Along the Highways and Byways

ALONG THE HIGHWAYS OF "ARIZONA:"

Technical men of the motion picture industry have contended that the making of motion pictures in Arizona would be an easy task because of the abundance of sunshine. After all, you know, good sun is indispensable for good motion pictures. Many localities in the west are unsuitable for pictures because of haze, fog, and general obscurity of the atmosphere.

In the making of the motion picture "Arizona" at Old Tucson last spring, the technical men found another obstacle which, although not serious, had its complications. There was too much sunshine. The clear Arizona air, clearest in the world, and a bright sun literally made things around the set entirely too sunny. What was done? The crew merely took a few hours off around noonday and caught the desired effects in the morning and late afternoon.

Unless you happened to be there you can scarcely visualize the commotion and bustle on the set for the picture "Arizona." Hundreds of extras milling around! Soldiers! Bearded frontier men! Lumbering wagons! Oxen-drawn carts! The vast crew of technical men arranging cameras! Hundreds of Mexican children and their elders, adding the incomparable touch of Old Mexico to Old Tucson! Leading players! Assistant directors! Property men! Remove those picture people from Hollywood and you would have felt you were in Old Tucson around the middle of the past century when the era was alive in fact, and not alive in the chapter of a book, and in a motion picture set.

And through the streets were scattered hundreds of animals for a last note of authenticity. Burros, dogs, chickens, and ducks. One of these ducks apparently was quite a movie fan. With an adulating quack! quack! he followedthe leading lady around wherever she went. And the leading lady, like the good trouper she is, wasn't at all ritzy with her admirer.

A NOTE FROM MR. SHIPPEY'S COLUMN:

Mr. Lee Shippey, noted California newspaper columnist, was an interested visitor at the Flagstaff Pow Wow in July. Judging by his observations in his column, he had a grand time and enjoyed the Indian show to its fullest. Of the weather he wrote: "When I started on this trip I feared I would suffer from heat. I must confess that the only discomfort I felt was while we were still in California. Flagstaff is around 7,000 feet above sea level and 12,000 foot mountains hang over it. The tap water in the hotel is so cold that one feels no need for ice water. The country all around is beautifully wooded. The air is so clear that the stars seem to come halfway down to meet Lowell Observatory, which is located here."

PORTRAIT OF AN ARIZONA SUMMER STORM:

In the morning the sky was brilliantly blue, with only a fleck of cloud, very white and crispy, streaking across the sky. There was little wind on the mountain top, although the haste of the cloud fleck showed a high wind was blowing. It was felt only in the breeze on the mountain top.

As midday approached, the cloud fleck has long since vanished, but other white clouds, all white and crispy, were hurrying by from the west in the blue sky. The clouds seem to be fleeing in terror and you could almost imagine them looking back over their shoulders in affright at some great force that had not yet appeared on the horizon. At noonday, the sun was pounding down, but the heat did not seem to come from the sun, it came from a lack of moving atmosphere. The trees, which had been merrily chattering all morning, were quiet, as if they were weary of all the chattering and wanted to withdraw to themselves for rest. Even the birds were stilled, as if they were also resting.

The sky was intense blue, and the little white clouds that came by now seemed to be loafing along, not hurried or afraid. That clear, bright white was missing in the larger of these clouds. They had dark middles, which made them heavy and slow.

In midafternoon, far to the west, the blue sky seemed to take on a darkish hue, and as the afternoon wore on the west was black and there were signs of lightning and a distant roll of thunder. There were flurries of brisk wind and the trees rustled in the wind, as if they too were trying to flee from the dark, threatening sky.

Then the storm broke. It broke with all the fury, all the devilish glee of an Arizona summer storm. All the blue had suddenly gone out of the sky, and the sun seemed to have been blotted out forever. There was a roll of thunder, loud, shattering thunder, and then lightning leaped all around the high bare mountain peaks and the thunder clapped the louder, as if paying high praise to the leaping lightning.Then the rain came. It came in great white sheets, in pounding torrents, and soon the earth was soaked. The trees bent before the rain. A strong wind lashed the rain against the earth, with all the might andstrength of heavenly forces, as if these forces were combining to destroy the earth.The rain made rivulets along the mountainside, and from many of these rivulets came the music of leaping, running water. For a half hour the rain crashed against the earth, and then it stopped abruptly. It didn't let off gradually. It stopped as quickly as it started. The black menace was moving to the east. There was the blue sky again and the sun. The trees glistened in the sunlight and the drops of rain clinging to the trees were like diamonds. Even the grass on the mountainside sparkled, and from the earth and the trees and the grass came the strong smell of rain and clean earth. All about was peace, and the quiet laugh of nature that has suddenly met and conquered another oppressor. An Arizona summer storm had suddenly come and gone. Only the faint rumble of thunder far to the east and the fast-fading dark sky were reminders that a storm had come that way.

A SAGUARO GLAD HAND:

It would be a very interesting hobby for any traveler through Arizona to gather pictures of strange-shaped saguaros. You could find almost any shape you'd want because the saguaros have a curious way of twisting themselves in the most amazing figures.We were particularly attracted to a snapshot taken of a saguaro on the San Carlos Indian Reservation, on the Ash creek road. This picture was taken by a Miami family out on a picnic one day, and it might be entitled a saguaro glad hand.

One does not need a too vivid imagination to distinguish four fingers and thumb of an outstretched hand. Such a saguaro should be planted at every courtesy station in Arizona. The visitor would feel that he was really getting the royal hand of welcome to Arizona.

... and the Byways

VIVA LA SIESTA! The Mexican siesta habit, that habit of taking a couple of hours off each afternoon for a nap or rest period, has often annoyed American travelers in Mexico. As everyone know los americanos are always up-and-at'em! This American go-get-'em spirit meets a stone wall when it encounters the siesta spirit in Mexico.

But we say Viva la Siesta! It's a perfectly natural and delightful national custom, and it comes not from laziness but from sheer common sense. It is generally warmer in Mexico than it is in this country. Those hours along midday are too warm for comfort. Anyone, except Americans, would avoid the noonday sun and undue activity. That being the only sane and sensible thing to do, the Mexicans shutter their shops, put their work aside and rest the noonday hours away. We reiterate our admiration for this Mexican custom: Viva la Siesta!

THE BYWAY TO TUWEAP: If you refer to your Arizona map you will see where Tuweap is located. It is in the Arizona Strip, about 65 miles south of Short Creek, and a few miles north of the Colorado River tearing through Toroweap (correct for Tuweap) Canyon in the Grand Canyon.

The post office is the ranch house of W. A. Kent, Arizona Strip rancher. The visitor to Tuweap should not fail to drop in and say hello to the Kents. Cabins and accommodations are available. From the Kents you'll learn a lot about a great wild, trackless country, probably the most sparsely settled area in the United States.

Mr. Kent, among other ranching activities, raises mules. His son, Amos, about 10 years old, doesn't get lonely out there on the Strip. He breaks horses for fun and they say he can almost ride a lightning bolt. Mr. Kent has an employe at the ranch whose name is Pete. Pete plays a violin (not a fiddle, you understand) and his knowledge of and love for music is refreshing to behold. Unless you are versed in the great music of the world, you might as well sit quietly and listen. Pete can render Beethoven as easily as "Turkey in the Straw."

In such people and places is found the true greatness of this thing we call America.

THE O'FARRELLS TELL A STORY ABOUT A GUIDE: The O'Farrells at the Gap Trading post on U. S. 89 between Flagstaff and Utah are remarkable people and they maintain a remarkable trading post and stopover for visitors.

Not so very long ago a party of their friends came to the Gap, intending to travel out into the Navajo country. Knowing that their friends were not versed in the ways of Navajo roads, the O'Farrells graciously arranged the services of a Navajo guide.

The party started out. Finally, at the end of a long day's ride, they came to a place where the road forked.

"Which way do we go, right or left?" the guide was asked.

"It doesn't make any difference," the guide said, "you are already way off the right road."

"What do you mean?" This in unison from all members of the party.

"You turned wrong way back there," the Navajo said, pointing westward.

"Why didn't you tell us?" someone screamed.

"You didn't ask me," the guide said quietly.

The Clarkdale-Verde District Kiwanis club has reported few accidents along the highways in their area during the holidays this summer. Thoughtful warnings in the shape of noticeable signs have had some effect upon motorists judging by the safety record. These signs were placed in strategic locations in the Verde Valley and were seen bythousands of motorists headed for the Oak Creek Canyon-Flagstaff region during the Fourth of July.

The safety programs of many of the service clubs in the state are more than commendable.

THE CANYON THAT NOBODY KNOWS: If you spend a day at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon you will leave with the satisfaction of having seen the Canyon and forever after believing that you know all there is to know and to have seen all there is to see of Nature's No. 1 job.

There are so many approaches to the Canyon and so much of the Canyon to be seen that it is doubtful if one traveler, acting the part of the energetic explorer, could see everything in one year.

Such is the amazing make-up of the Grand Canyon of Arizona that from whatever vantage point one chooses to see it, it presents a different personality. Slightly flighty but very enchanting!

Now take the North Rim, for instance. The amount of travel to North Rim is much less than to the South Rim but no one can have seen the Canyon in its fullest glory unless he or she has gone to North Rim.

From the main road leading to North Rim other roads branch off to such fascinating places at Point Imperial, Point Sublime and Cape Royal. These side trips may require a hour or more of extra travel but each trip is replete with travel pleasure. Yes, it's the same old Canyon, but the perspective is different. Changing colors, changing architectural formations, changing worlds!

DEER ON THE KAIBAB: In this world of pursued and pursuing it is always refreshing to view the deer in Grand Canyon National Park on Kaibab Plateau. The North Rim of the Canyon is heavily wooded. Here Kaibab deer live their idyllic life amid such natural splendor that truly their lot should be the envy of all men.

You are traveling down a wide, fine highway that has cut its way with great care through the heavy forest. There will be a meadow along the road, breaking into the forest like squares on a checkerboard. Then in the early morning or late afternoon you can see deer munching in these meadows or ambling with unconcern through the woods.

They are completely unaware of your car and if they turn a careless glance your way you should feel honored. If you stop your car and fumble for your camera they will trot away, nibbling as they trot.

Their disdain and unalarm is superb.

NAVAJO HITCHHIKERS: The road from the Gap to Cameron is a fast road. Speed comes easily, unless you purposely loiter on your way to view the Painted Desert, completely eyefilling.

Then the Navajo hitchhiker appeared from behind a sand dune. He had a rather effective way of asking for a ride. Instead of an adroit thumb, a la American fashion, he leaped into the center of the road, waved his two arms frantically, and danced about. You had to stop for fear of hitting him. The Navajo hitchhiker had seen many suns come and go over that desert, and many a wind had beat those wrinkles into his face.

He could not speak English, but by pointing and continually smiling he indicated his desire for a ride.

"Hop in, buddy!" And in clambered the Navajo hitchhiker.

He rode about 30 miles. Then he indicated his destination was a small trading post a short distance further. At the trading post he got out of the car, shook hands with the driver, smiled so broadly that a thousand more wrinkles danced about his face, and then he went into the trading post.

September in Arizona means that there is just a touch of autumn in the air, but enough of a touch to make you think of fall travel and clothes for winter.

This fall and winter will be a grand time for the visitor to come to Arizona. Northern Arizona is lovely and Southern Arizona, whose winter climate has no equal on earth, comes into all its glory.

Along about the end of September the guest ranch and resort operators will be dusting off the premises in preparation for the coming season, which, by all accounts, will be the most successful in the history of the state. R. C.