YOURS SINCERELY

RUNAWAY TRAIL Some paths are straight and primSome follow a wayward whim. The path I took today Was a carefree runawayIt clambered up a hill With rugged, small boy skill, And quickly reached the top With a skip and a nimble hopThen, urchin-like it fled To span a cloud instead! STEFI SAMUELSON AFTER RAIN Grey clouds Of pearly lume And fringed with brilliant gold Of ruffled sunlight, appliqued On blue. HARRIET C. BUTLER THE QUESTION The same sky, The same earth, Ravs of sun The same worth. Yet the color Of each flower, Varies with A magic power. The reason why I do not ken; The same is also True of men. GUY FREDERICK PETRIFIED FOREST Here they lie in desolation Crumbling with the march of Time, Wild and windswept through the ages, Hinting of a past sublimeAll the hues of painter's art Captured in the marbled heart. Majestic trees, roots upended, Dignity of life long flown, Cold and rigid, weather beaten, Marble, agate, brilliant stone Crumbling in their sandy bed In this valley of the dead.

Gone the lushness of the fernGone the cool of piney shadeGone the hint of burbling streamsThis is left of forest glade: Mute, rough rainbow stone amassedAll-all of a glory past. MARGA JOERDEN GROUND-SQUIRRELS Their holes were in an overhanging bluff Below the road. When there was time enough We loved to sit and watch them from afar, Observing, through the strong binocular, How they would meet and pass the time of day, Or, frolicsome, disport themselves in play. The row of doors was always guarded well By one who stood erect, small sentinel Alert to signal danger, cause for fear, Or warn of our approach if we drew near. It would have been quite difficult to say Who were the true observers, we or they. KATHERINE CARR HENZE RETROSPECT Springtime's petals, Summer's lush, Autumn's auburn, Winter's hush. CHERRY MCKAY SAGA OF "UNCLE JIM" OWENS: ... J. T. ("Uncle Jim") Owens was a predatory animal hunter in the Yellowstone Park when the ravages of cougars required his services on the Kaibab or "Buckskin plateau. En route he stopped at Ogden, Utah, where I was disbursing clerk for the Forest Service, and for years we were good friends. He had several good hunting dogs, among them "Old Pot," wisest of them all, and the favorite of Uncle Jim. He gained his name from his slightly drooping stomach, induced by over-eating in his later years. But he bore the reputation of the most sagacious of all lion-hunting dogs, and he did not waste time on the trail of anything but a lion, for his keen scent immediately told him the difference; and he also knew which direction the lion had been traveling. Care was taken to kill a tree lion at first shot, lest, attacked by the valuable dogs, the dogs might be hurt in a fight. Theodore Roosevelt did well in choosing, for his lion hunting, both the Kaibab and "Uncle Jim" as guide, and a great interest was taken in his visit. He enjoyed a short dinner nap, and to afford him both shade and privacy a small tent was pitched. But "Old Pot," accustomed to being pampered, took possession and objected to being dislodged. "Leave him alone," said the Ex-President, who loved a good dog, "there is room for us both," and during the rest of the hunt, T. R. and "Old Pot," who enjoyed the distinction, shared the cool shade in the tent. Quincy R. Craft Albuquerque, New Mexico In your March number you publish a letter from Mr. Nicholas Roosevelt about T. R's visit to Kaibab Forest and about the buffalo there. With one exception I believe it to be a correct statement of the facts of the case. Some of these facts I know of my own knowledge and the rest from long association with Owen and his cougar hunting helpers. The exception is the statement that Zane Grey's book, "The Last of the Plainsmen" is not fiction. It is largely fiction as to its so-called facts and is wholly fiction in its conclusions about the importance of the performances of "Buffalo Jones." The latter was considered a wind-bag in the Kaibab. Grey dressed him up for revenue only. I can tell you a lot about Jones.

Of our West, we are becoming more and more interested in the saga of "Uncle Jim" Owens. "Muy hombre," as we say here on the border. "Very much of a man."

BUFFALO JONES: ... I enjoyed the article entitled "Buffalo Robes on the Hoof" in your January issue. It was my father, A. W. Stubbs, who introduced C. J. Jones (better known as Buffalo Jones) to Theodore Roosevelt, who at that time was President. Mr. Roosevelt appointed Mr. Jones as game warden of Yellowstone National Park and it was from Mr. Jones' timber claim, which adjoined my father's, 28 miles south of Garden City, Kansas, that Mr. Jones left each spring with some fresh milk cows to go out and save some buffalo calves, which he put with the cows and drove back to his ranch. E. M. Stubbs Bethel, Kansas

"TONIC": Within a short distance of King's Lynn, we have a number of American forces stationed and about two years ago a G.I., through attending a church in the town, became acquainted with a family who are friends of mine. In gratitude for the hospitality he received, this G.I., on return to the U.S.A., gave as a present a year's subscription (from December 1949 to November 1950) to ARIZONA HIGHWAYS The magazine has been circulated amongst a wide circle of friends, including myself, and I assure you it has been read from cover to cover and each photograph studied in detail. For myself, when I commenced reading ARIZONA HICHWAYS, my knowledge of the state was comprised of a few vague facts of the Grand Canyon. Now I know Arizona and its people better than any state in the U.S.A. and have developed a great longing to visit it. In a country where there is still a paper shortage and restrictions on printing, your magazine is a thrill and a tonic. Dorothy Sursham Norfolk, England

OPPOSITE PAGE

"HAVEN IN THE DESERT" BY HUBERT A. LOWMAN. Pipe Spring National Monument is up in the Strip country of Arizona, a few miles west of Fredonia, a cool oasis in the heart of a lonesome and dry land. This monument is dedicated to the preservation of relics of early pioneers days for Pipe Spring figured historically in the settling of the Arizona Strip country and Northern Arizona by trailblazing Mormons. The spring got its name back in 1856 when a Mormon scouting party stopped there and one of its members, to show his prowess as a marksman, shot the bottom out of a pipe without touching the bowl. Pipe Spring was built as a fort to protect settlers against possible Indian attacks, and it also served in pioneer days as the center of a large ranching project for the Mormon Church. The area was set aside as a National Monument in 1923.

BACK COVER

"CANYON WALLS" BY BILL SEARS. The Grand Canyon separates the Arizona Strip country from the rest of Arizona. In this photograph is a view of the Canyon from the North Rim. The picture was taken near the public campgrounds and shows all the color and grandeur of precipitous canyon walls that seem to plunge endlessly into the abyss below. One of the memorable sights from the North Rim, even more noticeable than on the South Rim, is the foliage sweeping over the canyon walls and into the canyon from the Kaibab above. Being several thousand feet higher in elevation than the South Rim, the North Rim is isolated from the rest of the world by heavy snows in winter. The climate at North Rim is perfect in summer and autumn.