Mileposts

MILEPOSTS APRIL IN TOMBSTONE

On April Fool's Day in 1877, Ed Schieffelin began a prospecting trip into Apache country in Arizona Territory. Fellow miners scoffed, telling him all he would discover would be his tombstone. After striking one of the richest silver veins in the Old West, seven-inches wide and 50-feet long, Schieffelin called his bonanza Tombstone, a name adopted by the community that developed nearby one of the wildest little cities in the West and "the town too tough to die."

If you're thinking about visiting this famous Arizona community, consider stopping by on April 12, 13, or 20. On those dates, the Tombstone Vigilettes, a nonprofit group that promotes interest in the history of Tombstone, will present an evening of song, dance, and comedy at the Third Annual Vigilette Review. The show begins at 7:00 P.M. at Schieffelin Hall on Fremont Street. Tickets are a bargain at $4.00, and may be reserved by calling Marge Ellsberry at (602) 457-3101.

TERRITORIAL BRASS

Don Larry, business manager of Territorial Brass, came around the other day, bragging that his colorful group has been declared Arizona's Official Historical Brass Band.

Territorial Brass is an ensemble of nine musicians who re-create the look and sound of the many brass bands that held forth during territorial days.

Members have dug into the past to find authentic music composed and performed by musicians in Arizona Territory. Larry says they discovered, in the Library of Congress, nine works by Achille LaGuardia, bandmaster at Fort Whipple from 1892 to 1898 and father of New York City's one-time Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia. Prescottthe townnearest Fort Whipple - was the birthplace of Arizona's first brass band in 1865. The idea soon became a tradition and spread to the area's embryonic cities Phoenix, Tucson, Yuma and to mining towns such as Bisbee, Clifton, Morenci, Jerome, Miami, and Globe.Members perform in costumes modeled after the uniforms of the Bisbee and Prescott brass bands of the 1890s and play period instruments, among them an 1867 over-the-shoulder rotary-valved Bb soprano saxhorn, a type widely used during the Civil War. Larry says their performances of numbers resurrected by talented members such as

RAMBLIN' RIDE

Are you looking for a fourwheel-drive adventure away from crowds and paved roads? Tucson-based Sunshine Jeep Tours offers exciting excursions to see the natural wonders of the Sonoran Desert on routes accessible only by fourwheel-drive vehicles. Their three-hour Tortolita Mountain Tour takes visitors north of Tucson to see an amazing variety of cacti and visit an ancient Indian site excavated by a University of Arizona archeological team. The tour includes nature walks and interpretive talks on the most beautiful desert in the world.Says tour director Tom Andreason, "The jeep tours are rugged, but they're suitable for all ages. The scenery is fantastic, so bring your cameras for some terrific pictures." The tour Sheila Foraker have been so popular that the band has released a cassette recording, Brass Bands in the Arizona Territory, which includes the "Arizona Quickstep" and other selections performed with the group's infectious enthusiasm.

Territorial Brass performs at museums and festivals around the state. For information, telephone (602) 890-2311.

Cost is $48 per person, which includes soft drinks and a demonstration with a live reptile. Sunshine has a fleet of 14 vehicles, enough to handle a group of up to 126 passengers. For more information, contact Sunshine Jeep Tours, 641 East Windward Circle, Tucson, AZ 85704; telephone, (602) 742-

WILDFLOWERS

In the spring, Arizona is carpeted with a myriad of brilliantly hued wildflowers, from the sprightly goldpoppy probably the most photographed blossom in the Sonoran Desert to the striking, but more difficult to find, mariposalily, with its velvety soft, deep orange-red to yellow or vermilion petals.

For tips on where to go to see this annual flower show, telephone the Desert Botanical Garden's wildflower hotline at 9412867. The info line is updated each Friday, and will be available until April 30.

For help identifying the blooms after you spot them, we also recommend Arizona Highways Presents Desert Wildflowers, a popular guide and photo book with a bouquet of information covering 63 native species, along with helpful planting guidelines, and recipes using desert plants. To order, call toll-free 1 (800) 543-5432. In the Phoenix area, telephone 258-1000.

GUILTY OR NOT SHORT CUTS

Cowboys were wellknown for their honesty, and so the results were predictable as one was brought before an old Arizona judge on a charge of horse stealing. The judge was a stickler for proper courtroom procedure so, as the proceedings were about to begin, he looked down at the cowboy and asked, "Are you the plaintiff or the defendant?"

The cowboy looked up at the bench with a puzzled expression and replied, "Judge, I'm the one who stole the horse."

A lawyer in town took it upon himself to defend the cowboy. He knew he'd have to go around the facts of the case because the puncher was riding the plaintiff's horse when apprehended. So he paraded the lad's widowed mother in front of the jury. Then he introduced the cowboy's wife and kids. Finally, he put his arm around the defendant and asked, "Does this look like the kind of man who'd steal a horse?"

Apparently the jury thought not for they returned a verdict of innocent. Before dismissing the charges, the judge brought the cowboy up once again and asked if he had anything he'd like to say to the court. Unabashed, the young man grinned and asked, "Judge, do I get to keep the horse?"

As the cowboy was leaving the courthouse, a friend asked, "Did you or did you not steal that horse?"

"Well, I thought I did," the cowboy replied, "but after listening to that there lawyer, now I ain't so sure."

GERONIMO'S MANY FACES

reminder: The Phoenix Art Museum exhibit showcasing the works of Keith Haring and Andy Warhol along with Walt Disney runs through May 12. Glen Campbell, with Jim Stafford and Nicolette Larson, presents "Glen Campbell's Goodtime Hour Revisited" at the Chandler Center for the Arts, April 9; telephone (602) 786-3954. Happy Birthday to the famed Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, founded by Percival Lowell on April 21, 1894. The Flagstaff Symphony Orchestra with conductor Harold Weller, and full chorus and vocal soloists perform Manuel DeFalla's El Amoro Brubo and Carl Orff's Carmina Burana at Ardrey Auditorium, April 24, 8:00 P.M.; telephone (602) 774-5107. On April 2628, join the celebration of the Annual Route 66 Fun Run, a classic car rallye that begins in Seligman and finishes in Topock; telephone (602) 768-4408.

For a more complete and free calendar of events, write to Arizona Office of Tourism, 1100 W. Washington St., Phoenix, AZ 85007.

HOMETOWN KIDS HIT THE BIG TIME

Childsplay, the professional adult theater company for youngsters and their families, has been invited to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., to present The Masquerade of Life/La

Mascarada de la Vida.

Between April 25 and April 28, the troupe will perform eight times for school groups and public audiences in the Kennedy Center's Theater Lab. Childsplay is one of six arts companies to be featured as part of the Kennedy Center's 15th annual national Imagination Celebration.

The Masquerade of Life/La Mascarada de la Vida was written for Childsplay by Mary Hall Surface. First presented in March, 1990, at the Tucson Imagination Celebration, the lay tells the story of a common man, Paz, who gains the power to heal by making a deal with Death. It's a festive celebration of life presented in English with Hispanic masks, costumes, music, and dance.

For information, telephone (602) 350-8101.

Occasional Arizona Highways contributor, C. L. Sonnichsen, has produced an interesting study of a famous Indian leader in Geronimo and the End of the Apache Wars (University of Nebraska Press, 1990). The Chiricahua warrior, a dangerous enemy of Anglo and Hispanic settlers after his mother, wife, and children were murdered in an 1851 raid by the Mexican army, remains a puzzling figure. To this day, he is shrouded in notoriety and myth some of it self-generated, some of it straight out of Hollywood. Sonnichsen cuts through the fiction and, in doing so, presents a convincing portrait. Available through your favorite bookstore.