A Final Thought

IT IS MANY CANYONS IN ONE. It is a different canyon for every person who sees it, and each time one sees it, it becomes a different canyon. A bother on the person who says, "Oh, yes, I have seen the Grand Canyon." Oh, no, my dear Sir or Madam as the case may be, you have not seen the Grand Canyon. "I beg your pardon, my impudent young man, I spent two hours at the Grand Canyon on my way to Los Angeles to visit my sister in 1938." And I beg your pardon also, my dear Sir or Madam as the case may be, you have not seen the Grand Canyon. I would gladly like to strangle both you and your sister. You have only seen a tiny part of it, for no man in his life, looking over time, can truly say, "I have seen the Grand Canyon." Have you seen the Grand Canyon at sunrise when the red gold of a new day erases the sleepiness and blackness of night throwing waves of color on the canyon walls? Have you seen it at sunset when the long, blueish, silent shadows creep from the depths of the canyon to the world above? And if you have, was it from the South, the North or the East Rims, and if it was, on which of the hundreds of vantage points on each of these rims did you stand? And, if you remember, was it just before or after a rain and was it in July or November or when? And was there a haze lending softness and enchantment to the view so that the canyon fortresses within the canyon looked like vague castles from which a cavalcade of Knights of the Crusades, with plumes flying, might come charging any minute?

Here is a tiny creek, surely not big enough to be called a river, which in its short life's span from tiny springs from canyon walls to the Colorado lives a happy life and a complete one. This creek, the Cataract, is a merry little stream, singing over its falls, gurgling through its pools, shouting its laughter through its rapids, splashing merrily over the rocks and boulders against which it has deposited layers of travertine. The red walls of the canyon tower over the merry stream and the infinitely gentle Indians who live within their boundaries, as much a part of the canyon as the stream itself. Perhaps these Indians are the true canyon people, for they alone fit in the country, unobtrusive and belonging.

Only the Navajo Indians, for instance, truly fit in such places as Canyon de Chelly and Canyon del Muerto in northeastern Arizona, colorful and majestic parts of that colorful and majestic empire of wind and sun and sand and storm called Navajoland. These canyons are historical markers in the saga of the Navajo and the West. In one of these high canyon walls a long time ago a group of Navajos, women and children, tried to hide from cruel invaders in a cave only to be found out and put to death, trapped in the very canyon walls that they believed were bulwarks of protection—but they reckoned not with rifle fire. And that is why today that canyon is called Canyon del Muerto, the canyon of death.

The high, frowning walls of this canyon have watched over other terrible events in the lives of the Navajo people, for here the proud Indians fled from the U. S. Army, led by Kit Carson, and from here they began the long walk to captivity in the days when they were at war with the white man. The silent walls of their canyons watched them in their defeat, and they watched just as silently their return and they watched their reestablishment as a proud, courageous people now at peace with their neighbors in the fair land. These canyons, under the protection of the U. S. Government as Canyon de Chelly National Monument, remain as they always were—canyons of the Navajos. Sheep graze in them, splotches of white against the towering red walls. A long time ago peach trees were planted in the canyons, some say by the ancient Spaniards, and the gay green of the old orchards stands out against the harmony of red on all sides, the brown earth in the bottom of the canyon and the blue sky above.

And there are so many other canyons for you to discover in the Navajo country that if you spent all your days in them you would not have time to see them all. White man has yet to know all of Navajo Canyon, its secrets still part of the soul of its Indians. Coal Canyon and Blue Canyon, in the southern part of the reservation, not far from Tuba City, are little canyon gems in a setting of interminable Navajo desert country, too little known by the traveler.

This vast Navajo country is the country where the elements have danced their maddest dances, flinging the landscape about in high abandon, slashing and hacking and cutting and carving the colored land, piling up beauty without end, not realizing, nor perhaps not caring, that the mad fling has resulted in a country beyond compare, a wonderland of canyons, mesas, mountains and desert.

These high canyon walls in the Navajo country have lent their shelter and protection to other people long before either the red man or the white man came this way. White House Ruins in Canyon de Chelly was built in the canyon wall by a race of prehistoric people hundreds of years ago and Betatakin in Betatakin Canyon, a part of Navajo National Monument, knew also the early ones, the wind today singing in long-abandoned rooms of what was a teeming dwelling. And all through this vast canyon land of the West is evidence of other peoples and other civilizations who sought the canyons to watch over them and keep them safe from the weather and their foes. Tonto Ruins, overlooking Roosevelt Lake, were strategically built in a canyon wall, and this, too, is now a national monument where modern man tries to preserve fragments of a misty past.

Only the canyon walls know the true story, know the happiness and the tragedy of the first people who came to the canyon country, but these walls remain silent and secretive, disclosing none of the gossip that the aeons have to tell of other ages, as silent and secretive as they will be in withholding our fables and vanities when we, too, have perished in the dust.

Southward from the Navajo country and the Grand Canyon the country rolls itself out on a high plateau which breaks off at the foot of San Francisco Peaks and Bill Williams Mountain. It levels off and then breaks off abruptly along the Mogollon Rim and the plateau becomes canyons again.

Of these canyons, the canyon curious will find Sycamore a worthy wilderness to explore. Sycamore begins south of Williams and ends up in the Verde Valley. This is a wild canyon, full of game, and it is doubtful that more than ten white men have ever explored it from end to end.

There is water in Sycamore. The vegetation is heavy and thick, the canyon itself so rough it is almost impossible to traverse by horseback.

Where Sycamore is a rough, untamed wilderness, large and gruff, Oak Creek Canyon is gentle and serene. A modern paved highway, Alternate U. S. 89, dreams along its course on the way from Jerome to Flagstaff. Little farms and orchards are green and fragrant along the little stream called Oak Creek that meanders so happily down the canyon into the Valley of the Verde. The canyon walls are not entirely bare but are covered with trees and other vegetation so that the color of the walls themselves is more attractive still, showing bright and strong through the verdure.

Oak Creek Canyon is a veritable Eden, a dreamy place of repose and seclusion. Many people find it so because it is dotted with lodges and guests come from everywhere to relax in its cool silence and inspiring surroundings. Some people, knowing intimately many of the canyons in the canyon country say that Oak Creek Canyon is the most beautiful and attractive of all. Let every person to his taste, but no person will ever be disappointed in this canyon.

Following the Mogollon Rim to the White Mountains, you come across hundreds of other canyons and few are as delectable as the high mountain canyons in eastern Arizona, dressed in forests, possessing small mountain streams that loaf along through small farms in the canyon bottoms.

SWINGING DOWN FROM THE WHITE MOUNTAINS

if you chose U. S. 60, you will invariably stop at the summit and look down into the Canyon of the Salt River, the road a white ribbon picking its way carefully down the dull brown canyon sides.

This canyon is one of those surprises the motorist finds when he travels the westward trails through our land. People do not talk much about it. Suddenly you come upon it yourself and you do so with a sense of discovery, as if you alone had found it.

The Salt River, which you cross, has done work on a Herculean scale in digging this canyon, but it has a lot more work to do before it becomes a farmer and helps to water the fields in the Salt River Valley.

In its downward journey from the high mountains it travels through many canyons until it comes to Roosevelt Lake. Then it drops through a series of dams and reservoirs between high canyon walls before it is allowed to resume its journey to the green valley and later on to the sea. You can watch the river part of the way along the Apache Trail, where road and river find formidable canyons to cross. The Canyon of Fish Creek, for instance, was always a fearsome thing for the traveler, the road hanging as if by a thread from the high canyon walls. A better road was finally built but even so this canyon is something even the most daring looks down into with a gulp.

So wherever you go in this land of ours you'll come across canyons. You'll even find them on mountain tops as you will when you visit Chiricahua National Monument in the Chiricahua Mountains in Cochise county. The canyons themselves in this area are bounded by rock formations in every conceivable size and shape, moulded deftly by all the tools of the weather.

Where the hills and the mountains break off into the desert you come upon marvellous canyon formations. Sabino Canyon joins the desert and the mountains in Pima County retaining both the design of desert and mountain, losing nothing but gaining from the two, and remaining a canyon in every detail, truly a scenic spot and delightful to see.

And so it goes in this, the canyon country. You will find big canyons and little ones, each with a personality of its own. Tombstone, Aravaipa, Bloody Tanks, White Horse, Six Shooter, Echo, Cave Creek, White and Red and Black and Green—all canyons as picturesque as their names, to mention a few in the endless list.

When the time comes, and it will come soon, to travel again the exciting trails through our West, you can seek out canyons for yourself. The canyons and the country will be here. The canyons are part of the country and like the country they never change, for they are governed only by the moods of time, wind, and the weather.—Raymond Carlson.

The Arizona Temple Shrine of Mormonism

Striking in its great beauty and elegant simplicity of design, the Arizona Mormon Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, one of eight such shrines in the entire world, was constructed and dedicated to the highest ideals of Mormonism—an architectural tribute to Mormon pioneering in Arizona—truly the apex in their colonization of the state and fitting climax and reward for their years of pioneering struggles.

This glorious shrine, located on the eastern edge of the city of Mesa, sixteen miles east of Phoenix in the rich agricultural Valley of the Sun, reflects in its architectural completeness, a triumph in American adaptation from Classic examples. While Colonial in appearance, the design is not of any particular period. The intrinsic beauty of the structure in enhanced by spectacular landscaping, and at night its sheer loveliness is intensified by batteries of floodlights which play upon the gleaming exterior revealing the temple's elegant form in all its glory—truly symbolizing the designation of "The House of the Lord."

Mormon temples are not to be confused with regular church meeting houses where public worship is conducted. People of the Mormon Faith have erected more than a thousand such buildings for general assembly on the Sabbath Day, and for other occasions. Such activities, comparable to those of churches of other denominations, are aside and distinctly apart from the purpose and uses of the temples. Temples are erected and always have been for the performing of certain sacred ordinances which are administered nowhere else, and which are Distinctly associated with the gospel of Jesus Christ taught by the Latter-Day Saints.

Mormon temples are sanctuaries where altars for rituals and covenants are maintained, and only members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints who strictly adhere to the rigorous code of moral and spiritual discipline made obligatory by certain church writs, are permitted use of these holy temples.

Among the particular sacred services performed in the temples are, baptism for the dead, whereby living proxies may be baptised in behalf of the deceased; temple marriages, where contracting parties are joined for time and all eternity; and the sealing of children to their parents.

There are eight temples now in use in the Church. The temple at Salt Lake City, the St. George Temple, the Logan Temple and the Manti Temple all in Utah, the Hawaiian Temple at Laie, Oahu, and the Canadian Temple at Cardston, Alberta, Canada. The most recent temple completed is at Idaho Falls, Idaho, and in addition to these, two more are planned for the immediate future in California—one near Los Angeles, and the other near Oakland.

The Arizona Temple's architects were Don C. Young and Ram Hansen of Salt Lake City, the former being a grandson of Brigham Young, and the latter a convert from Norway. They were awarded the position in competition with six other architectural firms whose plans were submitted to a committee of church authorities. This firm of architects drew the plans and supervised the building of the elegant capitol of Utah, and also the beautiful Latter-Day Saints Chapel in our nation's capital.

The Arizona Temple is built of reinforced concrete. Including the annexes which surround the temple proper, the building is 128 feet north and south by 184 feet east and west, with an elevation of fifty feet above foundation.

The intrinsic beauty of the temple is enhanced by spectacular landscaping, and the mirrored pool which extends from the entrance gate to the temple, is banked with flowers and shrubbery, perfecting an atmosphere of tranquility and serenity in keeping with the dignity of the temple and its surroundings.

On the north, south and the east, the annexes are separated by open colonnades or courts, which are beautified by shrubbery, grasses and flowers and are open above to the spacious canopy of heaven.

The tract on which the temple is built is surrounded by a nine-foot steel fence which is banked with flowering plants and accentuated by the Classic entrance gate pillars. Towering Italian cypress trees predominate the impressive scene.

tions. The foundation of the building on the north is ten feet, four inches wide; on the east and west, ten feet and eleven inches in width; and on the south, twelve feet, six inches wide. On this foundation to the level of the first floor, the walls are four feet thick. All concrete is reinforced with steel; 130 tons of steel having been used in the structure. To these are tied the concrete floors, stairways and roof, and around them are constructed a brick wall three feet and nine inches thick, which is faced on its exposed surface with burned cream-colored fire-clay bricks having an egg-shell glaze, known as Pulsichrome terra cotta. Its glowing color was obtained by spraying each block with a certain substance before it was placed in the kiln.

The building faces both the east and the west, although the general entrance is from the west. On all but the west side, the annexes are separated by open colonnades or courts which are beautified by shrubbery, grasses and flowers, and are open above to the canopy of heaven. The landscape gardening continues out for 35 feet from these courts surrounding the building, on a terrace four feet high, which together with the one-story annexes, gives the temple a terraced appearance similar to the Temple of Herod and many temples found on the American continent of ancient origin. The grounds are laid out according to the landscape artist's design with beautiful shrubs, grass, flowers, giant Italian cypress trees and gorgeous silver palms as well as many varieties of citrus trees and rose bushes.

The original design of the interior of the temple follows an original plan supposedly based on that of the Temple of Solomon.

Inasmuch as a multitude of people, over 200,000, were shown through the Arizona Temple before dedication, when the general public was excluded thereafter from the interior of the temple itself; a general description of what they saw follows, although the great beauty of design and coloring cannot possibly be given justifiable treatment. This description is contained in the "Genealogical and Historical Magazine of the Arizona Temple District," and was prepared by F. T. Pomeroy, and made available by James W. Lesueur.

"Approaching the temple from the west, broad granite flagstones arranged in walks invites us to enter. These walks lead by the large mirrored pool in which is reflected the brilliant outline of the temple beyond. The temple door is approached by a series of wide granite steps. The granite for the steps came from Massachusetts. Over the entrance door are the words, in large gilt letters: "The House of the Lord erected by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints."

Entering, we see to the right, the cloak rooms of the workers; to the left, the chapel of the temple. Passing through the vestibule, we enter the foyer. To the right we see the children's room, and to the left is the recorder's room, the president's office and the large vaults where the records are stored for generations to come.

Just inside the foyer, over the door, are the words: "Blessed are they who obey the Gospel." Over the main entrance door in the foyer are the words: "Holiness to the Lord." Over the door of the main entrance inside the temple proper are the Savior's words: "Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God."

The golden travis marble which adorns the foyer and forms the baseboard in all these rooms, is about three feet high and comes from Mt. Nebo Marble Works of Utah. A beautiful polished light gray Tennessee marble which we see as we enter the temple proper lines the walls from floor to ceiling and covers the steps of the grand stairway.

From this point we look through the vaulted entrance, which represents the condition of burial "below the surface of the earth." As we glance upward along the grand marble stairway we view the landings connecting the different rooms, representing the progress achieved in life by the human race. Six feet above the landing of the Creation Room is the landing of the Celestial Room, the highest of all; the journey between the two rooms symbolizing a graphic picture of the important steps in the scriptural life.

Passing through the spacious marble hall, we enter the baptistry. In the center of the large room is located the baptismal font. This font rests on the backs of twelve life-size terra cotta oxen symbolizing the twelve tribes of Israel, similar to those in the Temple of Solomon. Ornamenting the sides of the font is tile work representing reeds, water lilies and other plant life, such as are found near the water's edge.

This font is said to be the most beautiful and expensive of all those found in the temples of the Church. The oxen were cast from the same moulds used for making the oxen in the Canadian Temple. The models from which the oxen were made were sculptured originally by Avard Fairbanks and the California Faience Company cast them in a special kiln built for the purpose.

The main entrance door to the temple is approached by a series of wide granite steps. Up to the time of the dedication in 1927, upwards of 200,000 visitors passed through this entranceway and were shown through the spacious rooms and hallsthe beauty and colorings of which cannot be adequately described with mere words.

On the temple grounds are hundreds of varieties of flowers, plants and trees, from roses to blood-red cockscomb, from sedate arborvite to fashioned hedges, from exquisite silver palms, orchid trees and numerous types of citrus to the towering Italian cypress. Flanking the pool are four beautifully executed benches, truly making it a veritable "Garden of Eden."

Unrivaled perfection of masonry, honest sincerity of line and elegant simplicity, characterize this lovely shrine of Mormonism. While Colonial in appearance, the design is is not of any particular period, but is an American adaptation from Classic examples. The temple proper, which is flanked on three sides by annexes, is in the form of a square, rising over fifty feet in height. The four faces of the structure are similar in design and eight friezes decorate the apex of the parapet on all sides. The Temple dominates a landscaped twenty-acre tract.

Covering the entire north wall of the font room is a handsome painting depicting a scene on the banks of the Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania, the scene of the restoration of the Aaronic Priesthood by John the Baptist on the heads of Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdry. In answer to prayer, seeking light on the necessity and mode of baptism, the angel appears and, placing a hand on either bowed head, confers upon them the Aaronic Priesthood and instructs them concerning the ordinance of baptism. Upon the south wall the painting portrays Joseph Smith in the act of baptizing Oliver Cowdry by immersion, under the direction of the angel. These paintings depict a fact in the history of the Church, which was soon after followed by the restoration of the Melchezidek Priesthood by the personal visits by Peter, James and John, the Apostles of the Lord. The first occurred on the fifteenth day of May, 1829, and the second in June following, according to Mormon history. These paintings were done by J. Leo Fairbanks, Dean of Art in the University of Oregon, assisted by his father, J. B. Fairbanks, and Brother Avard, and required about three months to accomplish. The floor is covered with marble tile with water drainage facilities to care for dripping water from the clothing of those baptized.

Passing up the spacious stairway, arriving at the second landing, we see on the north wall a large life-size painting of a group of native American Indians being addressed by the Prophet Joseph Smith, holding in his hand a copy of the Book of Mormon, which he is presenting to the group as a history of their forefathers. His brother Hyrum is standing by his side. On the opposite wall is a life-size painting of a baptismal scene. An Elder is baptizing an Indian while a group of the same race are watching the sacred ceremony.

The first picture illustrates an event in the early history of the Church, when Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum made the trip from Kirtland to Iowa, and gathering together a group of the leading men of the different tribes presented to them the message of the book of their fathers. These paintings were done by Lee Richards of Salt Lake City.

Turning to the right, we enter the first lecture room, known as the Creation Room. The four walls and ceiling of this room are covered by a gorgeous painting, or series of paintings, harmoniously blending, illustrating the creation of the world, as depicted in Genesis. Joseph Smith's pronouncements concerning the creation of the world is in perfect harmony with the conception of science, declaring that "the earth was created in six periods of time" called in the scriptures, "days." This room was done by the Norwegian artist, F. Welberk.

Advancing upwards a few steps we enter the Garden Room. The paintings in this room cover the four walls and the ceiling, and portray the artist's conception of the "Garden of Eden," with its trees and flowers and animal life; its four rivers leading out from the garden. The artist, A. B. Wright, here created a very happy harmonious blending of colors in the flowers, trees and small animal life, forming a landscape picture that is wonderfully impressive.

Passing up a flight of three steps we enter the World Room. Here are illustrated on the walls, scenes of storms, desert waste, rugged mountains, rivers and leafless trees, and the conflict in the animal kingdoms depicting the battles and struggles and hardships of life from which man in the past ages has been, by command-ment, endeavoring to "redeem the earth," earning his living "by the sweat of his brow." This painting is by LeConte Stewart.

Up another flight of steps in the progressive symbolism of the temple we enter the Terrestial Room. The walls here are frescoed with ornamental friezes, the work of two Swedish craftsmen, Carlson and Anderson. There are no paintings in this room, but the walls are done in glowing white and are made beautiful by the ornamental frieze work and the arched tapestry entrance leading to the Celestial Room.

The Celestial Room excels all the others in beauty and grandeur. The base of the room is glittering white Italian marble; the walls and ceiling are glowing white, and the fresco and column ornamentation, blending with the frieze work on the ceiling gives it a regal appearance. The white walls represent the purity of those who reach this state. The plainness represents the highest art, which is simplicity.

To relieve this plainness, maroon-colored tapestry on the walls and Persian rugs on the floor are used. The color of the tapestry is called Spanish red. The plain The eight friezes of which four are shown, represent the gathering of Isreal in the latter days as predicted by Moses, and the figures are symbolic of Mormon converts leaving for America, or Zion, from all parts of the world, according to Church history. The panel (left) represents a Yankee group, immortalizing the remarkable 1,400-mile journey afoot by some four thousand Saints of the Church across the plains from the Mississippi River to Salt Lake, hauling their scanty belongings in hand carts. The panel (right) shows a Spanish or Mexican group who have left their old mission and are traveling westward to join the other Saints in their migration to the new land of Zion.

color of the velour carpet is relieved by the Persian rugs neutralizing the tint. Specially designed velvet-colored chairs, settees and walnut tables are set artistically in the room, adding to its beauty and comfort. The chandeliers when lighted appear as immense golden candelabra, illuminating the room with a blaze of glory. One step up on the south are the two "sealing rooms" or marriage rooms, each with an altar. Here husbands and wives are married, sealed for time and all eternity; and the children are sealed to their parents for all time. The sealing room for the living is provided with an ante-room where friends of the bride and groom may witness the ceremony. This sealing ceremony is both for the living and the dead.

The conception "Temple of the Gathering" is symbolized in the frieze work that covers the outside apex of the walls of the temple on the four sides. The great prophet law-giver, Moses, repeatedly warned the children of Isreal while in the wilderness that unless they should keep the statutes of the Lord they should be broken up as a nation, and scattered throughout the world. He also prophesied that an "ensign should be set up in the last days," and that the "mountain of the Lord's house should be established in the tops of the mountains and all nations should flow into it."

The Prophet Joseph Smith solemnly declared that on the third day of April, 1863, following the dedication of the Kirtland Temple (not now used as a temple), Moses appeared unto him and Oliver Cowdry and conferred upon them the keys of the gathering of Isreal, church records reveal. Since that time the Elders of the Church have been preaching the Gospel in every land and clime, and people of the seed of Ephraim, to whom the promise was made, specifically, have been accepting the Gospel and have gathered out from the world to Zion in fulfillment of the prophecies of old.

The frieze work on the south half of the temple represents the gathering of the converts to the Church on the American continent and islands of the sea, while the north half symbolizes a gathering of the converts from the Eastern continent, and includes a panel representing the march of the famous Hand-cart Company who carted their belongings across the great American Desert to the valley of the mountains."

The sketch for the panel friezes was made by A. D. Wright of the Latter-Day Saints University, from native scenes he had personally observed in his travels throughout the world. Torleaf Knapphus was the sculptor who made the plaster of Paris models of the friezes, which were sent to the California Faience Company of Oakland, where models were cast in the friezes as they appear today. When the friezes are examined through field glasses it is seen that features of the figures and details are accurate and remarkably true to life.

The first panel represents French peasants and the Swiss people on their way to Holland, having just come down from the Alps. Those in the rear are the Italians. The second panel represents the embarkation in Holland for the land of America, or Zion. The German Saints are working with the bedding, preparing to enter the ship. The Bulgarians and the Hollanders are entering the vessel.

The third panel shows the Isrealites having crossed the plains and within sight of the Rocky Mountains. Those in the group in order are the Norwegians, followed by the Swedish and the Danish.

The fourth panel represents the arrival in America, the leader being an Englishman followed by the Welsh people, while those at the boat represent the Irish. The man in the rear is a Scotchman.

Panel number five represents a Yankee group to immortalize the most remarkable journey afoot even taken by any people. Beginning in 1854, approximately 4,000 Saints crossed the plains from the Mississippi River to Salt Lake, a journey of 1,400 miles, with their scanty belongings in hand-carts, pushed and pulled by fathers, mothers and children of the families. These are Saints who were not able to outfit themselves with covered wagons, yet all but two companies arrived safely.

The sixth panel shows a Spanish or Mexican group who have left their old mission in the rear and are traveling westward to join the Saints of the Lord.

In the seventh panel are a group of Indians, Lamanites, as the Mormon people call them, traveling westward to unite with the Saints. They are directed by the chief, his council and medicine men, traveling in the custom of the ancient Indian.

The eighth and last panel shows a Hawaiian group who are peacefully pursuing their daily vocations, making poi, catching fish, and other activities. The young woman standing by the house is playing a ukelele." Thus, in artistry of great beauty and skill, and in keeping with the splendor of this pictorial gem, the Arizona Mormon Temple, the story of the "Gathering of Isreal," fulfilling ancient prophecy, is pictured before our eyes. Truly it can be said that this impressive monument, representing the stability and highest ideals of a great people, is one of the most remarkable examples of architectural achievement in America.

In the panel (left) are a group of Indians, or Lamanites, as the Mormon people called them, traveling westward to unite with the Saints. They are directed by the chief, his council and medicine men, traveling in the custom of the ancient Indians. The panel (right) shows a Hawaiian group who are peacefully pursuing their daily vocations, making poi, catching fish, and other activities. The young woman standing by the grass house is entertaining with a ukelele. Thus in artistry of great beauty and skill, and in keeping with the splendor of this architectural gem, the story of the gathering or Isreal, fulfilling ancient prophecy according to Church history, is pictured.

RANCH in the Foothills

By Ted Sayles Arizona cattle raising is a picturesque industry, not only because of spring roundups when calves are branded, and in the fall gathered for market, but because it takes place in every sort of scene. Since the first requisite of ranching is plenty of food and water, cattle raising in an arid country is of added interest as these necessary things seem hardly to exist there. Where desert joins mountain, there is a combination of all that is to be found widely separated in other sections of the state. Such a setting for a ranch is pictured here, situated in the The ranch owner is looking over the stock, checking their condition, and with a watchful eye for possible strays that may be in the herd.

southeastern foothills of the Pinal Mountains near Globe, and owned by the Chipmans, the-F-brand. The Chipman ranch is a small one as thousands of acres are counted. It is typical of other small ranches where friendly neighbors pitch in when hard work is to be done, as on the roundups. Out of these gatherings of neighbors grew the idea of the rodeo: hard work was turned into an occasion for pleasure and has now become the entertainment of thousands of spectators each year in both professional and amateur shows.

The visitor to Arizona, and home folks too, who haven't yet seen for themselves, will find much of interest in the mountain foothills at the edge of the desert. The same conditions that have attracted ranchers there, such as the Chipmans, have made these regions places of diverse interest-mountain joining desert where pine trees look down on cactus; where many of the kinds of birds of the southwest nest throughout the summer and where migrants make their winter homes. Where deer slink through the forests and mountain lion ply the mountains.

Every gully and clump of brush is worked, as the cattle are driven in, where unbranded calves are cut out with their mothers and branded.

Santa Claus By Ormal I. Sprungman

You've heard of Kris Kringle. Now meet Mrs. Santa Claus, who lives out on Arizona's colorful desert, and who is twice as jolly as the white-bearded gent himself. Her entry into the restaurant business has brought pleasure to countless thousands of travelers.

As long as Ninon Talbott can remember, she has always had a desire to do something worthwhile which might give other people pleasure. She liked the desert, and she liked to cook. Why not erect a unique inn on the desert, and fill it full of things which would delight children as well as grown-ups?

And so Mrs. Talbott, better known as Mrs. Santa Claus, drew up her own plans, and Christmas Tree Inn finally took shape. It is a one-story structure with large bright windows. Scarcely 16 miles from Kingman, Arizona, Mrs. Claus' abode lies along the great Boulder Dam-Grand Canyon Highway.

Murals on the wall were painted by Walter Winsett, former Disney artist, and these help carry out the nursery flavor. There are colorful action pictures of Jack and Jill, Goosey Goosey Gander, Little Boy Blue, Mary Quite Contrary, and Little Jack Horner.

As added attractions to amuse the children, Mrs. Claus has bared her hobbies by building nearby a clever Cinderella Doll House and Pig Hut, both of which are about the last word in kiddie delights. Porky cutouts greet youthful visitors at the door of the Pig Hut. The Cinderella Doll House has a cockeled chimney and white fence. The interior has everything from dolls and buggies to books and blackboards, and it's just big enough for the average youngster to play in.

To add a distinctly western touch, a bottle-fed pet burro ambles about the grounds, making friends with everyone, nuzzling its way into the hearts of kiddies. Not a bet has been missed in making her place look talkingly attractive.

MENU Christmas Tree Inn

Published monthly by the Arizona Highway Department in the interest of good roads and devoted to the story of our people and our land. All communications should be addressed to ARIZONA HIGHWAYS, Arizona Highway Department, Phoenix, Arizona. Subscription rate, One Dollar per year. Single copy twenty-five cents. Printed by Prescott Courier, Prescott, Arizona. "Entered as second class matter Nov. 5, 1941, at the post office at Phoenix, Arizona, under the Act of March 3, 1879."

"Civilization Follows the Improved Highway."

BERT CAMPBELL, EDITOR

Vol XIX November-December, 1943 Nos. 11-12

SIDNEY P. OSBORN, GOVERNOR

The front and back cover studies are typical of Arizona-The gorgeous bloom of prickly pear cactus and the sheer beauty of the White Mountain country, where pine and quaking aspen predominate in scenic splendor. These striking Kodachroms reflect the artistry of Joseph Muench.