PINAL COUNTY, ARIZONA, U.S.A.

In all these United States, one county has all three of the following (a) the San Francisco Giants baseball team; (b) a Civil War battlefield; and (c) a movie studio filming "Death Valley Days." In Pinal County, Arizona, all these things are found within a 31/2 million acre piece of Arizona that lies in the state's heartland between Phoenix and Tucson. The Giants are at Francisco Grande, a surprising assortment of practice fields, swimming pool shaped like a ball and bat, golf course, and a skyscraper hotel looming 9 stories high above the flat farmlands four miles west of Casa Grande. The Giants spend the first week of spring training at Francisco Grande with their farm club players before moving up to Phoenix for exhibition games of the "Cactus League." For the remainder of the year Francisco Grande serves as one of the outstanding resort and convention hotels of the Southwest.

Spring baseball in Arizona is hardly news, but the idea of a battleground of the Civil War in our state may be a bit surprising. The site is Picacho Peak, a rugged and distinctive landmark next to Interstate Highway 10, the road that leads from Casa Grande to Tucson. Small detachments of Union and Confederate troops met here on April 15, 1862, and the resulting battle was considered a Union victory despite the loss of the Union commander, Lt. James Barrett, and two of his men. Two of the Confederate soldiers were also killed and two were captured. As a result of the Battle of Picacho Peak the Stars and Bars were never again seen in this part of the Southwest. A new state park has been established at this spot with picnic tables for the traveling public and a distinctive marker describing the historic encounter. Photographers will find that Picacho Peak, itself, is a fascinating subject, for it rises from the flat desert floor as a solitary and towering mountain, much like Boundary Cone near Oatman in Mohave County or Agathla on the road to Monument Valley in Navajo County.

Apacheland is the scene of "shoot'em-up" activities for the movie cameras. This western village outdoor studio is located in the foothills of famed Superstition Mountain east of Apache Junction, and has been the location for many feature motion pictures as well as episodes in the "Death Valley Days" television series. The short drive from U.S. 60 to Apacheland in an interesting one, and tours are offered at regular intervals, complete with outdoor dramas that feature plenty of loud gunplay as outlaws meet their fate at the hands of heroic lawmen.

These three aspects of Pinal County might be described as some of the area's more unusual features. What would be a more general description of the county as a whole? We often speak of the four "C's" out here in Arizona major factors that contribute to the state's growth and prosperity. They are Copper, Cattle, Cotton, and Climate. Few of Arizona's fourteen counties can boast of all four of these activities, but Pinal is one of them.

Yet, in all of this vast and rich region there is no population center that can be termed the county's "main city," such as Flagstaff for Coconino County, or Yuma in Yuma County. Pinal has no less than fifteen small cities, each with a distinct identity and a strong sense of competitive spirit. As an indication of just how spread out the population of Pinal really is, the county has nine weekly newspapers, each stressing its own locality and interests. Despite this dispersion of population, however, the people of Pinal have established a county development board which has been very effective in promoting county-wide interests, particularly in sponsorship of the Pinal County Tourist Center at Florence. Under the capable direction of Mrs. Peggy Galloway the tourist Center not only functions as a central information point for Pinal County but also monitors the work of some forty satellite visitor registration centers established in stores, banks, and motels throughout the county. These offices furnish visitors with information about Pinal, and also listen

1. FLORENCE, county seat of Pinal County, in territorial days (reminders of which still exist) was one of the busiest and largest communities in Arizona. Home of Arizona State Prison. Agricultural center and trading center for outlying area. Junior rodeo, weekend after Thanksgiving.

2. SOUTHWESTERN ARBORETUM. This desert garden near Superior was originally endowed as an experimental station for plants, shrubs and trees adapted to living in arid countries. Now under jurisdiction of the University of Arizona. Practically every desert plant there is can be seen here.

3. SUPERIOR important copper mining community, terminal of the Miami-Superior Highway (U.S. 60-70), one of Arizona's most scenic arteries of travel.

4. SUPERSTITION MOUNTAIN. Noted Arizona historical and scenic landmark. People still brave the rugged terrain in search of the Lost Dutchman Mine.

5. APACHE JUNCTION. Gateway to the famed Apache Trail (Arizona 88) a magic thread of road that winds its way through rough mountain country.

6. KEARNY, spic-and-span new community housing personnel of the Ray Mines Division of the Kennecott Copper Corp. Name is pronounced "carney."

7. SAN MANUEL. Construction of this huge mining operation and model community began in 1953.

8. PINAL PIONEER PARKWAY. This drive on U.S. 80-89 between Florence and Oracle Junction is one of the most scenic desert drives in Arizona. Many commodious roadside rest areas installed and maintained by the Arizona State Highway Department for the pleasure and comfort of travelers.

9. PICACHO PEAK, prominent landmark, where the only battle of the Civil War was fought in Arizona.

10. ELOY-COOLIDGE-CASA GRANDE. In this area is found some of the richest and most productive farm land in the state. The San Francisco Giants operate a large training center at Casa Grande each spring.

11. CASA GRANDE RUINS National Monument. The well-preserved ruins of a four-storied prehistoric dwelling near Coolidge.

12. GILA RIVER INDIAN RESERVATION, home of the Pima Indians, who farm the rich lands along the Gila River. Sacaton is reservation agency headquarters.

13. PAPAGO INDIAN RESERVATION. Northern portion of this reservation is in Pinal County. Here desert Indians have lived for generations.

Paying carefully to ideas expressed by the tourists. As a result, this information is fed back to the office of Peggy Galloway to give Pinal County a unique insight into the interests and desires of the people who visit the area. To date this is the only county bureau in Arizona, but the experiment is being watched with interest by other counties who wish to build up visitor interest. These examples of energetic county-wide work in Pinal might be attributed to the absence of a strong concentration of people in any one city. At any rate, it seems obvious that this combination of "self-starters" and the wealth of the four "C's" in Pinal will result in its steady growth.

The first "C" Copper, is already very big in Pinal and will soon become even larger. The towns of Superior and San Manuel are both completely concerned with the mining and smelting of copper ore, while Mammoth and Oracle are strongly associated with this same field. Kearny was created in 1958 as a model town for mining operations at nearby Ray as open pit operations started encroaching on that town. In 1969 a major new copper ore body was discovered south of Casa Grande, and this will probably result in the building of another new town, just as San Manuel and Kearny were born in recent years. The copper mines are important to Pinal, although they are located on the county's perimeters, so that most people traveling through the flat farmlands around Coolidge or Casa Grande don't realize they are in a county producing great mineral wealth.

The second "C" Cattle, and its importance in Pinal County can best be described by reporting there is one area near Maricopa that modestly calls itself "Cowtown, U.S.A." I can't say if there might be one hundred thousand head of cattle or several hundred thousand head being fed there at Cowtown on any given day, but it is a very big business, indeed. Cowtown was developed as a planned cattle feeding center to take advantage of the vast expanses of feed crops surrounding that area, a location on the main line of the Southern Pacific railroad, nearby plants producing cottonseed meal and sugar beet pulp for feeding. "Cotton" is a general term used to denote the importance of agriculture to the state of Arizona. There is a great deal ofcotton grown in Pinal County, both of the normal and the long-staple Pima types, but just about everything else grows here, too. The Pinal County Development Board reports that lettuce is becoming so valuable a crop that we may see direct air freight shipment of this crop from Eloy. This idea of "picked today at Eloy on the Manhattan restaurant table tomorrow" may seem a bit far out, but I wouldn't be surprised to see it happen. Pinal County people may be small-town oriented, but they think big.

The last "C" Climate, is used to denote the attraction that an area holds for visitors, many of whom decide to pull up roots and become Arizona residents. In this respect Pinal is much like neighboring Maricopa County, which contains Phoenix. That is, Pinal is hot and dry in the summer, mild and dry in winter. The county is receiving a steady flow of "winter people" who stay for a few months in rather modest accommodations and spend most of their time in the great out-doors, exploring dim desert trails and sand washes. They don't do much nightclubbing and don't even go in much for golf,

although there are some excellent golf courses available to them in the region. They are different, in other words, from the vast bulk of Arizona's "snowbirds" who flock to the resort areas of Phoenix, Scottsdale, and Tucson. Pinal's "winter people" are like their hosts, small-town people who enjoy the ease and informality of this kind of life. There are more of them each season, and they seem to have found in Pinal a way of life under the warm desert sun that is appealing. For the benefit, then, of some of those visitors who might wish to take an easy tour of Pinal, either in person or by armchair, here are two short overnight trips that will hit some of the high spots.

TRIP ONE: First Day: Phoenix to Kearny - 89 miles Phoenix Apache Junction Superior - Kearny San Manuel Florence Phoenix

The most dramatic introduction to Pinal County surely must be Apache Junction, with its majestic backdrop of Superstition Mountain. The broad four lanes of U.S. 60 lead due east from Phoenix through Tempe and Mesa, causing most tourists to believe that Apache Junction is just an eastern Maricopa County suburb of those cities. This irks the good citizens of Apache Junction, for they are uncommonly proud of the fact that the county line is just at the western outskirts of their town and that they are truly the portal to Pinal County. Quite a settlement has grown up in the Apache Junction area, with a false-front Western motif generally used throughout the main shopping center. Homes and trailer parks are scattered across the desert over towards the foothills of the mountain, itself, with clusters of name markers at turnoff roads to point the way. Life is informal and relaxed at Apache Junction, although the town boasts one very nice resort in the Superstition Inn to delight those visitors who wish to enjoy the desert in a de luxe manner. And always, looming in the background with an everchanging vista of lights and shadows, is the vast bulk of Superstition, one of the Southwest's great subjects for artists and photographers.

Beyond Apache Junction the paved road to Apacheland Movie Studio turns left toward Superstition Mountain. This three mile trip leads one through interesting stretches of desert vegetation, with good views of Superstition available after the power line has been crossed. Best viewing of the mountain from this side is during morning hours, when interesting shadows are present. The next marked turnoff road leads toward Superstition and Peralta Springs, site of the Dons Club base camp. The Dons Club of Phoenix is a volunteer group of businessmen who conduct many bus tours throughout the Southwest and whose annual big event is a trek into the Superstition Wilderness Area conducted from this base camp. (See "Hospitality Western Style, The Story of the Dons Club of Phoenix, Arizona," ARIZONA HIGHWAYS, March, 1967). A third scenic turnoff road leading north towards Superstition is found a few miles beyond Florence Junction. This is the route to Queen Valley Country Club, a very pleasant oasis in the desert with great views of the mountains.

Back on U.S. 60 the road climbs out of the Salt River Valley and then descends again towards Picket Post Mountain and Superior. Just west of Superior is the Boyce Thompson Southwestern Arboretum, a remarkable collection of plants from arid lands of the entire world. All species are identified, and the vast collection includes many rare items from faraway places. Of special interest is a saguaro planted as a seedling about thirty years ago to give an accurate indication of the slow growth of this huge cactus. Photographers have an unusual opportunity to record unusual types of desert growth at this spot, all with the outstanding background of rugged Picket Post Mountain. The Arboretum is operated as a Desert Biological Station by the University of Arizona, and there is no charge for admission.

The road turns south at Superior on State Highway 177 leading towards Kearny. For a short but scenic excursion prior to heading south on 177, I can recommend a drive up into Queen Creek Canyon on U.S. 60, passing over the high bridge of Queen Creek and through the highway tunnel. The rock formations in this area are very rugged in fact, when a picture I had made of these rocks was published in a Christmas issue of ARIZONA HIGHWAYS, I noted with interest that it had acquired the title "Old Stone Face - Carlos Elmer!"

South of Superior the highway to Kearny climbs over mountains and then passes the vast open pit diggings of the Ray Mines Division, Kennecott Copper Company. These are right alongside the highway, and a good observation point is available for pictures.

Superior is the first glimpse of a major copper town on this tour of Pinal, and it looks the way I think a copper town should. It is somewhat hilly, and the smelter built in 1914 stands out against the mountain background. The first mining interest in this area was silver, not copper, with the excitement of the immensely rich but short-lived Silver King Mine in 1875. Then came the less rich but more dependable Silver Queen Mine near Superior, later developed for copper by the Magma Copper Company after 1910. I think that Superior most accurately gives the flavor of the true mining town among all of the Pinal County towns associated with mining, and a stroll through its downtown streets reminds me very much of the mining towns I knew in my home territory of Mohave County during my youth.

The model city of Kearny and the General Kearny Inn are our destination for overnight accommodations, and I believe you will be pleasantly surprised to find such a fine hotel and dining room so far from major highways. As previously mentioned, the city of Kearny was built from scratch in 1958 to house personnel of the Kennecott Copper Company, and it is a good example of enlightened city planning. The city's name was chosen in memory of General Philip Kearny who explored the nearby Gila River in 1849-50, as disclosed by that most valuable guide which should accompany every traveler through the state, Arizona Place Names.Kearny is a “bedroom” town for the Kennecott mining and smelting operations that are conducted at Ray and Hayden. The huge smelter at Hayden, just 9 miles southeast of Kearny, is a fascinating sight, although it must be observed that it lies just across the county line in Gila County. The route goes nearly due south from Hayden through Winkelman and Mammoth to the turnoff to San Manuel, designated State Highway 76. The total length of highway 76 is only 7 miles, and it leads to another new planned community that was constructed to support copper mining and smelting operations.

Second day - Kearny to Phoenix via San Manuel - 159 miles.

As San Manuel copper is mined underground, in contrast to all of the other large scale Arizona copper operations. From the mines the low grade ore is carried to the smelter at San Manuel by rail for smelting. The town's population of some 5,000 persons makes it one of the most substantial mining communities in the state.

Returning to State Highway 77, the route turns westward through the picturesque community of Oracle with its backdrop of the rugged Santa Catalina Mountains, and then to a meeting with U.S. 80 and U.S. 89 at Oracle Junction. As one turns north on this highway, the entrance to Pinal Pioneer Parkway is soon reached, and the road passes through thirty miles of desert vegetation that is protected for all time in its natural state. This is an ideal area for a picnic lunch and a hike through the desert to inspect and photograph the giant cholla, palo verde, saguaro and other desert plants.

At one of three roadside rest and picnic areas constructed by the Arizona Highway Department within Pinal Pioneer Parkway is a nostalgic stone monument in memory of Tom Mix, cowboy movie hero of my youth, who lost his life near this spot in an automobile accident. That name doesn't mean much to those under forty, I suppose, but the rest of us know that he was the greatest of them all.

The next stop is at Florence, the county seat. There's a lot of history in the town, and much of it is concentrated in the oldest of the three court houses in Florence, where a museum is operated by volunteer services of the Pinal County Historical Society. These good folks have assembled a fine display of objects used in everyday life during the more than one hundred years of Florence, plus many outstanding historical photographs.

The second of the three Florence court house buildings, now used as a county office building, is an example of Victorian architecture without peer in Arizona, and is worth an entire trip in its own right. The cupolas and gingerbread of this elegant two-story structure make it a thing of dignity and beauty, and I must applaud the efforts of those who preserved it after the new and modern court house building was constructed. It looks as though the second Florence court house has to be drafty and impossible to heat and inordinately inefficient, but if ever there was a building worth saving, this must be it. I well recall my late father's fondness for this bit of the gay 90's in the desert when he would come to Florence to preside as a visiting Judge of the Superior Court for Pinal County. I guess that he visited all of the county seats in this capacity during his tenure on the bench, Florence trip was always a favorite for him.

As previously mentioned, Florence is also home base for Mrs. Peggy Galloway and the Pinal County Tourist Center. An initial visit to her office is an excellent start for any exploration of Pinal County, and you will receive a most cordial welcome.

Just north of Florence on the highway leading back towards Florence Junction and Superstition Mountain is a large political campaign billboard that appears to be a permanent fixture. It advocates election of the most illustrious native son of Florence, Judge Ernest W. McFarland. Few Americans have served a state in the highest elective offices of all three branches of government. As Governor, United States Senator (including service as Majority Leader of the Senate), and as Chief Justice of the Arizona Supreme Court, Judge McFarland has served his state long and well.

As your car rolls along towards Florence Junction and U.S. 60 70, the great mass of Superstition Mountain continues to grow in size, always dominating the northern skyline. It is a photographic subject from any angle, but I think this approach from Florence is the most dramatic of all, especially if one has a really long focal length lens to record it from many miles away.

From Florence Junction the route is a retrace of that made the day before. There may still be time for another look at Apacheland Studio, but the main event is dinner at Mining Camp Restaurant, just north of Apache Junction against the side of Superstition Mountain, itself.

If you're watching calories, skip this section, for a bout with Mining Camp is fraught with calories. It's not just the chicken and ribs and beef (yes, you are expected to do justice to all three at one sitting!) but the "fixins" that will get at you. I'm a sitting duck for the homemade rolls and bread and pastry (yep, all three again) as well as the beans, cole slaw, etc., etc., etc. All of this served family style on mining camp plates while seated at rough plank tables. As I read the map, Mining Camp must be just a whisker inside Pinal County, but it does qualify as a full-fledged Pinal attraction and is not to be confused with anything found in neighboring Maricopa or Gila Counties.

After Mining Camp Restaurant, there's nothing to do but stagger back into the family bus, return to Apache Junction, and then turn west for home base at Phoenix. It's been a full two days in all respects, with more Pinal County to come.

The second two-day tour of Pinal County starts with a long step backwards into the history of man in the Southwest. The Casa Grande National Monument, on the outskirts of Coolidge, Arizona, is a remarkable "apartment house" built of dirt by the Hohokam peoples around the year 1350. The four-story height of this structure made it appear as a skyscraper on the flat desert when first seen by Father Kino in 1694.

To reach this spot your route goes through Mesa and then south in Maricopa County past the famous San Marcos Hotel at Chandler. If your travel is performed around Christmas time, you will see a unique silvery Christmas tree towering about twenty feet in the air in front of the San Marcos a Christmas tree made of tumbleweeds! This is rich farming land, and the new Spreckels Sugar Company plant just north of the Pinal County border has added sugar beets to the list of crops grown in this part of Maricopa and Pinal Counties.

State Highway 87 turns southeastward at the county line and enters the reservation of the Pima Indians, whose headquarters are passed at Sacaton. This is range country along the Gila River, with an occasional green farm found here and there. It is rather appropriate to approach Casa Grande National Monument through the land of the Pimas, descendants of the Hohokam, for it seems that life for the Pimas today is almost as grim a struggle as was that of "The Ancient Ones" the Hohokams who dwelt here so many centuries ago and left behind their puzzling four-story structure in the desert.

Arizona City is a new bright star in a galaxy of outstanding developments

Casa Grande Ruins can be seen at a glance, or can be examined in detail in about thirty minutes when led by a Park Ranger. I think, however, that this is a place for one to spend an hour or more walking around the monument grounds that are sprinkled with lesser ruins, or sitting at various spots to see the big ruin from several viewpoints. It is a spot in which to reflect upon the nature of life as it was lived in those days, and the comparison to our way of life today. The excellent museum displays several drawings and old photographs that show the ruins prior to excavation and preservation of the walls. Today, a huge metal roof covers the entire large ruîn to prevent further "melting" by rain.

In the museum is the original painting by Paul Coze which depicts life at Casa Grande in its heyday, when most of the dwellings and the large building were protected by a ten-foot wall. This painting was one of a series showing life among the prehistoric Indian peoples of the Southwest which were featured in that most memorable May, 1951 issue of ARIZONA HIGHWAYS.

If you are so fortunate as to locate a copy of that issue, you will quickly discover that Casa Grande was constructed rather late in the chronology of peoples inhabiting this part of America. Many other sites in the Southwest are much more ancient. Casa Grande, however, still serves as an excellent introduction to the subject. Like Montezuma Castle and Walnut Canyon National Monuments in Northern Arizona it is conveniently situated right next to a major highway, and a visit doesn't require an extensive detour or long hike.

But Casa Grande is much more than an introduction to prehistoric Indian culture in the Southwest it stands alone and unique as the only really tall building that was constructed on flat ground by any of these peoples. We are not entirely sure of its intended purpose perhaps apartment building, but also possibly storeroom, fortress, symbolic monument, or even a combination of these uses. We are fortunate that the ravages of time have not completely destroyed these massive walls and that the major portion of the "Big House" - Casa Grande, is still there to be enjoyed by us all.

After leaving the gates of the Casa Grande National Monument you are on the outskirts of Coolidge, a pleasant town of 5,000 population, founded in 1925 and named in honor of Calvin Coolidge, who later dedicated nearby Coolidge Dam on the Gila River in 1930. This is a rich agricultural area, growing cotton, sugar beets, grains, and vegetables.

Beyond Coolidge, State Highway 87 joins Interstate 10 near the town of Picacho, and just 10 miles farther is the offramp leading to Picacho Peak State Park. Nice picnic facilities have been installed here against the side of the rugged peak, and it is a delightful spot for hiking and photography. Many saguaros are found here, and they add greatly to the picture compositions when framing views of the mountain. The best views of the peak are obtained by driving back to the northwest on a frontage road that parallels the freeway, for the state park is too close to the peak for photography with a normal lens.

The return route is back on the freeway past highway 87 intersection and on to Eloy and Arizona City. Eloy is another major agricultural center of about 5,000 population, while Arizona City is a new planned community appealing to retired persons who wish to have a view of the wide, open spaces while still enjoying such pleasures of life as a luxurious golf course and clubhouse. A similar new development is found just north of Arizona City at Toltec, recently incorporated into Eloy city, and it is believed that other such new planned cities will emerge in this area just halfway between Phoenix and Tucson.

The county's largest city is just west of this area. Casa Grande, with its more than 10,000 inhabitants, serves as a major business and trading center for the southern part of the county. While agriculture is again the chief sources of income for the Casa Grande area, an industrial park has been established and some light manufacturing plants are in operation. But to most visitors, the major attraction is found a few miles to the west at our destination for overnight accommodations, Francisco Grande.

When Horace Stoneham decided to build a modern training center for his San Francisco Giants baseball organization he threw away the rule book and did something that was really different. In the first place, there was nothing but flat farmland and a highway at the spot he chose. No problem of worrying about players walking out after hours to do the town, for the town was out of sight to the east. Then a complex of four training diamonds was built, all converging on a structure that looks like an airport control tower. This was exactly its purpose, for the coaching staff could keep track of four ball games at one time from this point, relaying instructions to any diamond by public address systems. A fifth baseball field, complete with 3,000-seat grandstand, was constructed for exhibition games as a gift to the Giants from the citizens of Casa Grande.

To house the hundreds of players from the seven Giant farm teams that train here, a magnificent two story motel was constructed, complete with dining facilities to handle the peak load of spring training. Hotel and rooms were furnished in heavy carved wood furniture of Mexican motif with floors of Mexican tile. The dazed ballplayers agreed they had never seen spring training dormitories like this before. As previously mentioned, the swimming pool was designed in the shape of a baseball bat while the round wading pool represents a baseball.

During the offseason when the ball teams have departed for their home cities the motel functions as a welcome new addition to the growing list of luxury guest resorts in Arizona. A golf course was constructed and finally a 9 story addition to the hotel was built. The skyscraper hotel comes as quite a surprise to the unprepared traveler motoring along State Highway 84, for it looms above the flat fields in much the same manner that Casa Grande National Monument must have soared skyward when first seen by Fr. Kino so long ago. The afternoon may be still young, but Francisco Grande is the right place for a doze in the sun, a round of golf, or your first swim in a baseball bat!

Second day Francisco Grande Cowtown Phoenix 52 miles.

A few miles west of Francisco Grande a paved road leads northward to Casa Grande Maricopa Highway, the route to Cowtown, U.S.A. Near this turnoff is the town of Stanfield, another of Pinal's many shopping centers for agricultural lands. Like so many other communities in our country, Stanfield (and Casa Grande, too, for that matter) will soon be bypassed with completion of Interstate Highway 8, but the basically healthy nature of the farm economy in this area is expected to minimize the impact of change for Stanfield.

The impetus for establishment of Cowtown came in 1963, when the Pinal County Board of Supervisors approved zoning 22 sections of land northwest of Casa Grande and extending to the area of Maricopa as C1-2, Heavy Industry. Many feedlot operators in the Phoenix area moved their base of operations to Cowtown to take advantage of the water, feed,

Tree-tall cholla plants stand on either side of U.S. 80 near Oracle Junction.

Springtime at Picacho Peak means a carpet of wildflowers for the lush desert plants.

and transportation features of this location. More than 100,000 acres of hay and feed grains are grown each year in the Casa Grande Valley, and ample supplies of cottonseed meal and hulls are available, plus sugar beet pulp from the new Spreckels plant south of Chandler.

For a town of less than one thousand persons Maricopa has enough civic spirit to match any larger community in Pinal County. This is the hub of Cowtown operations, and Maricopa also serves a vast array of other farming and ranching interests in an area only 35 miles south of Phoenix. The Maricopa Indians live nearby on their reservation, and there is much history in the Butterfield Stage division point at Maricopa Wells. Nearly every town and city in Pinal County shows its get up and go by staging some kind of annual festival, but the excitement and hospitality of little Maricopa's Stage Coach Days in March is hard to beat.

From Maricopa the route heads north to an intersection with the new Tucson to Phoenix freeway that quickly takes you back to the big city.

Of course there is more to tell of Pinal County than our space limitations will allow.

For example, when the first trip's route went from Hayden to San Manuel via Mammoth, we passed right by one of the prettiest spots in all of Arizona. A dirt road 10 miles north of Mammoth heads eastward towards Aravaipa Canyon, an area so scenic that it was the subject on an entire issue of ARIZONA HIGHWAYS in August 1965, by photographer and explorer of the back country, Darwin Van Campen.

There are the vast lands of the Papago Indians in the southern part of Pinal County an area dotted with place names like Tat Momoli, Sif Vaya, Kohatk, and Gu Komelik. A paved road now extends through this reservation, departing from Casa Grande and terminating at State Highway 86, the Tucson to Ajo highway.

Pinal County is also the home of the brand-new Central Arizona College, located north of Casa Grande so as to be about halfway between the two population areas of Casa Grande Eloy and Coolidge Florence. The first phase of construction provides for 1,000 students in a two-year junior college program.

Yes, there's lots to do and lots to see in historic Pinal. The best yet is to try those two day exploratory runs and then zero in on the areas that appeal to you most. Wherever it is, I can assure you that you're going to rub shoulders with some mighty fine people who are glad they're living the good life in Pinal County, Arizona, U. S. A.

"Poppies, Poppies, Everywhere" DARWIN VAN CAMPEN

The author of this story, Carlos Elmer, has recently published a deluxe hard cover edition of his all-color book THE COLOR PANORAMA OF CARLOS ELMER'S ARIZONA. 44 colorful views of Arizona's scenic wonders make a nice Christmas gift. Available at book stores throughout Arizona or directly from the author at $4.00, postpaid Carlos H. Elmer, Box 875, Scottsdale, Arizona 85252.