ARIZONIQUES

A Guide to Places, Events, and People BESH-BA-GOWAH

Near Globe, Arizona, scientists are excavating and reconstructing BeshBa-Gowah, an ancient Salado Indian village built on a ridge above Pinal Creek four centuries before the town of Globe came into being.

The Salado Indians, thought to be outlying cousins of the Salt River Valley's Hohokam, built the one andtwo-story stone and adobe pueblo settlement in two or three phases, beginning about A.D. 1225 and ending around 1400. Underlying the stone ruins, remains of Hohokam pit houses date back as early as A.D. 750. Recent excavations at Besh-Ba-Gowah, says Gila County Development Director Bob Bigando, suggest the Salado culture evolved from the Hohokam after some valley dwellers found a more favorable climate in the Globe-Miami area and gradually diverged from their low desert kinsmen.

In Besh-Ba-Gowah's heyday, weather in the area was cooler andwetter. Pinal Creek flowed year around, permitting a comfortable life based on subsistence farming and hunting. But by the 15th century, the climate could no longer support the area's population. The stream ran dry, and the village was abandoned.

In Besh-Ba-Gowah's heyday, weather in the area was cooler and wetter. Pinal Creek flowed year around, permitting a comfortable life based on subsistence farming and hunting. But by the 15th century, the climate could no longer support the area's population. The stream ran dry, and the village was abandoned.

You can tour the reconstructed pueblos built of granite cobblestones found on the site, and the new visitors center offers exhibits and artifact collections. Besh-Ba-Gowah is one mile south of Globe on Jess Hayes Road, next to the Globe Community Center. For information, telephone 425-4495.

Unique to Arizona and the Southwest. YESTERDAY IN ARIZONA

On August 28, 1869, during Major Powell's first exploration of the Grand Canyon and the Colorado River, William Dunn and brothers Seneca and Oramel Howland, weary and frightened, left the party at Separation Rapid. They hiked to the North Rim where they were killed, presumably by hostile Indians. Powell and company continued downriver, emerging safely from the Canyon two days later.

ANCIENT INDIAN MELONS

Remnants of maize, beans, and squash have been found in many prehistoric Indian ruins, but no evidence of early watermelon horticulture was known until 1928, when Art Combe made his discovery. In a long-abandoned cave, Combenow a resident of Littlefield, Arizona-found a small pitch-coated basketry canteen containing some 400 reddish melon seeds.

Three years later, Combe left his teaching job on the Fort Apache Indian Reservation and started a nursery in Ogden, Utah, where he planted the ancient seeds. Only a halfdozen germinated, producing small, gourd-shaped melons with pumpkinlike stems and sweet red flesh.

He planted a new crop each spring for 21 years, discovering that the smallest seeds produced the largest melons. Eventually he decided to breed out the original characteristics in order to develop a marketable product.

In 1952 Combe moved to Littlefield, where his next 36 years of seed planting resulted in delicious melons weighing more than 10 pounds. But some of the seeds stubbornly grew into weirdly shaped melons with thick stems. All had scarlet seeds.

Botanists believe that today's grocery watermelon with its black seeds was introduced into the New World in the 1500s by African slaves or by the Spanish. Scientists at the University of Arizona have said that Combe's scarlet-seeded fruit, on the other hand, is a true American melon. Native Seeds/SEARCH of Tucson, an organization that specializes in seeking true strains of traditional crops and their wild relatives in the American Southwest and northwestern Mexico, is now trying to reverse Combe's 57 years of horticultural work by breeding the largest seeds “backwards” to produce the original small, gourd-shaped melons with thick stems.

ZANE GREY'S HIDEAWAY

Take a trip back to the romantic days of Zane Grey's Western novels at the hunting lodge he owned during the early part of this century. Nestled in the tall pines beneath the towering Mogollon Rim, Zane Grey Lodge contains original furniture, manuscripts, and first editions of the writer's works.

To reach the lodge, travel east from Payson 17 miles on State Route 260 to just beyond Kohls Ranch. A sign shows you where to turn off. Drive northward 43% miles more to your destination. Zane Grey Lodge is open daily, March 1 through November 30. Admission is $1.00 for adults, free for those under 16. Telephone 478-4243.

STRETCH-OUT BIKE

Last summer this young man was seen cruising through southern Arizona on his 15-foot-long bicycle. He had started his trip about a year before in Pennsylvania and averaged about 100 miles a day on his multigeared, mostly aluminum invention. Carrying nearly 400 pounds of food and equipment in the plasticprotected, triangular-shaped storage area between the two wheels, the contraption rides nicely but wears out tires quickly. Making the trip “on a shoestring,” the unorthodox traveler said he slept overnight beside lonely stretches of highway and had suffered no harrassment. He didn't want his name used, but didn't mind having his picture taken.

CALENDAR

August 1 through 14, Phoenix. An exhibition of archeological treasures from China's Sichuan Province features a stunning bronze “money tree,” pictorial tomb reliefs, pottery and stone sculptures, rubbings, and a six-foot-long model of a reconstructed tomb, all from the Han Dynasty (206 B.C. to A.D. 220). This is Arizona's first-ever exhibit of Chinese archeological material. Telephone 257-1222.

August 1 through 19, Tucson. The Flandrau Planetarium offers three summer programs: a movie about the Great Barrier Reef; a planetarium show titled “Land of the Southern Cross,” featuring the skies over Australia; and a special morning children's program, “Max's Flying Saucer.” Telephone 621-7827.

August 1 through 31, Tucson. Tucson Botanical Gardens tour docents explain the gardens' plants, from mesquites and tepary beans to roses. Also, through August 28, a slide show and tour highlight actual foods and plants. Telephone 326-9255.

August 1 through September 11, Mesa. The Mesa Southwest Museum presents “Arizona Bizarre,” a light-hearted summer art exhibit. Artists take a whimsical, humorous look at Arizona's landscapes and people. Telephone 834-2169.

August 6, Prescott. The Smoki Ceremonials interpret American Indian dances and rites in a colorful evening performance. Telephone 445-2000.

August 19 through 21, Payson. The annual Payson rodeo attracts top cowboys and cowgirls to the cool pines. Don't miss the parade the morning of the 20th; this year's theme is “Main Street, Arizona.” Telephone 474-4515.

August 27 and 28, Lake Havasu City. The Surf and Sand Sculpturing Festival, a sand-castle building contest, takes place at the Nautical Inn. Telephone 855-1051.

For a more complete calendar, free of charge, please write the Arizona Office of Tourism, 1108 W. Washington St., Phoenix, AZ 85007. Unless otherwise noted, all telephone numbers are within area code 602.