Yours Sincerely

YOURS SINCERELY MAN WHO KNOWS THE CANYON

The August, 1947 issue of ARIZONA HIGHWAYS was of especial interest to me as it deals almost entirely with the Grand Canyon. About a year ago I had a book published called "Listen, Bright Angel," and in order to write it I had to spend a great deal of time and effort and research at both the North and South Rims. And believe me, it was not a chore, but a labor of love.

I have been reading ARIZONA HIGHWAYS for many years, but I believe that in pictures and in text I enjoyed this issue more than any other. As always, in the case of people who think they know something about the subject, I felt I could pick a few fleas off this very thoroughbred dog. If I may point out these errors, they are not to be taken as criticism (you can probably point out five times as many in "Listen, Bright Angel,") but simply to prove to you how avidly I read the issue. Nevertheless, for the sake of anyone who may be using the magazine for reference some time in the future, these minor corrections should be pointed out.

The Spaniards led by Cardenas, as a side junket from Coronado's main party in 1540, and therefore the first white men to look into the Grand Canyon, may have described the rocks below as "higher than the tower of the cathedral in Seville" but if they did so (and I, too, have quoted them in this) they were farsighted men for the tower was not completed in Seville until 1568, or 28 years after the Cardenas party visited the Canyon.

Also, the Canyon is said to have been described by "a midwestern farmer" as a "heck of a place to lose a cow." This is the description given by Ebenezer Bryce to some property that he owned which later became Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah. The statement was never applied to the Grand Canyon, and as far as I can discover, Ebenezer was never in Arizona.

And "Golly what a gully" may have been said by President Taft, but it was in print as early as 1904, and Mr. Taft was not then president. It was presumably made by a visitor, name unknown, circa 1900.

Mr. Lauritzen's article refers to "Cheyeva Falls." This is probably a typographical error, as the word could have no meaning as such in the Hopi language from which it stems. The name is Cheyava, meaning off-and-on. But the whole thing is a comedy of errors as the falls are not "off-and-on" at all, but are permanent. Ask the Kolb Brothers.And to end all this picayune business: the early Spaniards did not name it the "Red River" for if they had the name would have come down to us as the Rio Rojo. (Your page 26.) Actually the river was called colorful or reddish (Colorado) by Padre Francisco Tomas Garces in 1776, and the name is far better when not translated. So the Colorado it remains today, although this was the fifth name given to it by the Spaniards. The first four did not "take."

Well with all the fleas off the thoroughbred, which I admit are minuscule to say the least, I merely want to reiterate how much I enjoyed the full impact of your August 1947 issue, and to point out that I should applaud a hundred items to any one that I have con tested.

EDWIN CORLE, Santa Barbara, Calif.

APPLAUSE FOR OUR INDIAN ISSUE:

I have just finished looking through the July issue of ARIZONA HIGHWAYS, and could not refrain from writing to tell you how very much I enjoyed it. Your beautiful publication is a real feast for the eyes.

Vacation time is almost at hand, but until today I had not decided where I would spend it. However, after looking at the superb illustrations of ARIZONA HIGHWAYS and reading "Lo-lo mai, Life is Good," I have made a definite decision to go to Arizona the latter part of this month. I am not unfamiliar with the Indians of the Southwest as our organization aids many Indian Missions in that territory. and for that reason I want to thank you for your beautiful presentation of the Navajos and Hopis of Arizona. The inside cover, "Cradle Board," is particularly lovely. It is a Navajo Madonna and Child which, in my opinion, is truly comparable to a similar subject by one of the great masters.

I have met Father Berard Haile, O.F.M. on several occasions, and was very much interested in reading of this distinguished priest in your colorful pages. You have paid him a well deserved tribute for he is whole-heartedly devoted to The People Rev. Bernard A. Cullen Catholic Indian Missions New York, N. Y.

I can't postpone this fan letter any longer! I should have written for my friend, Mrs. Lorna Jessup and myself, after we "gloated" over the April, 1947, issue. The room rang with such sentences as "We've been there," or "Remember this?"

Then this morning came the July number and when I spied the lovely portrait of "Old Chief Tweaquaptewa" of Old Oraibi, well that did the trick. I dropped everything else and sat down at the antique Underwood to tell you in typing how much we enjoy your kind of outstanding magazine. Two years ago we lived for six months at Flagstaff, and through the kindness of Miss Mildred Keifer, then teacher in the Flagstaff Training School, we were taken to the Indian country to meet some of her friends. We've actually shaken hands with Chief Tweaquaptewa; we've been to all three mesas.

Ruth N. Carter, Lorna C. Jessup, Corvallis, Oregon.

The July issue was, in my opinion, the most appealing I have seen. Whoever was responsible for it used admirable judgment. It was apt and in fine taste. It should be helpful in the campaign for the benefit of the Navajo.

H. D. Wellman, Douglas. Arizona.

It pleases us to know our July issue was so well received. The problems of the Navajo are the concern of all of us and if ARIZONA HIGHWAYS helped in any way to make their problem known to other Americans, we are duly rewarded in efforts to help them

"I FOUND AUTUMN BY THE ROADSIDE"

Photograph by Jerry McLain Taken in Oak Creek Canyon I found autumn by the roadside, her rich colors spilling down the hill. Every turn of the road was a portrait in brown and gold and silvery yellows. The season had touched the land with a fairy wand and there was magic and mystery in the air. This I had seen before but it was new to me now. The season filled me with great peace. That day I found autumn, 1 paused by the roadside.I would not see you with your years today; Such are but hidden mile stones, ivy grown. But I would see the beauty you have known. The sunrise hours, the sunsets on the way I see you on a splendid pilgrimage. The glory of a wife's, a mother's trail; The east, that promised life that did not fail, The west that knows not birth, nor death, nor age.

TO A PIONEER WOMAN OF ARIZONA ON HER BIRTHDAY

I see in you today a torch that glows, A steady flame that burns triumphantly In souls that never have been caged by fear. Such valor is eternal. From it flows A force that recreates humanity. That is the essence of the pioneer.

IDA FLOOD DODGE

STORM IN ARIZONA

Blue in the morning; The east a deep roseMagnificent warning Of a storm that is close.Clouds billow over In careless array.. Thunderheads hover Where lightning gods play.

A sudden wild fury Of cold, cutting rainThen heaven's a glory Of bright sun again.

ANYA P. SALA.

DESERT DAWN

When crimson dawn has flushed The shadows of the night, And clouds beyond the rim of earth, Are stained with ruby light; The mountain peaks are blazoned, Like signboards on the sky; While deep within the gorges, The purple shadows lie. When blood-red dawn has risen, And small things start to creep; The desert land uncoils itself, And stretches up from sleep.

HARRIET MARKHAM GILL

NIGHT HEAT

Night heat Is a Black Panther That has stalked day With hungry tenacity He crouches warm-breathed and waiting To spring with fiery claws At the first burst of light. LORRAINE BABBITT