THE APACHE TRAIL

THE APACHE Traveling One of Arizona's

Give reality a rest and throw your imagination into spaces your eyes can hardly believe. Come with me to the Apache Trail, Arizona's spectacular mountain road still so excitingly fresh and so strangely stimulating that the natural wonders of consciousness yesterdays can cancel the cares of the day and the doubts of uncertain tomorrows.

Arizona's Apache Trail remains one of the few yet uncivilized, primitively pure, majestically rugged, wonderfully wild stretches of out-of-this-world country you'll ever travel. For the most part it's up, down, and round-and-round, yet not one mile is the same as the one before beyond each turn explodes a new panorama of breathtaking character.

Of all the wondrous sights you'll see, oddly enough you won't see an Apache on the Apache Trail why? This is the white man's trail on which no Apache would have dared show his scalp, for the trails of the Indian followed the river (Salt) along the canyon floors far away from this road. The Apache Trail, like another historically famous mountain road, The Burma Road, was built for the specific purpose of moving men and vital supplies from established terminal sources to points of important operations. The 800-mile Burma Road served a wartime nation as an allied supply line during World War II.

far away from this road. The Apache Trail, like wacther licorically famous mountain road, The Brass Road, was built for the apecific purpose of moving men and vital supplies from sstablished tecminal sources to points of polats of important oparstions. The Boo-mile Borma Road served a wartime nasion se an allied sapply live duzing World War IL.

The 18-mile Apache Trail was started soon after the turn of this century as a supply road for all material hauled from Phoenix and Globe to the construction site of Roosevelt Dam. Since 1905 all surface traffic between these points have moved over the same mountain road.

Now wonder of wonders, the twain of East and West have met on the Apache Trail. Of course it's still in the movies. Columbia's "The Mountain Road," starring James Stewart... a story of the U.S. Air Force on the Burma Road was actually filmed on Arizona's Apache Trail this past summer.

Talk about hardly believing my eyes... the pagodaspired temple crowning the horizon on the hill across from Horse lest Road. rickshaws and hundreds of

TRAIL

burden-carrying coolies skin-seen-scurrylo over the teacwood-timberad, bamboo-covered bridge, which I hardly recognized as as the the old spen over Fish Creek. Cree See it all at your favorite thesuur... without the cactas you'll hardly recognize the scenery as Arizon.

It's not strange for this rugged mocnosie zead to be connected with garsons, for the name "Apeche Trail" was invented by publicity department coficials of the Southern Pacific Retiroad to glamorize the promotion of the Roosevelt: Dero aces es & tourist cemer to compers witit the Santa Fe's newly inaugurated Grand Canyon cours. The SPER. operzsed Apache Lodge on the Roosevek Laka shora. Guests came by train freen Bowie to Globe, then transferred to seven-pesenger too wages to complete the journey to Roosevelt.

George Wharton James, noted author and caveler of his time, made the trip in 1915, writing: "No indifferent or careless chauffeur can take the wheel for such a zip, nor can be be & werkling or a coward. It requires vigiIsace almost every minate, and scrength to lloc a car ap and down the grades, and courage mod knowledge to Check the curves at a safe margin without making the trip sedious."

In 1960 driving the Apache Trail will still require "vigilance almost every curve," but thanks to better automobiles and good road maintenance the trail is not dangerous to drive, although there are no fewer hairpin curves and canyon walls that drop off with terrifying shoulders.

Plan your Apache Trail trip from west to east that is, from Phoenix to Roosevelt Dam, returning to Phoenix via Miami and Superior. Why from west to east? You will appreciate having the UP-rock walls rather than the DOWN-drop side on your half of the road, and you will have better viewpoints of visual advantage thrilling you with eye-opening first impressions you'll never forget. Start early enough so you can view the canyons in the reverent mood inspired by the softer illumination of the rising sun

Plan your Apache Trail drive as a two-day adven-

Notes for Photographers

ture, for there is more than you have time to see and enjoy in one day. The impact of the trail's beauty won't

PHOTOGRAPHS BY CLETIS B. REAVES OPPOSITE PAGE

"SPIRIT OF THE SUPERSTITIONS" 5x7 Sinar camera; Ektachrome; f.16 at 1/25th sec.; 8" Schneider lens; July; bright sun; meter reading 400; ASA Rating 12. Taken in the foothills of Superstition Mountains, 30 miles from Phoenix near Apache Junction. The prospector is Jack Rogers of Apache Junction who in reality has done a considerable amount of prospecting. He is somewhat of an authority on Superstition and the legends of the Lost Dutchman Mine.

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"FISHERMEN'S CAMP BELOW ROOSEVELT DAM" 4x5 Linhof Technica camera; Anscochrome; f.22 at 1/25th sec.; Schneider gomm wide-angle lens; May; bright sun; meter reading 400; ASA Rating 32. Taken about two miles below Roosevelt Dam on the Salt River. There are a number of sand bars like this along the Salt River in the area, providing easy access to the water for fishermen, boatmen and campers. The Apache Trail borders the river here.

"LAKE SCENE ALONG THE APACHE TRAIL" 5x7 Sinar camera; Anscochrome; f.22 at 1/10th sec.; 120mm. Schneider lens; June; bright sun; meter reading 400; ASA Rating 32. A view of Canyon Lake, forty-five miles from Phoenix on State Route 88, the Apache Trail. Mormon Flat Dam is just out of sight down the canyon in the center background. Canyon Lake is the center of a popular recreation area enjoyed by the people of the Phoenix area.

"EARLY MORNING ON ROOSEVELT LAKE" 5x7 Sinar camera; Anscochrome; f.16 at 1½ sec.; 120 Schneider lens; May; sunup; meter reading 200; ASA Rating 32. This early morning view of Roosevelt Lake was taken from the porch of the home of "Auntie Bill" Reynolds, pioneer resident of the area. Neither this, nor any other photograph, can capture the complete beauty of the sunrise at Roosevelt. The silence of the morning broken only by the coo-ing of white wing dove and the distant put-put of a fisherman's motor boat.

CENTER PANEL

"LAKE AND MOUNTAIN VIEW" 4x7 Sinar camera; Ektachrome; f.22 at 1/10th sec.; 8" Schneider lens; July; bright sun; meter reading 400; ASA Rating 12. View of Canyon Lake from the Apache Trail. This majestic scene shows the rugged mountain terrain and desert flora revealed to the traveler making a trip over State Route 88.

"BRIDGE ACROSS SALT ON ROAD TO YOUNG" 4x5 Linhof camera; Anscochrome; f.32 at 1/10th sec.; 90mm. Schneider lens; May; late afternoon, bright light; meter reading 300; ASA Rating 32. This bridge across Salt River on the road to Young, Arizona, is twenty miles from Globe, and is just a few miles from the Apache Trail.

"IN UPPER SALT RIVER CANYON" 4x5 Linhof camera; Anscochrome; f.32 at 1/10th sec.; 90mm Schneider lens; May; bright sun, late afternoon; meter reading 400; ASA Rating 32. Taken on Salt River just above the Young Road Bridge, twenty miles from Globe.

"FISH CREEK CANYON-APACHE TRAIL" 4x5 Linhof camera; Anscochrome; f.32 at 1/10th sec.; 90mm. Schneider lens; May; early morning-bright light; meter reading 300; ASA Rating 32. Taken twenty miles from Roosevelt Dam, on the Apache Trail. Early morning or late evening light is better for this area. The light at mid-day is in most instances too flat to give countour to the rock formation.

It you until you've turned off at Apache Junction, approximately 33 miles from Phoenix, where Highways 60 and 70 join with Arizona State 88; so prepare to stop often, for the spell of the trail will slow you down to the point where time and mileage have no relation. You won't be the first to doubt that what you see is real and wonder how all these came into existence rock and tree forms shape weird compositions into pictures that could well be projected from other planets awesome masses where the earth thrust towering crags into space. Then in direct contrast are the placid shimmering places where the lakes curl serenely into still little inlets making upside-down pictures of fairy-tale reflections. Enough of the prelude on with the drama. Note your speedometer reading at Apache Junction, an old landmark with a brand new dress of frontier-style structures. The complete shopping and service facilities include the U.S. Post Office now serving one of the fastest growing developments in the Southwest. The bold fortress-like mountains on the right are the famed Superstitions. Rough and uninhabited save for the few ranch houses at the foothills, this rock-mass is the locale for hundreds of romantic legends passed from Spaniard to Indian and the early settlers. The Superstitions have inspired volumes of treasure-hunt stories involving the Lost Dutchman Gold Mine. Five miles ahead on your left is the site of the former productive Goldfield operation. Across the road the BlueBird Gold Mine conducts guided tours. The sharp peaked formation on the low horizon to the right is Weaver's Needle, named for Pauline Weaver, who despite his feminine name was a most rugged frontiersman of half white, half Indian ancestry. Ahead the road winds among vistas of rock formations distinguished by the round, swirling patterns eroded into the sandstone surfaces. The best shots of these are from the road. You'll exclaim at the first view of Canyon Lake, but save your film for the next viewpoint, where the lake shore comes up to the road side. From here looking west you can see Mormon Flat Dam, a supplementary unit, part of the Salt River Project, used to conserve waters flowing from Roosevelt Dam. Mormon Flat is the large flat place on the south side of the water where the Mormon settlers from Mesa and below brought their surplus stock to graze. From here on along the lake drive the scenic beauty is enough to induce neck fatigue as you try to keep up with the strange rock formations on the right and the sapphire blue water on the left. Before you know it, you're over Willow Creek Bridge, then Boulder Creek Bridge eastward to the boathouse and the Canyon Lake resort facilities. As you come over the bridge you'll wonder as I did why the "No Motor Boats Allowed Here" sign is sticking above the water at the cove mouth. This lagoon is reserved for children of all ages who choose to play at model-boating or just lollygagging around, quiet and peaceful-like, in a rowboat. At the boathouse Bob Whittaker, one of Arizona's most genial assets, will rent you a smooth outboard for cruising or a speedy rig for water-skiing. It will take you a relaxed hour and thirty minutes to make the boat trip I guarantee you'll never regret... upContinued from page fourteen

Notes OPPOSITE PAGE

"WINDING ROAD DOWN FISH CREEK HILL" 4x5 Linhof camera; Anscochrome; f.22 at 1/25th sec.; 150mm. Schneider lens; May; bright sun; meter reading 400; ASA Rating 32. View of Fish Creek Hill, twenty miles from Roosevelt Dam on the Apache Trail. The cottonwood trees in Fish Creek Canyon provide shade where men and horses rested in the days when wagons and teams were used to have supplies to Roosevelt Dam. There is now a very nice campground here where today's sightseers may rest and camp. the Salt River to the foot of Horse Mesa Dam, through inviting openings in and out of towering rock walls as tall as big city skyscrapers rock colorings that defy matching erosion patterns no sculptor can imagine shimmering waters alive with reflecting patterns that make a picture any way you look at them. green, green trees growing out of the water a straight-up precipice wall showing the imbedded log-ends of prehistoric trees, a geologist's dream.

Far up amongst the fantastic crags, past the giant cacti and ocotillo, are the caves and work places where the peoples of an ancient civilization left their record marks and artifacts. At the place where Fish Creek joins the Salt River, heaven-reaching cliffs spill from atop the lazy waterfall that cascades itself gently into the quiet pool below. The winding course of the Salt is a dreamy paradise for water ski enthusiasts who glide so smoothly over the mirror-like surface.

You'll be talking about that boat trip long after you're back on the highway over the hills through Tortilla Flats, named for the pancake-stack rock masses resembling a platter of tortillas. This is the last settlement before Roosevelt, thirty miles and almost two hours ahead. Although the road is unpaved two miles past the Flat, don't wish you had turned back, for it is a superbly main-tained, hard, graded, gravel road. The spectacular scenery around you is backdropped by the Mazatzal Mountains to the north and the Tortillas and Superstitions southward. About six miles from Tortilla Flat on your left is the road to Horse Mesa Dam. This area was the key locale of "The Mountain Road" film shooting, with the temple crowning the hill opposite the road junction.

Approaching the summit of Fish Creek Hill, turn off the road and stop. You can't mistake the Painted Cliffs reflecting shades of green and gold.

From here the road descends into the depths of an almost perfect box canyon through the bronze-walled gorge out of Fish Creek Canyon. Don't hurry downgrade or you'll miss the colorful cliffs across the canyon the caves beyond the bridge at the hairpin bend on the canyon floor. Now stop at the turn-out for the spellbinding view of the scene above up-grade again, back and around the mountainside walls. You have just cause to wonder how they built this road through in the first place. Off to the east new forms appear on the horizon, showing behind a magnificent display of giant sahuaros, providing an effective front for the distant view of Apache Lake and the towering rock formations rising above the north shore. The gravel road dropping to the left off the highway leads to the boathouse, restaurant, and cabins. Here the boat trip to Horse Mesa Dam is worth another hour with time allowed for a landing at one or more of the inviting little beaches.

The Apache Trail from the lake road to Roosevelt Dam winds upward out of the Salt River Canyon, through weird and grotesque rock formations: The Old Woman's Shoe, Eagle Rock, Flat Iron Mountain, The Dying Warrior, The Pyramids. Then suddenly you're looking down upon the structure that is still the world's largest masonry dam. This is Roosevelt Dam. the reason for the Apache Trail.

When President Theodore Roosevelt dedicated the

completed structure on March 18, 1911, it was the biggest undertaking of its kind anywhere on earth. Built in the narrow gorge where Tonto Creek joined the swiftly flowing Salt River, Roosevelt Dam, later supplemented by four lesser dams on the Salt, was our government's first pilot model of its kind. So successful is the project, now the pride of the Salt River Water Users Association, that Arizona's place in the agricultural world has grown from few to hundreds of thousands of acres. Behind the dam, Roosevelt Lake is Arizona's largest lake. What it lacks in the sparkling beauty of the other lakes it more than makes up in peace of mind, for here the lazy fisherman can relax and never worry about tangled lines. The road atop the dam is open to traffic in both directions, so since you're here you should explore the area to fully appreciate the facts concerning this historical accomplishment in our multi-million dollar reclamation and flood control program. Everything necessary for the completion of this huge installation, including the power-house equipment, was hauled to the dam site for the most part by mule teams from Phoenix or Globe.

Lumber and timbers were hauled from a lumber camp in the Sierra Ancha Mts. A specially constructed 13-mile canal provided temporary power for placing the giant rocks and concrete in the dam. Remains of the canal are still visible along the lake front road.

Before the dam, the settlement at the junction of the Salt and Tonto Creek was called "The Crossing" and served as the hub of activity for the farms and cattle ranches bordering the rivers. The remains of that settlement as well as buildings used during dam construction are now submerged under the reservoir. The lake floor is a rich archaeological field, as indicated by the potteries and artifacts exposed from time to time.

From the dam, the Apache Trail winds along the lake shore. On the opposite side flocks of wild ducks, pelicans, and even sea gulls winter there.

The community on the e heights heights to to your your right repre sents the homes of most of the Project's employees. The three-story, red-brick faced house on the curve is the home of Mrs. Ben Reynolds, who came to Roosevelt as a tourist on one of the Southern Pacific tours, as did young Ben Reynolds, an adventuresome engineer. They were married on the dam. Ben went to work for the Salt River Project and until retirement shortly before his death, the story of Roosevelt was theirs more than any other living couple.

From the cool, comfortable veranda overlooking the lake, Eleanor Reynolds relives the "most wonderful life in the nearest place to heaven on earth," welcoming old and new friends to share her treasures with her. Always bright-eyed, cheerful, and ever gracious, she has been Roosevelt's Lady of the Lake for over forty years. Keenly alert, her unfailing memory for the people, places, and events is a priceless living record. And to prove it all she has the books, pictures, and documents, as well as one of the finest private museums of western Americana.

Beyond the Reynolds house it's just more than a mile to Roosevelt, on the flat overlooking the lake. Frazier's General Store, which you'll see on the right, is one of the buildings moved upland from the dam site before the lake was filled. Across the road are more tourist facilities and the road to the lake front and the boat docks.

About three miles past Roosevelt, road signs will indicate the junction of the road to Tonto National Monument. It's only one mile to the park area and you can see the cliff dwellings in less than an hour. The ranger-supervised attraction is open all year 'round, and has good water and picnic grounds. Although the trip to the cliff houses is primarily an archaeological adven-ture, you will enjoy the labeled displays of desert plants and cacti. The panorama from the pueblo is matchless, across Roosevelt Lake to Sierra Ancha, framed in a fore-ground. of giant saghuaros.

The Tonto Dwellings were built and occupied dur-ing the 1300's A.D. and abandoned about 1400. These outstanding pueblos were constructed by a few families of the Salados (Spanish for salty), the Salt River branch of the Zuñi. Construction of the dwellings was evidently a defensive necessity, for the land of the Salados were in the valleys along the river where the remains of their houses and signs of their culture are still evident.

From the Tonto junction, the Apache Trail continues through different rock and boulder formations from those previously noted. Now the distant vistas and landmarks provide the dramatic backdrop. The huge church-like shape about seven miles from Tonto Road is Cathedral Rock. From here it's another four miles to the junction on your left marked "Young Road." This side-road, formerly called Feud Turnoff, winds through rugged mountain country, past uranium mines to Young and Pleasant Valley, where it's quiet, peaceful, and pretty now, but the wildest, shootin'est place when the feuding cattlemen and sheepherders fought it out just like Zane Grey wrote it in his famous novel "To the Last Man."

The Sierra Ancha range dominates the distant hori-zon. These rugged sierras (alt. 6,505) are wonderlands of yet unexplored places and little-trodden trails. Virgin forests are alive with wild game. In concealed canyons far from the traveled trails are prehistoric dwellings known only to a few trailmen who have discovered them. Here is a hardly disturbed museum of archaeological treasure picture writings, pottery, weapons, artifacts, and other remains of early civilizations.

Although winter snows sometimes cap the Anchas, the white areas below the rim are the tailings of the abandoned asbestos mines. Other parts of the range are still being worked for the asbestos and other minerals. On the Apache Trail again the sharp, odd-shaped summit on the left is Smoke Signal Peak, the main signal center for the Indians and later the Federal troops. In 1910 Signal Peak figured in a Globe gambling frame-up. The election of a sheriff hang on the results of the Pleasant Valley voce, at that time three days' travel away. Gamblers arranged to intercept the messenger carrying the figures and by a prearranged plan signalled the result to Globe. The smart idea backfired, when the signals were misinterpreted on the receiving end, and the gamblers lost their shirts.

For the next few miles the Apache Trail cuts through farming and cattle country before breaking into the area which has been notable as a mining center since 1800. Wheatfields is the site of a silver mill. Before the Globe silver discovery this area was the rainbow's end for hundreds of prospectors who sought the "huge gold and silver nuggets nuggets near a hat-shaped butte," in the vicinity of what is now identified as Sombrero Butte.

Your first glimpse of a working copper mine is the open-pit Copper Cities mine located on the side of Sleeping Beauty Mountain. You are welcome to tour this amazing operation, but you must register first at the Miami Copper Company's office in Miami.

The Apache Trail meets U.S. 60-70 at a point a few hundred yards beyond the entrance to the Cobre Valley Country Club on your right.

Roosevelt Das

Turn left for Globe. You'll drive slowly through this county seat town of 6,000 people, for the screers are anything but wide, straight, and level. In the early 1900's Globe was a bright star in the mining world. Named for a globe-shaped bonider of almost pure silver, with surface markings etched in the character of the continents, ir became the round-the-clock bright spot of the boomcrazed era.

It wasn't long before labor troubles, politics, and the resulting economic reaction set in, paralyzing Globe at a time when the fortunes of Miami were on the other side of the balance. Globe has never recovered as a mining center. However, being Gila County's seat town, it prospers anew as the county's main residential and trading center.

The medium elevation of 3,200 to 3,700 feet moderates the temperatures of the lower desert areas, making an unusually dry, crisp climate.

Back on Highway 60-70 you can prepare yourself for the unforgettable vista of an active mining center, viewed from the tarnout at the junction of the Apache Trail. Ahead and in the valley below, the perpetually misty haze softens the hard, sharp industrial silhouette of the huge Inspiration Consolidated operation, the largest unit in the Miami copper kingdom.

Plan to stay in Miami overnight. You really won't realize the profit of this until the next day, but take my word for it. it's worth it, beginning with the afterdark show when the smelter is working. The huge mound of slag rising to your right off the highway is set aglow with streams of flowing red molten rock dumped from the furnaces.

All this you can see from the patio of the Copper Hills Motor Hotel just across the highway. This is a first class lodge, unsurpassed for comfort, cuisine, and appointments by anything from El Paso to Los Angeks, complete with radio station, swimming pool, white linen tablecloths, rambleweed chandeliers, and a decorator's dream of a fireplace featuring giant shells of Zamboanga man-esting clems, set in a background of turquoise gem stones. Behind the 40-foot polished bar Ted de Grazia's famous Indian mural provides the art gallery touch.

If you don't have to return to Phoenix early, stay for a conducted tour of the International Smelter. You'll return to Phoeniz via one of the West's smoothest highways, so you can travel relaxed to enjoy the anti-climactic finale to your memorable experiences of the Apache Trail. I won't tell you too much of what you'll see and feel through Devil's Canyon, for the words strange dramatic weird fantastic only begin to describe the shapes, formations, and fascination of an almost unworldly pantomime.

Take plenty of film, don't park on the highway; look ahead for the turnoffs.

The angled grades and the slow-down curves are good, so you don't descend to reality too soon. for you'll want to remember the things you've seen and your heart has felt.

Artist, poet, engineer, scientist, sportsman, secretary, or Indian chief, you'll leave the Apache Trail far wiser, yet more humble; brighter on the outside, bigger inside then you were before.