Purple Mountain Majesty

Thirty helicopter minutes east of Phoenix stands the rugged slopes of the tiltedblock Mazatzal Mountains. Nearly 8,000 feet high and 35 miles long, this mountain range has a southern tip which is punctuated with four identical peaks an unmistakable signature. Here, at the base of these peaks, nature chose to work one of her whimsical feats of creation. Teasingly she exposed handfuls of beautiful amethyst - hinting at the bounty that lay beneath the surface. It is part of this majestic mountain's personality. It is an inner beauty which, as with people, you discover only after knowing them long and intimately.

Although usually occurring in cavities of volcanic basalt, amethyst from the Four Peaks mine is clearly an exception to that generalization. These peaks are of a hard quartzite materiał and sit like dunce caps upon the crest of the range whose base is ancient grey schist. Rock forms in this area are so convoluted and contorted they remind one of taffy ready for the pull. Eons before man arrived in the Southwest hot mineralizing solutions rose through the discontinuity between the schist and quartzite. It infiltrated a wedgeshaped pocket of shattered quartzite, reduced it to sandstone, and deposited amethyst within the fracture joints. Since the fissures rån vertically, the amethyst plates are oriented vertically, curving gently with the surface of the crevice. Finally, nature caused the whole area to be uplifted a natural setting for these elegant purple gems.

The southernmost of the Mazatzal's four peaks is separated from the others by a steep-sided gulch. Jim McDaniels, the original prospector, must have clambered up this precipitous ravine with the persistence and optimism known only to his breed. Jim was looking for gold and was undoubtedly tracing the upward "float" of black iron sand and quartz pebbles which persisted nearly to the saddle between the peaks. Such float is often a signpost of gold and draws prospectors like a magnet. About four hundred feet below the peak, McDaniels found the bed of the gulch literally paved with purple pebbles. Their point of origin was a depression floored with soft, broken sandstone out of which protruded points and knobs of amethyst plates. But alas, there were no gold values. Lacking a gold mine, Jim McDaniels filed the amethystine showing as his "mineral location."

Prof. of History Arizona State University

All this happened about the turn of the century. It was not until the 1940's that the mine was patented from the mineral location to private land ownership and systematic development work begun. The Four Peaks mine is still worked by Jim McDaniels' old-fashioned hand-mining methods. The most sophisticated tools in sight are a pick, shovel, and wheel-barrow. (Although small blasts of dynamite are occasionally used to loosen the ground.) It is completely impossible to drive to the mine, even in a jeep-type vehicle. The trek by foot is long, dangerous, and exhausting at the 7,000 (+) foot elevation. Workers who live there with their guard dogs maintain radio communication with offices in Phoenix. Supplies must be brought in, and amethyst taken out, via periodic flights in a jet helicopter.

Amethyst is the most important gem in the quartz family. It is the stone of Bacchus, the Greek god of wine, and the third stone in the third row in the breastplate worn by Aaron, high priest of the Hebrews. Amethyst has been found in Chaldean seals, Egyptian carvings, Greek intaglios and Roman signets. It is set beside rubies, sapphires, emeralds and diamonds in almost every ancient European crown, scepter, orb and sword. The delicate-hued amethyst is associated with Aquarius, and is the birthstone for February. Amethyst is, and always has been, a prized possession.

The word "amethyst" comes from the Greek "amethustos," meaning not drunken. However, suppose one enlarged upon that translation and viewed it as meaning: keeps its owner from becoming "intoxicated" with worldly things and falling into errors, tempers, and infatuations. Thus representing detachment, judgment, self-discipline, and high standards, it fits the quotation, "By its charm it giveth good understanding."

According to Business Week: May 3, 1976, "Prices on so-called 'semiprecious' gems such as amethysts, aquamarines, and tourmalines are up 300% in the last five years and apparently are destined to climb still higher... A good amethyst goes for (Right) Amethyst is becoming increasingly popular in contemporary jewelry. This one-of-a-kind necklace, includes: 12 full cut diamonds totaling 1.54 carats; 12 small Four Peaks stones totaling 3.56 carats; and a large marquise of Siberian quality amethyst weighing 7.81 carats. Courtesy, Port of Call, Scottsdale.(Right) The necklace, from Mexico, is a com-bination of silver, turquoise and 39 unique pyramid cut amethysts. The earrings, from India, show the beauty of amethyst when used with other stones. From top to bottom they are: aquamarine, amethyst, Ceylon sapphire, and topaz surrounded by diamonds. Courtesy, pri-vate collection.

Reproduced actual size, the 38 carat, fine quality Four Peaks amethyst stomach of this gold owl may be easily removed for closer inspection. Courtesy private collection.

$30 to $50 a carat vs $8 to $12 five years ago . . . Paul Desautels, curator of gems and minerals at the Smithsonian Institution, figures that top-quality semiprecious stones remain a good investment today since the supply is getting scarcer and the demand is growing.

It is not generally known that some of the finest amethyst in the world comes from the Maricopa Mining Corporation's Four Peaks mine. In fact, like the peridot (ARIZONA HIGHWAYS, February, 1975), few people realize that there is any ame-thyst to be found in Arizona at all!

Presently, gem-quality rough stones come from Brazil, Uruguay, Africa, India, Ceylon and Madagascar but the most coveted stones originally came from Russia. They were called Siberian amethysts. Today, "Siberian" denotes the color only and not the place of origin. The Four Peaks mine has all grades of amethyst. The colors range from pink and pale lilac through violet to rich deep purple shot with reddish glints. The reddish-purple variety is the most prized and is recognized as the super-fine Siberian gems.The regal charm of amethyst is as clear as the crystal itself. But while standing at the Four Peaks mine, on ground strewn with lilac-colored chips, one does not have to understand geology to appreciate the natural beauty that is visible in all directions. Behind this diminutive mining camp, perched half-way to heaven, Four Peaks rises sheer against the sky with patches of green scrub and delicate wild flowers clinging to the contorted grey schist. Lying darkly to the north are seemingly endless mountain ranges. To the south stands the volcanic dome known as the Superstitions its profile looking like an Edwardian battle-cruiser forever steaming toward the setting sun. And with darkness, the lights of Phoenix glisten with diamond-like brilliance on the western horizon.

If it were possible for you to visit the mine, you would now experience a very special moment. Climbing into the jet helicopter, your feet would rest on burlap sacks full of beautiful amethyst rough, and you would hear the rising whine of turbine blades as you fastened the safety belt. With its rotor spinning at full speed, the craft rises a foot or two, tilts forward, and goes skimming down the Mazatzal escarpment in a gigantic roller coaster glide. To the left, sunlight glints off Apache, Canyon and Saguaro Lakes. The Verde River, a streak of emerald green, slides below. The craft whirs effortlesslyover the mountain foothills surrounding the Valley of the Sun and you gently come to rest at Phoenix Sky Harbor, one of America's busiest international airports.

Looking back across the open expanse of runways, you can see Four Peaks glowing lavender in the setting sun and in your hand you hold a small crystal which has captured that delicate hue - a secret shared by the mountain. ☐ ☐ ☐ Today, as in its long and picturesque past, the Four Peaks mine is protected from vandalism by armed guards. Very simply, visitors are not allowed. Publicity about its purple stones has been zero; even general knowledge of its existence (up until now) has been hushed. We sincerely appreciate, therefore, the cooperation of Joseph Hyman, President of Maricopa Mining Corporation, for his assistance in bringing our readers the story of one of Arizona's most colorful gems.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Dr. Otis E Young, Jr., has written several books, the two most recent being "The Mining Men," a novel, and "Black Powder and Hand Steel," a history of the mining frontier. We acknowledge his interesting and factual work in preparing this layman's view of a very complex geological wonder.

For additional reading on the subject of amethyst, we recommend "Gemstones of North America" by John Sinkankas, published by Van Nostrand Reinhold Company.

The jewelry, except those pieces from private collections, are Etruscan Gold creations from the Port of Call, Scottsdale.

Bookshelf

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

Friars, Soldiers, and Reformers: Hispanic Arizona and the Sonora Mission Frontier 1767-1856.

By John L. Kessell. University of Arizona Press, Tucson 85721, 1976. 347 pp. $14.50, cloth; $8.35, paper.

Occasionally there comes along a book for which one can only find admiring praise. Friars, Soldiers, and Reformers is such a book.

Using the perennially beleaguered mission of Tumacacori in Arizona's Santa Cruz Valley as his focus, John Kessell has fashioned an absorbing and detailed story of the Spanish mission frontier from the time of the Jesuit expulsion to the coming of the U. S. Army, a period that has been very largely neglected by students of the Southwest borderlands.

This period when the Franciscans controlled the missions was a troubled time, beset within and without. Well meaning but ill informed reformers - among them Sonora's first bishop, Antonio de los Reyes (see Bookshelf, November 1976) sought to change mission administration. They championed civil rights for the Indians and advocated, not wholly unselfishly, relaxation of tight paternalistic control over activities of their converts that had proved successful for the Jesuits. Nor were the missionaries themselves always fit for the hardships of frontier life; they schemed, they quarreled, they sinned, they sickened, and they begged to be returned to the Order's headquarters in Queretaro. Not all of them, to be sure, but enough to keep the missions in almost constant state of change.

Outside the missions, increased Apache marauding decimated the herds and depopulated such mission visitas as Soamca, Calabasas and others. The poorly equipped, badly paid, and often indifferently led soldiers were little protection, and the fathers complained that their conduct set a bad example for the Indians. Though the Franciscans dreamed of and planned for missions to the north on the Gila River there was never money nor men to let them regain the impetus that had pushed the Jesuits north nearly a century earlier. It was, in fact, a time of gradual, steady decline. Kessell's final chapter is aptly titled "Hanging On." By the time the Americans entered southernArizona after the Gadsden Purchase the mission system was virtually dead. Kessell's book is based on far-reaching and painstaking research into archives at home and abroad. His organization and clear readable style should be the envy of other historians. Friars, Soldiers, and Reformers illuminates a murky period of Arizona's past.

Goodbye, García, Adiós. By Don Dedera and Bob Robles. Northland Press, Flagstaff, Arizona 86001, 1976. 131 pp. $9.50.

Shortly after World War II Lewis W. Douglas, American ambassador to England, and British Field Marshal Montgomery were discussing heroes at a London dinner. Asked to name his favorite hero Douglas unhesitatingly said, "My favorite hero is Jesús García." This is his story.

At age 24 Jesús García was a popular and promising young man in the bustling copper mining town of Nacozari, Sonora, some 70 miles south of the border towns of Douglas, Arizona, and Agua Prieta. From laborer on a section gang he had risen, by the time he was 20, to the post of locomotive engineer on the six-mile narrow gauge railroad that linked Naco-zari with the mine at Pilares. On the afternoon of November 7, 1907, García left Nacozari for Pilares with a locomotive and two cars of dynamite. Sparks from the smokestack ignited one of the cars. Ordering his crew to jump to safety García rounded a hill away from the town before a tremendous explosion demolished the train and with it the heroic engineer. There is no doubt that his sacrifice saved the town and many of its inhabitants from being blown to bits.

There have been few instant heroes, but García's bravery catapulted him into national fame. Memorials to his deed were erected all over Mexico; corridas were composed in his honor; the name Jesús García became a household word south of the border. November 7 is a day marked throughout Mexico. It is a holiday in his native Sonora.

Don Dedera has told this moving story simply and well. English and a Spanish translation appear on facing pages so that the book may be used as a bilingual text. There are excellent illustrations and an appropriately dignified format.

By Ansel Adams. And An Essay on the Land. By Lawrence Clark Powell. New York Graphic Society and Little, Brown Company, Boston, Massachusetts, 1976. 128 pp. $32.50.

Photographs of the Southwest.

A beautiful book of glorious photographs by one of the greatest artists of the camera, taken between 1928 and 1968 in various places in Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, and Utah. Once again, if it needs reiteration, this book proves that in so skilled a hand black and white can be just as eloquent, perhaps more eloquent, than color. Look, if you need proof, at the frontispiece of sunrise over Grand Canyon taken in 1942, or the Spanish Peaks against sweeping clouds taken in 1951, or the white aspen against a dark, brooding forest, also 1942.

Powell's eloquent essay matches the look and mood of the prints. There may not be agreement, as he says, on what the Southwest is, but you know when you are there.

Statistical Abstract of Arizona 1976.

Edited by Nat de Gennaro. Division of Economic and Business Research, College of Business and Public Administration, University of Arizona, Tucson 85721, 1976. 519 pp. $5.00.

A publishing first. There never before has been such a massing of statistics about the state. Covers everything from geography, population and education through industry, energy, and income to services. For comparison recent figures are given with comparative figures from earlier years. An added bonus in this useful book is the inclusion of comparative statistics from the bordering states of New Mexico, California, Nevada, Utah, and Colorado.

Dull? Not a bit of it! Not just the thing for the bedside table but it will answer all sorts of questions and just possibly settle a few family quarrels. And at $5.00 it may be the year's biggest book bargain. A limited number were printed of this trial edition, so hurry and order yours.

Yours Sincerely EDITOR QUESTIONED

Gentlemen: During the past year it has become quite obvious to us from the editor's letters on page one that your magazine has changed its philosophy. One of the main reasons we subscribed to ARIZONA HIGHWAYS in 1973 was the clear belief in and reference to God the Father and His Son, Jesus, expressed often through Joseph Stacey's articles and commentary. Plainly, Mr. Cooper does not see fit to continue in this tradition. That, of course, is his prerogative, but having just received your "Christmas" issue, I feel I must write to point out some things. Christmas is the celebration of the birthday of Jesus, the Prince of Peace. The angels' song of ". . . peace on earth . . ." seems to have been interpreted by your editor in his Christmas Wish as an absence of noise or, silence. Actually, a person can be at peace with God, with himself, and with others in the noisest of subway stations or freeways. It is a matter of relationship, not decibels. Your Christmas issue 1973 stated: "This is the season for looking upward to the heavens, as did the shepherds 1,973 years ago," and quoted the Christmas narrative from the Gospel of St. Luke. The following year "Think Upon These Things at Christmas" related Arizona to the Holy Land and stated that Jesus is the most important figure in the history of mankind. The issue contained "A Cowboy's Prayer" and a thanksgiving to God, by John F. Kennedy. Last year's December issue opened with a "Report from God's Country, Arizona, U.S.A.," containing a beautiful poem about God's love and a photograph with the caption "Praise the Lord." And then we have this year's issue with a few scattered figures with halos and wings and statements such as: "Arizona is a confident land whose greatness comes from man's labors, as well as from the land itself," and ". . . the desert's peace passeth all understanding," glorifying men's efforts and placing our hope in environmental protection, etc. Your December, 1973, issue said: "Our hopes lie in the Light that disperses the shadow beyond the stars." How can you call this a Christmas issue when the only things that differentiate it from any other month are the wreath on the front and the words "Season's Greetings"? A few months ago we decided, regretfully, not to renew our subscription regretfully, because your magazine's photography is gorgeous. The pictures in the latest issue have never been more beautiful. But without the underlying theme, which used to be present, it lacks substance and seems to us quite pagan. I feel the Grand Canyon is an apt symbol for ARIZONA HIGHWAYS, 1976. It's big, beautiful, awesome, thoughtprovoking and totally empty. I'm really sorry, not only because I enjoy the beautiful pictures, but because there is now one less magazine in America which openly professes Christian belief and values so desperately needed today. Perhaps this letter will stimulate some reevaluation. I pray that it will.

Sincerely, Michael and Cathy Schaller 2022A S. Denton San Gabriel, CA "My own peace I give you, a peace the world cannot give." John 14:27 Thank you for your interesting letter. Allow me to point out a few factual details about this magazine.

First: This is a state publication owned and operated by the State of Arizona. We operate from within the Department of Transportation.

Secondly: We are a tourist orientated magazine published for the sole purpose of encouraging tourism into and through Arizona.

We are not a religious publication. In fact, whenever references to God or Jesus Christ appear on our pages we hear from those who believe that the mention of a God violates the mandate of separation of Church and State.

The U.S. Postal Service encounters this same problem: some want religious scenes on Christmas stamps; others clearly object to a governmental agency dabbling in scenes associated with God or religion. You can't please everyone.

We selected a theme for the Christmas 1976. edition and set out to develop it visually. We then sought words that would fit this theme and add another dimension to the photography and art. The theme "Arizona the Peaceful Land" does not ignore the power or influence of God in fact, we thought, and still believe, that God is present in every scene. Don't despair God is everywhere, but he vacations in Arizona and when he is in our neighborhood, he always seems to influence us.

PAGE OF GLORY

Editor: Congratulations on your superb Christmas issue. Each page is an adventure. Every picture a work of art, and a rare delight.

I consider the Christmas issue, especially, like rare wine: not to be gulped down, but tasted, savored and gently sipped. And, so, I keep the Christmas Arizona Highways on my dresser, and treat myself to a page of glory per day.

John M. Scott, S.J. Prairie du Chien, WI

MOST BEAUTIFUL

Editor: Have been a subscriber to your elegant magazine for many years and enjoy every issue. But the December, 1976, issue is the most beautiful one yet. Congratulations!

Floyd A. Lewis Blairstown, NJ (Inside back cover) Although amethyst is very hard, 7 on the 10-place Mohs' scale, it may nevertheless be faceted, carved and polished any way the lapidary pleases. It has been made into many things, wine goblets being a favorite. But perhaps this intricate work of Japanese sculpture, though not of gem quality stone of course, best exemplifies the delicate beauty of carved amethyst. Courtesy of Rare Arts of Scottsdale.

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.