Following Historic Trails in the Payson Country

PINE, ARIZONA, is a little garden spot beneath the majestic Mogollon Rim, a pioneer settlement of the stout-hearted Mormons that arrived there in 1878. But it was back in 1866, when two brothers, Paul and Bill Gregg, dropped off the Rim into the tall timbered valley below to clear off a patch of land and to build a log cabin. Following along a different trail came S. M. McDonald, a man that liked the tall trees and what he saw, because it was McDonald that erected the first saw mill in Pine. These men gave Pine its name because of the vast stands of virgin Ponderosa pine. Mary D. Fuller became the first postmaster when the post office was established April 2, 1884. Today, the population adds to 200 persons as permanent residents, with approximately 500 per-sons spending the summer months in the 5500-foot altitude just seventeen miles north of Payson.

TRAVELING A short distance beyond Pine, the traveler arrives at Strawberry, a junction point leading to Long Valley and Flagstaff over the Rim to the north; Camp Verde and the Verde Valley to the west and southwest. Isaac Lowthian named this community in 1868, because the early settlers like Mrs. Margaret Platt, gathered large pails full of wild strawberries along the creek banks of the beautiful stream rising under the Mogollon Rim and flowing deep into Fossil Creek. It is here, near the geographic center of Arizona, that the schoolhouse was built in 1883 by J. A. Randall, Isaac Lowthian, J. H. Wing-field, and C. C. Calloway. Remains of the old building still standing on the original site are now being preserved and the old school has been restored as a museum by the Payson-Pine Chamber of Commerce, the organization that accepted the deed and project from the John H. Page Land Company, Inc., on October 22, 1961. It is understood that the old Strawberry School building is the oldest public school building still standing in Arizona.

STRAWBERRY TODAY is fast becoming a recreation and vacation haven, with countless summer homes, resorts and mountain cabins. To the northeast of Payson on an improved paved highway we arrive in the beautiful valley where Samuel and Andrew Houston settled in 1877, and called it Starr Valley after old man Starr and his Indian wife that he married in Oregon. Starr settled in the valley in 1877, and they lived there many years. Both are buried in the area. Somewhere along the trail and years an "R"has been lost for the modern day spelling on our highway maps and signs show it as "Star Valley." Today, a modern little village of subdivision homes, cattle ranches, stores and nearby, in the low rolling juniper covered hills, lies the site of the United States Air Force VELA project. We travel a few miles along the twisting, beautiful highway arriving, as we top over a scenic hill ahead, into Little Green Valley where cattle graze in a green pasture with elk, deer and wild turkey. Where the Apache Indians once farmed, growing beans, pumpkins and corn. Excellent hunting area for big buck deer and elk. Fishing at its best deep in the Tonto Creek that flows through deep, "Hell-like canyons" farther to the east. Following the ribbon of newly paved highway we arrive at Indian Gardens, another fertile area where Apaches raised corn, beans and pumpkins. It is the site of an old Forest Ranger station and was the Base Camp site of the United States Forest Service during the two costly and tragic forest firesin this area during June of 1961, in which fire destroyed some 300 acres of valuable timber in the Roberts Mesa and "Hatchery" fires. Three young men in line of duty lost their lives fighting these fires. John Hook and William Bureh erected a stout stockade at the forks of the creek below Indian Gardens and near Green Valley in 1876, to hold back the raiding Apaches. Today, this is rich grazing country surrounded by tall timber, Promontory Butte and Diamond Point, and rich in pioneer history. Roberts Mesa is an area directly under the ridges of Mogollon Rim. It was owned by Jim Roberts, rancher, who, in 1928, at the age of 72, wore the Deputy Sheriff's badge in Clarkdale, Arizona and killed a bank robber trying to escape town in a speeding automobile.

A VISIT TO THIS GREAT SCENIC AREA would not be a completed visit without a stop at the famous Kohl's Ranch resort on the banks of the slow flowing Tonto Creek. A summertime post office is operated for the countless summer residents living in cabins all along the creek.

An American Baptist Camp; the Tonto Fish Hatchery; The Chapel in the Hills; restful picnic and camping areas dot the timbered playground along the twisting Tonto, a trout fishing paradise the year 'round. Up the hill to Christopher Creek Lodge and Mogollon Rim Trailer Lodge and See Canyon summer home areas. The Christopher Creek recreation area is 27 miles northeast of Payson. It heads at a large spring under the Mogollon Rim, flows into the Tonto Creek. Christopher Creek and Christopher Mountain are named in honor of Isador Christopher, an early Frenchman pioneer, the first settler on this beautiful mountain stream. Christopher survived several Apache Indian raids, and on several such raids fire destroyed his two log houses. We retrace our travels to the low rolling hills under Ox Bow Hill just south of Payson and visit a small settlement hidden deep in hills along the lower Tonto Creek called Gisela. Dave McGowan first settledhere in 1881, selling out to Mort and John Sanders. Mrs. Frederick Stanton, school teacher, named the village Gisela after the heroine of a novel entitled, Countess Gisela written by E. Marlitt. A post office was established April 9, 1894, with Frederick Stanton as postmaster. Scenic, well hidden off the beaten path, it remains a cattle growing community, and a sportsman's paradise. Close, in the Tonto Basin area lies Tonto, an early day ranch at the base of "Jump Off," the forgotten site of a post office for the famous Cross Seven Cattle Company. The old post office was established on February 25, 1884, with James B. Watkins as postmaster. While over in Tonto Basin it was the honor for Lillian L. Colcord to be the first postmaster of the settlement called "Tontobasin." It was established May 8, 1929. This gentle little settlement is 25 miles north of Roosevelt at the mouth of Reno Creek where it then flows into Tonto Creek, an area shown on the early maps as "Apavheria." At the junction of the old Bush Highway and 188 lies a little

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River. Today, Rye is a country store, cafe, and service station stop for tourists seeking the sights of the Mogollon Rim country. Sixteen miles north on Arizona 87, known as the Bee Line Highway, you return to Payson.

AN OLD MINING CAMP and livestock center, founded back in 1882 as Union Park and known later as Long Valley, the town of Payson was laid out by C. C. Callahan. John C. Hise, first Surveyor General of the territory in 1885 to 1889, built the first house and operated a general store with his brother Frank. Payson was finally named after a Senator Payson from Illinois, who was chairman of the Congressional Committee, Post Offices and Post Roads. The Payson Post Office was established March 3, 1884, with Frank C. Hise the first postmaster. Cattle, lumber, and mining have provided work and profit for the Payson people during the slow growing years; with the improved paved highway came progress, with many subdivisions, a country club and golf course, churches and cross-roads settlement known as Jake's Corner. It, too, lies in the heart of rich cattle grazing hills. Our next stop is at Rye, located at the foot of Ox Bow Hill, on the old Sam Haught ranch on Rye Creek, under the shadows of the rugged Mazatzal Mountain Range. Named Rye by the early settlers because of the great growth of wild rye on the range of the first settlers that grazed cattle. The Mazatzal Mountains are the dividing line between Maricopa and Gila counties, a range forty miles long, scenic and rugged.

THE VAST 260,000-acre Mazatzal Wilderness Area is open to trail riders on many well-marked trails. Early settlers in the late 1870's settled on the south side of the East Fork of the Verde, in the upper end of Deadman Canyon, and called the place Mazatzal City. In 1882 the Mormons abandoned the town thought to be at the junction of City Creek and the east fork of the Verde small business ventures that tended to make this area a sought-after retirement community type of living. Public utilities have put the area into high gear, with power and telephone lines; new schools; new homes; new businesses; modern motels, hotel, and resorts provide year-round living for tourists, residents and families seeking the retirement living of tomorrow. Famous for the scenic drives such as a trip to Natural Bridge; old Zane Grey cabin and Tonto Trail; Diamond Point and over to Pleasant Valley; or to Pine, the pioneer town. You will love them all and be enriched by the scenic beauty and wonder of the majestic Rim. You, too, will decide, as many others have, that like the early settlers and pioneers, here is the spot to clear a piece of land, build a home and live. For more complete information on retirement living and recreational opportunities in this area, write to the Payson-Pine Chamber of Commerce, P. O. Box 397, Payson, Arizona.