The Dons Club Superstition Trek

DONS CLUB THE DONS CLUB SUPERSTITION TREK 50 YEARS ON THE DUTCHMAN'S TRAIL

Since 1934, one of the most outstanding annual outdoor events in Arizona has been the Dons Club Superstition Mountain Trek. Thanks to a lost mine legend that refuses to give up the ghost and a desertscape second to none, each year finds up to 2000 visitors and residents daring the outback and then settling back for an afternoon of Southwestern legend and lore.

Fifty years ago, the trek got its start as an effort to find the Lost Dutchman gold mine in the Superstition Mountains. The Club was incorporated, and, if gold was found, the mine would belong to the Dons Club. But it turned out to be wishful thinking.

Tickets for $1.50 and $2.50 were sold to the first Trek. About forty guests were expected, mostly winter visitors from the East. Instead 200 showed up; many more were turned away at base camp.

V. S. Irwin, the Club's head prospector, set out to lead a large number of people on a hike to Weaver's Needle, prominently mentioned in lore and legend. Odd Halseth guided another group on a short bike to Indian Gardens, giving a talk on flora and fauna. And for those who remained at base camp there was gold-panning, an exhibition of stirrupmaking from cows' horns, and general reconnaissance of the rocky terrain. All this was accompanied by Charlie Munday and and his Arizona Mustang band singing "Mexicali Rose" and "Rancho Grande."

In the afternoon, the real entertainment began with the telling of tall tales and Spanish songs and dances. The stage was a huge rock with a flat top.

Evening arrived with a hot Mexican dinner and a program by the light of a huge bonfire, which included talks on desert flora and fauna and legends. After some rousing group singing, the party was over. People left over the mountain roads in the starlight in a happy mood. It had been an outstanding event.

Oh, yes! Did we find the gold mine? In two weeks of searching, the Club's prospectors came up empty-handed. The Club filed a claim on some land that assayed an infinitesimal percentage of gold. But in a broader and more comprehensive way, everyone did find gold: friendship, natural beauty, fresh air, modest adventure, and the creation of an annual event promoting and perpetuating the folklore of the Great Southwest.

Robert J. Hannelly served as the first president of the Dons Club and helped plan and execute the first Superstition Mountain Trek. He is retired and lives in Phoenix. This is his first published article.

In its fifty-first year, the Dons Club still entertains thousands in the rugged Superstition Mountains east of Phoenix. The all-day event includes bikes into the mountains, multicultural dances and music, gold panning and blacksmithing demonstrations, Indian arts and crafts, a bag lunch and hot dinner, a pageant depicting the legend of the Lost Dutchman, and a spectacular fireworks display. For information, call the Dons Club, (602) 258-6016. J. Peter Mortimer photos

BOOKSHELF

THE GREAT AMERICAN CHILI BOOK by Bill Bridges. Rawson, Wade Publishers. Distributed by Bill Bridges. P. O. Box 284 Ventura, CA 93002. 1981. 219 pages. $9.00, softcover.

A monthly tabloid published in Houston is the bible of the chili world and the Magna Carta of chiliheads who live on this planet and, perhaps, beyond. Bill Bridges is a columnist for that prestigious publication The Goat Gap Gazette. Chiliheads are as finicky as fly fishermen, enthusiastic as racetrack touts, and as optimistic as newlyweds. The dish they are devoted to, prepare and devour, is called, oddly enough, chili.

Until Bill Bridges wrote The Great American Chili Book only a few fanatics knew much about chili. Now, the definitive work has been published and everyone who can read can become an expert.

Bridges tells us of the growth in popularity of the dish and out of this worldwide acceptance has come new commerce, snobbery, and feuds.

The contests, called cook-offs, are now held from sea to shining ARIZONA'S BEST GHOST TOWNSA PRACTICAL GUIDE. By Philip Varney. Maps and drawings by G. E. Wolfe. With a preface by Byrd Howell Granger. Published by Northland Press. Available from Arizona Highways Books, 2039 West Lewis Avenue, Phoenix, AZ 85009. 142 pages, 1980. $11.95, softcover. (Price includes postage and handling.) For ghost-town buffs, at last an up-todate guide packed with all the practical information necessary for the weekend explorer: current photos, mileages, road and travel information, capsule historical summaries, lots of maps, and notes on what to look for.

Besides the lore, a hundred tested recipes are included from every layer of society and geographical area. A directory of sources tells where ingredients may be purchased. There are a glossary, bibliography, and index.

Those chiliheads who sit tall in the saddle of tradition will be shocked to see a recipe for microwave chili and suggested additives of peanuts and sauerkraut. Bridges stops just short of Kitty Litter. This alarming trend of revisionist chili could portend the end of Western Civilization As We Know It.

Remember, it's against the law to in any way harm or remove things from these sites, as ghost towns are a valid and very fragile part of Arizona's history. So love 'em, but please leave 'em alone.

RIM COUNTRY HISTORY. Foreword by Barry M. Goldwater. Northern Gila County Historical Society, 913 West Rim View, Payson, AZ 85541. 1984. 200 pages. $12.50, softcover.

Beginning with the prehistoric Mogollon Culture and ending with Arizona's statehood in 1912, this book introduces the majestic Mogollon Rim Country in northern Gila County in a historical framework. The initial paths in this remote mountain country were brushed out by the trapper, the soldier, and the miner followed by cattlemen trailing in stock to the lush forage and establishing the first economy.

Divided into segments, the book explores various aspects of the Rim Country settlement. "The Family Histories" recount the lives of the resilient pioneers planting footholds in the homeland of the resentful Apache Indians. "The Autobiographies" provide authenticity and immediacy and bring pride of heritage. "The Facets of Frontier Life" portray the social, religious, educational, and business survival in a primitive community 100 miles from a railroad. Added enhancements are the coverage of Zane Grey's impact on the Rim and the graphics and artwork of some of the area's renowned artists.

Encompassing the settlements of Payson, Pine, Strawberry, and Star Valley, the stories comment on the attractions of the Tonto Natural Bridge, the Zane Grey Cabin and Museum, the Tonto Fish Hatchery, and the Strawberry School-house, the oldest standing school building in Arizona.

Supported with a map, an index, and historic photography, the text is an excellent reference for researchers, history buffs, genealogists, and students.

A SOUTHWESTERN Vocabulary-THE WORDS THEY USED By Cornelius C. Smith Jr., The Arthur H. Clark Company, P.O. Box 230, Glendale, CA 91209. 1984. 168 pages. Illustrated by the author. $19.50 hardcover.

The author of this impressive publication is a well respected military and borderlands historian. Both he and his father spent many years in military service in the Southwest, and the two generations collected a treasure-trove of information about the area and its people. A scholarly work, well flavored with humor, the book is divided into sections on the Spanish, Anglo, military, and Indian regional lexicon, for easy reference. The origins and evolution of the terms are diligently traced, revealing a continuity of cultural change spanning twelve centuries. For the scholar and researcher, A Southwestern Vocabulary is an indispensable tool. For the casual reader, it is an education.

COMING YOUR WAY IN THE MONTHS AHEAD

Flagstaff has been named "one of the seven most environmentally attractive communities of America." All around the town and toward the west exists an equally admirable reach of countryuplands, wildlife, adventure. See the May issue: Flagstaff and Beyond.

"I've just returned from Israel where I read a paper well received by the Japanese." When Bill O'Brien makes such a statement, folks listen. The free spirit of the Harquahala Country of Western Arizona usually knows his subject. Read the November issue: Secrets of the Harquahala.

Shank's mare is defined: "Traveling by one's own legs." Our Arizona hiking advice and exposition ranges from the high forests to the low deserts... and the photography almost takes you there. Experience the June issue: Arizona by Shank's Mare.

It's like everybody's hometown. That's true. Visitors from New England are reminded of home; so are folks from Oregon. Arizona's old territorial capital affects people that way. Enjoy the August issue: A Local Boy Goes Home to Prescott.

SHARE THE ARIZONA ADVENTURE, start an Arizona Highways gift subscription. You can send 12 months of adventure to your friends and family with our special gift subscription offer. Order a one year subscription at the regular $15 price and each additional gift subscription is only $13, An $8 savings off the newsstand price. Call us today at (602) 258-1000 or write us at Arizona Highways, 2039 West Lewis Avenue, Phoenix, Arizona 85009.

YOURS SINCERELY

I am glad you did not make a liar out of me. I visited your fair state in September of 1983 and told everyone that you can find a section of every state in the United States in Arizona. Your December issue of Arizona Highways proved my point. Thanks for coming through and saving face. You have a great magazine.

I have never written a letter to the editor in the forty years I've been reading magazines but must finally do so. Your December issue is superb.

I take pen in hand to compliment you on the December, 1984, issue "America! God Shed His Grace On Thee." It is just gorgeous. If I had a Thesaurus I would give you every word that would describe December's issue. I moved to Arizona in 1981, and I have found it to be everything Arizona Highways made it out to be. I am seriously thinking of sending all my friends, who thought I was crazy, a December issue. Then, maybe, they would understand why I love "Arizona." Keep up the excellent work.

"America! God Shed His Grace On Thee." What more can be said after reading your very beautiful and inspiring issue for December. A very fine tribute to all the states and especially to Arizona. My husband and I had recently spent three weeks in Europe, and I must admit I left part of myself there, but upon receiving Arizona Highways today, I realized I had "returned" to the good ole USA. Congratulations.

Thank you for your incredibly beautiful December issue. I cried all the way through it. I wish "America the Beautiful" were our national anthem.

(INSIDE BACK COVER) A reinforced concrete jail, circa 1909, last relic of the Great Western Mining Company town of Courtland, in Cochise County. Jerry Jacka photo (BACK COVER) "In the days of old, when we dug up the gold, in the days of '49..." Relics from yesterday on the mineral frontier of the Southwest live on in still life. Jerry Jacka photo

ARIZONA HIGHWAYS

Publisher-Hugh Harelson Editor-Don Dedera Managing Editor-Richard G. Stahl Art Director-Gary Bennett Picture Editor-Peter Ensenberger Associate Art Director-Lorna Holmes Associate Editor-Robert J. Farrell Contributing Editors-Bill Ahrendt, Jo Baéza, Joe Beeler, Bob Bradshaw, Duane Bryers, Ed Cooper, Paul Dean, Dick Dietrich, Jack Dykinga, Carlos Elmer, Bernard Fontana, Barry Goldwater, Pam Hait, Jerry Jacka, Gill Kenny, Peter Kresan, Herb and Dorothy McLaughlin, Ray Manley, J. Peter Mortimer, David Muench, Charles Niehuis, Earl Petroff, Lawrence Clark Powell, Allen C. Reed, Jerry Sieve, Joe Stocker, Jim Tallon, Larry Toschik, Marshall Trimble, Lee Wells, Maggie Wilson.

Business Director-Jim Delzell Operations Director-Palle Josefsen Circulation Director-Sharon Vogelsang Marketing and Sales DirectorAlberto Gutier

Rez

Governor of Arizona-Bruce Babbitt Director, Department of TransportationWilliam A. Ordway Arizona Transportation Board Chairman: Sondra Eisberg, Prescott; Members: Hal F. Butler, Show Low; Lynn M. Sheppard, Globe; Andrew Federhar, Tucson; Ted Valdez, Sr., Phoenix; Arthur C. Atonna, Douglas; Don Cooper, Mesa.

Under Arizona's blue spring skies, the Friends of Arizona Highways Magazine invite all our neighbors and friends to "come on over."Spend an hour or two-or all afternoon-Sunday, April 21, 1985, and help us celebrate our first open-air swap meet, complete with professional entertainment, and more. Honorary chairpersons for the big event are Senator Barry Goldwater and Arizona's First Lady Hattie Babbitt.