Sabino Canyon

The Santa Catalina Mountains rise majestically from the desert floor fifteen miles north of the center of Tucson. The pine-clad crests of these mountains reach high into the blue Arizona sky. They form a rugged horizon sprawling in an easterly direction for some forty miles or so. In the clear, thin desert air the features of the mountains are sharp and welldefined; so much so as to be misleading in distance and size to eyes unaccustomed to the clarity of the Arizona atmosphere. Make no mistake about it-the Santa Catalinas are massive and formidable, a rocky fortress of serene heights in an expanse of desert and foothills. The early Spanish explorers called this range "La Iglesia," because to them it resembled a church. At the northern end of the Catalinas, Harold Bell Wright placed the location for his novel, The Mine with the Iron Door.

The face of the range is cut into defiles and canyons. One such canyon-Sabino-named after a pioneer by the name of Sabino Otero who had a ranch there-is so lovely in so many ways that a long time ago Tucsonians claimed it as their very own recreational area. A more suitable choice could not have been made.

Sabino Canyon is one of the major drainage outlets for the Santa Catalinas. The lower part of the canyon is narrow, with steep rocky walls guarding Sabino Creek, which is bordered with sycamores, willows, cottonwoods and oaks. Desert plants march triumphantly out of the desert and into the canyon and even climb audaciously up steep canyon walls. This commingling of desert, foothill and, to some extent, mountain vegetation is one of the charms of the canyon.

Opening to the southwest, Sabino Canyon ordinarily should be extremely warm in the summer months, but cut"SABINO SPRING" BY ESTHER HENDERSON. Location: Pool behind top-most dam in upper Sabino Canyon. Time: early morning in early April. Camera: 5x7 Deardorff View. Lens: Goerz Dagor. Exposure: ½ second at f.32. The photographer says: "Of the many scenic places I have photographed in Arizona, Sabino Canyon has been one of my favorites. It presents pleasing pictures throughout the year. The foliage and the terrain, combining the most attractive features of desert, foothills and mountains, present something of interest almost any place you turn the camera. The cool, clear water in the pools formed by the dams up the canyon always reflect the sky and the vegetation surrounding them, thereby enhancing picture possibilities."

ESTHER HENDERSON

Cutting deeply into the range, as it does, it is a funnel through which flows the cooler air of the mountain peaks, making the area as delightful for the visitor in summer as it is in the winter months. The merry creek, which flows from springs and melting snow banks in higher elevations (if and when it snows) and is fed by spring showers (if and when it rains), provides a flow of cold water over the rock strewn canyon floor. The presence of this fairly constant stream in an otherwise arid land attracts to the canyon many types of desert and mountain animals, making the area an extremely important observation point for the naturalist. Bird life in Sabino is rich and varied. Famous ornithologists from all over America have followed the highway and the byways through the canyon seeking the strange and the familiar among our feathered songster friends. Nor have they been disappointed in their search. The botanist can have a field day in Sabino. Native grasses and trees, different species of cacti as well as the small flowers of spring, give color and change to the Sabino scene as one season moves into the next. Sabino Creek is held in harness by ten check dams. The road to Sabino and into the depths of the canyon cross and recross these check dams which form their clear pools of cool mountain water. These pools, many of them quite large and deep, hold back the seasonal flash floods from the mountain and provide ol' swimmin' hole accommodations for the visitor in first class fashion.

The jewel of the Santa Catalinas is part of the Sabino Canyon Recreational Area, under the administration of the U. S. Forest Service. It is estimated that 200,000 people a year utilize the recreational facilities of the area-from picnic benches to swimming pools-reveling in the sunshine and the scenic beauties of one of Southern Arizona's finest playgrounds.

Down the road just a few miles and a few minutes is the busy city of Tucson. Here there is the peace and stillness of hidden, faraway places, a little secluded world made up of steep canyon walls, the stately saguaro, blue skies and the little stream with its idle gossip of things adoing on mountain peaks up and beyond . . . R. C.

BISBEE Continued from

Helping him sink a shaft on his property. At the three-hundred-foot level they struck a body of high grade ore which continued down to the eleven-hundred-foot level. The Shattuck Mine became known as "The Biggest Little Mine." With Maurice Denn and others, Lemuel Shattuck owned another group of claims on the north side of the canyon where no one expected to find ore. Again they ran into an enormous ore body and the townspeople who held stock floated in the dreams of Midas.

In the year 1931 the Phelps-Dodge and Calumet and Arizona Mining Company merged. Sixteen years later the Phelps-Dodge bought the Shattuck-Denn mining properties controlling the deposits of essential metal in the district.

Probably no other mining camp had a more serious water shortage than Bisbee, nor a more unique way of delivering the precious fluid on the backs of burros. The colorful picture of the camp's past would not be complete without portraying the faithful burro, indispensable to the prospector and pioneer. Time has obliterated the many aimless trails on the mountainsides trodden by the sure-footed burros as they trudged under the weight of their overloaded boxes of ore, timber, water and wood.

Before the warring Apaches were rounded up and shipped from the state in 1886, the townspeople huddled together in the main canyon. A few others, desiring a different outlook, settled in a side canyon called Brewery Gulch, so named because a brewery started there. The gulch, notorious for the mining camp revelry and fractious unrestrained characters who drifted in, earned its reputation of being wide open. Faro, roulette and other gambling games had their place in the staggering number of saloons that lined both sides of the crooked winding streets. All the evils of lawlessness, tragedy, death followed in the wake of this frenzied humanity. The once tranquil canyon which echoed with the occasional howl of a coyote, resounded with shots, drunken laughter and the discordant "razz-ma-tazz" of dance hall pianos. After many years Brewery Gulch cleaned out the undesirables and today it is a prosperous, paved section of Bisbee, devoted to progressive business firms.

It is also a retreat for artists who find such material as the lop-eared, dreamy eyed burro munching an old sack or paper bag; Mexican adobes clinging to the rocks adorned with strings of vivid chilis and highly colored hollyhocks leaning against an ocotillo fence. A week's wash may be seen spread over every available cactus or bush to dry or bright happy children play in a sloping mountain yard while a caged mockingbird bursts his throat with song. The artistmay also find an old timer enjoying the warmth of the sun and dreaming of the spectacular days of Bisbee's long ago. Such is the atmosphere found in the quaint peaceful Brewery Gulch of today.

Present day Bisbee is still unique. Nature would not permit the town to be laid out along conventional city lines. There are no long city blocks. The visitor who is looking for a surprise and the unexpected will find it here. Main Street follows a narrow canyon bed and curving reddish brown mountains. It is an easy and compact business district for the shopper. Facing the long narrow street is the large general department store owned and operated by the mining company. It is of the size and variety that would grace a city several times larger than Bisbee. Other attractive shops and banks stand elbow to elbow along both sides of the main street.The topography has little competition. Visitors stare with amazement at homes staggering in tiers up and down the mountain sides with one foundation on line with the next roof top. These homes are reached by flights of cement steps that wind steeply up the canyon walls. In many cases the small front yard is supported by a retaining wall that may have cost more than the house itself. Many lovely homes are hidden deep in the folds of the surrounding hills. The zigzag roads approaching them look scary to the tourist despite the fact that they are paved and quite safe.

No matter where one looks in Bisbee he sees something entirely different. There is no sameness. Churches, schools, club houses, offices are sandwiched in and among the hills. A subway six miles long controls the flood waters, and check dams in the seams of the mountains have been built to retard the drainage of summer rains.On a small precipitous side street near the center of the town is the old Copper Queen Hotel. This relic of Bis-bee's fascinating past is noted for its genial atmosphere and western hospitality. Visitors enjoy basking in the sunshine on the front veranda facing the Glory Hole, vast man made crater where those first early miners unravelled the copper threads which started the boom days of the camp. There is a sense of old world charm about Bisbee with its stylized black iron lamp posts, stately iron grille railings and worn stone steps leading from one street level to another. Bal-conies adorn many of the old buildings and the streets wind with charming abandon up and down the hills.

There are no traffic lights on the narrow main street nor any traffic cops to guide the steady flow of cars. The pedestrian has the right of way. Few cities can excel Bisbee's traffic safety record and there has been only one fatality in the past seven years. No bank robberies are recorded on the police records, as the long narrow canyon with one outlet does not afford an easy exit.

Bisbee has a mixed population of some 5000, from American-born to the Serbians of whom she is justly proud. A high class of Mexicans also enjoy the freedom of fine schools, better homes and living conditions in their adopted country. The Swedes, English and a great many Irish who came in during the early days have made the history of Bisbee's mining career unexcelled with their loyalty, skill and strength.

Phelps-Dodge Corporation from the very first took great pride in its copper treasure in Arizona. The company has kept abreast with the latest methods in mining and equipment. It has given special time and effort to the safety of its employed. Hospital care and insurance is obtained at a very small deduction from the pay check. Adequate and ideal change rooms are furnished with hot and cold showers at each shaft. The mining company has built a modern library well equipped with the latest books and magazines.

The town presents a picture that reveals pioneer history, wealth and some of the best climate in the world for health seekers. There is no smog or fog, due to the removal of the great copper smelter to Douglas a few miles away, and the rarefied air found in the mountains is ideal for those suffering from asthma. The temperature rarely goes above ninety-eight degrees or below twenty and the humidity is low.

Bisbee's mining was different from that of many rich copper mines in Arizona. The first method was quarrying, and tons of rich sulphide ore were taken from the cave on the hill in that manner. Then shafts were sunk and miles of drifts shooting in all directions followed the productive ore veins. Several of the Bisbee mines probe three thousand feet down into the belly of the earth. As the town grew and the mining operations attained gigantic proportions during World War I, Sacramento Hill, a roughly shaped pyramid overlooking the long canyon, was literally torn down in a short period of years. Bisbee then changed its method to steam shoveling, making a large open pit. Today the mountain is mostly gone and thousands of citizens and visitors peer into the great man-made canyon whose walls are flamboyantly stained with different mineral colors.

Bisbee's growth gave birth to Warren, a suburb three miles east of the main canyon with approximately three thousand inhabitants. Warren is a surprise to the tourist. It is a district sprawled out in a shallow bowl encircled by low rolling hills. It is a living dream for home lovers seeking sunshine and quietude. Warren is laid out in city blocks with paved streets and no city taxes. The Phelps-Dodge Mercantile Company provides a complete department store. There are other stores, a post office, drug stores, barber shop, beauty parlor, gift shop and three attractive apartment houses. A baseball field equipped with high-powered lights lies in the southwest corner. The suburb is a garden spot with tall well shaped trees lining every street. The water shortage in Bisbee was one of the pioneer's greatest trials. Today, if those old-timers could see Warren's gardens and the lawn sprays that whirl for hours at a time, they would shake their heads and say, "Well I'll be darned." The mining company makes the irrigation irrigation possible. Water from the mines is pumped through pipes to the residents. One of the added features for the visitor is the attractive Loma Linda (beautiful hill) guest house. It was originally built for Walter Douglas, general manager of the Copper Queen Mines, and now is an inn for tourists. Not only do they enjoy the excellent cuisine and pleasant living quarters, but from the Spanish arched veranda the view of a valley thickly dotted with flowering ocotillo, yucca and mesquite is quite enchanting. The valley stretches far past the borderline into old Mexico and the cloud effects on and around San Jose Mountain are intriguing to the artist and photographer.

The early Bisbee settlers would be proud to see that their faith in the mining camp was not fruitless. Today it is a modern city. The public schools have advanced from a one-roomed adobe shack with six children to five modern grade schools and a high school serving over two thousand students.

Bisbee is the county seat of Cochise County. Cochise was literally America's last unguarded frontier. The pioneer men and women had great courage and faith in the future of the county which was located in inhospitable land surrounded by the fury of Geronimo and his renegades. It is the only county named for an Indian individual. Cochise was a famous Apache chief who after many years of marauding and killing made a promise that he would lay down his arms and be a friend to the white man. That promise was never broken. The name Cochise means "wood." The county's economy is dependent on the five "c's": copper, cattle, cotton, chili and climate. Bisbee and her neighboring valleys contribute greatly to the five products and donate many thousands of dollars annually to the county's support. Cochise County was sliced from Pima County in 1881 but Tombstone became the first county seat. Its court house was built in 1882 and served until 1931 when the county seat was moved to Bisbee. This colorful area, rich in nature's metal treasure, is fast becoming a region of Shangri-La tranquillity, offering much to the traveler.

Arizona is a state with all the varieties of natural scenery the heart could desire and Bisbee with her neighboring valley and mountains lends its charm. If the visitor wishes he can find a retreat from the busy mining town by taking the paved highway that leads into the Chiricahua Mountains. Here the canyons, rugged and beautiful, abound with rushing streams filled with trout and bass. The hunter can bag quail, doves and deer in season or even track the mountain lion for which he will receive a bounty. In these surroundings one sees the Wonderland of Rocks, nature's architecture of a million years ago. The scene reveals that prehistoric Arizona's desert was once an ocean and that nature, with the slow but relentless surge of water, chiseled castles, domes, pipe organs and figures from the mountains of granite and sandstone. A scenic wonder is the outline of Cochise' head silhouetted against the horizon of turquoise sky in the land of the Apache. The outline gives one a feeling that the old chief is lying down to that last rest in the land that was his home.

If the traveler so desires he may visit the Huachuca Mountains a short distance west of Bisbee. He will find summer cabins almost hidden within the pines, that invite him to rest and enjoyment. Fort Huachuca is also interesting. It was established in 1879 for the protection of the early settlers from warring Apaches. Its location affords a commanding view of San Pedro Valley for miles in three directions. In 1881 it was made a permanent fort. Through the years it has grown and was used as a training station in World War I and II for thousands of colored troops. In 1947 the government ordered its disposal as war surplus. During a short period of three years the state took it over for the preservation and study of wild life. Hundreds of buffalo