Casa Malpais

HOUSE OF THE BADLANDS

Standing here on a basaltic ridge that overlooks eastern Arizona's Round Valley from an altitude of 7,000 feet, you feast your eyes upon a magnificent panorama: the lofty peaks of the White Mountains; the massive bulk of Escudilla Mountain, rising to nearly 11,000 feet; the fertile floodplain of the Little Colorado River; and, nestled within the valley, the town of Springerville, population 1,850. You also get a remarkable view of history. For here, literally beneath your feet, lies an incomparable archeological treasure one of the most significant ever discovered (LEFT) A square kiva at Casa Malpais is one of the largest ever discovered in the United States. Sitting a few miles north of Escudilla Mountain, the 14th-century Mogollon village continues to astound archeologists while luring visitors to scenic Round Valley.

(ABOVE) Project director Dr. John Hohmann climbs one of several ancient stairways at the site.

UNDERGROUND CAVERNS DISTINGUISH THIS PREHISTORIC INDIAN VILLAGE NEAR SPRINGERVILLE

in the Southwest. It is called Casa Malpais, “House of the Badlands,” a sobriquet assigned by Basque sheepherders who had settled Round Valley, or Valle de Redondo, in the late 1880s.

You get more than just a view of its history, however: you become part of it. For Springerville's enterprising city fathers, together with a team of perceptive archeologists, have not only cleared and restored much of this monumental 15-acre site, they also created an archeological park. With a system of trails and interpretive signs, visitors have the unusual opportunity of experiencing the continuing process of archeology, as well as exploring the mysteries of a lost culture.The story started millions of years ago when basaltic lava flows from the White Mountain Volcanic Field formed the ridge and its cliffs. But it wasn't until about 20,000 years ago that these cliffs began to slump and fracture, causing squared-off boulders weighing many tons to tumble haphazardly, forming a

Became increasingly evident. Hohmann and his team were impressed with the complexity and sophistication of the ancient culture. And he has relied increasingly on the counsel of Hopi and Zuni cultural leaders in interpreting some of the findings and solving some of their accompanying mysteries. One thing, however, was quite obvious: the eminent suitability of the terrain for the type of settlement it supported. The way in which the basalt formationhad faulted, fractured, and collapsed created five principal level terrace areas that would have been appropriate for a variety of activities. The terraces kept the inhabitants well above the fertile plain, away from floods and insects. At the same time, they protected them against winter winds and summer heat that struck the highest ridge, whose overview of the entire valley would have been the logical place to post lookouts. Also, according to

WHEN HE

PRIED UP THE ROCK, HE FOUND A PASSAGE TO A ROOM BELOW. ROOMS CONSTRUCTED UNDERGROUND HAD NEVER BEEN SEEN AMONG PUEBLOS BEFORE.

Hohmann, the fissures in the basalt would have been an important consideration for burials and other important ceremonial activities. "Overall," he says, "it's an ideal microenvironmental setting." But other things have not been so obvious and, in fact, have required considerable detective work. To date more than 99 rooms have been discovered in the pueblo, many of them originally having two stories. The second stories were supported by huge beams of ponderosa pine that would have had to be transported a great distance. By using dendrochronology, an examination of their growth rings, it was determinedthat the bulk of the trees was harvested between A.D. 1260 and 1264 and between A.D. 1281 and 1284. "This shows us," says Hohmann, "that the major portion of this site developed during a very short time period." He points out that the logs are from 15 to 17 inches in diameter and 18 to 23 feet long. "Add to this the amount of rock that had to be moved to build the supporting walls, with no beasts of burden available, and you see that a massive amount of human energy was involved. And so far, we find evidence of only about 369 persons inhabiting the site at any one time." Hohmann derived the figure from a

TO DATE MORE THAN 99 ROOMS HAVE BEEN DISCOVERED IN THE PUEBLO, MANY OF THEM ORIGINALLY HAVING TWO STORIES. THE SECOND STORIES WERE SUPPORTED BY HUGE BEAMS OF PONDEROSA PINE THAT WOULD HAVE HAD TO BE TRANSPORTED A GREAT DISTANCE.

formula used by archeologists that takes into account the number and proportion of habitation rooms and the average number of persons who would occupy the calculated floor space. Some have suggested that the logs, cut from mountain forests across Round Valley, might have been floated down the Little Colorado River. However, Hohmann is reluctant to reach any conclusions without evidence. It was at this time that he did conclude that the Casa Malpais site served a special function and that substantial numbers of members of other prehistoric communities in the area helped to build it. Other large sites in the area include Hooper Ranch Pueblo, Coyote Creek Pueblo, and Table Rock Pueblo.

But what special function could it have served? One hypothesis is that it was a trade center, where produce and handmade materials were brought for redistribution. But sufficient evidence to support that theory is lacking. It became more and more apparent, says Hohmann, that Casa Malpais was primarily a religious center. "Right now," he says, "the evidence is very strong that its major role was ceremonial."

What has led him in this direction is the number and type of artifacts recovered in the most recent excavations: quartz crystals used in medicine bundles, ceremonial ipes, and what appear to be fetish stands made of steatite, or soapstone. "We still have only a small sample of artifacts," Hohmann says, "but so far there is an unusually high proportion of these ceremonial types."

Lending credence to this theory is the discovery of what appear to be seven sacred chambers and approximately 28 ceremonial rooms, all exhibiting a special style of architecture. In fact, the sophistication of the architecture has surprised the researchers. "These were people who knew building, knew the elements of engineering," says Hohmann. He points out the interlocking dry masonry walls and buttresses. But even more impressive, he says, is a venting system that circulated air through most of the pueblo rooms.

Also of special note are three winding stone stairways leading up the face of the cliff to the top of the ridge. Handholds were carved into the rock, making ascent easier.

ARCHEOLOGISTS FOUND A WHITE POTTERY JAR DECORATED WITH BLACK BUTTERFLIES, A STEATITE FETISH, A BONE FLUTE, TINY BONE BEADS, AND A GYPSUM MIRROR.

Similar handholds have been found on the majestic "Tether Rock," a 45-foottall natural pedestal which stands alone and dominates one area of the site. It is so named because it is believed that the Mogollon tethered their sacred eagles on its flat crest. But what were these people like, these Mogollon who were capable of constructing such complex structures more than 600 years ago? They were an average height of between 61 and 63 inches, stocky, strong, and well-proportioned, according to Hohmann. With a fertile valley stretched before them, they had a well-balanced diet: corn, beans, squash, walnuts, grasses; and plenty of game, including deer, antelopes, rabbits, squirrels, and elk.

"They were probably one of the healthier prehistoric peoples," he says. "They were obviously hardworking and bright and had structured, even elaborate, settlement and ceremonial systems."

Then what happened to them? Why did their culture flourish in the brief period between about A.D. 1265 and A.D. 1380 and then mysteriously disappear, apparently very quickly? Hohmann and other archeologists say that abandonment of this site was not unique: other locations in the Mogollon region were abandoned at about the same time, which correlates with a general period of drought that affected much of the Southwest. A serious drying trend can set off a domino effect: agricultural collapse, population decline, epidemics, and perhaps warfare, accompanied by social and economic disintegration. But until that time, the Mogollon exhibited a culture that continues to fascinate. While excavating the floor of one of the rooms, Chris Adams, the project's field director, uncovered a flat rock, and cool air seemed to be emanating from around its edges. When he pried up the rock, he found a passage leading to a A jar with black butterflies was discovered in a hidden underground room.

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The Friends of Arizona Highways offers Photo Workshops among the state's scenic wonders for picture takers of all skill levels. Our premier photographers lead the workshops and are assisted by experts from Nikon and Hasselblad. Scenic Tours also are available.

(ABOVE) Built in 1924, the historic Painted Desert Inn at Petrified Forest National Park overlooks the 200-mile stretch of color-tinged desert in northern Arizona. PETER ENSENBERGER

PHOTO WORKSHOPS

Grand Canyon North Rim; August 1-4 If the summer monsoon arrives, watch for dramatic cloud formations. Photographers: Willard and Cathy Clay.

Hannagan Meadow; August 18-21 Enjoy the verdant scenery and cooler temperatures of the high country. Photographer: Edward McCain.

Arizona's Old West; September 3-6 Highlights include Old Tucson movie studio, Bisbee and the Copper Queen Mine, Tombstone, Cochise Stronghold, and Apache Pass. Photographer: P.K. Weis.

Painted Desert/Petrified Forest; September 22-26 See colored dunes, petrified trees, and ancient petroglyphs. Photographer: Dale Schicketanz.

Canyon de Chelly; October 6-9 Navajo guides take you deep into scenic canyons. Photographer: Jerry Jacka.

Canyon de Chelly; October 27-30 Search out the mysterious canyons and secrets of the vanished Anasazi Indians. Photographer: Jay Dusard.

1994 WALL AND ENGAGEMENT CALENDARS

Sedona/Oak Creek Canyon; October 28-31 Nature's paintbrush adds even more color to the red rock country. Photographers: Bob and Suzanne Clemenz.

Monument Valley; November 3-6 Experience the drama and majesty of the valley deep in Navajoland. Photographer: Gary Ladd.

Aravaipa Canyon Wilderness Hike; November 17-20 Backpack through a wonderland of waterfalls, autumn color, and wildlife. Photographer: Jack W. Dykinga.

FRIENDS SCENIC TOURS

Canyon Country Tour; October 7-10 Visit the Grand Canyon, Oak Creek Canyon, and Walnut Canyon.

SCENIC TOURS WITH RAY MANLEY

Led by a premier Arizona Highways contributing photographer, these trips are organized primarily for mature adults.

Canyon de Chelly/Monument Valley; October 25-29 See otherworldly rock formations created 250 million years ago and prehistoric cliff dwellings in Navajo country.

For reservations and information on these and other tours, telephone the Friends' Travel Desk, (602) 271-5904.

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We provide free mailing envelopes for orders of two or more Wall Calendars and package each Engagement Calendar in an easy-to-mail container for impressive gift-giving. The 1994 Wall Calendar, 9 by 12 inches in size, is $5.95, plus shipping and handling; the 6 by 9 inch 1994 Engagement Calendar is $9.95, plus shipping and handling. Both are available after August 13, 1993.Order your 1994 Wall and Engagement Calendars today by returning the attached order card, or write or visit Arizona Highways, 2039 West Lewis Avenue, Phoenix, AZ 85009. You can also order by phone: Call toll-free nationwide, 1-800-543-5432, or in the Phoenix area, 258-1000.

Mileposts

DESERT SURVIVAL If you were stranded in the desert, would you know how to find water? Could you save your life using parts from your automobile? Would you know how to signal effectively for help? In a one-hour VHS video called STAY ALIVE! Phoenix radio talk-show host and avid outdoorsman Preston Westmoreland uses demonstrations, maps, graphics, and humor to introduce novices to the desert - where what you don't know can really hurt you. To order the video ($24.95, plus shipping and handling), telephone Arizona Highways toll-free at 1 (800) 543-5432. In the Phoenix area, call 2581000.

A GARDEN FOR ALL SENSES Though intended as an attraction for the visually impaired, the Dr. Scholl Foundation Sensory Garden at the Tucson Botanical Gardens intrigues all visitors. For example, the garden's colored wire stands tell which of the five senses specific plants target (blue means smell). And a "Sensory Challenge" invites players to solve an anagram by investigating the characteristics of certain plants. (Special challenge cards are available for the visually impaired, as well as a taped hunt for those with audio recorders.) Accessibility is assured: three ramps lead to the sensory garden from the road, all exhibits are wheelchair-height, and signs are high-contrast with large lettering. For further information, contact Tucson Botanical Gardens, 2150 N. Alvernon Way, Tucson, AZ 85712; (602) 3269686.

EVENTS

FESTIVAL OF THE ARTS August 1-8; Flagstaff This annual celebration of the arts in the cool pine country actually began July 4 and has been building momentum ever since. Traditional fare includes symphonic masterworks and pops concerts, chamber-music brunches, NAU Repertory productions, and Native American music and dance. International guest artists will include pianist Alexander Peskanov, violist Toby Hoffman, and soprano Guadalupe Gonzales. Also planned: jazz concerts, classic comedy films, dinner theater, and new this year - an Hispanic cultural celebration focusing on music, dance, and food. Events admission is $4-$30. Information: 1 (800) 266-7740.

QUILT AND DOLL SHOW August 5-7; Holbrook Hundreds of Arizona-made quilts and dolls will be featured in a juried exhibit at the Navajo County Fairgrounds in Holbrook, a ranching center in the northeastern part of the state (nearby attractions include the Petrified Forest National Park and the Painted Desert). This event has been held for about half a dozen years, and every year the numbers of exhibitors and spectators shoot up. Admission is $1. Information: 5246407.

PAYSON RODEO August 20-22; Payson One of the oldest rodeos around, this official P.R.C.A. event takes place below the storied Mogollon Rim in Payson, the "capital of Zane Grey country." Top cowboys compete for prizes in events like bull riding, calf roping, and barrel racing. The big rodeo parade kicks off Saturday at 9:00 A.M., and there are dances Friday and Saturday nights. An admission will be charged for the rodeo and dances, but the parade's free. Information: 1 (800) 552-3068.

NELLIE CASHMAN DAYS August 21-22; Tombstone During the rowdy days when Tombstone was earning its sobriquet "The Town Too Tough to Die" - the legendary Nellie Cashman was a beacon of kindness and charity for good and bad guys alike. Nowadays locals celebrate her contributions to the town with a weekend of fun that includes stagecoach rides, a street dance, a melodrama, and a baseball game for seniors (players are men age 65plus). Most activities are free. Information: 457-2212.

NORTHERN ARIZONA FAIR August 26-28; Fredonia Tiny Fredonia in far northern Arizona goes all out when it comes to its annual fair. In addition to the Miss Fredonia contest, there'll be arts and crafts, a dance, car show, 5-K run, kids' rodeo, cook-off, horse-shoe tournament, and variety show. Admission is free. With a population of around 1,200, Fredonia still is the largest community in the Arizona Strip, a sparsely settled stretch of outback above the Grand Canyon. It won't take long to cruise through town, but the high-country scenery is boundless. Information: 643-7241.

GLASSBLOWING: FROM ANCIENT EGYPT TO THE OLD PUEBLO Visitors to the Philabaum Glass Gallery & Studios in Tucson can watch artists create glass sculptures, vases, perfume bottles, and paperweights. Observers get a close-up view of the art, which goes back to ancient Egypt, circa 1500 B.C. The gallery, at 711 S. Sixth Ave., shows contemporary glass by artists from throughout the country and offers hot-glass workshops. Be sure to call ahead, (602) 884-7404, to make sure the glassblowers will be working.

"Let's get into our blue-grass, ladies and gen-tlemen." With that brief introduction from emcee Johnny Collier, the crowd started clapping to the music as soon as the band struck the first notes.

Although the band had no name, it was "not the worst group you'll ever hear," promised Johnny. In fact they were darn good. At least they got my feet to tapping, which is one standard by which a bluegrass band can be measured.

Stretched out on my tarp on a beautiful sunny Saturday morning, I was set to enjoy the White Mountain Bluegrass Festival. A flatbed truck flanked by bales of hay served as the stage. Two big canvas tents sheltered the audience from the warm sun and possible afternoon rain.

FRY BREAD, CHILI, AND BLUEGRASS IN PINETOP/LAKESIDE

RVs, campers, pickups, and tents circled the grassy meadow at Maverick Center in Pinetop/Lakeside. Some people brought their own blankets, lawn chairs, coolers, and Mountain Dew. Attire went toward blue jeans, straw hats, and baseball caps. It was as relaxed and friendly a bunch as you'd ever want to meet.

The fledgling event is sponsored by the Pinetop/Lakeside Chamber of Commerce. Ben Sandoval Productions booked four of the best bluegrass groups in the state and Southwest: Carefree Highway, Open Range, Flinthill Special, and Cactus Wrens. They played nonstop bluegrass for two days.

"Who's from West Virginia?" asked a guitar player from the opening act. Two women in the front row raised their hands. For them the band played "The Green Rolling Hills of West Virginia." The words spoke the theme of many bluegrass songs: leaving a peaceful mountain holler, moving to a city to work in a factory (mine or mill), and longing for the hills of home (whether it be West Virginia, Kentucky, or Virginia). They are simple songs of love and death, going astray and coming home, with a touch of twang in the clear tenor voices and the lonesome minor chords.

The four-member band, Open Range, followed with an old Monroe tune, "Back to Old Kentucky." To the initiates, that's Bill Monroe, the father of bluegrass music and one of the greatest mandolin players of all time. Banjo player Rudy Cortese displayed his amazing musicianship on one of his show tunes, "Shuckin' the Corn." He got some friendly ribbing for his place of birth: New York City. But he couldn't help that. Besides, anyone who can play banjo like that is welcome anywhere.

Then came the inevitable sad song: another Monroe tune about an "awful, dreadful" snake that bit a little girl. She died before her daddy could get her help. That one got a hearty ring of the cow-bell from William F. Johnson. He and his wife, Nettie Lou, sing gospel songs and make the rounds of bluegrass festivals all over the country. Nettie Lou is a dead ringer for one of her heroines, Minnie Pearl. She even leaves the price tag dangling from her white straw hat. Nettie Lou had only one complaint about the program: so far the musicians were "just too serious."

The Cactus Wrens entertained with a traditional repertoire and not-so-traditional blues-tinged bluegrass. Carefree Highway, a tight group led by the rich voice of Sondra Asa, delighted with some real old standbys, including "Rocky Top" and "Orange Blossom Special." Flinthill Special, a group formed by guitarist Glen Wilbourn, added its fine music to round out the morning.

By then folks were munching Navajo tacos, and the kids were hitting the snow-cone stand. Dancing by the Fiesta 4-H Cloggers, nighttime jam sessions, and Sunday morning gospel music kept the weekend going. Bluegrass has come to Arizona.

WHEN YOU GO

The Third Annual White Mountain Bluegrass Festival will be August 14-15 at the Maverick Center in Pinetop/Lakeside. The center is seven miles south of Show Low, on State Route 260. Watch for Milepost 348. Hours are 9:00 A.M. until 5:00 P.M., Saturday and Sunday. Daily admission is $5 for adults; children under 12 are admitted free. Dry camping is available for $2 each night. Outdoor toilets and water are provided. Food booths serve drinks and fry bread, chili, and cheeseburgers.

For more information, contact Pinetop/Lakeside Chamber of Commerce, P.O. Box 266, Pinetop/Lakeside, AZ 85935; telephone (602) 367-4290.

Legends of the Lost

For centuries Spanish explorers in the American Southwest called the central part of Arizona Tierra Incógnita, “Unknown Land,” because the remote, rugged terrain and hostile Indians discouraged exploration and settlement. Nonetheless in 1583 a Spanish explorer, Antonio de Espejo, after hearing from Indians that a rich gold mine lay far to the west of New Mexico's Rio Grande Valley, entered the Tierra Incógnita. On an ancient and well-traveled Indian path now known as the Palátkwapi Trail friendly Hopi took Espejo's party to mines in a mountain range today called the Black Hills. These mountains form the western rim of central Arizona's lush Verde River valley.

The Spaniards called this range the Sierra Azul, the “Blue Mountains,” because the Hopi ground the azurite copper ore from mines there into a blue powder they used to color their pottery and themselves. And, at dawn, the Black Hills, seen from the east, appear to be much more blue than black.

Espejo saw no gold, but took samples of copper and other ores back to Mexico.

Despite the failure to find gold, a report, written by the chronicler of Espejo's expedition, Diego Pérez de Luxán, stimulated a belief in Mexico that rich mines lay somewhere close by a fertile river valley west of the Hopi villages.

In the fall of 1598, another Spaniard, Capt. Marcos Farfán de los Godos, led a party to the Tierra Incógnita to locate the by then wildly rumored gold mines. In the same place that Espejo had visited, Farfán found mineral veins rich in ores so blue that they looked like enamel. Farfán did not claim seeing any gold either.

Still these reports prompted stories of rich gold mines in the Sierra Azul, and during the 17th century these tales became widely known in both the New World and in Europe.

Out of a confused notion of all of these various accounts evolved the Legend of the Sierra Azul. But stories of the Tierra Incógnita's forbidding terrain and menacing Indians discouraged further exploration attempts for many years.

In 1662 the governor of Northern New Spain, Don Diego de Peñalosa, led a party that reached the Hopi villages, but word of governmental problems in Santa Fe compelled him to turn back. Peñalosa never did see the Sierra Azul, let alone any gold.

Accused of disrespect toward the Franciscan friars, Peñalosa returned to Mexico City where Church authorities arrested and imprisoned him. On February 3, 1668, a church tribunal of the brutal Inquisition banished Peñalosa from the New World.

Ten years later, Peñalosa offered the king of France a plan to conquer the “fabulously rich” Sierra Azul. In a monstrous lie, Peñalosa claimed to have been there himself.

Peñalosa created a crude map that clearly showed the Sierra Azul to be central Arizona's Black Hills. In what amounts to uncanny accuracy, considering the information Peñalosa had to work with, the map shows the Sierra Azul to be only one degree north of where the Black Hills actually lie.

Peñalosa urged the French to allow him to return to North America with LaSalle, the prominent explorer, claiming it would be easy for France to take over sparsely populated Northern New Spain and its great mineral wealth, specifically the Sierra Azul. However, LaSalle returned to the New World without Peñalosa. On the Gulf of Mexico's coastline, the ill-fated explorer became lost, and he was killed by his crew. That same year, 1687, Peñalosa died in France.

LEGEND OF THE SIERRA AZUL RICHES HAS LINKS TO JEROME, ARIZONA

Peñalosa's hand-drawn Sierra Azul map made a great impact on European mapmakers. A highly respected Italian cartographer, Marco Vincenzo Coronelli, stated that he had copied Peñalosa's version in creating his own impressive maps.

Coronelli's fame and reputation for accuracy influenced dozens of European mapmakers. From 1685 until as recently as 1852, many Dutch, German, Spanish, Italian, French, and English maps showed Peñalosa's Sierra Azul.

In 1680 the New Mexico Pueblo Indians, including those from Zuni and Hopi, revolted and drove the region's Hispanics down the Rio Grande Valley to El Paso. Five years later, Father Alonso de Posada, a prominent New Mexico clergyman, wrote a report for the king of Spain concerning the Sierra Azul, which he said was “so famed for its wealth, because its ores have been assayed many times, but never possessed because of our negligence and timidity.” According to Posada, the Sierra Azul lay 100 leagues west of Santa Fe and 50 leagues north of Sonora, Using 3.45 miles as the distance of a 17th-century Spanish league, we can clearly identify Posada's Sierra Azul as being the Black Hills.

In 1691 a new governor of Northern New Spain, Don Diego de Vargas, who had visions of glory and wealth to be gained if the area to the north of El Paso could be reconquered, gained approval from the Spanish viceroy in Mexico City, the Count of Galvé, to reoccupy the northern Rio Grande Valley.

Vargas set out from El Paso on August 21, 1692. Meeting no resistance from the Indians, he advanced quickly to Santa Fe. He then went to the Hopi mesas, expecting to find guides to take him to the mines in the Sierra Azul. But the Hopi were hostile, and Vargas' fearful lieutenants talked him into returning to New Mexico. Like Peñalosa, he never did see the Sierra Azul.

A Jesuit priest in northern Mexico, Father Eusebio Francisco Kino, a well-educated man with a strong and realistic sense of geography, rejected the Sierra Azul gold mines legend. Nonetheless on his famous map of 1701, Kino indicated today's Verde River as the “Rio Azul” because his Indian guides claimed that farther to the north the river flowed near the Sierra Azul.

In the 1700s, other Franciscan missionaries traveling in theDuring the past 100 years, historians have speculated as to exactly where Espejo and Farfán found their well-publicized mines. In 1889 Hubert Howe Bancroft, a historian of the far West, said the mines were situated near Bill Williams Mountain, 28 miles north of Jerome. But his book contains a map that shows the routes of both Espejo and Farfán going to and stopping in Sycamore Canyon, about 20 miles southeast of Bill Williams Mountain. This map provides graphic evidence that ties the 19th and 20th centuries' Lost Apache Gold Mine story to the Sierra Azul legend of the 17th and 18th centuries. In 1942 a more realistic and precise location of the mines appeared in print. In a geographically sensitive essay, Katharine Bartlett of the Museum of Northern Arizona in Flagstaff demonstrated that the mines Espejo and Farfán had visited in the late 1500s were indeed located at a site that three centuries later would become Jerome. She showed that the explorers had come to Jerome by a route far to the south of Sycamore Canyon. Her argument was so knowledgeable and logical that among historians it became the definitive statement on the subject. Recent research specifically identifies this route as the Palátkwapi Trail - going from the Hopi villages of Awatobi and Walpi to Jerome. On this pathway, both Espejo and Farfán descended the Mogollon Rim into the Verde Valley. They crossed Oak Creek and the Verde River and then ascended the Black Hills up to copper-rich Jerome. No evidence exists to suggest that the Spanish expeditions from Hopi to the Black Hills traveled on any other route. The documents that do exist clearly establish Jerome as the only site in Arizona where the Spaniards found substantial mineral deposits.

In the 1700s, other Franciscan missionaries traveling in the region gave glowing reports of the Sierra Azul. One priest wrote: "It is called the Sierra Azul because the earth, rocks, and the whole region is blue There is a tradition that this mountain is the richest in all New Spain." Little new information about the lost treasure appeared in print after 1800. In January, 1854, Amiel Weeks Whipple, an American Army officer, camped near the source of the Verde River. He wrote in his journal that in the 16th century the Spaniards had discovered a gold mine in an upper tributary of the Verde "near San Francisco Mountain." Four years later, several Mexicans brought word to the celebrated Arizona pioneer Charles D. Poston that rich gold and silver deposits could be found in the hills along the headwaters of the Verde River. In the 1890s, another tale of a lost gold mine located near the Black Hills was born. This new Anglo/American legend has been known by many names, but its most popular title has been the "Lost Apache Gold Mine." (See Arizona Highways, July '92) The term "Sierra Azul" never appears on the maps or in the accounts of this more recent lost-mine folklore. According to this legend, several men from Espejo's 1583 expedition to the Tierra Incógnita, unknown to him, found gold in a canyon seven to 20 miles north/northeast of the Black Hills in the primitive Sycamore Canyon area.

rizona Humor_

After a Bend, Oregon, tele-vision weatherman said the nation's highest tempera-ture was in "Gilla" Bend, Arizona, his colleague correct-ed him.

"I used to live in Arizona, and you pronounce that town's name 'HE-la' Bend," he said.

A few weeks later, the weatherman made the same mistake, and his colleague was beside himself. He told the weatherman: "The next time the nation's high is in Gila Bend, just say Bullhead City. It's usually hot-ter there anyway."

THE TROUBLE WITH GILA VOLUNTEER COOK

The men on the construction crew building visitor facilities at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument near Ajo agreed to share housekeeping duties while working there.

I took the first turn as cook with the understanding that the first man to complain about the food became the next cook.

Days passed with no complaint. Finally, in desperation, I cut up a bar of soap and put it into the boiled potatoes.

The first man to take a taste said, "Ugh, these potatoes taste like soap."

Then, realizing he was the first to complain about the food, he hastily added, "But that's just the way I like 'em."

APACHE CULTURE

For the Apache, adapting to the ways of the Anglo was sometimes difficult and slow. For example, the Apache is traditionally superstitious about death. It was believed that if you spoke about death or the deceased, death might come to you or your relatives.

In the late 1950s, this was a particularly disconcerting belief for a 52-year-old Apache named Sherman.

He told my grandmother that he would not be around for quite some time. He was headed for Morenci to work in the copper mine.

Two months later, my grandmother noticed a commotion outside her home and, upon investigating, found that Sherman was back. She greeted him and asked why he was back so soon.

"Mary," he said, "a white man told me a bad thing. He told me he was putting me on the graveyard shift."

DRIVING IN ARIZONA

In our first vacation to Arizona, we stopped at a gas station, and, while the attendant serviced the car, my husband was staring out across the desert, finally able to fully appreciate it.

But the attendant interrupted his reverie: "Well, Oklahoma, if you hit 'em they've been warned."

My husband, a lawyer, looked at him in astonishment. "What are you talking about?"

"Well," the man replied, "it says right here on the front, DODGE."

PIONEERING ELECTRICIAN

My late husband used to tell about an electrician friend who was hired to do some wiring on an Indian reservation.

At that time, conditions were still rather primitive and, among other locations that were wired, were the outdoor toilet facilities.

Because of that experience, my husband's friend figured his claim to fame was being the first man to "wire a head for a reservation."

NIGHT FLYING

At the Tucson Unified School District's Camp Cooper in the Tucson Mountains, a group of elementary students was admiring the flowers on a saguaro cactus.

Because these flowers are open primarily at night, I asked what nocturnal creatures would feed on the nectar.

The children couldn't think of anything but daytime animals, so, trying to elicit the answer "bats," I coaxed, "Now, think. What flies in our skies at night?"

One boy suddenly brightened and called out, "The police helicopter!"

FROG FABLE

A Chicago doctor tells this story about fishing while visiting his daughter in Sedona: In Oak Creek, on an over-cast day, I was fly-casting with little success. I had tried about every fly I had.

Then I noticed a little snake with a tiny frog in its mouth squiggling along the creek. I caught the snake, took the frog, attached it to a hook, and fastened that to my line to cast.

I felt guilty about robbing the snake, so I gave him a little nip of whiskey from a flask.

I had only just begun to cast the frog when I felt a tapping on my leg. I looked down and there was the snake offering me another frog.

TO SUBMIT HUMOR

Send us a short note about your humorous experiences in Arizona, and we'll pay $75 for each one we publish.

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TUBING DOWN THE SALT FOR PEACE OR PARTYING

Laying on our backs . . . we didn't ever feel much like talking loud, and it warn't often that we laughed - only a little kind of a low chuckle. We had mighty good weather as a general thing, and nothing ever happened to us at all."

Floating down a big ol' lazy river was Huckleberry Finn's idea of peace. Huck and his pal, Jim both fugitives of a sort escaped by floating down the Mississippi River on a raft.

There's something akin to this experience in central Arizona, except you don't use a raft. You hop into a gigantic inner tube meant for the wheel of a diesel tractor-trailer rig. And it isn't the Mississippi it's the Salt River, gently winding its way east to the recreational lakes of Arizona's Tonto National Forest.

Tubing on the Salt River is an initiation of sorts. It's being a central Arizonan in the summertime, trying to escape the baking heat of the city; loading coolers with ice, drinks, and sandwiches; gathering a dozen friends; packing a dozen bottles of sun block; and heading north, less than 50 miles from metropolitan Phoenix.

Nearly 8,000 people tube the Salt River each Saturday and Sunday (through the week, it's about 2,000 daily) from late May until mid-September, according to the man who supplies most of them with their tubes. Henri Breault owns the Salt River Recreation Center at the intersection of Bush Highway and Usery Pass Road, just south of the river. For $7.25 Breault provides a tube and unlimited transportation via 32 renovated school buses to and from points along the Salt.

For example, you can opt for a one-and-a-half-hour trip. You get into the river just below the Water Users parking area and get out at a tubers' landing called Blue Point. Every 20 minutes, a Breault bus arrives to take you to your car or back for another river jaunt. Other trips are two and a half, four, and five hours.

If you're looking for family fun, plan for a tubing trip during the week, or a weekend trip that concludes before noon.

"That's the peaceful time, when you just drift and relax and go with the river," says Sgt. J.J. Tuttle, supervisor of the Maricopa County Sheriff's Tactical Support Division. By contract with the Forest Service, the sheriff's division serves as the river's public safety and enforcement entity.

If you're looking for a gigantic party with thousands of revelers most of them between the ages of 16 and 30 - Tuttle says you'll find it on any summer weekend between noon and 4:00 P.M. tubing down the Salt River. People are jam-packed into the river, the music is blasting, and the beer is flowing.

No matter the purpose of your trip peace or partying tubing can be dangerous. In the summer, the Salt River flow is a healthy 1,400 to 1,800 cubic feet per second. Also there are rapids. They don't look powerful, but they can easily flip a tube, dunking and disorienting the rider.

Some important safety tips are:

WHEN YOU GO

Tubing trips are permitted on the Salt River from April 15 to mid-September, seven days a week. Day camping and picnicking facilities are available all along the river.

Occasionally water is released into the Salt River, so check before you go to determine the strength of the flow. For information about the flow and other aspects of tubing, call the Salt River Recreation Center at (602) 984-3305 or the Mesa Ranger District Office, (602) 379-6446.

Back Road Adventure

A bear in an apple tree! After all the bold-lettered signs Bear Country! warning against feeding bears or confronting bears that cross your path. After the bear-proof garbage bins and the fail-safe food lockers in the campgrounds. After all our joking and "here-bear" woofing

GOING 'OVER THE TOP' IN THE CHIRICAHUAS

When we see the big messy pile of bear scat on the hiking trail to Barfoot Peak. There, right there, in a tree in the middle of a sunny orchard meadow, perilously balanced a buffoon in baggy pants, a tipsy vagabond is a young black bear, high among limbs sagging with ripe apples.

The bear, probably about three years old, reaches for an apple out on the end of a skinny branch. Momentarily it loses its shaky foothold, thrashes crazily, but somehow stays on its perch. Incredibly it holds onto the apple, too. The bear stuffs it whole into its mouth and chews loudly, juices dripping from furry snout.

It looks over at us, 50 yards off behind a barbed-wire fence. Nearsighted, it sees two large gray forms, decides we are non-threatening, and returns its attention to the apples.

We're in Cave Creek Canyon near Portal. We started from Willcox, 35 miles northwest of the Chiricahua National Monument, the jumping-off point for our back-road trip.

We take State Route 186 out along the northern edge of a huge sandy basin called the Willcox Playa, all that remains of a Pleistocene lake.

We pass through tiny Dos Cabezas, named for the twin peaks it stands beneath. In mining's heyday, the town boasted a station

Back Road Adventure.

for the Mascot and Western Railroad, a branch of the Southern Pacific. Today only a few souls live here.

About 23 miles from Willcox, we turn east onto State Route 181 and head toward the Chiricahua National Monument. After four miles, just outside the monument, we turn right onto Forest Service Road 42 (Pinery Canyon Road). Here we leave pavement and begin our 20-mile drive across the Chiricahua Mountains.

Unpaved all the way, except for the last few miles into Portal on the other side of the mountain, Pinery Canyon Road is usually well-graded. I've driven it, however, when steady traffic had turned parts of the road to washboard. No problem. I simply slowed to 15 miles per hour or less, creeping along until the road smoothed out.

A word of caution: inexperienced mountain-road drivers should be forewarned that FR 42 climbs from about 5,000 feet to 7,600 feet at Onion Saddle, before descending the east flank of the mountain into Portal. Also, about seven miles up, the road narrows, becoming winding and steep for the next several miles. I have to admit that the first time I drove it, my palms got clam-my a couple of times.

Today, a bright Sunday morning, I'm a little worried about another possible road hazard. Two days ago, a midsummer storm swept across southeast Arizona, bringing heavy rain to some of the higher elevations. We have no way of knowing how much precipitation may have fallen high in the Chiricahuas except to drive up and look for ourselves.

Sure enough, just as we pass the seven-mile mark and a sign that warns Narrow, Steep, Winding Roads, the track becomes muddy. As we climb, ruts deepen, and rocks, dislodged from the bank by pelting rain, litter the road. Fortunately it's sunny, and a drying breeze is doing its job. We hail a driver coming across the mountain from the other side. He assures us we'll be okay.

At Onion Saddle, the halfway point, we decide to detour three miles up to Rustler Park, a popular campground set amid pon-derosa pines. A few years ago, while camping here in winter, I saw rare Mexican thick-billed parrots roosting in the pines, feed-ing on cones. The birds were being reintroduced to the Chiricahuas, their former range, by the Arizona Game and Fish Department. (See Arizona Highways, October '92) We walk around a bit, sniffing the pine-scented air, then head a mile back down the road to Barfoot Park for a short (about 1.5 miles, round-trip) hike up Bootlegger Trail to Barfoot Lookout. From the lookout, elevation 8,826 feet, we enjoy a commanding view west into Arizona's Sulphur Springs Valley and east into New Mexico's Animas Valley. The clear dry mountain air fairly crackles with pine smell and leaf mold. Cottonwood and sycamore trees line the sun-drenched canyons below us.

Dropping below Onion Saddle, we come to a sign, about three miles down, that points to Paradise, three miles north along FR 42B. I remember trying that road several years ago and finding it too rough for passage in anything less than four-wheel-drive. We stay on FR 42. Portal is nine miles ahead.

Five miles on, we pass the Southwest Research Station. As we descend, the walls of the canyon gradually narrow, steep cliffs pocked with caves. The creek burbles alongside the road. Salmon pink, tan, mauve, brown - the rocks are splashed with gray, yellow, and chartreuse lichens. For natural beauty, few places in Arizona rival Cave Creek Canyon.

Did the bear come over the mountain to see what it could see and find this apple tree? We wonder. In any case, it's not very skilled at this apple-picking stuff. Its first time, no doubt. But the bear is determined to have every apple off that tree, even if it has to tear it limb from limb. Nothing stands between a hungry bear and food. That's the lesson of the signs: Bear Country! Watch-ing this young bear greedily stuffing itself with apples, I get the message.

TIPS FOR TRAVELERS

Back-road travel can be hazardous if you are not prepared for the unexpected. Whether traveling in the desert or in the high country, be aware of weather and road conditions, and make sure you and your vehicle are in top shape and you have plenty of water.

Don't travel alone, and let someone at home know where you're going and when you plan to return.

Author's Note: From Portal there are two ways to return to Interstate 10: continue east on FR 42 to near Rodeo, New Mexico, then turn north onto U.S. Route 80 to I-10; or travel north on Portal Road to I-10.

Like of the Month.

As dirt roads go, it's pretty good, winding its way south through pine, oak, white fir, and, occasionally, aspen. Canyons with deep drop-offs are spectacular. The sky here above the Mogollon Rim is clear. A good day for a hike.

Eleven miles down Forest Service Road 95, a sign tells me I have arrived at the Pinchot Cabin Trailhead. A few hundred yards down the trail, I locate the old cabin, one of a trio the Forest Service built north of the Rim during the early 1900s.

I approach the structure, push open the squeaky plank door, and enter. A recent restoration has provided a new floor, new roof, and other improvements. Almost as good as new, but, nevertheless, very primitive. Early-day rangers (some with families) lived in cabins such as this: one tiny room, heated on cool spring and fall days by a small iron stove.

Five miles to the southwest is the General Springs Cabin (See Arizona High-ways, December '88), also restored; and six miles southeast, the Buck Springs Cabin. These three cabins and the rag-ged east-west line of the Rim enclose a rough circle with a diameter of about eight miles. Within and around the perimeter of this circle is the Cabin Loop Trail System, a series of connected hiking trails which are blazed, signed, and maintained by the Forest Service.

The system offers something for almost any hiking appetite: out-and-back treks of any desired length up to about 16 miles; point-to-point hikes in the fiveto 10-mile range; or a complete circle of approximately 25 miles that connects all the cabins and passes along the precipitous Rim for about three miles.

I decide to do an out-and-back along the Houston Brothers Trail, so named because this area was the summer grazing camp of a prominent ranching family during Arizona's territorial days. From Pinchot Cabin, I follow the blaze marks almost directly south above a streambed that winds through a shallow can-yon. Shafts of sunlight poke through the can-opy of pines, and the forest is silent, not even the whisper of a breeze through the boughs.

WHEN YOU GO

To reach the Pinchot Cabin from Phoenix, take State Route 87 north approximately 25 miles beyond Strawberry to the Blue Ridge Ranger Station. Continue about 200 yards past the ranger station entrance, then turn right onto Forest Service Road 95 and proceed south for approximately 11 miles to the Pinchot Cabin Trailhead.

The General Springs Cabin and Buck Springs Cabin trailheads can be accessed by traveling north of Strawberry approximately nine miles on State 87, then turning right onto Forest Service Road 300.

WHATEVER YOUR OUTDOOR APPETITE, THE MOGOLLON RIM'S CABIN LOOP TRAIL IS SURE TO PLEASE

At a point where the canyon bends, I step out of a clutch of oak brush. Just below, drinking from the small creek, is a pair of buck mule deer. One is a spike (young) buck; the other bears a handsome rack of antlers. They look in my direction for a moment, then bound away down a shaded aisle of the forest.

At about four miles, the trail ascends to the west, comes out on a high ridge, and crosses Forest Service Road 139A. I leave the trail and walk the road north, returning to Pinchot Cabin, then drive south on FR 95 until it intersects with an east-west road that follows the old General Crook Trail along the Rim.

After about two miles, I locate the point where the southern end of the Houston Brothers Trail emerges from the woods and concludes its eight-mile length. A few yards to the south, the Rim makes its sudden 2,000-foot drop to provide one of the most breathtaking views in the Southwest.

I drive back in a westerly direction and stop by the General Springs Cabin. From this point, the Fred Haught Trail angles northeast for seven miles to the Pinchot Cabin. Nearby a monument commemorates the Battle of Big Dry Wash, a fierce 1882 encounter between a band of Apache and five companies of U.S. Cavalry. (See Arizona Highways, August '89) The sun has dropped behind the western ridges. In the fall, heavy snow at this 7,000-foot elevation will close the trails. But in the spring, and then all through the summer, this magnificent chunk of Arizona's Rim country and the Cabin Loop Trail System offer some of the best high-country hiking in the state.

Signs with interpretive information and a trail map are located at all the major trailheads near the three cabin sites. Signs with distance information for destinations are at all trail intersections and where trails cross major forest roads.

The Blue Ridge District does not issue overnight permits to stay in the historic cabins, but does maintain three improved campgrounds, and dispersed camping is allowed throughout the forest.

For further information, contact the Blue Ridge Ranger Station, HC 31 Box 300, Happy Jack, AZ 86024; (602) 477-2255.