. He looked out of his house and saw an immense eagle.

"Awake," said the eagle, "thou healer and prophet! Surely you know what is to come. A great flood is at hand."

"Go away," said the prophet, "and don't bother me."

And he wrapped his garment around him, went back to bed, and fell to sleep.

Do not blame the prophet for his apparent unbelief in the eagle, for the bird had a reputation which did