Arizoniques

A Guide to Places, Events, and People Apache Leap

The name of one Arizona cliff beguiles romantics and bedevils historians. Apache Leap towers 1,800 feet above the town of Superior, 63 miles southeast of Phoenix on U.S. Route 60. A sunrise or a summer storm over the heights offers travelers a dramatic windshield full of color. Legend says that in the early 1870s as many as 75 Apaches leapt over the edge rather than be killed or captured by soldiers.

Text by James E. Cook Edited by Vicky Hay Historians have found nothing in U.S. Army records to support the story, although similar plunges were reported elsewhere in Arizona. Published accounts, based on hearsay, report that bones, beads, and arrowheads were found strewn down the ragged face of Apache Leap after 1900. Plainly something happened to inspire the legend. This version seems most likely:

Unique to Arizona and the Southwest.

In 1870 the Army established Camp Pinal on the desert west of the cliff; in 1871 the camp was moved farther west and became Camp Picket Post. Apaches occupied the heights to the east and the mountains beyond. The top of the cliff offered either party a strategic advantage.

One night flanking soldiers circled east of the mountaintop and crept up on Apaches camped near the precipice. The surprise attack caused a number of Indians to leap over the cliff as the only way of avoiding the troopers' guns.

Whatever the details, the story and the name cling to the cliff with a remarkable tenacity.

What's in a Name?

Arizona's birthday is easy to remember: February 14. Arizona became the 48th state on Valentine's Day, 1912.

On the other hand, few people remember that Arizona Territory was created February 24, 1863. February 24 is not a memorable date unless it happens to be your own birthday, in which case we send best wishes.

Arizona Place Names, the granddaddy of our guides to geographic names, said in 1935 that Arizona was sometimes called the Valentine State. It hasn't been called that very often, except by grade-school teachers trying to interest pupils in Statehood Day. Somehow the nickname seemed precious and irrelevant.

From 1912 until 1959, when Alaska was admitted to the Union, Arizona was often called the Baby State, certainly a demeaning motto. Grand Canyon State sounded grand enough, even if relatively few native children had actually seen the Canyon. Arizona was also called the Copper State and the Sunset State, and sometimes the Sunshine State, although Florida seemed to have usurped references to sunshine. Arizona's sunshine was so constant that children did not consider it worth mentioning.

Some envied Tennessee, which called itself the Volunteer State, or Utah, the Beehive State. Or Pennsylvania, the Keystone Stateespecially if a canny geography teacher had explained the use of the keystone in architecture.

Perhaps Valentine State is not so bad after all. Look what the heart has done for New York City.

Model Citizen

As Arizona prepared for statehood between 1910 and 1912, leaders sought a state seal that would capture the territory's major industries: irrigated farming, ranching, and mining.

The lone human on the seal is a miner, resting on his shovel before the mouth of a crude mine. The miner was actually a restless prospector named George Warren, a colorful frontiersman if not a model citizen in the usual sense of the term. Warren was born in Massachusetts in 1835. His mother died when he was 10, and later his father, Charlie, a government teamster, took George to New Mexico Territory.

Raiding Apaches killed Charlie and took George captive for 18 months. George claimed later that a group of prospectors ransomed him for 15 pounds of sugar.

Fluent in both Spanish and Apache, George Warren became an occasional government scout and guide in Arizona Territory. He was also one of the earliest prospectors in the Mule Mountains of southeastern Arizona. His claims included a one-ninth interest in the Copper Queen, which became one of Arizona's richest mines.

Warren liked to drink, gamble, and brag. When he boasted that he could outrun a horse in a 100-yard race, a partner persuaded him to bet his claims on this purported fleetness. The horse was sober and Warren was not, and so George lost his claims.

The Copper Queen turned Bisbee into a boomtown. The borough of Warren, one of several districts that make up greater Bisbee, is named for George. He continued to prospect, drinking away or giving away his findings until his death in 1892. Frontier photographer C. S. Fly posed Warren for the classic miner's portrait. The photo belonged to Bisbee merchant and banker William H. Brophy. One of the delegates to Arizona's constitutional convention, Bisbee attorney E. E. Ellinwood, borrowed the photograph as a model for the state's heraldry.

Thus George Warren's fate was sealed.

Calendar

February 3, Florence. Join a tour of the town's classically Southwestern historic district. Telephone 868-5216.

February 3-24, Tucson. The Arizona Theatre Company presents The Importance of Being Earnest at the Tucson Convention Center. Telephone 279-0534.

February 4, Tucson. A retrospective exhibit of Arizona Highways photography spanning the magazine's 65 years opens a 6/2week run at the Old Pueblo Museum. Telephone 742-7191.

February 7-11, Tucson. The Tucson Gem and Mineral Show takes place in the Community Center's Exhibition Hall and Arena. Telephone 624-1817.

February 9-19, Mesa. Wild West Days, benefiting the Arizona Special Olympics, presents camel and ostrich races, a pro-celebrity rodeo, fiddler's contest, carnival, exhibitions, and scores of other events during 11 jam-packed days at the Rockin' R Ranch. Telephone 786-0949 (ask for Harry Sisak).

February 9-11, Wickenburg. The 42nd annual Gold Rush Days celebration features a rodeo, gold panning, a parade, melodrama, carnival, and more. Telephone 684-5479.

February 10, Picacho Peak. Explore the landmark peak northwest of Tucson on Interstate Route 10 and enjoy special programs for the family during "Take-a-Hike" Day. Telephone 466-3183.

February 17-19, Casa Grande. The O'odham Tash Indian festival features nationally acclaimed artisans, cowboys, and dancers displaying their skills in a rodeo, parade, pow-wow, and demonstrations. Telephone 836-4723.

February 23-March 3, Phoenix. The Phoenix Sister Cities Commission celebrates Japan Week with a Matsuri Festival, fashion show, special exhibits, and other events. Telephone 262-4440.

For a more complete calendar of events, free of charge, write to Arizona Office of Tourism, 1100 W. Washington St., Phoenix 85007. Unless otherwise noted, all telephone numbers are within area code 602.