The 1990s

Although Arizona Highways would turn 65 in 1990, the decade became known as the Early Years, a name that reflects the administration of Bob Early, who replaced Merrill Windsor as editor in June 1990. In his first column, he talked about a new direction: "Beginning this fall, the magazine will intensify its travel reports. Each month we'll feature a short hiking story, pointing out places to walk and letting you know what kind of experiences to expect. And we'll do a longer story about a travel destination, a place to enjoy for a week-end or a week."

The inaugural "hiking story" was published in October 1990 and featured Camelback Mountain. Twenty-five years later, the Hike of the Month is still one of our most popular departments.

While the content was changing in the early 1990s, so was the magazine's schematic. In January 1992, in an issue that featured John Wayne on the cover, the page count expanded from 48 to 56. "It's the first regular page increase in 20 years," the editors proclaimed. In addition, the new year brought more new content. "Each month we will carry back road adventures, tales of lost treasures, great events that make Arizona special, outdoor recreational activities and a humor page dealing with the lighter side of Arizona living."

All of those things would become hallmarks of Mr. Early's time in office - in particular, the humor page, which featured material submitted by readers. The magazine paid $75 for knee-slappers like this from Thomas Smith of Pocatello, Idaho: "I am afraid of heights. So on a trip to Arizona, my family had to blindfold me and take me to the bottom of the Grand Canyon so I could see it."

Not everyone appreciated the "humor." One subscriber from Sedona wrote: "Your magazine has been my favorite for 35 years... but I must tell you how bad your Arizona Humor is. Your selection of non-humor stories absolutely stinks."

In keeping with the spirit of the subject, Mr. Early replied: "All humor submissions are read by a crack team of highly trained professionals."

Admittedly, most of the humor was light on humor, but no one could argue with the photography in the 1990s, which ranks as some of the best in the his-tory of the magazine. In fact, of the 100 images in our book 100 Greatest Photo-graphs to Ever Appear in Arizona Highways Magazine, 13 came from the 1990s. Gary Ladd, Jerry Jacka, Jack Dykinga, Randy Prentice, Tom Danielsen, Jerry Sieve, Steve Bruno, David Muench and Marc Muench (the son of David) are among the many talented artists who graced our pages in the last decade of the millennium.

The impressive photography, along with stories about cowboys and cac-tuses, continued as the years rolled on. The decade, however, would end in "scandal." The word "scandal" is in quotes because of the unlikely response to our infamous "swimsuit issue."

By Sports Illustrated standards, it was tame even a Land's End catalog is more suggestive. Nonetheless, it caused an uproar.

In a subsequent explanation, Mr. Early wrote: "Television stations, talk radio and the newspapers wondered how this venerable publication could dare to put a swimsuit-clad woman on the cover. Never mind that it was a conservative photo, suggesting nothing but playing in a waterfall."

Readers were uncomfortable, too. In a letter to the editor, Bud Lofvenborg of Prescott wrote: "Just a thought for you. Please let's keep Arizona Highways as beautiful as it has been for years and leave the girls in swimsuits off the front cover." What the media and Mr. Lofvenborg failed to understand was that swimsuit covers weren't unprecedented. In June 1939, Editor Raymond Carlson ran a cover shot of three women wearing bathing suits. Still, 60 years later, our "scan-dalous" cover made headlines and put an exclamation point on the 20th century.

1991 WASTEWATER WETLANDS

Larry Tritten asks, “What were roadrunners called before there were roads?” Anyone from the Southwestern United States, including Colorado, and any standard dictionary can tell him Geococcyx californianus has been called the chaparral cock for as long as I can re-member, and that is over 70 years. Will someone please clue Larry in on this fact? Harold E. Copeland Littleton, CO He's been clued. But won't anyone stand up for the noble coyote? He practically leads a dog's life.

Letters to the editor, including this one from August 1991, have long served to put us and other readers in our places.

In keeping with the tradition started by Editor Raymond Carlson in the 1940s, this Robert McCall painting of the USS Arizona ran on the inside front cover in April 1991. The story it promoted was titled Last Battle of the U.S.S. Arizona, and marked the upcoming 50th anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack.

This feature, which appeared in June 1991, marked the advent of more extensive environmental and investigative reporting in Arizona Highways. It's a tradition that continues today through the work of journalists like Terry Greene Sterling.

1992

As the new decade rolled on, the magazine continued its tradition of featuring Arizona's Native cultures with this cover, from November 1992.

Photo by Jeff Kida

Writer Charles Bowden and Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer Jack Dykinga joined forces again for this feature, titled Baboquivari: A Place Outside of Time. It ran in January 1992 and was one of many collaborative pieces by Bowden, who died in August 2014, and Dykinga.

1993

CHATO THE BETRAYED

There is no more disgraceful page Naiche, son of Cochise, and all of in American Indian annals than that the Apache warriors, Gen. George which conceals the treachery and Crook, his commanding officer and spoliation good friend, had been dead for Chato and the Chiricahua scouts nearly 44 years. The other officers who remained loyal to the U.S. with whom he served were gone, government. scattered among the dead at -Capt. John G. Bourke Gatewood and Davis. Most of his On the Soldier and the Crook.

President Grover Cleveland was dead. Yes, that giver of medals, that taker of medals, that "Great White Father" who said, "Let them rot." That SOS, the old man mumbled to himself.

It was all very confusing. People racing about, tearing down the camp, packing everything so they could slip into the deep canyons where the soldiers could never find them.

Though in open revolt, the iron will of the Apache had fought against the far wall of the reservation. "The younger men watched them through narrowed eyes and the old men watched them now," said one of the younger men who had ridden with Chato in the Apache wars. "Grandfather," he replied. His friend was right. He would go in a few mo ments. He would watch the shadows shift, the shadows lengthen. He would watch the dancing feet. He would watch the shadows lengthen. He would watch the pine-covered ridges of the Chiricahua Mountains. He would go to Arizona. Back to the campfires of long ago.

One of those at the table looked like a grandfather. The old man drank. Grandfather? The old man looked up. The younger man crossed the room and knelt beside the old man gently. "It is cold tonight, Grand father. The moon is full. The wind and the road down the mountain is covered with snow. Your wife will snow. Your wife will worry."

"All an Apache truth is the high est virtue," his mother reminded him. "The white eyes away. But the Apache know nothing of this boy. They called Cochise a liar and made him a person rot. But he escaped. Now is a time for all Apaches to return to the land of the land of the Chiricahuas." His mother had stopped. She laughed, and he closed his throat. His mother had stopped. She laughed, and he closed the white eyes away. But the Apache know nothing of this boy. They called 1871, the Chiricahua were given reservation in the desert. But Cochise died in 1874, though, the Apache were forced to move the Apache were forced to move to the San Carlos Reservation on the Carlon reservation on the desert Carlon reservation on the desert young boy now grown to manhood Apache were forced to move living in the camps of Cochise, he living in the camps of Cochise, he living in the camps of Cochise, he nor. And he did. His adult name was Chato. He was one of the last mem bers of the U.S. military who fought the renegade Apache during the 1970s and '80s considered Chato a subchief of the Chiricahua brilliant enemy tactician on the bat tlefield, a man of extraordinary skill and daring. He also was known to be According to the white man's records, the old man was dead. Perhaps that was so, he told himself. He would watch the shadows very soon, and nearly all of the others were gone.

One of those at the table looked like a grandfather. The old man staggered itself around him. The sun light was gone. The old man reached for his hat, and his dreams carried him back to the Chiricahua Mountains.

The Apaches were dead, so were Cochise of kidnapping a white boy. "A white boy no older than you. A white boy no older than you. But Cochise did not have blue eyes.

He has lived at peace with them.

14 February 1993 Artist Kevin Kibsey's illustrations accompanied this story about Chato, an Apache leader, for our February 1993 issue. Today, Kibsey illustrates each of the maps that appear in the Scenic Drive and Hike of the Month sections of the magazine.

Donkeymania 1994

Marc Muench, the third generation in the Muench family to shoot for us, captured quite an adventure shot for a story about rock-climbing in Sedona in October 1994.

Apparently, the staff was in the mood to clown around for this back cover, which ran in March 1994.

Artist Jack Graham created a sculpture of Theodore Roosevelt in his namesake lake for our May 1994 issue.

'THEODORE ROOSEVELT IS A LAKE IN ARIZONA' AND OTHER OBSERVATIONS BY CHILDREN

WE'D LIKE TO Η

CELEBRATING OUR 90th ANNIVERSARY 1925-2015

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ANG WITH YOU

In August 1940, Arizona Highways Art Director George Avey created the now-iconic map that's featured on the back cover of our special 90th Anniversary issue. To celebrate that milestone, we're offering a limited-edition print of Mr. Avey's map.

To order, visit www.shoparizonahighways.com or call 800-543-5432. Use code P5D8AP when ordering to take advantage of this special offer. *Pricing does not include shipping and handling charges.

1995

The People of Dinétah

Stretching north from the Dinnebito Trading Post, across Big Mountain and up to Black Mesa, is a road I have traveled many times, searching, listening, and waiting. This is the heart of the Navajo reservation, remote, sprawling across almost 25,000 square miles of land that has been the traditional home of countless generations of an ancient people. And it was the people that I had come to photograph for my book Navajo: Portrait of a Nation. But at times, The mere mention that I was a photographer prompted my removal from the premises. To overcome this barrier, I had to take “No!” as“Maybe” and “Maybe” as “Probably, but not today.” In time, though, I began finding willing subjects, like Slim Biakeddy near Big Mountain, or artists like sculptor Oreland Joe of Shiprock. I became adept at recruiting and found subjects at rodeos, trading posts, fairgrounds, political meetings, and tent revivals throughout this timeless land. From this portfolio's conception, I sought to portray the pride and dignity of the Navajo people, to show them as they truly are.

Photographer Joel Grimes' portraits of Navajo people ran as a portfolio in June 1995. Later, Grimes revisited his images as part of a portfolio in September 2013.

Our own webmaster, Vicky Snow, illustrated the Arizona Humor page with this cartoon in September 1995.

This stunning photograph of Seneca Falls on San Carlos Apache Tribe land appeared as part of a portfolio of waterfalls by photographer Charles Chanley in May 1995.

Navajo photographer LeRoy DeJolie captured this image for our December 1996 cover. For several years, staffers would transport Christmas trees to various Arizona destinations, such as Antelope Canyon, to create holiday-themed covers.

Tales of murder and intrigue, like the stories at right, were common in the magazine in the 1990s, as were spot illustrations like the one below. which appeared in a department in the back of the magazine. These selections show how digital tools such as Photoshop began allowing more creativity in layouts and image manipulation.

1997

This bold design, unlike anything you'd see today, ran in November 1997. It's an example of how technological advances of the 1990s allowed more layout creativity.

1998

humor:

Fishermen talk about the fish that got away, and cowboys talk about the cows that didn't Humor, including reader-submitted jokes and cartoons, was a large part of the magazine from 1992 to 2005. Some readers continue to submit their jokes to the magazine today. The illustration by Maurice Lewis at right appeared in April 1999 as part of Gene Perret's Wit Stop column.

This cover, which was published in August 1999, caused quite a stir when hundreds of readers wrote to complain about the bikini-clad model.

Portfolios of fall color have long appeared in Arizona Highways. This photograph by Mark Thaler was featured in October 1999.