Characters in Cactus

Are there anywhere else stranger beings than these?

You might find one which, starting to grow straight and tall, suddenly developed a crown of twisted knots and bows, as if subjected to a superb hairdresser who seemed to get mixed up with the instruments.

Some break into fan-shaped formations, for no reason at all, recalling a dancer of old Spain in the fandango. Here are a chummy group with arms entwined, bold fellows shamelessly embracing and being embraced in broad daylight. Then you will find another. clinging to life, poor chap, whose lifeless spines stand out in all directions and badly in need of combing.

One will catch your eye, reminding you of a venerable grandfather, bent with the load of philosophy and learning that comes with the heavy years. If you take yourself to the desert and look around you will be surprised with what you find there.

Truly a meeting with such Fancy Dans as these is something to seek after. . . R. C.

A Letter to a Traveler:

My dear sir: You say that you and your family are considering a trip West soon and you would like to know something of the area and something of the climate of the place you plan to reside in during the next few months. By now you will have received some literature and maps that have been sent you. We refer you to them with the hope they may guide you to the most delightful winter vacation you have ever spent.

The winter climate of central and southern Arizona is the finest on earth and the most healthful and invigorating. If you have traveled a lot, and presumably you have, you no doubt expect nothing but superlatives in travel literature and in any travel prospectus. We speak of our climate only in the superlative because out here we are blessed with the most possible sunshine per hour and the finest air you ever hope to breathe. All climatic studies and charts reveal that. Therefore, we use superlatives as the only possible means of doing justice to our sun-blessed land.

We would not care to advise you on how to get out here to the heart of the Old West. The major transportation companies have trains, planes and busses coming out here each day. If you wish to drive we assure you that the highways leave nothing to be desired.

As to accommodations you will have a world of services to choose from. From Beaver Creek to Nogales, from Yuma to Wickenburg, there are resorts, ranches, hotels, inns and courts all at your command. Should you care to rent an apartment or a house, anything you desire will be found in all the towns and cities of central and southern Arizona. Every community in our area has active Chambers of Commerce, the ladies and gentlemen of which will serve you in all ways until you feel perfectly at home.

How you spend your time will depend, of course, on you and your family. A couple of months in the desert doing nothing but sitting in the sun will rest your soul and mind and body as nothing else can. If you care to spend gay weekends traveling, all of scenic and colorful Arizona awaits you. From Boulder Dam and Grand Canyon, from Painted Desert and Petrified Forest, to the Territorial Prison at Yuma and the Chiricahua National Monument in Cochise county, a travel world full of beauty and historic interest is there for you. We urge you to spend a week at least following the highroads south from our state to Guaymas, Sonora, Mexico, that beautiful little city on the Gulf of California. If you care to fish, you'll gather enough fish stories to regale your neighbors for months when you return home. At Rocky Point and Guaymas is the best deep sea fishing in the world, and we say that, too, realizing you have a distrust of superlatives.

There is much to do and to see during the next few months in our state. There are the big rodeos at Phoenix and Tucson during February and in late February and early March the Arizona State Citrus show is held in Mesa. You will find these superb entertainment, and your children will be delighted. Your youngest son may resolve to be a rodeo performer after seeing the rodeos in Phoenix and Tucson, but don't be alarmed because 'most everybody wants to perform in a rodeo until the first bronc comes along.

We sincerely urge you, as you plan to do, to remain here during the spring months. For the first time in years, our desert this spring will blossom forth in full spring finery. We haven't had much rain these past few years, but this season the rains have been bountiful and that means our desert will never be more beautiful. Our desert in full spring dress-what a delightful time is ahead of you.

We wish to thank you again for your inquiry and we hope you come to the old West for a winter and spring visit. We feel sure you and your family will have the most enjoyable vacation possible.

Yours sincerely, Arizona Highways.

Fancies in February

The young lady, pictorially portrayed on our front cover, sitting with such natural ease on a ranch gate is no stranger to ranches or ranch gates. She has spent all of her life on an Arizona ranch, and at this particular moment is considered the finest cowgirl in the world. She is Miss Cherrie Osborn, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Osborn of the Diamond Two near Kirkland, in Yavapai county. In as much as February is the big rodeo month in Arizona and in as much as folks attending the Phoenix and Tucson shows will probably see Cherrie Osborn in action, we felt it was time to present her to readers of ARIZONA HIGHWAYS. Within are words and pictures, telling something of Cherrie Osborn as a cowhand on her father's ranch, as a student at Arizona State Teachers College at Flagstaff, and as a performing rodeo star. Max Kegley is responsible for the pictorial presentation of Miss Osborn. We want you to know her better, because we know you will like her a lot.

To complete our rodeo theme we have a feature in which we present a few action pictures and a bookful of sketches by Ross Santee, premier Western artist. (Ross won't like that sendoff but anyway you'll not get such action in such few and dramatic lines if you search from now to doomsday.) We are happy to call to the attention of our readers the Arizona State Citrus Show to be held in Mesa the last week in February and the first week in March. This Citrus show is becoming of greater importance each year in our western firmament and we suggest that if you are interested in citrus and many other Arizona farm products you attend this show.

Last issue, in our presentation of Governor Sidney P. Osborn, we were at fault when we said he was the only Arizona governor born in the state. Tom Campbell, one of Governor Osborn's predecessors in office, also has the distinction of having been born in Arizona. Therefore, ARIZONA HIGHWAYS apologizes to former Governor Campbell for the omission. It's quite an honor to be born in Arizona, and no one knows that better than ARIZONA HIGHWAYS.

In this issue we are proud to present a review of a book. It is a significant book because its author is Dr. Byron Cummings, one of the great scholars of our generation. The book deals with his years of excavation of Kinishba, the prehistoric pueblo near Fort Apache, and no library or book shelf dealing with Arizona and the west would be complete without it. The review is doubly significant because it is written by Dorothy Challis Mott, a close friend of Dr. Cummings, and herself a deep student of archeology. The book was published under the auspices of the Hohokam Museums Association and the University of Arizona. The Association is worthy of note. Its president is Dr. Cummings, H. H. d'Autremont is treasurer and Mrs. Anna Mae McGrath is secretary. A group of lay-archeologists, the Hohokam Museums Association has rendered valuable financial aid to various worthy archeological endeavors in this state.

Another meritorious thing about the book is that it is the work of Arizona printers and engravers.

To complete our pages this issue we have an account of the Bighorn Sheep by Roscoe G. Willson, a presentation of the Western Saddle by the Arizona Writers Project, and an introduction to an Arizona artist, Ted De Grazia of Bisbee.

Again we thank you for your attention and hope that sometime this winter or spring we'll see you out our way.... R. C.

ARIZONA HIGHWAYS

PUBLISHED IN THE INTEREST OF GOOD ROADS BY ARIZONA HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT RAYMOND CARLSON, EDITOR ADDRESS ALL COMMUNICATIONS TO ARIZONA HIGHWAYS, ARIZONA HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT, PHOENIX, ARIZONA CONCEIVED AND PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA For february, nineteen hundred forty one, arizona highways has the distinction of presenting in words and pictures arizona, its roads and its people, and things that are happening, as follows:

Characters in Cactus saguaros strangely formed

Trails in the Desert places to dream in the sun Cherrie Osborn: World's Champion Cowgirl an arizona ranch girl who really rides Arizona State Citrus Show homage to an arizona product February Is Rodeo Month phoenix and tucson present the finest performers in the world

Two Pages from a Rodeo Sketchbook By Ross Santee

Kinishba: A Prehistoric Pueblo of a Great Pueblo Period a review of a book by dr. byron cummings Kinishba Pottery in Color.Center Panels The Western Saddle men directed the winning of the west from a saddle seat

De Grazia the presentation of a bisbee artist

Bighorn Sheep of the Arizona Desert protected sheep thrive here

Graham County a sketch of an arizona county

The Perfect Driver no. 1 chauffeur's license issued Road Projects Under Construction bigger and better roads Along the Highways and Byways a note gathered here and there Yours Sincerely and Sincerely to You...

1941 Arizona Highway Map.Inside Back Panel Back Panel