ARIZONIQUES

A Guide to Places, Events, and People Faraway Ranch

For 60 years, the Erickson and Riggs families farmed, raised cattle, and welcomed paying guests at Faraway, their southeastern Arizona ranch. Twelve years ago, the remote dude ranch closed. But now, as part of the Chiricahua National Monument, Faraway once again welcomes visitors.

Neil Erickson and his bride, Emma, began homesteading in Bonita Canyon in 1887. A year later, they built the first part of the ranch house that still stands. The couple and their three children, Lillian, Hildegarde, and Louis Benton (Ben) Erickson, ran the cattle spread for three decades.

In 1917 Hildegarde and Lillian decided to open their home to tourists. Lillian dubbed the operation the Faraway Ranch and, with her husband, Ed Riggs, managed it until her death in 1977.

The Ericksons were influential conservationists. Neil was the first ranger in what is now the Coronado National Forest. The Chiricahua National Monument was established through the efforts of Neil, Lillian, and Ed.

In 1979 the National Park Service purchased Faraway and six years later began a $500,000 renovation.

A 26-acre parcel of the ranch, containing the two-story ranch house, has been placed on the National Register of Historic Places. It was reopened to the public last August. Visits to the 1950s-style ranch house itself are by scheduled tour only.

You can reach the Faraway Ranch and Chiricahua National Monument from Interstate 10 via State Route 186 or U.S. 666 and State 181. For more information, call 824-3560.

This Man's Game

"Play ball!" The familiar command brings to mind summer evenings and cheers for hometown teams.

But baseball first came to Arizona with the Army, as a military sport played throughout the year.

During the 1870s, cavalry and infantry units often had their own ball teams, which at larger posts competed with each other. Small garrisons, such as Camp Date Creek northwest of Wickenburg, would publicly challenge all the territory's baseball teams to find opponents. Christmas morning, 1872, was celebrated at Fort Grant not with gift exchanges but with a traditional ball game.

Unique to Arizona and the Southwest.

Townspeople took up the game during the 1880s, but because the best players were military men, town teams often drafted soldiers from nearby posts. Intense team spirit resulted, both in towns and on military posts.

One January day in 1881, Phoenix took on nearby Fort McDowell. At the bottom of the eighth inning, McDowell was leading by three runs. Phoenix began to apply the pressure. With two runs in and two men on base, the Phoenix batter slugged a ball that was snagged on the fly by the first baseman just as the runner crossed home plate. Too late for Phoenix: McDowell won, 17 to 16.

Land of Many Folkways

New arrivals to Arizona, especially from regions rich in folk culture, sometimes feel they have come to a place with few human roots. Nothing could be further from the truth.

As people pour into our state, they bring with them the skills, arts, and customs of their heritage. A few years ago, Linda DeAtley Miller recognized that a rich but unheralded cultural melange exists here. From this realization came the Arizona Heritage Fair, a twoweek pageant of traditional arts and crafts sponsored by the Society of Arizona Heritage in Humanities and Arts.

The two-part annual event begins with a preview at the Valley Bank Center concourse, April 2 through 14, followed by a weekend fair at Patriots Square, Central Avenue and Washington Street, on April 15 and 16.

Folk artists of many nationalities and races come together to display and demonstrate their traditional skills. "This year, for example, we will have a cross-cultural quilting bee," says Miller. "Native American and Anglo quilters will join black artisans who do 'tacking,' a kind of quilting developed during the period of slavery."

The concourse preview will feature lunch-hour demonstrations of various crafts, and during the two-day Patriots Square event scores of artisans will display their skills. You can watch tatting, spinning, tapestry weaving, Chinese calligraphy, English smocking, German scissor cutting, Thai vegetable and fruit carving, and Ukrainian egg decorating. Fiddlers, dancers, cowboy poets, gospel singers, mariachis, storytellers, and African and American Indian dancers will entertain. Refreshments, too, will have a traditional flavor, with a great variety of ethnic dishes. Frontier occupational skills bred many Southwestern crafts. Visitors will see handmade boots and saddles, watch horsehair braiding and spinning, and join in roping demonstrations. The Hispanic charro tradition contributes much to the event, as do the Indian arts of silversmithing, basket-making, and pottery. "We have many people with much in common," says Miller, "but they don't know it until they have a chance to share with each other." For more information, call (602) 953-9778. -Louise De Wald

Friends' Travel

For this month's preview of travel events sponsored by Friends of Arizona Highways, see page 3.

Calendar

April 1 and 2, Sedona. A juried art show, dancers, and Native American foods highlight Sedona Hopi Days. Proceeds benefit Hopi educational and alcoholism awareness programs. Telephone 282-1117.

April 1 through 29, Yuma. The 23rd Southwestern Exhibition at the Yuma Art Center, 281 Gila St., is open to artists from six Southwestern states and Baja California and Sonora, Mexico. Juror is Howard Fox, curator of contemporary art for the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Telephone 783-2314.

April 8, 15, 22, and 27, Phoenix. The Pueblo Grande Museum offers workshops in Indian basketry. A continuing "how to do it" workshop, "Archaeology for Children," meets April 1 and April 15, and a workshop for adults, "Hohokam Stone Tools," takes place April 1. Telephone 275-1897.

April 15 through 16, Scottsdale. The Scottsdale Culinary Festival features a dessert competition, a picnic with entertainment, cooking demonstrations, a gala dinner party, and a wine-country brunch. Don't miss the Mayors' Culinary Cup Dessert Competition. Proceeds benefit the Scottsdale Center for the Arts. Telephone 994-2787.

April 22, Scottsdale. Pat Bond returns to Kerr Cultural Center in a revival of a one-woman show, "Lizzy Borden." Telephone 965-5377.