One of Arizona's Counties is Missing

An oasis in more ways than one. Boulder City is the only community in Nevada that bars gambling. After touring the city's parks and tree-lined streets you should see the 30-minute movie at the

When I was growing up in Kingman I was intrigued by the scenic areas that lay across the Colorado River in Nevada. Snowcapped Mount Charleston, the Valley of Fire, and the ghost town of Rhyolite all drew my attention, and somehow I felt that they were all just an extension of my own Mohave County, Arizona home ground, as it were.

But I didn't know about the “lost county” of Pah-Ute, Arizona, until I read Stan Paher's fine book “Las Vegas” in 1971 and first realized that all of those places, plus Las Vegas, itself, were once a part of Mohave County, Arizona.

If you 'spread out a map of the Southwest and draw a line through southern Nevada along the 37th parallel until it touches California, you will see a vast expanse of desert land south of that line comprising all of present day Clark County, and much of Lincoln and Nye Counties, Nevada. All this started as Mohave County and then, in late 1865, became the short-lived Pah-Ute County, Arizona, with a county seat designated at Callville, then a port on the Colorado River and now a marina on Lake Mead.

Nevada's Comstock Lode at Virginia City poured forth a silvery torrent of wealth that greatly aided the federal government as it waged a bitter and costly civil war. Although Nevada could muster less than one-sixth the population supposedly needed for statehood, it was warmly welcomed into the Union in 1864, while more populous Arizona, impoverished and fighting Cochise and his band of Chiricahua Apaches, waited nearly a half-century longer for such recognition. The new state of Nevada promptly put in its claim for Pah-Ute County, and a grateful Congress made the decision in 1866. In their eagerness to become a state, Nevada legislators forgot to amend the official boundaries in the constitution when they acquired Pah-Ute County. The result is that from time-to-time a few of Clark County's convicted felons have appealed their sentences on the grounds that the county is still a part of Arizona.

During territorial days, one of Mohave County Arizona's first legislators was Octavius Decatur Gass, pioneer settler at Las Vegas Ranch, Arizona Territory, founding site of today's metropolis. It was Gass who successfully pressed a bill that would split off Pah-Ute from Mohave County, predicting that Callville would soon become “the largest city in Arizona.” He represented Pah-Ute as its first delegate to the territorial legislature's upper house, which elected him presiding officer and interpreter. His fellow solons from Northern Arizona soon lost their kindly feelings towards Gass when he cast the decisive vote that moved the territorial capital from Prescott to Tucson. The editor of Prescott's newspaper inquired if his action could be attributed to “the silvery eloquence of the men from Tucson,” or to the legislator's “greenness. Probably both,” concluded the disgruntled editor. Meanwhile, in distant Washington, D.C., Congress had cut the ground from under Gass by giving his county to Nevada. Despite years of angry protest from Arizonans, Nevada prevailed and Pah-Ute was lost to Arizona forever. However, O. D. Gass was a tenacious man, and he ventured forth to represent Pah-Ute County in the territorial legislature at Tucson in 1868, two full years after Congress had declared his constituency a part of Nevada. And he did it the hard way, floating and rowing 300 miles down the turbulent Colorado to Yuma in a homemade 14-foot rowboat, and then traveling by stagecoach to Tucson, arriving a week after the opening of the session (but only because the regular stage driver had been killed by Apaches and it was necessary to seek out a replacement).

Unlike the redoubtable Mr. Gass, we have long since bowed to the inevitable and accepted Nevada's sovereignty over Pah-Ute. But for the purposes of this armchair tour, I think the time has come to temporarily restore old Pah-Ute to Mohave County and Arizona as an integral part of a vast scenic wonderland that is bounteously filled with recreational beauty. Let's forget those artificial marks on the map for the moment and let PahUte live again. My favorite route into the area is relatively new, dating from days following World War II. Bullhead Dam (now Davis Dam) was started on the Colorado River due west of Kingman in 1941, but Pearl Harbor caused a delay of four years until work could be resumed, work that eventually resulted in the formation of beautiful Lake Mohave.

Those finding themselves on the eastern bank of the river in Bullhead City, Arizona, don't even have to drive over the dam they can hitch a free ride on one of the convenient water taxis that ply these swift river waters around the clock.If you see a shadowy form in the water, it may be a striped bass on its way to the tailrace of Davis Dam power plant a couple of miles upstream. Writing in the pages of ARIZONA HIGHWAYS nine years ago, when 25-lb. striped bass were being caught, I said that no one could be sure how big they would ultimately become. Since 1976 saw the first catch of a 50 lb. striper, I think we can safely say they are still growing.

On the west bank of the river is the community of Laughlin, Nevada, site of several casinos offering good food and drink, lodging, and an opportunity to try one's hand with Lady Luck.

Laughlin is also site of the huge Mohave Power Plant, fueled by coal that is pulverized, mixed with water, and pumped 300 miles across Arizona by pipeline from Black Mesa to this spot. If you've ever wanted to see what a quarterbillion dollar power plant looks like, here's your chance.

Finally, Laughlin serves as base for the annual Laughlin Off-Road Race, a bone jarring excursion across the desert in vehicles that seem to be dune buggies but turn out to be much more sophisticated in design and construction.

From Laughlin's 540-foot elevation at the river, State Highway 77 climbs westward through rugged mountains to its junction with US 95, the Needles to Las Vegas highway. The road reaches 4,000 feet at Searchlight, an historic mining camp that gave its name to the Searchlight Ferry, the shortest and most exciting route from Kingman to Las Vegas in the days prior to completion of Hoover Dam.

ward through rugged mountains to its junction with US 95, the Needles to Las Vegas highway. The road reaches 4,000 feet at Searchlight, an historic mining camp that gave its name to the Searchlight Ferry, the shortest and most exciting route from Kingman to Las Vegas in the days prior to completion of Hoover Dam.

Searchlight lies in the midst of a Joshua tree forest, grotesque cactus-like plants that are actually members of the lily family. These plants are not as tall as those found in the great forest of Joshua on the Pierce Ferry road in Mohave County, but they add much interest to views of the old mines around Searchlight.

Five miles to the east of where US 95 intersects US 93, the Kingman to Las Vegas highway, is Boulder City. This operating town for Hoover Dam is a fine example of the kind of creative city planning that has made the desert bloom.

An oasis in more ways than one. Boulder City is the only community in Nevada that bars gambling. After touring the city's parks and tree-lined streets you should see the 30-minute movie at the A birds-eye view of Hoover Dam and its power plant which harnesses the waters of Lake Mead. Las Vegas News Bureau (Below) Fishermen on upper Lake Mead in the western end of Grand Canyon National Park. Las Vegas News Bureau Hoover Dam Visitors' Center. It shows in fascinating detail how the river was diverted and the 726-foot concrete dam constructed. This free motion picture, plus a recently reprinted book on the building of the dam, provide useful background for a breathtaking tour.

The highway from Boulder City, in addition to providing a panoramic view of Lake Mead, takes you to an excellent National Park Service museum, offering slide shows describing the attractions found in Lake Mead National Recreation Area. Other points of interest dot the highway, and then, set in the rugged rock walls of Black Canyon, is the great dam itself.

The guided tour of Hoover Dam and its power plant has been enjoyed by millions of persons and is a highlight of any trip to this area. I took this tour dozens of times during my brief career as Kingman agent for Grand Canyon Boulder Dam Tours and never tired of it. A view over the upstream face of the dam provides a special thrill for fishermen. Those huge forms swimming around down thereare largemouth bass, stripers, or rainbow trout. Sorry, no fishing from the dam!¹ Fifty-five miles northeast of Las Vegas, The Valley of Fire has been officially described as a “Recreational and geological area featuring impressive formations of red Jurassic sandstone.” Well, I would go stronger than merely “impressive.” These must surely be some of the red-dest rocks in the world, and they are all jumbled up and carved into the most bizarre shapes.

My favorite is Elephant Rock, which is usually pictured in head and trunk view only (see front cover). The head is a good likeness of an elephant's head, complete with eye sockets, and a trunk that extends all the way to the ground. But Elephant Rock's most impressive part is found on the opposite side, where there is a very presentable elephant body complete with authentic-looking legs, all done on the right scale.

Feed those variables into your computer to determine the odds against specific molecules combining in this form at this place. It is a humbling experience.

The Valley of Fire is a fine place to get away from it all and ponder the wonders of nature. I remember it most vividly, however, because it was here, while camping out, that I heard the Space Age had been born and the first Sputnik was orbiting overhead. While awed by the tech-nical accomplishment, which seems so commonplace today, I also felt just a little resentment that the world of science and engineering had somehow intruded upon this peaceful desert scene.

The state park also offers picnic and camping facilities, plus exhibits at a visitor center.

Las Vegas, today, is the undisputed capital of old Pah-Ute (Callville having severely disappointed the hopes of Mr. Gass). Most everyone already knows more about “Glitter Gulch” than I could hope to tell, except perhaps that the city is home base for an unusual and highly successful enterprise that I refer to as Pah-Ute's airline.

The airline, which does not yet rank as a household name with United and TWA, is called Scenic Airlines. Scenic's claim to fame lies in the fact that it carries tens of thousands of tourists each year from Las Vegas to the Grand Canyon in an impressive fleet of more than two dozen twin engine aircraft.

And what a trip it is! While Hughes Air West is serving the same route in DC-9 serenity at 30,000 feet, Scenic is darting around, over, and through the Canyon, itself, at an average altitude of 1,000 feet above the terrain. Earphones provide recorded commentaries in five languages describing major scenic spots as they come into view.

Scenic Airlines added further interest to Arizona aviation in 1976 when it purchased and completely refurbished a classic Ford tri-motor airplane for use by its subsidiary, Grand Canyon Airlines, on rim-to-rim flights during the summer months. The same Grand Canyon Air-lines used several of these planes more than 40 years ago. The Ford bird of today, however, spends its winters taking Las Vegas visitors on glittering cham-pagne flights over The Strip at night. It has been spruced up with all the loving care Scenic's ground crew can give her, and some might argue that a Ford tri-motor never looked that good. But I know it's the real thing a glance into the cockpit discloses two Model T steering wheels.

Just thirty-five miles west of Las Vegas is Mount Charleston, whose pine-covered slopes remind me strongly of the Hualapai Mountains near Kingman. Charles-ton, at 11,918 feet, has a sizeable ski activity. Private cabins are interspersed with public picnic grounds, and Nellis Air Force Base, home of the USAF Thunderbirds acrobatic flying team, has maintained a rest camp in these mountains since World War II days. It's an easy one-hour drive from Las Vegas to escape the heat of summer or to combine in one winter's day some snow play with boating on balmy Lake Mead.

(Opposite) Hoover Dam aglow. Las Vegas News Bureau (Right) A desert window of sandstone in the Valley of Fire, southern Nevada. David Muench (Below) Morning mists in the Red Rock Canyon of the Spring Mountains, southern Nevada. David Muench (Left) Fishing on Lake Mohave with Willow Beach in the background.

(Below) Sailing at sunset on Lake Mead.

(Right) Water skiers are plentiful on Lake Mead.

(Below right) Lake Mead offers a wealth of recreation to the water enthusiast. Las Vegas News Bureau US 95 to Mount Charleston is a fourlane highway for about 60 miles to Camp Mercury, headquarters for the AEC Nuclear Testing Site. Beyond Mercury the two-lane highway continues north and west to Beatty, gateway to Death Valley and next door to one of the West's most fascinating ghost towns, Rhyolite.

Rhyolite, which enjoyed its day in the sun from 1905 until 1910, was served by two railroad lines and boasted no less than four banks, one of which occupied a three-story concrete edifice that remains as Rhyolite's most impressive ruin.

Conventional building materials were scarce and expensive at isolated old Rhyolite, until some enterprising resident discovered that empty whiskey bottles, present in abundance, made excellent walls for buildings. Thus, the famed Bottle House took shape. Rhyolite is not a very busy ghost town, nothing like Jerome, Arizona, with its rows of attractive gift shops.

In fact, Rhyolite remains today much as I recall it from years gone by. The population has zoomed to 4 or 5 people, and it is possible to buy curios at the Bottle House most of the time, and at the railroad depot on a rather vague schedule that amounts to a few hours each week.

A new building was constructed about five years ago for a mining operation, but, in general, the town remains virtually deserted and forgotten, the way a ghost town ought to be. I retain a hearty esteem for this place. The queen of old Pah-Ute. Truly a ghost town among ghost towns. So, following this rapid visit to the area's highlights, we can give Pah-Uteback to Nevada once more with admira-tion for its scenic beauty, but with just a little sadness to think that it was once all part of Arizona.

Yes, one of our counties is missing, but it's all there across the blue lakes and swift currents of the Colorado River wait-ing to be visited and enjoyed.

Recommended For Further Reading: Paher, Stanley W., Las Vegas - As it Began-As it Grew, Nevada Publications, Box 15444, Las Vegas, Nevada 89114, 182 pp., hardcover, 1971, $12.50.

Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation, Construction of Hoover Dam, undated but evidently prepared in the late 1930s, reprinted in 1976 by KC Publications, Box 14883, Las Vegas, Nevada 89114, 48pp., softcover, $1.00.

Fiero, G. William, Nevada's Valley of Fire, KC Publications, Box 14883, Las Vegas, Nevada 89114, 32 pp., softcover edition $1.50, hardcover edition $4.50, 1976.

Bookshelf

by Donald M. Powell Head, Special Collections, The University of Arizona Library, Tucson.

Without Noise of Arms The 1776 Dominguez-Escalante Search for a Route from Santa Fe to Monterey. Walter Briggs. Paintings by Wilson Hurley. Northland Press, Post Office Box N, Flagstaff, AZ 86001; 1976. 212 pp., $30.00.

In July of 1776 ten intrepid men, led by the friars Dominguez and Escalante, left Santa Fe “without noise of arms” to avoid terrifying the Indians. Thus began one of the most extraordinary expeditions in the annals of American exploration. Their goal was Monterey to open a route between New Mexico and distant California; their ignorance of the land west of the Hopi pueblos was nearly complete.

In a little over five months they traveled a great loop, more than two thousand miles, northwest across the Four Corners and north through western Colorado, then west as far as Lake Utah. Here rumors of two west-running rivers (the Green and the Colorado?) were heard, but the great mystery of the expedition they made no search for them. Instead, they turned south, still seeking an opening to the west, but baffled by the terrain and dogged by oncoming winter. They realized they must return to New Mexico.

Entering the rough and arid Arizona Strip country north of the Grand Canyon, one obstacle remained to be overcome, the Colorado River. Moving eastward and after considerable search they located a ford long used by Indians and known afterwards as The Crossing of the Fathers. From the river they went south, enduring hunger and cold, across more rugged country until they reached the Hopi mesas and Zuni and the familiar road to Santa Fe, which they entered January 2, 1777. Even today the area they traveled is a dry and forbidding land, and we wonder not that no road was opened to California but that only ten men could travel thus “without noise of arms” and return together. Author Briggs has retraced the route and his narrative quotes generously from the Dominguez-Escalante diary, largely ignored until it was translated and published in our own century.

Ten oil paintings by Wilson Hurley give us the look of the land. The Northland Press has produced the book as a very handsome Bicentennial Year tribute.

Prehistoric Southwestern Craft Arts

Clara Lee Tanner. University of Arizona Press, Tucson 85721, 1976. 226 pp. $17.50, cloth; $8.95, paper.

Clara Lee Tanner crowns a career as expert, lecturer, and student of Southwest Indian arts with the first thorough survey of the prehistoric Southwest crafts. The book considers basketry, textiles, pottery, ornament and domestic and ritual items and relates them to the cultural background. Thus, we see the gradual shaping of a rich artistic tradition that has been carried on and which influences the contemporary Indian artist. Materials, techniques, design are all carefully considered and fully illustrated with drawings and many photographs.

Prehistoric Southwestern Craft Arts has been handsomely produced in large, double column format to match Mrs. Tanner's earlier books.

Colorado River Ghost Towns

Stanley W. Paher in collaboration with Robert L. Spude. Nevada Publications, Box 15444, Las Vegas, Nevada 89114, 1976. 49 pp. $2.95, paper; $9.95, cloth.

There is probably little that Stanley Paher does not know about the ghost towns of his home state of Nevada or those of western Arizona. He has already published one book on the Nevada towns and followed it with another on the ghost towns of northwestern Arizona.

Now we have one on the once booming towns of the Colorado River Valley and adjacent mountains, from Gold Basin north of Kingman to Yuma. He has visited them all, he has dug into the facts of the past and he has told their stories briefly and clearly.

Paher treats the history of each town according to its importance, each one receiving either a paragraph, a page or more. He has found some remarkable photographs to illustrate his text. Take a look and be glad you did not live in Mineral Park or even Oatman.

I Married Wyatt Earp: The Recollections

Of Josephine Sarah Marcus Earp Collected and edited by Glenn G. Boyer. University of Arizona Press, Tucson 85721, 1976. 277 pp. $10.50, cloth; $4.95, paper.

Another bone for Tombstone buffs to chew on.

Toward the end of her life Josephine Marcus Earp, Wyatt's third, and last, wife, wrote two manuscript versions (both in collaboration) of her life with Wyatt, from their meeting in Tombstone to his death in 1929. Virtually unknown for more than 40 years, the two versions came into the hands of the author-editor, Boyer, who combines them into a single narrative.

Josie's story is naturally biased in Wyatt's favor, for, after all, she was his wife and constant companion for more than 45 years. The old lady also came to value highly her respectability and she was probably doing a little sanitizing of the early events in her own career. But this is a consistently interesting and sprightly story. The controversial EarpClanton feud she interprets more as an economic and political struggle than as a confrontation of good and evil. She makes no attempt to see it as high drama, and this puts it in better perspective than do other accounts such as those of Lake and Breakenridge. Quite likely she was right.

The editor and this reviewer confess preference for the later chapters which tell of the years after 1882 about which little or nothing has been published the San Diego years, the horse racing days, the unfortunate FitzsimmonsSharkey fight, the gold rush days in Alaska and finally the golden years of prospecting in California, Nevada and Arizona. The Tombstone episode was but one in a long, adventurous life.

Boyer's editorial notes excellently flesh out Josie's narrative. Where she has been intentionally vague he has been able to provide information based on years of research and interviews with descendants of the people involved. Where his answers to questions must be based on expert surmise they are properly labeled as such. I Married Wyatt Earp will not be the last word on the subject, but it ranks at the top or very near the top of the important books on the Tombstone story and probably the best on the key figure of Wyatt.

Yours Sincerely UP WITH CHAUVINISM

Editor: How very regrettable it is for one to open a panoramic magazine of such beauty as the ARIZONA HIGHWAYS and focus on trivia, innocent and descriptive as it was. That girls squeal in fear and boys exclaim in delight does not constitute any great threat to my role as a female... I rather like the idea of boys expressing themselves in true male fashion while I found it fun at a youthful age to "hide behind my pseudonym 'squeals' of fright."

Margaret O'Hornett's criticism of the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum article (September issue) shows lack of concept of your magnificent magazine . . . the wealth of research offered the visual beauty in pictures and paintings, all offering a far greater responsibility to its readers than that of enlarging on the insidious non-productive thinking of chauvinism. Please accept our hearty thanks for giving us the ARIZONA HIGHWAYS. Non-chauvinistic stereotype Nelle R. Brennan Tucson

LOVE FOR NATURE

Editor: Two years ago I was a photography student at Glendale Community College with Mr. Willis Peterson for my professor. I want to thank ARIZONA HIGHWAYS for presenting such a beautiful collection of his work (November issue). In our time, it is easy to become so removed from nature that we forget we are a part of nature. Indeed we do nature injustice with our pollution, our waste, and our lack of love.

As Mr. Peterson says so perfectly, "Nature is the Artist." And he is an artist and a part of nature, knowing and feeling the true beauty of life. He is a friend of our universe.Esta R. Bagwell Phoenix

ENJOYABLE TRAVEL

Editor: This is a "thank you" note. We have been reading ARIZONA HIGHWAYS for years, and have been to many of the places, sites, etc., described in your splendid magazine.

This year we were inspired, tempted, etc., by two articles in the September issue. The articles were "The Glory Road" by Joseph Stocker and "Arizona's Museum on the Desert" by Robert W. Jones.

We had been "down" the Apache Trail many years ago on a rainy day, but had not driven "up" it. We had not heard about the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, but were entranced by the article, and just had to see it.

It just happens that we are rockhounds, so the thing that set the date was the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show at the tail end of October.

Thanks for leading us into one of the most interesting and enjoyable trips of our lives.

Mr. and Mrs. W. S. Johnson Bartlesville, OK

BOUQUETS

Editor: This is the first letter I have written to a magazine. I could not pass up the opportunity.

Plainly stated: your Christmas issue is the finest magazine I have ever seen. I could back up that statement with lots of qualifications, but I feel that anyone who appreciates Arizona, loves Christmas and all that it means, will agree with me.

You have done a most magnificent job, and provided great inspiration to us. Finally, you have convinced my husband and I that we must return to Arizona on our annual spring vacation there is no place like "Arizona the peaceful land."

Mrs. Gertrude Kennedy Chicago, IL We receive considerable mail after each issue. But the Christmas edition prompts more people to write than any other.

Putting together a Christmas issue is always the biggest task facing the editorial staff, year in and year out. I guess you could say "We try harder," to borrow a popular phrase.

All of us appreciate your kind remarks and we're determined to try even harder next year. In fact, we are already thinking about the December, 1977, issue

- The Editor

35mm COLOR SLIDES

This issue: 35mm slides in 2" mounts, 1 to 15 slides, 40¢ each, 16 to 49 slides, 35¢ each, 50 or more, 3 for $1.00. Allow three weeks for delivery. Address: Slide Department, Arizona Highways, 2039 West Lewis Avenue, Phoenix, Arizona 85009.

I certify that the statements made by me above are correct and complete. JAMES E. STEVENS, Director of Publications