ARIZONA... The Many Splendored Land

ARIZONA continued from page 5.

Try, if you will, to describe a desert morning when winter's chill is in the air and a new day is born all crisp and full of sparkle. Those are the mornings that make a person feel vital and alive, mornings to make you want to "git" up and go!

No one can proclaim, with triumphant gesture, "This is Arizona," because no one in the short space of life alloted to man can truly know all of the many and changing faces of this unique land of unfathomable beauty and mystery.

One of Arizona's best known and most famous faces is the Grand Canyon, a cracked, wrinkled and eroded portion of this old earth's surface unlike any other to be found on this or probably any other planet. Millions of people have seen the Grand Canyon since that long-ago day when questing soldiers of Old Spain first peered into the depths of the Incomparable Chasm. Little has been recorded of their thoughts and feelings on that eventful day, but we'll guess one of them must have crossed himself and murmured, "Qué milagro!" Amigo, you were so right! What a miracle!

To those millions of people who have passed this way, the Grand Canyon has revealed a different face to each and every person who has viewed it. The remarks and comments it has inspired in the beholders have been as varied as the people who have made them. A former president of the United States, seeing Grand Canyon for the first time, is reported to have exclaimed, "Golly! What a gully!"

Perhaps the classic of all remarks was made by a little boy who was dragged reluctantly to the Rim by his doting mother for his first view of Grand Canyon. After surveying the grandeur and spaciousness below him he said: "When do we eat!"

There is a Grand Canyon to the multitudes who have viewed it from the Rims. There is a different Grand Canyon to the many who have made the mule trip into the Canyon's depths. There is a still different Grand Canyon to the hikers who have trudged the trails from Rim to Rim. To the few who have dared the treacherous Colorado and traversed the Canyon by boat, another Grand Canyon has been revealed. That hardy soul, Author-lecturer Colin Fletcher, perhaps knows the Canyon as well as any man on earth. He walked from Hualapai Hilltop down the trail through the Havasupai Indian Reservation to the Colorado, and up the river on the Canyon's floor many weary miles and many days (two months in all) to Point Imperial on the North Rim. What would motivate a man to undertake such a tremendous task? Of his hike he has written: "I wanted to explore all the museum's hall - the dark and seeming endless one marked 'rocks,' and the others labeled 'fossils' and 'animals' and 'man.' And I knew that the way to reach them was by a long solitary journey through the shadowy corridors called 'space' and 'silence'."

A noble purpose and a noble accomplishment, but it is doubtful that even this remarkable man knows all the faces of Grand Canyon because his journey was within the boundaries of Grand Canyon National Park and a lot of the Canyon slumbers in time and sublime silence beyond the National Park Service confines, seldom or ever visited, being too remote and inaccessible.

Take an ordinary road map of Arizona and cut out carefully that portion marked "Grand Canyon." The deletion, as you will see, leaves a lot of Arizona that also has many diverse and highly attractive faces, ranging from desert to mountains, from canyons to mesa and high plateau, giving emphasis to the assertion Arizona is much more than just the Grand Canyon or the desert, for that matter. Where to a Joseph Wood Krutch Arizona is the desert (two scholarly books - although his Grand Canyon book borders on the classic), to a Zane Grey Arizona was the Rim Country (a number of books inspired by the land and the people in it).

The Mogollon Rim is a formidable face of Arizona, the state's rugged and ponderous backbone that separates the high plateau country from the desert and foothills. The Rim road, which turns west a few miles south of Show Low and creeps slowly along to join the Payson-Camp Verde road near Strawberry, will, as much as anything else, impress upon you the massive and primitive face that is much of Arizona. What this road reveals to you is not pretty-picture card country, but country piled on a herculean scale.

Some of the faces that Arizona turns toward the visitor are as old as time itself. In Petrified Forest National Park trees turned to stone speak eloquently of bygone aeons when our very earth was being formed. These fallen monarchs tell a story whose very preface our scholars haven't begun to read. Ancient, too, are the faces of Arizona shown in the ruins of our prehistoric people Montezuma Castle, Wupatki, Betatakin, Tonto Cliff Dwellings, Casa Grande, Pueblo Grande, Walnut Canyon Ruins and countless of others reminding us that man comes and man goes but the land remains forever and in the narrative of the land man's story is scarcely more than an inaudible whisper.

And, yet among the most intriguing of Arizona's many faces are the handiworks of man, monuments to his time and purpose in life. Our old Spanish missions San Xavier and Tumacacori are chapters in our part of the story of the Spanish Conquest. They tell us of the devout and devoted who labored so mightily to bring Christianity into a harsh wilderness.

In Tombstone we learned of another era when the frontier was young and lusty and life, to say the least, was exciting if somewhat hazardous. In Tubac, Camp Verde and Fort Apache are still to be found reminders of those days when fire swept the frontier as a young nation was expanding its domain ever westward, boldly and confidently westward. Throughout our state are countless evidences of the pioneers who blazed the trails which so many others have followed.

The dams on our rivers to store water so that the dry and inhospitable desert could be made fruitful are among Arizona's most notable faces, marking, as they do, man's supreme triumph over nature. And what man has accomplished since 1864 when the first territorial government rolled up its sleeves and settled down to business are proud faces that Arizona can show to the world. Arizona is as old as the beginning of time; Arizona is as young and dynamic as tomorrow.

Our large cities Phoenix and Tucson whose skylines are rising higher and higher toward the skies! Our sleek highways, ribbons of enchantment, making shambles of distance and knitting all parts of the state together so that such separated places as Yuma and Winslow, Kingman and Douglas are practically next door neighbors. Our farms and factories, our schools and colleges these, too, are faces of Arizona, of which we are all so proud. Our modern faces blend with and supplement the ancient faces that neither time nor the buffets of weather can ever efface. Arizona wears a different face for every viewer. Some are soft and gentle and delicate like a cactus flower. Some are harsh and forbidding like a summer storm flailed by thunder and lightning. There are many faces that Arizona wears. Few you will find boring.

People who realize nothing can surpass the pageantry, drama and color of the changing seasons will find their journeys through Arizona at the proper times of the year both rewarding and exhilarating.

The "proper times of the year" are mercurial, and require some research and study. If your destination is springtime in the desert, say next spring, no person can possibly tell you now where to go and the exact time to find a desert spring at her most glorious best. Therefore, as a travel guide, our pages can only speak in generalities. Spring can clothe the rolling sand dunes near Yuma with a purple cloak of verbena purple as early as mid-February. (Yuma elevation is 196 feet.) Early March can see the desert encompassed in that desert wonderland, Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, south of Ajo (elevation 1798 feet), quite gaudy with spring flowers in bloom. Generally, and here again we are speaking only in the most elastic of generalities, late March and early April finds the desert at its best in the desert area of Saguaro National Monument near Tucson (elevation 2372 feet), and along U.S. 89 from Tucson Phoenix via Florence in Pinal County (elevation 1490 feet). (Incidentally, this is a route for a desert journey which we recommend at any time of the year.) Late March and early April generally (here we go again) is a wonderful time to take a spring journey along the Apache Trail, Arizona 88 from Apache Junction (elevation 1715 feet) via the dams and the lakes along the Salt River through the rolling foothills of Gila County to U.S. 60-70 between Miami and Globe (elevation 3541 feet). Here is a scenic trip truly memorable any week, any month of the year but if you have just happened to make this trip when that Gorgeous Dame, Spring, is really whopping it up, you could not possibly have a date with a more fetching enchantress. The Apache Trail, in any season, has literally stunned hundreds of thousands of travelers for decades (Theodore Roosevelt in the horse-and-buggy days of 1911 termed the country even more spectacular than a trip through the Alps) and countless others have even been more ecstatic. The Cave Creek-Carefree areas around Phoenix (elevation 1092 feet) come up, when the weather is right, with quite spectacular spring flower shows, and if you are a Phoenix winter and spring visitor you can measure your drive to one of these areas not in hours but in minutes.

Following Spring, as she flounces northward, in early and mid-April we come to the Wickenburg area (elevation 2093 feet). Here you find unspoiled desert in rolling foothills which is perhaps our desert at her best. And if you are in this area during this time of the year try to plan a day's outing into the Wickenburg Mountains along the road from Morristown to Castle Hot Springs. Even if there are no desert flowers to greet you, you will come to know the desert intimately where the desert and the foothills meet.

A spring journey that can be very rewarding is one from Kingman (elevation 3325 feet) northward into the rolling hills country of Mohave County toward Pierce Ferry to the north and to Boulder City to the northwest. If it happens to be your year, and the stars are right, and the Joshua Forest near Pierce Ferry is in bloom, you may take journeys to the long, gay season of Spring for years to come and you'll not find anything to equal it.

(If you are even now planning a journey to springtime in Arizona, the Superintendents of Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, Ajo, Arizona; Saguaro National Monument, Tucson, Arizona; Casa Grande National Monument, Coolidge, Arizona; the Chambers of Commerce of Phoenix, Mesa, and Tucson, and the Roundup Club of Wickenburg, Arizona, among others, can be very helpful.) Arizona's newest resort city for all seasons is Lake Havasu City on State Highway 95, off Interstate 40 (route 66) on the north, or Interstate 10 to the south. Lake Havasu City has incomparable 45-mile-long Lake Havasu mirror-smooth in a baimy dawn, whipped to whitecaps by a bracing wind, lapping at the piers of London Bridge in a sunset painted dusk. The lake has made the city a great water-sports capital.

And for a journey to summer in our state, climb to the high regions. The forests around Prescott, Williams, Ashfork, Flagstaff, Payson, Show Low, Alpine, Pinetop and McNary, to name a few, can make your summer journey a delight.

Our autumn journeys attract an increasingly larger audience each year and the golden season's performances along these routes never fail to please. A favorite performance is offered along about the first week in October by Arizona 67 from Jacob Lake (elevation 7921 feet) to North Rim (elevation 8153 feet), a distance of forty-four miles, forty-four of the most delightful miles you'll ever travel. The road winds leisurely and gently up the heart of the Kaibab Plateau, through heavily forested areas, around inviting meadows, and through aspen groves full of bright, shimmering gold in the sunlight, and finally to North Rim where even the season has left dabs of color on canyon walls. Do not fail to take the side trip east from North Rim to Point Imperial (elevation 8803 feet), a distance of eight enchanting miles with autumn at her best at every turn of the road and always glimpses at hand of some of the Canyon's most spectacular views.

If you are in quest of seasons and your journey takes you into Arizona via Interstate 40 (Route 66) or U.S. 89, the San Francisco Mountains, hovering over Flagstaff, can offer you the seasons' delight at anytime of the year. Flagstaff (elevation 6905 feet) is a veritable all-year tourist center. Here the seasons are cleanly and clearly demarcated. Here is spring, here is summer, here is autumn, and here is winter sharply outlined. Towering above the town, majestically vignetted against the blue sky, is Mt. Humphreys (elevation 12,680 feet) the highest point in the state. From Flagstaff to this elevated eminence is a gradual incline upon which is reflected all the comings and goings of Mother Nature's seasonal moods and mandates. Come summer, the gently rising slopes wear a bright green dress with splashes of flowers decorating the scene. Then the weather chills and the gay, green aspen turn to yellow and gold and the wind plucks the leaves and hurls them broadside over the mountainside, often over a blanket of snow indicating winter was impatient and could not wait for autumn to finish with her wild, gay fling.

Now something new has been added. Whenever you visit the area, regardless of the season, the ski-lift at Arizona Snow Bowl is in operation and, for a nominal fee, you can hitch a ride high, high, high, toward the skies and the very roof of Arizona and from your lofty perch you can survey the vast wonderland of plateau that is Northern Arizona, and below you, depending on the time you make the trip, is a season's panorama, like a magic carpet, mottled with color and ever-changing personality.

Your autumn's journey should take you into the White Mountains of Eastern Arizona early in October. This is a big area, and if you have time enough to lose yourself, you will be amply rewarded by following meandering roads that seem to come from no place and have no place to go. Here the golden season wears some of her brightest dress. Here Arizona's newest star in a galaxy of recently opened recreational facilities is Sunrise Park Hotel and Ski Area, owned and operated by the White Mountain Apache Tribe. Open the year 'round the facility is designed for year 'round use.

Sunrise Park Hotel, 9,300 feet altitude, high in the pines of the White Mountains on the shore of Sunrise Lake, is Arizona's newest luxury resort hotel. Perfect for a weekend getaway, an extended vacation, business conferences or small conventions, Sunrise Park Hotel is located in the heart of Arizona's greatest outdoor recreation area. Fishing the big trout of Sunrise Lake, adjacent to the hotel, or the many other lakes of the White Mountains is an angler's dream. Boating on nearby lakes provides a change of pace; a pleasant communion with nature's wonders in the White Mountain wilderness. Hiking the wooded trails near the Sunrise Park Hotel offers a genuine appreciation of the great outdoors. The clean, clear air and the gentle trails of the mountainside offer challenges and pleasures hikers really enjoy. Hunting big game in the White Mountains is rewarding to the avid sportsman. Sunrise Park Hotel is the hunter's seasonal headquarters. Ski lift rides during the summer give riders a spectacular view of the high country from a lofty 10,700 feet altitude. A great family adventure, the weekend chair lift rides also provide skiers a first hand preview of the forthcoming ski season at the Sunrise Park Ski Area. Skiing has its longest season in the Southwest, and now, the finest resort accommodations for the ultimate enjoyment of the sport.

And do not forget U.S. 666 from Springerville (elevation 6965 feet) to Clifton in Greenlee County (elevation 3450 feet) for an inspiring autumn's drive during early October. This is high country traveling and at Rose Peak you are nearly 9000 feet in elevation and you will be given an invitation to return again at other times of the year because if you have the slightest bit of imagination, you cannot fail to wonder what the country is like during the changing seasons' eternal parade. In November, winter comes to the high country and autumn comes to the lower valleys when her magic touch does wonders with the cottonwoods and the sycamores along the paths of creeks and streams. You have many journeys to take into the long gay seasons in Arizona. It is yours to decide what season you are searching out, what route you think most tempting to follow.

A poignant and frequently experienced happening in the days when the horse soldier had his glorious days in the winning of the West.

PRESCOTT Where Mellowed Tradition & Modern Living Blend

By Charles Franklin Parker and Kitty Jo Parker

Composite of Historic Prescott by artist Pat Hammack. Left to right: Early rail depot, schoolhouse, bandstand, courthouse, old stores and hotel facade, Bucky O'Neil monument, First Congregational Church and governor's mansion.

Hewn a century ago from the primeval forest of ponderosa pine as the first territorial capital of Arizona, Prescott today stands as a symbol of both tradition and modernity. The stereotype of the traditional western town was never applicable to Prescott. Although her history includes sagas of marauding Indian bands, a legal hanging and bar room brawls, legality and propriety were the corner stones of society here.

The Citizen's Cemetery was no Boot Hill!

PRESCOTT was a planned community. When the gubernatorial party arrived in Arizona in December 1863, it was not only with the intention of forming a territorial government for the then youngest of the Union's future states, but with the necessity of selecting a site for the seat of that government. There were few communities in the Arizona Territory and because of the dominant Confederate sympathy in the Tucson area, that old established town was considered inappropriate for the new seat of government. In fact, because of these fac-tors, President Lincoln had issued instructions not to make Tucson the capital, but to find some more suitable site. While the Civil War was dividing the country, Governor John Good-win spent many weeks on horseback, traversing the territory to select what he considered the best location for the capital. Due to its geographic center of the territory, the growth of importance of the mining discoveries in the immediate area which could supply gold to the Union, the proximity of Fort Whipple, and the superb climate, Goodwin chose to locate the first home of Arizona's formal government on the banks of Granite Creek.

win spent many weeks on horseback, traversing the territory to select what he considered the best location for the capital. Due to its geographic center of the territory, the growth of importance of the mining discoveries in the immediate area which could supply gold to the Union, the proximity of Fort Whipple, and the superb climate, Goodwin chose to locate the first home of Arizona's formal government on the banks of Granite Creek.

It is astonishing how well prepared the members of the Governor's party were for their job of organizing the government, building a city, and transferring cultural patterns in such a land as Arizona in the 1860's. This was a land of deep privations which few had ever known before. They were Easterners, all of them, with good educations, who had served in Congress or other public offices. But for the chance of popular elections, they might still have resided in Washington, Ohio, or New York. Now they were thrown on their wits and brawn for survival in frontier Arizona, pensioned off by a grateful Republican Party to obscure federal posts. Yet they brought with them not only a “government on wheels,” but a newspaper - press and all, a library and a very few other of their former conveniences.

Congress or other public offices. But for the chance of popular elections, they might still have resided in Washington, Ohio, or New York. Now they were thrown on their wits and brawn for survival in frontier Arizona, pensioned off by a grateful Republican Party to obscure federal posts. Yet they brought with them not only a “government on wheels,” but a newspaper - press and all, a library and a very few other of their former conveniences.

Even while the infant government was taking shape and the logs were being cut for the first capitol building, the Arizona Miner was being published, keeping the public informed not only about what was happening in the new territory, but of affairs in Washington and throughout the country. During this same period of time, the call for an election went forth to select the members of the first territorial legislature, and Secretary McCormick inaugurated plans for a territorial-wide celebration of American Independence to be held in Prescott, July 4, 1864, just two months after the establishment of the townsite. The personality of this newborn community quite definitely reflected the influence of its original founders and the pattern for community development was evident in the beginning. Prescott was characteristically American and Yankee from its inception. The people, architecture and cultural tone of the community were far removed from Santa Fe or Tucson. All structures were made of brick, sawed lumber or logs, and their design was borrowed from the East. The squat, flat-topped adobe buildings symbols of earlier cultures in the Southwest, were not to be seen. Prescott as the capital for territorial government was to be a transplant of New England culture into a region until then largely dominated by Spanish-Mexican influence. The new migrants to the frontier brought with them a social legacy that has moved with the extending frontier from New England thence across the continent. Characteristic fraternal orders were established in Arizona, first at Prescott, with the Masons holding a meeting in the upper room of the Governor's Mansion as early as July, 1865, and during ensuing years practically all of the recognized orders came to be represented.

A Baptist minister, the Reverend William H. Reed, came with the first Governor's party and became the first postmaster in Prescott, but he soon involved himself in organizing a Sunday School which was the beginning of Protestant religious activity in Arizona. In the next few years at least four major Protestant denominations established their first churches in this community; and although religious activities under the Catholic padres had come to be a beneficient influence in other parts of Arizona centuries earlier, Prescott, with its transplanted traditional American background, was to be the birthplace of Protestantism.

The first Territorial Legislature appropriated money for the establishment of schools in the Territory. Prescott was the first community to exercise its right under this provision, first through the use of a hurriedly established private school and soon thereafter through the founding of the first public school in the Territory. Beginning with this log schoolhouse on Granite Creek, (a replica of which is now on display on the grounds of the Old Governor's Mansion) the town early developed excellent elementary and secondary schools. Concern for education continued until the present and Prescott is presently the home of two institutions of higher learning: Yavapai Junior College and Prescott College.