Archive All Issues January 1948

First Four Months of '48

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A calendar of events and a guide for January, February, March, April.

Featured in the January 1948 Issue of Arizona Highways

CALENDAR FOR THE FIRST FOUR MONTHS OF 1948 January... The Month of Crusted Snow

To the Navajo, the month is "ya nil-t'es," which means Crusted Snow... To the Hopis "pah muy"-Play Moon; to the Havasupai, it is "Homasi ka'dadia," which is the "Bitter Cold." The Pimas call it "ka-amak," the "Leaves Falling Moon."

Many guests and summer herself have arrived in the sun country to spend the winter. The season is on. The Dons Club of Phoenix are holding Sunday travelcades, wherein winter visitors to the state are taken on guided tours to interesting scenic and historical places. The colleges at Flagstaff, Tempe and the University at Tucson are in the grip of the annual basketball fever, and if you are sportsminded there will be held for your pleasure several ski tourneys at the famed Sno Bowl at Flagstaff and the annual open golf champions at Phoenix. The latter takes place January 22-25, and if you attend bring your sun tan lotion. As a matter of fact, if you are the least enterprising you can go skiing in the morning and be back in the afternoon for the beginning of the golf tournament. The big Tucson open golf tournament will be held either late in January or early February. The fishing is good down at Rocky Point, on the Gulf of California, south of Ajo, in Sonora, Mexico, and a real Mexican holiday is offered at Guaymas, south of Nogales. The desert is rather wonderful this time of the year. There may be snow at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon and if there is you should make the trip because the Canyon is never more beautiful. The Arizona Highway Department keeps all the main roads in the high elevations of the state open to travel so don't let the weather bother you.

February. The Month of Young Eagles

February for the Navajo is "A-tsa bi-yaz," month of Young Eagles. For Pimas it is "aufpa i-ivakitak," month of the Cottonwood Flowers or Big Winter Moon. Havasupai - 'madigimaia' - Bean Dance Moon. Hopi'powa muye' - Quiet Moon.

Rodeo time begins in Arizona and the Nation this month. The "Silver Spur" show in Yuma will be held February 14-15. This show, approved by the National Rodeo Association, is the first rodeo of the year in which points earned are counted toward national championship rodeo honors; so you can expect to find the top hands of the business active and eager after the holiday rest. This weekend would be a good time to take in the "Silver Spur" show and at the same time look around Yuma and the Gila Project, a mighty exciting place and a place where they spell Opportunity with big letters. For more details, write to the Yuma Chamber of Commerce. La Fiesta de los Vaqueros, Tucson's big rodeo, holds the center of attraction February 20-23. If you want to see a town go whoopee and western, head out for the Old Pueblo, and real soon too, because they sell out early. Those picturesque and genial Dons of Phoenix put on the annual Don's Trek to old Superstition Mountain February 29, a unique event in public entertainment. And who can tell, maybe you'll find the Lost Dutchman, because there's truth in the old saying that "thar's gold in them thar hills." The seventh annual Sno Bowl (they just dropped off the "w") Ski Carnival will take place February 20-22. Yep! this is the desert state, all sunshine, etc., but San Francisco Peaks are something else: high mountains, snow covered and as serene as the Hopi gods who live there, straight up and down and perfect for skiing. When you come to the Sun Country bring along your skiis. If you like to look at pretty things the Pima County Fair and Livestock Exhibit at Tucson February 12-15 will display the finest cattle in the world, fresh off the Arizona ranges, the finest ranges with the finest ranches in the whole world. (Please turn to page eleven) A friendly winter sun adds a cheery note to the shows and events which take place in the Sun Country of Arizona during January, February, March, and April. La Fiesta de Los Vaqueros (above) is Tucson's big rodeo event in February. The Phoenix World's Championship rodeo is held in April. Below, a view from the Stock Show held annually down Tucson way. Guests from all over enjoy the truly western atmosphere.

Cow shows, style shows, golf tournaments, lost mine hunts and about everything else you can think of are part of the daily routine in the Sun Country during the winter season. The visitor has ski matches and citrus displays to keep him interested, for the calendar is a busy affair. Out West we keep moving while the sun shines and the sun is just about the shiningest and warmest sun you ever have hoped to see.

CONTINUED FROM PAGE EIGHT The Month of the Cactus-Bloom Moon

This month, "Woz-c'ind," for Navajos, is the month when Young Eagles Cry. To the Pimas, it is "aufa i-ivakitak," month of the Gray Moon. To the Hopis "oso muye" month of the Cactus Bloom Moon, the sprouting or windy moon, and to the Havasupais "mawai'i puk," Warm Moon, when snow melts down lower.

CALENDAR March

Spring training for the N. Y. Giants and the Cleveland Indians is in full swing in Phoenix and Tucson, indicating Spring is here. There are other signs, too: warm, lazy days and the beginning of blossomtime in Cactus Land. Easter (March 28) will be reverently observed in annual Easter Sunrise Services at Grand Canyon and by the Yaqui Indians in age-old ceremonials at Pascua and Guadalupe, villages on the desert near Tucson and Chandler. Douglas puts on the Douglas rodeo in early March, a big, whooping tophand show in the heart of the cattle country of Cochise County. Now is a good time to visit Chiricahua National Monument and also to cross the street in Douglas and visit Agua Prieta, Sonora, an interesting Mexican town. Mighty interesting country around Douglas and mighty friendly folks! Fred Linton at the Chamber of Commerce at Douglas is the person to write to for dates of the Douglas Rodeo and for reser vations and information. As you might expect in this wild and woolly land of ours, the University of Arizona each year puts on an Intercollegiate Rodeo and this year it will be late in March. At the U. you will see that they learn "riding" along with the more advanced versions of "reading, 'riting, 'rithmetic." The gay, colorful Carnival at Hermosillo, Sonora, south of Nogales, a March event we learn, will be a big American attraction this year because the super highway from Nogales to Hermosillo will be finished and the trip can be made in half a day. "Ay qué caray!"

The Month of Small Leaves

In Navajo this is "T'an cil," month of the Small Leaves. In Hopi language it is "kwiya muye," month of the Windbreak or Greasewood Fence Moon, time to protect young corn. The Havasupais call it "mawaiať'U'viaga," month of the Half Warmed Moon. In Pimaland "koi a-ivakitok" month of Mesquite Leaves

April

This is the month of the cactus flowers when April's magic touch is felt in the land. According to the oldtimers, this will be a wet spring and if it is, the desert will be carpeted with flowers and the foothills green with grass. The Phoenix World's Championship Rodeo, April 9-11, is the month's biggest event in Arizona with plenty of hard riding, bang bang, and yip-ki-yippety-ki-yip. Arizona's largest city remembers her old cowtown days and acts accordingly. The Mesa Citrus Show is tentatively scheduled for the week beginning with the first Sunday in April, with the famed miniature parade Wednesday of that week. On April 8-10, the Desert Cabelleros of Wickenburg will stage their second desert trek. Some two hundred lucky visitors will be taken on a twoday ride through the desert and foothills. There will be a moon, sweet music, and good food. The Roundup Club of Wickenburg, a very active bunch of western gents, can give more detailed information. The Third Annual Yuma County Junior Agricultural Fair will be held April 16-17. Other Arizona April events, dates not yet announced, are Flower Shows at Phoenix, Tucson, Yuma; Horse Shows at Phoenix and Sonoita; Safford's Gila River Roundup and Rodeo, raucous, rowdy, and riding high; the Carnival at Cottonwood. The Snow Bowl Trophy Race at Flagstaff will be held April 18, reminding us the snow is still in the mountains. And the big rose bush in Tombstone, biggest rose bush in the world, will be in full bloom and that is, indeed, a rare sight to see, reminding us that Spring is such a lovely hussy and her old look is always the newest look of all. Something to see. this April look in the land