Arizoniques

A Guide to Places, Events, and People ARIZONIQUES Unique to Arizona and the Southwest. Cottonwood Leaves

His name was Irataba, chief of the Mojaves, and he was among the thousands of spectators who, on May 23 and 24, 1865, watched the grand celebration of the victorious Union Army in Washington, D.C. Chief Irataba saw it all from the reviewing stand.

Two months before, the Indian agent for the Mojave tribe had suggested inviting the chief to meet President Abraham Lincoln. So it was that he made his way from Fort Mojave on the Colorado River to San Francisco and thence to Washington, D.C., via the Panama Canal and New York City.

In Washington, Irataba was entertained by congressmen and government officials. They presented him with about 100 photographs, many autographed. A delegation of congressmen, Army officers, and an English nobleman gave him a sword and what were described as "jewels."

When Irataba returned to Fort Mojave, he addressed his people. Dressed in a major general's uniform complete with brilliant yellow sash, the chief described the massive Union victory parade. The Mojaves, he said, should maintain peace with the Anglo settlers because there were more soldiers in Washington than leaves on all the cottonwood trees along the Colorado River.

Contemporary newspapers devoted many pages to detailing the 200,000-man celebration. But it was a Mojave chief who captured, in one pristine image, the spectacular finale to our Civil War.

The Underground Life

An exhibit at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum allows visitors to enter the world of creatures who live below ground.

When daytime temperatures reach 110°, the soil surface may measure 160°. Desert creatures escape this inferno in subterranean dens, where the temperature hovers comfortably between 60° and 80°. They come out to forage and frolic at night.

The underground exhibit is a renovation of a popular exhibit known as "the tunnel." Enclosures for bats, nocturnal burrowing mammals, reptiles, and invertebrates duplicate the temperature and humidity of the animals' natural homes. A low-level red light glows continuously, allowing visitors to view the creatures without disruption. When you stand in front of an enclosure, you can imagine yourself descending into cool, shadowy darkness with the animals.

The Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, located 14 miles west of downtown Tucson, is open every day of the year including holidays.

Pit House Vistoso

Real estate agent to prospect: "Check out this authentic Arizona starter home. Step down and stoop a little to get in the front door. There's the 'rec' room-well, it's part of the house's only room, actually, but you could crouch over there and work on your crafts, like bow and arrow making. There's a ready basket of slotted shafts, arrowheads, and feathers. Plenty of closet space-o.k., so there are no walls on the closet, but take a look at those finely painted clay pots lined up, good for storing any and everything. The kitchen has a spectacular view of every sunset and sunrise and rainbow-it's that ring of ocotillo branches set in the dirt around the fire pit. Yes, things might look a bit rudimentary, but you have to keep in mind that this is a historic home! The architecture dates back 800 or a thousand years."

Interested in this unusual house with lots of curb appeal? Inquire next door at the sales office at Sun City Vistoso, Del Webb's retirement village north of Tucson.

Or ask archeologist William Doelle, local head of the Institute for American Research, which surveyed Del Webb's 1,000 acres before development began. The archeologists discovered remnants of a small Hohokam settlement which, after being studied, wound up under the golf course.

With Del Webb funding, Doelle's crew reconstructed a replica of the Hohokam kitchen and ramada, plus the pit house of frame and stucco that is, mud over reeds and mesquite beams. They stocked it with real or replica artifacts.

It may not have a hot tub or a parquet floor, but the down payment was sweat equity, and Arizona developers haven't offered lots this large everything out to the horizon-for a long, long time. -Ray Ring

Calendar

May 5, Bisbee. The Mule Mountain Marathon begins in Bisbee at 5:00 A.M. and ends at Fort Huachuca. Runners may go the full 26 miles or participate in a half-marathon, a two-mile fun run, or relay teams. Telephone 533-3790.

May 5-June 11, Flagstaff. "Trappings of the American West" at the Coconino Center for the Arts features craft workshops; storytelling; cowboy poetry and music; cooking, horseshoeing, and roping demonstrations; a barbecue and dance; and more. Telephone 779-6921.

May 6, Flagstaff. The Arboretum at Flagstaff celebrates National Garden Week with a sale of native perennial plants, talks, displays, demonstrations, and children's activities. Telephone 774-1441.

May 26-27, Cottonwood. The Verde Valley Gem and Mineral Show, sponsored by gem and mineral groups in Sedona and Cottonwood, takes place at Mingus Union High School. For information, write to the show's organizers at Box 1284, Cottonwood, AZ 86326.

May 26-May 30, Flagstaff. The fourth annual Zuni Artists' Exhibition at the Museum of Northern Arizona offers the finest in contemporary Zuni arts plus demonstrations by artists and dancers. Telephone 774-5211.

May 27-June 23, Prescott. The Sharlot Hall Museum hosts "Shuttles and Spindles III," a fiber arts exhibit of handmade articles sponsored by the Mountain Spinners and Weavers Guild. Telephone 445-3122.