Explore Arizona

EXPLORE ARIZONA ARIZONA AND ITS CANYONS

Coronado's lieutenants gave up trying to find a way off the South Rim of the Grand Canyon and down to the Colorado River that reflected the sun from the very bottom of the void. They reported mountains down there, "higher than the great towers of Seville." No wonder. The Grand Canyon was the same then as it is now, even though more than four centuries have passed since the Spanish Conquistador marveled at the world's largest and deepest canyon.

It is two billion years old its age authenticated by the Vishnu Schist almost a mile below the rim. In traveling from the bottom of the Grand Canyon to the North Rim, you pass through five life zones before you top out. Anyway you take the Grand Canyon as a geologist, as a botanist, as a biologist, as an artist, as a pictorialist you could never finish your research. A lifetime isn't long enough to make a thorough examination of this natural wonder.

Down river from Grand Canyon Village, also on the South Rim, is Cataract Canyon, the ancestral home of the Havasupai Indians. Here in a Shangri-La walled in by red cliffs, are green fields and sky-blue waterfalls. Father Garces was the first visitor there. He dropped in unannounced for a five day vacation. But, you can't do that. You have to make reservations well in advance to visit Havasupailand, because everything from machinery to shoe polish and toothpicks has to go into this remote canyon by pack horse.

U.S. Highway 60, north of Globe, stitches itself neatly down one side and up the other of Salt River Canyon. This, too, is a spectacular gorge and is more intimate than the Grand Canyon. When you are down in it, it coaxes the imagination to explore beyond the next bend. And if you followed this urging, you'd come out on the Fort Apache Indian Reservation.

Navajoland offers still another awe-inspiring cut in the wide land. Canyon de Chelly virtually defies description for the walls are long sheer drops to the level floor. It is a labyrinth. Its rust-stained sandstone walls shelter the ruins of prehistoric cultures.

In still another severe break in the Mogollon Rim, not far from Flagstaff, you will find Walnut Canyon, shielding small cliff dwellings. While those in Canyon de Chelly and its branch Canyon del Muerto are communal structures, those in Walnut Canyon are family-size dwellings.

South of Flagstaff some 25 miles is Oak Creek Canyon. It is unsurpassed for beauty. Natural springs feed a crystal stream which forms rapids, pools and waterfalls as it courses to its junction with the Verde River. Sedona is the entrance to Oak Creek Canyon's recreational fun and picnicking areas.

Sabino Canyon, in the Santa Catalinas near Tucson, like Oak Creek, is a people's canyon. Both appeal to persons who seek a close communication with nature. Sabino has a small stream and offers shade trees, campgrounds and picnic sites.

While Arizona's big canyons are over-powering voids, the smaller ones offer an understanding intimacy. Arizona has a canyon that will suit anyone's need.

HISTORICAL SOUTHERN ARIZONA

For a varied and exciting vacation experience, plan your travels to include exploration of southern Arizona. The lower half of Arizona, containing the Papago, the Maricopa, the Pima and portions of the Apache Indian Reservations, offers a land of contrast. Rising out of the sun-burned desert and rocks are the cloud-raking mountain ranges: the Santa Catalinas, the Baboquivaris, the Galiuros, the Pinalenos and the Chiricahuas. When you tour this country on modern highways you will remember that they follow the old Indian trails, for the same routes were used by the Pimas, the Papagos, the Maricopas and the Apaches. Too, you will be traveling the same routes used by the Spaniards, who first conquered and explored this land.

In some places all evidence of early settlers has long since melded with the desert sands, and at others it has been rebuilt, as at Old Tucson. In many cities you'll find museums that have preserved the colorful past. For example, there is Old Tucson, Tumacacori, Tubac Presidio and the Ft. Huachuca Historical Museum. The Arizona Sonora Desert Museum west of Tucson is a "living museum" featuring all aspects of the state's desert. Stradling Museum of the Horse in Patagonia concentrates on horses and horse paraphernalia from all over the world.

Seeing these, you will tend to live in the past and so you will be surprised at the fine inns, motels and restaurants, furnishing you with accommodations and diversions. Modern, though they are, you will find the true, easy-going, hospitality that had its origin in these friendly lands.

However, to really get the most out of a vacation in southern Arizona, you should steep yourself in its history and legends. It will enrich your trip. You will recognize Casa Grande, a monument to early Indian cultures. In the Baboquivaris, in Papago country, you'll find Ventana Cave, which prehistoric man used 10,000 years ago. Close by is Kitt Peak National Observatory.

As you travel on, you will continue to see the work of Father Eusebio Kino, for it was he who built Tumacacori and San Xavier del Bac, glorious reminders of the early Spaniards. The Spaniards were followed by U. S. military and then farmers, miners and ranchers.

The old forts marked the overnight stops along the trails: Crittenden, Breckenridge and Fort Bowie. It was here that settlers and stages often ran the exciting races of life and death with marauding Indians or bandits in clamoring pursuit. Some of the adobe walls still standing are pock-marked with rifle ball and flint-headed arrows. It would take several vacations to allow you enough time to see all that you will find in southern Arizona. You will want to make more than one trip, to take a little more time, to explore the solitudes of the great mountain ranges, to probe into the warm and friendly desert a little deeper.

Once you've been there, you'll want to go back.

To many, this winter sunset north of Flagstaff along U.S. Route 180 may seem cold and lonely. But to thousands of Phoenicians it is the end of a three hour drive to San Francisco Peaks and the Snow Bowl, a winter sports activity center. — TODD ROTH Tonto Natural Bridge is located just to the west of Arizona Route 87 a few miles north of Payson, Arizona. It is hemmed in by surrounding mountains containing some of the roughest country in the United States. A creek passes beneath the bridge and prehistoric Indian ruins once occupied the walls high inside the arch. A side trip to this tucked away corner of Arizona is a not soon forgotten experience.

ARIZONA'S INDIAN ARTISTRY

If you've become an Indian jewelry and crafts buff, join the tribe or as the saying goes . . . club. This interest is no longer confined to museums, traders, collectors or the wellheeled tourist. Until recently items marketed were mostly old pawn, ancient basketry, pottery and woven goods. Remember the familiar “drug store” market with pots, metal jewelry or the like, all labeled “Indian-made” a practice which used to raise few questions. All this worked against a healthy market for new and artistically crafted authentic work and kept down the price to the artist. Younger people of budding talent were consequently discouraged and older artists died, taking their mastery with them. But the '70s brought a renaissance in the arts and crafts of American Indians. They have become “in” items in Anglo society. Young Indian artists are lionized and encouraged.

To insure that individual artists receive proper compensation, many Arizona tribes have established centers for display and sale of their work. One of these is the Hopi Cultural Center at Second Mesa, 60 miles north of Winslow. Here one can find various kinds of Hopi pottery, basketry, weaving and plaques, and their unique and highly stylized silver work. The Navajo Arts and Crafts Guild is headquartered at Window Rock. Established and managed by the Tribal Council, the guild displays fine work in silver, turquoise and weaving, and supervises sales to visitors. It is open daily, year 'round.

Travelers can also drive along trans-reservation route 264 to Hubbell Trading Post National Historic Site at Ganado. Managed now by the National Park Service, this famous old post houses the Navajo Rug Co-op where many of the finest examples of rugs and blankets are for sale, some woven on the premises.

Fine Pima basketry may be purchased at the Gila River Arts and Crafts Center near Sacaton on the Gila River Indian Reservation. The Pimas have long made the finest basketry to be found anywhere. The center, open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, also displays pottery, jewelry, bead and kachina work of other tribes. A restaurant and museum adjoin the center.

The principal craft of all desert, food-gathering peoples, excellent basketry, is produced on the Papago Indian Reservation, west of Tucson on the road to Ajo. The Papago are among the most prolific woven-ware craftsmen; their devilclaw work can reputedly be placed on live coals and their bowls can contain liquids. The wares of these skilled craftsmen are sold by the Papago Basket Co-op through Sells Chamber of Commerce. An excellent tribal museum is located in the beautifully architectured headquarters complex of the Colorado River Tribes at Parker, a Colorado River center for vast irrigation, agricultural and recreational projects developed by Mohave, Chemehuevi, Hopi and Navajo. The museum displays arts and crafts of these tribes as well as artifacts of the early desertriver inhabitants. Both Fort Yuma, home of the Quechan people, and Fort McDowell on the Salt River Indian Reservation near Phoenix, have museums. Sale items are said to be limited at both, now, but the museums are well worth visiting.

The Salt River Reservation Center in Scottsdale and the Apache Culture Center in Fort Apache, also offer a wide variety of Indian arts and crafts.

The Heard Museum in Phoenix and the Museum of Northern Arizona in Flagstaff present a full spectrum of Indian cultural tradition.

Fairs, demonstrations and shows are held by different tribes on a regular basis. Dates may be obtained on inquiry. Some last as long as a week and offer the visitor a chance to examine Indian artistry firsthand.

Arizona Indian art enthusiasts, you are lucky. You can ride off in all directions and never miss. The roads are good and accommodations and service facilities are ample along the way.

ARIZONA'S RESORTS AND GUEST RANCHES

Time is not so long gone when Arizona winter vacations ran heavy to Levi's, boots, saddle-time on Old Paint and chuckwagon dinners. They called it dude-wrangling and it probably began when some working ranch took in guests to help pay the bills. Soon, there seemed to be an ever-growing throng who had heard of Arizona's climate, but many were people to whom a horse was a creature from another planet. Like the ranch dudes, they sought the warming sun, elbow room to move in and air that did not smell like yesterday. But they sought it in a different format. For these folks, the guest resort was the answer.

If the dude ranch is native to Arizona's cow counties, then the guest resort found its natural habitat in the environs of metropolitan Phoenix and Tucson. Since it deals with amenities and not the simulation of a way of life, there are no traditions to honor, either in construction or in pleasures for the guest. So you see them as Moorish temples, Rio Grande pueblos, Spanish haciendas and contemporary structures of stone, aluminum and glass. They are characterized by spacious Some of the nation's finest golf courses are offered by Arizona's resorts as part of their total recreation packages. There is activity to please every member of the family whether it be golf, tennis, horseback riding, swimming, paddle ball, or lawn bowling. Where grounds involve large acreage, there will be golf courses, often of PGA quality and a general country club atmosphere. Sun decks, swimming pools and saunas will be in ample supply and with the recent awakening of tennis interest, those whose courts are deemed inadequate are into expansion programs. In fact, a few very new resorts are planning their operations around a tennis format, exclusively. Another new concept involves the purchase of a casa or apartment, with the leasing rights handled by the management for those seasons where the owner is not in residence.

Opulence, casual but luxurious living, separate suites and casas for privacy. The larger ones will have shops and boutiques which offer high quality sports and casual wear, superb jewelry and unusual gifts. There will be cocktail lounges, some with live music and vocalists. Many dining rooms offer orchestras for dancing and are noted nationally for their cuisine.

As might be expected, the rate structure for guest establishments is commensurate with the level of luxury and services supplied. The staffs are large and food and drink are the finest. Accommodations and grounds are maintained to perfection.

Does all this burgeoning of luxury accommodations mean an end to Old Paint? By no means. He survives and thrives. What we really have is a parallel development that broadens Arizona's base for western hospitality.

We regret that we are not able to acknowledge and reply to the hundreds of letters readers from all parts of the world whose words and thoughts are the guide lines of our efforts. At times we are at a loss to define "The Real Arizona Highways." Mr. Leyden's letter is a brilliant reflection of one facet of The Real Arizona Highways which casts it light beyond the horizons of state and national boundaries into the hearts and minds of people who appreciate the truth and beauty of God's greatness.

The Editor Arizona Highways 2039 West Lewis Avenue Phoenix, Arizona 85009.

When I was initially informed by my good friend Mr. John Van Itallie, a keen and widely travelled naturalist of Saddle River, New Jersey, that he had very kindly subscribed on our behalf to a journal titled "Arizona Highways," I mistakenly concluded that he was merely attempting to further my professional preoccupation with earth sciences in relation to problems of highway construction in what I knew to be the spectacular topography of the State of Arizona. You can imagine the surprise and delight of my wife and myself when we received the first few issues of this artistic production of a standard not normally, in my considerable experience of a wide range of governments, associated with governmental departments. Certainly none of the governments of the 27 countries I have visited can boast of any publication as attractive as your journal. I should, I think, point out that though my work now mainly involves me in African countries it has also in the past caused me to visit a variety of some quite outstanding areas of this earth, including a residence of four years in the Himalayan region and many years in the Far East. I have also visited various parts of the United States and Canada; but my visits to North America have never, unfortunately, afforded an opportunity of a visit to Arizona. I mention my own meanderings over the earth merely to indicate that they furnish a comparative viewpoint from which to appreciate fully the unique magnificence of Arizona as depicted in your journal.

In order that others might share in appreciation of this glorious scenery, I sent my early copies of the magazine to my sister, Sylvia Molloy, herself a prominent artist and Head of the Art Department at St. Francis College, Letchworth, Hertfordshire. This very slight gesture on my part caused what my sister described as 'a great stir' amongst her pupils, young ladies of 17/18 years, and inspired them to incorporate various aspects of the pictures from your journal in wall-hangings painted on fabrics. The considerable inspiration afforded to the pupils was quite spontaneous and caused them to create a permanent record for their College. Since that initial effort I have continued to send my copies to the College where they continue to arouse great enthusiasm in the Department of Art.

I felt you might be interested in this effort by these young ladies which was inspired entirely by the artistic merit of "Arizona Highways." I find it gratifying in these days of a colourless and depressed world that young people take the trouble to brighten their environment by the introduction of colourful illustrations of a country they will never see in fact.

Yours faithfully JOHN LEYDEN, C.B.E. Helicon, Bryn Newydd, Prestatyn, Flintshire. PRESTATYN 3747 Great Britain