Editor's Page

EDITOR'S

SOME 80 YEARS before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock in 1620, Spanish trailblazers had pushed through the Southwest, exploring as far east as Kansas. And as the 13 colonies on the East Coast adopted their Declaration of Independence in 1776, Spanish pioneers were settling in along San Francisco Bay. The Indians, of course, were already here, engaging in agriculture and commerce and building their own social orders.

Stewart Udall, former U.S. secretary of the Interior, and Jerry Jacka, among the nation's premier landscape photographers, take us back among those Spanish explorers as they searched for gold and silver among the hills and for religious converts among the Indians. We think you'll be fascinated discovering the trails those early pathfinders traveled through Arizona and seeing the sights they must have seen. The odyssey, a perfect blend of history and photography, begins on page 4.

History of the Southwest is a periodic feature of Arizona Highways, as are stories on wildlife, wilderness areas, and special events. But what you'll find in every issue, beginning this fall, are travel stories places to go and experiences to absorb and hiking stories places to go to walk, to stretch the legs, and to explore close-up the wonders of nature.

Here's a preview of some of the stories coming up:

From “Focus on Nature” in October, a spike elk pauses in early morning sunlight in Arizona's high country where herds of the animals have thrived since their reintroduction. WILLIAM E. BARCUS Prentice has captured the splendor of the autumn leaves along Cave Creek in southeastern Arizona's Chiricahua Mountains.

That's just a sample of what is ahead in Arizona Highways. I hope you'll stay in touch. Bob Early